#gr: photosets

[claudiajcregg]

Tonight I can write the saddest lines. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too. Through nights like this one I held her in my arms. I kissed her again and again under the endless sky. She loved me, sometimes I loved her too. How could one not have loved her great still eyes. Tonight I can write the saddest lines. To think that I do not have her. To feel that I have lost her.

Poem XX: I Can Write (Pablo Neruda)

[dansnaturepictures]

06/01/2023-WWT Slimbridge: Part 2 of 2-Other birds seen today and the plants, fungi and landscape Following on my previous post, it was also great to see charming Pintails intimately male and female seeing the unique and attractive make up of their feathers. This a low key bird of the week contender with great views of them at a few places. Shelduck and Pochard male and female which I adore and Wigeon and Shoveler were great ducks to see today too. I also enjoyed a Mandarin Duck seen at the feeding at dusk which I’d not seen at Slimbridge before and was nice to. Many of these species, the Bewick’s Swans and rows of Greylag Geese were amazing to see in the noisy frenzy as they fed, seeing Mallards and others pile onto each other and many scuffles was so engrossing. Powerful moments of natural connection. 

As I touched upon in my last post with Golden Plovers the Lapwings gliding on mass through the sky like northern lights at various points was a spectacle of the day I took the fourth picture in this photoset of some, and I enjoyed large numbers of uniformly beautiful Barnacle Geese. Grey Heron and Cormorant were other highlights today. It was good to see the first Kestrel I ever recall doing so here hovering above marsh too. Jackdaw and Rook were key sightings throughout the day as they always are here, the Jackdaws especially atmospheric as large numbers flew and gathered to roost at dusk. With their iridescent purple feathers glowing in the sunlight we enjoyed today Feral Pigeons were a highlight too. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of a Moorhen near where we saw the Water Rails. 

In terns of the collections of birds and mammals here I enjoyed seeing captive Scaup with its head feathers glowing well in the light a key bird today on both the captive and wild side I took the second picture in this photoset of it, Goldeneye, Chiloe Wigeon, one called something like an American Red-Crested Duck I can’t recall exactly from the sign and can’t seem to find it on the web and Red Shoveler neither of which I had seen here/other WWT centres before so this was nice they are both beautiful, the fabulous Black-necked Swans, of course the iconic Nene aka Hawaiian Goose which Sir Peter Scott and the WWT have worked so hard to conserve looking stunning in sunlight in the enclosure resembling Hawaii, flamingos and brilliant views of Harvest Mouse as we have seen here before in an enclosure and a Water Vole.  

Plant wise I enjoyed a hopeful for the eventual arrival of spring sight we have seen here quite a bit by a hide where we enjoyed other flowers too adorable snowdrops coming through which the first picture in this photoset shows. I took the sixth picture in this photoset of some pink flowers nearby. Also of note was more groundsel I’ve seen so much lately, teasel seed heads and possibly gone over dock. Some candlesnuff fungi I believe on a log was a treat and I took the tenth picture in this photoset of it a fungi I first discovered late last year in the New Forest. 

Finally, on a day that had sun and rain it was wonderful to take in stunning views into the estuary and beyond in the great hilly landscape, reedbed, marshland and a great mixture of trees with really red barked ones, pine and willow mixed well in scenes. There were unique and enticing sky scenes of nice cloud formations throughout and epic scenes of lowering sun against the observatory tower as the fifth picture in this photoset shows, over/behind reedbeds and through trees with nice reflections today too. I took the third, eighth and ninth pictures in this photoset of views here today. An incredible day that we’ll be talking about for years to come. Once again it was a perfect thing to do for my birthday and even though it is tomorrow it was nice of the lady on the desk to give me a WWT happy birthday sticker. 

Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first Bewick’s Swan, Golden Plover, Snipe, Common Crane, Black-tailed Godwit, Knot, Ruff, Reed Bunting, Water Rail, Scaup and Greenfinch of the year, Pochard, Shelduck, a Cape Shelduck cross with something possibly Ruddy Shelduck which was interesting to see, Mandarin Duck, Mallard, Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Teal, Tufted Duck, Pintail, Mute Swan, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Snow Goose, Ross’s Goose, Bar-headed Goose, Barnacle Goose, Redshank, Lapwing, Grey Heron, Cormorant, Moorhen, Coot, Herring Gull, Black-headed Gull, Kestrel, Rook, Jackdaw, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Chaffinch, House Sparrow, Pied Wagtail, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon and a thrush flying over early on probably Redwing.

Part 1 of today’s posts about those bird species I saw for the first time this year is here: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/705738842177667072/06012023-wwt-slimbridge-part-1-of-2-birds-i-saw

[ifixeditinpost]

The Old Man and the Sea

Camera: Ricoh GR III

Editing: Adobe Lightroom

IG: @ ifixeditinpost

[ugihs]

[lizziethereader]

thelivebookproject replied to your photoset “2019 reading stats I managed to read as many books in 2019 as I did in...”

Nope, I assumed too much �� Thought those were from GR instead of yours!

haha yeah, sorry, that was misleading! Those are indeed from my own spreadsheet where I keep track of my reads :D

[thnkvoid-archive]

soooo these some drawings i’ve made in the past few months, mostly sketches, but two of them were finished projects that i. turned in,.

@ferreandhiscat im sorry i dont have any pictures of my most recent project it is currently being graded but yep !! (-:

[shadowofthelamp]

zappycat replied to your photoset “I’m reading an official GR chapter book and goddamn. Usually in a...”

@shadowofthelamp what is the name of this?

It’s called “Trade” by Barry Hutchinson! I downloaded it ages ago so I don’t remember where I got it, but it’s a fun romp, even though it gets kind of... oddly fetish-y at the end. With VK, thankfully, not Rex as much. That’d be ew.

[chaisexuality-archive]

me vs trying not to accidentally reblog any gifset or photoset that was originally tagged as gr*ndice bc i dont want to be mistaken for One Of Them

[mohoszdb]

New Post has been published on http://hajdu-horgasz.hu/2019/04/keleti-kupa-i-fordulo/

Keleti-Kupa I. forduló

Évadnyitó horgászversenynek is beillő versenyt szerveztünk a Keleti-főcsatornán, mely egyben a Keleti-Kupa sorozat első fordulója is volt egyben. A 17 főre tervezett verseny minden kiadó helyére érkezett nevező, így teljes létszámmal ültük le a pálya minden második helyét. A páros számú rajthelyek kihagyásának oka az volt, hogy képünk legyen arról, vajon nagyobb halmennyiség fogható-e meg abban az esetben, ha ritkábban ülünk a verseny során. Természetesen egyetlen próba nem próba, de az első forduló átlagfogása alapján mondhatjuk, hogy ezen a napon átlagosan több halat sikerült fogni mint a korábbi versenyek során. Természetesen az is igaz, hogy van hová fejlődni, de a végcélt nem téveszthetjük szem elől, reális célokat kell kitűzni az egy verseny alatt egy főre jutó átlagos fogás tekintetében. Ezen a versenyen átlagosan 1,9 kg jutott fejenként, ami nem mondható rossz eredménynek a csatorna jelleg figyelembe vételével.

A verseny során most is érzékelhető volt ugyan a szélső rajthelyek erőssége, bár érdekes módon a középső szektorban ejtett zsákmány mennyisége összemérhető volt a szélső szektorokéval. Leginkább dévérkeszeg és karikakeszeg adta a fogott halak nagyobb részét, míg a törpeharcsa vélhetően a kora tavaszi vízhőmérsékletnek, még nem jelentkezett az etetéseken. Tapasztalható volt, hogy nagyon finoman felkínált és pontosan vezetett csalival lehetett csak a halat a horgot rejtő csalira csalni, a nem kínálgatott eledelt nem vette fel. Mindenképpen másfajta horgászmódszer ez, mint amit a korábbi években megszoktunk tavainkon.

Örömünkre szolgál, hogy a versenyen részt vettek a fiatal generációból is horgászok, remélhetőleg ők is ráéreznek a folyóvízi és a tavi horgászat közötti különbség szépségeire.

Folytatás következik, következő forduló május 05.-én…..

A szektorok első helyezettjei fogott súly alapján :

I.   Dudás Imre 6230 gr.

II.  Nádházi Lajos 3860 gr.

III. Göblyös Attila  3345 gr.

Néhány érdekes kép…

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[marchosian]

hi tumblr— wwe’vvea heard from a bunch of u that safe mode was filterin posts from the lgbtq+ community even though they were completely innocuousss and totall y safe-forr-work.... pls know that waes never our intention, and we appreciateo u lettin u s know so quickly—a nd forcefully!!!! we’re deeply sorry.. tumblr will always be a pla ce where everyone is welcome and proutected,,, so we want t o exp lain what happened...... th e major ISSUE was some tumblrs had marked themselves as adult/nsfw (now explicit) as a courtes y to their fellow users,,, and ttheir perfectly safe poests were gettin mairked sssensitive unintentioonally.... that shouuld never have happened..... weo’re SORRY. WE’RE makin some changes th at should impro ve things: changes to self-marked blogg s what wa s happenning: beacause we consider expliicit blogs to be ppredominae ntly sensitive connntent,,, we were automatically markin all ttheir posts as sensiutive.... thattt was too broad...... what we fixed: now each post is clllassifieod indiv idually...... as they should bbe... changes to reblog chains what was happening: if an explicit ttumblr reblogged a safe post, we werei markin that rebl og as sensitive.... this was even happenin to text posts..... which is silly.... what we fixed: wwe changed the lloagic so thhat IF the op is safeo,, all iits reblougs will also be safe..... changes to p hotosets what’s (still) happeniangg: when u makeu a phhoto post,,,, A co mputer algorithm classifies the image as safe OR sensitive... it’s a machiane so it’s not perfect.... AND the chances go up w ith photosets because there are mu ltiple images.. bu t oe ut of an abundance of caiutioin we keep posts markeud sensitive until the op requests a human review (by tappin the appeal button on their posts)...... what wea’re worrrkin on: we plan to have photosets analyzed as a whole gr oup,,,, rather than as individual images... thaat should REDUCE the number of mistakes the machine makes.. safe mode is supposed to make sure people aren’t su rprised by things may not want TO see—specificallly,,, nudity... it might take some time to get it perfec t,, but we’re committed to gggettin there with your help.... our algorithms will keep gettin smarter as u give feedback on misclassssified postsss,,, and AS u share youur conncerns and suggestions...

[searchforthescars]

YO OKAY

SO I finally got myself together and wrote the SoC next-gen AU that I’ve been talking about. Yaay! 

Special thanks to @savagekaz , @henrymarsette , @dirtyhandsnet and everyone else who was passionately encouraging me to write this thing. It makes me really happy and I hope you like this. <3

If you want to see photosets or other extra content, click here.

Six years after the events of Crooked Kingdom...

As Kaz Brekker stared out the fourth-floor window, he twirled the slim gold band around his ungloved finger, trying not to imagine it where it should be: on the slim dark finger of a girl who was most likely dead and gone.

He heard her voice in his head, a painful but welcome reminder. “Don't be so dramatic, Kaz,” she'd say with that endearing eyeroll he had come to love.

“Then come home,” he'd say to her now.

He looked out his office window, moving until he could see Fifth Harbor, his eyes lingering on The Wraith 's berth.  Through the dark night and pouring rain, he couldn’t see much, but it was the thought that counted.  That berth had been empty for three years, her captain and crew lost somewhere between Novyi Zem and Ketterdam.  Kaz had tried to bring her home, had deployed his every resource, even asked Nikolai for help at great (and often irritating) expense, but the ship had vanished.

And with it had been the girl he wanted to marry. [Read on Ao3]

He tucked the ring into its box and snapped the box closed, hiding it in the false bottom of his desk drawer.  There was a sudden commotion downstairs, loud shouts that signaled a brawl or a heist.  Either way, he wasn't about to let his people get into any dirty business that he didn't have his hands in.

When he reached the first landing, he realized it was rapping at the door that was causing such a disturbance.  He strode for the door, ignoring the apprehensive looks of his people.  No one dared knock on the door of the Slat without a good reason, a reason that only Kaz Brekker needed to attend to.

He recognized the two boys on the doorstep - they were part of Inej’s crew, recruited after a raid done right on the edge of the Barrel.  His heart made a sickening leap in his chest.

“What business?” To his own ears, his voice was hoarse and harsh.

The taller one shifted a bundle in his arms.  Kaz didn’t invite them in out of the rain, merely regarded them with a cool stare.  “We came from The Wraith.   We have a message from Inej Ghafa.”

Kaz turned to the sitting room.  “Everyone out!”  No one argued but there were plenty of curious whispering, lingering stares that Kaz knew he would have to quell eventually.

He turned to them, inviting them in by posture though not by word.  “What is the message?”

The taller boy shifted the blankets in his arms, handing Kaz a worn scrap of paper.  Kaz forced his hands not to tremble as he squinted through the fading ink.

Kaz,

I hope this reaches you.  I haven’t much time and I know that most of what I could say will leave you with questions. The Wraith was boarded, its markings and flags stripped, and my crew and I were taken hostage.  It has taken us three years to plan even this small of an escape. If I run, my remaining crew will only suffer further.  I refuse to let that happen.

This little girl’s name is Jordan.  She is our daughter but I don’t expect you to care for her.  A good mother always and only wants her her child to be safe.  That’s why I sent her to you.  Please find her somewhere safe, someone who will raise her and care for her.  For me.

I can hear you laughing now. Yes, Ketterdam is not a safe place for a child.  But you can make a world for her that is.  I know because you did it for me.  So stop grumbling, Kaz.

I will find a way home to you. I’m sorry.  I miss you.

I love you.

-Inej

He took a deep breath, tucked the letter into his breast pocket and reached for the bundle in the boy’s arms.  “Careful, she’s asleep,” he murmured but his caution went unheeded to Kaz’s ears.

She looked like her mother, Kaz realized with a clench of his heart, though she had a very Kerch jaw.  She stirred, blinked sleepily and regarded him with bleary coffee-brown eyes.  “Where’s Mama?” she asked, her voice small.

Kaz couldn’t look away.  With a look, he dismissed Inej’s men, knowing he should let them stay, unable to bear the thought.  “Your mother… she’s not here.  She sent you to me so I could keep you safe.”

A little frown creased her brow.  “Are you my papa?”

Kaz held her a little tighter, pressing her head to his shoulder.  “I’m your papa, Jordan.”  The name was unfamiliar on his tongue.  He could have kissed or killed Inej for choosing it for their daughter.  “You’re safe now.”

She made a small noise and fell silent, nuzzling into his neck.  Kaz sighed, wondering what is was about this girl that made him want to burn down the world for her.

He really was horrible at caring for children.  He should ask Jesper for pointers.

“Get down!”

The bullet whizzed straight past Jordan’s ear just before she ducked.  The man in front of her fell as she turned to glare over her shoulder.  “You could have shot me!”

Alexander holstered his revolvers, a broad grin splitting his face.  Jordan tucked her knife into the sheath on her arm. “You okay, Vickie?” she asked, gingerly touching the cut on her cheek.  Alexander’s frown was one of concern.  She shrugged.   I’m okay.

“Don't call me Vickie,” Victoria grumbled, casually checking Alexander for injuries.

“I'm fine, Tori,” he murmured, batting her hand away when her fingers danced over a burn on his shirt. “It was me, not them.”

“As long as you're not spontaneously combusting, I'm happy,” Jordan quipped, checking the window. “Can you both climb?  We need to go before anyone-” Jordan sprang back as the windowpane shattered. “Damn!”

“You were saying?” Victoria snarked.  Jordan rolled her eyes. Alexander positioned himself protectively between Victoria and the only other exit in the room. Jordan reached for her knife again and Victoria made a grab for her pistol.

When the door banged open, both of the Fahey-Van Eck children almost shot their father.

“What the hell?” Jesper Fahey put his hands in the air until his children put their weapons down.  Jordan took a split second to appreciate the fury spreading over Victoria’s face.  “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here, Da?” Alexander holstered his revolvers for the second time.  Jordan sheathed her knife with an exasperated sigh, fighting a smile when she saw that Victoria practically had steam coming from her ears.

“I could ask you the same question.  This is a pleasure house.”

“It was,” Jordan shrugged, planting her hands on her hips.  “I convinced them to… relocate.”

“Spoken like a Barrel boss.”

Jordan bit her lip, scanning the room.  Alexander and Victoria shared an ‘uh-oh’ look between the two of them.  “Did you break the window?” She asked Jesper.

“Scheming face?” She heard Alexander whisper to his sister.

“Most likely,” she whispered back, poking him in the side to shush him.

“No.” Jesper’s response came out more of a question. Before Jordan could continue her line of thought, measuring the room’s dimensions and trying to envision what could have broken the window, rapid gunfire sounded from the back of the house.

“Run now, think later,” Alexander said, shoving Jordan in the back until she broke into a run, following Jesper and Victoria down the stairs.

They made it to the streets, narrowly skirting heavy gunfire, their feet loud on the streets.  Jordan had to smile when she saw Jesper grinning, presumably thinking of his glory days.

“That was something,” she breathed, watching her breath float away on the cold wind.  She cataloged their successes.  Twenty-some girls were freed and, while Alexander had given chase to the man who owned the pleasure house, Victoria had uncovered very interesting financial documents that would surely cause the man’s ruin at the Exchange.

Alexander appeared at her side, materializing from the shadows, his blue eyes and dark skin glowing in the lights of the street lamp. “We did good.”

Jordan saw Victoria showing Jesper the papers she retrieved from the pleasure house’s office.  “Yeah,” she agreed.  “Not bad.”

They made it to Victoria’s favorite waffle house, a rickety building crammed between two houses.  Jordan and Alexander shared a plate of chocolate-chip waffles while Jesper and Victoria ordered heaping plates of their own.

Victoria was lean and pale, all sharp angles and messy reddish-brown hair.  When she smiled, the world seemed to light up.  Jordan watched heads turn across the restaurant when she laughed.  Alexander’s eyes crinkled around the edges, fondness playing at his features.  As polar as they were to one another, there was real unreplicatable love between them.

Next to them both, Jordan felt plain and inadequate.  Distasteful people described her as exotic, with her brown Suli skin and matching eyes, but she preferred the anonymity that her father’s looks provided.  She was often jealous of Victoria and Wylan.  No one ever stared at them when they walked down the street.

Alexander shoved the whipped cream onto Jordan’s side of the waffles.  “She likes it,” he said to his father’s raised eyebrow.

“And you don’t?” Jesper pretended to be dramatically wounded.  “Whose son are you?”  Alexander laughed under his breath while Victoria rolled her eyes. “Good to see you’re not at that point yet where you’re embarrassed by your father’s behavior.”

Jordan could never tell if he was kidding.  She wasn’t great with this sort of thing.

She took a bite of her waffles, letting the whipped cream melt on her tongue.  The cut on her cheek stung when she chewed.  Alexander touched it hesitantly with the back of his hand.  His skin was cool.  “You should clean that out.”

She shrugged.  “First food.  Then sleep.”

Alexander’s hand dropped from her cheek.  His fingers tangled in a strand of her hair.  She tried not to shiver.  “Food, personal care, sleep.  In that order.”

Jesper was too busy reading over Victoria’s stolen document to pay them much mind but Victoria’s clever grey eyes were tracking her brother’s every move.  “Not a word,” Alexander said lowly to Victoria, referencing some secret to which Jordan wasn’t privy.  She didn’t mind - siblings needed their secrets.

She had secrets of her own, most notably the birth certificate she had found in her father’s office this morning. She had wanted to tell Alexander about it but with him had come Victoria and she was hesitant to let the younger Fahey-Van Eck in on such a potentially volatile secret.  Besides, this had been Victoria’s first job with them and Jordan didn’t want to rattle her.

The birth certificate was hers, but not.  It carried a different last name but the birth date was hers. Jordan Ghafa. It was so familiar but she needed Alexander’s clever mind to make sure she wasn’t insane.

When the plates were cleared, they walked home in the pitch black.  Victoria and Alexander wandered ahead; Victoria was talking gleefully about the Exchange and Alexander was listening intently. Jordan jammed her hands in her pockets, feeling the handle of the knife on her belt through her coat’s lining.

“You did good work tonight,” Jesper said, coming up behind her.  “Your mother would be proud.”

Jordan’s head snapped toward him.  “My mother?”

Jesper’s face morphed from concerned to guilty.  “Kaz never told you, did he?  Sweet Ghezen .”

“Told me what?” Jordan’s voice sounded uncharacteristically tight to her own ears.

“He never told you about your mother?” Now Jesper wore the face of a man who now knows he shouldn’t have said anything.

“No. Nothing.” She felt her eyes hardening.  If Victoria were beside her, she would be telling Jordan to shut up.

They were walking through Fifth Harbor now.  The cry of gulls and the lapping of waves against the boat hulls soothed her nerves.  Jesper was scanning the streets as if seeking an answer to Jordan’s questions.  Jordan counted the berths, once, twice and then again.

“Hey!” Jordan exclaimed.  Ahead of them, Alexander ground to a halt, dragging Victoria with him.  “There’s a ship in berth 22.  In The Wraith’s spot.”

“So?” Victoria’s pale brow was drawn.  Two bells sounded above them.  Kaz would be furious with her for being home late but Jesper’s eyes - wider than dinner plates - and Alexander’s slack jaw convinced her feet to stay.

“There isn’t supposed to be a ship in berth 22,” Jesper murmured.  He turned abruptly to his children, all joviality out of his tone. “You two, get home.  Tell your father I’ve gone to the Crow Club.  Jordan, go home.”

Alexander gave Jordan a worried look as his father sprinted toward the Dregs-owned gambling hall.  “What the…?”

Jordan shrugged, worry gnawing at her heart. Something is about to happen.   “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Victoria gave her a hug.  “See you, Jordan.”

“You were great,” she told her younger friend.  The Fahey-Van Ecks set off for home but Jordan remained, pacing the planks of the harbor while staring at the offending ship.

Screw this, she thought.  I’m not going to wait for them to find out what’s going on.  I’m Jordan Brekker.  I get my own answers.

Running her hand over the knife sheathed on her forearm, she approached the ship.  It was small and stripped bare of any adornments or recognizable marks and there was no sign of life onboard.  She reasoned that the crew had gone out for the night, off to gambling dens or pubs or who knows where.  But that rationale wasn’t enough to sate her curiosity.

She swung aboard the ship, the lack of gangplank little to deter her.  The planks creaked under her feet as she made her way belowdecks to where the captain’s quarters would most likely be.  The door hung ajar, a small light flickering in the shadows.  Knife at the ready, she peeked around the corner.

A woman, slight and small with large brown eyes, blinked back at her, seemingly unsurprised by her arrival.  Jordan stepped fully into the doorway, keeping her face in shadows, stifling a sigh of resignation.  “Who are you?” The woman asked in accented Kerch.

“Who are you?” Jordan countered, sweeping the room for any sign of danger.  “You aren’t to be docked in this berth.”

The barest of smiles tugged at her lips.  “But I am.  This is my berth.”

“This…” Jordan looked around the room as if to find some clue contrary to her assumption.  “This is The Wraith ?”

The woman shifted on the bed, another small smile flickering at the edge of her mouth.  “It was.  But you still haven’t answered my question.”

Jordan slipped from the shadows.  The woman’s eyes went wide, darting to take in all of Jordan, her fitted black clothes, her choppy black hair, the knife on her belt.  “Jordan?” Her voice was a tiny whisper, a trembling thing.

“How… How did you know?” Jordan felt the ship rock under her feet.  Everything was moving too fast.  She wanted Alexander so she could grab at his wrist, feel his solid presence.

“He didn’t tell you?  About me?” Hurt flashed across the woman’s face as she stood.  She was a couple inches shorter than Jordan but as thin as a sheaf of Victoria’s drawing paper.  It was painfully obvious that she hadn’t eaten well in a long time.  But shouldn’t a ship’s captain have enough to eat?

“Who didn’t- What?” How she hated to stutter.  She tried to put herself together but it was an uneasy thing when there were more questions than answers.

“Kaz Brekker.”  She said the name like it was a prayer.

Jordan nodded.  “My papa.  What about him?”

“He didn’t tell you about me?  About the Wraith?”

She nodded.  “He did, all the time.  Inej Ghafa, former Menagerie girl, spider, and captain of the eponymous ship.”  Victoria would be proud of her vocabulary.  “She was a Dregs legend, the best one.”  Jordan felt a piece of a puzzle click into place.  She remembered the document she had found in her father’s safe. Saints, no.

The woman extended a hand as if to shake Jordan’s.  “My name is Inej Ghafa.  But you can call me the Wraith if you’d rather.”

Running footsteps from above decks told Jordan that they were no longer alone.  “Stay back,” she told Inej, silently closing the door and leaning her full weight against it.  After a moment, she heard familiar voices and flung it open, effectively startling the twelve-year-old messenger employed by the Dregs.  “What business?”

“Kaz sent me to find out who was in the berth,” he stuttered, voice full of unease.  Jordan would have expressed sympathy at any given time but she wanted nothing more than answers and to be off this ship.  

“Tell him…” Inej’s voice was trembling but her gaze was sure.  “Tell him that the Wraith is home.  He’ll come.”

The boy nodded, sprinting back the way he came.  Jordan turned to Inej again, her back against the door, her spine colliding with the handle.  “How did you know my name.”

“Jordan Rietveld saved his brother’s life in death,” Inej murmured, studying her hands.  “I chose that name because I had hoped you would be the one to carry others to the shore.”

Jordan’s world tilted on its axis.  Memories surfaced, little snippets of glossy hair clenched in her fists, a term of endearment in Suli, a bedtime story in Ravkan.  It was her voice.

It couldn’t be.

“Who the hell is Jordan Rietveld?”

Inej did not reply.

She lost track of how long they stood there and stared at one another but the familiar sound of cane-and-foot broke Jordan out of her thoughts.  “Papa!” She shouted up the stairs.  “Down here!”

She was surprised to hear her father breathless.  “Inej?” His voice was hopeful, burning as it left his mouth and something that Jordan could almost consider to be humble.

She took two tentative steps toward the door, toward Kaz, and reached out with one hand.  Jordan watched in awe as he took it, twining their fingers together and touching his lips to her forehead.  “Inej,” he whispered and there was no pain in his voice.  Jordan felt like a stranger, an intruder.  Again, she missed Alexander’s steady presence.

“Hello, love.” The smile crossing her face was so bright it was blinding.  Jordan slipped from the room, leaving them to their moment, her throat tight and her stomach clenching.

Who are you? She wanted to ask the woman in her father’s arms.   Are you my mother?  Why did you leave me.  Why did you come back?

She backed out of the room, sprinting above decks, letting her feet carry her to the Van Eck estate.  She didn’t care how late it was.  She needed her best friend.

[livefromphilly]

My Gear of the Year for 2016

I did a game of the year so why not also this?

1. Sony Sonnar T* FE 55mm f/1.8 ZA

This is one of my favorite lenses of all time and works well for what I like to shoot. It's great for people, long skinny streets, and neon signs. I only have three native FE lenses, and although I would probably rather have the 35mm if I could only have one, this lens is the perfect compliment. It's small, lightweight, focuses fast, and is super sharp even wide open.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

2. K&F Concept Lens Mount Adapter for Nikon AI Lens to Sony NEX E-Mount

While not as sexy as an expensive lens, this little guy let me adapt a bunch of my old Nikkor lenses for use on my Sony camera. While the adapter itself leaves something to be desired (I had to buy and install dark flocking material to kill the internal reflections from the glossy interior surface) using the old lens on the Sony camera is actually preferable to using them on my old (or current) digital Nikons. Not only can I zoom in with the EVF for precise focus, but the A7RII even makes the lenses stabilized so I can shoot at lower shutter speeds without a tripod. Plus, the adapter was only like $14.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

3. Nikon FE2

This is the second time I've owned one of these (and the fourth of the series if you want to count the FE and FM I had before), but I'll keep coming back a million times because it's my favorite series of film camera. I didn't use it as much as the adapter or the 55mm, but I think I had more fun shooting this camera than using either of those. The only reason it's not higher is because it was a known quantity when I got it whereas I was more surprised with how much I enjoyed my #1 and #2 picks.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

4. Canon Snappy LX

This was like $6 at the thrift store around the corner from my apartment and was probably the best use of my money in 2016. It's my first properly working film point and shoot and went in my pocket or bag almost everywhere. Once I got my GR repaired I stopped carrying it as much because film is expensive and it isn't the best camera for the dark winter months, but I look forward to busting it out again come spring.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

5. 55mm f/2.8 AI-s Micro-NIKKOR

Macro lenses are useful but I do not use them often. The solution? A sub-$100 film era lens that works well on my old Nikons and adapted on my new Sony. I really liked using this for goofy shots, flower shots, and taking pics of small and dangerous wildlife I probably shouldn't get so close to.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

6. Holga 120

This was technically my first medium format camera and also my first Holga. It's a very simple yet very satisfying way to shoot, and I thought the results were pretty damn good all things considered. It's kinda of big and I don't often by 120 film so I've only put one roll through it so far.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

7. Sony FE 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS

Now we're getting to the part of the top ten where shit ain't sweet. This lens isn't the worst lens I've ever used, and for what I payed for it I'm not complaining, but it really makes me appreciate primes. That said, when it's cold out and you're walking around for a while, it's nice to be able to shoot at different focal lengths without switching lenses.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

8. Sony HVL-F20M External Flash

Photography is all about light and sometimes you just need to make your own. My camera does really well at high ISO, but flash is better on occasions. Unfortunately there is no built in flash on the A7 series, so something like this was crucial. For the price I would have really liked some manual controls, but at least it's small and light. I ended up shooting most of the pics at NYE with this flash and it handled that with no problem.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

9. Polaroid 600 Land Camera OneStep 600

Another thrift store find, this one is aesthetically pleasing enough that I can look past the fact that I barely used it and the film for the thing is super expensive. In practice, the shutter speed and aperture range is so narrow that it's only really useable in nice sunshine. I'd like to eventually see how it fares for portraiture but I'm also not sure I want to go broke finding out.

Fav Pics: -1-, -2-, -3-

10. Nikon D60

While I'd argue that this camera is a better piece of gear that my 7, 8, and 9 picks, I didn't use it enough to justify putting it higher. There's also that "known quantity" thing that I mentioned in regards to the FE2; this was the only digital camera I had for a year and some change so I got really familiar with it's limitations and strong points. While the camera model is responsible for one of my favorite pics I've ever taken, I also only really used this particular one for a quick photoset the day I got it. Maybe I'll eventually come across a cheap 35mm f/1.8 DX to make this camera more useful.

--- Other Stuff ---

Peaks Design Slide Peaks Edition

Notice those little red things hanging off the FE2? Those are slots for the peak design camera strap and they're extremely useful. They make it so I can easily take the strap off my A7 and put it on any of my other bodies when I want to switch (or just removed the strap when I don't want to deal with the strap). It doesn't take photos, but it's one of the best pieces of gear I got this year.

Vanguard Veo 235ap

This is a very compact tripod that opens up to a reasonable height. It's definitely the most expensive tripod I've owned, but I'm starting to understand why people say you have to pay good money for a good tripod. I just don't care enough about tripod shooting to do that (although almost all these photos on this list were shot with the tripod).

[dansnaturepictures]

07/11/2022-Lakeside and home 

The Blue Tits are very regular in the garden these days, I don’t recall a period of them coming in so consistently before I enjoyed seeing some in this morning, I took the first picture in this photoset of one. They were around the feeders the same time as Goldfinches, a great rush of bright colour between the two of them which it was so good to have in the garden. Once again after last week on a Monday I saw Meadow Pipits whilst walking down the central path between the fenced off areas, this time getting an exhilarating view of three which came down onto the fence then flew up into a tree. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of two, it is so exciting seeing a bird I see loads elsewhere that I don’t often see at Lakeside. I was thrilled to see two Pied Wagtails very closely on the paths out the front, smashing intimate views of a bird that symbolizes winter for me when they visit the garden so much. I thought I heard some from home today and it was great to see these two flitting around the puddles as I have seen before. Also in the way of little birds today seeing a Goldcrest in trees by Kornwestheim lake at Lakeside was a treat, a cute and somewhat exuberant bird Europe’s smallest which I always like seeing.

In the way of waterbirds; as well as Coots bolstered in numbers a little to the one I’ve been seeing here through the summer and into autumn of late having spread to being on beach lake as well as just Concorde lake Great Crested Grebe had done the same. I saw one on each of these lakes, the one on Concorde that I’ve been seeing on and off for a while I’ve come round to thinking is a young one I believe possibly one of the youngsters born here this year. And the one on beach lake was certainly juvenile which was great to see. I took the ninth picture in this photoset of the one on Concorde lake which I liked seeing. It’s starting to go into those months where many birds are about at Lakeside which does excite me. A Noble False Widow spider was interesting to see in the landing once more before my lunch break.

At Lakeside it was nice to see some pretty flowering by beach lake, dogwood flowers I believe. A great throw back to spring days almost seeing flowering. On my lunch time walk dandelion, red deadnettle and groundsel going strong out the front still and cornflower, orange poppies and yarrow in the flower bed area on the way to Lakeside were nice flowers to see. I enjoyed seeing some pretty flowers I believe sumac great red ones which I took the third picture in this photoset of which have come out nicely, leaves with raindrops on and cress were lovely to see on the balcony on the way out for my walk with bright red rose hips adorned by raindrops and nice firethorn seen well in the front garden as well as the little bit of lavender in flower and smashing snapdragons beside the house which I took the fourth picture in this photoset of were great sights today too. 

It was interesting seeing Lakeside covered in puddles almost after the rain of late, and the lakes looking noticeably really full. What a difference a couple of months make. It was noticeable how low the water level was in the summer the extremes of the year really clear to see here. I enjoyed seeing autumnal colour today at Lakeside and home including bits of colour in the forsythia hedge providing brightness on a mostly moody day there was a touch of sun as the afternoon went on. I took the fifth, sixth, eighth and tenth pictures in this photoset of views here today. I also enjoyed seeing raindrops on the window, a subject I like taking macro photos of now and again as I did a couple of times including the second picture in this photoset. It was great to see prominence of them as the rain splashed the windows and how beautiful they looked, they made nice patterns fittingly as that is a theme in a photography Facebook group I am starting this week.

Wildlife Sightings Summary: One of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Moorhen, Coot, Black-headed Gull including seen well out the front also on the green, Herring Gull, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, very wild and rustic scenes of Carrion Crows, Jackdaw seen well out the front near the Pied Wagtal and before, Magpie, Blue Tit, Goldcrest, Starling, Meadow Pipit, Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Robin, possible Wren at Lakeside and Noble False widow. I believe I heard Long-tailed Tit at Lakeside too.

eBird checklist of today’s Lakeside walk: https://ebird.org/checklist/S122037212

[ugihs]

[rhiminee]

1littleword replied to your photoset :

@TaterZen  1 hour ago Gr-daughter Emily just...

how recent is this???? I am overwhelmed with all that facisal hair!

lol these pics were taken last week, i think. 

[ugihs]