#throwing people under the bus in order to reach your own goals is only easy when you can get away from the aftermath

[corxoran]

I think getaway and tailgate being friends or at least interacting more in some universe after everything would be sooo funny. Because tailgate barely gaf about what getaway did he's like man you fucking lied to me and almost got me murdered but he says it so casually like... getaway did Not do a number on him. That mech does Not matter to him At All. I think they could be chill and it would be hilarious.

I'd like to see more of getaway being genuine; that bastard he is on the inside. It's really entertaining to me when he's not putting on his nice guy act. That's why I like making him interact with rodimus so much, he's such a bastard towards him... sir you are Jealous!!! Don't worry, at least I love you.

But I genuinely don't get how people can hate him with such intensity because the way he does everything is so funny??? He gossips like a teenage girl... he's so dramatic all the time that I can't take any of his "evilness" seriously.

Because he isn't evil. He's genuinely just a loser. He's... sensitive I guess??? In the sense that he's so easily affected by the things around him, has been molded by his environment and the opinions of him (MTO stuff) since he was created. He's not a scary evil villain in ANY sense. Before any of the Megatron plot he was so chill with the crew.

He's pathetic, and he wants GOD'S approval. What can you hate about this guy when his life is so sad ahaha.

[songofclarity]

Omg I absolutely agree with your meta about WRH. When I 1st got into the Fandom I used to hate his guts but after I read the novel and watched the donghua I couldn't help but think he was really cool. Something I don't see spoken about often is his competence, not only was his sect the most powerful and richest in his reign but also in the sunshot campaign he was up against the whole cultivation world and they had WWX's demonic cultivation and army of the dead on their side as well as Meng Yao as a spy sneaking them information right from WRH's side and still they couldn't beat him and the war was at stalemate for 3-5 years until WRH was betrayed by Meng Yao whom he trusted and treated like a son and only after they lost WRH's leadership did the Wen sect fall. Also he respects and rewards competence regardless of background and gender etc which makes him look more progressive than most of the cultivation world. I also love how he exudes pure power and self confidence he has that sort of "feline" charisma like how a cat knows 100% and without any doubt that they are the epitome of cathood and that everyone else is beneath them and can never reach their level and also how before you know a cat you think cats are mean tyrannical assholes but then after you get to know them you still believe they are mean tyrannical assholes but also there is far more to them than meets the eye and you can't help but adore them and agree that they are indeed superior and have every right to expect to be worshipped and rule the world. Idk why I went into this cat tangent lol but the point is I believe WRH is very cat-like and maybe that's why I adore him so much because cats are my favorite creatures in the world

Much like a cat, Wen RuoHan sleeps 16 hours a day because an apex predator fears nothing. He wakes up to ask if the Sunshot Campaign is over yet. It's not. He gives a few orders, eats his dinner, throws around a newly gifted catnip toy (he’s quite pleased), and then goes back to sleep near a nice warm fireplace. It's been a long day and he deserves it.

OK, on a serious note, "only after they lost WRH's leadership did the Wen sect fall." 👏👏👏 THANK YOU! The war lasted three years. Wen Chao, Wen ZhuLiu, and Wen Xu all died within days of each other in the first three months. The Qishan Wen Sect is never described as stepping up their game when they realized the Sunshot Campaign was serious. The other sects had Wei WuXian’s demonic cultivation and Meng Yao’s spying.

And STILL the other sects could. not. win.

Jumping back to the top of your ask, it's pretty easy to hate Wen RuoHan at first. The fandom blames him for literally everything even though we see in real time how Wang LingJiao, Wen Chao, and Meng Yao all make their own, terrible choices. The donghua makes Wen RuoHan into a murderous aggressor trying to take over the cultivation world. CQL went with the a more traditional cdrama evil man who doesn't seem to know which way is up.

On a side note, I'm constantly confused when I see people say Wen RuoHan declared the Sunshot Campaign on the other Sects because, like, no? It's literally in the name: the other sects are trying to shoot down the sun! If this was Wen RuoHan's war, it would be more akin to the Scorched Earth Campaign.

So Wen RuoHan being at the head of the Wen Sect with four other great sects trying to take him down and holding steady is such a testament to his competency, you're absolutely right! And at the helm of his competency is his delegation.

Does he delegate to good, responsible people? No, and that’s what gets him into trouble, but I think his delegation is also what makes him popular with his sect and with guest cultivators. He’s powerful and he’s willing to share that power.

What's funny about the Qishan Wen Sect was that it was indeed the most powerful and richest, but Wei WuXian also notes how bad their general cultivators are. That Lan XiChen, Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian, and Jin ZiXuan all ranked in the top four at the archery competition isn't just due to their outstanding skill. It's also because the Wen juniors were just... frankly bad. Wen Ning has stage fright and Wen Chao lacks talent. The Waterborne Abyss was pushed into Gusu territory not as an attack on Gusu, but very likely because the Wen cultivators were not able to destroy it so they just pushed it outside their borders.

So the Wen Sect is really quantity over quality. Yu ZiYuan is a badass lady with a lightning whip and should not have died at Lotus Pier, but Lotus Pier was completely overrun so of course she stood no chance.

And the lack of quality also lies with the guest cultivators. The guest cultivator who threw Nie Dad under the bus, Wang LingJiao, and Meng Yao are all horrible people. Wang LingJiao and Meng Yao are noted for their poor cultivation. Both of them would have been killed before the crucial point if our actual Wen fam, Wen ZhuLiu and Wen RuoHan respectively, did not step in to save them.

Which makes it all the more impressive that Wen RuoHan's leadership held back not just the four sects (perhaps closer to three as the Yunmeng Jiang were recruiting probably rogue cultivators and training a lot from scratch) but also Wei WuXian with his demonic cultivation! Didn't the rumors talk about how Wei WuXian could kill thousands on his own? I don't recall Wei WuXian ever denying it, although at that rate I'd be surprised if there was anyone left to fight after three years, so it’s probably exaggerated lol He’d still be terrifying, however!

Meng Yao's spy work perhaps saved the other four sects from being decimated but his spy work was never enough to give them the upper hand. (Although I have a LOT of thoughts about what that spy work was meant to achieve in general.) Did Wen RuoHan ever know there was a spy? Would it have mattered when it had such little effect??

Wen RuoHan absolutely son-zoned Meng Yao and it's infuriating to me how often Wen RuoHan is treated by fandom as abusing Meng Yao in some capacity. There is no sign that Meng Yao ever suffered in Nightless City. That was always kind of the point of us seeing empathy: Meng Yao was in his stride, he murdered, and he was given a choice and he voted torture.

When we hear about the Fire Palace and how Meng Yao invented all those torture devices, that's Meng Yao being honored for his talent in torture. Wen ZhuLiu changed his name to Wen in order to follow Wen RuoHan and Wen Chao even comments that he can't do anything to punish Wen ZhuLiu because his father thinks Wen ZhuLiu is a rare talent. Talent is protected. Talent is promoted.

Wen RuoHan absolutely rewards talent -- which is, I like to point out, something we only ever see Nie MingJue do when he explains why he promoted Meng Yao. By comparison, Jiang FengMian only praises Wei WuXian, the Gusu Lan bullied Su She out rather than acknowledge he was talented in his own right, and the Jin only ever use their guest cultivators, such as Xue Yang, like tools to be used and thrown away. While Nie MingJue gets closest by raising up Meng Yao, however, he doesn't seek to cultivate Meng Yao's skills and instead sends him on his way when Meng Yao has other goals.

Wen RuoHan not only rewards talent but he also nurtures it. Wen Chao is given opportunities to practice being a leader and organizer. It's said by cultivators later in the novel that Wen RuoHan taught Meng Yao his sword technique--the same technique that Meng Yao likely used to kill him. Note how Nie MingJue observed from the start that Meng Yao's sword skills needed work, but we never see or hear about Meng Yao doing any training with the Nie. So Meng Yao goes from being a terrible swordsman to being good enough to kill Wen RuoHan fast enough that he suffers no backlash.

Although is Wen RuoHan the type of person who would harm someone he had son-zoned? The manhua gave us a gift by showing us the shocked and betrayed look on Wen RuoHan's face and the completely unapologetic look on Meng Yao's.

That isn’t to say that Wen RuoHan, as the enemy, didn’t somehow deserve to be taken down, but it does say a lot that the only way to defeat him was through a personal betrayal. And it says a lot that, with Wen RuoHan ruling over a city-sized cultivation sect that welcomed plenty of outsiders, he never felt like he had to watch his back.

[angst-fairygodmother]

Idiot (Affectionate) ~ A Bad Samaritan Fic

CHAPTER ONE: FIRST DAY

When your cousin Sean and his friend start up a valet business at Nino’s, where you work as a waitress, you don’t expect it to lead to any of what happens next.

Pairing: Derek Sandoval x Reader Word Count: 1893 Rating: T - mild language, reference to harassment

Masterlist

“So, how does it feel, your first big boy job?” you teased, elbowing your cousin in the ribs. 

“Oh haha,” Sean drawled, swatting at you. “You’re hilarious.”

“And adorable.” You dodged out his reach, and the two of you proceeded to chase each other around the podium for several minutes.

“I’m serious though, Sean. Suggesting Nino start doing valet parking, organizing the whole thing. I think it’s great. Better than car washes and dog walking. It shows initiative, and it’ll get Don off your back a bit.”

“How’d you know that was one of the goals?”

“Because I know you. Really, my only disappointment is that you brought him along.” You gestured over your shoulder to Derek who was just walking up. 

“Hey, come on now!” he cried.

“Derek’s my best mate, you know that Y/N,” Sean sighed. “And I think you two would get along if you gave him a chance.”

“Yeah, but he’s so...him,” you sighed, making a face of mock disgust. 

“Yo, hold up, what’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Are you sure you want me to answer that question?” You cocked an eyebrow at him, whether he took it as a warning or challenge was up to him.

“Yeah. If you got a problem with me, I wanna know what it is.” 

“I don’t have a problem with you, per se. It’s just that...you’re arrogant, and loud. Not even your voice, just, the way you are. You act like you’re hot shit, but you’re not half as clever as you think.”

He scoffed in disbelief and even though you knew you should leave it there, something made you want to keep pushing, almost to see what happened if you got him riled enough. 

“If you were, you wouldn’t be working nothing but a string of dead-end jobs.” You shrugged. “Frankly, I think both of you are wasting considerable talent being valets instead of looking at the bigger picture.”

“Wait, hang on!” Sean protested. “A minute ago you were praising my initiative.”

“Better to start your own idea than working someone else’s, sure, but I was mostly trying to be nice.” You flashed an apologetic grimace, nose wrinkling. “You’re my favorite cousin and I love you?” you continued in a rush, hoping to cover up your admission of insincerity with charm.

Sean rolled his eyes fondly at you.

“Well if you’re so smart, how come you ain’t doin any better? You’re just like us, Miss Waitress,” Derek said mockingly.

“Except I’m doing this because textbooks cost like four hundred bucks a piece and I don’t have an extra kidney to sell. Unless you’re going to give me yours?” You gave him another challenging look before sighing. “As soon as I have that degree in my hand, I am outta here.”

“Some of us got families to take care of, can’t just run away when we get bored.”

“I…” you took a deep breath, deflating. “I didn’t mean it like that. All I was trying to say is I know Sean’s got talent and someone else is bound to notice eventually, and there’s probably a brain in that head of yours somewhere. I find it hard to believe that you want to do this for life. Family first sure, I get it, but don’t you want...don’t you deserve more?”

Derek and Sean both frowned, unsure of how to answer you. Of course neither of them wanted to be valets or car washers or grocery baggers forever. But they had bills to pay, food and rent and electricity to afford. If they didn’t keep up with here and now, all the bigger picture thinking and dreaming of the future in the world wasn’t going to help. 

Something inside the restaurant caught your eye and you shook your head.

“I should probably get in there. Nino’s got Val doing place settings, and we probably don’t want to be auctioning off butter knives.” You shoved your hands in the pockets of your black slacks and flashed them both a smile. “Good luck tonight.”

Derek made no secret of staring at your ass as you walked away, a fact that Sean definitely noticed. 

“Come on, seriously?” he asked his friend, making a gesture of both annoyance and defeat.

“What dawg? Your cousin’s kind of a bitch sometimes, but she’s hot as hell. I’m just appreciating.”

~

“Nino,” one of the chefs asked a few days later. “How come you don’t feed those two boys parking cars? You feed everyone else. They must be starved out there all night.”

Nino looked thoughtful, as if it hadn’t occurred to him before. You frowned, loading your tray with table seven’s appetizers. 

“Well, they don’t really work for Nino like the rest of us, do they? They’re independent contractors,” you pointed out.

“Cold, Y/N,” the busboy, John, teased. “Throwing your cousin under the bus.”

You shrugged, weaving your way out of the kitchen. “If he wants food he should learn to put it in his contract.”

About an hour later, Nino was flagging you over, for the third time that night.

“Y/N, Y/N,” he said, rushed. “No one is eating the lasagna.”

“I can try to push more of it, talk it up or something?” you offered, not sure why he was telling you.

“No, no. It’s fine. I just don’t want to see it go to waste.” He smiled like an idea was suddenly dawning on him. “Why don’t you take some to the boys out front. David is right, they must be hungry.”

You rolled your eyes with a laugh. You should have suspected as soon as it was brought up that Nino would cave. Nodding, you went back to the kitchen to relay the order and wait.

With the two plates, rolled silverware tucked in your apron pocket, you made easy work of weaving through the restaurant and elbowing open the doors, only to grimace uncomfortably when you realized it was just Derek at their podium.

“Hey,” you said awkwardly, making him jump in surprise. “Uh...Nino thought you might be hungry and no one was eating the lasagna so he sent me out with some for you and Sean...where is Sean?”

“He’s just parking somebody, he’ll be back in a minute. Nino’s givin' us free food?” you tried to suppress a smile at the excitement in his voice. 

“No, I just brought these out to taunt you,” you joked, rolling your eyes as you handed him one of the plates and dug into your pocket for his fork. 

You were silent for a minute, shifting awkwardly, from foot to foot, still holding Sean’s plate and not sure what to do with it.

“About what I said the other night,” you said finally, chewing on your lip. 

Derek stopped, fork halfway to his mouth and looked at you.

“I may have been...unreasonably harsh…” you said hesitantly. “And I…”

The words died on your throat as you found yourself wondering if you were actually sorry. You felt guilty, but you still meant what you said. Sean and Derek were both smart people, and you thought they could do better. You had been working at Nino’s since you were nineteen, and had seen so many people insist that a job was just temporary, only to still be there almost a decade later. You didn’t want to see that happen to either of them. 

You were trying to remind yourself that it wasn’t about you, when Derek cut through your thoughts.

“Don’t sweat it, I’ve already forgotten,” he said. “It’s all good bro.”

“Oh.” He seemed so genuine in his reassurance and you weren’t sure what to do with that. Instead you changed the subject. “Where is Sean? Shouldn’t he be able to park a car quickly if he’s going to be a valet?”

“I can just hold onto his food, if you gotta get back in there.”

“Please,” you shook your head. “I’m in no rush to return to Awkward First Date, Going to Ask for a Divorce Any Second, or Family With the Twins from The Shining.” 

“How come you only got three tables when the place is packed? Don’t you handle five or six like a breeze?”

 “I got moved off two, one of them was my fault. So instead I get anyone that wants to eat at the bar. And my section has the last empty table. How’d you know how many tables I usually have?”

“Uh...I overheard some people talking when I went for a smoke break.” His eyes shifted to the side, avoiding your curious look.

“Riight.” You nodded exaggeratedly. There was no way in hell you believed that, unless they’d been gossiping about you losing tables, but he didn’t seem to know about that. 

“Anyway, why’d they get pulled?”

“The one that was my fault or the one that wasn’t?”

“Both,” he sighed, making a somewhat impatient gesture. “Sean is out parking the first car that’s showed up in an hour. Talkin’ to you’s at least something to do.”

“Glad to know I rank above staring at the sidewalk or counting the windows across the street.” You rolled your eyes.

“That’s not what I meant.” 

You leaned back, resting your elbows against the edge of the podium, bringing your faces surprisingly close together. He shoveled a bite of food into his mouth to distract himself from that fact, and the things he was thinking he could do.

“Couple of suit-and-ties celebrating some sort of business deal. One of them asked the new kid if she was on the menu, a few other lewd comments. They made her really uncomfortable, so Nino switched us around, figuring I could handle it.” You shrugged. “Same guy got a little...grabby for things that aren’t his. Nino spotted it and decided to take over the table himself. That’s one down.”

Derek frowned. He’d known plenty of people that worked in restaurants. Managers, and owners especially, didn’t typically move someone off a table for a little handsiness. But maybe Nino was one of the rare ones that went above and beyond for his staff. And if not and you didn’t want to tell him the whole thing, who was he to judge?

“The other was a complaint that I was ‘belligerent.’”

“But you’re cuddlier than a kitten, how could they ever think that?” he laughed. 

You stuck your tongue out at him childishly, laughing along. 

“All I did was correct them on my name,” you protested. “...every time they called me Sweetcheeks.”

For some reason, this only made Derek laugh harder, nearly choking on a mouthful of pasta. 

“Definitely not hostile.”

“Whatever, you dick.” You shoved him playfully and suddenly the two of you froze.

This was a shift in dynamic, a tipping point. Would he let you get away with it and tilt the scale from acquaintance to friendship? Or would he take offense? 

Sean found you in that waiting tension, shattering it with his greeting as he finally returned from parking the car. You awkwardly explained the meal delivery and sighed that you had to get back to work, someone would come get the dishes in a bit. 

Derek locked eyes with you as you turned to go. You flashed a quick smile back. 

“Did I miss something?” you heard Sean ask, lilt exaggerated by his confusion.

[echoes-of-the-clockwork]

Deacon St. John || The Sarkoski Siblings [2/2]

A/n: I just wanted to swing by and give hugs and kisses to all the people who've been liking my crappy stories.

⚠️SPOILERS AHEAD⚠️

Let's get this story rollin'! Love you all!!! •••••••••••••••••••••

***HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD! PLEASE NOTIFY ME OF ANY (I FEEL LIKE THERE’S A TON IN THIS PIECE) ERRORS!!!***

***** Prompt: A couple of days have passed since your departure with Carlos. Deacon and Skizzo have been complete messes during your absence. Deacon finally snaps, unable to withstand the thoughts of what the Rippers could possibly be doing to you. He heads to Iron Butte on a rescue mission and doesn't plan on coming back until you're safe and by his side. *****

~3rd Person POV~

"Fuck it. I can't stand this anymore," Deacon growled under his breath as he stormed over to his bike.

Before he could ride off, Rikki rushed over and placed her hands on the handlebars of the motorcycle. "Whoa there, Deek. You can't just ride into Iron Butte guns ablazing and search for (Y/n). You'll be risking your life and possibly hers."

"She's been with those unhinged assholes long enough. If I wait any longer, she'll be dead by the time I find her." Deacon scowled at the mechanical engineer as he spoke. "And I'll make sure to take care of Carlos, too, while I'm gone. Kill the leader, kill the rebellion."

"(Y/n)'s a tough girl. She can withstand whatever those bastards throw her way. As for the "killing the leader" part, you might end up enraging the rebellion instead of stopping it."

Deacon leaned against his bike, eyes boring into Rikki's. "I don't give a damn as long as (Y/n)'s safe. I'll kill all the Rippers if I have to in order for that to happen."

The woman exhaled, running a gloved hand across her forehead. "You're really protective of her. Gotta admit, I'm... a little surprised. Guess love does that to some people."

Deacon went to retort, but Skizzo interrupted their conversation. "If you're goin' after my sis, I'm coming, too."

"Hell no," the drifter snappily responds. "You'd only get in the way."

"(Y/n)'s my fuckin' sister and it's my fault Carlos targeted her!" He seethed. "I also know Iron Butte like the back of my hand and where Carlos might be keeping her."

"Neither one of you is going anywhere!" Rikki shouted, catching both men off guard. "I care just as much as you both do for (Y/n), but this is a suicide mission! She went of her own accord and I don't think she'd appreciate the two of you riskin' your lives for hers."

"You're not gonna stop us, Rikki," Deacon proclaimed.

"For once, I agree with him," Skizzo reluctantly confesses. "My sister—the only family I have left in this fucked up world—is possibly being tortured to death by those freaks."

Rikki hung her head and released the handlebars of Deacon's bike. "Fine. You both are stubborn assholes and I know when I've been defeated."

Deacon glanced at Skizzo as he clutched the handlebars tightly. "Get your bike. We're leaving right now."

"I'll meet you at the gate." Skizzo left to grab his bike while Deacon waited patiently. He was well-equipped and had plenty of ammo in the saddlebag attached to his motorcycle. He also had spare crafting ingredients in case he needed more explosives or traps during the mission.

A minute passed and Skizzo returned on his bike. He stopped beside Deacon, exchanging glances with the drifter. "You ready to do this?"

"You've no idea how ready I am," Deacon scoffed, revving the engine of his bike.

Skizzo followed Deacon's lead and revved up his own ride. "Let's get my sister back."

<——————————<<<<<<<<<<<

After riding for five minutes in silence, Skizzo contacts the drifter following close behind and asks the one question that's buzzing inside his head. "So... you like (Y/n)?"

"Jesus," Deacon grumbled. "We are not discussing this right now, Skizzo."

"It's a simple "yes" or "no," bro! Just answer the damn question!"

"What—so you can play the overprotective big brother? I don't fucking think so," the drifter chortled.

Skizzo fell silent before confessing his true feelings if (Y/n) chose Deacon. "Y'know, she could do worse. In all honesty, I rather it be you than any other damn drifter."

"Jeez, thanks," Deacon sarcastically replies.

"I just want what's best for her, y'know? I fucked up her life before the world went to shit and even after. Guess I kinda want to make amends now for all that."

Deacon couldn't bring himself to make a snarky remark since he knew Skizzo's heart was finally in the right place. "Yeah, well, it ain't gonna be easy."

"I still gotta try, right?"

The drifter nodded even though he knew his companion couldn't see his gesture. "Right."

They arrived at the tunnel connecting Lost Lake to Iron Butte. The second the Rippers guarding the tunnel spotted them, they open fired and chanted at the top of their lungs. "Get low!"

Deacon and Skizzo dismounted their bikes and took out the adversaries on foot before continuing through the funeral cautiously. Now in the Iron Butte region, the drifter called out to his partner for this mission. "Hey, uh, where the hell are you taking us?"

"Carlos has a lodge he stays in. It's located in the valley," Skizzo answers.

"And you think that's where he's keeping (Y/n)?"

"That's where I know he's keepin' her."

The drive to the lodge was dangerous with the constant threat of Rippers and Freaks. Fortunately for the duo, they were able to ignore or take out the enemies from their motorcycles. Some of the Freaks has even helped them take out the Rippers shooting at them.

Looming in the distance, there was a large structure with the normal decorations of blood and wooden spikes. From the second floor windows, they could see the faint glow from a fire.

"Looks like they're home," Deacon said. "Good, 'cause I'm gonna kill every single one of those bastards."

"Hey," Skizzo retaliates. "My sister is our main goal. Don't forget that."

"I know," the drifter hurls back. "I'm still gonna make them pay for what they've done, especially Carlos."

"Don't do anything stupid until we find her, alright?"

"You're the one who runs off and does something stupid. We wouldn't be in this situation if you would've just left the damn supplies alone. And guess who's paying for your fuckup—(Y/n), your own damn sister."

"I know I fucked up, 'kay?! Stop reminding me," Skizzo snarled.

"I'm sure (Y/n)'ll tear you a new one once we get back to Lost Lake."

They arrived at their destination, dismounting their bikes in the shadows and sneaking in on foot. Deacon peered our from behind the school bus they were hiding behind and surveyed the area. "Place is crawling with Rippers..."

"What'd you expect? A few here and there?" Skizzo scoffs with an eye roll.

Deacon grimaced at the man but quickly focused his gaze back onto the Rippers. "You've been inside, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Just once, though."

"Good enough. Where do you think they'd be keeping (Y/n)?" Deacon questioned in a hushed voice as one of the Rippers wasn't far from where they hid.

"Maybe in one of the rooms upstairs. I'll check the first floor, you'll handle the second. Sound like a plan?"

Deacon sighed through his nose. "It's all we got. Let's go."

The two separated and snuck around the enemies. Skizzo managed to get inside without being seen while Deacon meandered around to the back of the lodge and find a stairwell to a balcony on the second floor. He peered through one of the shattered windows, spotting several Rippers—including Carlos—dancing around flames while carving into their skin with machetes, knives, and shards of glass.

Lowering his body, Deacon vaulted through the window. His boots crunched the shards of glass under his feet as he made his way across the room without disturbing the Rippers. He opened the first door he came across, but he regretted it as a putrid odor assaulted his nostrils. His face scrunched up as he stared at the corpses strewn about with blood caking the walls and floor. "Jesus... What the hell have they been doin'?"

Deacon closed the door and moved on to the next room. He opened the door and peeked inside to see if (Y/n) was there. When all he found was a stash of weapons, he shook his head in disbelief and moved on.

In the last room, Deacon cautiously opened the door. Unlike the other rooms he checked, this one was neat and void of blood, corpses, and weapons. The window were boarded up and the only furniture in the room was a bed. When the drifter saw who was laying on the mattress, he rushed over and placed a hand on their shoulder. "(Y/n)," he whispered as he flipped her body over so she was now facing him.

The moment Deacon saw the state she was in, his eyes widened in horror. Her (h/c) hair was tainted with blood and there were deep gashes along her arms, legs, and face. She was unconscious and a large splotch of blood down her side caught his attention. He apologized under his breath as he lifted her shirt and saw a cut reaching from her armpit to her waist. "Shit..."

Deacon kneeled beside the bed, placing his hand against her cheek gently. "(Y/n)?" He softly called out, hoping she would wake up if she heard his voice. He didn't even receive a finger twitch in response, which frightened him. His heart raced inside his chest, threatening to burst through his rib cage and out of his chest. "C'mon, sweetheart. Give me some kind of sign."

Finally, his voice elicited a painful whimper from (Y/n). Deacon watched as her eyes opened but remained half-lidded. "Deacon...?" Her voice was weak and raspy from screaming.

"Hey, I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? Just hold on for a little while longer," he reassured her as he went to pick her up.

(Y/n) grasped his hand to stop him. "I-I'm chained to the bed frame. You... need a key..."

The drifter glanced down at her ankle and saw the shackle locked around it. He gritted his teeth before stepping away from the bed to see if he could lift the bed, but it was nailed to the floor. "Goddammit. Do you know who has the key?" When Deacon didn't receive an immediate response, his eyes darted back to (Y/n). Seeing she was falling back into an unconscious state, he shook his head frantically and patted his hand against her cheek. "Hey, hey, hey. Stay with me, (Y/n). Who has the key?"

Before her eyes shut, she murmured one name. "Carlos..."

Anger boiled inside Deacon as he went to retrieve the key. Before he could open the door, someone walked into the room. Luckily, it was only Skizzo. "Did you—?" He glanced past the drifter and saw his sister curled up on the bed, blood covering her body. "Oh, fuck." He ran to her side and placed a hand on her head. "Is she—?"

"She's alive. Stay here while I get that key." Deacon stories out of the room, throwing his stealth approach out the window. Without a care in the world, he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Carlos!" His loud cry was heard by every Ripper within the lodge.

They rushed towards him with their weapons drawn, but Carlos stopped them. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Deacon St. John. What brings you here?"

"You know exactly why I'm here, Jessie," the drifter snarled.

Carlos smirked in amusement at hearing his old name. "So, you do remember me."

"Yeah, well, that was one hell of a night to forget so easily."

"You, Boozer, Jack... And how could I forget the blowtorch?" The leader of the Rippers scoffed as he paced a circle around the drifter.

Deacon raised his pistol, alerting the other Rippers. He aimed it at Carlos' head, eyes sharp and brimming with hatred. "You the one responsible for hurting (Y/n)?"

"Why, we all are! We are setting her on the path to freedom!" Jessie wailed with a sinister chuckle.

"This isn't freedom, this is a fuckin' cult!" Deacon shouted. "Now, hand over the key or I'll pry it off your corpse. Your choice, Jessie."

"How about—?" He started, but Deacon didn't let him finish his question as he pulled the trigger. A single bullet pierced the man's skull, killing him instantly. The other Rippers became enraged, unleashing their fury onto the drifter.

Deacon quickly took cover as gunfire rained down upon him. When he saw an opening, he didn't hold back. He whipped out his assault rifle and unloaded an entire clip, killing more than half of the Rippers in the process. Reloading, he waited for another window to take down the remaining assailants.

A handful of Rippers were brave and tried to attack head-on, but it only resulted in a swift death for every single one of them. With only three enemies left, Deacon switched out his assault rifle for his handgun. The remaining Rippers were killed, a slew of corpses filling up the room.

Stepping over their bodies, Deacon reaches Jessie's corpse and searched for the key. He found it in one of the dead man's pockets and headed back to the Sarkoski siblings.

"Got it," Deacon announces as he made his way into the room and over to Skizzo and (Y/n). He unlocks the shackle and takes it off her ankle before scooping her up into his arms. The jostling woke her up and an immense wave of pain washed over her. She cried out, alerting the drifter. "I know it hurts, but just bear with it for a little bit."

"How the hell are we supposed to get her back if she's barely conscious?" Skizzo inquired as they left the room.

"Just focus on covering us," Deacon responded. Skizzo nodded and took the lead, killing any Rippers in their way. 

Back at the bikes, Deacon gingerly placed (Y/n) on the back of his. She was having difficultly staying awake and keeping her balance.

"What now?!" Skizzo bellowed. "She can't ride in her condition. She'll fall off the second we take off!"

Deacon yanked out the red handkerchief from his back pocket and mounted his bike. The second he sat in the seat, (Y/n)'s body slumped against his back. "Wrap your arms around me," he said. She did as she was told and wrapped her arms around his waist. Using the red piece of fabric, he tied her wrists together.

Skizzo wasn't afraid to discuss his doubt about Deacon's plan. "You really think that's gonna keep her from falling off?"

"It's all we got, Skizzo," Deacon fired back. "Get on your damn bike."

"Fine, but if she falls off—"

"She won't."

Skizzo didn't agree with the idea, but he decided to not argue any further with the drifter. He also knew it was the only safety precaution they could take to prevent (Y/n) from falling off in her weak state. The men started their bikes and took off. The Rippers tried to stop them with their weapons, but they were too slow.

After what felt like an eternity, they arrived back in Lost Lake. "Open the damn gate!" Deacon shouted as they pulled up at the front gate of the encampment.

The woman behind the gate hurriedly opened the gate to allow Deacon and Skizzo inside. They pulled into the camp and the drifter untied (Y/n)'s hands from around his waist. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the infirmary with Skizzo close behind. "Addy!"

The doctor ran over, eyes wide at (Y/n)'s battered body. "Put her on a bed."

Deacon followed Addy's orders and placed (Y/n) on the bed by the front doors while she fetched a bin of supplies. When she returned, the drifter lifted up the woman's search to reveal the deep, bleeding gash down the side of her body. The doctor grabbed what she needed in order to clean the wound.

Before applying the antiseptic, Addy glanced at Deacon. "You're gonna have to hold her down."

"Just do what you need to do." Deacon pinned down (Y/n)'s arms down while Skizzo restrained her legs.

The second the antiseptic made contact with the wound, (Y/n)'s eyes flew open and she screamed at the top of her lungs. She tried to break out of Deacon's and Skizzo's grasps, but both men were holding her down with all their strength.

Suddenly, her screaming and struggling ceased. Deacon's eyes darted to the woman's facing, seeing her eyes were shut. "Addy," he called out with a worried tone.

"She's passed out from the pain. That's good because it'll make stitching her up easier," the doctor responded as she threaded a needle through (Y/n)'s skin to suture the wound to prevent an infection. "Could you both clean the other wounds and make they aren't deep?"

"Yeah," Deacon responded as Skizzo silently picked up the material he needed to help his sister. The drifter handled her arms and face while the older Sarkoski tended to (Y/n)'s legs.

As Deacon was cleaning the cuts on her cheeks and forehead, he couldn't help but stare with a small frown. The beads of sweat trickling down her face and the hasten rise and fall of her chest caused him to become more worried.

Once the drifter was done cleaning the cuts on (Y/n)'s face, he placed his hand against her cheek and stroked his thumb across a section void of lacerations. Skizzo watched in silence as he saw the loving, caring, and worried gaze Deacon sent his sister. "You better tell her when she wakes up," was all he said before leaving the infirmary once he was done cleaning the wounds on her legs.

Deacon stared at the door Skizzo had exited for a few seconds before eyeing Addy. "How's she doing, Doc?"

"She's lost a decent amount of blood, but it isn't enough to be a concern. I've stitched up the wound on her side, but she needs to refrain from tearing them. Since her job is to help me with the injured, it won't be difficult for her to avoid reopening them." When Addy saw Deacon staring at (Y/n), she placed a hand on his shoulder. "She'll be fine, Deacon. Give her time to heal and she'll be back on her feet in no time."

"Can I..." The drifter's voice trailed off, but the doctor knew what he was going to ask.

"You can stay with her for a little while."

Deacon grabbed a chair and placed it beside the bed. He sat down and leaned forward, myriads of thoughts racing through his mind and none of them were reassuring. By the time he leaned back in the chair and cleared his thoughts, he fell asleep.

<—————————————<<<<<<<<<<<<

When Deacon woke up, he saw the bed in front of him was empty. Flying to his feet, he searched the infirmary for (Y/n). It took him a few minutes to find her, but when he did, she was standing in front of a mirror with her shirt lifted up. With her eyes glued to her injury, she trailed a finger up the stitching. She winced slightly due to her skin still tender from the neat sewing.

Deacon leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms as he watched her. "You shouldn't be walking around."

(Y/n) locked gazes with Deacon as she met his eyes in the reflection of the mirror. "Sorry," she whispers. "I was curious, that's all."

"How're you feeling?" He asked.

"Besides the cuts and stitches, I feel much better." She saunters over to the drifter and smiled up at him. "Thank you for saving me, Deacon. Even though it would've been easier to have left me behind, you didn't and I'm grateful for that."

"You're the last person who deserves to pay for someone else's mistake even if it was your brother's fault."

"Skizzo's the only family I've got in this fucked up world. I would do anything to keep him safe and I know he would've done the same for me."

"You sure 'bout that?" Deacon raised a brow as he questioned her.

(Y/n) smacked him on the arm. "A hundred percent. Skizzo may come across as an asshole, douchbag... you name it, but he always has the best in mind when it comes to others. Even when he was dealing drugs and firearms in California, he made sure I wasn't dragged along for the ride." Deacon pushes his body off the doorframe and follows (Y/n) as she makes her way back to the bed. She sat down and winced when she felt her skin tug at the stitches. "Fucking stitches..."

"I can get Addy if you need—"

"No, I'm fine," (Y/n) quickly interrupts him. "I've had stitches before and they're not fun."

Deacon sat down in the chair he had been sitting in when he fell asleep. He scooted closer to the bed with a sigh. "You should get some rest."

"Really, Deek, I'm fine. I've been trapped inside a room chained to a bed for the past two days. What I need is a refreshing walk." (Y/n) stood upend headed to the doors. Before she was out of his reach, Deacon grabbed ahold of her wrist. The woman peered down in bewilderment as to why he was stopping her. "Don't tell me I can't go for a walk."

"You've had a shitty past couple of days. The walk can wait," he responded. "And we can't risk you reopening your wound."

(Y/n) saw and heard the genuine concern from Deacon. She decided to not fight him and allow him to pull her back to the bed. She sat down across from the drifter, staring into his eyes with a smirk. ""We," huh? Who's this "we" you speak of?"

Deacon didn't hesitate as he already knew how strong his feelings for her have become since her absence. "Mostly me. I'm pretty sure Skizzo also doesn't want to see his own sister kick the bucket because she was being a moron."

"M-Moron?!" She shrieked as she leaned closer to him. "Going on a walk is not moronic! I should—!"

Deacon saw an opportunity and took it. He silenced her with a light, meaningful kiss. (Y/n) reciprocated the moment she realized their lips were connected. It was a short and brief kiss, but it was enough to display their love for one another. "You yell too much," Deacon retorts when he pulls away.

(Y/n) crossed her arms with a grimace. "I'll try to remember that..."

The door to the infirmary swung open and Skizzo stepped inside. When he saw the scowl on his sister face, he was utterly confused. "What the hell did I miss?"

[endenogatai]

France’s Inria and Germany’s Fraunhofer detail their ROBERT contact-tracing protocol

Research institutes Inria and Fraunhofer have shared details on their contact-tracing protocol that could be used by the French and German governments in the coming weeks. It is named ROBERT for ROBust and privacy-presERving proximity Tracing protocol.

Inria and Fraunhofer are members of the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing (PEPP-PT) project. On Friday, PEPP-PT said that seven European governments were interested in developing national apps based on the standardized approach. So ROBERT could become an important inspiration for various contact-tracing apps around Europe.

The French and German research teams have chosen to share technical specifications on GitHub with various documents explaining their work so far. In addition to a full-fledged specification document, the group has written a high-level overview with frequently asked questions, an illustrated example and an interestingly-named document: “Proximity Tracing Applications: The misleading debate about centralised versus decentralised approaches.”

Inria’s CEO Bruno Sportisse also wrote an article on Inria’s website describing the thinking behind Inria’s (and Fraunhofer’s) work. In addition to explaining the concept of contact tracing, he says there’s no such thing as a decentralized contact-tracing protocol or a centralized contact-tracing protocol.

“None of the projects aim to implement a peer-to-peer network in which everything would rely on a supposedly ‘independent’ community […] of devices/smartphones that exchange information between them. The main reason why that’s not the case is that security vulnerabilities could have an impact with such an approach,” Sportisse wrote.

“All systems in the works include a common component (a server) and a decentralized component (a group of smartphones that can communicate between them using Bluetooth): all systems currently in the works are therefore both centralized […] and decentralized,” he continued.

And yet, centralization and decentralization have been at the heart of a debate between privacy researchers in Europe, with backers of the DP-3T initiative sometimes calling out PEPP-PT’s approach. DP-3T is another coalition of experts that claim to care more about privacy than PEPP-PT.

So let’s dive in to ROBERT and find out what Inria and Fraunhofer mean by a centralized-decentralized contact-tracing protocol.

Unpacking ROBERT

In the specification document, Inria and Fraunhofer define the big principles behind ROBERT.

Our scheme provides the following goals as detailed in [2]:

Open participation. Participants are free to join or leave the system at any time.

Simple and transparent. The system is simple to use and understand.

Easy deployment. The scheme is easy to deploy and requires only minimal infrastructure.

Anonymity. The smartphone App as well as the back-end server database do not collect or store any personal data.

Federated infrastructure. The system must scale across countries, ideally worldwide. In order to preserve countries’ sovereignty, a trusted federation of infrastructures is necessary.

Those are all fair points, but based on the rest of the document, anonymity is not 100% guaranteed for all actors involved (the government, other app users, malicious users). The document itself describes why there could be some loopholes in the protocol:

The authority running the system, in turn, is “honest-but-curious”. Specifically, it will not deploy spying devices or will not modify the protocols and the messages. However, it might use collected information for other purposes such as to re-identify users or to infer their contact graphs. We assume the back-end system is secure, and regularly audited and controlled by external trusted and neutral authorities (such as Data Protection Authorities and National Cybersecurity Agencies).

That’s a big if.

Basically, the protocol is designed in such a way that it protects your privacy as long as you trust the government/the health ministry/whoever is in charge of running the central server. Based on that statement alone, it seems like the authority could log a ton of information about app users.

Generating a log of your proximity contacts

At its core, a contact-tracing app uses Bluetooth to build a comprehensive list of other app users who you’ve interacted with for more than a few seconds. A ROBERT-based contact-tracing app would make those matches on your device.

ROBERT uses ephemeral Bluetooth IDs that change every 15 minutes. For example, if you’re talking with someone for 10 minutes, you’re going to regularly send your ephemeral Bluetooth ID to the other person, and you’re going to receive the other person’s ephemeral Bluetooth ID. If nobody gets infected with COVID-19, those IDs remain on your device (and might even get purged after a while).

The app also collects additional information associated with ephemeral Bluetooth IDs. For instance, it collects the strength of the Bluetooth signal to evaluate the distance between the two persons.

All of this is fairly standard.

Uploading your contact list, not your own ephemeral identifiers

Approaches differ if somebody is confirmed to be infected with COVID-19. Under the ROBERT implementation, if a user is diagnosed COVID-positive and gives their consent to help the community of other app users, the app will upload the list of ephemeral Bluetooth IDs of other users that they’ve been interacting with over the past 14 days.

Again, the app doesn’t send the user’s own ephemeral Bluetooth IDs — it sends information about the circle of people gravitating around the infected user.

The server then has a list of potentially exposed users. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be infected with COVID-19.

Computing a risk score on the server

So what does the server do with this list of potentially exposed users?

When you download a ROBERT-based contact-tracing app (such as France’s Stop Covid app that is in the works) and launch it for the first time, the server is notified. The server generates and sends a permanent ID and a list of ephemeral Bluetooth IDs. The server also keeps a list of all temporary IDs associated with permanent IDs.

In other words, the authority has a giant database of all permanent and ephemeral IDs associated with all app users. While the specifications say “the stored information are ‘anonymous’ and, by no mean, associated to a particular user,” it’s in no way anonymous. It’s pseudonymous.

When a user is diagnosed COVID-positive and accepts to share a list of the ephemeral Bluetooth IDs of people they’ve interacted with, the server logs all that information and increases the risk score of people they’ve interacted with.

Over time, multiple users who are confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 could flag different Bluetooth ephemeral IDs that belong to the same user. The server is going to increase the risk score of the permanent ID associated to that user.

Essentially, the authority will have a database of permanent IDs with each ID representing one person. There will be a risk score associated to each person. When the risk score reaches a certain threshold, the user is notified.

A weak defense of centralization

As you can see in my description of the ROBERT protocol, the project tries to minimize the attack surface by centralizing most computing on a server. It is designed to be resilient against malicious users as much as possible — it requires you to “register” your account by obtaining a permanent ID from a central server.

But this centralized implementation means that you’ll have to trust your government. In particular, you have to trust that:

They’re not doing anything nefarious without telling you.

They have developed a secure implementation of the ROBERT protocol.

For instance, what if a ROBERT-based app uploads your IP address when your app checks the risk score associated with your permanent ID? What if the government wants a little more data to examine the social graph of pseudonyms? Those could be huge privacy risks and the end user wouldn’t even be aware of the vulnerability. It is basically the opposite of “privacy by design.”

Instead, Inria and Fraunhofer throw the DP-3T implementation under the bus:

Other, qualified as ‘decentralised’, schemes broadcast to each App an aggregate information containing the pseudonyms of all the infected users. This information allow each App to decode the identifiers of infected users and verify if any of them are part of its contact list. Our scheme does not follow this principle because we believe that sending information about all infected users reveals too much information. In fact, it has been shown that this information can be easily used by malicious users to re-identify infected users at scale. We claim that infected user re-identification must absolutely be avoided since it could lead to stigmatisation. Instead, we chose to securely store this information on a central server.

Dismissing decentralized protocols in such a way is completely irresponsible. In both cases, it depends on the implementation. That’s why it’s going to be important to let developers audit the code that runs both on the smartphone and the server — whether the server is only a relay server or a central database. Otherwise, people are not going to trust contact-tracing apps and they will be useless.

Data on your device can be encrypted and inaccessible to other apps and malicious users. The government could even control a decryption key using a multi-signature authentication. This way, malicious users wouldn’t be able to decrypt data without interacting with the central server, and the central server wouldn’t be able to access user data.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8204425 https://ift.tt/2XOBjvV via IFTTT

[curlygirl79]

Today, as part of the blog tour for Overstrike, book one in the Fixpoint series, I am honoured to be able to share with you a Q&A that the author took part in for me. Many thanks to CM Angus for taking the time to do this, and to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be a part of the tour.

What made you decide to move from writing technical non-fiction to writing fiction?

That’s probably not how I look at it. I guess I’m more of an opportunist. Back in 2006 I found myself working with a couple  of technologies which were new enough to have literally no books written about them. As I was learning the hard way to get to grips with these I saw there was an opportunity for a technical publication.

Likewise in 2014 when I found myself with the embryo of the story that went on to become Overstrike, I decided to give it a go.

It was certainly very different, but I believe the past is a dream that doesn’t define us – each of us has the capacity to continually reinvent ourselves..

What authors inspire you?

I’d have to say: Ones that make it happen against the odds. People like David J. Kowalski – whose 2007 debut The Company of the Dead I enjoyed a lot. The fact that he managed to write a pretty awesome novel whilst being a Obstetrician, inspired me to believe maybe I could somehow find time to write also.

Thank you David.

Do you have a literary hero? How about a favourite literary villain?

In a lot of ways, this is likely to be the stream of consciousness everyman like Bukowski’s semi-autobiographical Henry Chinaski, or The Narrator (Phaedrus) from Pirsig’s Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Whoever it is, they’re likely to be a thinker, a drunk and a little unhinged. In a lot of ways, I find characters, or for that fact, people in general, become far more interesting when they don’t conform. As for hero’s and villain’s, I tend not to think in those kind of binary terms, I think that there are angels and devils in all of us –  that everyone is both good and evil. The most interesting characters, for me, are ones that either fall from grace or seek redemption – whether that’s Milton’s Lucifer in Paridise Lost, Rowling’s Snape,  Jane Austen’s Mr D’Arcy, Dickens’ Scrooge or even Martin’s Jaime Lannister, the idea that a character’s drivers and motives are fluid, makes them interesting to me.

What is your favourite under-appreciated novel?

Not sure whether this counts, but I’d have to say The View from Gallows Hill by Nick Stead. I was lucky enough to be a beta-reader on this and liked it a lot – certainly one to look for when it comes out. 

Where do you do your writing? Do you have a special place to go for calm and inspiration or are you a write anywhere kind of guy?

I’d have to say wherever the muse takes me. But it’s more about finding the headspace than than a particular location or time. If things are too noisy I’ve got no chance. If things are too quiet – again; that’s an issue. So it feels like I’m forever in search of my own Goldilocks zone *laughs*. Sometimes I find it in my local park with a laptop, sometimes it’s in a bustling coffee shop – I seem to change like the wind. Invariably it ends up being stolen moments interspaced between other activities – I try to use technology so that I can switch between desktop, laptop, tablet and phone and keep going in between being Dad’s taxi! So I guess I’m a write anywhere kind of guy…

What is the strangest thing you have had to Google for writing research?

Man, now that’s going to be quite a list…

I guess it would include:

* Current theories on quantum entanglement and the plausibility of time travel.

* Elements of the Holocaust during WWII.

* Key players in early electroconvulsive therapy.

* Details of Schizophrenia.

* Large parts of London and its transport network. 

However I’m sure I must be missing something.

You seem to be a man of many talents – how do you fit everything in? I find I am easily distracted from one hobby or interest by another – do you find the same?

Definitely. It’s not just a question of passion. I need to set myself goals and make these public – actively throw myself under the bus, if you will, to force myself to complete things. Then its a case of multitasking and combining things, but it isn’t easy and without the support of my family I couldn’t do any of it.

At the end of the day though, it’s about setting realistic goals and keeping on with these – even if the progresses glacial. For instance: Overstrike has taken around 5-years, so I’d say it’s more to do with perseverance and pig-headedness than some kind of silver bullet.

Thanks again to CM Angus for taking the time to answer my questions. For more information about Overstrike, read on!

BLURB:

When Matt Howard’s grandfather told him he must alter history to protect his newborn son, Matt thought the old man was crazy…

…Then he realised it was true.

Overstrike spans 4 generations of a family haunted by the prospect of an approaching alternate reality where their child has been erased from history.

Touching on themes of retro-causality, ethics and free will, and exploring ideas of cause, effect and retribution, it follows the path of Matt Howard, whose child, Ethan, is at risk, as he, his father and grandfather attempt to use their own abilities to manipulate reality in order to discover and prevent whoever is threatening Ethan.

Overstrike is volume I of Fixpoint, a trilogy about a family who discover their inherited ability to manipulate reality. It enables them to effect changes in order to safeguard themselves and all that they hold dear. But even seemingly small changes in a timeline can have unforeseen and far-reaching consequences. Follow the stories of the Howards, on a journey exploring reality, time and our own sense of self.

PURCHASE LINKS:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

CM Angus author and writer of Speculative fiction, Sci-fi and Horror grew up in the North East of England and now lives in Yorkshire with his wife and children. He is interested in all things creative & technological.

Currently working on Fixpoint, a series of books with each piece tackling different aspects of discontinuities in time and is a Speculative Fiction spanning 4 generations of a family haunted by the prospect of an approaching alternate reality where their child has been erased from history.

Overstrike, Volume 1 of Fixpoint, will be published by Elsewhen Press in early 2020.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Twitter

Website

Facebook

Amazon

Goodreads

Publisher

GIVEAWAY:

Win 5 x Overstrike T-shirts  (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter link below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

ENTER HERE

To find out more about Overstrike, head on over to the other blogs taking part in the tour.

@c_m_angus is answering my questions on the blog today. #bookblogger #Q&A #fixpoint #overstrike #fictioncafewriters #spoonshortagebookclub @rararesources Today, as part of the blog tour for Overstrike, book one in the Fixpoint series, I am honoured to be able to share with you a Q&A that the author took part in for me.

[astoldbyacertifiedunicorn]

The Girl by City and Colour

This is part of a drabble a day for seven days challenge, where you out your playlist on shuffle and write a drabble inspired by each song. @japril12 encouraged me to do this because she believes in me more than I do lol Sorry, if I don’t stick to schedule. :D 

I wish I could do better by you

Cause that's what you deserve

You sacrifice so much of your life

In order for this to work

"Janine, who approved this?" He asks, trying to keep his voice calm. It's not her fault. She's not the one to blame, so he's not going to yell at her. But, he's this close to yelling at somebody and he needs to know who it is.

"I'm sorry, Dr.Avery. But, Dr.Harper Avery thought it would be best if it was you who gave the key note at the conference, since you're set to take over soon, anyway." She say, sounding a little nervous.

"Don't remind me," He groans, "There's no way I'm getting out of this, am I?"

She smiles regretfully, and shakes her head. She's a good assistant, loyal, smart and has never once tried to make a move on him. He appreciates all that. So, he keeps to his promise and doesn’t take his anger out on her.

"Thank you. Tell John we'll be taking off tomorrow morning to Tokyo." He asks her, and she jots it down on her tablet before heading off.

He falls back on his chair, and runs a finger across his brow. It's something April always does when he's frustrated, smooth his brow. She always offers a kiss after that and he misses that now. He has to call her. He has to let her know. He's already wearing too thin on the whole business trips allowance. He's been gone for a almost a week now, and it looks like he'll have to extend that trip to about a week and a half.  He's not particularly looking forward to this conversation.

While I'm off chasing my own dreams

Sailing around the world

Please know that I'm yours to keep

My beautiful girl

Harper had been sick for some time now. It was, ironically, a problem with his heart. It wasn't performing as well as it should. He wasn't set to die any day soon, but he wasn't taking his chances. Even in his potentially final days, his grandfather's sole goal was the future of his foundation. They were so clearly different people, with a set of completely different priorities.

And yet, he couldn't help but feel the need to step up. This was his legacy too, after all. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was the need to prove his family wrong or maybe, it's his wife who'd made him realize the importance of the work the foundation was doing by funding revolutionaries of medicine. He sometimes wondered if it was the talk of a ‘purpose’ he heard in church that made it all feel special. Not that he believed in religion, even after all these years, but he liked the whole idea of a purpose, of being a part of something bigger than himself. That's what the foundation was to him now, and so maybe it wasn't just his grandfather's or mother's dream anymore, maybe it was also his.

He just hated the traveling. He hated the conferences, the award ceremonies, the galas, the meetings. He hated anything that meant spending time away from his wife and children. To top it all off, April was pregnant again, this time with twins, and they already had 2 kids under 5. He hated leaving all the responsibility to her and flying off for the foundation.

He hated mingling with other doctors, who'd make the constant 'thank god, my wife isn't here' jokes, or the other men who'd nudge him and revel in the joy of being away from their families.

Jackson recalled how before he fell in love with April, marriage and children had seemed like the dreariest thing in the world. He never cared for it and he never thought it'd be something he'd enjoy. He loved been independent, only sharing a bed when he wanted to. He wasn't too thrilled about getting into something that meant he had to be tied down. But then he met April. And he wanted to be super glued to her for the rest of his life, way before he actually went ahead and married her. What he thought would be constricting and dull was the most brilliant decision of his life. He loved been married to her. He loved the beautiful children she gave him. Every single day, after work, he couldn't get home fast enough.

So unlike most of them, he hated having to leave April and their kids even if it was for just a couple of days. He couldn't fall asleep anymore without her tiny body pressed against him, her hair sprawled out across his chest and the feeling of her breath on his neck. He loved the fact that he could come home, help his kids with homework, put them sleep, kiss them goodnight, give them everything his own father never did and then go to bed and make love to his wife, who also happened to be his best friend, his favorite person. It gave him no joy to miss even one day of this wonderful routine. 

When you cry a piece of my heart dies

Knowing that I may have been the cause

If you were to leave

Fulfill someone else's dreams

I think I might totally be lost

She picks up after a few rings, and he instantly smiles at the sound of her voice.

"Hello, beautiful." He says, and he can almost see her blushing, after all these years.

"Hi, honey. Hold on, I'm putting you on a speaker," there's a click, "Say hi to daddy guys."

"Hi my dad!" It's Samuel's soft voice that rings through first.

"Dada. Dada. Dada." He hears Harriet yelling loudly, in the background. That had been one of the few words she was still able to speak, on account of being only 2 years old.

"Hi, you two. I hope you're not giving mom any trouble."

"No, my dad. I is very good. Hattie bad. I is good." Samuel says, and both the parents laugh at his sibling instinct to tell on his sister. He's a wonderful child, with a massive heart, but not even he is prone to deny an opportunity to throw his sister under the bus.

"Good boy, Sammy. But how about we cut your sister some slack, hm? She's just two. Listen, I'll call you a little later, okay," He says, although he can picture Samuel's face falling, and it breaks his heart, "April, can I talk to you in private?"

He can feel her hesitation as she picks up the phone, without another word, giving instructions to the kids, before likely hiding away in the hallway.

"You're extending the trip, aren't you?" She sighs, and he rubs his face. His wife is too instinctive sometimes.

"Babe, it's Harper."

"How long?" She asks, ignoring his excuses.

"About 3 more days." He mumbles.

"3 more days?! Jackson! You're going to be gone for more than a week!" She's frustrated he can tell, and he hopes she's not getting stressed out too much because it's not good for the babies, "Samuel painted a picture at school today of his family. It has the three- five of us at home, and you on a plane. I had to explain to his teacher that you weren't an absent parent. That was fun."

He winces. That stung a little. He never wanted his kids to feel like he wasn't home enough.

"I'm sorry, I'll talk to him." He promises.

"Harriet has been acting out. She threw her food across the room 2 times, and last night she was inconsolable. She kept asking for you." She sounds like she’s on the verge of tears at the point, and it makes him want to reach out and pull her against him. Harriet's diva moments weren't easy to handle, least of all, alone.

"Baby, I'm sorry-"

"I miss you. So much. I hate sleeping alone, you know that. I missed you at work so much, I took some of your shifts at the burn center," She says, and she pauses before letting out a loud sob, "and I've been this hormonal mess this past week, and as much as I love being pregnant, I could do without wanting to burst into tears every other minute, and I miss you so much. I just want you to come home, Jackson."

He doesn't say anything. He sits there, holding the phone against his ear, wondering if any of this was really worth it, as she cries softly on the other side.

She stops after a while, "Call me before you take off, okay?"

He nods, although she can't see him.

"Thank you." He says.

"For what?"

"For staying. For not leaving me." He replies, and he means it. If she were to get sick of him not being around and leave him, for someone more present, he's not sure how he'd cope.

"I don't have a choice, do I? There's this thing where I love you too much to even think about leaving you." She teases him, eventhough he can tell she's still sad.

He grins. 

"I love you too," He says, "Give me a kiss."

She chuckles, for real this time, and exaggeratedly blows a kiss at him.

"Go. No more after this one for sometime, okay?"

"Okay." He says, but they both know he can't make that promise. He's just grateful, that she cares.

You don't ask for no diamond rings

No delicate strings of pearls

That's why I wrote this song to sing

My beautiful girl

He gets up from his seat and heads to down to the lobby. There's the guilt, but there's also\a million papers to sign before he boards he plane and a speech that needs to be made for tomorrow night. It distracts him, somewhat.

He thinks about sending her flowers, maybe some jewelry. He could put an order with Tiffany's in a second, but this is April, she's still the same girl he married all those years ago. The one who still insisted he stop sending the clothes to the dry cleaners.

"Hey, Janine."

His assistant looks up as he gets into the car.

"You know that video of me and Dr.Webber?"

She chuckles a little, and nods her head, "The one you told me to make sure your wife and mother never see?"

He nods his head, clears his throat in embarrassment. It's a by-product of an awkward step father-son bonding moment, that had been eased by alcohol. It was his own misfortune that a karaoke machine had been nearby.

"Send it to April."

She takes her phone out, and types in a quick email, before looking up at him, "I'll get you home by Tuesday."

He smiles, gratefully and his own phone lights up.

A : I love you, Tina Turner.

She was there. Always.

My beautiful girl

[fanaste]

I Miss You

Intended fan fic for Feb 11th of PataterWeek = Cuddling/Snuggling.  But I missed the deadline.  So it’s here now and that’s just the way it’s gotta be.

Fandom: OMGCheckplease

Pairing: Alexei Mashkov/Kent Parson

Rating: PG-13

Word count: 2869

(Also on AO3)

The apartment is quiet when Alexei opens the door.  He listens out for signs of life but there's nothing save for the hum of the refrigerator followed shortly by a slight tinkling sound and then soft thudding across the hardwood.  Alexei crouches, folding his huge body nearly in half to greet the tiny animal who captured his boyfriends heart long before Alexei tried for it.  Kit mewls softly as she rubs her face along his extended hand, letting him pay her due attention before she winds her body through his long legs, brushing her side against his ankles.  When she's done she takes off for the kitchen pausing only long enough to send back a look that clearly says 'come along then'.  Not one to ignore the cat even though objectively he knows it's ridiculous to let an animal call the shots, he follows stopping with an amused smile when he sees Kit staring up at the cupboard where they keep her food. She's clever he'll give her that.  Genius even, because Alexei didn't think he was a cat person at all until he met Kit.  Alexei is pretty certain he's in Kent's heart but Kit is still making him work for it and seeing as he loves Kent as much as Kent loves his cat he takes the bowl out and fills it up.  She rewards him by dipping her face delicately into the bowl, eating a few pebbles and then sauntering away as if she didn't really want it. "You just like to see men dance." he whispers accusingly.  He swears he sees the cat shrug.

Coming back into the hallway he toes off his sneakers and strides to the living room.  Because of his size Alexei can't seem to walk anywhere quietly so when he reaches the warmest room in the house Kent's squinting up at him sleepy eyed and ruffled.  He has a pillow scar on his cheek and he looks so adorable Alexei has to take a breath. "Hey." Kent croaks. "Hi." he tips his head to the side, "Tired?" "Practice was tough." "You hurt?" A gentle bolt of concern pierces him. Kent makes a face, "No.  Just old." Hockey players are terrible at admitting when they're hurt.  Like any career athlete injury is the difference between sitting out a few games and ending their career.  Most of the time guys cover it up hoping that an ice bath, massage or rest will cure whatever phantom ache they've picked up.  They rub some dirt on it and carry on hoping no one is the wiser and if asked point blank about it they'll lie.  Their coaches and PR are just as bad.  The key to handling an injury is misdirection.  Which means that when Kent says he's fine Alexei doesn't believe him but he doesn't want to argue so instead he says, "Still a few years left in you."

"For hockey or for you?" Alexei grins, "Both." "Be nice to me." Kent groans. "I always nice to you.  Very nice." He gives Kent a hot look and the other man, too tried to check himself, blushes.  It's a good look on a man who frequently has more front than Brighton.  He nods towards the sofa, "Room for me?" Kent nods and Alexei shrugs out of his jacket and unbuckles his belt, pulling it mock seductively through the loops. "Take it off." Kent says in a funny voice looking more awake now. "Easy." Alexei breaths crawling over his boyfriends form and easing into the gap between the back of the sofa and Kent's sleep warm body.  Without prompt Kent lifts his head so Alexei can slide his arm under it, providing a nice bicep pillow.  His height makes him the perfect big spoon, a role he plays often and eagerly.  He loves it, the feel of Kent curled up against his hard muscles, pressed fully into every dent and ridge like the spaces were made just for him.  He inhales the smell of Kent's shampoo and nuzzles the soft skin at his nape pressing his lips there, tasting him. Sometimes they make love like this, their bodies so close they can't even really move, they just breathe together' Alexei savouring the feel of himself inside Kent's body and Kent savouring the feel of Alexei inside him, around him.  In those moments Alexei thinks their bodies must have been made for one another, there's no other explanation for how well they fit together.  It's a powerful feeling he’ll never get enough of. "You're cold." Kent bitches with no real feeling. Just to be a brat - usually Kent's job - he rubs his cold nose against Kent's skin.  "You're warm." He sighs. Kent grabs his hand pulling it over to rest on his firm sculpted belly.  Alexei spreads his fingers out letting the tips of them dip just slightly beneath the sweatband of the grey joggers that stretch deliciously over Kent's backside.  He doesn't make a move to tuck his hand in further or reach for Kent's dick, it's enough to tease, to just be this close and know that when they wake they'll still be together. "Missed you." Alexei rumbles. "It was only a few days." He freezes.  These are not Kent's words they're Alexei's and he said them with an exasperated sigh just before walking out of the apartment for four days to go to Dallas.  He doesn't know what Kent means by this, they both know that being together while their teams tour and train is difficult.  Hell it took them a year to get to this point, with Alexei essentially squatting at Kent's when he's near Vegas and Kent living out of a giant suitcase when he's near Providence.  During their long drawn out courtship there was a whole four months where they just missed each other coming in and out of states.  Kent would text Alexei that he'd be in town just as Alexei was watching it fade from view. Kent: Just arrived in Detroit. Alexei: Bus just cross state line.

He wasn't used to being the mopey one on the bus. "Kent." he tries not to sigh but he doesn't want to argue.  He's missed him too much to spend the time they have together arguing about something that neither of them can or even really wants to change.  Well, that's not strictly true.  Alexei does want to change the way it feels like they're always just snatching time together but in order to do so one or both of them would have to give up hockey and as much as they love each other they also love hockey.  It's who they are not just what they do.  It's what makes them great players. Kent's given up so much to get where he is now.  To give up hockey too would make all that sacrifice for nothing.  Alexei doesn't want either of them to give up what they love but it does kill him to know that every visit starts a countdown.  He loves Kent, he wants to move in with him or have Kent move in with him but they've both been putting it off because they're training grounds are in two different states meaning it's cheaper to keep two apartments rather than stay in hotels or wear out their friends sofa's. Even if they can afford to room hop at nice hotels Alexei hates hotels.  Everything is too small for his giant hands and as nice as it is to have your breakfast cooked for you he likes cooking his own breakfast thank you very much. It's just hard because they miss each other and rather than talk about it (because really, how many times can you argue about something that you can't ever change?) they find themselves sniping and snarling.  Maybe it's an effort to stave off the hurt of departure.  To prompt the pain before it can surprise attack you.  Stupidly they think that parting on a fight means they'll both be too mad to be sad about missing one another but it never works that way.  The anger just piggybacks onto the sadness making them feel worse. For Kent it's worse.  Alexei knows this because he knows him.  Kent is a stewer.  He lashes out over fights and arguments he doesn't really care about, hell he spends his fair share of time in the sin bin so he's not afraid to throw down and be seen to throw down but when it comes to arguing with the ones he loves an onlooker could be forgiven for thinking it never happens.  Alexei knows better.  He and Kent fight, they fight about being apart, they fight about their apartments and their future with the NHL and after it, but it's a quiet fight.  It's a resentful grumble beneath the breath.  It's a door slammed in one of their apartments.  It's a strained exchange before they turn in for bed, sleeping next to one another but on opposite sides as far as they can get without falling off.  They might exchange a few words about the actual problem and, yeah okay, they blow up at each other and shout but for the most part Kent will keep what bothers him about their situation to himself. With a breaking heart Alexei knows it's because Kent is afraid he won't care.  That one day he'll turn around and say something like, 'You are right.  I am sick of this fight.  I don't want to have it anymore because I am tired of you.'.   Alexei would never brush off Kent's fears like that because they are his own but Kent is very used to people turning from him.  Wound tightly together in bed after some particularly intense sex Kent had admitted, with his face buried in Alexei's chest, that he doesn't like to tell the ones he loves that he's upset with them or frustrated by something they do because they don't need him as much as he needs them so it would be easy for them to decide to up and walk away, to decide that they were tired of how needy he was.  Kent is very insecure about his place in other people's worlds.  Even the teams. Alexei still gets mad when he thinks about it and yes a little frustrated because he doesn't know how to tell or show Kent enough just how important he is to him, how loved he is by him.  It's not that Kent is constantly moving the goal it's that he doesn't even bother setting one up on his ice because he doesn't think anyone would wanna score. Alexei wants to score. He loves Kent so much it makes him breathless and he can't stand the knowledge that Kent will have spent four days festering about their last fight but not mention it because he's afraid Alexei will leave. "We should talk about before I left." Alexei feels Kent stiffen in his arms. "It's fine.  It was silly." he shrugs his broad shoulders to illustrate how not big of a deal it was. It wasn't a big deal, they didn't say things they would regret or be unable to come back from but it was deal enough that he thinks they should talk about it.  "You were upset." "I'm over it." "Are you?"  Kent doesn't say anything and that feels like progress because though he doesn't say anything he isn't lying either.  "I'm sorry I stormed out.  I know you were upset.  Me too." "I know." he whispers his breath fanning out over his forearm. "Away is difficult." "It's only going to get tougher." "Is okay." Kent turns in his arms and the forlorn look on his face makes Alexei's heart beat out of time.  "What if it's not?" He pauses a little scared.  Is Kent asking him or telling him? "What you mean?" Kent opens his mouth to answer and Alexei inhales subtly not because he's steeling himself (well maybe he is a little bit) because he doesn't want to spook Kent back into silence.  Except it doesn't work.  Kent closes his mouth then lies and says, "Don't worry about it." He can't help the growl of frustration that leaves him.  "Kenny.  I am here now." "I know babe and I'm loving it trust me." he throws a leg over his hip pushing their groins together trying to prompt the sort of reaction that guarantees no talking for...thirty minutes at least. Alexei stills him with a hand on his thigh fighting the urge to slide it up and over his firm bubble butt.  "Kenny stop." Kent blinks at him self-consciously.  He blushes, embarrassed not turned on.  "Okay." he tries to withdraw his leg but despite the theme of the situation Alexei quite likes it there so he holds on. "You were upset about my leaving.  I was upset too-" "I know." "You still upset?" At length he replies, "Yes.  I just-" he breaks off with a sigh and Alexei prompts him with a gentle but insistent look.  "It's hard to keep doing this.  Six months of not seeing each other for more than a few days.  Weeks apart while we play tournaments.  Staying in hotels...alone?" The implication is not subtle and Alexei bristles.  "I am alone." "I know, I know!" Kent presses his palms against Alexei's chest.  "But I'm just saying that if you wanted to, you know not be alone...I'd get how that happened."

"I never cheat on you.  I never ever cheat on you." he can't even believe Kent is saying this right now.  There is no one else Alexei wants.  He has what he wants right here and he's so Goddamn happy.  "Do you want? Other men?" The thought makes him sick.  Kent isn’t the only one who can make secrets of his feelings.  Alexei has a secret fear, the kind of fear you can visualise clearly when you realise how real it’s potential is, that Kent will break his heart.  He doesn’t know how he’ll do it, intentionally or unintentionally, reluctantly or eagerly but he knows he can.  Kent thinks he’s the only one with fears but he’s not. "No, God no."

"Then why say it?"  Kent shrugs but Alexei knows why.  "I love you." "I love you too."

"No, Kent." he whips out the use of his full and proper name.  "We are apart for long time.  A lot I know and I miss you, painfully.  But there is and can never be anyone else.  If you want others you tell me now but I want you only and I want you to want me only too." "I do.  I do want you only.  I get...scared." he says the word like he had to pry it from the iron vice of his throat.  "It's lonely on the road." "Are you lonely?" Kent nods and Alexei feels like he’s been hollowed out.  "But only for you.  I miss you."  The words don’t sound as nice as they did a moment ago.

"I am lonely too.  But I miss you.  I don't miss other men.  I miss you." He ducks to meet his boyfriend’s gaze hoping that it helps Kent to believe him. "Okay." Alexei really hopes it is okay because he doesn’t want to have this conversation again.  Long distance is hard but Kent is worth it.  What they have together is worth the late night face times, the fumbling skype sex and the quiet phone calls on the bus as they drive through the night.  When he’s on the phone he catches eyes with Jack who gives him a sympathetic smile.  He remembers these days.  The days when he and little B were stuck in separate time zones with the date of their reunions seeming so elusive even as they drew nearer.  It’s not even just about keeping the relationship a secret.  They’re not intentionally hiding the relationship from the public but their own expectations can be challenging enough without the expectations of perfect strangers leaping out at them through twitter or at their games.  Alexei has never once thought of cheating on Kent no matter how lonely he felt.  No matter how hard things seem Alexei knows that it’s all worth it for this man. "Okay?" Kent nods.  "Yes okay." "No cheating.  From me or you.  Promise me?" Kent looks him right in the eyes, the pale absorbing blue of them drawing him in looking happier than a minute ago.  More confident.  "I promise." He presses their lips together and they kiss slowly, deeply.  Alexei kisses him like he missed him.  Passionately.  When they break away they’re both panting.

"I missed you." Kent sighs dazedly. "Oh yeah?" Finally, finally! Alexei dips his hands into Kent's joggers giving him a teasing stroke through his briefs.  His dick twitches to life beneath his palm immediately.  "How much?" Kent bites his bottom lip.  "You can't tell?" Alexei can definitely tell yet still teases, "I not sure.  Could be morning wood."

"It's the evening." Kent smirks.

He works his hand beneath the boxers and curls his fist around the warm hardening, pulsing flesh.  With a wicked grin he decides, "Then we should go to bed.

[mirovoi1]

GEORGIA - SUICIDE OR SUICIDE PREVENTION?

WELCOME TO THE ALMOST-UNKNOWN

 There is a not-so-well-known plod of land by the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountains called Georgia. It is hard to describe where Georgia and the Georgians fit in, appearance-wise and culturally being European – think Jesus (culturally speaking) and red wine (and they pretty much invented both). Only physically the country sits in Asia, therefore sometimes being classified as part of Europe and sometimes as part of Asia – you can decide on that one. I’m not going to reveal every detail about Georgia because that is what Wikipedia and Lonely Planet are for. I do not do travel guides and tourist reviews, except, I might just mention that it is a stunning little place that has not been discovered by the masses yet – Amen, let’s have a wine to that!

 I like Georgia. I like the fact I can stay here visa-free for 365 days, and buy a home and set up a business without restrictions – if I wanted to. I like that everything is inexpensive and easy. I love the fact that it only takes twenty minutes to get a car registered in your name by only showing your passport, thus being the reason I bought my car here. I felt quite proud setting out to conquer the world in a Georgian flagged car - the Georgian number plates turned many heads the whole way from Turkey to Morocco, but the head-turning was probably more likely due to the fact that the steering wheel is on the wrong side. In Georgia, you drive on the right-hand side of the road (like everywhere in Europe), but since they import cars from both east and west, steering wheels are on both the left and the right. Mine is a Japanese import (a right-hand drive) meaning I go around seeing grass more than anything else. Very nice indeed, although passing can be challenge at times, but I got used to it – as with every other challenge life has ever presented. At the car registration office - which is conveniently located inside the big second hand car market in Rustavi - they gave me a little driver’s license-like card (car ownership card) in which acts as the car’s ‘passport’, and that coupled with my own passport allowed me to get from one country to the next – I technically had no issues with that from the Georgian-Turkish border all the way to the Sahara Desert in Africa. Any issue that did arise was only because of some ‘official’ merely being an official asshole. Those exist from time to time, but not so much in Georgia.

 In the summer of July 2016, I brought my Chinese students to Georgia for three exceptional weeks. We stayed a week each in the crumbling old town of Tbilisi, on the semi-subtropical Black Sea coast near Turkey and high up in the Caucasus Mountains in a green alpine valley covered in summer wild flowers. The scenery was quite dramatic in parts. We raided little bakeries of their cheese pies whenever we could. They are cheap. We grinded ourselves like millet between aggressive waves and the rocky shores of the coastline and almost floated off visa-free to Turkey. That was fun. And the Georgians are very, very friendly. It’s the type of country where you can spend the days as you like; lay drunk in a church garden, sit under a grapevine with a book, sip a latte at coffee shop table by the street (their coffee kind of sucks actually), be forced to drink a cognac with the bus driver as you fly around the mountainous bends… These were some of the reasons that pulled me back in September, alone though, the second time around.

 And lastly, and most importantly, I like the fact that, with Georgia, you can be in a European country and still be able to find freedom from of a heavy, burden-like energy. It is a place in which the human being still comes before rules. It is a place where God is still more important than regulations. It is a society that is still more humanistic than robotic. A place where health is in the heart and not in the insurance policy. It is one of the last places left where white people do not suppress themselves into square boxes and straight lines and define every last inch of themselves and their lifestyles by categories and labels. It’s a place where people can live and let live, in the more natural sense. Most importantly, it is a place where you can breathe; a place where you can surrender to your natural instincts.

  WISDOM LIES IN THE ROADS?

 Any civilization with centuries of experience in survival in the midst of mountainous terrain with rogue neighbours all around (think: Ottoman Empire/Turkey, the Soviet Union/Russia, Persia/Iran) certainly would have some valuable wisdom to share. Architecture, alcohol and photos aside, it is my goal to dig out something deeper. Worthwhile lessons from other lands is what I am searching for. We would be wiser to run our lives and societies like big companies that become worth billions by imitating others and then adapting and improving on what we have learnt. Absorbing wisdom from far-reaching corners of the globe is what any smart person or society should do. So, with an idea in my head, car keys in hand, and with a goal to expose humanities more unfortunate sides, it was time to get behind the wheel and head into the frenzy of the Georgian roads!

 When driving, or purchasing any type of ticket for road transport in Georgia you might feel as if you are applying to go on the suicide waiting list, but Georgian roads just may be a cure to suicide. The way the Georgians drive can probably be best described as ‘dangerous’. Georgian drivers are fast, erratic and aggressive with all their stunts conducted through cracked windscreens. In fact, it seems that half their cars have lost half their parts and it’s almost common to see two doors on a Lada chassis fly down the road - with haystacks on top. The general road rule is ‘stick to the side of the road’ (off the side in the dust is okay too) and allow the middle to be a creative zone, even around sharp bends at night – as long as it is done fast, you can’t really go wrong. This is no worries for the Georgians because driving is like art - it is almost like an improvising time for a group of musicians. I drove in China for six years which at times can be exhilarating, and in many parts of the world with ‘uncivilized’ streets (to the Western eyes) and I can say that I rejoice in the chaos. I’m the last person in the world to want to say something is ‘dangerous’, but, Georgia… my dear Georgia… you’re in a league of your own and I LOVE IT!!

  IS DANGER ACTUALLY DANGER?

 Some find the act of reading a book to be relaxing. Many find reading to be tiring and quite stressful. I am one of those ones. Many might say driving is stressful, and reading is a way to escape to another place. But in the ideal feminized society that modern-day Westerners are trying to create, everyone would be able to relieve stress by reading a novel, but thankfully, many people (particularly men) are unable to get their all stimulation from books (and thank God for that if someday war were to encroach because throwing books at enemies doesn’t help much). Georgians bring Jihad to the roads, and for me, the more chaotic and aggressive the roads are, the more relaxed I become. Words from a book just don’t flow through me like the movement of many vehicles battling for the same space does. This is also when my natural instincts set in. I love to be in control of, not only the car, but my life as well. I love having to concentrate. I love the stimulation of it. I love the sense of achievement it brings when arriving at where I was going. I love the adrenalin rush of Georgian roads. From time to time, I want (read: need) to feel my heart beating, my palms sweating, my blood rushing, the butterflies in my stomach. I want to remember I'm alive! Everyone needs to feel alive in order to live a healthy life. The modern Western ‘over control’ of society creates frustration, hence allows for more time for things like road rage. Boredom leads to a lack of concentration. Lack of concentration leads to accidents. When we disengage from our instincts, it gives rise to more issues instead of solving the ones we set out to. We no longer understand the root causes of societal problems, because we have become so disconnected from our natures. We no longer understand the world from our intuition, but only from ideologies. Our brains have well advanced above our hearts leaving us lost and confused. Our brains categorize things so strongly now that we no longer know what we are categorizing. In turn, roads in the West have become a place of rules and misery. What happened to the fact that roads were invented for ‘going places’ as their main purpose?

 AN ILLNESS OF MODERN WESTERN SOCIETY

 I probably just seemed to be suggesting that you might have a good chance of killing yourself if you get within ten inches of any Georgian road, but in fact, I am implying the opposite –  Georgian roads just may well be an example of a cure to suicide, and other miseries that the developed world suffers from these days. There may seem to be a paradox here, but things generally are the opposite of what they appear to be. When facing difficulty and danger, you need to give a top performance – no one swims lazily with a shark fin in tow. When you are in full concentration mode, all your senses become alive and alert. When you have survived the moment, you have a sense of accomplishment. When you have a combination of these ‘daily necessities’ (the ones that are not available at the supermarket) you start inching closer to a little friend called ‘nature’ - that forgotten thing that inherently lives within us. Humans have come a long way, we’ve forgone dangers to revel in the security of modern-day life, but it is boring. Modern life is boring. Excitement, adrenalin, fun; gone to the pits of safety. To fight, to battle, to use your brain, your body, your skills, your senses – all at the same time - there is no more of that, because it’s not allowed, not tolerated. It’s easy to see and provide for human being’s physical needs such as fresh food, clean water and oxygen, but the psychological needs of creativity, challenge, decision making and stimulation during everyday activity have not only been forgotten, but they have been banished to the darkest corners of hell – all in the name of safety.

 SUICIDE OR SUICIDE PREVENTION?

The post WW2 feminizing of society has already served its benefits; people are more passive, society more equal, women have taken up more positions, marriage equality achieved and the list goes on, but this movement should now become defunct as it seems that its last purpose to achieve is to obliviously drag us by the teeth to a cliff’s edge. This nannying is running rife and, in effect, it is the source of people’s depression, boredom, frustration and, in some cases, desperation. It’s not only suffocating, but it is against our survival instincts. The reason we still quiver when we think of a snake is because we still have nature inside us, but we don’t hesitate about getting into a car despite the overwhelming global statistics in car related deaths. So sorry to say, but our natures and the snake-quivering are not going anywhere, but the quivering over ‘fun’ needs to go…

 I do not know of anyone who would ponder over the idea of suicide while feeling stimulated. Georgians commit suicide too, and are definitely not immune to misery, but certainly are not being robbed of the simple human needs for excitement and danger. In fact, Georgian suicide rates rank among the lowest and the traffic related death rate is not excruciatingly high (although a bit higher than the most developed countries, but this could be down to geographic and financial reasons too - Georgia is being significantly poorer and steeper). Georgian drivers are highly skilled and take necessary precautions at every bend in the road, because they have to. Having to something and just doing something are very different concepts with very different outcomes. Georgian drivers are self-taught, well practiced with refined skill, and they make decisions based on the situation rather than the rule. Keep in mind that musicians get more orgasms out of improvising than playing along to a tune set out by someone else, because they are relying on something deeper; their senses, their feelings, their emotions. It is the same idea as a person taking extra safety precautions while on a bicycle, knowing that the likelihood of getting bowled over is significantly higher. As kids, we are often told to slow down, so we correlate ‘slow’ with being safe, but it is not always so. Sometimes fast is safe. Sometimes danger equals carefulness. My cat only fell out the 9th floor window because it didn’t learn how to climb. Insulation and safety of the poor white mutt lead to the end of it. This insulation not only leads to the inability to foresee danger and react to it, but in effect, it makes us not only depressed but… stupider.

  PUTTING SOME GEORGIA INTO OUR OWN LIVES 

 Georgian ex-president Mikhail Saakashvili turned his country around from the crime-ridden, corrupt, ex-Soviet police state that it was once.  Jeez, this was even the place that gave birth to Stalin. After being voted out, Saakashvili was moved to Ukraine to help rid that country of its infestation of political crime and corruption. It is possible for a country and society to turn itself around, Georgia did it. I wonder if Saakashvili has time to come and steer the West onto the path of logic; a road to something a bit healthier, a bit more sustainable, something a bit more exciting? Elements of difficulty need to be brought back so that survival instincts can be kicked back into gear. The feeling of being alive needs to be promoted. The nannying culture needs to be sent back to nurseries. Westerners need oiling because they have rusted. Luckily for Georgia, it still faces enough difficulties to keep it down to earth and bit more realistic.

 Maybe we could start by dumping half of the ministers and ministries and replacing them with a Ministry of Stimulation, perhaps? Maybe ex-Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili could even head it. Stalin can be given a pass on that one. It amazes me that humans can build airplanes and spaceships to whip us around the earth and even to the moon, but what astounds me is that the most simple and obvious solutions to easy-to-solve issues can still be so puzzlingly far off. That level of human stupidity is the same as a duck quacking into a pipe believing the echo to be a long-lost friend. If we are aware of these issues (and admit they exist), we will continue to flourish as the great Western civilization. If not, we will have lead ourselves to disaster through oblivion, because while Western world nannies around, the rest of the world is gearing up, reinvigorating itself. The West is walking itself into sedation, uninterested in life, believing that strength is a weakness. Being out of touch can only give rise to the rogue ones around us – ask Georgia. We seem to have a collective suicide wish, and that seems to be the only thing uniting us. Have our lives been too comfortable for too long that we have lost our minds?  And do we now need a massive disaster to occur to unleash the Georgian driver within us?

[lindyhunt]

The 14 Management Principles Every Manager Needs to Know

When you think of the French mining industry in the 1890’s, what pops in your mind? Terrible working conditions? A catastrophic collapse? The black lung?

What about the birth of modern work culture?

A coal mine might seem like an unlikely place for the emergence of work culture and organizational management theory, but you’d be surprised.

More than a century ago, Henri Fayol, the managing director of a French mining company, made groundbreaking advances in organizational management theory by constantly iterating his miners’ working conditions to uncover the optimal environment for efficiency, productivity, and happiness.

Advancing the field of operational management was Fayol life’s work. For 28 years, he kept refining his own management techniques to improve his miners’ working conditions. And since there weren’t many management resources in the early 1900’s, he decided to write a book called General and Industrial Management about his own theory of management, Fayolism, to teach other managers how to lead a team.

Fayol's book covers the 14 principles of management that he leveraged to improve his mine’s efficiency and culture, and his ideas still ring true today. He’s considered the father of modern operational management theory, helping countless managers boost their team’s productivity and morale.

Honing the fundamentals of modern management isn’t easy. But, fortunately, we wrote this blog post to help you learn some of the most timeless principles of management that have guided teams toward success for the last 100 years.

14 Management Principles Every Manager Should Know

Division of Labor

Party of Authority and Responsibility

Discipline

Unit of Command

Unity of Direction

Subordination of Individual Interest

Remuneration

Degree of Centralization

Scalar Chain

Material and Social Order

Equity

Stability of Tenure

Initiative

Espirt de Corps

1. Division of Labor

Modern Translation: Figure out what you’re employees are good at, and assign them tasks that play to their strengths.

All employees have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. And if you know your employees’ skill set and let them specialize in their strengths and expertise, they’ll sharpen their skills and boost your team’s efficiency, productivity, and accuracy.

Allowing your employees to specialize in one or two related skills everyday gives them more repetitions and time to master their craft. They’ll improve a lot faster compared to learning a broad range of skills. And the better they are at their jobs, the better your team will perform.

At HubSpot and most modern companies, all of our teams specialize in one area. For instance, on the blogging team, our job is to craft clear, concise, and compelling stories that build an audience. But we can’t do this to our fullest potential if we have to spend time finding the optimal keywords to target or the highest converting lead generators to attach to our posts. We leave that to the SEO and Lead Generation team -- improving our Google ranking and generating more leads are their strengths, and they can do those things better and faster than we can.

Specializing prevents us from wasting any time on tasks not related to our core goals. We would attract less organic traffic and generate less leads than the SEO and Lead Generation team would anyway. With specialization, we can spend more time honing the skills that actually help us reach our team's goals, which is the best way we can help our business grow.

2. Party of Authority and Responsibility

Modern Translation: You should take on more responsibility for your team's output as you gain more power.

In nearly all organizations, management makes the calls. As a manager, your job is devise your team’s overarching strategy and collaborate with your employees to find the most effective and realistic way to implement your vision.

But with this amount of power comes a lot of responsibility. Since you’re the one calling the shots, the consequences of your actions fall directly on your shoulders. If your strategy fails, it’s your fault. Not your employees.

Blaming and punishing your employees for the failure of your own vision and strategy is immature and spineless. Your employees will think you’re ungrateful for their efforts and won’t want to work for you anymore.

Holding yourself accountable for the consequences of your actions, especially when they’re bad, proves to your employees that you have strong integrity: you work to serve and protect your people, and you won’t throw people under the bus for your own personal gain.

3. Discipline

Modern Translation: You should demand as much discipline in your team as you do with yourself.

Every successful leader knows discipline goes both ways. You need to earn your employees’ respect, so they feel compelled and genuinely interested in following you. This way, you can streamline your team’s processes and help your employees produce quicker and better results.

But you also need to discipline yourself by making sure that you’re overseeing your team as ethically as possible. If you exploit your employees or cut corners just to improve productivity, then your employees will feel disrespected and unfulfilled, leading to low morale. Respecting your employees and offering them a good work-life balance is the right thing to do, even if the opposite conduct could produce more results.

4. Unit of Command

Modern Translation: Each of your employees should only have one manager.

Your employees are the most successful when they only have one direct manager overseeing their work. This creates a direct, genuine relationship between the two, and clarifies your employee’s sense of direction at work.

Having two managers isn’t ideal for anyone. It can spread employees thin, lead to conflicting directives, and even divide loyalty. Unless it's absolutely necessary, each of your employees should only have one manager.

5. Unity of Direction

Modern Translation: Each of your teams should only have one plan of action.

Each group of employees who have similar responsibilities and goals should pursue one plan to achieve those goals. For example, your blog team should focus on building an audience to increase website traffic. And your lead generation team should focus on turning that traffic into qualified leads. These teams obviously have different responsibilities and goals, so they should follow their own plan of action.

Merging both these teams into one would cause chaos. The merge wouldn’t change their incentives, prompting each sub-team to steer the combined team towards their desired direction. This power struggle would prevent both of them from meeting their own set of goals.

As a manager, you should set clear goals for your team, document your plan of action, and monitor progress. You also need to effectively communicate the purpose and benefits of your vision, so your team will buy in and do whatever they can to achieve your goals.

6. Subordination of Individual Interest

Modern Translation: Your employees should prioritize the company’s interest over their own personal interests.

Everyone has their own unique interests that they should pursue. But in terms of work, your employees should prioritize the company’s interest over their own’ personal interests. If you don’t clarify the importance of putting the company’s goals ahead of individual goals, workers who constantly pursue their personal interests before their company’s could veer your business off the path that’s best for them.

At HubSpot, we want to help our employees understand our company’s goals and communicate the importance of prioritizing them over their personal goals. But we don’t want to be overbearing and regulate their every move, so instead of using pages of policies and procedures to police our employees, we have a three-word guideline for just about everything. It’s called Use Good Judgement. And to help our employees use good judgement, we ask them, to first, do what’s best for our customers, then the organization, then their team, and, finally, themselves.

7. Remuneration

Modern Translation: You should reward your employees.

One of the best ways to motivate your employees is to regularly recognize their accomplishments and milestones and ensure their compensation reflects their performance. Ample recognition and fair compensation helps your employees meet the majority of needs in the most influential model of motivation: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Photo Credit: Simple Psychology

Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist in the 20th century, suggested that humans have to meet some needs before others to truly be happy, like meeting physiological and safety needs before esteem and self-actualization needs. But once we successfully meet one need, we’re motivated to meet the next one.

In theory, the purpose of life is to meet every need in the hierarchy. So if someone can meet their physiological and safety needs, but can’t fulfill their need for love and belonging, they can’t truly be happy.

Fairly compensating your employees helps them meet their physiological and safety needs. Recognizing employees helps them meet their esteem and self-actualization needs, since awards and praise make them feel valued, boosts their confidence, and motivates them to meet their true potential.

8. Degree of Centralization

Modern Translation: There should be a balance of authority between upper, middle, and lower management in your organization.

When a company is centralized, it means that upper level management has all the decision-making power. On the other side of the spectrum, when a company is decentralized, middle and lower level managers wield more power in the company’s decision making process, just like a democracy.

The best organizations strike a balance between the two. Absolute centralization and decentralization isn’t sustainable -- no one wants to follow the order of a small, powerful group. But you also need a central power to instill order and guidance in employees so they can’t just do whatever they want.

Fayol suggested that companies should choose their degree of centralization based on the size of their business, experience of their superiors, and the ability of their employees.

9. Scalar Chain

Modern Translation: There should be an clear chain of communication in your organization.

Hierarchies exist in every business. From the executive board to your own team, they’re everywhere. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Fayol states that the most successful organizations have a clear understanding of each team and employees’ level of authority, and everyone should respect the hierarchy -- especially when an employee wants to communicate with upper management.

Messages and requests should go through a chain of communication. If you want to communicate to the highest part of a hierarchy, you need the help of the employees who are just above you to get your message across.

For example, low-level managers who want to pass a message along to upper management should contact the mid-level managers about it first, who can then convey their message to upper management.

But Fayol also realized that by the time a low-level manager’s message reaches the top of the communication chain, it could be irrelevant. If it takes too long to communicate a message, what’s the point of sending it? To combat this problem, especially when the message is urgent, you should let your employees skip parts or all the steps of the communication process and take shortcuts to anyone whose higher up than them, even if they’re the CEO.

The amount of time your employees can shave off the communication process and the type of shortcuts they can take all depend on the situation. If it’s an emergency, they should be able to take a big shortcut and quickly convey their message to an executive. If the matter is less pressing, they should take smaller shortcuts and more time to convey their message. The executive team will gladly listen to your request for mitigating a PR emergency. But no one wants a midnight Slack message about a marketing email that was sent twice in one day.

10. Material and Social Order.

Modern Translation: You need to make sure your employees can succeed

To help your employees do their jobs well, you need to make sure your teams have enough resources and know what resources they have at their disposal. You should also ensure their work environment is safe and clean -- a place where they look forward to going to work everyday.

As a manager, you also need to confirm that your employees are a good fit for their roles. Can they handle the stress? Can they manage their time and workload? Can they perform? These are things that every successful manager should know about all of her employees.

11. Equity

Modern Translation: You should treat your employees fairly.

In exchange for your employees hard work and dedication, you need to treat them fairly in return. This is crucial for healthy employee-manager relations because if one of your employees feels like other team members are getting preferential treatment over her, she’ll feel discriminated against, making her less happy and motivated at work.

You should always be hyper-aware of how fairly you treat each member of your team as well as your own unconscious biases towards your employees’ age, sex, religion, and personality type.

12. Stability of Tenure

Modern Translation: You should strive for a low turnover rate on your team.

Your new employees need time to get used to their work, improve, and, ultimately, succeed. Of course, you should expect your employees to master their jobs eventually, but if you don’t give them enough time to get acclimated, you’ll have to let them go -- they won’t be able to hit their lofty goals immediately. Constantly recruiting new hires, training them, and then recruiting their replacements is a waste of your time and resources.

On the other side of the coin, when your employees know their job is stable, they'll feel safe at work and enjoy their role more. This can lower your team’s employee turnover even more because employees will be less likely to move on from your team. You can also retain your employees longer by investing in their growth and wellbeing. Try offering them new learning opportunities, healthy snacks, and an inclusive environment.

13. Initiative

Modern Translation: You should let every employee make an impact on your team.

Your employees shouldn’t be scared to express their ideas. Instead, you should encourage them to take initiative and always be striving to improve your team’s efforts.

When you start implementing your employees’ ideas, your team will usually experience rapid growth -- your employees’ trust and affinity for you will skyrocket, and they’ll also have more energy at work since their creations are coming to life. This gets your employees invested in the company, which helps your team come up with more break through ideas.

There are also more employees than managers at a company, so diversifying your ideation process with your employees’ different perspectives can generate more creative and effective ideas than the same, few minds can.

14. Espirt de Corps

Modern Translation: You should know how to boost your team’s morale.

Managers are leaders. You need to know how to get your team to passionately support a mission, even during the rockiest of times. And there’s three things you need to consistently do to make sure this happens.

First, you need to convince your employees to buy into the “why” behind your mission. This gives your employees a purpose and drives them to work as hard as possible.

Second, you should foster a team bond and a sense of unity. By encouraging the development of personal relationships with each other through team outings or daily chit-chat, you can create an atmosphere of trust, understanding, and inclusivity. You team will have harmony when each of your members feels like they belong, and this inspires them to work harder because they’re not just working together -- they’re working for each other.

Lastly, you need to make your employees feel significant by rewarding high-performers and giving underachievers a chance to improve. If your employees know how important their work is to your team, they’ll feel valued, trusted, and motivated to help you succeed.

[normaffordusa]

Reach Your Photography Goals With These Tips

Perhaps you would like to know how to increase the quality of your photos or you are thinking of beginning a career in photography. You’ve chosen a great time to begin! Here are some ideas that will get you going with your photographic desires.

Make sure you know exactly what is going into each photograph. A good photograph will be a small window that shows one view of your subject. Don’t focus on too many different things. If you are trying to capture an impression, take a couple of photographs instead of just one singe picture that has no detail or focus.

Physically move closer to the subject in order to get a better picture. This method allows you to minimize backgrounds, so that the focus is on your subject. If you are shooting a person, getting closer also allows to capture their facial expressions with greater clarity. If your subject is positioned too far away, it becomes more difficult to capture the minor details.

Try new things, and don’t fear trying new techniques. A good photographer will be able to convey a sense of style with his or her pictures, and show a meaningful point of view. Avoid recreating certain famous photographs to see how your view differs from that of the original artist. An unusual angle can be just the thing to express your creativity and create a memorable photograph.

Your arms should be close against your body when you are holding the camera, and make sure your hands are on the sides and bottom of the camera. This will help create clear shots with less shaking. When you place your hands under the lens and camera body, you will reduce the risk of dropping your camera unintentionally.

Try different perspectives, and take original photos. A great photograph should be not only aesthetically pleasing, but should also showcase a personal style. There are many classic photographs that depict their subject in the same way. Don’t let yourself fall into that category. Try new, unique angles, and be creative.

You shouldn’t neglect the foreground as many novice photographers do. Create a nice foreground in your shot to make your picture look more deep and to frame in more intimately.

You’ll take the best photographs when you love what you’re doing. Use photography to create memories that last a lifetime, reminding you of places you’ve been and people you’ve known. Photography should remain fun, even when you are studying it.

Choose your very best pictures if you are going to expose your work. Don’t show too many photos and vary the subject matter. This will bore people and it is not a good way to showcase your photography skills. Keep things fresh by showing off a variety of your photography.

Pictures of people are great. It is always encouraged to gain the permission of anyone appearing in your photographs. After you get home from your trip, these images will provoke thoughts and memories, even if they are nothing more than ordinary. Look for people with interesting faces, candid expressions and casual, local dress.

Experience with the composition of your photographs to create unique shots, artistic photos and perfectly posed pictures. Just as it is true with any other form of art, your composition is key to creating awesome images. Study the composition of famous photographers and keep it in mind when you shoot your own pictures in order to improve your composing skills.

If you keep your batteries charged at all times, you will not miss the picture of a lifetime. Digital cameras consume a lot of battery life, particularly when you use the LCD screen; therefore, be sure that your batteries are charged fully before you need to use your camera. Since you’ll be taking a lot of pictures, you should probably bring a back-up set of batteries, too.

Master photographers agree, less IS more. Avoid cluttering the composition of your shots with unnecessary elements. Beauty often comes from simple constructions.

Read your camera’s instruction manual. The manual is often a big, thick bulky brick. It’s all too easy to throw them out or put them in a drawer. Instead of losing it, take time to actually read your manual. You will take better quality pictures without making trial-and-error mistakes.

Keep your camera handy when you are on a trip. Use it often. While they may not seem that important at the time, when you get home and start to reflect on your trip, having these smaller memories will be great. Think about taking pictures of stores, coins, bus tickets or street signs for example.

Experimenting with the focus can produce some interesting images. Using a smaller depth of field, otherwise known as an f-stop, will allow you to keep the background blurry and the subject in clear focus. This is great for taking portraits, or any photograph where the subject of the shot is near the camera. If you use a bigger depth of field, more elements will enter into the point of focus of the picture. Large depth of field photos are great for landscape photography.

Don’t miss out on a picture that is fantastic by staying too busy adjusting your camera’s settings. Do not pick a preset because you need to modify your settings. Look at your options to use the setting that lets you change what you need to change.

Invest in a memory card with advanced ability to record a large number of images, so that you will not be limited in the quantity of shots you can take at any given time. A big memory card will allow you to hold a lot more pictures. If you have a good memory card, you can also shoot with RAW format.

Practice Shots

Adjust to new backdrops and surroundings by taking practice shots and learning how the surroundings react to your camera. Every location presents a photographer with a new challenge, and snapping practice shots can help you to achieve a perfect finial photograph. Even once you have begun taking your real photos, feel free to break for some more practice shots if the lighting conditions change.

Take photos of your travel souvenirs when you’re on a trip. Take a picture either of the store or the souvenir together with the original. You can tell the story about your souvenirs from the pictures and enjoy the memories once again from home.

Vary the angle at which you take shots to increase their artistic value. Framing a photograph head-on may be simple, but you lose the nuance of the environment around you. Look down at things from high up, or get down on the ground, and look up at them. Try composing a shot on the diagonal or from the side to make it more interesting.

Find the type of equipment that works best for you if you want to make photography your lifetime hobby. Most professionals have a preferred brand of camera or equipment, but those preferences vary from one photographer to the next.

Move closer to your subject when you are taking the photograph. You do not want the pictures to come out and not be able to see the subject or have things in the background take attention away from the subject. You need to ensure that your subject can be seen vividly.

After reading the above article, you should now have a better understanding of photography. You may have felt like you were pretty good before, but now you should feel like a true professional photographer. The tips that you have read should have given you some new ways to enhance all of your photographs.

Chris Fisher Photography http://CFisherphotography.com

The post Reach Your Photography Goals With These Tips appeared first on C Fisher Photography.

from C Fisher Photography http://cfisherphotography.com/reach-your-photography-goals-with-these-tips/ from C Fisher Photography https://cfisherphotography.tumblr.com/post/173230735954

[carryabyrd92]

Reach Your Photography Goals With These Tips

Perhaps you would like to know how to increase the quality of your photos or you are thinking of beginning a career in photography. You’ve chosen a great time to begin! Here are some ideas that will get you going with your photographic desires.

Make sure you know exactly what is going into each photograph. A good photograph will be a small window that shows one view of your subject. Don’t focus on too many different things. If you are trying to capture an impression, take a couple of photographs instead of just one singe picture that has no detail or focus.

Physically move closer to the subject in order to get a better picture. This method allows you to minimize backgrounds, so that the focus is on your subject. If you are shooting a person, getting closer also allows to capture their facial expressions with greater clarity. If your subject is positioned too far away, it becomes more difficult to capture the minor details.

Try new things, and don’t fear trying new techniques. A good photographer will be able to convey a sense of style with his or her pictures, and show a meaningful point of view. Avoid recreating certain famous photographs to see how your view differs from that of the original artist. An unusual angle can be just the thing to express your creativity and create a memorable photograph.

Your arms should be close against your body when you are holding the camera, and make sure your hands are on the sides and bottom of the camera. This will help create clear shots with less shaking. When you place your hands under the lens and camera body, you will reduce the risk of dropping your camera unintentionally.

Try different perspectives, and take original photos. A great photograph should be not only aesthetically pleasing, but should also showcase a personal style. There are many classic photographs that depict their subject in the same way. Don’t let yourself fall into that category. Try new, unique angles, and be creative.

You shouldn’t neglect the foreground as many novice photographers do. Create a nice foreground in your shot to make your picture look more deep and to frame in more intimately.

You’ll take the best photographs when you love what you’re doing. Use photography to create memories that last a lifetime, reminding you of places you’ve been and people you’ve known. Photography should remain fun, even when you are studying it.

Choose your very best pictures if you are going to expose your work. Don’t show too many photos and vary the subject matter. This will bore people and it is not a good way to showcase your photography skills. Keep things fresh by showing off a variety of your photography.

Pictures of people are great. It is always encouraged to gain the permission of anyone appearing in your photographs. After you get home from your trip, these images will provoke thoughts and memories, even if they are nothing more than ordinary. Look for people with interesting faces, candid expressions and casual, local dress.

Experience with the composition of your photographs to create unique shots, artistic photos and perfectly posed pictures. Just as it is true with any other form of art, your composition is key to creating awesome images. Study the composition of famous photographers and keep it in mind when you shoot your own pictures in order to improve your composing skills.

If you keep your batteries charged at all times, you will not miss the picture of a lifetime. Digital cameras consume a lot of battery life, particularly when you use the LCD screen; therefore, be sure that your batteries are charged fully before you need to use your camera. Since you’ll be taking a lot of pictures, you should probably bring a back-up set of batteries, too.

Master photographers agree, less IS more. Avoid cluttering the composition of your shots with unnecessary elements. Beauty often comes from simple constructions.

Read your camera’s instruction manual. The manual is often a big, thick bulky brick. It’s all too easy to throw them out or put them in a drawer. Instead of losing it, take time to actually read your manual. You will take better quality pictures without making trial-and-error mistakes.

Keep your camera handy when you are on a trip. Use it often. While they may not seem that important at the time, when you get home and start to reflect on your trip, having these smaller memories will be great. Think about taking pictures of stores, coins, bus tickets or street signs for example.

Experimenting with the focus can produce some interesting images. Using a smaller depth of field, otherwise known as an f-stop, will allow you to keep the background blurry and the subject in clear focus. This is great for taking portraits, or any photograph where the subject of the shot is near the camera. If you use a bigger depth of field, more elements will enter into the point of focus of the picture. Large depth of field photos are great for landscape photography.

Don’t miss out on a picture that is fantastic by staying too busy adjusting your camera’s settings. Do not pick a preset because you need to modify your settings. Look at your options to use the setting that lets you change what you need to change.

Invest in a memory card with advanced ability to record a large number of images, so that you will not be limited in the quantity of shots you can take at any given time. A big memory card will allow you to hold a lot more pictures. If you have a good memory card, you can also shoot with RAW format.

Practice Shots

Adjust to new backdrops and surroundings by taking practice shots and learning how the surroundings react to your camera. Every location presents a photographer with a new challenge, and snapping practice shots can help you to achieve a perfect finial photograph. Even once you have begun taking your real photos, feel free to break for some more practice shots if the lighting conditions change.

Take photos of your travel souvenirs when you’re on a trip. Take a picture either of the store or the souvenir together with the original. You can tell the story about your souvenirs from the pictures and enjoy the memories once again from home.

Vary the angle at which you take shots to increase their artistic value. Framing a photograph head-on may be simple, but you lose the nuance of the environment around you. Look down at things from high up, or get down on the ground, and look up at them. Try composing a shot on the diagonal or from the side to make it more interesting.

Find the type of equipment that works best for you if you want to make photography your lifetime hobby. Most professionals have a preferred brand of camera or equipment, but those preferences vary from one photographer to the next.

Move closer to your subject when you are taking the photograph. You do not want the pictures to come out and not be able to see the subject or have things in the background take attention away from the subject. You need to ensure that your subject can be seen vividly.

After reading the above article, you should now have a better understanding of photography. You may have felt like you were pretty good before, but now you should feel like a true professional photographer. The tips that you have read should have given you some new ways to enhance all of your photographs.

Chris Fisher Photography http://CFisherphotography.com

The post Reach Your Photography Goals With These Tips appeared first on C Fisher Photography.

from http://cfisherphotography.com/reach-your-photography-goals-with-these-tips/

from C Fisher Photography - Blog http://cfisherphotography1.weebly.com/blog/reach-your-photography-goals-with-these-tips

[cfisherphotography]

Reach Your Photography Goals With These Tips

Perhaps you would like to know how to increase the quality of your photos or you are thinking of beginning a career in photography. You’ve chosen a great time to begin! Here are some ideas that will get you going with your photographic desires.

Make sure you know exactly what is going into each photograph. A good photograph will be a small window that shows one view of your subject. Don’t focus on too many different things. If you are trying to capture an impression, take a couple of photographs instead of just one singe picture that has no detail or focus.

Physically move closer to the subject in order to get a better picture. This method allows you to minimize backgrounds, so that the focus is on your subject. If you are shooting a person, getting closer also allows to capture their facial expressions with greater clarity. If your subject is positioned too far away, it becomes more difficult to capture the minor details.

Try new things, and don’t fear trying new techniques. A good photographer will be able to convey a sense of style with his or her pictures, and show a meaningful point of view. Avoid recreating certain famous photographs to see how your view differs from that of the original artist. An unusual angle can be just the thing to express your creativity and create a memorable photograph.

Your arms should be close against your body when you are holding the camera, and make sure your hands are on the sides and bottom of the camera. This will help create clear shots with less shaking. When you place your hands under the lens and camera body, you will reduce the risk of dropping your camera unintentionally.

Try different perspectives, and take original photos. A great photograph should be not only aesthetically pleasing, but should also showcase a personal style. There are many classic photographs that depict their subject in the same way. Don’t let yourself fall into that category. Try new, unique angles, and be creative.

You shouldn’t neglect the foreground as many novice photographers do. Create a nice foreground in your shot to make your picture look more deep and to frame in more intimately.

You’ll take the best photographs when you love what you’re doing. Use photography to create memories that last a lifetime, reminding you of places you’ve been and people you’ve known. Photography should remain fun, even when you are studying it.

Choose your very best pictures if you are going to expose your work. Don’t show too many photos and vary the subject matter. This will bore people and it is not a good way to showcase your photography skills. Keep things fresh by showing off a variety of your photography.

Pictures of people are great. It is always encouraged to gain the permission of anyone appearing in your photographs. After you get home from your trip, these images will provoke thoughts and memories, even if they are nothing more than ordinary. Look for people with interesting faces, candid expressions and casual, local dress.

Experience with the composition of your photographs to create unique shots, artistic photos and perfectly posed pictures. Just as it is true with any other form of art, your composition is key to creating awesome images. Study the composition of famous photographers and keep it in mind when you shoot your own pictures in order to improve your composing skills.

If you keep your batteries charged at all times, you will not miss the picture of a lifetime. Digital cameras consume a lot of battery life, particularly when you use the LCD screen; therefore, be sure that your batteries are charged fully before you need to use your camera. Since you’ll be taking a lot of pictures, you should probably bring a back-up set of batteries, too.

Master photographers agree, less IS more. Avoid cluttering the composition of your shots with unnecessary elements. Beauty often comes from simple constructions.

Read your camera’s instruction manual. The manual is often a big, thick bulky brick. It’s all too easy to throw them out or put them in a drawer. Instead of losing it, take time to actually read your manual. You will take better quality pictures without making trial-and-error mistakes.

Keep your camera handy when you are on a trip. Use it often. While they may not seem that important at the time, when you get home and start to reflect on your trip, having these smaller memories will be great. Think about taking pictures of stores, coins, bus tickets or street signs for example.

Experimenting with the focus can produce some interesting images. Using a smaller depth of field, otherwise known as an f-stop, will allow you to keep the background blurry and the subject in clear focus. This is great for taking portraits, or any photograph where the subject of the shot is near the camera. If you use a bigger depth of field, more elements will enter into the point of focus of the picture. Large depth of field photos are great for landscape photography.

Don’t miss out on a picture that is fantastic by staying too busy adjusting your camera’s settings. Do not pick a preset because you need to modify your settings. Look at your options to use the setting that lets you change what you need to change.

Invest in a memory card with advanced ability to record a large number of images, so that you will not be limited in the quantity of shots you can take at any given time. A big memory card will allow you to hold a lot more pictures. If you have a good memory card, you can also shoot with RAW format.

Practice Shots

Adjust to new backdrops and surroundings by taking practice shots and learning how the surroundings react to your camera. Every location presents a photographer with a new challenge, and snapping practice shots can help you to achieve a perfect finial photograph. Even once you have begun taking your real photos, feel free to break for some more practice shots if the lighting conditions change.

Take photos of your travel souvenirs when you’re on a trip. Take a picture either of the store or the souvenir together with the original. You can tell the story about your souvenirs from the pictures and enjoy the memories once again from home.

Vary the angle at which you take shots to increase their artistic value. Framing a photograph head-on may be simple, but you lose the nuance of the environment around you. Look down at things from high up, or get down on the ground, and look up at them. Try composing a shot on the diagonal or from the side to make it more interesting.

Find the type of equipment that works best for you if you want to make photography your lifetime hobby. Most professionals have a preferred brand of camera or equipment, but those preferences vary from one photographer to the next.

Move closer to your subject when you are taking the photograph. You do not want the pictures to come out and not be able to see the subject or have things in the background take attention away from the subject. You need to ensure that your subject can be seen vividly.

After reading the above article, you should now have a better understanding of photography. You may have felt like you were pretty good before, but now you should feel like a true professional photographer. The tips that you have read should have given you some new ways to enhance all of your photographs.

Chris Fisher Photography http://CFisherphotography.com

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