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bangtanblurbs · 3 years

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young forever

song: young forever by BTS

first experience: strangely enough i have a very visceral memory of when forever young dropped. it was during finals week of my final year in undergrad. the song released on a sunday in the wee hours (or perhaps a monday? - days tend to run together during finals week). i didn’t have many assignments due that year since my course load was light and i was really just coasting into grad school the year afterwards (at the same institution i attend for undergrad). i remember logging onto youtube and catching the video as it premiered. i was stunned. HYYH pt. 1 and HYYH pt. 2 were heavenly to me, so of course young forever was greatly anticipated for me - the aesthetics, continuation of the story, and also simply getting new bangtan music. the cotton candy color pallet loaded onto my phone screen, and RM’s beautiful voice can through my earphones... i was immediately in love.

every member looked completely stunning. the message i got from the video was... incredibly powerful. the maze. the lyrics. all of it resonated with me, a young woman -- 22 years old -- soon to turn another corner in life. i sat in my dorm room preparing for a busy week, as i was the RA in my dormitory and needed to help my students move out that week... as i prepared for my graduation and transition into my next step in life... i was also shipping out to macau, china for the summer in a few weeks so i geared up for that. this video dropping was almost a breath of fresh air from everything going on. i was able to really sit and enjoy it, but also reflect on my past, present, and the future to come.

feelings: well, i have quite a lot. as someone who has been chronically obsessed with the story of peter pan since age seven, i’d say that youth is something i value - perhaps a bit too much. what’s interesting though is young forever isn’t necessarily about youth in the rawest sense... it’s also about dreams, reaching the point in your life where you’re happy, with yourself, your circumstances, ultimately your place in life. which i suppose most people equate that with youth, the innocence and naivety of it all. for me, thinking about forever young is kind of about that anxiety we carry as we get younger - have a made good use of my youth? did i squander it, getting caught up in the day to day or bogged down by my demons? the worry that our youth is our prime and when it’s gone, where do we go next? retire? it’s kind of funny thinking about this now as I’m 27 instead of 22. do i feel any older? no, not really - i feel the same. the same energy, the same zeal for life. do i look back on the days when i was younger and think that my youth is gone? no. for me - youth - it’s a state of mind. it’s an ethos, a way of proceeding forwards in my life. i didn’t always think this way - perhaps that was wrapped up in my anxiety about getting older. i used to lament my birthday each passing year - god turning 23 felt the absolute worst for some reason. it’s funny now though - how i almost feel younger, lighter, now than i did. youth should be a feeling of unburdened peace right? ideally it would seem so - but the reality in our world today... youth is pain. youth is struggling. youth is stumbling through the dark and trying to figure out who the hell you are, who the hell you want to be. i still feel like i’m stuck in that place, that place of wonder - of reaching out, exploring, experiencing... i feel as naïve as ever despite the pain that courses through some of my life.

so back to young forever - how does the song make me feel? it makes me feel at home. at peace. forever we can carry our youth, forever we can approach our lives with childish curiosity, with the energy to follow our dreams, with a dedication to our passion, and an and endless realization that change is the only constant in our lives. despite the ups and downs that might come with living with this mindset - i wouldn’t want to live any other way. what’s the point of continuing to grind hard every day in the cruel systems our society has built if we can’t at least say we did it with voracious appetite to experience fully our surroundings, emotions, and imaginations?

personal connection: it’s rather hard for me to nail down all of my personal connections to young forever. as i mentioned, i have a really strong connection to the story of peter pan. i’ll briefly explain why and how that plays in here - but i must warn you... if you’re uncomfortable with strangers oversharing on the internet, perhaps this isn’t the blog for you to read. i’m quite comfortable bearing my soul to people i don’t know. for some reason vulnerability has never been something i’ve struggled with - perhaps it’s the naivety i love about myself. anyways... here we go.

when i was 17 my best friend passed away from cancer. it was relatively quick. just a summer we spent together gossiping in a hospital room, machines beeping while we tried our very best just to giggle about boys and lament our torturous IB courses. i’d known her nearly my whole life. meeting in second grade - and bonding quickly over a love for the whimsy of peter pan’s story. we’d gush on the playground about flying away to neverland - where we could do whatever we wanted. explore, sing, fly. but she was gone then. gone far too soon. frozen in a youthful state in my mind. her passing is still the hardest thing i’ve ever been through in my life, and i’ve been through some scary shit. immediately when i hard young forever i thought about her. i thought about how she lived. she was fearless. the bravest and strongest person i ever knew, and still to this day, have ever known. knowing her - experiencing her soul - it changed me. once she passed away i had to be strong, my classmates looked to me as their rock, my parents forbid me to cry, everyone pushed me into adulthood way too quickly. i was just a seventeen year old girl. i was having a crisis - i wanted nothing more than to speak to my best friend as i navigated choosing my next steps after high school. but she wasn’t there, and i wasn’t allowed to feel. i was terrified. my youth was gone. nothing seemed fun anymore. youth became pain as i looked around at my peers who were back to normal in a matter of weeks. giggling with one another, moving along with life. i became a robot. quickly i threw myself into school work. i was already a high achieving student but i climbed higher. i worked harder. i had decided that for the life she couldn’t live, i would live it for her. i’d go to the best college i could, i’d do all the things i never dreamed i could. i’d do it for her. but i wasn’t living. i had let my youth go. i was fading away. just a shell.

it’s funny. or perhaps it’s not. young forever is a comfort song. a comfort song with some incredible darkness in it. the anxiety in namjoon’s verse, yoongi’s speaking to hiding feelings - pushing forward despite what he carries, hoseok’s verse about letting himself go and just giving what he has to keep pushing. their words - that’s how i felt. the song dropped around four years after my friend’s passing. i needed it before then. although perhaps it wouldn’t have “saved me” because music doesn’t save, music gives us the strength and comfort we need to save ourselves (i’m not a fan of taking way my own agency in MY story), it might have offered me a light in an increasingly blurry world.

a year prior to the song’s release i’d spent a summer in china. my life changed there. i lived with seven incredibly bright middle school girls. that experience, i never thought it would start to heal me the way it did. they were under immense pressure (the education system in china is total bullshit)... and they told me “caroline, youth is pain. it’s not beautiful. it’s a period where we struggle the most.” i’d never heard this. the typical western perspective is that youth is “the most beautiful part of life” - it’s where you fall in love, it’s where you get hurt and you pick yourself up, it’s where you find yourself, you feel invincible. but that’s just it - it’s also where you can get incredibly lost (like the maze in the video). not all of us experience youth without pain. this perspective helped me to heal. i wasn’t so alone - i wasn’t squandering my youth, sure - i was treading water - but that was okay. i could cry. i could feel. and so, at this point i began to write my own story again. rather than living for someone else, i decided to throw the book out the window, to pick myself and run like hell towards what i wanted. to accept the freefall of life. that’s youth. that’s the most beautiful part of life. the part where you free yourself from whatever chains society has on you. youth is only associated with being a child because that who should be the most free. when truly youth, youth is that period in your life when you learn to live for yourself, your dreams. dream, hope, keep going. don’t fucking stop.

so this brings us to 2016. i was weeks away from a new journey abroad when young forever dropped. i was doing better. life felt lighter. i still had a long way to go, but some things i’d gotten right. i gained confidence, i navigated my interpersonal relationships with more poise. etc etc. going to china the second time, it changed me more. i did things on my own i’d never dreamed of doing. crossing multiple national borders, making friends with people i couldn’t communicate with. i opened my heart to it all. and i fell in love with myself. for the first time. i fell in love with how completely i embraced my freedom and coupled it with my drive, my passions. that is what young forever is about. it’s about the struggle but the continued commitment to the state of mind that once you’re free - once you embraced that childlike state of being - you can achieve so much happiness.

which brings us to now - how do i connect to the song now? much in the same way that i did before. carrying these emotions connected to this song so deeply into adulthood has been incredibly touching. i’ve matured with bangtan. from 2015 to now. i’ve only grown in how i embrace my youth. sure, i have to conform at times, play the adult, but the motto “dream, hope, keep going.” that’s what i live by. nothing can change that for me now. i’m still fucking lost, but i’m running like hell. i have my setbacks, my demons, my challenges, but i’ve never been so fucking free. that’s young forever for me. thank you for reading my story.

song breakdown:

musically: something i truly love about young forever is that it’s really atypical in how it flows musically and the entire structure of the song. it’s creativity run wild - it’s a story and build. and i love that. it starts off slow, soft, with a sweet sadness. the highlight isn’t the backing track, it’s the honey rap voices. it’s absolutely perfect. understated and building. with each new voice that comes in the beat speeds up. it’s like running. which is fitting. because the story in the song is that of bangtan. the lyrics say it, the boys are worried - worried about how well they’ve done, when they’ll stop gaining success, concerned that all of this life will end, wondering who they are in this - the performance the journey. they are quite literally running towards their dreams. we see this in the song lyrically.

once the chorus comes, we need an increased speed in the beat and the song picks up with the chanting of the mantra. “forever, we are young.” us together, bangtan and ARMY. the song fades into the beautiful clapping beat, the refrains of dream, hope, keep going. musically the song is beautifully understated in a way that can only draw out the listeners’ emotions and highlight the charged encouraging lyrics. the story here is clear and only more illuminated by the musical choices.

vocally: young forever is such a treat. it’s a rap heavy song, but not in a way that takes away from the beautiful second half of the song which is full of beautiful vocal line refrains and ad libs. it’s a chant song. a comfort song. and perhaps that’s why it’s stuck with me for all these years as one of my ultimate favorite BTS songs.

when the song begins we are greet by namjoon’s beautiful low rap register. he delivers the rap melodically slow. you can appreciate the way his voice carries emotion and the tempo of the beginning story, of the emotional journey the song embarks upon. following namjoon’s beautiful voice is yoongi. who assumes a slower rap style initially. he has a few parts where he treats us to shout rapping as well - which give us kind of a pleading emotion - we can hear his lament for the pressure placed upon him as he stands in the spotlight. finally, rapline is rounded out by hoseok - i’m gonna say it - this is one of hoseok’s best slow verses. he offers his usual spicy tone, giving the trap style endings to each line. the emotion hits it’s peak with the punch tones and hoseok’s strong committment to his lines expressing his desires, his drive.

the second half of the song is dominated by the beautiful tones of vocal line. taehyung leads us into the chorus with his beautiful deep register, followed by jungkook’s high tones. the juxtaposition of their voices coupled by jin and backed by jimin’s beautiful melodies is absolutely stunning. rapline takes turns coming in with the refrain “dream, hope, keep going.” all of this mixed together is simply stunning. it’s like hope in vocal form. we have the low and the highs, the singing voices and the speaking refrains. most devastatingly is jimin’s forever ever ever - piercing the background of the song. highlighting the longing - the conviction - to youth - the spirit of it, the beauty of it. the chant portion of the song is also what makes this song so devastating to hear live. everyone comes in, blends together and makes the message resonate completely.

lyrically: here. we. go. a DEEP DIVE. i think firstly, it’s important to start with the fact that we have a song, young forever, that was released as the epilogue to two devastating HYYH albums. HYYH was the epitome of youth themed albums. it encapsulated everything we associate typically with youth. love songs, songs about pain, songs about healing, songs about not being enough, songs about our dreams, songs about being lonely... it’s all there. both the beauty of youth and the beautiful pain of youth dominate HYYH pt. 1 and HYYH pt. 2. then, those messages, those themes, were sealed with epilogue: young forever. why? well, my feeling is this is bangtan’s way of leaving us with the reality that youth isn’t something that’s fleeting. it’s not an age or state in time. it’s something we carry within. it’s how we approach the things we confront in our lives, how we live and move forward through adversity towards our passions and dreams.

now - with that out of the way it’s time to dissect some lyrics. there’s quite a lot here in the three rap verses so i truly hope to do them justice.

namjoon’s verse starts like a story, “the curtain falls” the end of a performance, often used as metaphor for the end of a certain point in one’s life. “the curtain falls and i’m out of breath / i get mixed feelings as i breathe out” clearly the chapter that’s closing for him has been an exhausting one, but he’s not sure about moving forward even though now he has the time to finally reflect and see what he wants next. to me, this speaks directly to where bangtan was at this point in their career. they’d been through the bullshit - the trainee days, the ridicule, the exclusion from the typical korean music system... they’d made it. I NEED U had one awards, RUN did as well, 2016 bangtan had begun to see the fruit of their labor pay off - but with that, what’s next. where do they climb next? what’s to come? there’s that feeling of unease for namjoon. “did I make any mistakes today? / how did the audience seem?” are the next lines, bringing in that sense of reflection. even though now he can breathe - he worries, what’s his impact, how do people feel about what he’s given them, did he have shortcomings? these thoughts flood in and set the mood for the next steps forward. these questions only become more as the pressure continues. the next and final three lines of namjoon’s verse group well together and offer us much more hope that the foreboding in the start of the verse: “i’m happy with who i’ve become / that i can make someone scream with joy / still excited from the performance.” the peace in these final lines, it’s kind of like the rest of the song - starting with the hardship, the unease, what must or has been overcome - mellowing out to realization that things will keep going on. namjoon is at peace with where is at the end of this chapter, he is glad he can stand on this stage bringing smiles to faces, and finally - the buzz of just being able to do music, that remains with him through all of the constant pressure. something about these lines, they’re beautiful.

just like that, yoongi’s verse begins. he provides the same metaphor to the listener. he is standing on an empty stage. the performance is over. the chapter is closing. HYYH is becoming the past for BTS. the struggles, will they be over too as they move forward with their progressing careers? “i stand on the empty stage while holding onto an aftertaste that will not linger for long” he begins - he knows that the high of this moment, the place they’ve reached in this time... it can’t be forever, the emotions of it all are beginning to fade into something else. he then moves on to offer some more insight into how he feels about that unknown of moving on: “while standing on this empty stage, i become afraid of this unpleasant emptiness.” this line seems telling to me - yoongi is someone that gets a lot from recognition, achievement, sharing his works with others. leaving the stage, moving away from this performance moment... it’s hard on him... he feels empty, his moment, his purpose - they’re over... at least for now. the anxiety seeps in. “within my suffocating feelings / on top of my life’s line” he starts to try and explain deeper his emotions, suffocation, a feeling of panic, likely anxiety or pressure induced. what’s next? will it demand more? he’s on top of his life’s line - he feels like he’s reaching his peak, not knowing where to go next, plateau? down? yoongi then lodges into almost a picture perfect description of what society can make us do in moments of pressure where we are feeling anxiety or panic - “without a reason, i forcibly act that i am fine / this isn’t the first time, i better get used to it” he’s going to put on a strong face, suppress how he really feels because at some point there could be another audience, he remains on the stage even if the curtains have closed. he forces himself to do so, and it’s a habitual thing for him. it sounds like truly this is habitual for yoongi - really needing to mask his fear, his panic, his anxiety for the sake of those watching. it tears me up, because it seems like he also knows that this will continue in his future. and the he realizes that keeping the mask on, it’s not something he’s able to do or perhaps interested in doing “i try to hide it, but i can’t.” the final lines of his verse leave us with some unease - they’re unclear - but perhaps they’re speaking to the fact that performing won’t be his forever... “when the heat of the show cools down / i leave the empty seats behind,” so at some point -- the excitement, the hype, it will be gone... those who want to see him, they’ll be gone too, and he’ll move on to what is next. or perhaps this could allude to the fact that the pressure of those watching goes away and he will finally feel comfortable? there’s a lot here. a lot left up and open.

and finally we round out rapline with hoseok’s verse - which leads us into the chorus and refrains. the first three lines of hoseok’s part go hand in hand with one another - they’re a natural progress of coping with one’s emotions and situation: “trying to comfort myself / i tell myself the world can’t be perfect / i start to let myself go.” the chapter is closing and hoseok is trying to tell himself, it’ll be okay. almost like listening to the song young forever - seeking comfort. a home. realizing that things aren’t always going to go his way, he can’t have this moment forever, and sometimes things are going to be ups and downs... the final line is perhaps the most startling, letting oneself go. realizing that there’s some pieces of yourself that are okay to let go, whatever is holding you back, keeping you stuck, sometimes we need to shed that to go forward with the youthful exploration that keeps life invigorating and exciting. or perhaps hoseok is thinking about the day in which he will let “j-hope” go and just be hoseok, without a stage in the traditional sense. “the thundering applause, i can’t own it forever” he moves on saying that this life won’t be his forever, at some point he will need to move on - realize that this moment is down, lose himself to it, and see what is next. yet - even with this knowledge hoseok continues “i tell myself, so shameless / raise your voice higher” it seems that there’s a conflict he’s facing - letting this moment go or screaming as loud as he can to hold onto it, and shamelessly so - letting go of all the constructed norms for how he should behave. perhaps, holding onto his YOUTH even as he grows older in age and should grow away from a youthful mentality. he is raising his voice and hopefully pushing forwards, perhaps just away from this stage and onto an even larger one. it seems this is the case “even if the attention isn’t forever, i’ll keep singing” he states. he will hold onto his passion, keep moving forwards with his music, his voice, his connection to whatever it is that wants to be connected to him - because this is his very soul and being. finally - hoseok closes out his verse “as today’s me, i want eternity / forever, i want to be young.” it seems that hoseok is choosing to be who he is at this moment, his youthful self, as long as he goes on. he will leave this version of himself, this beautiful, loving, hopeful version of himself as his mark on the earth for eternity.

moving into the chorus we have the iconic title line “forever we are young” which to me, it’s about taking youth forward with you in all that you do. taking your passion, your drive, your love, your hope -- pouring it into all that you do and not letting the outside spoil you and take that from you. keeping your passions and running towards them. that’s the core of the message in young forever.

jungkook then croons “under the flower petals raining down / i run, so lost in this maze” bringing us to think about how seasons change - flower petals can fall because of their abundance but also because they we are moving into winter. either way, the analogy of flowers is hopeful to me. blossoms on trees - the return in time. not the same blossoms, but just as beautiful as the previous ones. perhaps he’s speaking to the fact that the blossoms are falling now as the chapter is ending - which leads into the feeling of lost, of being in a maze... but the reality is, the flowers will come again. the can come again. so long as they keep running - there’s a chance for this beautiful moment to happen once again. that’s youth. perhaps you have your ups and downs, your moments in the sun (your spring days) and your cold days... but keep running, keep your energy, dream, hope, keep going. and you can return.

jin then offers the other refrain “even when i fall and hurt myself / i endlessly run toward my dream.” THIS is youth. this is it. that almost stupid attitude of not recognizing when you’re down and out... not recognizing when perhaps you should stop. turning up the energy at your weakest point even when authority is telling you to let it go. this is the essence of youthful hope and energy. even if they’ve failed, even at their lowest point, they’re cementing that they won’t stop until they achieve their dreams. once again. dream. hope. keep going. just keep fucking going.

finally the other refrain that is repeated throughout the chorus: dream. hope. forward. forward. is the direct translation. but, many would say it’s dream. hope. keep going. this is youth. our dreams, childish and pure. our hope, what we pour into ourselves, what we surround ourselves with - the light that keeps us going. and then constantly moving forward continuing even when our odds look bad. this shit resonates. bangtan did it. they dreamed, 7 boys at a small company. they hoped, holding onto one another, working hard, baby steps forward. they kept going. no matter the ridicule, the setbacks, they pushed forward. these words - they mean the world to me as i’ve pushed through shit in my life. i’m only where i am today because i, by some miracle, internalized this youthful mantra. allowing myself to dream, those moments of hope, pushing forward no matter what. that’s youth. that’s young forever.

performance: well this is shaping up to be quite a long post. i want to discuss both the MV and how live performances typically proceed. i’ve also attached to this post my personal video of young forever at the HYYH: the epilogue tour in macau. sorry for my screaming in advance.

MV: the MV is really interesting for the HYYH universe, although the same could be said for save me, which is technically in the universe... BUT the fact that the MV steps away from the storylines and almost takes us into the minds of the characters bangtan is playing is an interesting choice. we start off the video with the boys in a chain-linked fence maze, wandering around, and flashbacks for each of there characters. the overall aesthetic of the video fits with the lyrics and these feelings of uncertainty... the feeling of being lost... wandering from phase to phase in life. early on we see a scene of yoongi burning photos from the HYYH era - truly this song is about death to the past a new beginnings, overcoming the past but moving forward with the pieces of you that are important. the highlighting of the text “꿈 희망 전진 전진” or dream, hope, keep going - making it the mantra of the song. keep moving, keep running. almost it seems like the characters are running away from their demons as well. the members running off into the sunset together? it’s all about endings. new beginnings. but taking them on with determination and an attitude of childlike awe, glee, dreams, and determination.

performance: we’ve all seen the iconic wembley performance. we’ve probably all cried over it more than once. maybe it’s your comfort video? maybe it’s secretly mine (ha!). i can tell you, experiencing this song live... there’s really nothing like it. it’s understated. there’s no dance. nothing like that.

in the performances - namjoon appears alone in a starlight stage with the lyrics scrawling on a screen behind him. the lights are all dark, deep blue tones everywhere, it feels dreamy. the entire crowd is brought into a dream like state. it’s fitting, its absolutely fitting and incredibly stunning. yoongi then appears to namjoon’s left and hoseok to his right to be spotlighted for their respective verses. the emotion is everywhere. the song is even more incredible with a live band. you cannot imagine it. the chorus arrives with a change in vibe, a beautiful sunset is projected and the vocal line appears from the floor. all of the members stand shoulder to shoulder and belt the chorus and refrain. and you would not believe how devastatingly beautiful it is to hear ARMY shouting along. forever we are young. kkum, huimang, jeonjin, jeonjin. shouting together. again and again. clapping with one another. waving ARMY bombs. it’s completely emotional. i cried. i cried on the strangers next to me, that didn’t speak my language. there is nothing like it.

i must also note, the concert i was at we were all distributed lightsticks and banners with 꿈 희망 전진 전진 written on them. this song has been important since it released. it’s the core of bangtan’s rise. it is so important to these boys. and to many of us fans as well.

now - a word about what happened at wembley. bangtan had no idea that ARMY would sing young forever TO them. at WEMBLEY. fans who likely do not speak korean. chanting their mantra to them “kkum, huimang, jeonjin, jeonjin” and singing “foreverrrrr we are younnnnng” and saying they will keep going. they will walk their journey towards their dreams. something about that, it’s incredibly toughing. you and i cannot imagine how that must have felt for bangtan. the moment must have been completely surreal. one of the world’s largest stages, playing one of the most meaningful songs of their careers - a song meant to memorialize their climb to fame, their accomplishments, their youth that they likely felt the LOST during this climb to where they are now. jimin himself said that night “this song. wow. this song helped me a lot when things were really hard.” young forever means so very much to bangtan. it always has. and their fans chose that very song. we chose that song (rather we were there or not). it’s our mantra too. whatever we go through, we are on this journey, and we are not alone. we are not alone. we can muster the strength to carry on with that same youthful zeal for life. watching that video... it’s moving. it’s completely incredible. to be a part of this journey... just wow.

tl;dr: in conclusion... young forever is one of the BTS songs that has the most touching meanings, and it came at a very delicate time in their career. a time when they were finally getting the recognition they deserved and sought for a long time. a time when they were pivoting from “young” to “young adult.” a time when they likely struggled with a loss of their youth. all of this... it’s powerful because it’s not alien for those of us normal people. we all feel this. i’ve felt it as i’ve gone through tough shit and came out the other side changed, only to have to find my way through the maze and back to myself. youth and being young, it’s a state of mind. i think bangtan sincerely know and believe this. that’s what makes the song and the message it carries so incredibly powerful. so meaningful to us all. thanks for reading yet again.

#bts #bangtan #jin #j-hope #hoseok #namjoon #rm #army #jungkook #taehyung #jimin #yoongi #suga #Lyrics #hyyh #Young forever #analysis

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knightofthecourt · 4 years

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Love Bites - Chapter 1

Belatrice Gray was a TA at Belgrave University, working hard to stay on top of her marking and trying not to flunk her own studies, when a night out with her bff Randall and his roommates, changed everything.

Hamish Duke x OC fiction with fluff, romance and angst. OC description purposefully left out to allow for reader personalisation.

“I call this one a Wolf Bite.” Hamish set the tall glasses down in front of Randall and Bela, smiling as they both took a sip, and then another immediately.

“Haim, this is amazing.” Bela said as Randall nodded in agreement. Her lips quirked up in delight, causing a rush of warmth to radiate throughout Hamish’s chest.

He seated himself across from her, trying to ignore the sudden fluttering in his stomach.

Belatrice Gray - Bela, to her friends - had transferred to Belgrave’s Linguistics department from a college on the West Coast at the start of the year. After Randall was assigned as her tour guide during orientation they’d become fast friends and now the RA spent almost as much time with her as he did with Hamish, Lilith and Jack.

Though Hamish was usually reluctant to let the others bring friends back to the Den, when Randall finally introduced them to Bela he’d instantly made an exception for her. Not only was she sweet, funny and smarter than anyone else he’d met at Belgrave, she was also fair with the students under her guidance as a TA, and a loyal and caring friend to Randall - qualities that Hamish admired greatly.

As Bela became a semi-regular fixture at their nights out, nights in and revision sessions, Hamish had found himself making an effort to be around whenever Bela was present.

They’d spent many afternoons this semester studying in the Den’s comfy living room and as finals drew closer, Randall regularly recruited Bela for last minute cramming sessions. This afternoon it was Advanced Anatomy, with a side of Diagnostic Reasoning.

The dark haired man sighed and flopped down next to Bela on the shabby-but-comfortable sofa. She shifted as he jostled the cushions, almost knocking her book out of her hands.

From his armchair Hamish could see Bela reach over and run her hand up and down Randall’s arm in a soothing gesture. “You’ll get there.” She said, still focused on her work. “You know this stuff already, you’re just tired.”

Randall scoffed. “That’s easy for you to say. I can’t believe you dropped out of Pre Med - your grasp of the human body is truly astounding.”

“Yeah, my mother can’t either,” Bela joked.

“Another thing you and the Ham-ster have in common.”

Hamish winced at the nickname, but let it go. Randall was tired, after all.

Bela frowned, “A good grasp of the human body?”

Randall, who had taken this moment to have a sip of his drink, choked on his mouthful.

Hamish reached over to pat his friend on the back. “Disappointing our parents.” he bowed his head slightly, “I was Pre Law.”

“Really? “ Bela said, raising an eyebrow. “When I imagine you in a courtroom, I put you in handcuffs.”

“Is that something you imagine regularly?” Hamish flashed her a smile. She laughed.

“Jesus,” Randall muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Hamish’s enhanced hearing to pick up. “If I don’t choke to death on my drink, the sexual tension in this room is going to smother me.”

He leapt up from his chair, narrowly avoiding the pillow that sailed past his head. “Anyone want a snack? I need popcorn.”

As he headed to the kitchen Hamish turned his attention to Bela. She was chewing on the end of a pen, lost in the pages of her textbook. His breath hitched as the afternoon light filtering in through the windows caught the edges of her hair, lighting a halo around her.

“Bels?”

“Mmhm?”

“Randall mentioned you’re swamped with work at the moment?”

“Oh?” Bela made a face. “Yeah, Professor Liebernacht dumped all of his marking on me again - big surprise. I have to grade ninety Syntactic Theory papers by the end of the week.”

“How about we mark papers together tonight?” Hamish tried to keep his voice light and even to disguise the hammering in his chest. “I have practise tests to get through, it’s going to take hours. Maybe we could get a take-out, keep each other company?”

“Oh.” She looked up from her book. “Yeah, that would be great actually. As long as you make me one of your signature cocktails too?”

A smile lit up his face. “I can make you as many cocktails as you like, I think we probably both need a drink this far into finals season.”

“Great idea Ham-and-cheese!” Randall said, returning with a large bowl clutched to his chest. “Hey Lil,” He yelled up the stairs, “Big night out tonight with Hamish and Bela, let’s blow off some steam.”

“What? No, that’s not what I-” Hamish began in protest.

“I’m in.” Lilith appeared in the hallway. “But I get to choose the bar this time, the last one Bela chose was lame.”

“Hey,” Bela objected.

“Cool, I’ll tell Jack and Alyssa.” Randall sat down, setting the popcorn on the coffee table in front of him, and pulled out his phone. “Meet here at 8pm?”

Bela looked from Randall to Hamish, who was glaring daggers at his friend. She shrugged.

“Great!” Randall’s phone buzzed. “They’re in. Thanks, Haim. We could all do with a break tonight - your papers can wait until tomorrow, can’t they?”

Hamish bit back his disappointment. “I guess they’ll have to.”

- - - - -

“Dude, you have to stop.”

Randall placed a hand firmly over Hamish’s, stilling the older man’s fingers. He’d been drumming his nails on their table for the past ten minutes and even with the music in the club drowning out the sound, it was extremely irritating.

“What’s up with you tonight?”

“Nothing.” Hamish lied, freeing his hand from Randall’s grasp.

Randall’s suspicion grew as he followed Hamish’s gaze to the bar where Jack, Bela and Alyssa were ordering a round of shots.

“Fine.” Hamish groaned, when he noticed Randall surveying Bela. “It’s just weird. I asked Bela on a date and now we’re all hanging out together.”

Randall’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “What?! You finally asked her out? When the hell did that happen?”

“This afternoon. I asked her to hang out tonight.”

“But did you really?” Lillith smirked over the top of her glass. “I’m not sure she realised you were actually asking her out.”

“When did this happen?” Randall frowned “And how come you know about it when I don’t Lil?”

“Duh. I’m a werewolf.” She shrugged. “I can hear everything in that house.”

“You were there, Randall.” said Hamish, glancing over at Bela who, thankfully was still out of earshot.

“Oh.” Randall’s eyes widened. “That was a date? Hamish, I totally blocked you!”

“He blocked himself.” Lillith shook her head. “In what world is asking someone to mark papers with you a date?”

“I know.” Hamish rubbed his neck. “I thought it might be a good jumping off point? Actually spending some time alone together.”

A smile worked its way across Randall’s face. “Well if it’s alone time you want, you only had to ask!”

“Randall, don’t” Hamish hissed.

“Don’t what?” Jack asked, placing a tray of shots down in front of his friends. Bela slipped into the booth next to Hamish, brushing his thigh with hers as she slid across to make space for Alyssa and Jack.

Randall grabbed a shot and threw it back. “Jack, Alyssa - Lillith was just telling me how much she wanted to dance.” He said, barely pausing to take breath.

“No I - Ow.” Lillith bared her teeth at Randall. She jerked her leg out of his reach, massaging the sore spot on her left shin. “Yeah,” she agreed, “I totally want to dance. On the dance floor. With people. Hamish you stay here and look after our shit.”

She grabbed Jack’s arm and yanked him from the booth before he could pick up his drink. Randall followed her, gesturing for Alyssa to join them.

Bela and Hamish sat in stilted silence for a moment before Hamish cleared his throat. “You can go and dance if you want to, I don’t mind looking after everything.”

“Actually, I’m good here.” Bela said.

Hamish’s cheeks glowed as he returned her easy smile.

Bela was enjoying spending time with Randall and his friends but she couldn’t deny that she’d rather be grading papers with Hamish tonight. At first Randall has requested that they hang out at the Den as it was quieter than the dorms and closer to the campus than her apartment, but recently it had been at Bela’s insistence that they’d studied there. Bela hadn’t been sure if Randall realised it was because she wanted an excuse to spend time with Hamish, but his not so subtle attempt at leaving them alone to go ‘dancing’, had pretty much just confirmed that he knew about her crush.

Bela cringed. Hopefully Hamish didn’t realise that their friend was playing matchmaker, that would just be too embarrassing.

“Bels?” Hamish was staring at her in confusion. Bela realised he’d been talking to her this whole time.

“Sorry,” she stuttered, “what were you saying?”

As he leaned forward in his chair the club’s strobe lights cast his face in shadow, picking out the contours of his high cheekbones and strong jaw. Bela’s gaze followed the line up from his neck, to his full lips and then up to his eyes, which were trained on her.

“I was asking if you wanted to hang out tomorrow instead. I know I said grading papers but we could do something else if you want? There’s a new sci-fi film on at the student lounge or we could go out to eat.” He tipped his head towards the dance floor. “Lillith informed me that grading papers isn’t really a date activity.”

Bela felt a well of happiness bubble up. So Hamish was actually asking her out? She hadn’t been sure before.

“She’s wrong,” Bela shook her head. “Anything can be a date if you’re with the right person.” As a smile flooded Hamish’s face her lips turned up to mirror his.

“You know you haven’t said yes, yet.”

Bela paused, as if considering his proposal. “Actually, I’m hungry now. Do you want to get some-”

“Yes,” Hamish interrupted before she finished. He beamed at her. “Let’s go, I’ll tell the others we’re leaving.”

“Great,” said Bela, “I’m just going to grab my coat. I’ll meet you outside.”

As they made their way across the club neither of them noticed the figure watching them from the other side of the room.

- - - - -

If you ignored the distant bass leaking from the building’s windows it could almost be considered peaceful out here, Bela thought. She inhaled the fresh, cool air, enjoying how it chased away the faint buzz in her temples, and leaned against a wall, scrolling through her phone as she waited for Hamish.

“Hey,” a voice broke through the night. “You’re Bela, right?”

Bela turned to find a young man next to her. He was wearing a Belgrave t-shirt under a fitted plaid shirt, and his dirty blonde hair was cropped in a trendy cut. Despite looking like every other rich, entitled frat boy on Bela’s course, as he grinned up at her his face was pleasant.

“Uh, yeah,” Bela frowned in confusion. He looked vaguely familiar. “Do I know you?”

“Tanner Jeffries - I’m new to the Linguistics department.” He held out a hand, shaking hers firmly when she placed her palm in his.

He chuckled lightly, making his cheeks dimple. “I know what you’re thinking - why oh, why would anyone join Linguistics? Well, I’m a glutton for punishment. I just couldn’t resist meeting the notorious Professor Liebernacht.”

“He’s the worst,” Bela confirmed, with a small laugh “I’ll be surprised if we have any students left after this year.”

“Yeah, you should see his reviews on Rate My Prof.”

“I know,” Bela couldn’t help but return his smile. “Half of those are from his TAs.”

Tanner chuckled again. He reached up to rub the side of his neck and shot her an apologetic look. “Hey, I know this is a bit weird but my car’s not starting. I was going to ask for a flashlight in the club so I can check out the engine but… could I borrow the light on your phone. It’ll just take a minute.”

“Uh-” Bela hesitated. She threw a brief glance over her shoulder at the club’s entrance. “Yep, sure. No problem.”

The parking lot beside the club was eerily vacant, considering how many people were packed into the heaving room. As they walked towards the only car there, a blue four wheel drive in the corner of the lot, Tanner dropped behind her, digging around his pockets for his keys.

Bela turned to the car, “Ok, where’s the latch-”

As Tanner’s hand clamped over her face she let out a startled shriek.

Bela’s thoughts filled with panic. She acted on instinct, struggling against his hold as Tanner’s other arm twisted around her waist, almost lifting her off the floor. Her fingers scrambled to find purchase, finally catching around his shirt, which she pulled sharply, trying to throw him off balance.

He grunted with effort, blocking her mouth to stifle her screams. “You don’t need to make this - urgh - any harder. Dormitum Dimittatur.”

Bela slumped in his arms.

- - - - -

As Hamish predicted, Randall was incredibly happy that he was taking Bela out to eat. He’d thrown his arms around Hamish’s neck and tipsily mumbled about how his best friends were falling in love for almost ten minutes, until Lillith had taken pity on the older man and peeled Randall off him, promising they’d all meet back at the Den in a few hours.

Hamish hurried out of the club, keen to find Bela and start their date, but she was nowhere to be found.

He frowned. It wasn’t like Bela to just up and leave without telling them. Even if she’d changed her mind about going out with him she would have just said - wouldn’t she?

After pacing in front of the club for a few moments he managed to pick up the faint scent of her perfume on the cold night breeze - sometimes being a werewolf was really useful. He followed the trail around the side of the building, frowning again when he reached the parking lot.

This doesn’t make sense, he thought, an uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. They’d walked to the club and none of them were in a state to drive anywhere tonight. Maybe the alcohol was throwing off his game. He pulled out his phone and dialed Bela’s number, silently thanking Tundra as his enhanced hearing picked up the sound of vibration.

As Hamish followed it to the edge of the lot, his breathing quickened and the unease grew into dread.

“Oh no,” he whispered, kneeling beside the glowing object.

It was Bela’s phone, lying face up in the gravel.

#the order #hamish duke #hamish duke x reader #hamish duke x oc #randall carpio #lillith bathory #the knights of saint christopher #werewolves #love bites

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lindalofbroome · 4 years

Text

one of the many things i love about dq is that sure we have strong-willed powerhouse women in Jasmine and Lindal, but that's not the only type of badass woman.

our beloved wild girl with the black bird is stubborn and full of passion. she doesn't hold back her anger or her hopes or her thoughts. she speaks her mind and she's an instinctive fighter.

oh and Lindal,,, don't even get me started. big butch woman with spears, always down for a fight or a drink or both. is the type to laugh and punch someone's shoulder while forgetting she's,, like,, double their size. she won't take people's crap (my ancestors were great warriors, who ate the brains of their slaughtered enemies. do you suggest i do the same??) but also quick to admit when she's mistaken (her whole attitude towards dragons, and apologising to the Ruby Dragon because "she had only heard one side of the story").

like i LOVE Jasmine and Lindal with my entire heart and i live for sassy and sure-of-themself characters. but we also have SHARN who outwitted Prandine in a matter of a few minutes at most, who loves with her whole heart which transferred into Lief when she was raising him (when she couldn't let Amarantz die alone), who cares so much (feeding the hungry, dealing with people who come asking for aid).

we've got Marilen who 👏 retains 👏 her 👏 femininity, whilst being firm in her decisions and loyal to her duties as heir. she refuses to be cowed and is always willing to help.

Verity is an absolute legend. i love her so much. she had so much mental strength to fight back against Laughing Jack's schemes and torture, and to bear the idea of never seeing her father again. not to mention magic enough to hold Jack and his crew to the mark, so much so that Jack (utterly despicable Laughing Jack) fled the coast for the inland.

ROSALYN. not only did she push for her father to take her on a trading voyage, she continued to do so! it wasn't a one-time trip but she continued to travel, eventually taking Garth's second ship and becoming an even tougher and better trader than him. AND the Trader Rosalyn Apprenticeship!!! open only to girls, which provides job opportunity for women!! or even something to strive for! even if you didn't get it, it doesn't mean you can't be a trader of your own right! The Del Tribe are filled with curiosity and adventurous spirit and i'm sure many would absolute love to go exploring on trading routes.

Tira was a shy and timid person but she was righteous and full of courage. she saw Reece's (the First of the Ra-Kacharz) injustice and couldn't stand for it and it prompted her to defy her submissive nature and help the strangers and help them escape. perhaps she remembered how one of them saved her from whipping, and felt compelled to retun the favour.

AND SO MANY FEMALE LEADERS!! like Az-Zure and Zeean and Tirral to name a few!!! and it's not like a thing from modern times (when dq is set) but something that has existed since the beginning pretty much. Az-Zure led from the front lines, hunting an early-stage Vraal. She didn't just order people about and watch from behind. After Lief's forgiveness, you can see that Zeean is determined not to repeat mistakes by maintaining good relations and an open mind. Tirral was looking out for her people and guarding the Pipe End Piece, as was her duty. Her interests were to protect them, and the Kerons were the only ones who still had their piece of the Pipe (although this is not strictly the Raft Dwellers or the Plumes fault, i suppose).

AND THERE ARE SO MANY MORE WOMEN WHO ARE ABSOLUTELY AMAZING AND INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT BUT THIS HAS GONE ON WAY LONGER THAN I INTENDED, BUT I KEPT REMEMBERING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE AND HERE WE ARE

so while a badass woman can ABSOLUTELY hold masculine traits, be stubborn and sassy and loud, be a fearless fighter and incredibly skilled, this isn't the only way to be AMAZING. you can be feminine and a dangerous battle opponent. you can be a strong leader with a good instinct in decision making. you can have superior intelligence or a great sense of what is just. the possibilities are endless!

#wow thats a rant #lmao thinking about some badly written female characters and remembered these gREATLY written characters #i love lindal so much omg #but i ALSO LOVE SHARN #BE MY MUM #ADOPT ME #emily rodda #roddaverse #deltora quest #WOMEN #postlyn #postlyn thoughts

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questionsonislam · 4 years

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What was the relationship between the Prophet (pbuh) and his Companions like? How did he treat them?

It is necessary to read the books that narrate the life, ethics and attitudes of the Prophet (pbuh) in detail in order to find the answers to these questions. However, we will try to mention some of his characteristics briefly:

We learn about the high ethics of the Prophet (pbuh) and his relationships with other people from his companions, who followed him closely like a shadow. Those who knew the Prophet (pbuh) best were his wives, the people who served him and his close friends.

For instance, we learn from his loyal and enduring wife, Hz Khadijah, who lived with him for twenty-five years, fifteen years being in the period before his prophethood, about his personality and characteristics briefly.

Hz. Khadijah believed in the Prophet (pbuh) without any hesitation when he received the first revelation. When she saw that the Prophet was in panic, she soothed him and eliminated his worries.

Hz. Khadijah consoled the Prophet as follows:

"Allah will never embarrass you because you help the desperate, protect the poor, support the oppressed, entertain guests and take care of those who suffer misfortunes in the way of the truth."

Hz, Aisha, who lived with the Prophet for nine years, was his wife whom he liked the most after Hz. Khadijah. We learned about the family life of the Prophet and most of his characteristics from Hz. Aisha. She described the ethics of the Prophet as follows:

"The ethics of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was the ethics of the Quran. The Messenger of Allah never nursed a grudge against anybody and never took revenge. He got angry with a person because the Quran got angry with him. He liked something or someone because the Quran liked it or him."

"When the Messenger of Allah had to choose between two things, he would choose the easier one. If that easy thing was a sin, the Messenger of Allah would keep away from it more than anybody else."

"He did not utter any bad words; he did not want to wrong anybody. When the Messenger of Allah spoke, he would not link and lengthen words. He would utter words distinctly when he talked. A person who listened to him could memorize what he said if he wished."

Hz. Ali (ra), who was educated by the Prophet (pbuh) beginning from an early age, who was always with him after his prophethood and who continued his bloodline, listed the ethical characteristics of the Prophet (pbuh) as follows:

"The Prophet was always merry, gentle and benevolent. He was not surly, hard-hearted, aggressive, phony, toady or jealous; he did not try to find people's mistakes."

"He turned a blind eye to the things he did not like; he never disappointed the people who expected something from him; he did not deprive them of what they wanted."

"He kept away from three things: squabbling, gabbiness and useless things. He definitely avoided three things: He did not discredit or condemn anybody; he did not try to find out about people's faults and secrets."

"He talked about only the things that he expected to be useful. When the Prophet spoke, the listeners pricked up their ears and listened attentively. When he stopped talking, those who wanted to talk would ask for permission to speak."

"When the Companions spoke in the presence of the Prophet , they never argued or quarreled. When one of them spoke in the presence of the Prophet, the others listened to him carefully until he finished his words. The words of all of them were listened as carefully as the words of the first speaker."

“He laughed at the things that his Companions laughed and wondered at the things that they wondered. He showed patience when some strangers talked rudely and asked irrelevant questions. The Companions wanted those people to ask questions very much.

“The Prophet said, ‘When you meet someone who is in need, help him’."

“The Prophet accepted only the praises that were equal to the favors he did and that were not flattery; he did not interrupt the words of anyone unless they transgressed their limits. If people spoke by transgressing their limits, he either silenced them or left that place in order to prevent them.”

Hind bin Abi Hala, who was the son of Hz. Khadijah from her first husband and who was the stepson of the Prophet, described the superior characteristics of the Prophet as follows when Hz. Hasan asked him:

“The Messenger of Allah was always mindful. His silence was longer than his speech. He never spoke unnecessarily. He mentioned Allah’s name when started and finished talking. He told the truth when he spoke; he expressed several meanings concisely through a few words. He uttered neither more nor fewer words than necessary. He showed respect to even the smallest bounty; he did not regard any bounty as ordinary. He did not praise or criticize a bounty because he liked or disliked it."

“He did not get angry for worldly affairs. However, he got so angry when the right of someone was violated that nothing and nobody could prevent his fury and wrath before that violation was eliminated. On the other hand, he did not get angry with anybody regarding something that interested him only; he did not think of taking revenge; on the contrary, he returned a good deed for a bad deed as a gentle and generous person."

“When he got angry, he would get over his anger very quickly and he did not show his anger. When he was joyful, he would close his eyes. He would smile instead of laughing. When he smiled, his teeth looked like pearls.”

Hz. Anas bin Malik, who served the Prophet (pbuh) for nine years, describes a nice characteristic of the Prophet (pbuh) as follows:

“The Messenger of Allah was the most gracious man among people. Even when it was very cold in a winter morning, he would make wudu with the water brought by a female slave or a child. When somebody asked the Messenger of Allah something, he would listen to him carefully and he would not leave before the person who asked the question left."

“When somebody shook hands with the Messenger of Allah, the Messenger of Allah would not release his hand before that person released his hand.”

A few people went to Zayd bin Thabit, a revelation scribe of the Prophet and asked him, “O Zayd! Will you inform us about the state, attitudes and words of the Prophet (pbuh)?” Zayd described him as follows:

“What shall I tell you about that supreme Messenger? You ask me about all of his states, attitudes and words; he is such a sea that he has no coast. However, I will tell you about some of his attitudes:"

“I was a neighbor of the Messenger of Allah. When he received revelation, he would send someone to me; I would go to his presence and write down the revelation that he received. When we talked about the worldly affairs in his presence, he would also talk about the worldly affairs. When we talked about the otherworldly affairs, he would also talk about the otherworldly affairs. When we talked about eating, he would also talk about eating.”

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myssthyss · 6 years

Text

Drawn

Sequel to (Re)Birth

The ground crunches gently beneath the tall Awoken’s feet, her newly found redwood walking staff adding a third thump to her gait. The trek to this “City” will be long and arduous, especially with limited aerospace centers in proximity to where her Ghost found her. Luckily, it seems she landed on the correct side of the mountain.

As in, the side closer to a ship.

Her Ghost had estimated a two to three week trek to the nearest Golden Age Aeroport and, hopefully, the Fallen hadn’t retreated there and picked it clean after the SIVA Crisis.

God, she was so clueless about all of this.

“So, what’s that ‘Traveler’ you mentioned earlier?” Myss asks her Ghost, who somehow dematerialized and is living inside her head now.

He insists he lives in her backpack, but she’s not wearing a backpack, and she can hear him in her head. This is all so disorienting, and she’s stopped questioning her companion’s personal shenanigans to save her sanity somewhat.

[No one knows exactly what the Traveler is,]

Really helpful, Ghost.

[...some would refer to it and its Light as a God and a Blessing respectively, and the Ghosts and their Guardians - as children of the Traveler and its Light - as demigods.]

Myss’ eyes widen slightly at that. Her, a demigod? No pressure, right?

[However, it’s simplest to call it a terraformer, as that is primarily what it did while it was alive.]

“It’s dead?”

[Yes. That’s why I exist. I, as well as every other Ghost, was born the moment the Traveler died, with the express purpose of finding you - our Guardian.]

“Aww, you’re gonna make me blush.”

[Let me try harder. I’d wandered the Sol System for hundreds of years, oversaw many battles - The Faction Wars, Six Fronts, The Great Disaster, Twilight Gap, the SIVA Crisis - I’d been to Luna, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, and not one fallen individual had called to me.] Her Ghost materializes in front of her. [Until yesterday.]

She feels the water-like light ripples on her face congregate on her cheeks. “--You got me. I’m blushing.”

Her Ghost laughs, and disappears again.

Over the next few days of travel, her questions are gradually answered.

After the Traveler had blessed many a race with its Light, and subsequently abandoned them when the Darkness came for it, it decided to make its final stand to protect humanity.

The City - The Last Safe City - is the last place on planet Earth that is truly secure for humanity, sitting in the shadow of the dead Traveler.

The City is run by the Speaker, the Consensus, and the Vanguard. The three Vanguard leaders each represent one Guardian Order.

Her Ghost says he knows which Order she’ll fit in with best, but he wants it to be a surprise for her. That’s no fun.

There’s a variety of enemies they’ll face, but the Fallen are the ones they’ll run into the most. They were the last species the Traveler blessed, and the last it abandoned.

Myss learns more about the Fallen in a less-than-pleasant manner. She’s sniped at by a Vandal from a hundred feet up, Marauders slice at her out of nowhere, and Dregs take aim at range.

She’s able to fend them off successfully using her redwood walking stick and one of the Marauder’s blades, but not without taking a substantial amount of damage.

“I... I need a moment...” She says breathlessly, supporting herself against a tree.

[No rush. I’ve got you.] Her Ghost soothes. His beams run over her fresh wounds, leaving no trace they existed as they heal. Then, he freezes, and abruptly disappears into her backpack. [Actually maybe some rush. Did you hear that?]

“Hear wh--”

//E ZER ET HUS//

She turns abruptly towards the guttural voice, and meets the glowing eyes of--

[A Captain. No doubt this gang’s leader. And we just killed them all.]

“What do we do?! He’s huge!” Her stillness and chatter seems to upset the Fallen Captain because--

//SHE DA HUR ET//

[I’d grab one of the Dregs’ shock pistols. Quickly!]

Myss does so, takes aim, and fires. The Captain dodges her shot and disappears briefly, reappearing about ten feet away from where he was.

This repeats for several minutes, firing, dodging, firing again, until she gets impatient and just runs up to punch the Captain. Unfortunately, the Captain has two feet on her, and two more arms than she does. It’s easy for him to thwart her attack, grabbing her neck as she swings, then holds her up against a tree while his blades draw dangerously close to her torso.

//RA SHA HA//

Logically, she knows this won’t matter. She knows she’ll be back in a moment’s time. Dying still sucks, though. It’s still painful. It’s still defeat. She doesn’t want to lose. She doesn’t want to die again.

And - as if her pleas had been heard - a deafening gunshot rings through the air. The next thing she knows, the Captain disintegrates into a million burning embers, and she falls to the ground.

“What?” Myss breathes a heavy sigh of relief, resting a hand on her neck. “What happened?”

“I just saved your life’s what happened!”

A female figure in a violet hooded cloak - bathed in fire and wielding a flaming pistol - jogs up to her and offers her unarmed hand. Just as Myss goes to take the offered hand, the stranger’s gun and flames vanish.

This just added like ten questions to Myss’ list.

“Thanks! What the hell was that?!” She asks incredulously of the stranger. “That was... You really saved me the trouble of dying again.”

[You mean saved me the trouble?] Her Ghost says, appearing over her shoulder.

“Hey! Dying hurts. It’s trouble for me, too.”

The stranger gasps. “You’re a Guardian, too!” Her helmet’s removed to reveal hair, lips, markings, and glowing eyes that match the flames that engulfed her just moments ago. “Lumo, you can come out, you know.”

{I know! I was just making sure the coast was clear.} The Ghost expands and reveals its sphere of Light, scanning the area. {Looks like that Captain was the last of them. Good job, you two.}

The two Awoken and the other Ghost all thank Lumo, and do a double take between each other before laughing over the confusion.

“I like you.” The orange-eyed Awoken says with a smile, offering her hand again. “Name’s Seraph Vim, and that’s Lumo.”

“Myss Thyss, and that’s...” Myss looks to her Ghost, who looks back expectantly. She hadn’t known she had to - and therefore hadn’t planned on -giving him a name. But-- “...Casper.”

Casper looks befuddled, and simultaneously delighted.

{Lovely to meet the both of you.} Lumo says, performing as much of a bow or curtsy as a Ghost could manage. {You’re on your way to The City as well?}

[That we are.]

“Well why don’t we travel together?” Myss suggests to the group. “We’ll be safer that way, having someone to watch our backs.”

“You just want me to stick around so I can save you again.” Seraph teases with a smile and a nudge. “Don’t worry, I’d be happy to save you anytime, Myss.”

That got her to blush again. “Thanks. I’ll probably need it.” She sighs, looking over to her Gh... Casper. “Which way now? That fight got me turned around.”

[That-a-way!] Casper replies, facing his shell in the requested direction. The group heads off, Ghosts disappearing to the safety of their Guardians’ backpacks.

“How long have you and Lumo been traveling?” Myss asks after a lengthy silence.

Seraph tilts her head, looking absently upwards. “About a week or so, I’d say.” She replies. “He found me in a ship halfway up the mountain range, still strapped into my seat.”

Myss blinks. “Wait... a ship?” Her hand goes to her chest, ghosting over the jewel that sat below the fabric. “What do you remember about it?”

“The glass was shattered, the seat was purple at one point, and there was some sort of large flag in there.” Seraph turns so her back faced Myss, showing off the large emblem on her cloak. It’s made up of three yellow diamonds and two white triangles. Almost looks like a crown. “It was cold up there, so I used this to warm up and I’ve decided to keep it.”

Myss nods thoughtfully, slightly envious of how stylish Seraph’s cloak is. “Mine was similar, believe it or not. Though, I think I was on the floor of the ship, far below the seat. And I was at the top of the mountain.”

“Really?” Seraph asks, incredulous. “How’d you get down here so fast?”

“Well...”

[She fell.]

“No. You didn’t.”

[She was mere minutes old, had just figured out her name, and she slipped and fell two miles down the mountain.]

Lumo bursts into laughter, forcing his Guardian to laugh as well.

The liquid light on Myss’ cheeks flares. “Shut up! The snow was loose! I lost my footing.”

“Oh my god, Myss. That’s fantastic. Looks like you will need me to save you.” Seraph wipes her eyes as her giggles subside. “So... did you choose your name, or...?”

Myss knows what Seraph’s getting at with how her question trailed off, and she pulls out her jewel by the chain.

Seraph immediately does the same, though hers is a much lighter shade of purple. They speak almost in unison.

“Myss Thyss. Iris Commander.”

“Seraph Vim. Orchid Commander.”

There’s a pause as the pair absorb this new information.

Myss speaks first, quietly. “No way.”

“Were we part of the same fleet?” Seraph adds in awe.

“I wonder if we knew each other.”

Seraph smiles and tuts. “I’m sure we did. We were both Commanders! We probably sat in a war room together at least once.”

[You’d be right. There have been two conflicts that the Awoken were directly involved in.]

{And considering your ages, you were probably present for both of them.}

The two Awoken look at each other, the weight of the information fully resting on their shoulders.

Decades of history had likely occurred between them, and it was all lost when they crashed into that mountain. Now here they were, united again, with no recollection of any of it. They both felt slightly emptier than they had previously, but also more whole.

“Maybe that’s why I felt drawn to you.” Seraph almost whispers, keeping her eyes angled forward, avoiding Myss’ gaze. “Maybe knowing each other in our past lives helped us connect in our new lives.”

“Maybe,” Myss smiles softly, laying her arm over Seraph’s shoulder. “...but now we have eternity to make new memories with each other. We’ll make up for what we lost a hundred fold.”

Now it was Seraph’s turn to blush, her ripples resembling tiny flames on her cheeks. She smiles, which only makes those little flames brighter.

“Sounds like a plan.”

#destiny #destiny the game #destiny fic #destiny 2 #guardian oc #destiny fanfiction #[fambam]#[meta]#[taleofmyss]

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dalhousiediaries · 7 years

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DalhousieDiaries Season 1: A Review

♪ Currently listening to: Blem by Drake ♪ 📚 Currently reading: A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin 📚

I’ve been waiting for so long to write a post like this, I’m so excited to write this you guys have no idea.

My first year has been a phenomenal experience, and I’m sure so many of my peers in their first year of university can say the same. Living in residence (#ResLife) has been an amazing opportunity, I was able to meet so many new people, to build deep and meaningful bonds and construct connections with a diverse group of people from all different walks of life, continuing their walk through post secondary education.

Let me tell you all about it.

I may be repeating some parts of my journey on the far east coast of Canada, bear with me, I’m going to be going into a bit more detail and reveal things that I didn’t in my update posts prior.

I was terrified of coming to the East. No lie.

I had heard all the racism-horror stories, saw the slow development of the city of Halifax and the surrounding cities, and of course when you’re flying from one end of the country, especially a country as big as Canada, to the other side - you’re going to be at least a little intimidated. But at the same time, I was so excited to begin my journey - this would mark the first time I live by myself, the first time my decisions would affect me and only me, where my parents would be unable to help me out physically. Maybe that was what attracted me to the cold shores of the East Coast? I’ve never really had the sense of thrill and adventure from relocating and this was the first time I had that opportunity. The first time I’d truly be able to show that I could fend for myself and prove to my parents that I could take care of myself.

Though my mind was muddled with worry, doubt and excitement, the skies were clear.

I landed in Halifax on September 1st, 2016 around 2 am or so. I can’t remember as clearly as before since it’s been so long and so many things have happened since then. Our first night was what my friends would call a “clown fiesta”. My mother and I, both exhausted, landed at the Halifax Stanford International airport, and we grabbed a cab right away. The driver, I remember, was a very talkative fellow but at the same time he had this air of what I can only best describe it as superiority? He talked very surely of himself and assumed that my mom would need a “good cab driver” back and handed her his card, to that my mother politely accepted the taxi driver’s business card, while swearing at him under her breath. I guess the first city in Nova Scotia I’ve been in is Dartmouth, where our hotel was. The hotel, or should I say motel, my mom booked was a 2 star at best. She had gone online prior to our trip to the Eastern province to search for a bargain deal on accommodations. This is important to keep in mind. Anyway, we arrive at our destination and I have no idea what the total of the ride came out to be as both my mom and the taxi driver shooed me out to retrieve our luggage from the trunk. Assuming she paid, my mom followed shortly after, heaving the heavy pieces of luggage to the front entrance to check in. While we were checking in to our luxurious 2 star room, the cab driver burst through the front door, grinning ear to ear, exposing his yellowing and chipped teeth, excitedly asking my mom if she “meant to write that down”. I think my mom had enough of this greasy chauffeur and hastily reaffirmed, what would be later discovered as her blunder.

So turns out that she gave this cab driver a $90 tip.

To anyone who knows even a fiber of my mother, they’d know that Isabel Choi does not fuck around with money. For an immigrant, coming from Korea with little to no money, someone who had to work harder than others, who had to juggle jobs to earn even a little more money than not, for someone who suffered role strain everywhere, this shocked, upset, and saddened her all at once. And in true Isabel fashion, she took her anger out on me. Of course I wasn’t the only one she was mad at; she was angry at herself as well but the receiving end of all her fury was me.

“Why didn’t you stop me from tipping him fucking $90?!” ‘Well Mum, you made me go get the luggage.’ “You could’ve stopped all this if you just asked me to check!” ‘And that’s my responsibility how?’

The very first night we arrived in Halifax, we got into an argument. But for those who know the females of the Choi household, this won’t come as a surprise. However, from there, everything escalated to an argument.

“Why are we in this kind of hotel? It’s stupidly far from Dalhousie and there’s nothing around here!” ‘You wanted a good deal. As always, prioritizing value over comfort.’ I retorted.

But the nights went on.

I forgot to mention, that prior to even boarding the plane, even before everything remotely related to my move to the East Coast, I had been talking to a friend that I met through the Dalhousie Class of 2020 Facebook group, some of my readers may recognize the name from a few of my other posts, Mikayla Fisher. At the time, I had no idea what this girl was like, but we had each other on Facebook and Snapchat - and talking to her, just knowing that there’s someone I know in this unfamiliar territory brought me so much comfort. So I’ll actually take the time right now to thank her for that, thanks.

I remember spending the three days I was in that sad excuse of a motel, just snapping my new found friend, crying a lot (I missed people back in BC dearly), and reading up on Dalhousie. On the second day, we decided to go “dorm room stuff shopping” as my mother excitedly exclaimed. The closest Wal-Mart was still quite a ways away, and I can’t really give a reliable source of distance or anything since I didn’t drive, nor did I ever drive in Nova Scotia. For the mode of transportation, we had rented a cute car (one that my mother had always yearned to drive), I believe we crossed a few bridges and was on a highway the entire time.

The morning of the second day however, was my first time experiencing and really feeling how the locals thought of Asians and/or immigrants/POC in general. We decided to hit up the local Swiss Chalet, and of course since we’’ve never been in that Swiss Chalet, we didn’t really know how things worked. After holding the door for a few elderly folks, mum and I walked in, and were told that there was actually a separate part of the building for take-outs and she courteously lead us there. So far so good. Once we ordered our meals however, that’s where things turned sour - and I don’t mean the food. The cashier, I noticed, continuously rolled her eyes at my mother’s (still) broken English. Once our food was packed up and ready to be picked up, she called us over (we were sitting on some benches on the opposite side), and before we could even take a step toward the counter, she flung our bag across the counter. No thank yous, no “have a good day”, nothing.

Let’s skip ahead, there’s nothing interesting after this.

September 3rd is when I finally moved into Risley Hall, the residence of my choice. Dalhousie gave me the room 2123, which I thought was an easy number to remember but I sooner or later realized I would have remembered my room number anyway since I’d be living there for the next 8 or so months. My room was on the second floor, on the first “tower”, which was one of the wings of the E-shaped building.

My room itself was pretty nice, a bit small but I liked that, it was cozy. Also, I reminded myself that no matter how small this room was, it was still better than living at home (which I later recognized was a debatable statement). It peered out the front side of the building, opposing the other, newer Residence Hall, LeMarchant Place. I quickly realized, compared to the other students in Risley, my room was pretty bare. I only packed the bare necessities and didn’t really bring much “comfort” items - which I now realize, and advise first years leaving their home town, to do. Bring comfort items.

Residence Life (stylized as #ResLife) was pretty interesting actually. The first week or two was filled with activities, and I was able to take part in it because other than the fact I was a freshman, life in residence just made things like that more accessible and more open - if that makes any sense at all. The way Risley Hall was set up was that each wing/tower had it’s own RA (Residence Assistant), since there were three wings per floor, there were three RA’s per floor (excluding the first floor since the first tower for that was occupied by the lobby and the meal hall). There were six floors that comprised Risley Hall, so quite a number of RAs. The Residence Assistants are the ones you would usually go to for help, complaints (if on duty or whatever), just to talk to, to get advice or whatnot. They mainly comprised of older students, ranging from 2nd year to 4th, all from different faculties and areas of interests. They were the ones that would decorate their respective tower’s bulletin board, make the name tags for residents, patrol the building at night and plan floor and resident events.

My door-tag in first year, first semester - Harry Potter motif.

Speaking of floor presidents, this year I was the Rock’s (1st and 2nd floor) Vice President. Alongside President and certified-good-guy, Matt Cheverie. Treasurer Michael Cormier, Secretary Kamryn Robichaud, Environmental Rep Carly Mayhew-Gallant, and 2nd floor rep Adrienne Evans. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do as many events as we would have liked to due to unforeseen circumstances but my time with the council was a blast and it even helped me to become closer to Matt and Michael (two grrrreat guys).

My floor and tower, and I guess Risley in general was, (according to the RAs) “uncharacteristically noisy/rowdy”. But what did they really expect when you put a bunch of first years in the same building? Especially with my tower, they put all the boys that could be friends in the same hallway. To no one’s surprise, they all became friends and things like this were a frequent occurrence, though it wasn’t exclusive to our floor:

I don’t know what’s with people and punching walls, but this happened more often than you’d think!

This past year, my RA was Andrea, who I didn’t end up being too close with but other than her, I found myself making friendships with the RA’s from other floors, most notably from first floor, a second year bio major, Meghan, and from sixth, a psychology major, Ben. Of course the RA’s and I got along as well, but I find myself looking back, wondering what to write for this segment and realized how much positive influence Meghan and Ben made in my first year, not only just as an University student but as a new student in residence. However, when I had arrived in Risley, I was so homesick.

You wouldn’t be able to tell by just looking at me now, but I was so homesick. So homesick that I had cried almost everyday and anywhere. I remember David Kerr, one of the two head front desk staff, asked me if I was okay because, well, I guess he noticed I was down. I started crying on the spot. But then again, David is a really good friend now, so maybe that wasn’t a terrible thing that happened! But as good as that new forged friendship is, I felt as if I had made the wrong decision by moving so far, so suddenly. It was, after all, my first time living alone, living away from the sheltered roof of my parents. Looking back, I can confirm that I was still just as excited, but my sorrow overpowered my excitement and fear lingered in my every decision. I can recall my peers and some of my teachers asking me if it was an “impulsive decision”, perhaps it was, I can’t even remember anymore - but impulsive or not, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my short 18-almost-19 year old life. In Halifax, I didn’t have any of my elementary or highschool friends; I had no one that I really knew or felt comfortable around, and I guess that made me come off as passive (which I kind of admit, I kind of am), and made me seem more reserved than I actually am.

Basically, making friends was hard.

There was one thing that soothed me that Vancouver and Halifax had in common, and that was it’s coast - the sea. Luckily for me, Halifax was right by the ocean. Exiting the building, if I went right - the sea was there and if I went to the left, through downtown Halifax, I’d end up at the Waterfront. I gotta admit that the Waterfront and beaches in British Columbia are far superior.

If I left Risley Hall and took a right, this is where I’d end up. The rowing teams for both Dalhousie and the neighbouring (rival?) school, Saint Mary’s, would practice here.

Though I say that BC’s ocean is superior, I have to admit that the East’s sea and rivers are beautiful as well. I found myself coming to this location quite often, though against my Mother’s wishes of “don’t wander around at night!”, “don’t come here by yourself!” - the first two months at the very least, I found myself wandering here, sitting on the rocks if the tide was low or sitting on the makeshift bench if the tide was higher. Every time something bothered me, I was scared, stressed, sad, I’d come here. Like I said earlier, for the first two months, that was pretty often.

As for friends, I had mentioned earlier of a new found friend, Mikayla. That friend ended up introducing me to a few of her other friends, (and before you ask, yes Mikayla is quite the social butterfly). She introduced me to Caitlin Singleton and Kylee Smith. I’m not sure where along the way we met Jessica Perry and Kirsten Clarke but we ended up all being friends. Because of a fire alarm (for some reason, they were quite frequent in the beginning of the year), we ended up meeting Victoria Byrka; who, when I look back now, was just as scared and alone as I was (if not, and if you’re reading this Vic, forgive me, haha).

A more detailed post about them and how our little group formed is in this blog post.

Pictured from left to right: Caitlin, me, Mikayla, Victoria. We had gone on a Ghost Tour as it was one of the available activities during Orientation Week (Halifax is apparently a very haunted city). You can tell how uncomfortable I was at the time. (Circa, September 2016).

I had written about these girls before, but it was so nice to have actual friends that I could talk to and in a way, ease myself into the Haligonian (as they say) lifestyle. We were there for each other no matter what, no matter who it involved. I remember the time Mikayla and her long-time (now ex-) boyfriend broke up, it surprised me how involved the girls were in helping her out of her difficult transition from a long term and serious relationship. It surprised myself that I was that involved with someone. The night of the Ghost Tour was only one of the many nights we would spend together; from drunken nights gone awry, to casual nights eating SnappyTomatoes we had ordered earlier in the night, nights where we’d chat away in the hallway (quietly of course), into the late hours until the sun began to poke it’s head out. Another thing about Residence Life that I loved was the constant companionship - I could literally walk down from my second floor room to their first floor hallway and they’d all be there.

I’m more comfortable in this picture. We had gone to a Clay Cafe as part of a “Girls’ Bonding Night”.

I had initially chosen to colour in a mug of a shark, but I guess halfway through I thought ‘I know how to make this lamer’ - and drew inspiration from League of Legends champion,Tahm Kench (albeit, done badly!) - Pre-Glazed cup.

So unlike schools in British Columbia, Dalhousie gets two reading breaks (which is basically a one week break in the semester), and for my first reading break I decided to head west (not too west though) to visit my friend’s family. She wasn’t there as she attends a university in Ontario, but her family is pretty much my family. We had been in contact, and her mother had invited me up when I had time. I booked a bus ticket with MaritimeBus or whatever it’s called and left the first day of Reading Break, headed for Moncton, New Brunswick.

Along the way, we stopped by a few places...

Both are still in Nova Scotia. I believe after Truro, we headed into New Brunswick. By then, my phone had been depleted of it’s life juices and I couldn’t take pictures (or Snapchat geotags).

As you can probably tell with the picture of Amherst, I arrived in New Brunswick late at night, where Janet’s (previously known as Helen) parents greeted me at the terminal. One thing I noticed right off the bat is how flat Moncton was. I mean, to be completely fair, Halifax is pretty flat too. But at least Halifax had a few highrises and corporate office buildings popping up once in a while, but Moncton was super, super, flat.

Another thing you notice about the small city is that all the signs are bilingual. Stop signs have both “stop” and “arrête”. Which I thought was pretty interesting and half of me wished all of Canada did that.

The next morning, I got a better look at Moncton. I have to say, in the fall, the west coast’s maple leaves just do not compare to the east’s. I have never seen so many maple trees in one place at once, and the colours were so vibrant. So many fire reds, stunning oranges, glistening golds and so on; even the leaves transitioning from green to red or orange were stunning. As we drove down to the Bay of Fundy, leaves rained down on us in a shower of golds, reds and oranges. If I only had the time to snap a picture ...

The Bay of Fundy was quite an interesting place, first of all the Bay itself was a colour of chocolate milk or light coffee. Perhaps it’s because of the dirt or mud? I have no idea and I should really go Google it but that’d take away from the wonder I captivated and was about to write about so I won’t for now.

Tay Zonday would go crazy writing a song for this one.

The Bay of Fundy also had another interesting environmental quirk (I guess I can call it that?). The Hopewell Rocks, also called the Flowerpot rocks.

Moncton was also where I did my first escape room! I had done the puzzle with my friend’s sister, Michelle, and her friends - who had invited me initially to hear about my experiences at Dalhousie.

The escape room was in your typical Prison escape-esque format. We honestly could’ve escaped, as we were so close but alas, we failed.

Despite what our signs say, we failed. New Brunswick is the only province that is actually bilingual - that’s why we also had French signs.

Thus ended my trip in New Brunswick.

Sometime in between Reading Break I think, I ended up taking care of fish.

Like, betta fish. Three of them actually. One, that was owned by my good friend Mikayla (his name was Gilbert!) and the others, Fluffy and Brute, owned by another friend, Leslie.

Anyone who had me on Snapchat was basically spammed with fish snaps.

It’s me and Gilbert.

Leslie’s fish, both dead now (RIP), Brute on the left and Fluffy on the right.

Again I think I told a lot of people that I’d be attending Dalhousie in hope of getting into their dental hygiene program - and this will serve as an update and more like a final decision on that. As I was preparing for it, studying to get good grades for it, I got so burnt out. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t have an outlet for my constantly rising stress and anxiety, perhaps it’s because I actually never really had an interest in such subject. Like I said in another blog post, I always had an interest in news, politics, then later writing. People like Peter Mansbridge and Sukhi Ghuman inspired me, drove my desire to go into either broadcasting or politics, or maybe both. I could never really go against my science-minded parents’ wishes and for some reason, I decided to follow what they wanted instead of what I wanted, instead of believing I could go into something I wanted and actually succeed, I believed that I would fail in life, be poor or miserable if I hadn’t gone into a discipline my parents had mapped out for me. Attending Dalhousie while taking classes like Political Science, Gender and Women’s studies, and European History made me realize how well I actually did in those classes and how much, (and more importantly) how much I actually enjoyed those type of classes. More writing, more reading up on cases, past experiences and accounts of others, and I guess in general, more reading.

Of course that doesn’t mean that I did terrible in my science classes - I did well actually, but I felt more joy and satisfaction getting back an A- or + paper from Political Science rather than stressing over identifying sutures and types of synovial joints in both my anatomy/physiology classes.

So, many of you probably already know that I had switched majors to political science and sociology (double major), hoping to get into law, or to focus really into politics.

This change, brought a new friend.

In my political science classes, both semesters, there was this guy I didn’t really notice at first but as first semester wrapped up and second semester took place, and the political science class dropped from 300-something people to a measly 70 (and less probably) people, you begin to notice more people.

Yes, this is how I met Joshua Collins.

I think I can say that Josh is my best friend in Halifax.

Josh, is this guy:

A good looking guy, eh? This was taken during our end of year dinner (just the two of us because we’re super cute) at Your Father’s Moustache.

I get a lot of “how did you and Josh meet?” and “are you two dating?”. To answer those questions, I’ll first tackle the second question and then dive into how Josh and I became friends and how we ended up becoming best friends -

No, Josh and I are not dating. Next question:

Well again, Josh was in both my political science classes, both in first and second semester but we ended up actually talking in Professor L. Carbert’s political science class in second semester. We had worked and studied together, and we ended up pooling our answers together along with Ryan Kaulbach, resulting in 98-99%’s on our take home quizzes. From there we started talking, walking to class together and ordering late night food together. Months and months of this resulted in the beautiful friendship that Josh and I have now.

One of the many nights Josh and I ordered food.

We talk about everything. Go everywhere. I’m fairly certain Josh knows more about my weird quirks than anyone else, especially my pet peeves when it comes to the breakfast/lunch/dinner table.

We went on a little adventure out on the city and got Goji’s (Froyo). Marking the first time Josh ever had froyo! We’re so cute.

Speaking of dating, during my first semester at Dalhousie, I had broken up with my (ex)boyfriend, (we’re still really good friends so things are fine! Broke up on a good note). Like in my previous post about my experience dating on the east coast as an ethnic minority, I’ll probably repeating myself when I say this but - I got a lot of backhanded compliments and desire/lust because of my ethnic background. On the other hand, I also received a lot of rejection, again, because of my ethnic background. I had met up with a Chinese-Canadian student who was raised in Halifax, he had expressed his struggles growing up in the traditionally conservative city. That had really broadened my mind in a way I got to experience something without even really feeling it. What he said was so relatable, even though I didn’t actually live through what he had, but just experiencing the racial divide at 18, as someone who’s been around so much racial tolerance and acceptance, it was as if I moved almost backwards in progress in terms of racial equality - the change had shook me up.

The change actually scared me to go outside, and perhaps this is also fueled by the fact I was unfamiliar with the city.

Let me just say, the weather was dynamic as heck. The winds, unlike the wind in British Columbia, were like knives. You British Columbians thought the snow was bad this year? I’m fairly certain, you guys haven’t experienced what a real blizzard is. Apparently, even according to my Nova Scotia native friends, this past winter was the worst they’ve seen in a long while. Classes were canceled days at a time, or occasionally if the school deemed things to be clear enough to hold afternoon classes, the morning classes would still be canceled, and since I ended my school-day at around 11:25am - there were days where I had no class at all.

The snow piled up super high too. It came up to my waist in during the peak of the snowfall. However, unlike Vancouver again, Halifax does a really good job cleaning up the snow. The main roads and the busier sidewalks were clear of snow the next morning usually - which, I heard, didn’t really happen back west.

A view peering out from Risley Hall’s Meal Hall featuring, Dalhousie’s Snap GeoTag.

Again, peering out from Risley’s Meal Hall.

This one’s from the window from second floor, first tower. Giving you the view of a snow topped Student Union Building to the right, the Marion McCain building straight ahead and a bit of the Killam Library on the left.

The campus itself is sprawled across the historic city. Making Halifax a city that really caters to the young academic minds that inhabit the coast-side metro. With that, comes to lively night-life. If you’re not 19 yet, then it wouldn’t be a very fun town to live in (which was my personal experience). There was a board game cafe that actually required you to be 19+, I have no idea why mainly because I never asked. The city itself is beautiful though - you could really feel the history ooze out of every nook and cranny. So many old government buildings, memorials, plaques, and more. The architecture was so old fashioned and European with it’s tall structure and brick exteriors, yet there were signs of budding modern changes in the city, like tall corporate buildings, graffiti that sprawled across, what it seemed like, unreachable heights.

Halifax, where contemporary clashes with history.

A shopping district in downtown Halifax; wasn’t on the main road but a friend and I took a little detour to get here.

Downtown Halifax.

A view on a rainy day, straight ahead is the Student Union Building. Photo snapped in front of LeMarchant Place.

Overall I gotta say, Dalhousie was fun. My first year was fun. Sure, I had trouble adjusting at first but once I really got into it and found my place, things weren’t so bad. I made a bunch of good friends and a few really, really, good ones, experienced a ton, and learned a lot about myself.

Like what kind of drunk I am.

Reading Break pt. 2. I believe this was the only time I agreed to go out, and drink. Needless to say, I got very drunk and I couldn’t touch vodka for months. I’m not a good drunk either. How do I know? Let’s just say there’s a few videos of me out there...

Studying was fun, wait - I’m sorry, studying what I was interested in was fun, and working toward a goal I was actually committed to kept me occupied.

Rare (actually very common) images of my study spread.

Initially, this blog (dalhousiediaries) started up as a joke between me and a group of my friends in BC (4am). It also started as a way to prove myself that I can stay committed to a project or a long-term goal. I’m happy and proud to say that I’ve proven myself that I can. Thank you to everyone who made my year at Dalhousie, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, so memorable.

What’s next for me? Well I got the position of front desk staff this coming semesters, so I’ll actually be going back to Halifax a little earlier than other returning students and even new first years. Since I got bumped to floor president as well, I have a bigger room for the next two semesters and things are looking cozier. It’s always hard when you first start out, no matter what it is or where you are. That, I can say, is the best way I can summarize my first year.

Until next season.

“With man this is impossible, but with GOD all things are possible” “For I can do everything through CHRIST, who gives me strength” Matthew 19:26 and Philippians 4:18

#ResLife #Dalhousie #Semester End #Academia #Year End #Nova Scotia #Halifax

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