#minus the ballet article.

[octaviasdread]

the older i get, the more i regret the shitty things i said about adult rory gilmore

[vapehk1]

Sky Vape: A Whimsical Journey into the Clouds of Vaping

Gather round, cloud chasers and flavor aficionados! Prepare for a whirlwind tour through the enigmatic world of Sky Vape. In this lighthearted expedition, we’ll uncover the nuances of vaping like never before—from selecting the right device to mastering the art of discreet puffing. Whether you’re a seasoned vaper or a curious newcomer, this article promises to elevate your knowledge with a pinch of humor and a dash of wisdom, all while floating on a cumulus cloud of delightful vapor. Choosing Your Sky Vape Gear Embarking on your vaping journey requires the right equipment, and with Sky Vape, the sky's literally the limit. When choosing your vape device, think of it as selecting a trusty sidekick. Do you go for the powerful, cloud-producing mod, or the sleek, incognito pen? Mods are like the Hercules of vape devices; they’re robust, mighty, and can create clouds so big, they might just get their own weather forecast. On the other hand, vape pens are the ninjas of the vaping world—small, agile, and perfect for those covert operations on the go. In the realm of Sky Vape, coils and tanks are your best mates. Coils are the heartbeats of your device, pulsating with every inhale and exhale. Choose the right coil and you'll be rewarded with the purest flavors and clouds so dense, you could lose your dog in them. Tanks are the reservoirs of joy, holding your precious e-juice and feeding it to the coil. Remember, a happy tank equals a happy vaper! Mastering the Art of Vape Tricks Once you've geared up, it’s time to dive into the showmanship of vaping: tricks! Ever wanted to blow O’s that look like they could carry Frodo to Mordor? Sky Vape can get you there. Start with the basics, like the ‘Ghost Inhale’, a move so smooth, it’s like vapor vanishing into thin air. Then advance to the ‘Jellyfish’, a trick that combines artistry with a hint of magic, making your smoke mimic an aquatic ballet. Practicing these tricks isn’t just about showing off (okay, maybe a little); it’s about understanding airflow and control. Each puff and flick of the wrist brings you closer to becoming the Gandalf of the vaping world—minus the long beard and wizard hat, unless that’s your style! The E-Juice Conundrum Selecting the right e-juice is akin to choosing the perfect spice blend for a gourmet meal. Sky Vape offers a plethora of flavors, from the classic tobacco undertones to wild, exotic blends like 'Dragonfruit Dance' or 'Minty Meteor Shower'. When choosing your juice, consider the PG/VG ratios. A higher VG content produces thicker clouds, perfect for those who like to vape loud and proud. Meanwhile, a higher PG ratio ensures more intense flavor and a stronger throat hit, suitable for the more flavor-focused vapers. Experiment with flavors as if you were a mad scientist in a flavor lab. Remember, the right e-juice can elevate your vaping experience from ordinary to sublime, making every puff a delightful journey through taste and scent. Vaping Etiquette and Stealth Techniques In the world of Sky Vape, knowing when and where to vape is just as important as how you vape. Vaping etiquette is not just about rules; it’s about respect. Always be mindful of your surroundings and the people around you. Not everyone appreciates a cloud to the face, no matter how delicious it smells. For those moments when discretion is key, mastering the art of stealth vaping is crucial. Techniques such as the ‘stealth hit’, where you hold in the vapor to reduce its visibility, or choosing a device with lower vapor production can be your best friends in sensitive situations. After all, the art of invisible puffing is something even Harry Potter would appreciate in his invisibility cloak! Conclusion There you have it—a comprehensive, whimsical guide to mastering the skies with Sky Vape. From choosing the right gear to performing vape tricks that would make a dolphin jealous, vaping is an art form that offers endless possibilities. Dive in, experiment, and most importantly, enjoy the journey. After all, it’s not just about the destination; it’s about the fun-filled, flavorful clouds along the way! FAQs 1. What is the best Sky Vape device for beginners? For those just dipping their toes into the vast ocean of vaping, a starter kit from Sky Vape is your best bet. These kits are designed with simplicity in mind, providing an easy-to-use interface, straightforward maintenance, and a balanced performance. They often include everything you need to get started: a device, a coil, a tank, and sometimes even a sample e-juice. It's like the 'Easy Bake Oven' of vaping—minus the tiny, questionable cakes! 2. How often should I replace my Sky Vape coil? The lifespan of a Sky Vape coil can feel as mysterious as the plot twists in a soap opera. Typically, you'll want to change your coil every 1 to 2 weeks, but this can vary depending on how often you vape, the type of e-juice you use, and the power settings of your device. If you start noticing a burnt taste or your vape begins to perform a rendition of a fog machine at a rock concert, it's time for a change. 3. Can I mix e-juice flavors in my Sky Vape? Absolutely, and it's encouraged for the adventurous at heart! Mixing e-juice flavors is like being a bartender at a cocktail party for your taste buds. Start with flavors that complement each other—think strawberry and banana, or chocolate and mint. Just remember, like in cooking, balance is key. You wouldn't want to end up with a flavor that tastes like minty fish, unless that's your thing! 4. Is vaping with Sky Vape healthier than smoking cigarettes? Vaping is generally considered a less harmful alternative to smoking cigarettes, as it doesn't involve combustion, which can release a host of harmful chemicals. However, it's important to note that "less harmful" doesn't mean "harmless." The best approach is to do your research and consider your personal health needs and goals. Think of it as choosing between jumping into a pool or being splashed with a water balloon—either way, you're getting wet, but one is definitely less intense. 5. Where can I legally vape with my Sky Vape device? The legal landscape for vaping can be as tricky to navigate as a labyrinth. It varies widely depending on where you live. Generally, it's best to avoid vaping in places where smoking is prohibited, like inside restaurants, shops, and certain public areas. Always check local laws and regulations to avoid any "no vaping" faux pas. It’s like the game of Monopoly—best to know the rules so you don’t end up in metaphorical jail! If you want to know more, please refer to this article: https://keystonevape.com/best-vape/the-best-disposable-vapes-2024-you-cant-miss/ Read the full article

[trinuviel]

This article is hilarious! I'm going to quote the hightlights:

"WHEN I HEARD that there was going to be a Coronation Concert at Windsor Palace to celebrate the crowning of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, my first thought was: “Wow, who would voluntarily perform at that?” Some international viewers might have expected the biggest stars the U.K. has to offer, like Adele or maybe even Elton John, Harry Styles, Dua Lipa or Ed Sheeran. But no, instead the baton seemed to fall primarily to people whose management didn’t get the memo that this was the most uncool gig ever: Americans!

Yup, it turns out that there is only one thing more undignified than British people who are completely obsessed with Monarchy: hardcore American royalists. People whose nation was supposedly founded on completely opposing principles but, somehow, have flown across the Atlantic to show fealty to our King anyway.

...

Sunday’s Coronation Concert did feature some British people, of course. Prince William took time out from the smear campaign against his brother and sister-in-law to do a heartfelt speech in support of his father, which was good of him, I suppose. 

...

Elsewhere, there was an attempt to make the concert feel more high-art and distinctly British by including performances from pretty much everything with “royal” in the title, like the various ballet, Shakespeare, and opera societies the royals are patrons of. By contrast, it was the sketches and linking videos played in between the acts which felt most out of place: Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog joined host Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, who at times looked like he was being held hostage at the event. One of the videos shown on the big screen featured Tom Cruise in a jet, telling his Majesty the King that he can be his “wingman” any day, which made me question whether I’d accidentally taken a tab of acid.

...

These pre-recorded segments were where the royal propaganda — designed for the thoroughly King-pilled — was at its most intense. Saying it was “like North Korea” would be not only lazy but also inaccurate because, really, North Korea wishes it was at the U.K.’s level here. A key theme of these bizarre videos was “Did You Know?”, which manifested as a bunch of celebrities — all of whom were clearly desperate to lick the boot hard enough to be made Knights and Dames — queuing up to tell us various complimentary “facts” about the new King. The most undignified of these was probably award-winning artist Tracey Emin, who sat with one of King Charles’s watercolor paintings and tried to suggest it was some sort of artistic feat.

...

After this, we got to the heaviest musical hitters of the evening. Lionel Richie had even the stony-faced royals (minus Prince Andrew, who must have been enjoying a sweat-free evening elsewhere) on their feet dancing. Even Queen Camilla — who seemed bored and was checking her watch every time the camera panned to her — looked like she was briefly enjoying “All Night Long.”

...

As this bizarre and strangely entertaining concert came to a close, we were subjected to a three-song medley by the Final Boss of royal events: Take That. Again, for the unfamiliar: Take That were once a five-piece British boy band who rose to fame in the 1990s, before mounting a huge comeback in the mid-2000s. Now, they play concert tours to stadiums of screaming mothers and grandmothers, and are wheeled out for every royal event, where they look and sound progressively worse each time. Last night, there were only three of them, so by the time we get to Prince William’s coronation it’ll probably just be frontman Gary Barlow creaking and croaking around the stage. 

Barlow — a supporter of the U.K. Conservative party — apologized in 2014 after trying to save millions in an “aggressive” tax avoidance scheme. I wonder whether that makes him the perfect performer to close a concert for a King whose vast wealth is partly upheld through exemptions from tax laws that only apply to his subjects. Perhaps it does, because this concert — like the Coronation and Monarchy itself — was a bewilderingly positive and expensive celebration of the belief that we are not all born equal."

[bewitching-elizabeth-olsen]

Press: Elizabeth Olsen’s 20/21 Vision

The Marvel star takes us inside her transformation to a new kind of hero

GALLERY LINKS

Studio Photoshoots > 2021 > Session 002

Magazine Scans > 2021 > Grazia

  GRAZIA: Elizabeth Olsen is a trooper. We are in a field in Surrey on the outskirts of the Marvel studios; it’s a biting minus one and she is standing in a Chanel broderie anglaise sundress and increasingly soggy UGG boots. Her feline cheekbones face skywards, but Olsen is slowly sinking into the mud, trilling out high notes to keep herself warm (possibly distracted) and of course with spirits high. “It was the wind I think, that was worse than the sideways rain,” she jokes as we trundle back to the soundstage hangar that we are using as a studio. It’s the kind of moment that could go viral on Instagram, that is, if Olsen were on social media. Yet one of the biggest stars of our current cultural moment is completely offline – and that surprising fact might just be the least interesting thing about her. If anything, it is a sign of how Olsen has come into her own as a confident, decisive star with the power to create her own universe.

On the cusp of her 32nd birthday, Olsen is fastidious and professional, yes, but also bright, engaging, creative, and collaborative. Born and raised in the California sunshine, she is surprisingly at ease in the blustery conditions that deluge the English countryside in late January – or, it’s that she’s very good at acting. “It was one of the ugliest days of this winter – just hilarious – but I knew we wanted the shot,” the 31-year-old actress says.

Since October, Olsen’s been living in the leafy British countryside with her “man-guy-partner,” musician Robbie Arnett, just a short drive to the Surrey compound where Doctor Strange is being filmed. It’s a closed set, masked in secrecy as much as the socially distanced masked crew dotted all over the 200-acre studio. “It feels right being in a small city right now,” she says.

Indeed, Olsen is a modern-day Renaissance woman. Learned and dedicated to her craft, she studied at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a semester at the Moscow Art Theatre School studying Stanislavski. (Surely, no matter how much of a genius the Russian theatre master was, he never could have conceived of the Marvel universe.)

Approached with the concept of WandaVision, “I thought it was perfect for television, and a very original idea that made me excited,” Olsen says. Also, she was happy she would get to work with Bettany again: “He’s very precise, like me.”

In many ways, WandaVision is a love letter to the first American television heyday. Olsen, who stayed up late watching Nick at Nite reruns as a child, says it’s a bit of a homecoming in that way. “I was a very hammy, performative child,” she explains. “So, I do think I got to live out some sort of childhood dream doing the show.”

“The highlight was really getting to tell a story about these superhero individuals told in different decades of American sitcoms, trying to match the tone of those sitcoms in order to help orate the story,” she says. “But keep it playful and fun.” Little did she know just how much we’d need that.

Half-filmed pre-pandemic in Atlanta and half post-pandemic in LA – with a six-month hiatus in-between “until all the unions figured out to work safely” – WandaVision was released almost a year into the pandemic. In many ways, it is an artifact of its time: centered upon a yearning for the simplicity of earlier days, yet shot through with the creeping realization that such days may never return, and perhaps never existed to begin with.

Indeed, the weekly story of suburban superheroes Wanda and Vision has played out like a parable of our times: Wanda living in her chosen bubble, her trauma resonating in the world we find ourselves in today. Olsen appreciates a good metaphor, but feels people may be projecting a bit much. “I see Wanda as a victim of extreme trauma, who does not understand how to process it,” she explains. “She has been a human experiment.” (Not to belabor the point, but haven’t we all?)

Being summoned by Marvel is like being called to a parallel universe for an actor: thrilling, yes, but not without a tinge of terror and a dash of the unknown. Six years in, though, it’s become like family in some ways. As a member of two dynasties – Olsen and Marvel – family is key to Olsen. She checks in on her mom (who still lives in California) and, like many American daughters, is researching which vaccine mom should get.

The performative gene runs strong through her family, of course – and no, we don’t mean her sisters. Olsen’s mom was a ballerina. Still, when she first started auditioning, Olsen took special care to carve her own path – one far from Full House. “Nepotism is a thing and I’m very aware of it,” she says. “And of course, I’ve always wanted to do it alone.” She did just that, her acting credentials consistently rising as her sister’s cemented their fashion kudos. Olsen bears a noticeable resemblance to her fashion-designer older sisters and her sartorial DNA is similarly low-key. She loves The Row (of course) and NYC label Khaite’s denim and cashmere.

For Olsen, her day job is like playing dress-up. This time around, she walked away from WandaVision with the girdle worn underneath her 50s wedding dress, laughing, “I mean, to have a custom undergarment like that, I felt like it was necessary!” Her WandaVision co-star, Kathryn Hahn, also became her shopping cohort when filming.

“She’s dangerous!” Olsen says. “She has the most exquisite, minimal but expensive taste.” It was Hahn who led Olsen to the independent boutique where she found the belted Julia Jentzsch trench that she wore to our shoot.

At the rail of samples compiled by the stylist, Olsen gravitates towards a spacious linen boilersuit and longline cashmere cardigan. Has she always been a tomboy, I ask? “I think I felt uncomfortable being a child being told they were pretty,” she says of her early auditions at age 10, adding that her love of ballet and musical theater could leave her “feeling exposed” at a young age.

Speaking of over-exposure, Olsen is distinctly offline in a time when so many are defined by their social media presence. Among celebrities and regular digital citizens, the perfect balance of online and off is up for debate, but Olsen is clear: social media saturation is a choice for all of us, and everyone needs to draw their own boundaries.

“It has to be a personal decision, right?” she begins. “So, my opinion has nothing to do with what anyone else does or doesn’t do with it.” Her own journey began when she momentarily dabbled with Instagram (since deleted), while filming Ingrid Goes West, director Matt Spicer’s frightening and funny debut feature about a social stalker, co-starring Aubrey Plaza.

Up until that time, she says, “I had never touched it before. I thought, ‘This is an interesting social experiment for myself, to see if it is a good source to talk about charities or a good source to talk about small projects, or to share something goofier about myself.’ But I think at the end of the day, what I discovered was one, I’m really bad at creating a perceived identity!”

“I didn’t find it very organic to who I am as a person,” she continues. “I found some joy in putting up silly videos, but I think the main reason I stopped – not I think, I know the main reason why I stopped – was because of the organization in my brain.”

“Lots of horrible things happen all the time. Or, lots of great things happen all the time. Whether it’s something terrifying, like a natural disaster or a school shooting or a death, there are so many things that happen, and I love processing information. I love reading articles. I love listening to podcasts. I love communicating about things that are happening in the world to people around me. And what I don’t love is that my brain organization was saying, ‘Should I post about this?’ That seemed very unhealthy ….”

“And to then contribute to these platitudes that I don’t really love, you have to subscribe to two different ways of thinking,” she says. “So, I didn’t like that, and there was a lot of it that was just bothering me for my own sake of what value systems I have.”

That’s not to say that there’s any inherent value system – pro or con – in using Instagram. Olsen is clear that like any other method of expression, it’s up to the individual to use it as they see fit. “I do see a use of it and how you can use it well for work,” she says. “But I don’t think that I would like to use that tool to promote myself.”

She’s private for a millennial yes, but not prim. On the photoshoot, lockdown experiences were shared, and Olsen recounted her (hilarious) first at-home bikini wax: banishing her husband upstairs “for an extended chat with his therapist,” her trusted waxer on speed dial, and microwave set to ping! (Yes, Olsen is a trooper, as I mentioned.)

We catch up over Zoom a week later, her hair once again pulled up in a casual topknot, her cashmere turtleneck simmering in a dark claret, and her entire being suffused with covetable understatement. She chats buoyantly against an unexpected backdrop of pirate ship wallpaper in the playroom of a house she shares with Arnett, who proposed with an emerald and diamond ring in 2019.

“We first started to try to make it the gym, but it was so cramped,” she says of the jolly space. The home gym was instead awarded a larger room, where Olsen loves to maintain a varied fitness regime – running, yoga, dancing, more – though after all the intense Marvel filming, she jokes, “maybe it’s time to give up on my body?!” Being comic book fit does sound grueling or “time-consuming fun” as she anoints the “strenuous physical demands.”

Like most of us, she is longing for the spring, but she still takes a regular constitutional walk in a nearby Richmond park, whatever the weather. “The deer are incredible; every time I see them I feel alive,” she says. “We have been lucky to have nature around us in lockdown.” It’s a marked difference from her paparazzi-populated home in the Hills. “They know our walks, where we get coffee, work-out…,” she trails off.

Her haven in Los Angeles is her backyard, complete with a mid-century swimming pool and an edible garden. “It’s crazy the blackberries grow like weeds! I love watching a kid’s first reaction to an edible garden,” she gushes That has been the part of the pandemic travel restrictions she’s found hardest: missing her friend’s children growing up, and others who have been born this past year that she’s yet to meet. They will no doubt all be treated to her homemade blackberry sorbet on her return stateside.

Yet, her time on British soil will likely be prolonged, with a prospective indie commencing filming here when Doctor Strange wraps. Prompted for more detail, her firm charm kicks in. “I can’t jinx it!” she insists. Still, she will share that she’s heavily involved in the creative, and that funding smaller productions in the current climate has been a challenge.

Through it all, Olsen has remained determined and calm. “I feel patience is my superpower. But my weakness also,” she says. “I feel like it gets tested more than others who don’t have a lot of patience. If someone learns you’re easygoing or that you’re relaxed, sometimes it gets taken advantage of.” While she waits for the green light on that film, she is busy producing a new children’s cartoon with Arnett, “about loving and caring for our world,” and has also written a children’s book about to be published by Random House, all while the demands of Marvel life continue to surround her.

Indeed, Olsen is a superhero for the modern age: Multi-hyphenate, but fiercely devoted to the craft that she loves; instantly recognizable, yet thoughtfully protective of her private life; a woman with style, substance, success, and deep rewarding relationships with those around her; focused on a vision of a better world for us all.

Press: Elizabeth Olsen’s 20/21 Vision was originally published on Elizabeth Olsen Source • Your source for everything Elizabeth Olsen

[swanlake1998]

Article: 10,000 Dreams Virtual Choreography Festival Spotlights Asian Choreographers Throughout May

Date: May 4, 2021

By: April Deocariza

In the wake of rising hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community over the last year, many ballet companies have been posting messages of solidarity on social media and voicing their commitment against racial injustice. However, there is still work to be done in reflecting that commitment on stages. Phil Chan, co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization dedicated to eliminating offensive Asian stereotypes in dance, says he would give ballet companies a letter grade of C-minus for their current diversity and inclusion work.

"I say C-minus because ballet companies have received the grade for participation, but not for excellence," explains Chan. "There are companies that are really doing a great job with this conversation and are at the front lines, but there are others still stuck in the 19th century. In ballet specifically, so many companies still perform La Bayadère, Le Corsaire or the "Chinese Tea" variation from The Nutcracker that continuously display Asian stereotypes or caricatures, also known as yellowface. They don't hire Asians to tell our own stories, to make work on our own terms. There is a really big imbalance."

To help ballet companies better walk the talk, and in honor of AAPI Heritage Month, Final Bow for Yellowface is raising visibility of some of the leading Asian choreographers of today through 10,000 Dreams: A Virtual Choreography Festival. Each day in May, a choreographer of Asian descent will be profiled on Yellowface.org and on the group's Instagram page, where viewers can watch a short digital work created by the featured dancemaker. Final Bow has challenged artistic directors who have signed its pledge to view the digital works and commission a choreographer of Asian descent by 2025.

"Some artistic directors have said to us that they haven't commissioned Asian choreographers because they 'can't find them' or 'they aren't coming to us.' So we thought if we want to ask these companies to commit to doing better by hiring Asian voices, let's help them out. Let's show them we are all here and doing great work," says Chan.

The festival was curated by Chan, New York City Ballet soloist and Final Bow co-founder Georgina Pazcoguin, and Jessica Tong, associate artistic director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. The lineup includes choreographers from a variety of disciplines, including classical and contemporary ballet, ethnic/folk traditions, hip hop, breaking, funk and modern.

Only the Beginning

In addition to the daily featured choreographers, Final Bow has partnered with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago to present Unboxed, in which three Asian and Asian-American dancemakers were invited to reimagine The Nutcracker's "Chinese Tea" divertissement. Yin Yue (May 10), Edwaard Liang (May 17) and Peter Chu (May 24) will each present their fresh take on the classic variation, hosted by Hubbard Street.

The festival concludes on May 31 with an archival screening of the late Asian-American choreographer Choo San Goh's Fives, presented by The Washington Ballet on Final Bow's website and Instagram page.

Beyond May, Final Bow is preparing to launch an Asian choreographic incubator with six major American ballet companies. The project will pair Asian choreographers with Asian composers, lighting and costume designers, and other creatives to help set their work on a partner ballet company.

Final Bow continues to grow, and the organization is currently working on establishing 501(c)(3) status. But to truly implement lasting change in the ballet world involves Asian dancers continuing to speak up, and allies willing to listen.

"For Asian dancers, don't be afraid to share your experiences and know they are valid," advises Chan. "Change can't happen if we stay silent. For allies, the most important thing you can do is to not center yourself in this experience. After the shootings in Atlanta, for example, people kept coming to me and saying, 'I feel so terrible, I can't believe this.' Instead, come to me and ask, 'How are you feeling? Do you want to talk about this? I am here for you.' You become a true ally, better advocate, and a more sensitive and empathetic person when you are able to center someone else's experience and remove your own ego from it."

[thewinedark]

Hiii✨ I’m new to da fashion and I was wondering if you knew of any good shoe types to use? I was gonna get some men’s dress shoes but they are so long :(

Hello anon! Shoes are probably one of the most difficult clothing articles, at least in my opinion. It can be difficult to find nice ones in thrift stores, and if you want a good pair new, you usually have to drop around a hundred dollars for something that looks good and will last. I will try to help as best as I can, first in what to look for in a good Dark Academia Shoe ™, and then some online options. 

What to look for in a Dark Academia Shoe

In boots: Leather, laces, block heel. I’d go for a lighter brown over a darker brown personally, because I think you can see the details better and the shoe becomes more of a staple piece. I recommend shorter, ankle length or calf length boots. Knee high boots look good with long skirts, but for every day wear, especially with outfits involving trousers and blazers, I’d go with shorter boots. If you like to have some heel, make sure it’s low enough for walking comfortably around campus or city streets for hours; I recommend a lower block heel. And finally, if you buy shoes new, make sure they are genuine leather. If you’re buying cheaper or thrifted shoes you can be more casual since it’s not that expensive, but for new shoes, make sure you get a good material. Plus, real leather just looks better than fake. (This goes for all types of shoes.)

In Oxfords: When I say Oxfords, I am referring to what you think of when you imagine a man’s dress shoe: leather, lacing up the front, and a very low block heel. These are kind of a staple in the dark academia aesthetic, and even I have a pair that is a women’s version, with a higher heel. I’ve been on the hunt for another pair, but as you said, they’re mostly considered a men’s dress shoe, and so they are too big. Though, as a general rule of thumb when you’re looking for men’s shoes is that your size in men’s shoes is your normal size minus two. So, I’m a women’s size 8, men’s size 6. This helps a lot, especially in thrifting. (These is for American sizing by the way, I don’t know how other systems would work.) Anyway, when it comes to oxfords, it just depends on your personal taste. Personally, I prefer wingtip oxfords, which have “full brogue” (that almost lace-like pattern of stitching), but if you prefer plainer shoes just for for a simple no-brogue pair. Again I would suggest brown, but there are some more interesting color combinations, especially with wingtips. Again I will highly recommend real leather, especially if you’re buying new.

In sandals: Okay, this is one of the harder shoe types to apply Dark Academia too, simply because the aesthetic is traditionally quite dependent on cooler weather. It’s summer right now; no one wants to traipse around in boot or oxfords. I’ve done several posts on Dark Academia in the summer, as well as a whole series of summer outfit inspiration. I’ll put them here too though: gladiator sandals, Mary Jane sandals, ballet sandals. 

Buying Shoes

As always, I highly recommend thrifts stores! That is where I get almost everything I wear, shoes included. However, I scoured the internet for you, my dear anon, and found some good Oxford shoes if you want to buy online. If anyone wants to add on with some other options or ideas, feel free. I hope you find what you’re looking for, and that this post helped!

Simple oxford in women’s sizes, wingtip oxford in women’s sizes, wingtip oxford in women’s sizes (currently on sale and much cheaper!), wingtip in men’s sizes. 

[nimblermortal]

SO ENTROPY. I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO THE COOLEST PART. Arguably coolest part.

The universe tends toward entropy. It's one of the laws of thermodynamics; it's part of the inevitable heat death of the universe. But what this does is give us basically an ability to assign positive and negative values to time. If you're moving such that entropy increases (overall), time is increasing; if you figure out how to move such that entropy decreases, you're going backwards in time. So you can have all sorts of delightful thought experiments about aliens that live backwards in time based on how they experience entropic processes.

Entropy is value-neutral. It defines a direction in time.

But not in spacetime, because it has nothing to say about spatial directions, insofar as space can even be distinguished from time, god I love physics, we're still on page 12, and this is going to be another brilliant section: relative entropy.

If the relative entropy of a certain source is, say, 0.8, this roughly means that this source is, in its choice of symbols to form a message, about 80 percent as free as it could possibly be with these same symbols. One minus the relative entropy is called the redundancy.

So if there were perfect freedom in a language, you could have any word come after 'the' - no greater probability that it be a noun or even a non-article. Utterly random! If there were perfect freedom in, say, dance, then you have the freedom to move any given body part in any of three dimensions, but once you start assigning a system like ballet or capoeira or human physical limitations to it, you decrease that freedom. After a straight kick like a chapa, for example, you are most likely going to need a step that increases balance and decreases vulnerability to a sweep, so that decreases your entropy, your freedom of options.

It is most interesting to note that the redundancy of English is just about 50 per cent... If it has complete freedom, then every array of letters is a crossword puzzle. If it has only 20 percent of freedom, then it would be impossible to construct crossword puzzles in such complexity and number as would make the game popular. Shannon has estimated that if the English language had only about 30 per cent redundancy, then it would be possible to construct three-dimensional crossword puzzles.

Sorry, I really enjoyed this as a fan of crossword puzzles. We're on page 14. Let's see if I can condense rather than expanding. We're using H as the symbol for information, and recall that it is helpful to express that as a logarithm. H is largest when messages are equally probable, so you have the most freedom in choosing between them; the higher the probability of a single message, the closer to 0 H becomes.

The capacity of a given communication channel is most interesting for computing, since in other forms of communication the transmission system has been chosen for us by nature. You can express this capacity C (in the absence of a time component such as how long it takes to pronounce a word in a given language) as the product of [the number of bits of information a given symbol represents] s with [the number of symbols per second] n. If you talk faster, you increase that latter quality n; if you pack more meaning into a given word you increase that s.

@hello-delicious-tea

So if you want to increase capacity, you can try to keep talking faster, which is basically what computing does, especially on the hardware side; or you can try to increase that complexity s, which you can do by making more efficient software, or writing a novel to add complexity to the word fanoa, or packing metaphor into a poem.

But!

...as one makes the coding more and more nearly ideal, one is forced to longer and longer delays in the process of coding.

Which is true of computing, but also of poetry - the more metaphor you pack in there, the more information you can convey in the tight space of the poem, but the more time and effort it takes your reader to unpack all your layers of meaning.

You and Husband are doing the same thing in your jobs as programmer and poet.

The Mathematics of Communication

Okay fine I'm liveblogging/taking notes on the 28 pages in this introduction.

Bearing in mind that communication is here meant to be all procedures by which one mind may affect another, and this includes speech, writing, poetry, dance, telegraphs, the internet...

Level A: How accurately can the symbols of communication be transmitted? (technical)

Level B: How precisely do the transmitted symbols convey the desired meaning? (semantic)

Level C: How effectively does the received meaning affect conduct in the desired way? (effectiveness)

Computing is largely concerned with the technical problem! Writing is largely concerned with the semantic! Activism with effectiveness!

Information source -> transmitter -> noise source -> receiver -> destination

(as of writing I have gotten as far as the noise source, so a lot of what I've been thinking about has to do with computing - and Hyacinth is interested - but the bit on entropy and coding is nnggghhh)

The first complicated bit is in understanding the information of the system, and one problem I consistently have is with refusing to assign value judgements to the word 'information'. In this context it has nothing to do with meaning!

It being convenient to use logarithms to the base 2, rather than common or Briggs' logarithm to the base 10, the information, when there are only two choices, is proportional to the logarithm of 2 to the base 2. But this is unity; so that a two choice situation is characterized by the information of unity [such as if you have a relay that can be set to either 0 or 1, it's a single relay and its information is 1]... This unit of information is called a "bit," this word, first suggested by John W. Tukey, being a condensation of "binary digit."

Consider then how much information is in a system of three relays! 8 possible states, or 2^3, for which the logarithm base 2 is just that exponent - 3. So the information basically tells you how many relays are involved.

At this point there is a discussion of, essentially, predictive texting - how when you start a sentence you are inherently limiting what your next words can be. If you say 'the' you're most likely going to put a noun next, so the pool of logical next words has shrunk considerably. If you say 'in the event' the odds that the next word is 'that' are very high. And this is relevant both in the context of freedom of choice in expressing information, and in the concept of assigning probability to words (or letters!) within a language.

(Vocabulary side note: stochastic refers to producing a set of symbols according to certain probabilities, it is not just 'random' the way I tend to use it; Markoff adds hysteresis to this concept; and ergodic means that any random sample is representative of the rest.)

So this concept of freedom of language is where entropy comes into play and where I start getting so excited that I had to put the book down in order to have a chance at going to sleep, and it still took me far longer than usual because I got into side processes about ethics and the entropy of economics and die Banalität des Bösens, all of which is thanks much Diane Duane, who assigned moral connotations to the word.

In a non-YW context, entropy is a measure of the randomness of a system. If you have particles in a room, it's highly unlikely that every single one is in the top left corner, that would be a highly ordered state with an extremely low entropy. It's much more likely that those particles are distributed fairly evenly through the room, just because they tend to bounce around until that happens. This is a highly entropic state, and this is how you get into entropy being associated with the inevitable heat death of the universe - on a universal scale that distribution means eventually everything becomes cold and distant and separate and life cannot exist. But on a smaller scale entropy is also what makes it possible to live, because if all the air molecules were in that one corner you would definitely suffocate and die.

And dieeeeeeeee

...I'm really starting to have fun now, I'm going to post this and get to the next section in a reblog. I really really want to get to the bit about coding so I can tag Tea and talk about poetry. We're on page 12, for anyone keeping track.

[hobbitsnapes]

The Red Hoods Protègè chapter 17

Older Damian Wayne x ofc

(Photo made by my lovely friend @inspeech)

Summary:Red hood has taken a young vigilante under his wing and subsequently changes Damians life forever.

A/N: THANK THE LORD I FIGGURED IT OUT!

Tags: @comic-nerd-dc @comic-brew @psychovigilantewrites @psych0crybaby

The cool crisp water against her hot back sent chills up her body. The heat from the air no longer feeling sticky against her as the cool water washes away the humidity on her skin.

It was the middle of October, and everyone had grown accustomed to the cold air. But the last 3 days had been a heat wave that shot the cool air into hot and humid. Causing everyone to trade their sweaters and jeans for tank tops and shorts. Thankfully the manor was for the most part cool, below the 100 degree weather outside.

It was mid day when she decided to go outside into the large outdoor pool. The scorching heat outside made her skin sticky almost instantly, even with the Bathing suit she wore. It was a nice welcome when she stepped into the cool water.

She threw the weight as far as she could, watching it plummet to the floor below.

She took in a large breath, and dove down. The instant pressure on her body, but with the weightless surrounds her. She dove as far as she could down to reach the weight, but once she reached the 20 feet depth, she felt her lungs closing up more and more until she couldn’t take it and swam back up.

She let out a large gasp when she broke the surface, no longer feeling hot but cold as she took in the much needed air.

She heard someone walking behind her, turning abruptly but relaxed when she saw who it was.

There stood Tim, clad in dress pants, a button up and a tie, his jacket laid in a heap in his arms, long since taken off due to the heat. “You doing anything today?” He asked. She swam over to him, resting her arms along the pools walls. He crouched down to her level. “Not really, why?” She asked, her head tilted slightly. “I just got back from the most boring, soul sucking meeting that almost made me jump out the window and let god decide if I lived or not.” This caused her to laugh, Tim joining in on the laughing. Once their laughter died down, she looked back to him. “Alright, what you got in mind?” She asks. A smile takes over his face. “I know the perfect place.”

They both walked into the large coffeehouse, the smell of coffee beans and baked goods hitting them as soon as they entered. The sounds of people talking, plates being moved and the soft hum of music took up the room.

Her shoes softly padding along the hardwood flooring. She decided on a pair of soft black ballet pumps, an ivory long sleeve top tucked into a pair of high waisted cropped trousers. Her hair freshly cut, soft curls framed around her eyes. Tim wore the same clothes he came home in, just trading the suit jacket for a leather one.

They both sat in their seats, sipping on their drinks. Tim chose his usual black coffee with sugar, her choosing a green tea with lemon. “Want anything to eat?” He asks, causing her to look up at him from her cup. “Would they have any yogurt?” She questions, causing Tim to roll his eyes and chuckle. “Yes, yes they do.”

“So how was the meeting?” She asked, after finishing her cup of yogurt. “It was more a brainstorming day. The board wants to expand Wayne enterprise to other fields.” He says, taking a sip of his second cup of coffee. “What do they want to expand on?” She asks. “More Real estate and construction.” This caused her to be further confused. “Why? I thought you guys were more tech?” Her head slightly tilted as she eyes him. He sets his cup down onto the table. “That’s the new Wayne enterprise. The Wayne’s got their name and money originally for helping colonize Gotham. They were the ones who built most of the homes and helped build the city. They’re wanting to widen the company to other branches. I’ve got little to do with it, I’m pretty much just one of the faces of the company.” Tim says, finishing the last few sips of his now cold coffee.

Sandy puts her chin in her palm and eyes him, “so you said you’re the face of WE, what position do you actually have in the company?” Tim chuckles at this, writing out the check as he speaks. “Bruce gave me the position as the CEO. I took it due to being one of the only ones in the family who was both interested in it, and old enough. Damian was to young at the time, I was old enough at the time to take the job. And even now that’s he’s old enough, Damian doesn’t have any interest in it. Says he can’t stand the people. And honestly, yeah I understand him.” Tim chuckles, looking at her and seeing her chuckle under her breath. “Alright, let’s head out before there’s too many people.”

Before either one could fully step out of the coffeehouse, they were Bombarded with cameras flashing, people yelling out all around them and being surrounded. Her throat closed up almost immediately, feeling like her insides would fall out to her feet. Her heart sank and filled with a tight pain. Her breathing grew sporadic and heavy, nearly causing her to cry.

Tim quickly tucked her shaking head into his chest and nearly carried her shaking body out of the crowd of press, feeling the tears soaking his shirt the longer they were in it. He bent his head down to hers, lightly running his hand into her hair to hopefully soothe her. “Hey hey shhh it’s okay we’re almost at the car.” He warped his arm around her side, practically carrying her the rest of the way due to her sobs and hyperventilating.

They both drove off in a hurry, tims hands gripping the wheel so tightly his fingers were an even pallet shade.

Her sobs turned into small silent tears cascading down her face. She looked over to him, his eyes trained on the road, jaw set and brows in an angry line. “What are we gonna do?” She whispers, dread sinking into her stomach, making her want to throw up. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure out something okay?”

‘Who’s the mystery girl?’ ‘CEO of Wayne Enterprise Timothy Drake Wayne with girl.’ ‘Who’s the girl Tim drake Wayne was spotted with? All the information we have.’ Papers, news outlets, gossip websites, magazines, anything you name it and her face was on the cover of it. But the one that stuck out, the one that caused tears to stream down her face, was a magazine by cat grant. ‘The new gold digger in the Wayne family.’ At the bottom showed her with both Tim, and a foggy picture of her and Damian our for dinner. Along with a photo of her hiding in tims chest, and one with damians jacket on her and his arm around her.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she sits with everyone in the family room, all minus one. She knew he’d be here any minute now. After a phone call from dick, Jason promised to be there within the hour.

The door swung open, hearing heavy footsteps hurrying down the hallway. She stood up, seeing him at the door of the large room. She ran over to him and into his wide open arms. She let out a few tears into his chest, clutching to him with all her strength. She took in the familiar smell of him, the scent of cigarettes strong on him. Knowing he puffed on one either before he left or in his way.

She looked up at him, seeing behind his dark tired eye bags, his eyes shined with bushes tears. “I missed you so much bugga.” He whispered into the top of her head, kissing her forehead lightly.

“Alright, we all are up to date with what’s happened, correct?” Bruce asks, breaking the very uncomfortable silence in the room.

Jason sat beside her on her left, with Tim on her right. Next to them say dick and Barbara, with Alfred on the other couch. Beside Alfred, sat bruce and

Selina. And sat in a chair was damian.

Tension was high in the room with the two, almost creating a thickness in the air that worried all of them. They all could see them avoid looking at one another, with a slight uncomfortable pain expression.

Sandy held her necklace in her fingers and twirled it lightly back and forth, Jason taking notice and putting his hand on her shoulder.

“So are we just gonna sit here in silence this entire time, or are we gonna actually talk?” Asked Tim, shocking sandy and mostly everyone. They had grown used to Tim being one of the more quiet of the family.

“No you’re right Tim, we need to figure out what our next step is.” Replies dick. Jason’s jaw ticks lightly, a scowl on his face. “We’re all talking about the same one right? The article written by cat?” Asks Jason, anger evident in his voice. His eyes shone with anger, jaw set and fists balling lightly.

Bruce sighs as he looks at him. “Yes, that one in particular is the one that’s caused concern-“ “then why not go after her? Why not do something about it for all the bullshit that article alone said.” Jason not back, fists now in a tight ball. “There’s one problem with that jason. She has some of the super family behind her-“ Jason slams his hand on the table in front of him, breaking Bruce from speaking. “Isn’t this fucking asshole over here best friends with one?” Jason points to Damian, eyes wide in anger. “Why dont you make yourself useful for once in your fucking life and have your buddy call off his cousin so I can have a word with her?” Jason angrily says, eyes boring into damians equally fiery stare.

“I’m not having Jon do that.” Damian said back, shaking slightly in his seat, his eyes boring into Jason’s. “God you are seriously the most useless one out of all of us! AND REPLACEMENT OVER HERE WAS ROBIN FOR A YEAR BEFORE YOU CAME IN!” Jason yelled back, fists now shaking along with the rest of his body. “Jason that’s enough!-“ “STAY OUT OF THIS BRUCE! YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH AS IT IS WHEN YOU GET INVOLVED WITH ME! No I’m fucking sick of how this fucking prick thinks he’s the king all because he’s ‘the blood son’ when he’s nothing but A FUCKING PRICK WHO NEEDS TO GET OFF HIS HIGH FUCKING HORSE!”

Jason has moved into Damians face, nearly inches away from him. Tears brimmed jason's eyes, anger so prevalent that it made his heart throb in pain due to holding back.

Damian wasn’t far off from it as well, now fully shaking, his legs having a hard time keeping himself standing. Heat radiated off of each other as both men shook in place.

“Get the FUCK out of my face Todd! And STAY THE FUCK OIT OF THIS IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH Y-“ “THATS MY FUCKING DAUGHTER! ANYTIME SOMEBODY HURTS HER THEY'RE DEALING WITH ME! Same with you you little bastard. See that scar across your cheek? That’s from me. And if I had it my way, this is hell and I’m the devil.” Jason spat, getting right in damians face. He can feel the raging breath Damian takes the closer he gets to him. Feeling the anger pouring off of him. “I’ll show you what hell is-“ “you better keep that fucking trap of yours shut. I was the first robin to die. I’ll gladly make you the second one. Oh wait, mommy’s boyfriend already did that a few years ago.” “Alright that’s I-“ “ENOUGH!”

All eyes turned to sandy. Who had now gotten up from her seat, shaking slightly as she stood.

Her eyes burned with tears as she watched them both, watching as both got worse and closer to breaking. Her Stomach in so many knots, it felt as though it’d fall out into the floor in a heap. Her mind played a thousand different thoughts on what she could do. Her options were limited, she could grab Jason’s arm and pull him away, she could get between them, she could hit both of them hard enough to knock them out, or get a squirt bottle and spray them like cats. The last one made her chuckle slightly.

She watched as Damian raised his hand from his side, and her heart shrunk and fell. The anger inside her screaming out loud enough to boom out around the room.

Emery one watched as the first tear slid down her cheek, quickly wiping it away as fast as it came. Her hand shook by her sides relentlessly. Her jaw set and eyes cold as she bore into both of the men’s eyes. “If you both are done with your dick measuring contest, then can we actually talk like fucking adults for ONCE.”

“We could sue her, she is in defamation of character.”dick says, eyes looking back to Tim and sandy. Tim sighs, head resting in his hands. “Cats had more lawsuits against her than I have bullet wounds, she always weasels her way out of them each time.” “Fucking vulture.” Damian whispers. Sandy lightly chuckles when she hears it. Jason looks over to her with a raised eyebrow, her shaking her head at him lightly.

Leaves crunched under both of their boots the longer they went down the sidewalk towards the park, his jacket covering her arms, along with his hand around her side pulling her into him.

Damian noticed them first, seeing them around the corner snapping the photo. His jaw set, eyes hard on the man as he pulls her further into him. His grip ever so slightly tighter. “It’s another one.” Damian whispers, looking down at her. A soft laugh escaping her. He tilts his head slightly, brow raised as he looks at her. “You mean another vulture?” She teases back, making Damian smile and roll his eyes. She laughs at his expression, causing him to let out a chuckle. “And hey, I don’t mind. As long as they get my good side.” She jokes, moving her head so only her left side was shown, in a mock model face. He laughed at her antics. “Oh trust me, all your sides are good sides, gorgeous.” Damian whispers, kissing the top of her cheek.

“Well then what can we do? We can’t just let her and the media make whatever they want about sandy.” Barbara replies, slightly scooting into dicks arm. Looking over at her.

“How about an interview, or a press thing? Why not clear everything up with my word.” All eyes looked to her, even Damian looked questionly at her. “Are you sure?” Asks Jason, worry struck to his face. “An interview would be the better option.” Replies Bruce, all eyes still trained on her. “Then that’s it, that’s what I’ll do.”

She ran her fingers over her hair for what was probably the 100th time in the last hour. Smoothing over her skirt probably even more frequent.

She was scared, her heart sinking low the entire day it felt like. Each hour that ticked closer to 2 her stomach would twist further.

Dread filled her when the clock showed 1:50. 10 minutes left of life outside of the spotlight. 10 minutes of having only a few people knowing she exists. 10 more minutes of having as normal of a life that she’s had.

Her flats padded against the floor softly, her heartbeat taking up most of the noise in her ears. Sweat beaded down her forehead that she quickly wiped away.

One more hallway until she reached the room they decided to have the interview. They chose a small office, it had a few chairs, a couch, and a table. Pictures hung on the wall along with a large window. It was one of the few small rooms in the manor, but it would fit perfectly.

Her breath got caught in her throat when she passed the living room door. There, walking out was damian. They both stopped in their tracks, as if they again were frozen.

Damian sighed when he looked at her. She adored an off white floral top, a black skirt, and ballet flats. Her hair was slightly curled, well as much as it could due to the short length. Her face appeared bare, besides flushed cheeks and lips painted as red as a fresh rose. Her posture was tight, ridged. She looked about ready to pass out from anxiety.

Damian sighed. “You’re too tense. Relax your shoulders, take a deep breath. It’s not as scary as you think.” Her shoulders instantly lowered, her posture was still ridged. But more natural, and less like a board or robot. “Thanks, I just can’t help but be scared.” She looked away when she spoke, a pain in his heart when she couldn’t even look him in the eyes. “I know, but this is Vicki Vale. She’s not as bad as most reporters.” He replied. A soft smile on her face appeared. “So she’s not a Vulture?” She giggled, causing Damian to lightly roll his eyes.

She walked by him, down the hallway to the room. Significantly more relaxed. When her back fully turned to him, a soft smile adorned his face as he lightly chuckles under his breath.

When she reaches the hard wood door, she stops. She takes in a shaky breath, her heart again pounding. She reaches up and takes her necklace into her fingers, running her thumb over it a few times. Instantly calming her slightly. She again takes in a large breath, and turns the knob and opens the door.

Walking in she instantly spited the large camera, the man behind it, the lights, along with a blonde woman standing in front of the camera. The woman who she recognizes to be Vicki, walks to her putting her hand out. She shook it lightly, hand still slightly shaky. Both of them walked over to the two chars, now facing each other. “Alight in 3,2,1. Go.”

Vicki turns to her, with a smile on her face “Hi there I’m reporter Vicki Vale,” “hello there, it’s nice to have you here.” She replied, a soft smile on her face. Her heart beat going down slightly. “Thank you for having me here. Now, why don’t we start this off with who you are?” Vicki asks.

“My name is Saundra Todd.” Both the camera man, and Vicki gasp. Shock written on their face. “Todd? As in?” A small chuckle escapes under her breath. “Yes, as in the daughter of Jason Todd.” Vickis eyes widen further, not even trying to hide the shock in her face. “But, hasn’t he been dead for years? I don’t understand, he passed when he was 15?” Vicki asks, “funny you say that, cause he’s alive.” Both Vicki and the camera man gasp even more.

“When my dad was 14, he had a stalker. At first it wasn’t so bad. A couple letters,both Bruce and Jason thought it was weird but the letters were harmless. They thought it was probably just a girl or boy around his age who thought he was cute. But overtime the lets became more concerning. They would go from nice to lashing out, each one getting worse. Bruce hired an investigator to find who it was, but they came up empty. One night, when my dad was 15, him and Bruce got into an argument. He left. He was wandering around the city that night. He had grown up on the streets so he knew where he was going. Well, before he knew it, he was knocked out. He was taken by his stalker who followed him, to an abandoned warehouse. He, beat my father so heavily, that he passed out. The guy was sure he killed him, and left. Later that night, Bruce called the police, and someone had tipped them that they heard screaming from the warehouse. Officer Jim Gordon was the one who found him. They took him to the hospital. And there, Bruce, Jim and my dad, made a plan. They decided to fake my fathers death. And have him leave the country. And so he did. He went to Europe. He had a fake name, fake aliace, everything. Well a few years passed, and they caught the man. When Bruce called him telling him, my dad said he wanted to stay. And there he stayed. For 5 years my father stayed in Europe. Well when he was 23, he decided he wanted to come home. He didn’t take up the Wayne bane, or come back announcing he was alive. Over the years he grew comfortable being out of the spotlight. And so, he moved into a small apartment. He’s not my real dad, he actually found me. I was an orphan, had been for a long time. I was living on the streets at the time. And one day, he saw me. I was only 17 at the time. And he offered me a place, and here we are.” “I just, wow. I can’t believe he’s been alive this entire time. Is he ever wanting to come out himself?” Vicki asks. “I don’t know, he’s pretty comfortable where he’s at now. I was too until well, you know.” She laughed, causing Vicki to chuckle. “Very true, Gotham isn’t very forgiving in that department. Especially since you’re seen with the Wayne family.” Her heart was no longer feeling like it would fall out her chest, now feeling comfortable. “Oh yeah, especially since I’ve been staying here the last month.” Confusion written on Vickis face. “Oh? And why’s that?” She asks her. “My father went back to Europe to visit some of his friends for a while, I chose to stay here in Gotham.” “Now, I gotta ask, what’s your father like? I mean we haven’t seen him in over a decade.” A soft laugh leaves her at the question. “He’s absolutely amazing. He’s incredibly caring, he’s always looking out for me. But being that he’s only 6 years older than me, he's kinda like a big brother to me at the same time. He’s also a huge dork, he’ll go at any length to make me laugh. He’s the best father I could ask for. But it always hasn’t been that way. When I first went to stay there, we barely talked. It wasn’t just an instant father daughter bond. Hell, he didn’t adopt me for a few months. He’s not like Bruce who has adoption papers in his jacket.” She chuckles. Everyone turned to the door when they heard large laughter behind the door. Vicki turned to her mouthing ‘who?’ “Oh that would be my uncle. The cool crisp water against her hot back sent chills up her body. The heat from the air no longer feeling sticky against her as the cool water washes away the humidity on her skin.

It was the middle of October, and everyone had grown accustomed to the cold air. But the last 3 days had been a heat wave that shot the cool air into hot and humid. Causing everyone to trade their sweaters and jeans for tank tops and shorts. Thankfully the manor was for the most part cool, below the 100 degree weather outside.

It was mid day when she decided to go outside into the large outdoor pool. The scorching heat outside made her skin sticky almost instantly, even with the Bathing suit she wore. It was a nice welcome when she stepped into the cool water.

She threw the weight as far as she could, watching it plummet to the floor below.

She took in a large breath, and dove down. The instant pressure on her body, but with the weightless surrounds her. She dove as far as she could down to reach the weight, but once she reached the 20 feet depth, she felt her lungs closing up more and more until she couldn’t take it and swam back up.

She let out a large gasp when she broke the surface, no longer feeling hot but cold as she took in the much needed air.

She heard someone walking behind her, turning abruptly but relaxed when she saw who it was.

There stood Tim, clad in dress pants, a button up and a tie, his jacket laid in a heap in his arms, long since taken off due to the heat. “You doing anything today?” He asked. She swam over to him, resting her arms along the pools walls. He crouched down to her level. “Not really, why?” She asked, her head tilted slightly. “I just got back from the most boring, soul sucking meeting that almost made me jump out the window and let god decide if I lived or not.” This caused her to laugh, Tim joining in on the laughing. Once their laughter died down, she looked back to him. “Alright, what you got in mind?” She asks. A smile takes over his face. “I know the perfect place.”

They both walked into the large coffeehouse, the smell of coffee beans and baked goods hitting them as soon as they entered. The sounds of people talking, plates being moved and the soft hum of music took up the room.

Her shoes softly padding along the hardwood flooring. She decided on a pair of soft black ballet pumps, an ivory long sleeve top tucked into a pair of high waisted cropped trousers. Her hair freshly cut, soft curls framed around her eyes. Tim wore the same clothes he came home in, just trading the suit jacket for a leather one.

They both sat in their seats, sipping on their drinks. Tim chose his usual black coffee with sugar, her choosing a green tea with lemon. “Want anything to eat?” He asks, causing her to look up at him from her cup. “Would they have any yogurt?” She questions, causing Tim to roll his eyes and chuckle. “Yes, yes they do.”

“So how was the meeting?” She asked, after finishing her cup of yogurt. “It was more a brainstorming day. The board wants to expand Wayne enterprise to other fields.” He says, taking a sip of his second cup of coffee. “What do they want to expand on?” She asks. “More Real estate and construction.” This caused her to be further confused. “Why? I thought you guys were more tech?” Her head slightly tilted as she eyes him. He sets his cup down onto the table. “That’s the new Wayne enterprise. The Wayne’s got their name and money originally for helping colonize Gotham. They were the ones who built most of the homes and helped build the city. They’re wanting to widen the company to other branches. I’ve got little to do with it, I’m pretty much just one of the faces of the company.” Tim says, finishing the last few sips of his now cold coffee.

Sandy puts her chin in her palm and eyes him, “so you said you’re the face of WE, what position do you actually have in the company?” Tim chuckles at this, writing out the check as he speaks. “Bruce gave me the position as the CEO. I took it due to being one of the only ones in the family who was both interested in it, and old enough. Damian was to young at the time, I was old enough at the time to take the job. And even now that’s he’s old enough, Damian doesn’t have any interest in it. Says he can’t stand the people. And honestly, yeah I understand him.” Tim chuckles, looking at her and seeing her chuckle under her breath. “Alright, let’s head out before there’s too many people.”

Before either one could fully step out of the coffeehouse, they were Bombarded with cameras flashing, people yelling out all around them and being surrounded. Her throat closed up almost immediately, feeling like her insides would fall out to her feet. Her heart sank and filled with a tight pain. Her breathing grew sporadic and heavy, nearly causing her to cry.

Tim quickly tucked her shaking head into his chest and nearly carried her shaking body out of the crowd of press, feeling the tears soaking his shirt the longer they were in it. He bent his head down to hers, lightly running his hand into her hair to hopefully soothe her. “Hey hey shhh it’s okay we’re almost at the car.” He warped his arm around her side, practically carrying her the rest of the way due to her sobs and hyperventilating.

They both drove off in a hurry, tims hands gripping the wheel so tightly his fingers were an even pallet shade.

Her sobs turned into small silent tears cascading down her face. She looked over to him, his eyes trained on the road, jaw set and brows in an angry line. “What are we gonna do?” She whispers, dread sinking into her stomach, making her want to throw up. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure out something okay?”

‘Who’s the mystery girl?’ ‘CEO of Wayne Enterprise Timothy Drake Wayne with girl.’ ‘Who’s the girl Tim drake Wayne was spotted with? All the information we have.’ Papers, news outlets, gossip websites, magazines, anything you name it and her face was on the cover of it. But the one that stuck out, the one that caused tears to stream down her face, was a magazine by cat grant. ‘The new gold digger in the Wayne family.’ At the bottom showed her with both Tim, and a foggy picture of her and Damian our for dinner. Along with a photo of her hiding in tims chest, and one with damians jacket on her and his arm around her.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she sits with everyone in the family room, all minus one. She knew he’d be here any minute now. After a phone call from dick, Jason promised to be there within the hour.

The door swung open, hearing heavy footsteps hurrying down the hallway. She stood up, seeing him at the door of the large room. She ran over to him and into his wide open arms. She let out a few tears into his chest, clutching to him with all her strength. She took in the familiar smell of him, the scent of cigarettes strong on him. Knowing he puffed on one either before he left or in his way.

She looked up at him, seeing behind his dark tired eye bags, his eyes shined with bushes tears. “I missed you so much bugga.” He whispered into the top of her head, kissing her forehead lightly.

“Alright, we all are up to date with what’s happened, correct?” Bruce asks, breaking the very uncomfortable silence in the room.

Jason sat beside her on her left, with Tim on her right. Next to them say dick and Barbara, with Alfred on the other couch. Beside Alfred, sat bruce and

Selina. And sat in a chair was damian.

Tension was high in the room with the two, almost creating a thickness in the air that worried all of them. They all could see them avoid looking at one another, with a slight uncomfortable pain expression.

Sandy held her necklace in her fingers and twirled it lightly back and forth, Jason taking notice and putting his hand on her shoulder.

“So are we just gonna sit here in silence this entire time, or are we gonna actually talk?” Asked Tim, shocking sandy and mostly everyone. They had grown used to Tim being one of the more quiet of the family.

“No you’re right Tim, we need to figure out what our next step is.” Replies dick. Jason’s jaw ticks lightly, a scowl on his face. “We’re all talking about the same one right? The article written by cat?” Asks Jason, anger evident in his voice. His eyes shone with anger, jaw set and fists balling lightly.

Bruce sighs as he looks at him. “Yes, that one in particular is the one that’s caused concern-“ “then why not go after her? Why not do something about it for all the bullshit that article alone said.” Jason not back, fists now in a tight ball. “There’s one problem with that jason. She has some of the super family behind her-“ Jason slams his hand on the table in front of him, breaking Bruce from speaking. “Isn’t this fucking asshole over here best friends with one?” Jason points to Damian, eyes wide in anger. “Why dont you make yourself useful for once in your fucking life and have your buddy call off his cousin so I can have a word with her?” Jason angrily says, eyes boring into damians equally fiery stare.

“I’m not having Jon do that.” Damian said back, shaking slightly in his seat, his eyes boring into Jason’s. “God you are seriously the most useless one out of all of us! AND REPLACEMENT OVER HERE WAS ROBIN FOR A YEAR BEFORE YOU CAME IN!” Jason yelled back, fists now shaking along with the rest of his body. “Jason that’s enough!-“ “STAY OUT OF THIS BRUCE! YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH AS IT IS WHEN YOU GET INVOLVED WITH ME! No I’m fucking sick of how this fucking prick thinks he’s the king all because he’s ‘the blood son’ when he’s nothing but A FUCKING PRICK WHO NEEDS TO GET OFF HIS HIGH FUCKING HORSE!”

Jason has moved into Damians face, nearly inches away from him. Tears brimmed jason's eyes, anger so prevalent that it made his heart throb in pain due to holding back.

Damian wasn’t far off from it as well, now fully shaking, his legs having a hard time keeping himself standing. Heat radiated off of each other as both men shook in place.

“Get the FUCK out of my face Todd! And STAY THE FUCK OIT OF THIS IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH Y-“ “THATS MY FUCKING DAUGHTER! ANYTIME SOMEBODY HURTS HER THEY'RE DEALING WITH ME! Same with you you little bastard. See that scar across your cheek? That’s from me. And if I had it my way, this is hell and I’m the devil.” Jason spat, getting right in damians face. He can feel the raging breath Damian takes the closer he gets to him. Feeling the anger pouring off of him. “I’ll show you what hell is-“ “you better keep that fucking trap of yours shut. I was the first robin to die. I’ll gladly make you the second one. Oh wait, mommy’s boyfriend already did that a few years ago.” “Alright that’s I-“ “ENOUGH!”

All eyes turned to sandy. Who had now gotten up from her seat, shaking slightly as she stood.

Her eyes burned with tears as she watched them both, watching as both got worse and closer to breaking. Her Stomach in so many knots, it felt as though it’d fall out into the floor in a heap. Her mind played a thousand different thoughts on what she could do. Her options were limited, she could grab Jason’s arm and pull him away, she could get between them, she could hit both of them hard enough to knock them out, or get a squirt bottle and spray them like cats. The last one made her chuckle slightly.

She watched as Damian raised his hand from his side, and her heart shrunk and fell. The anger inside her screaming out loud enough to boom out around the room.

Emery one watched as the first tear slid down her cheek, quickly wiping it away as fast as it came. Her hand shook by her sides relentlessly. Her jaw set and eyes cold as she bore into both of the men’s eyes. “If you both are done with your dick measuring contest, then can we actually talk like fucking adults for ONCE.”

“We could sue her, she is in defamation of character.”dick says, eyes looking back to Tim and sandy. Tim sighs, head resting in his hands. “Cats had more lawsuits against her than I have bullet wounds, she always weasels her way out of them each time.” “Fucking vulture.” Damian whispers. Sandy lightly chuckles when she hears it. Jason looks over to her with a raised eyebrow, her shaking her head at him lightly.

Leaves crunched under both of their boots the longer they went down the sidewalk towards the park, his jacket covering her arms, along with his hand around her side pulling her into him.

Damian noticed them first, seeing them around the corner snapping the photo. His jaw set, eyes hard on the man as he pulls her further into him. His grip ever so slightly tighter. “It’s another one.” Damian whispers, looking down at her. A soft laugh escaping her. He tilts his head slightly, brow raised as he looks at her. “You mean another vulture?” She teases back, making Damian smile and roll his eyes. She laughs at his expression, causing him to let out a chuckle. “And hey, I don’t mind. As long as they get my good side.” She jokes, moving her head so only her left side was shown, in a mock model face. He laughed at her antics. “Oh trust me, all your sides are good sides, gorgeous.” Damian whispers, kissing the top of her cheek.

“Well then what can we do? We can’t just let her and the media make whatever they want about sandy.” Barbara replies, slightly scooting into dicks arm. Looking over at her.

“How about an interview, or a press thing? Why not clear everything up with my word.” All eyes looked to her, even Damian looked questionly at her. “Are you sure?” Asks Jason, worry struck to his face. “An interview would be the better option.” Replies Bruce, all eyes still trained on her. “Then that’s it, that’s what I’ll do.”

She ran her fingers over her hair for what was probably the 100th time in the last hour. Smoothing over her skirt probably even more frequent.

She was scared, her heart sinking low the entire day it felt like. Each hour that ticked closer to 2 her stomach would twist further.

Dread filled her when the clock showed 1:50. 10 minutes left of life outside of the spotlight. 10 minutes of having only a few people knowing she exists. 10 more minutes of having as normal of a life that she’s had.

Her flats padded against the floor softly, her heartbeat taking up most of the noise in her ears. Sweat beaded down her forehead that she quickly wiped away.

One more hallway until she reached the room they decided to have the interview. They chose a small office, it had a few chairs, a couch, and a table. Pictures hung on the wall along with a large window. It was one of the few small rooms in the manor, but it would fit perfectly.

Her breath got caught in her throat when she passed the living room door. There, walking out was damian. They both stopped in their tracks, as if they again were frozen.

Damian sighed when he looked at her. She adored an off white floral top, a black skirt, and ballet flats. Her hair was slightly curled, well as much as it could due to the short length. Her face appeared bare, besides flushed cheeks and lips painted as red as a fresh rose. Her posture was tight, ridged. She looked about ready to pass out from anxiety.

Damian sighed. “You’re too tense. Relax your shoulders, take a deep breath. It’s not as scary as you think.” Her shoulders instantly lowered, her posture was still ridged. But more natural, and less like a board or robot. “Thanks, I just can’t help but be scared.” She looked away when she spoke, a pain in his heart when she couldn’t even look him in the eyes. “I know, but this is Vicki Vale. She’s not as bad as most reporters.” He replied. A soft smile on her face appeared. “So she’s not a Vulture?” She giggled, causing Damian to lightly roll his eyes.

She walked by him, down the hallway to the room. Significantly more relaxed. When her back fully turned to him, a soft smile adorned his face as he lightly chuckles under his breath.

When she reaches the hard wood door, she stops. She takes in a shaky breath, her heart again pounding. She reaches up and takes her necklace into her fingers, running her thumb over it a few times. Instantly calming her slightly. She again takes in a large breath, and turns the knob and opens the door.

Walking in she instantly spited the large camera, the man behind it, the lights, along with a blonde woman standing in front of the camera. The woman who she recognizes to be Vicki, walks to her putting her hand out. She shook it lightly, hand still slightly shaky. Both of them walked over to the two chars, now facing each other. “Alight in 3,2,1. Go.”

Vicki turns to her, with a smile on her face “Hi there I’m reporter Vicki Vale,” “hello there, it’s nice to have you here.” She replied, a soft smile on her face. Her heart beat going down slightly. “Thank you for having me here. Now, why don’t we start this off with who you are?” Vicki asks. “My name is Saundra Todd.” Both the camera man, and Vicki gasp. Shock written on their face. “Todd? As in?” A small chuckle escapes under her breath. “Yes, as in the daughter of Jason Todd.” Vickis eyes widen further, not even trying to hide the shock in her face. “But, hasn’t he been dead for years? I don’t understand, he passed when he was 15?” Vicki asks, “funny you say that, cause he’s alive.” Both Vicki and the camera man gasp even more. “When my dad was 14, he had a stalker. At first it wasn’t so bad. A couple letters,both Bruce and Jason thought it was weird but the letters were harmless. They thought it was probably just a girl or boy around his age who thought he was cute. But overtime the lets became more concerning. They would go from nice to lashing out, each one getting worse. Bruce hired an investigator to find who it was, but they came up empty. One night, when my dad was 15, him and Bruce got into an argument. He left. He was wandering around the city that night. He had grown up on the streets so he knew where he was going. Well, before he knew it, he was knocked out. He was taken by his stalker who followed him, to an abandoned warehouse. He, beat my father so heavily, that he passed out. The guy was sure he killed him, and left. Later that night, Bruce called the police, and someone had tipped them that they heard screaming from the warehouse. Officer Jim Gordon was the one who found him. They took him to the hospital. And there, Bruce, Jim and my dad, made a plan. They decided to fake my fathers death. And have him leave the country. And so he did. He went to Europe. He had a fake name, fake aliace, everything. Well a few years passed, and they caught the man. When Bruce called him telling him, my dad said he wanted to stay. And there he stayed. For 5 years my father stayed in Europe. Well when he was 23, he decided he wanted to come home. He didn’t take up the Wayne bane, or come back announcing he was alive. Over the years he grew comfortable being out of the spotlight. And so, he moved into a small apartment. He’s not my real dad, he actually found me. I was an orphan, had been for a long time. I was living on the streets at the time. And one day, he saw me. I was only 17 at the time. And he offered me a place, and here we are.”

“I just, wow. I can’t believe he’s been alive this entire time. Is he ever wanting to come out himself?” Vicki asks. “I don’t know, he’s pretty comfortable where he’s at now. I was too until well, you know.” She laughed, causing Vicki to chuckle. “Very true, Gotham isn’t very forgiving in that department. Especially since you’re seen with the Wayne family.” Her heart was no longer feeling like it would fall out her chest, now feeling comfortable. “Oh yeah, especially since I’ve been staying here the last month.” Confusion written on Vickis face. “Oh? And why’s that?” She asks her. “My father went back to Europe to visit some of his friends for a while, I chose to stay here in Gotham.” “Now, I gotta ask, what’s your father like? I mean we haven’t seen him in over a decade.” A soft laugh leaves her at the question. “He’s absolutely amazing. He’s incredibly caring, he’s always looking out for me. But being that he’s only 6 years older than me, he's kinda like a big brother to me at the same time. He’s also a huge dork, he’ll go at any length to make me laugh. He’s the best father I could ask for. But it always hasn’t been that way. When I first went to stay there, we barely talked. It wasn’t just an instant father daughter bond. Hell, he didn’t adopt me for a few months. He’s not like Bruce who has adoption papers in his jacket.” She chuckles. Everyone turned to the door when they heard large laughter behind the door. Vicki turned to her mouthing ‘who?’ “Oh that would be my uncle. He’s quite Nosy.” She chuckles. The door opens to appear dick. “Hey, I just was passing by.” He laughs. She turns her body to him, now the camera on both of them. “Oh suurree you were, Richard.” She teases. Making him chuckle and point a finger at her. “Hey you know my name ya little shit.” He laughs. “Oh I’m sorry, should I call you Ric? Ricky? Oh how about Richie rich?” Everyone in the room now laughing so much they’re clutching their sides, loving the banter between them. Dick bends over and chuckles at her. “You really are just like your father you shit.”he teases. “Oh but you love me.” She teases back, a shit eating grin on her face.

“Okay now that was one of the funniest things I’ve seen.” Vicki laughs, both her and sandy sitting back down. “Oh you’d die if you saw how bad we get. I’m always messing with everyone here.” She chuckles, now totally comfortable. “I bet I would, now, mind if we get to the topic that everyone’s been waiting for?” Vicki asks. “I was wondering when we’d get to that.” She chuckles. “Alright, so, the biggest one that everyone’s been wondering has been you and Tim.” Sandy sighs and takes a drink of the water beside her. “We’re only friends. He’s actually my best friend. The cameras just caught us off guard when we went out for coffee. He saw that I was panicked and hid me in his jacket. There’s nothing romantic between him and I.” She chuckles. “Now the other one people have been wondering, you were spotted for a while with Damian Wayne. And some photos of you guys, looked a little less platonic than you and Tim. Is there anything going on?” Vicki asks. A pain shoots through her heart at the question. Causing her to sigh. “There nothing going on between Damian and I either. My dad introduced me first to him, being that we are the same age. That’s just how we are.” “Oh alright, you guys just seemed to be a bit more flirty in the photos.” Vicki replies. Causing her to chuckle. “And why didn’t anyone just assume I’m naturally flirty.” Shr chuckles, winking at the camera.

It’s as if overnight everything changed, no more the gold digger, mystery girl, anything negative that was said was whipped clean. ‘Late son of Bruce Wayne Jason Todd alive!? And has a daughter!’ ‘The new member of the Wayne family’ ‘Saundra Todd, all we know about the new Wayne family member.’

Of course a part of her was happy, after all the nasty tabloids, it was a nice change to see. But she was also worried. No longer able to have a small bubble she had been in her entire life. No longer being able to go out and not spotted. No longer having a personal life. It was daunting really, but she took it in stride, deciding that she should use her now small bit of fame for better.

Shortly after the interview, she was in the works for a fundraiser for homeless children and teens, to raise money for good shelters that provided what the children needed.

Dinner had finished long ago, most of everyone had left the dining room and left for either their rooms, or wherever in the manor they chose.

Alfred sat in the library, reading. Sandy had offered to do the dishes for him, claiming that he needs his time for himself to rest besides sleep. He didn’t argue, knowing the extent of how stubborn she could get, especially when it came to helping. It truly warmed his heart though, how much she truly wanted to help the aging butler. He wasn’t as fast or had as much energy as when the boys were all young. He knew this, having turned 81 early in the year. So having her help him around the manor took a lot of the weight off of him.

He was halfway through the book when Damian walked in. Not paying much attention to the young man, until he sat down in one of the chairs. He looked over to see damians eyes on the paper. He watched as he picked it up, opening it, watching as a scowl grew on his face. Damian set the paper down onto the table and got up abruptly. “Master Damian, something troubling you?” He asked. Concerned for him. “She seems to be loved real quick.” Damian replies, annoyance evident in his tone. “Why yes, Miss Todd has made a good impression in the city recently.”

Damian sighed, looking away. Anger still present on his face. “Yeah if only they saw what she was really like. They'd probably change their tune.”

Alfred set his book down onto the table, looking at him with annoyance written on his face. “This is how Miss Todd is. She is a kind, loving, and wonderful young woman. And I am sick of hearing how you speak to her all because of what happened. Everyday I watch as the poor girls heart breaks whenever you act the way you do. I put up with this arrogant attitude when you were young but now it’s just childish. I understand you are in pain master Damian but she is just as much. You were after all her first too. I am very disappointed in how immature you’re acting. I helped to raise you differently.” Alfred never yelled at any of them. Never once has they heard the elderly man raise his voice in a yell. But he always had a way to scold each of them without ever raising his voice.

Pain shoots through damians heart when Alfred told him this. It grew even worse when he walked out of the room. He never truly thought about it, about that it hurt her as well. He was so consumed by his hurt that he reverted back to how he was years ago. His heart thumps in pain when he remembered all the times he’s seen her face contort in pain, all the tears he’s seen stream down her face. But confusion fills him, he was her first? She had never mentioned being with anyone else. He just assumed she had. Pain grows in him further, but he doesn’t understand why.

“Why didn’t you tell me I was your first?” He asks abruptly. Jumping her and causing her to drop a cup in the sink. He watched as her face goes from shock to pained when she looked at him. She quickly looked back to the cup in the sink, picking it back up to wash. “What?” She asks, still not looking at him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to jump you. But, why didn’t you tell-“ “you were my first everything Damian. The first guy I had feeling for, first date I ever had. My first kiss. Everything.” Her voice slightly cracked when she muttered kiss. Tears welled up in her eyes. Pain shots through him watching as she tries holding in the tears. “You were my first too, I just don’t understand why you didn’t-“ “she didn’t have to tell you anything. Now why don’t you leave her be.” Both of them turn their eyes to the door, seeing Tim standing there. His arms were crossed over his chest, standing ridged. Face contorted in annoyance and anger at him. Anger fills him as he looks at Tim. “I was just simply asking.” He spat, anger prevalent in his tone. “Well sorry. With how you talk to her, can’t help but worry when you open your mouth.” Tim says, anger dripping in his tone. Both men stood in front of one another, Damian clenching his fists tightly at his sides. “Do is all a favor and just leave. You’ve done enough to hurt her. Making her remember isn’t gonna help anyone.” Anger grows further at tims words. “Oh didn’t know you were her bodyguard.” He replied, annoyance and sarchasm heavy in his words. “No, it’s simply just being her friend.” Tim turns to her, anger subsided when he sees her. “Come on let's go watch a movie.” He asks her.

They both walk to the door of the kitchen, but before leaving, Tim turns to him. “Just remember, you brought this onto yourself.”

[roger1na]

careful ch4 - john deacon x reader

summary: you are a ballet student at the royal ballet academy. To pay for your tuition, you work part-time at the celebrity gossip magazine, Seven. One fateful day you’re sent to interview a band on the rise, Queen, post-concert and befriend the sweetest man on the planet.

words: 4k+

warnings: swearing (and tension ;0)

author’s note: keep forgetting to mention that this fic happens in late july 1974! there are a few inaccuracies concerning brian’s illnesses and newspaper articles but, hey, it’s a fic, right? according to googe though, norwegian wood, really does have waltz time! and it’s a hella good song. thank you for all the love <3

[ch1] [ch2] [ch3] [ch4] [ch5] [ch6] [ch7] [ch8]

chapter four

Your heart was ready to burst out of your chest as you looked in the mirror on that fateful saturday morning.

Your hair was falling around your bare shoulders. You’d gone with a bright red tank top and blue overalls that cut off mid thigh, as the meteorologist had promised a hot afternoon. Nervously you pouted at the mirror and tried to look cute, but you felt ridiculously silly.

You had called Rose on friday night in a panic.

“What the fuck do I wear? I can’t just wear my training clothes they’re ugly as shit,” you were babbling on while Rose had laughed.

“You’re so nervous, it’s adorable.”

“Rose,” you had warned.

“Listen, it’ll be alright, put on something you can move in, but not something dumpy, it’s not like you’ll be bending over backwards with a couple of beginners.”

You had sighed and nibbled on your nails, the chewing sound traveling through the phone.

“Oi, don’t bite your nails, it’s a bad habit!” Rose had scolded you. You  had stopped immediately, feeling slightly ashamed.

“See, I’ll do something like this, something embarrassing and he’ll leave me forever,” you had whined.

“If he leaves you for that, he was going to leave you anyway,” she had replied nonchalantly.

“Not helpful,” you had groaned and rubbed your forehead.

“It’ll be fine. It’ll be great.” Rose had insisted and you calmed down slightly. “Now go to sleep. You don’t want to be a raccoon tomorrow.”

“Don’t make me regret calling you, I was expecting support.” You had pretended to be offended. “You know what’s worse? I feel silly, like I shouldn’t be this excited for a date- or whatever you call this. Like I’m doing myself a disservice.”

“You don’t have to go all prude just because you love dance.”

“Hey!” You had snapped. “You love dance too, and when d’you last have a girlfriend?”

“Oi, that’s not what I mean, I mean, you can balance things. If you can do an arabesque you can metaphorically arabesque your life.”

“That’s the worst analogy I’ve ever heard.”

“Alright, alright,” there had been a lightness to her voice. “But I’m serious, stop obsessing, go to bed. It’s one of those ‘you’ll understand when you need to’ moments.”

“Bullshit but, I will go to bed, thank you, because I need the sleep, not because you told me to.”

“That’s right, sleep well.”

“Goodnight you righteous bastard.” 

Rose had been right, it was pointless to worry about the stretch of your clothes when at most you’d probably get to the fourth position. She could’ve been right about your love life too, but you were stubborn and refused her help.

You glanced in the mirror once more before grabbing your purse and keys and heading out.

The weatherman had hit the mark, sort of. The sun was shining strongly but there was a certain electricity in the air, which entailed a thunderstorm. The hairs on your arms stood on end as your converse slapped on the hot pavement.

The tube was crowded with children on their way to the park, excitedly babbling at their parents about their last daydream. Your stomach coiled with anxiety and you squeezed your purse so tightly your knuckles turned white. You were sure you looked a right sight, and suddenly felt embarrassed. The whole world was shouting around you, perhaps about you, and you wanted to sink in through the tube floor and into the tunnel. You shuddered at the thought of the cold wetness as the metro pulled into your stop.

The address John had given you by another flashy post-it delivered to an overly curious receptionist (this time with a little doodle of his face with a poor stick figure body holding what you assumed was a bass guitar. Didn’t really look like one) lead to a small, but not rundown, studio graced with the EMI Records logo on the front door.

You knocked on the glass gently, but when nobody came to open you tried the handle and found that the door was unlocked. The hallways echoed with bickering and the occasional strum of a guitar. “Hello?” You asked, your voice caught in your throat. You coughed a bit and tried again. “Excuse me?” The sound clattered off the walls, but didn’t stop the bickering.

You continued down the dimly lit corridor with black and white checkered floor tiles and flyers and posters tacked on the walls with no apparent order or reason. Occasionally, you passed a door with a blurry window and a sign saying ‘recording room’ and a number. You pressed your ear to the wall to try and locate the guitar strumming which sounded without a doubt like Brian May’s red special.

You were concentrating on the sound on the other side of a door marked ‘recording room 3’ when the door swung open and nearly hit you on the nose. You stood there, bewildered, hands clutched over your face in a feeble attempt to protect what Rose called the ‘moneymaker’, eyes locked with John’s grey ones, which were slightly widened at the sight of you.

“Careful,” he let a soft smile rise on his cheeks. “I could’ve broken your nose.”

“Is it my fault you have such an aggressive style of opening doors,” you scolded him.

“Didn’t your parents teach you not to eavesdrop?” He raised his eyebrows and you rolled your eyes but smiled at him.

“Deaky! Who’re you talking to? Is Paul back with our coffee?” A high-pitched voice you pinpointed as Roger’s rang from the room.

“Actually, it’s your dance teacher!” You called out over John’s shoulder, then shot him a glance. “Deaky?” You whispered confused.

“Don’t mind it, it’s just a nickname,” he shrugged.

“Alright,” you smiled. “I still like John, though,” you whispered, mostly to yourself, before allowing him to gently take your hand and lead you into the studio.

You felt very exposed once you’d entered the studio, swinging back and forth on your black vans. The band (minus John) was on a little stage, tending to their instruments, Freddie’s hands set on the piano keys, as if he was hesitating to play. When he saw you got up and crossed the room to you at lightspeed.

“Hello, lovely to meet again,” he flashed his famous smile that had been subject of criticism for too long in your magazine. You returned the expression and out of the corner of your eye saw Brian and Roger get up as well, but shoving each other slightly because of what you assumed was another disagreement on the band’s next album. John shot them a signature glare and they poised themselves.

“I’m not good at dancing,” Roger had a way of speaking you could only describe as a drawl. He shook your hand lightly. You felt his calloused skin scratching your palm slightly.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be doing anything too hard today, I promise,” you replied.

“Unless she’s here to make a fool out of all of us,” Freddie grinned.

“I’m nicer than that,” you said over your shoulder before turning and shaking Brian’s hand as well. He felt miles over you in height, especially combined with his hair.

“What’s with the formalities, we’ve met before, haven’t we?” Brian’s voice was warm and his eyes glimmered in the yellow studio light.

“That’s what you do, Brian, when John brings his girl over!” Roger said in the must duh voice. “We’ve got to make a good impression.” You felt redness prickle at your cheeks. His girl? What’d they think was going on? You shared a quick glance with John, who looked equally flustered.

You were still deciding whether to say something about Roger’s little quip when John opened his mouth to tell him off. “We’re here to dance, not scrutinize each other, right?” Roger stuck out his tongue and John rolled his eyes.

“Actually, we’re here to play music and Fred had a spark of ‘genius’ and now we’re here to dance.” Brian made little air quote signs around the word ‘genius’ before smiling at Freddie fondly to remind him that he was joking.

“Right, so, what’re we waiting for?” You huffed, your hands on your hips. “We need more space, you’ll need to push some things around.” When the boys stared at you incredulously for a moment you clapped your hands. “Hey, I’m a lady, I can’t do this by myself!”

John laughed and kicked Roger’s behind as he whined while they set to clearing a space in the center of the floor. “‘M not sure I like her anymore.” He said, rather loudly, but not too maliciously and you grinned at him from where you were helping Freddie shove the grand piano into the corner of the room.

A small, square, space opened in the centre of the room and all the boys rushed to fill a spot in it, each trying to ridiculously out-pose each other, raising their chins comically high and straightening their backs to the point of bending backwards. They were all excited to compete against the ‘best-ish dancer’ prize, falling over each other like little children.

“Alright, don’t worry, I’m not going to make you dance your feet off.” You giggled and helped them adjust themselves to be in the first position, narrating your adjustments. You got to John, who seemed to have figured it out by himself. No wonder, as the first position wasn’t particularly hard, but often beginners struggled maintaining their balance standing with their feet so close.

You continued, hearing the boys get increasingly more frustrated as the positions got harder. When you got to the fourth position, Roger was practically falling over and Brian was struggling with his long legs. Only Freddie and John had managed to somewhat keep their composure.

“This isn’t my favourite thing to do,” Brian mumbled courteously.

“Fuck ballet,” Roger seconded, not nearly as polite.

“Chin up boys, you can’t ever be as good as me, why complain about it?” Freddie grinned.

“How am I doing, Y/N?” John piped up softly.

“Perfect,” you grinned. “But,” you continued, “if you all hate ballet so much, we can try ballroom dancing instead, it’s a lot easier.”

The boys nodded eagerly, except John, who was stuck on the fact that this meant he might have to dance with you and he wasn’t exactly sure of what to do with that information. On one hand, he definitely wanted to lead you, but maybe not in a room with his best mates where he’d make a fool of himself with his clumsy moves. You made eye contact with him, blush on your cheeks, unsure of what he thought of your idea. His lips twitched into a small, nervous smile and you took a shaky breath.

“Right, so, pair up. Winner, best dancer, whatever,” you waved your hands around incoherently before continuing, “gets to dance with me.” The suggestion was silly, but to be fair, you were an uneven amount and you couldn’t just kick the rest of them to the curb and let John twirl you around, though that was all you really wanted.

“Oh she’s brilliant!” Freddie smiled before rushing over to John, who still had the most flabbergasted expression on his face.

“Do you have waltz music?” You peered around the studio. There was a small box of records on the edge of the stage and you rifled through it, picking up the vinyl for the Beatles’ album Rubber Soul.

“Big fan?” Freddie piped up from where he had taken John by the hands.

“Well, uhm, this was published when I was twelve so, maybe when I was a teen? Not really, but Norwegian Wood is in waltz time.” You dusted the cover and slipped out the record, putting it in the vinyl player. “I’ll show you the steps while we wait for Drive My Car to be over, and then you can lead each other to the beat of Norwegian Wood.”

Roger insisted on leading Brian despite being several inches shorter. Freddie was swishing his hair dramatically as John grabbed his waist.

“This is the worst thing you’ve ever done to me,” he muttered to you in passing as you adjusted their positions and you stifled your laughter.

Norwegian Wood began with an upbeat strumming of a guitar.

“I once had a girl

 or should I say, she once had me…”

Brian kept tripping over his feet and Roger was by far the worst dancer you’d ever seen. Freddie and John were a bit more smooth but even they had their little hiccoughs. The song ended and you lifted the needle off of the vinyl.

“You guys did so well!” You grinned.

“Don’t lie,” Roger rolled his eyes.

You burst into laughter. “Okay, fair enough, John and Freddie did really well!” Freddie looked proud and John looked embarrassed to be called on.

“So who was the best?” John asked nervously.

You smiled at him and Freddie gave him a dramatic shove forward, despite definitely knowing he was the better half. John stumbled a bit before reaching you, slightly towering over you, taking your hands into his. Freddie moved to the vinyl player to place the needle back at the beginning of Norwegian Wood. Just as the folks-y strumming of guitar began, someone, you assumed was the Paul Roger had named earlier that day. At least he was carrying a tray with four cardboard coffee cups.

You and John flew apart like scattered mice, as if somebody had walked in on something truly scandalous. You looked at the floor embarrassed as Freddie lowered the volume of the song.

“Paul!” Brian greeted and grabbed a cup that had his name scrawled on with black pen. John walked over as well and took his cup and sipped it tentatively.

Paul was a relatively tall man with shaggy, almost ginger, hair, who spoke with a subtle Irish accent. “Eh, and who’s this?” He smiled at you, but his smile was a bit forced and you were both tense with each other.

“Y/N, hi,” you held out your hand and he set the tray of cups down and shook it. His hands were slightly clammy. In the end, Paul wasn’t nasty. He was just a bit stuck up and awkward. You let it slide and gave him a warm smile. He responded with a slightly stiff one, but that was it.

“Sorry, I didn’t get you coffee, never know when Roger’s bringing a girl about.”

You went red and John scoffed. “Yeah, she’s here with me,” he took your hand, squeezing it slightly. “She’s teaching us dance, remember?”

“Sorry,” Paul didn’t even flinch and continued to serve the coffee to Roger and Freddie who had grown a bit tense. Electricity crackled in the air, like the thunder storm you had thought of this morning.

You sat down on the couch. Roger and Brian immersed themselves in more arguing, pointing to each others notes. Freddie tapped out a few absent notes on the piano. John sat next to you.

“He’s an arse, always has been, always will be.” John muttered. “Take no note of it.”

You glanced up, and looked at him for a while. The yellow lighting of the room created dancing shadows on his sculpted face and light danced in his eyes. His uneven lips twitched upward at the right corner when he noticed you staring. “What? Have I got something on me?”

You shook your head. “No.” You placed a hand on his cheek. “I was just admiring you.” The silliness of the words, the romance that you had uttered made you turn away and lower your hand in embarrassment. John was over the moon, a soft smile splitting his face.

“You’re such a dork, Y/N,” he teased you. “If only I’d have known sooner, what a softie you are.”

“Oh please,” you scoffed, turning away but occasionally looking back at him with a smirk. .

“Do you want to help with something?” He suddenly turned to you, grey eyes sparkling.

“Sure, what is it?”

He set his cup down and dragged you up by the wrists. “Hey,” you laughed. “What’s going on?” Brian glanced at you two absentmindedly, two young lovers in his mind, giggling and enjoying the world. A gentle expression crossed his face before he went back to songwriting.

“Come, I’ll show you,” John only said secretively.

He lead you out of the room, further back into the studio until you arrived at a banged up door which looked like it hadn’t been used in years. The paint was peeling and some of the letters on the door had faded off so it said ‘re o ding ro m’ with a small number six that was more of just another ‘o’ because the stem had been rubbed off.

“They closed this part of studio down because keeping six recording rooms was unreasonable.” He took out a rusty key and twisted it in the lock. “So,” he opened the door with a creak. “I stole the space.”

The room smelt of ink and electronics. “Wow,” you breathed out, in awe. Posters of bands and bassists were tacked on the room as well as pictures of his band, and an article called ‘John Deacon, shutterbug at large’ with pictures taken by him surrounding the title text. Next to the back wall was a desk with a box connected to lots of wiring on it.

“It’s great, isn’t it?” He smiled as you turned around in the room, inspecting the little details.

“It’s so cool.” You jumped around in excitement. “Does the rest of the band know about this?”

John shook his head. “They think the key to the room was lost.”

“Brilliant. And evil, John.” You teased. “What’d you need my help for?”

John flicked his right pointer finger as he realised what he’d brought you here to do, and flashed a quick smile before digging in the drawers and fishing out a boxy polaroid camera. “Will you let me take a picture of you?”

You smiled gently. “You sure? I’m not that good of a model. Or particularly pret-” John cut you off by taking your hand.

“You’re absolutely perfect.”

You hesitated before nodding. “But only if you let me take one of you as well!”

John laughed and let you take a seat and pose slightly before there was a small click and a flash before the polaroid started coming out.

The picture was black and he placed it upside down on the desk, before handing you the camera. “Alright, I have no idea how this works,” you announced, fiddling with the camera. John gave you a wide grin, showing his tooth gap, eyes wrinkling and you snapped a photo.

“We need to place it upside down, so it develops well,” he instructed and tried to take the photo.

“Oh but you promise I get this one? To take home and all?”

“Absolutely,” he assured you.

“Okay, one more, then,” you took the camera from his unsuspecting hands and turned it so you couldn’t see what picture you were taking, only knowing that John was leaning close to you, breath tingling on your cheek and looking into the black lenses.

The photo rolled out and you set it down. John was looking at you adoringly. You turned to him, hips swaying a little bit. “D’you want to finish that dance?”

John took your waist hesitantly. “That’d be nice, yeah.”

“Can you sing? Norwegian Wood?”

John thought for a bit before taking a few small waltz steps, his voice starting low and scratchy.

He lead you gently, smoothly. You glided along his arms, enjoying the warmth of his hand on your waist. And god, you loved his voice. It was deep and soft but powerful. It rumbled from his vocal chords and sent shivers down your spine.

He finished the song, slowing down the beat slightly.

“So I lit a fire

Isn’t it good, Norwegian wood?”

On the last wood of the song, he spun you around slowly, and though you knew the song was about an arsonist burning down his almost one-night-stand’s house, it did really feel as if he’d lit a fire. It burned in your chest and reddened the blush on your cheeks. It sparkled in your hands and steamed where you were skin to skin.

Time stopped. You were both still slightly swaying even though the singing had stopped. Your eyes flicked to his lips and back to look into his grey eyes. You leaned very close, you could feel his breath on your face. He smelt of earthly cologne and breath mints.

There was only a few centimetres between your lips and his when thunder rumbled throughout London and startled you so bad you ducked and fell into his arms with a shriek. You both stood in stunned silence whilst you shook in his grip.

He chuckled slightly. “Are you afraid of thunder?” You looked up, chin pressing against his chest and nodded meekly.

He stroked your hair and kissed your forehead. Fire burned where his lips touched your skin. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.” And he wrapped his arms around you tighter and rocked back and forth slightly. After a few moments had passed, he said in a low voice: “D’you want to join the others?” To which you shook your head.

“I’m fine here.” You mumbled. “Sorry, I’m a bit daft.”

You felt John’s chest shake as he barked in laughter. “You’re so silly. You don’t need to apologise for anything. I’m just as well here.”

“Thank you.” You felt bad you hadn’t kissed him. Like your chance was gone with the wind, washed down the drain with the rainwater that storms brought from the sea.

Slowly you unraveled yourself from his arms and took the photographs off the desk and smiled at the one with the both of you on it. John insisted on pinning them all on the wall, except the one of himself, which you held from his reach, reminding him that it was yours to keep.

“Like you promised!” You yelled as you let him chase you around the room a bit before he caught you from the waist and pulled you into an iron grip where you squealed with laughter, still waving the photo far from his reach. He looked ridiculously adorable in the shot, his cute smile living in the photo, hair a little messed up.

The thunder rumbled again but you didn’t hear it over your own and John’s laughter. Happiness filled your heart and love pumped through your veins.

The day passed too fast and too soon you were exchanging goodbyes at the exit of the studio. The rain was pouring outside, but the air was still hot. The other members of the band had already said their ‘byes’ and teased her endlessly but goodnaturedly about disappearing for the larger part of an hour.

“You sure you’re okay going out on your own? I can drive you again, if you want?” His voice dripped with concern and his downturned eyes seemed sad.

“John, I’m going to be fine. The cab’s waiting, and I don’t think the driver would be too fond of me just popping over saying, ‘I’ve got another ride, bye.’”

He sighed and looked at you long through those grey, piercing eyes. A clap of thunder made you jump slightly. The hairs on your arms were stood on end. You regretted wearing the tank top. John saw you shiver and shrugged of his own jacket and gave it to you. You tried to protest but he reassured you.

“You can give it back the next time we’ll see each other.”

“Next time?” You whispered.

“Yeah.”

You smiled, and on your tiptoes leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “‘Till next time, John Deacon.”

“‘Till next time, Y/N Y/L/N.”

You ran through the rain to your cab, a goofy grin plastered across your face. If the driver had asked, you could’ve talked about this day forever, but instead, you took out the picture of John, with his kind eyes and stared at it lovingly until the cab reached your home.

‘Till next time.

***

taglist: @fourmisfits @deakysgirl @im-happy-at-home @obsessedwithrogertaylor @itsametaphorbriansblog @rhapso-kei

[tripstations]

Ultimate budget travel guide in Scandinavia: Is it possible & how?, Lifestyle, Travel News

If you Google ‘the most expensive travel destinations in the world’, cities in Scandinavia will easily find a spot in the top 10. Norway, Denmark and Sweden have high costs of living and rightfully so because of their great welfare, infrastructure and quality of life.

Unfortunately, these expensive costs weigh upon visitors and travellers to these countries. A budget trip there could easily be the equivalent of excessively splurging in trips across Southeast Asia. However, some sights in Scandinavia are truly breathtaking and cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

So is it possible to really get by and execute a budget trip in Scandinavia? We think it’s possible.

FLIGHTS

Flights usually take up a bulk of your budget when planning a trip. Ever since Norwegian Airlines cancelled its budget route from Singapore to London, there has not been another alternative budget hack when booking flights to Scandinavia.

One reliable method of getting cheaper tickets to Northern Europe is simply to book early in advance. A good time would be around more than 6 months in advance.

ACCOMMODATION

Accommodation in Scandinavia is generally expensive no matter where you look. Rather than stay somewhere absurdly far away from the city centre, there are a few spots to stay in that go easy on the wallet.

NORWAY

1. COCHS PENSJONAT

Photo: Cochs Pensjonat

In the centre of Oslo lies Cochs Pensjonat, a guesthouse accommodation which is literally a block away from The Royal Palace.

Cochs is rather cosy with a wooden interior and charming appeal. There’s free WiFi and it is walking distance to the shopping district.

Photo: Cochs Pensjonat

If shopping doesn’t appeal to you, there are also parks, bars and restaurants near where you stay. This is definitely convenient if you want to fully explore Oslo.

90 bucks might seem steep but it is already considered rather affordable for accommodations in such a convenient location. Due to the location, you are bound to save on transport costs from travelling around the capital city.

Price: Approx. $90 per night (single room) Website

DENMARK

1. WOODAH HOSTEL

Photo: Woodah Hostel

Don’t mind bunking with other travellers? Woodah offers 30 bunk bed cabins in different dorm rooms for the backpacker. If all you require is a bed, Woodah should be your top choice. Each bed cabin is equipped with a privacy curtain, reading light and private locker.

The hostel is located in the area of Vesterbro where things are hip and happening. Parks, galleries and museums are also located nearby so you’ll always have things to explore and do.

Photo: Woodah Hostel

If you’re a yogi, Woodah has mats and other yoga equipment within the hostel free for you to use. Get discounts at local yoga schools as well if you happen to discover a class you fancy.

Price: From $65 per night (mixed dorm room) Website

2. COPENHAGEN BACKPACKERS

Photo: Copenhagen Backpackers

Easily access the city centre from Copenhagen Backpackers which is only a minute’s walk from Copenhagen Central Station.

The hostel is outfitted with dorms filled with bunk beds perfect for travellers who still want a comfortable stay. Bed curtains are included and there’s even a breakfast buffet for all guests!

Photo: Copenhagen Backpackers

Looking to explore beautiful Copenhagen more quickly? Rent a bike from the hostel for a small fee each day. The hostel promises to match the price of other bike rental stores if they come at a cheaper price as well. One way to go budget.

Price: From $60 per night (mixed dorm room) Website

3. BEDWOOD HOSTEL I NYHAVN

Photo: Bedwood Hostel

Feel at home at Bedwood Hostel. The backpacker hostel is simple and cosy, much like a bed and breakfast. The rooms consist of bunk beds with privacy curtains and reading lamps. If you happen to be on the tall side, the beds are also 2 metres long so you’ll have enough space.

Photo: Bedwood Hostel

At the common area, you’ll get to interact with other guests and get a hot drink to pass the night along. If you prefer some outdoor time, there is a courtyard where you can relax.

Top up $9 more to get a breakfast buffet to your stay which serves muesli, oatmeal, ham, sausage and home baked bread.

Price: From $69 per night (mixed dorm room) Website

SWEDEN

1. CITY BACKPACKERS

Photo: City Backpackers

This hostel opened its doors back in 1994 and has been thriving since. City Backpackers in Stockholm offers mixed dorm rooms as well as female-only ones. If you don’t mind spending a bit more, you can opt for double private rooms or private apartments.

If you want to cook your meals to save on your spending, City Backpackers has a guest kitchen for all your basic needs. There’s free WiFi throughout the hostel as well so you can Google recipes on the fly.

Photo: City Backpackers

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day arguably and you can’t start exploring Stockholm on an empty stomach. This hostel has got you covered with breakfast served at the reception every morning which includes yoghurt, fruit and sandwiches!

Price: From $90 per night (single room) Website

2. INTERHOSTEL (STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN)

Photo: Interhostel

This could possibly be the cheapest accommodation in Stockholm. Interhostel labels itself as a youth hostel which is comfortable and has the best location. Despite its price point, the hostel ensures quality for their beds and facilities.

Stockholm’s most popular shopping street is just a walk away and train stations are not too far off as well.

Photo: Interhostel

Another great thing about Interhostel is the guest kitchen. Since a cheap supermarket is only 5 minutes away, you can easily cook yourself meals and save your moolah.

If you’re too lazy, there’s also a microwave which can be used by guests. For $61 per night, this might seem like a steal in Scandinavia.

Price: From $61 per night (dorm room) Website

3. CAMPING

Photo: Unsplash

This is the ultimate budget accommodation choice you have when travelling in Sweden. There is a ‘freedom to roam’ law which allows people to camp in forested areas as long as they abide by certain rules.

You basically can only camp in forested areas even if it is on someone’s property. Crops, gardens and open fields of another person’s property is not allowed. It is encouraged that you only stay for two nights so others do not think you’re squatting in the area. Some areas also have exceptions which you need to take note of.

If you love camping and want to really save on that budget, go on right ahead.

CHEAP EATS

One tip we discovered about saving on food in Scandinavia is simply to cook most of your meals. Groceries are not too expensive and budget supermarkets can be found easily in major cities. All you need is a kitchen.

Even if you don’t have access to a kitchen, many travellers advised on putting together simple sandwiches which do not require cooking.

NORWAY

Photo: Facebook/coopprix

For Norway, there are a few options for discount groceries and ingredients. Our first recommendation is Coop Prix which is a discount store chain which sells ingredients and other types of groceries.

Other popular ones are Kiwi and REMA 1000 which are basically no frills supermarket chains which would work just fine for travellers looking for basic and simple ingredients for cooking.

DENMARK

Photo: Facebook/Dalle Valle (Bruun’s Galleri)

If you’re a big eater but don’t want to break the bank, Denmark has Dalle Valle which is a buffet restaurant which comes rather cheap, for buffets at least. You can get Western dishes and salad here for between $16 -20 depending on the meal and time of day.

SWEDEN

Photo: Facebook/goohgooh

There is an increase in popularity of Asian and Mediterranean cuisine across Sweden which come at wallet-friendly prices. We recommend trying kebabs or hotdogs from food trucks which usually have big portion meals at under $10.

Another Swedish fast food chain you could try is GOOH! which has meals all under $10 as well.

FREE OR CHEAP ATTRACTIONS

The only thing that is better than cheap is free. Visiting sights and attractions at no cost is the ultimate tip for keeping a low budget. Below are some recommendations for attractions that can be visited at no cost (with a few really cheap exceptions).

OSLO, NORWAY

Photo: UnsplashNational Ballet and Opera House Akerselva River National Gallery and National Museum Akershus Castle & Fortress Old Aker Church

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

Photo: UnsplashBlack Diamond Library Christiansborg Palace Tower Frederiksberg Gardens Amager Beach Botanical Gardens

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

Photo: UnsplashGamla Stan Cybertown Courthouse Radhuset City Library Hagaparken

INTERCITY TRAVEL

Your starting point in Scandinavia will determine how you would be travelling from each country and city. But this also depends on your flight destination.

If you happen to travel from Copenhagen, we recommend looking for overnight cruises or boats to Oslo, Norway. They usually come very cheap and will minus one day’s spending on accommodation.

From Sweden, we recommend taking highway buses Swebus or Nettbuss to other cities or countries nearby. If you can find an overnight one, that would help a lot.

SHOULD I SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHTS?

Photo: Unsplash

To watch the Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis, you’d have to travel as close to the Arctic Circle as possible. Unfortunately, the cities up North in Scandinavia are pretty far from the capital cities and travelling there will take a portion of your budget.

If you do want to catch a sure glimpse of Aurora Borealis, travel up as far as Bodø in Norway. Any lower and there might not be a sure chance of catching the lights. If you can afford to set aside a portion of your budget, go on right ahead.

This article was first published in Shopback. 

The post Ultimate budget travel guide in Scandinavia: Is it possible & how?, Lifestyle, Travel News appeared first on Tripstations.

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[makaylasilverman012-blog]

Local Business Categories that 'Google My Business' Supports with many free Benefits!

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Is definitely International SEO Copywriting Essential In order to Marketing Communications?

Within order to does come in order to attending a popular SEO meeting, you can be rest guaranteed that the benefits will become immense. Firstly, the key phrases must be established within the particular translated language. This is the critical area of the project and is dependent very much for the budget associated with the company. Being this type of fresh and pioneering field typically have got to outsource their SEO requirements and it tends to become very expensive. One must keep Blog9T in mind that a great deal of key words have currently been committed to heavily plus the bottom line is that will minus the budget for the significant linking campaign for the competitive keyword there is simply no point in going for that will keyword. 34 year-old Flower Grower Franceschini from Dauphin, loves microscopy, top seo trends in 2018 and ballet. Feels travel a mind opening experience after visiting The Four Lifts on the Canal du Centre. Most good SEO professionals will advise a client since to the keywords they may achieve within their budget along with the hope that the customer can find a niche inside their market. The profitability or even competitiveness of certain keywords may be judged by certain barometers. If you've thought of SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION companies as having a absence of ability to generate that will type of content, most perform not. Some do have this particular ability and can create these types of types of content masterpieces within a economical way. And, the particular resulting search engine ranking jobs and traffic will get customers and executives to see your own site. The best way in order to have a strong online existence is to make sure that will the information on your carrier's website is internet search motor friendly. This is achieved simply by 'localizing' your articles. This will be the process of translating content material, but taking it one phase further to ensure that is actually readability is perfect and examined against local customs, cultural variations and preferences. International SEO copywriting is simply a process associated with providing localized content that will be original, not translated. Be certain to find content writer offers in the local market plus is, in fact, a native-speaker. This dramatically increases the possibility for getting noticed by people from the local target marketplace. Marketing associate careers are responsible for managing trade exhibits and coordinating occasions and conferences like a portion associated with their marketing assistant obligations. Product sales marketing and advertising careers are usually a part of marketing by which the particular services or products are marketed and introduced directly to customers. Generally online marketing jobs are usually best suitable for those along with outstanding communication abilities, reasoning capabilities, management qualities, and critical believing. Here we will discuss SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION marketing and advertising and PAY-PER-CLICK marketing and advertising. • Mobile Communications - The majority of Americans have grown accustomed in order to instant gratification and easy entry to technology. Mobile and pill e-commerce will reach $293B simply by 2018. Smartphone and tablets are usually part of this wave associated with innovation. Mobile will account with regard to 72% of the U. H. digital ad spend by 2019. Marketers know that mobile marketing is definitely an untapped business tool. Of course, you have in order to begin from creating a WORLD WIDE WEB. Nowadays it is a must. It assists, because your company is heading to be visible for the particular world. Webpage since it is definitely, is not enough. Thing regarding SEO (Search engine optimization) plus become visible in search motors. Also good idea is trading in marketing online (FaceBook, Tweets and so forth ). This will promote you company upon the Internet. It is very normal, that people are looking for services or products generally there. I can risk and state that this it a initial place they starting looking. Right Blog9T Youtube after that they may be asking friends. Therefore being visible on the Web is very important for every single company nowadays.

Think about the time, energy, and concentrate you'd have not considering developing your website and making on-going updates, writing sales copy, SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, social media, webinar management plus article marketing. SRE GLOBAL INFOTECH is providing SEO India in order to KnowinServers, Provides you with finest and top notch quality providers around the world in the area associated with Dedicated server, Basic Server, Linux VPS, Windows VPS, German Machine, USA Servers and much even more to make solutions for client globally. Of course, a person have to begin from producing a WWW. Nowadays this can be a need to. It helps, because your firm is going to be noticeable for the world. Webpage considering that it is, is not good enough. Thing about SEO (Search motor optimization) and become visible within search engines. Also good concept is investing in marketing on-line (FaceBook, Twitter and so on ). It will promote a person company on the Internet. This is quite normal, that individuals are searching for services or even products there. I can chance and say that this this a first place they beginning looking. After that they may be inquiring friends. So being visible upon the Internet is very essential for every company nowadays.

While a amount of software options exist, several will teach you quite definitely. Certain, the companies that produce these types of items will tell you almost everything you want to hear plus boast about how easy this is to use their software program but if you don't realize what the information means, a person won't get far. SEO software program may be useful being a device but it will never substitute true knowledge. I woldn't suggest it as teaching tool. Your own marketing is just too essential. There are professionals that supply virtual assistance services that are skilled in Internet and social press marketing. This means you may hire them to set upward press release and article advertising campaigns. You can also inquire skillful VAs to improve the particular SEO for your website plus offer suggestions on how in order to grow your business through Web marketing techniques. You will discover VAs that can use sociable media to generate new network marketing leads for your business. Creating the business blog, setting up a good interesting Facebook page, Twitter strategies or any other cutting-edge interpersonal media tools can be duties to delegate to your VIRTUAL ASSISTANT. Creates a Larger Pipeline. Customizing your website to attract brand-new opportunities will help your company develop a large pipeline of possibilities. Consider how your firm draws in prospects currently? Do you deliver out mailings? Newsletters? There is definitely a lot of effort plus resources invested into traditional outbound marketing techniques (direct mail, e-mail and Blog9t executive telemarketing). However, along with an optimized website you possess a sales tool functions in order to find new opportunities on the 24 hour basis. When a person blend SEO with current outbound marketing techniques your firm may create a large pipeline associated with opportunities.

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Local Business Categories that 'Google My Business' Supports with many free Benefits!

If you need a side hustle or some extra cash, scan this list, find a passion and start building your dream! If you are in business and need more traffic, customers, conversions then save this as a reference document. Do I really need a website? The answer is yes. If you have a business with a services or product that people need or want, the answer is yes. Pizza? Yes. Dog Sitter? Yes. Lawyer? Yes. Pest Control? Yes. Plumber? Yes. Electrician? Yes. Afghani Restaurant? Yes. Here's a list of business categories that Google thinks are important enough to have their own categories for business websites: If you have a business involving any one of these categories, then you need a website. If you have a hobby or a passion that involves any of these topics, then contemplate it. There are over 2300 categories that Google categorizes as local businesses: ATM ATV Dealer ATV Repair Shop Abbey Abortion Clinic Abrasives Supplier Abundant Life Church Accountant Accounting School Acoustical Consultant Acupuncture Clinic Acupuncture School Acura Dealer Addiction Treatment Center Adoption Agency Adult Day Care Center Adult Education School Adult Entertainment Club Adult Entertainment Store Adult Foster Care Service Advertising Agency Aerobics Instructor Aerospace Company Afghani Restaurant African Goods Store African Restaurant After School Program Agricultural Service Aikido School Air Compressor Repair Service Air Compressor Supplier Air Conditioning Contractor Air Conditioning Repair Service Air Duct Cleaning Service Air Filter Supplier Air Force Base Air Traffic Control Tower Airbrushing Service Airbrushing Supply Store Aircraft Rental Service Aircraft Supply Store Airline Airplane Airport Airport Hotel Airport Shuttle Service Airport Terminal Airsoft Supply Store Airstrip Alcoholism Treatment Program Allergist Alliance Church Alsace Restaurant Alternative Fuel Station Alternative Medicine Practitioner Alternator Supplier Aluminum Supplier Aluminum Welder Ambulance Service American Football Field American Restaurant Amish Furniture Store Ammunition Supplier Amphitheater Amusement Center Amusement Machine Supplier Amusement Park Amusement Park Ride Amusement Ride Supplier Anago Restaurant Andalusian Restaurant Anesthesiologist Angler Fish Restaurant Anglican Church Animal Control Service Animal Feed Store Animal Hospital Animal Protection Organization Animal Rescue Service Animal Shelter Anodizer Antique Furniture Restoration Service Antique Furniture Store Antique Store Apartment Building Apartment Complex Apartment Rental Agency Apostolic Church Appliance Parts Supplier Appliance Repair Service Appliance Store Appraiser Aquarium Arboretum Archaeological Museum Archery Range Archery Store Architect Architectural Salvage Store Architecture School Archive Arena Argentinian Restaurant Armenian Church Armenian Restaurant Army & Navy Surplus Shop Army Facility Army Museum Aromatherapy Service Aromatherapy Supply Store Art Art Gallery Art Museum Art Restoration Service Art School Art Supply Store Artificial Plant Supplier Artist Arts Organization Asbestos Testing Service Ashram Asian Fusion Restaurant Asian Grocery Store Asian Massage Therapist Asian Restaurant Asphalt Contractor Assemblies of God Church Assisted Living Facility Association or Organization Asturian Restaurant Athletic Field Athletic Track Attorney Referral Service Auction House Audi Dealer Audio Visual Consultant Audio Visual Equipment Rental Service Audio Visual Equipment Repair Service Audio Visual Equipment Supplier Audiologist Auditorium Australian Restaurant Austrian Restaurant Authentic Japanese Restaurant Auto Auction Auto Body Parts Supplier Auto Body Shop Auto Broker Auto Dent Removal Service Auto Electrical Service Auto Glass Shop Auto Insurance Agency Auto Machine Shop Auto Parts Store Auto Radiator Repair Service Auto Repair Shop Auto Restoration Service Auto Spring Shop Auto Sunroof Shop Auto Tag Agency Auto Tune Up Service Auto Upholsterer Auto Wrecker Automobile Storage Facility Aviation Consultant Awning Supplier BMW Dealer BMW Motorcycle Dealer Baby Clothing Store Baby Store Badminton Court Bagel Shop Bahá' í House of Worship Bail Bonds Service Bait Shop Bakery Baking Supply Store Ballet School Balloon Artist Balloon Ride Tour Agency Balloon Store Ballroom Ballroom Dance Instructor Band Bangladeshi Restaurant Bank Bankruptcy Attorney Bankruptcy Service Banner Store Banquet Hall Baptist Church Bar Bar & Grill Bar Stool Supplier Barbecue Restaurant Barber School Barber Shop Barber Supply Store Bark Supplier Barn Barrel Supplier Barrister Bartending School Baseball Baseball Club Baseball Field Basket Supplier Basketball Club Basketball Court Basketball Court Contractor Basque Restaurant Bathroom Remodeler Bathroom Supply Store Batting Cage Center Beach Entertainment Shop Beach Resort Bead Store Bead Wholesaler Bearing Supplier Beauty Products Vending Machine Beauty Salon Beauty School Beauty Supply Store Bed & Breakfast Bed Shop Bedding Store Bedroom Furniture Store Beer Distributor Beer Store Belgian Restaurant Berry Restaurant Beverage Distributor Bible Church Bicycle Repair ... Download the entire list-- Click Here ... How Important is a website? Very. It's a nearly "free" means of interacting with the local business community. It is a platform to express the benefits you can provide to consumers you serve. You can state your case for your ability to solve your client's problems. You can garner reviews from your clients as Google states often, "A satisfied customer is your best advocate." A website is recommended if you have a business. If you have more time than money, you can use a WIX website and get something up on the web for "free" minus your anxiety, time and creativity. "If I build it, will they come ..." Good question ... it depends on how you do your backend, on page and off page SEO. (Search Engine Optimization). Okay. Good. It may work and more power to you. After you experiment, call us. For those on a limited budget, we will build your website for you and make sure it's coded correctly, linked correctly, submitted to search engines correctly. Every page will provide proper SEO links and content to help get traffic of qualified prospects. We will install a dashboard control panel so you can add content and interesting articles that can help rank you higher in Google's algorithm. Or we should do these services for you as well. Stop struggling and relax. There is a reason we are here and for the few dollars you budget, you will reap better rewards. To save everyone's time, figure out what you can budget toward marketing and business building. Yes, You Need a Website! Get the FREE PDF on all the categories here: https://epidigitalshift.com/complete-list-of-local-business-categories-google-my-business-supports/

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Is International SEO Copywriting So Important To Marketing Marketing communications?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is among the most budget-friendly forms of Internet marketing. Expertise: Neil Patel is an expert online marketer and he puts out a few killer blogs Blog9T that help their audience really get an in-depth grasp on topics like SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and content marketing, usually the piece that is neglected simply by lots of ecommerce companies. Yet another method is doing video content marketing and advertising, that is huge and relating to Forbes, VIDEO is expected to claim greater than 80% associated with all web traffic by 2019! So you might want in order to think about incorporating video straight into your marketing mix somewhere lower the road as well. one. ) Social media friendly websites like MeetUp, Socializr, EventBrite : amazing sites that allow a person find people of like attention. Additionally, there are SEO pleasant, so if someone Google your own name they will also discover you with these sites plus events. I do not possess a lot of experience along with these websites, but I noticed that they are great in order to promote events. If you market properly customers will come. If a person are not advertising online a person will be downsized within this particular decade. International business is overflowing, individuals are searching, and in case you are on the moon with your website, you will certainly miss a large number associated with sales. If you need somebody to do the meet your own needs to find those clients, here is a great business that we recommend gravitateonline. Normally find a good SEO firm that has a solid history and has built a strong foundation that you could rely on. Lori Olson has the passion for helping small companies develop strong online presences along with a team of 250 experts who analyze & implement SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, SEM, PPC Campaign Mgmt, Social media marketing, Copy Writing & Web Advancement strategies which are customized in order to fit any needs, wants and budget. Update Small Business furthermore provides leading edge employee and sales assessment & training; and CRM solutions. Small Business Contacting or call 877. 265. 6568. Search Engine Marketing is an important technique within Digital Marketing which includes Upon Page and off page Methods that will rank your sites on top of the research Engines organically. Infocampus provides theoretical and Practical seo Training which usually benefit your job and Company. To get trained for Blog9T the most recent SEO Strategies, contact 9738001024 or even visit - Infocampus is amongst the best seo training institutes in Marathahalli.

• Mobile Communications - Most Us citizens have raised accustomed to instant satisfaction and easy entry to technologies. Mobile and tablet e-commerce can reach $293B by 2018. Mobile phone and tablets are portion of this particular wave of innovation. Mobile may account for 72% of the particular U. S. digital ad invest by 2019. Marketers recognize that will mobile marketing is an untrained business tool. Copywriters naturally acquire skills beyond basic writing, depending on the locations and media in which they will work. Online copywriters, for instance, usually benefit from having a few understanding of HTML (the vocabulary that web pages are created in) as well as the particular most common techniques of on the internet marketing and advertising. SEO is definitely a key consideration, and on the internet copywriters have to figure out how to compose copy that appeals to individual readers while also signalling to look engines that a web web page is relevant to particular key phrases. In fact, the last several years have seen the introduction of specialist SEO copywriters, in whose sole focus is copywriting intended for web pages which are meant to rank highly in lookup engines. Today that you're creating valuable articles, ensure that it's discoverable upon Google. Possess a robust SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION strategy so that you function in top search results. 36 year old Flower Grower Jewell from Quesnel, enjoys paintball, top seo trends in 2018 and ballet. Gets motivation through travel and just spent 5 months at Church Village of Gammelstad. Furthermore, obtain a Google Business Position for your hotel, and create maintain NAP (Name, Address, plus Phone number) consistency across systems like Yelp, Yahoo, Foursquare, plus TripAdvisor. The natural advancement from the content in the particular Web is slow. In the period of a week 65% of most pages will not modify at all, while only zero. 8% will change completely. Within contrast many spam SEO internet pages generated in response to a good HTTP request independent of the particular requested URL will change totally of every download. Therefore simply by looking into extreme cases associated with content mutation we search motors are able to detect internet spam. Firstly, the key phrases must be established within the particular translated language. This is the critical portion of the project and is dependent very much for the budget associated with the company. Being this type of brand-new and pioneering field typically possess to outsource their SEO requirements and it tends to become very expensive. One must carry in mind that a great deal of key words have currently been Blog9T Youtube committed to heavily plus the bottom line is that will minus the budget for the significant linking campaign for the competitive keyword there is simply no point in going for that will keyword. Most good SEO experts will advise a client because to the keywords they may achieve within their budget along with the hope that the customer can find a niche inside their market. The profitability or even competitiveness of certain keywords may be judged by certain barometers. • Cellular Communications - Most Americans possess grown accustomed to instant satisfaction and easy access to technologies. Mobile and tablet e-commerce will certainly reach $293B by 2018. Smart phone and tablets are part associated with this wave of innovation. Cellular will take into account 72% of the particular U. S. digital ad invest by 2019. Marketers recognize that will mobile marketing is an untrained business tool.

[newssplashy]

It isn’t from lack of maternal attention to the matter. My mother is the kind of woman who applies a full face first thing in the morning and wears it wherever she goes, including working out.

NEW YORK — Lately everyone seems to be a makeup artist. On Instagram there are countless people showing off their skills at contouring their cheekbones and seamlessly blending four colors of eye shadow on their lids. Men do it. Children do it. Rihanna does it.

And yet I have never managed to figure out how to apply makeup. College in the late 1990s was probably my makeup peak, but it mostly involved generously swathing myself in glitter and the occasional experiment with purple lipstick. Skill wasn’t really the point.

It isn’t from lack of maternal attention to the matter. My mother is the kind of woman who applies a full face first thing in the morning and wears it wherever she goes, including working out.

She bought me very 1980s gifts, like a light-up makeup mirror that replicated daylight or candlelight with just the turn of a knob, and the “Color Me Beautiful” book so I could learn my season. (I am a “Summer” and should wear a cool but muted palette in clothes and makeup.) Much of the makeup I currently own are her castoffs.

Most of the time I don’t wear any makeup at all. I get my eyelashes dyed black about once a month and trim my eyebrows, which feels like enough of an effort day to day. For parties I’ll swipe on something sheer like Lipstick Queen’s Medieval, which looks like you just messily ate a few raspberries. Any further effort and I panic.

A few months ago I went as a friend’s date to a New York City Ballet gala and was almost late because I decided to wear a red lip, specifically Fenty Beauty by Rihanna Stunna Lip Paint. How did I not know where my lips began and ended? I went through a lot of makeup remover and still thought I looked slightly clownish in photos from the night.

So I booked a makeup lesson with Lara Kaiser at Shen Beauty in Brooklyn. She is the one I already entrust with dyeing my eyelashes, and she is always fresh faced and put together without looking as if she is wearing much of anything.

She had asked me to bring what makeup I already had. Shen carries several smaller cosmetics lines with cult followings, like Kosas, RMS, Kjaer Weis, Ilia and By Terry in case I was open to suggestions.

“You’re starting out with good products,” she said as she rifled through my pouch, inspecting Chanel eye shadows (“this is so old and dried out, you might need to get rid of it”) and Charlotte Tilbury nude lipsticks. I told her what I wanted was a look I could do in five minutes tops, one that looked like a slightly better version of me. And then I wanted a couple ways to upgrade it for nighttime.

She got to work with RMS Un Cover-Up in Shade 22 and a foundation brush from the same brand. I was hesitant at the sight of a brush — I had previously adhered to a hands-only rule — but when Kaiser began lightly brushing the concealer along my T zone and blending out, the result was lighter and less makeup-y than anything I could have done with my fingers.

She didn’t bother with makeup on the dark circles under my eyes. “Everything settles into the skin so you’re better off using an illuminating eye cream,” she said, and grabbed a small bottle of Amanda Lacey Illuminating Eye Gel, which has an opalescent tone. She patted it under my eyes.

“I don’t ever want to be contoured,” I said with a lot of conviction as she moved on to my cheeks. We started with a very light Victoria Beckham bronzer I bought a few months ago after seeing a similarly pale friend raving about it online. The trouble was that I didn’t really know where to put it.

“We’ll use it as a blush, applying it directly on the cheekbone and sweeping out at the temple,” Kaiser said. She demonstrated one cheek, and I managed the other. She blended some Kosas illuminating cream that I already owned in a C shape around the eye and temple and blended it down to meet the blush as a low-key highlighter.

“The goal is for you not to be able to tell where one begins and the other ends,” she said. Finally we brushed on Glossier Boy Brow in Blonde to tame my curly eyebrows and swept Kosas Rosewater on my lips.

I studied the results in a hand mirror. I could still see my freckles but had a slightly more defined cheek, with color in my face, as if I had just done a round of jumping jacks in a field at dawn. I looked like Meghan Markle on her wedding day, minus probably a pound of makeup and a redheaded prince.

For night, Kaiser chose Eyeko Me & My Shadow, an eye shadow stick, in a charcoal shade. She dotted some on my lid and, using a brush, blended up toward the crease for a subtle smoky eye. For lips, she chose Kosas Electra, an emphatic blue-red, and used a lip brush to carefully apply it. Even though I do have a lip brush somewhere, not using one turned out to be my problem with the Fenty Beauty lip paint.

There was no hard sell in the end, but I did buy the RMS foundation brush, the Eyeko shadow and the Electra lipstick. The best part was Kaiser’s pep talk.

“I think you know what to do more than you give yourself credit for,” she said. “You just need more confidence.”

Was she talking about makeup or my whole life?

—

We Tried It

Lara Kaiser at Shen Beauty

What to Expect:Lara Kaiser is a native Midwesterner whose gentle touch can make you look like a literal princess. She is fluent in social media and celebrity-driven makeup trends you may have strong feelings about. She is happy to work with what you have or recommend products.

Price: Makeup lesson: $85 for one hour.

315 Court St., Brooklyn, 718-576-2679; shen-beauty.com

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Marisa Meltzer © 2018 The New York Times

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