#dyer's bowl

[unyor-payn]

warmth and cold, na'vi and human... the resistance HQ brings a lot of things together...

[handweavers]

something that comes up for me over and over is a deep frustration with academics who write about and study craft but have little hands-on experience with working with that craft, because it leads to them making mistakes in their analysis and even labelling of objects and techniques incorrectly. i see this from something as simple as textiles on display in museums being labelled with techniques that are very obviously wrong (claiming something is knit when it's clearly crochet, woven when that technique could only be done as embroidery applied to cloth off-loom) to articles and books written about the history of various aspects of textiles making considerable errors when trying to describe basic aspects of textile craft-knowledge (ex. a book i read recently that tried to say that dyeing cotton is far easier than dyeing wool because cotton takes colour more easily than wool, and used that as part of an argument as to why cotton became so prominent in the industrial revolution, which is so blatantly incorrect to any dyer that it seriously harms the argument being made even if the overall point is ultimately correct)

the thing is that craft is a language, an embodied knowledge that crosses the boundaries of spoken communication into a physical understanding. craft has theory, but it is not theoretical: there is a necessary physicality to our work, to our knowledge, that cannot be substituted. two artisans who share a craft share a language, even if that language is not verbal. when you understand how a material functions and behaves without deliberate thought, when the material knowledge becomes instinct, when your hands know these things just as well if not better than your conscious mind does, new avenues of communication are opened. an embodied knowledge of a craft is its own language that is able to be communicated across time, and one easily misunderstood by those without that fluency. an academic whose knowledge is entirely theoretical may look at a piece of metalwork from the 3rd century and struggle to understand the function or intent of it, but if you were to show the same piece to a living blacksmith they would likely be able to tell you with startling accuracy what their ancient colleague was trying to do.

a more elaborate example: when i was in residence at a dye studio on bali, the dyer who mentored me showed me a bowl of shimmering grey mud, and explained in bahasa that they harvest the mud several feet under the roots of certain species of mangroves. once the mud is cleaned and strained, it's mixed with bran water and left to ferment for weeks to months.  he noted that the mud cannot be used until the fermentation process has left a glittering sheen to its surface. when layered over a fermented dye containing the flowers from a tree, the cloth turns grey, and repeated dippings in the flower-liquid and mud vats deepen this colour until it's a warm black. 

he didn't explain why this works, and he did not have to. his methods are different from mine, but the same chemical processes are occurring. tannins always turn grey when they interact with iron and they don't react to other additives the same way, so tannins (polyphenols) and iron must be fundamental parts of this process. many types of earthen clay contain a type of bacteria that creates biogenic iron as a byproduct, and mixing bran water with this mud would give the bacteria sugars to feast upon, multiplying, and producing more of this biogenic iron. when the iron content is high enough that the mud shimmers, applying this fermented mixture to cloth soaked in tannins would cause the iron to react with the tannin and finally, miraculously: a deep, living grey-black cloth.

in my dye studio i have dissolved iron sulphide ii in boiling water and submerged cloth soaked in tannin extract in this iron water, and watched it emerge, chemically altered, now deep and living grey-black just like the cloth my mentor on bali dyed. when i watched him dip cloth in this brown bath of fermented flower-water, and then into the shimmering mud and witness the cloth emerge this same shade of grey, i understand exactly what he was doing and why. embodied craft knowledge is its own language, and if you're going to dedicate your life to writing about a craft it would be of great benefit to actually "speak" that language, or you're likely to make serious errors.

the arrogance is not that different from a historian or anthropologist who tries to study a culture or people without understanding their written or spoken tongue, and then makes mistakes in their analysis because they are fundamentally disconnected from the way the people they are talking about communicate. the voyeuristic academic desire to observe and analyse the world at a distance, without participating in it. how often academics will write about social movements, political theory and philosophy and never actually get involved in any of these movements while they're happening. my issue with the way they interact with craft is less serious than the others i mentioned, but one that constantly bothers me when coming into contact with the divide between "those who make a living writing about a subject" and "those who make a living doing that subject"

[caitwon]

GOFUNDMES FOR LEWISTON SHOOTING VICTIMS

For those of you that DON'T know, Lewiston, Maine experienced a mass shooting on Wednesday. I am not from that part of the state, but the state is very tight knit. You're probably 3 degrees of separation from someone, maybe 5 or 6 if you're really pushing it. The suspect has not been taken into custody because they cannot find him.

These are 16 of the 18 confirmed deaths. 13 were injured. If you can donate, please donate. If you're in the state, go donate blood if you're eligible. UPDATE: suspect was found deceased. I think everyone is feeling an immense sense of relief at the news he cannot hurt another person. That being said, the community still has a lot of healing to do.

Peyton Brewer-Hoss

Justin Karcher

Arthur Strout

Maxx Hathaway

Joseph Walker

Bill and Aaron Young

Billy Brackett

Kyle Secor

Ben Dyer

fund for all victims and their families

[fried-peaches00]

Late Night Talks

Teylan x Sarentu Reader

Ratings: SFW, a little fluff, a little angst

Word Count: 800

Spoilers for the beginning of the cloudy forest story arc!!!

Kczz…kz…”Hello…” Kcz

The soft static buzz of the walky-talky resting at your side interrupted by a timid voice whispering meekly into the night rouses you from your sleep. While the rest of the resistance gathers around the fire to enjoy a meal and a moment of rest in light of the first — albeit small and mediocre — victory since being flushed from the Kinglor Forest, you retreat to the living quarters. After another long day of close calls with increasingly agressive beasts both feral and RDA alike you chose to revel in the warm lights, tapestries and bean bags among the barrack-like bunk beds. Just as you had barely drifted to sleep to the sounds of distant laughter and soft conversations your walks-talky buzzes to life. 

It takes you a moment in your stupor to orient yourself, picking up the comms device much like you used to a phone in you TAP days,

”Hello?” You exhale, rubbing your face.

kczvvv…” I miss you…”

You jump to sit upright, becoming unsteady and light headed in the process. You would know that voice anywhere. You heard those same three words on long stretches of being with the Zeswa or deep in the Kinglor Forest, far from the Dyer’s Bowl and resistance headquarters. 

“Teylan!” You wince realizing how loud you were. These days his name was a grimaced at, a slur almost. Blinded by his loneliness and naivety, his actions were responsible for the death of many friends and loved ones. You haven't heard from him since that first day when you escaped the helicarrier, no matter how often you chatted into the void of the walkie talkie static on long nights spent trekking among the trees. After so long you had begun to fear if he had done something stupid, permanent,

”Teylan, are you okay? Where are y-“

”I don’t want you to come for me, I’m okay for the night… I just… I need to hear your voice.” He sighs shakily. He berates himself with shame for even entertaining the idea of contacting you after what he’s done let alone going through with it, you can hear it in the hesitation between each fragmented sentence. It takes every fiber in your being to not insist you should bring your boy home,

”Okay, only if you promise you’re alright.” You bite your lip, leaning to get a better view of the hallway through the shelves acting as dividers for the sleeping quarters. 

”I miss you too, Teylan. I worry about you a lo-“

” I never should have done it!” He explodes, feedback from the walkie-talkie piercing through your skull,

”I wanted us to be together again and was blinded by my own stupid-Stupid!” He sniffles, taking a few shallow breaths,

”And now… We were further apart than ever… People died because of me. My friends died. Hajir and Daniella. I miss them.”  You hear him take a strained sob,

”An- And I’ll never get to see you again…” He whispers, breaking your heart. You can’t imagine him alone in some computer terminal, cold and lonely upon his own exile. He should be here, with you, warm tucked under your arm. Or at the very least celebrating with the rest of your friends, filling his belly with good food the Kama’tire and Zeswa bring from their homes,

”Breath, Baby. Take a deep breath.” Teylan heaves a few shallow, painful sounding, breathes before taking a shaky sigh,

”You know that’s not true, Teylan, You can have your space but I won’t let you stay away forever.” You murmur, looking towards your pouch containing the paper RDA map you recovered from an abandoned base; laden with marks for searched locations and clues of Teylan’s whereabouts,

”I can’t lie to you, honey, you fucked up big time.” You wince hearing him whimper into another set of sobs,

”But you aren’t the only one. Nor, Priya, and shit. Alma fucked up the worst… I can’t bring myself to burden you with this right now but at this point I just want to move forward.” A moment of heavy silence hovers, dampening the joyous chatter of your friends and teammates across the hideout, leaving you alone with the memories of your clan's demise and standing on the grave of your mentor. You can’t help but wonder if Teylan feels the same weight in whatever far off crevice he’s concealed himself in, 

“I just want the RDA gone, Teylan. I want you home…” 

It’s another few moments of silence. Followed by many more. It sounds like this conversation is over. You settle back down into the blankets and beanbags covering the cold metal floor. With a sigh, your resolve is set,

”Goodnight, Teylan. I miss you too.”

It doesn’t matter where he’s hidden himself away. You have decided you would take to the skies. No matter how many days, weeks, months it would take— You would bring your boy home. Whether he likes it or not,

”I love you, baby.”

And those four words were all he needed to hear.

[chiefdirector]

Mirroring | Tim Bradford | The Rookie

Act One | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27

“So what was the big rush to go see Rosalind Dyer? I thought the plan was to keep our cards to our chest.” Nyla asked, breaking the silence that had filled the car for the hours.

(Y/N) thought about all the excuses she had made on the way to the Correctional Facility but quickly wrote them off, knowing that if anyone could see through her lies, it would be Harper. “It was Chen. We were listening to the bug we planted when she said that we were doing exactly what was expected of us. Dyer could have known that we were listening to Sullivan. It was predictable, we were predictable.”

“So you changed the game?”

“Well she certainly wasn’t expecting me. And if I had filed the paperwork, it would’ve taken days and she would’ve been informed beforehand.” (Y/N) explained, running her hand through her hair. “Can you drop me off at Union Station? My car is there.”

“Sure. But you’ll need the keys.” Nyla moved to open the glove box in front of the passenger chair, revealing the keychain (Y/N) had left on her tyre earlier this morning. “Leaving them on the tyre is just sloppy.”

“How did you-?”

“Bradford, you forget. I was you, I am you. Look, not to get sappy but I know you’re keeping Tim out of the loop. Whether or not I agree with it, which by the way I don’t, is not my problem. But if anyone can help, it’s me.” 

“Thanks…” (Y/N) trailed off, looking out of the window watching the city speed by. “Can I ask something though? How did you know where to find me?”

Nyla laughed, “Like I said, I am you. And we had pretty much the same idea. Except I called ahead.”

“That was smart.”

“Yeah, maybe you should really follow protocol next time.”

(Y/N) just hummed at Harper’s words, not willing to give Nyla that satisfaction of her verbal agreement. 

—

(Y/N) tried not to roll her eyes at the mountain of paperwork that had been stacked neatly on her desk, courtesy of Sargent Grey. On top of the stack sat two little post it notes, one standard yellow one from Grey himself, telling her to have the stack completed by 8am tomorrow. 

The other was a pink, flower shaped one. She recognised it as one of her own, stolen from the top left drawer of her desk. The flower was inscribed with a short message, I’ll bring lunch and we can talk. Not mad, I promise. Tim 

(Y/N) held the post-it for a moment, as she thought over the words before her. Of course he wasn’t mad, it was Tim. He had never been mad at her, sure he had been angry at situations caused by her, and she had him. But Tim had never explicitly been mad at her.

Before, she had taken it for granted, but now, as she thought over her actions from today, she couldn’t have been more glad. Time and time again, she had taken the situation into her own hands, keeping her husband out of it. He understood, he always understood, but now (Y/N) could not be more grateful. 

Nyla had told her how panicked he was this morning, finding an empty bed and a silent house. She should’ve woken him, left a note. Anything really

Sighing, she shook the thought away, pulling her focus to the stack of paperwork before her. Although she didn’t work for very long until she was pulled away by the smell of a burrito bowl and a chair being pulled up beside her. 

Quickly, she turned to face Tim, apologies rapidly spilling from her. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. It was really stupid. It went against what we agreed. I’m so sorry, I should’ve told you.”

Tim looked at her softly as she rambled on, before placing a couple of forks on her desk. “Did you not see the post-it? I’m not mad. Harper spoke to me when she got in… explained it all.”

“Oh?”

“She said what had happened, and you were right, I would’ve stopped you. Or at least gone with you. And Dyer would’ve expected that. You needed to keep her on her toes. But you could’ve left a note.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” (Y/N) promised. “I’ll leave a note when I go.”

“It’s a big adjustment for us both.” Tim sighed, hating the words that he was saying, no matter how true they were. “You’ve changed, (Y/N), and so I have. We were expecting everything to go back to the way it was, and it won’t ever be again. But we can change together.”

“Together.” (Y/N) repeated, smiling softly at Tim. 

"Besides, that's the only thing that hasn't changed. How much I love you." Tim let the gentle silence hang in the air for a moment before changing the subject. "So, tell me what you found out."

(Y/N) leaned forward in her chair, grabbing her lunch as she began to recall her visit. "Right, I don't think we were right on the motivation. I don't think this is revenge, or the next move in whatever game she's playing. I think she wants something."

"Like what?"

"She said 'freedom' but she knows she won't ever be released. So it could be a code, or the name of some group or something. I haven't made it that far yet."

Tim hummed through a mouthful of food, barely chewing before he swallowed. "What if it's not a thing at all. What if she's lobbying for freedom in the metaphorical sense?"

"The woman is crazy, babe." (Y/N) took another bite before placing her fork back down onto the desk. "God knows what she means. Maybe she wants her soul to be free, your guess is as good as mine"

"Like redemption? Please." Tim scoffed, “You don’t know just how insane she is, but there is one thing that is consistent, she is so proud of herself for what she has done to repent anything.”

“Maybe she is finding freedom with someone else, like she did with that Caleb guy… the one who attacked Lucy.” 

Tim took a moment to consider what (Y/N) had said, weighing up the implications of what that could mean. Rosalind Dyer was proud of herself, so much so it would be her downfall. Her pride had gotten her caught for her crimes, as well as continued pain even into her incarceration. 

She had to land on top, she couldn't comprehend losing. And not only had the LAPD beat her, they had humiliated her in the process. So she chose an easy target, someone vulnerable to mind games as they tried to adjust to a life they had once known, a life that had changed and progressed without them.

This wasn’t about (Y/N) at all, it wasn’t about anyone who had betrayed her, or pushed her towards Rosalind’s grasp. This wasn’t about any of them. It was about all of them, the entire LAPD.

His thoughts raced a mile a minute, crashing to a stop when he felt (Y/N) gently shake his shoulder. “You okay? I lost you there for a minute.”

Tim’s hand clamped down on top of (Y/N)’s. “I know what she’s going to do next.”

27 | 29

tags: @xceafh @kmc1989 @buba424 @salty0cracker @iamasimpingh0e @malindacath @rookietrek @hufflepuffwhore13 @tessalynni @anaferreira-4 @starstruckchopshoptyphoon @alessiamargaux @rexit-mo

Masterlist

[turneradora]

Here are the press article from the Radio Times magazine.

Thanks again to Emma Jones for the written version ! 🙏🥰

Rutting in Rutshire!

Bouffants, bounders and creaking beds… Jilly Cooper reveals why Rivals is her favourite book (and shares the secret of a happy marriage)

‘Buckets of electric blue eye shadow, heaving shoulder pads atop polka dot and pinstripe suits, haystacks of bouncy hair, kept in place by enough lacquer to fuel a rocket – it feels like I’m back at school getting ready for the end-of-term disco. In fact, I’ve walked onto the set of Rivals, Disney+’s big-budget adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 bestselling bonkbuster.

We’re inside a huge restaurant in Gloucester, which is doubling up for a posh eaterie in the novel’s fictional Rutshire of 1986. Waiting to make his entrance is Aidan Turner, sporting a moustache to make Tom Selleck proud, in the role of TV chat show host Declan O’Hara. Other names on the call sheet include David Tennant as the cartoonishly named Lord Baddingham, Danny Dyer as big-of-heart, bigger-of-wallet Freddie Jones, and Alex Hassell as the polo player-turned-Tory minister and one-man shagathon, Rupert Campbell-Black. It’s quite the starry cast, but despite all the familiar faces in the room, there is an audible hush upon the arrival of one small, smiling figure through the door – Dame Jilly herself is in the building.

Later, in a quiet corner, she expresses her enthusiasm for the project in exactly the selfeffacing, giggly and gushing style you would expect from the creator of such scrumptious literary – and now TV – fare: “It’s miraculous!” What about the producers? “They’re brilliant, they don’t really need me.” This is clearly not true. With 45 titles to her name since her light-hearted guide to wedlock How to Stay Married debuted in 1969 and 11 million books sold in the UK alone, Cooper is best known for her Rutshire Chronicles, an 11-strong set of door-stopping tomes that began in 1985 with Riders and follow the antics of the horsey set in bedrooms and boardrooms, stables and swimming pools. Rivals, the second in the series, focuses on the very 1980s idea of a battle to secure a regional TV franchise. “I think of all the books I’ve written,” says Cooper, “Rivals is my favourite. The battle for franchises in those days was so strong. And people made absolute fortunes."

The ideas he presented were lovely and he was lovely. It just happened.” She grins. “Plus, the fact that he is double-barrelled, that’s nice.”

As is her priapic protagonist. Rupert Campbell-Black is at the centre of the new drama, as he is in the books, and was the one bit of casting over which Cooper exercised her veto. “I thought Alex (Hassell) wouldn’t be right, he wasn’t blond, but then I met him and… he is very attractive.” Campbell-Black is a composite of two real-life, double-barrelled men, Rupert Lycett Green and Andrew Parker Bowles, as well as the Earl of Suffolk and Berkshire, all of whom the author met soon after she and her husband Leo moved to the Cotswolds in 1982.

“I’d just moved to the country and met these heavenly men, they became great friends and and I was able to study how an upper-class man would behave there.” Do her friends mind appearing in her novels? “Oh no, they love it.”

Campbell-Black may have wall-bouncing charisma, but he’s not entirely chivalrous with its deployment. Is that OK? “People do behave badly,” says Cooper. “They certainly did in the 1980s. Rupert has good qualities. He’s lovely to his dogs, he’s a good MP and he adores his wife. They fall madly in love with each other. Lots of men are frightfully promiscuous until they find their true love.”

Does she believe men like Campbell-Black are at risk of being squashed out of society today? “Yes. When did you last see a fantastically attractive man on television in drama recently?” Hmm, Poldark? Another grin. “He’s in my story. I love good-looking, glamorous, funny, macho men.”

Cooper’s own great romance was with Leo, her publisher husband of 52 years until his death in 2013. She says: “Happiness in marriage comes from creaking bed springs, not so much from sex but from laughter. Well, a bit of both, but definitely laughter. He was lovely, funny, clever, full of military history and kind. He loved cats and I loved dogs, so we worked that out.” She is perhaps referring to his well-documented 1980s affair that rocked, but didn’t ruin, their marriage when she says, “Obviously ups and downs, but when you go through a down, you just hang on and hope it gets better”.

Cooper’s stories are all as raunchy as they are romantic – “I just like people to be happy,” she smiles – but in between all the muddy boots, labradors on mats and shepherd’s pies on kitchen tables, there are progressive layers to be found in both the books and now the TV adaptation. The female characters are strong and self-determining. “The women in those days were seduced, and were seductive,” Cooper says, before adding wistfully, “Beautiful men and women… and they didn’t fight so much.”

Have love and romance changed in the 30 years since the book came out? She sighs. “Half of teenage children are brought up without their parents staying together. It’s so sad. Happy marriage is the best recipe for life and if people can try to stay together, they should try to make it work. The world is very frightening now. Don’t give up on things easily.”

In real life, Cooper counts among her set Andrew Parker Bowles’s first wife Camilla, now better known as Her Majesty, of whom the author can’t say enough good things. “She’s a friend of mine. I adore her and I think she’s going to be a wonderful queen. She looks beautiful at the moment, she’s become very glamorous.” And, of course, a real-life totem of Cooper’s favourite thing, a happy ending.

”‘FOR JILLY TO APPROVE MY RUPERT WAS IMPORTANT’

ALEX HASSELL PLAYS RupeRt Campbell-blaCk

You were chosen from hundreds of possible actors to play Jilly Cooper’s romantic lead. Did you feel the pressure of expectation?

Initially, I wasn’t sure I’d get the part, I’m not blond or blue-eyed and I’m not from that world, but it’s important to me to live up to a certain Rupert-ness. To have Jilly’s seal of approval was very important.

Where did you go for inspiration?

I’ve met two of the men she based him on, which was helpful. But once on set, you put on your costume and start to feel it.

Or take your costume off…

How did you prepare for that naked tennis scene?

By trying not to get intimidated! If I did have nerves, that day was important as I had nothing to hide behind and it was a naked crucible through which to believe myself as Rupert.

With his arrogance and privilege, is Rupert a force for good?

It depends… He’s reaching middle age and rattling around in his house with just dogs and horses for company, and he’s realising that past choices aren’t going to end well for him. But there is a core of goodness there.

IT’S A PERIOD PIECE LIKE DICKENS’ DAVID TENNANT PLAYS

Lord Tony Baddingham

What was the appeal of Rivals? Before I’d even opened the script, my wife Georgia saw the title and told me I was going to be in it, so any element of choice was taken away from me. She had quite a visceral reaction to it and has been a champion of the whole thing. Did a little part of you want to play Rupert Campbell-Black? It didn’t really matter who I played. But I couldn’t compete with Alex for Rupert. I think Lord Tony Baddingham is a more natural fit for me.

Tony is the resident baddie. Do you have any sympathy for him?

He doesn’t see it that way, he’s just doing what he needs to do in order to survive. Objectively, I can see that some of the things he does aren’t particularly morally robust. It’s all Daddy issues. I don’t think Tony is difficult to make sense of, he’s very plausible. The characters all have drama to them, but they’re nuanced and make sense. You’re not struggling to join the dots, they’re well-crafted and that’s why Jilly’s books have survived. There is a quality in this work that makes it timeless.

Would these characters be believable in a more modern setting?

No, they are entrenched in the politics and mores of that era. It was such a specific moment in time – all that excess; Margaret Thatcher saying there was “no such thing as society”. It changed how people were allowed to think and certain people grabbed it, ran with it and wallowed in it. These characters all swim in that swamp.

The big battle in Rivals is to win a TV franchise. Is the story still relevant?

It’s not something we really have an understanding of now. When I first read the scripts, I thought, “Are the stakes of this going to make sense?” But it doesn’t matter what they’re competing over, it’s just who they are and that’s what drives them and that feels very alive and human.

What kind of portrait of 1980s England do we see in Rivals?

Jilly Cooper is a great chronicler of the human condition. It’s a period piece like a Dickens drama. You can marvel at how different some things were and how similar other things were. That’s part of the joy.

What did you love most about the 1980s?

I’ve loved rediscovering the music. I was a teenager during those years, so there was a lot of music it wasn’t cool to like. But some of these tunes are banging.

‘A WOMAN WITH RED LIPS KNOWS HER BUSINESS’

NAFESSA WILLIAMS PLAYS Cameron Cook

You were born and raised in West Philadelphia, a long way from Jilly Cooper’s Rutshire. What drew you to the role of TV producer Cameron Cook?

It was the script, plus how smart Cameron is. You have this black woman in a white man’s world in the 1980s, being able to run a company. She’s very fashionable, very strong, very grounded in who she is — and very comfortable in her sexuality.

She’s very distinctive. Did you have a particular style influence?

The singer Sade was a big inspiration for how Cameron looked, with the flicked back ponytail and the long braids.

Would you resurrect any of that era’s distinctive fashion?

I loved the high waists, the belts, the hair. It was all bigger, bolder, brighter. We don’t see as many red lips and nails now as we did back then — that speaks of a lot of confidence and sexiness, and being bold. A woman with red lips and red nails knows her business. Bring some of that back!

‘THERE WAS AN INSTANT TRUST WITH AIDAN’ VICTORIA SMURFIT PLAYS

Maud O’Hara

Maud doesn’t seem very satisfied with her lot as Declan’s wife and is very open to temptation… She is a very complicated, insecure, broken butterfly who exists on validation. She’s feeling down, she wants every man to fancy her, and her selfishness drives her to where she wants to go.

Had you met Aidan Turner, who plays your screen husband, before?

I didn’t know Aidan, but there was an instant trust. We barely talked about how our characters operated, we just knew they were existing in an English hierarchy, as this scrappy, passionate Irish family. We instantly knew where we were at.

Does Jilly Cooper treat her female characters well?

When you watch the whole arc of all the different women, by the time you get to the end, it feels like a feminist piece. All of the female characters play their politics out the way they want to — some get what they want and some get what they need.

Maud is very colourful in her mood and clothes. Did you have fun with your costumes?

Maud is more boho 70s than the others. The costumes did a lot of the work for us. As soon as we put on our clothes, it felt like we knew who our characters were.

I BASED DECLAN ON MY DAD’

AIDAN TURNER PLAYS Declan O’Hara

When you got the script for Rivals, did a little part of you want to play romantic rogue Rupert Campbell-Black, as opposed to Irish chat show host Declan O’Hara?

No, not one single bit. Alex [Hassell] does it better. It’s a best person for the role thing. There are very few Irish actors who can do Declan O’Hara as well as me, know what I’m saying? My eyes were always on the O’Hara prize.

How familiar were you with Jilly Cooper’s books before you were cast?

I remember dating an Irish girl who loved Jilly Cooper. She was in the atmosphere, but I hadn’t read the books until I started shooting. On the first day of filming, I got into the trailer and there was a copy of Rivals. We already had all the scripts, but we could use the book as a reference for tone. It was great to have it there.

Declan has quite a distinctive look. Where did you go for inspiration?

There’s something of my dad, who had a moustache all through the 1980s and 1990s. I lightly based a lot of Declan’s character on my dad — he sounds like him and has his physicality. Plus Declan is a dad, and I’m a father now, too. I felt I made a lot of connections.

Was there a TV interviewer or chat show host you studied beforehand?

Declan’s an amalgamation. There are some modern British presenters, but someone I went to a lot was the host of the American debate show Firing Line, William F Buckley. His show was political, smoky, quite serious, slow-paced and high-brow — all the things Declan would love.

You’ve been interviewed many times before. What did you discover about life on the other side of the microphone?

When you’re interviewing someone, there’s power because you can ask what you want, but it’s about building up the trust. If you just lambast people, you won’t get to a second season — people have to respect you.

These things are important to Declan. Even the word “chat” irks him slightly. Rivals is set firmly in the 1980s. What would you like to bring back from that decade?

The lack of telecommunications and mobile phones. As we see in the show, it forces people into situations that could be easily solved with a phone call. The characters can’t contact someone on the other side of the county, they have to show up unannounced at their house. There’s a lawlessness, a looseness, an unpredictability.

‘I MISS THE SHOULDER PADS’

KATHERINE PARKINSON PLAYS Lizzie Vereker

Lizzie is the sweetest of the local women, but she can be easily led by her Rutshire neighbours… Lizzie gets caught up with the snobbery of the world she’s in, and she does that thing of joining in with the crowd for survival. Then when Freddie Jones [Danny Dyer] arrives and they mock him, she’s chastened.

It takes an outsider to come in and hold a mirror up to these people. The married but neglected Lizzie embarks on an affair with Freddie. Did you approve?

They are both quite pure and drawn to each other for the right reasons, so it’s actually a positive thing. You want these characters to find themselves again.

Rivals is set in 1986. Have things got better for women since then?

My mother’s generation were more likely to sacrifice their talents for the sake of their husbands. I think that’s definitely evolved since the time Jilly Cooper was writing about, but it’s helpful to look back and see what still needs to change.

In your opinion, what was better about the 1980s?

The earrings… and the shoulder pads.

‘I’VE NEVER CLAIMED TO BE A HARD MAN’

DANNY DYER PLAYS Freddie Jones

Tech millionaire Freddie Jones is a lot softer than the “hard” men you usually play?

I don’t know where that comes from. I know I’m a working-class actor, I swear a bit and walk like a duck with a swagger, but I’ve never claimed to be a hard man. When I was in EastEnders, I wore a pink dressing gown. But this is something different and, for me as an actor, I needed an opportunity to look different. I don’t get many opportunities to do that. Even my biggest haters through their gritted teeth might have to accept that Freddie is a nice, watchable character.

Was that your real hair?

I wish. I had it all clipped on. What a bouffant it is! I’ll cling on to what I have for dear life, but I accept it. I’m a grandfather now, I’m allowed to go bald.

Freddie is the richest of all the characters, but an outsider in Rutshire. Is he the real top dog?

There’s a kindness behind the eyes of Freddie, but he’s a teddy bear with a bite. He has no desire to be top dog, but when he needs to put his foot down, he does. I fell in love with him when I read the script.

One scene, where Freddie and his wife are mocked by the Rutshire set, makes for uncomfortable viewing...

There’s an element of classism and other -isms in the show. As much as they want Freddie and his money around, they also look down their noses at him.

In 2018, you accused David Cameron of “putting his trotters up” instead of working hard. How did it feel going to Gloucestershire, the stomping ground of Cameron and his pals?

It’s not the world I come from. But this is set in the 1980s, we’re in a different era and environment now, but we’re true to how it was.

Freddie also develops a slowburn, hard-earned romance with Lizzie Vereker…

They’re both in marriages where they feel suppressed and don’t feel seen. Hopefully, the audience will root for us to have an affair, which is a strange thing as it sounds awful.

Do Freddie and Lizzie get a suitably Cooper-esque sex scene?

You’ll have to keep watching. Things take a surreal turn.

What was the best aspect of the 1980s? Anything you miss?

I think we have far too much technology now. I have children who can’t understand how we survived without mobile phones. I feel it was slightly less complicated in the way we engaged with each other: sitting down, making eye contact.

EMILY ATACK PLAYS

SARAH STRATTON

Your character, the wife of the Tory deputy Prime Minister, appears very manipulative and conniving. Did you enjoy playing her?

She’s a car crash, but she’s ambitious, smart and a bit sick of being told all her life she’s a ditzy blonde. Particularly at the time this is set, women felt there was little other option for them but to use their sexuality to get what they wanted. Characters like her are often written as unlikeable, but there are lots of hidden layers and vulnerabilities.

Her look is very much of her time. How did you go about creating it?

My morning pick-up times were the earliest of the entire cast. Hours and hours in hair and make-up — so much hairspray and backcombing. At my first fitting for costume, I thought, “I’m never going to fit into that,” but with a pair of Spanx we were good to go. And I bought some cheap 80s perfume, which I wore every day.

For one famous scene of naked tennis with Rupert Campbell Black, there are no clothes at all. How did that feel?

The whole cast were warned early on that there would be nudity and sex scenes, so you knew what you were getting into. The sex is integral to the scenes and the characters, and the tennis scene is very famous, so I wanted to get it right. Alex [Hassell] and I talked it through with the director, to make sure we felt comfortable. It was a closed set. I felt very safe, and I had a great spray tan.

Last year you made a documentary about the sexual harassment you’ve received for several years. Did you hesitate to take this role, or did you feel defiant?

You can’t win whatever you do. If you keep your clothes on you’re a frigid nun, if you take your clothes off you’re a tart. But I love my job and if a role I’m playing requires nudity and it’s integral to the story and I’m safe, I’m exactly where I should be. I’ve learnt it’s not my behaviour that needs to be looked at and changed, it’s other people’s. I’ve learned to take back the narrative that was taken from me — my sexuality, my body. These kinds of roles are fun. I’m still young and it’s OK to feel liberated. I enjoy what I do. And it’s Jilly Cooper – it’s an honour to do it!

Since filming, you’ve had a baby. Are you thinking about work again yet?

For nine months solid, I sat on my arse, ate peanut butter sandwiches and watched all of Downton Abbey. So I’ve had my time off, and now I’m back

[thedurvin]

This book of textiles (Dyer's Record Book) from 1867 clearly has several 90s arcade/bowling alley carpet designs....

[mmaurysiek]

(image description:) a warm-colours drawing of Samama Khalid and Alice Dyer from the magnus protocol podcast Sam is a short and very thin Indian man, Alice is a tall light-skinned woman with short dark hair; both are wearing business casual; Sam is holding a thin stack of paper in his hand (/end description)

guess what, I heard one very familiar "I'm fine" from Sam, and basically mentally copy-pasted a bunch of features, including the bowl fringe haircut, from how I imagined Siva from thrice forgotten; funny how mind works. by the way, I'm also imagining that Alice is wearing contact lenses; I also initially wanted her dress to have a floral print, but I also want to sleep sometime today, so.

[noratilney]

Call the Midwife OC Masterlist (wip)

Julia Lennon

Full Name: Julia Frances Lennon

Nickname(s): Jule, Lennon

Face Claim: Lili Reinhart

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 3-?

Status: Midwife

Love Interest: Trixie Franklin

Connections: Jenny Lee (fellow midwife), Trixie Franklin (fellow midwife), Cynthia Miller (fellow midwife), Chummy Noakes (fellow midwife)

Biography Stub:

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Evelyn Allen

Full Name: Evelyn Marjorie Allen

Nickname(s): Eve

Face Claim: Shannon Purser

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 3-?

Status: Midwife

Love Interest: Cynthia Miller

Connections: Jenny Lee (fellow midwife), Trixie Franklin (fellow midwife), Cynthia Miller (fellow midwife), Chummy Noakes (fellow midwife)

Biography Stub:

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Ella Garland

Full Name: Helen Bertha Garland

Nickname(s): Ella

Face Claim: Madelaine Petsch

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 3-?

Status: Midwife

Love Interest: Sister Winifred

Connections: Jenny Lee (fellow midwife), Trixie Franklin (fellow midwife), Cynthia Miller (fellow midwife), Chummy Noakes (fellow midwife)

Biography Stub:

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Shanti Deshpande

Full Name: Shanti Deshpande

Nickname(s):

Face Claim: Suhana Khan

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 13-?

Status: Midwife

Love Interest: Alfred Huntingdon, Viscount Beaumont

Connections: Beryl Bowling (fellow midwife), Trixie Franklin (fellow midwife), Naomi Jacobs (fellow midwife), Pauline Taylor (fellow midwife)

Biography Stub:

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Pauline Taylor

Full Name: Pauline Christina Taylor

Face Claim: Erinn Westbrook

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 13-?

Status: Midwife

Love Interest:

Connections: Beryl Bowling (fellow midwife), Shanti Deshpande, Trixie Franklin (fellow midwife), Naomi Jacobs (fellow midwife)

Biography Stub:

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Beryl Bowling

Full Name: Beryl Mary Bowling (née Alexander)

Face Claim: Tessa Thompson

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 13-?

Status: Nurse, Midwife

Love Interest:

Connections: June Bowling (daughter), George Bowling (husband, deceased), Shanti Deshpande, Trixie Franklin (fellow midwife), Naomi Jacobs (fellow midwife), Pauline Taylor (fellow midwife)

Biography Stub:

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Naomi Jacobs

Full Name: Naomi Hannah Jacobs

Nickname(s): Nomi

Face Claim: Carey Mulligan

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 13-?

Status: Nurse, Midwife, Doctor-in-training

Love Interest: Timothy Turner

Connections: Beryl Bowling (fellow midwife), Shanti Deshpande, Trixie Franklin (fellow midwife), Pauline Taylor (fellow midwife)

Biography Stub:

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Vicky Shore

Full Name: Victoria Grace Shore

Nickname(s): Vicky

Face Claim: Tuppence Middleton

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 10-?

Status: Trainee midwife

Love Interest:

Connections: Georgette Baines (fellow trainee), Nancy Corrigan (fellow trainee), Janice Cowan (fellow trainee), Caroline Gilchrist (fellow trainee), Alison Hopkiss (fellow trainee)

Biography Stub:

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Marian Beecham

Full Name: Marian Jane Beecham (née Simmons)

Face Claim: Clare Calbraith

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 8/9-?

Love Interest: Valerie Dyer

Connections: Oliver Beecham (husband, deceased)

Biography Stub:

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Caroline Gilchrist

Full Name: Caroline Matilda Louise Gilchrist

Nickname(s): Caddie, Caddie-Lou

Face Claim: Cara Theobald

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 10-?

Status: Trainee midwife

Love Interest:

Connections: Sister Julienne (great-aunt), Georgette Baines (fellow trainee), Nancy Corrigan (fellow trainee), Janice Cowan (fellow trainee), Alison Hopkiss (fellow trainee), Vicky Shore (fellow trainee)

Biography Stub:

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June Bowling

Full Name: June Harriet Bowling

Nickname(s): Junie

Face Claim: Leah Jeffries

Fic Title: TBD

Series: 13-?

Love Interest: N/A

Connections: Beryl Bowling (mother), George Bowling (father, deceased)

Biography Stub:

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Alfred Huntingdon, Viscount Beaumont

Full Name: Alfred Edmund Geoffrey Huntingdon, Viscount Beaumont

Nickname(s): Alfie

Face Claim: Tom Blyth

Fic Title: TBD

Series:

Love Interest: Shanti Deshpande

Connections:

Biography Stub:

[pandorafallz]

Vampire AU | Quad's escape

Amanda walked with a high head through the SecOps canteen to start their plans of action now they were set. Thea trailing behind, looking busy with her tablet. She had gone through her mind on what they were doing, and how they were going to go about it and so far, nothing had changed timetable-wise this time around to throw them off their game like Augustine had kindly done.

Perhaps it was a small blessing in disguise, they had a connection back to the RDA for supplies they couldn’t get out in the wild which may come in handy later on. They wouldn’t have had that before if they left back at Hell’s Gate. This land would take some time getting used to but… they had to get out before they could settle down out there. The avatar would be useful, although it would be helpful if she and her sisters had Lilith’s spare avatars grown as well… there should be three others left (one for each of them) but… it was unlikely to get the spares from Hell’s Gate and to grow them without any knowledge of how to do so and supplies. Maybe later, once they figured something out.

Maybe they could find those other defectors who shot their way out?

Amanda knew all about that now but as much as she was curious about that group that had the Na’vi kids, she’d wager the risks if they came face to face with this other group. It would…be beneficial to team up with other defectors but… these ones had killed.

Was it wise to do that? Would they post a risk to them?

From what she had heard, Mercer was a prick and deserved his death, maybe it was justified? Those Na’vi kids had to come from somewhere and it brought up a lot of…interesting wonders which opened a lot of questions. After all, as the leader of this base, Mercer would have had to have known about those kids. The fact Colonel Quaritch had plundered out the SecOps soldiers seemed to say a lot too.

Maybe they were desperate?

Either way, she’d have to see once she got there.

From her pant's large side pocket, she pulled out the thick bag of herbs that Lilith had retrieved from their last sampling outing. Inside the bag were two small ones from the desired herbs Moriah and Eden listed.

The initial payment.

The bag itself was wedged into some trash; a squashed box with some tissue lining it that just so happened to have a certain someone’s name on it.

“Dyer,” She called, not too loud but enough to sound unfriendly as she dropped the ‘trash’ beside the woman. “Clean up your own trash, don’t leave it where anyone can trip over it or do we need to get the crayons out with signs.”

“Oh, fuck you.” Dyer huffed, leaning back from her bowl in disgust.

“You’re not my type, bitch. Clean up after yourself.” She didn’t give the SecOps officer a chance to respond before she turned and hurried away.

“Oh, god. I’m so sorry!” Thea whispered, sounding mortified.

“Beat it, Freakshow.” Dyer snarked back distantly, the sound of her chair scraping against the floor echoed.

Amanda kept her face composed as she headed out of the canteen and towards the amour bay for the next part of the plan.

Thea caught up quickly before she giggled a little once they were out of sight. “They bought it.”

“Good.” The RDA couldn’t know they were buddy-buddies right now. As long as they thought they were fighting or hated each other, then they were all in the clear. Dyer had given them the code word as well; Lilith was gone and no one was any wiser.

It meant Castel had been successful in smuggling her out on his morning patrol in his scorpion and Lilith was safe in the link-shack if Dyer received a message from their contact phone. Grace was already in the lab, pretending to be Lilith. Now all the pieces were in place, all they had to do was go. For that, Amanda would take over as ‘Thea’ and Thea would be ‘Grace’ and no one would know who was truly who and who was actually missing. It worked well in school and their escape form home and they saw no reason it wouldn’t work now. As long as Lilith linked up and got her avatar in the scorpion then they were in the all-clear.

“Once you’ve done your patrol, come to the airfield and leave when we’re called back in for the night. We leave two hours after dark. I’ll stay in the scorpion and install the pager equipment for us” It was gonna take a while but she had most of it ready now for installation and with those spare hours before they’d ditch, all the better.

“I’ll get more supplies.” Thea agreed. “Beep us when you’re ready.”

“Copy.”

-

So Amanda spent her afternoon and evening shift in her scorpion, allowing the general maintenance crew to help repair some damage back to its former glory but she also made sure to remove all the trackers as well, super glueing them into the underside of the tool tray that her co-workers were using when they weren’t looking before they went to tend to another ship that arrived a little worse off.

Thea arrived so Amanda tucked herself into the cockpit’s floor, allowing her sister to take over and resupply their ship with typical resupplies like ammo and with extra stuff like tools, wires, customisable motherboards and the extras it needed to be functional for what they needed.

Amanda took the time to get into the radio systems before the echo over the airfield called for the end-of-shift recall for all outsiders and she watched Thea take her leave in plain sight. Frontier West wasn’t nearly as secured as Hell’s Gate since the arrests were made so there was no night working for staff in the airfield until they could up their SecOps numbers again for more patrols.

So, as silence fell and the airfield lights dimmed, Amanda continued on with her installations. Pagers were antique technology, long gone out of typical life by the late 2020s but crime circles had them for far longer. Thea had hand-built these ones based off the old blueprints the RDA had and crafted five of them; one for all of them and the fifth for the avatar. Using the scorpion as a transmitter also ensured that they had both means of privacy and no one would be monitoring the scorpion for these types of outdated frequencies. Pagers couldn’t be traced like this and certainly not on home-made ones.

Amanda grinned in success as the transmission began to light up with life before she fumbled for her pager. Only a beep pager for now but she sent three beeps to all and stealthily slipped from the cockpit and did a last-second secure of loose items and removed the engine and exhaust covers.

It didn’t take long in fact for the other two to arrive, bags on back, hers included and quickly secured them to the spare seats. A few extra masks were tossed into the fray. She began the scorpion’s warm-up as Thea took a seat beside her as her Co-pilot

“Lilith’s linked up but has sneaked out north where there’s little traffic or attention. She figured it was easier to get out of the compound than it was to sneak to the airfield. She can’t get out of the fencing alone. I slipped the guy who was gonna patrol some laxatives at dinner to be late just to be safe.”

“Got it.” Amanda nodded, though her attention turned as she heard someone try and radio her Scorpion as she began to rise from the concrete. “Grace cut the black box and hold on. We’ve been noticed.”

There was a thunk and a ‘shit!’ as they gathered momentum to rise and headed directly to the north side of the base to pick Lilith up.

“We lost the bolt cutters,” Grace called.

“And the Blackbox?”

“Yes.”

“Acceptable loss.”

It didn’t matter really, she doubted they’d need them again but if need be, they could always request for a new set when they were ready to trade. For now, Avatar, escape and link-shack move. Simple enough.

-

Mansk, along with Walker stared out the window overlooking the back of the base as the Scorpion dipped down and an avatar jumped up into it from the shadows and they were off, quickly crossing into the air turret range as they began their ascent up into the night sky rapidly.

Walker sighed deeply but made no remark as she set her hands on her hips.

He could readily hear the frantic talking as the team leaders scrambled to action before one had the sense to open comms to him.

“Sir! We’ve got a situation. An unauthorised engine start from a Scorpion leaving with defectors and an avatar.” An alarmed voice echoed into his office radio. “Turrets will be hot in two minutes. They’ll still be in range when they’re—“

“No.” Mansk decided, shaking his head. “No shooting them out of the sky.”

He felt Walker’s eyes turn to him sharply, her lips pursing but he ignored that for now.

“But sir—”

“That avatar is five billion dollars and the scorpion is ten million dollars. Shooting them now destroys all possibilities of recovering them. We can afford a temporary loss. Just keep tabs on them; their direction and their speed. We can try and catch up tomorrow, I can’t authorise a chase at this time of night. Their weapons are no doubt fully functional. We can’t afford to lose good men and women more than we already have.”

“Yes…Sir.” There was hesitance to the guy’s voice.

Mansk kept those facts as a major reason for the RDA interests. Shooting the scorpion would kill all the defectors and the avatar, which may in turn kill the driver in the link-bed. Sure, the defector problem would go away and he may be praised for quick thinking in stopping defectors and scaring those thinking about leaving as well.

But they’d still lose the avatar and scorpion, the deaths would damage the morale between comrades and those who knew the motivation behind the leaving.

In all honestly, those with exceptional hearing knew well in advance of the quadruplet’s escape plan, but no one else knew the context of it. He personally didn’t know why they wanted to leave, nor did he really care to. Based on their work, and general interactions with other staff, there were no ‘signs’ that they could use that would have been a missed ‘signal’ that they were going to bounce. If the reasons were close to the female group that bailed to escape their abusers and they killed them for escape… then they were fucked. Personally, Mansk didn’t think so but he’d check in the reports in case he missed something. Still, he wasn’t looking forward to letting Hell’s Gate know. Selfridge was gonna blow a fuse. At least Colonel Quaritch would have his back on it.

“I’ll do a sweep of the airfield. I get someone to do inventory so we know what else was taken.” Walker spoke, her ruby eyes lingering on the screen that began to light up with new notifications. “I think they got away with a lot less than we expected but they have that trade system they wanna do…”

 Mansk decided, leaning back from his monitor to start his report. “Let’s see how it goes, we still to RDA patrols and plans. We have no physical proof of anything.”

“But the trading system? That’ll lead to contraband and losses. If Hell’s Gate finds out then we’re in a lot of trouble. We can’t afford the heat.” Walker replied, worried.

“Again, no proof of anything. Until there is evidence, do nothing. Contraband can keep our people here happy. Happy people mean we can feed a lot more and stay fed for longer. The herbs they’re drinking benefit us.” Mansk explained. “I asked Augustine about the plant effects on humans after I heard what they wanted.” He added at the incredulous side-eye Walker gave him.

Walker let out a redundant huff of breath. “I better get to work.” She patted her pockets until she fished out her brown contact lens’s case and once again set them back in to cover the red, blinking a few times and went to duck to the antique mirror of Mercer’s to check.

It was a large mirror, full length and the fact it was in Mercer’s office seemed to suggest the late director had narcissist tendencies. It hadn’t been moved except to the corner of the room and there had been debate on what to do with it and where it was going. Honestly, Mansk kept it in the office for one reason only and that was curiosity (and fun).

Watching Walker duck in front had been worth the silence about it as she jumped back in surprise.

“Dude! What the fuck!” Walker blinked, her hand coming to the glass surface to check it. “Where is my reflection?!”

Mansk rose to his feet, picking up an untouched desk ornament and darted forward to hold it up to the mirror’s surface. The ornament remained in view, he also wasn’t visible which made her ogle a little.

“Damn… Vampire thing?” Walker calmed down, “Okay, get Augustine or Kamath to figure out why we don’t have a reflection in this when we’re good with every other mirror and reflective surface.”

“It’s a silver mirror. Silver is the problem” Mansk pointed out, knocking on the glass. “Antique. Mercer must have brought it from Earth. Mirrors nowadays don’t have silver backing to it.”

“Why is silver such a problem…. Here I thought we didn’t have any weirder vampire shit to deal with. I thought the whole ‘no reflections’ was a myth. Nine years like this and this is new!” she gestured to the mirror wildly.

“I don’t know but it’s been fun to stare into it.” Mansk chuckled, earning a soft and annoyed elbow to the gut. “Since there’s no next of kin to claim it, Selfridge wants it for his office. It’ll be gone by the end of the week. You're fine, by the way.” Motioning to her eyes before he flickered back towards his desk.

“I hope so.” She slipped the case away back into her pocket. “I’ll keep you informed. Good luck with the Colonel…. Or Selfridge, I should say.”

 “Thanks.”

“Cover that mirror too, we don’t need people to notice.”

No, they didn’t but it would be really funny.

-

Alex examined the link-bed half as he set down the top lid off to the floor but he had faith his simulations would provide a working piece soon enough. Scrap metal was all the extra they had to work with and the few abandoned and broken AMP suits from years back in the wild provided them with enough material to create a frame for the cryo-pod top.

The internal body framing was done, as was the crown, as Alex aptly named it was also done. The pod he had modified wouldn’t fit into the torus of the link bed and the link bed still had a lot of work to make it work in cool temperatures. Cutting it up was only one part of the work.

Still, three weeks should be enough and the nutrient packs for the avatar were going to run out sooner rather than later so any time before they were forced to decanter it. They had to make this work.

“How is it going? You’re up very early.”

Alex’s head rose to see Teylan poking his head into their junk bay of a maintenance room was. It probably looked like a mess. He smiled warmly at the young Na’vi, waving him in nonetheless and straightened up.

“Well, we’re a while away before we get anything functional but this is good progress,” Alex said with a chuckle. “I wanted to make a start with the bed since we have them. I’ve got a lot to do to make the link-bed portion workable in low temperatures.”

Teylan peered down curiously before he reached forward and poked the gel padding. “Oh, it’s squishy.” His finger sunk into the gel before he pulled his hand back to pat across the surface.

Alex laughed. “yes, these beds are designed for the human body to rest but to prevent bed sores and discomfort, the bed is padded out with this specially designed gel-padding. Heat and cold resistant so when it’s working and Alma’s in it, it should still be comfortable.”

Teylan’s eyes flickered at him. “The others haven’t told me much but… is Alma really that badly hurt?”

Alex’s good mood tampered a little, his face falling. “It’s… not for me to say, Teylan. I can’t judge much but without a fully trained medical doctor, we don’t know for sure. Until there’s a doctor who can give a prognosis, this is Alma’s only chance at having a life.” Gesturing to the junk pile.

“Isn’t Hajir and Nalin a doctor?”

“Hajir’s medically trained but he’s mostly zoologist. He can run a medical bay but he’s not a fully trained surgeon. Nalin is a medical researcher. She can patch up a lot but not extreme wounds like Alma’s. They’ve already given their assessments. I can’t disclose, unfortunately.”

Teylan remained quiet for a moment. “Would… a Tsahìk help her? The Aranahe’s Tsahìk, Asahe is probably very skilled and could help her?”

“I don’t doubt a Tsahìk’s ability to heal but… I don’t think a Tsahìk knows how to tend to a human body, Teylan.” Alex crouched down beside the upper half, reaching for his screwdriver. “If it was the avatar hurt, I’m sure that would be easily tended to given it is almost identical to a Na’vi form.”

Teylan deflated a little. “Can I help?”

“If you want? I’ve got to strip the wires and remove the tech from the top lid. I can repurpose them for the bottom. If you could help pile all the wires and separate the metal from the glass and tech, that would be extremely helpful. Once we’re done, we can have breakfast.”

With a curt nod, Teylan grabbed a tool, knelt and began to help peel off wires that were still attached to the scraps they had pulled together. A few AMP suits had good canopies and some left in the wild were intact.

“Ri’nela wants me to go down to Hometree again today but… I don’t want to go. I heard from Kieotey from another hunter yesterday that there are new predators in the forest that we should be careful of. What if I run into it?” Teylan worried.

“New predator?”

“Well, she said the hunter saw it when he was hunting a yerik. Two fur creatures, one orange and black and the other white and grey. Same energy and size as Viperwolves.”

Alex frowned as he gently set the screw he had pulled out into a pot. “That’s unusual. Most Pandoran creatures have some fur but are not covered unless, of course, they’re from a cold biome. The colouring isn’t native this this forest either.” Must not be easy hunting but still, it was… odd.

“I know! It’s possible the creatures left their native environment for some reason. Maybe the sky people displaced them?”

“It’s possible, there’s only a few RDA installations in the Upper Plains and one north of the clouded forest in this region. We’re above the equator. They couldn’t have come down from the north but maybe they came up from the south?” Still, a long way to travel.

“Maybe. I guess we’ll have to see if the Aranahe capture these creatures. Maybe they will help them. But it’s still unsafe. I still think it’s best if I stay out here and help.”

Clearly, Teylan as trying to keep himself focused and with human things. Alex didn’t mind the help but… he’d probably have to ask someone to try and push the kid back to Na’vi stuff. It was only right to do that. Maybe they had to play subtle and get interested in Na’vi stuff first themselves and get him to help with Na’vi’s things.

Who knew? Maybe Alma would be able to help once they got her linked up. They would respond well to her. Teylan certainly might.

Masterlist

[chronicallycouchbound]

If you’re able to donate to the victims and survivors of the mass shooting in Lewiston, please consider donating to:

• Joseph Walker’s family, as they navigate the aftermath of his death.

• Bill and Aaron Young’s family, Bill was the sole breadwinner of the family as his wife, Cindy, is on disability.

• Ben Dyer’s recovery from his gunshot wounds

• Peyton Brewer-Ross

• Justin Karcher

• Arthur Strout

• Maxx Hathaway

• Billy Brackett

• Bob and Lucy Violette

• Kyle Secor

• Seal Family Meal Train

• General Donation Fund via Victims First

• General donation fund for families on behalf of the owners of Spare Time bowling alley, also known as Just in Time Recreation

• From L/A Harley Davidson of Lewiston on behalf of all families and victims

[professorpski]

Niddy Noddy: Yarn to Skein, Balls to Skein

This is one of those gadgets which makes dealing with yarn so much easier for the artisan. Spinners use it into turn yarn coming off a wheel into a skein, and yarn dyers use it to take a ball of yarn and turn it into a skein too. Of course, this is a very old tool, and there are mechanized versions to do all of this, but part of the pleasure here is the simplicity and the effectiveness.

You hold the central bar and then wrap the yarn around the two other pieces which have bumps at their ends (save one end for sliding the skein off). You can see the ball of yarn in a dark green yarn bowl on the floor just below my right hand which is bringing the yarn around from one bar to the other. The left then hand then tips up and down over and over to make the looping easier.

The repetitive motion is where the names comes from as its original use in the 1600s came from someone nodding off to sleep, which turned into a word for a foolish person as well in the 1700s, and finally the name of the the gadget in the late 19th century. All this according to the Oxford English Dictionary which traces the use of words over time.  This niddy noddy breaks down into 3 pieces and is one of the larger ones. I got it used and I like to think someone else got some use and pleasure out of it before I did, just as I enjoy knowing I am using a word of such ancient origins. You can find pretty and more utilitarian ones at your fiber supplier.

[lcnelyday]

open to all ft. CLAIRE LEIGH (bisexual, 25, student (history), natalia dyer fc) claire and your muse are having a fight because someone's scared of her feelings. do not like my starters or i will autoblock

"do you not trust me or something?" claire asked, arms crossed over her chest, trying to maintain her cool. she knew how hot headed she could be, and it was always embarrassing when she calmed down. "listen, i was with boone and a couple of his friends, you didn't need to worry about me." she said. she tossed her keys into the bowl at the door and hung her jacket up. in her defense, she had no idea how late it was.

[deal4shop]

Makeup Brush Cleaning Set Brush Cleaner Dyer Holder 3 in 1 Portable Cleaning Tool for Brushes, Powder Puffs, and Sponges with Bowl, Holder & Mat(purple)

Price: (as of – Details) Our brush cleaner bowl is made of hight quality sillicon that is easy to lean your brushes Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 5 x 3 inches; 10.86 ounces Item model number ‏ : ‎ L1 UPC ‏ : ‎ 671891748830 Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Chengfeng ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CPPKFSB5 3-In-1: Our innovative brush care station offers a unified solution for washing, drying, and storing your makeup brushes.…

[ohnemitleid]

Indulge in the irresistible combination of gooey chocolate, moist cake, and creamy frosting with these Frosted Gooey Chocolate Cake Bars.

Ingredients: 1 box chocolate cake mix. 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, melted. 1/4 cup milk. 1 large egg. 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. 1 cup sweetened condensed milk. 1 cup powdered sugar. 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. 1/4 cup 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Instructions: Preheat the oven to 350F 175C and grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. In a bowl, combine the chocolate cake mix, melted butter, milk, and egg. Mix until well combined. Press half of the cake mixture evenly into the prepared baking pan. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk together in 30-second intervals, stirring until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture over the cake layer in the pan. In another bowl, mix powdered sugar, cocoa powder, softened butter, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy. Drop spoonfuls of the cocoa mixture onto the chocolate layer in the pan. Take the remaining cake mixture and crumble it over the top of the bars. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the top is set and edges are lightly golden. Allow the bars to cool completely before cutting into squares. Serve and enjoy!

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ashlee Dyer

[teepeecider]

Dyer’s Pass perry pear in full blossom. This tree is 10 years old now and is growing into a magnificent tree. Looking forward to a good crop of pears 😊. Sadly I had to grafted a new one this year as a previous 4 year old one succumbed to fireblight last year. If not caught early and the whole limb removed the whole tree is easily lost. Pears are very susceptible to this, which is caused by a bacteria. The Erwinia amylovora, a Gram-negative bacterium in the genus Erwinia, order Enterobacterales. It is a short rod with rounded ends and many peritrichous flagellae. Pears are the most susceptible, but apples, loquat, crabapples, quinces, hawthorn, cotoneaster, Pyracantha, raspberry and some other rosaceous plants are also vulnerable. The disease is believed to be indigenous to North America, from where it spread to most of the rest of the world.

As an aside Fire blight is not believed to be present in Australia though it might possibly exist there , although it has been seen by NZ scientist Chris Hale in Melbourne Botanical Gardens in 1997. Australia has cited its absence as a major reason for a long-standing embargo on the importation of New Zealand apples to Australia since 1921. However the real reason is a trade dispute. NZ apples threaten Australian growers in quality. NZ cas eas upheld by a WHO appellate body in 2010 but still exports are barred. Underhand bowling? In Europe last year condi were right hot and humid to lose whole orch so I was pleased in hindsight to only lose 1 tree. #perry #pear #blossom #orchard