#the eagle is pretty much the only rock station well at least the only one that were able to get where i live
Text
My first thought in regard to every band that gets played on my radio station
ACDC: Every dad’s favourite band
Adams, Bryan: Every mom’s favourite singer until Michael Buble came along
Aerosmith: haha they thought Vince Neil was a lady
Alice Cooper: he’s a Game Of Thrones fanboy and I have proof
Alice In Chains: my sister doesn’t like them because she decided AC were Alice Cooper’s initials ONLY
Allman Brothers Band: good music for dropping acid to
Allman, Gregg: That’s too many Gs for one name
Animals: House Of The Rising Sun, or who even cares
Argent: Sometimes Hold Your Head Up is really catchy
Asia: Tuesdays
Autograph: one of the members went on to be a pharmacist
Bachman-Turner Overdrive: There are just so many pop culture jokes about Taking Care Of Business that whatever I say won’t be as funny
Bad Company: with their song; Bad Company, off their album; Bad Company
Benatar, Pat: Always getting her confused with Patti Smith
Black Crowes: I like them for Lickin, but it doesn’t seem to exist outside of one shoddy video on youtube and my old CD
Blackfoot: this band name feels kind of racy
Black Sabbath: Dio was not better or worse than Ozzy; just different
Blondie: I like Call Me, but Blondie confuses me stylistically
Blue Oyster Cult: MORE COWBELL
Bon Jovi: Hello, childhood trauma, I missed you
Boston: ONE GUY. ONE GUY DID IT ALL AND NO ONE KNOWS
Bowie, David: Don’t let your children watch The Man Who Fell To Earth, or David Bowie’s will end up being the third penis they see in life
Browne, Jackson: Another musician ruined by Supernatural
Buffalo Springfield: Jack Nicholson was at the riot they sing about
Burdon, Eric: no ideas, brain empty
Bush: ditto
Candlebox: ditto once more. Who are these people?
Cars: This band feels so gay and so straight at the same time, I can only assume they’re the poster children of bisexual panic
Cheap Trick: I played Dream Police on Guitar Hero so fucking much because it was the only song anyone who played with me could keep up with
Chicago: Chicago 30 exists, but they do not have 30 albums. Fucking riddle me that
Clapton, Eric: 6 discs in one Greatest Hits is too many. That’s called “re releasing your discography”
Cochrane, Tom: For some reason, everyone thinks Rascal Flats did it better
Cocker, Joe: Belushi did it right
Collective Soul: who?
Collins, Phil: If his biggest hits were done by MCR, they would be emo anthems, but because he’s 5′6″ and from the 80s, they’re not
Cream: *Vietnam flashbacks on the hippie side*
CCR: *Vietnam flashbacks on the war side*
CSNY: David Crosby; meh
Deep Purple: THEY’RE SO MUCH MORE THAN SMOKE ON THE WATER
Def Leppard: the only music for when you’re a heartbroken bitch but also a sexy one
Derek And The Dominos: Clapton and ‘Layla’ broke up
Derringer, Rick: Tom Petty if he was from the midwest
Dio: You thought it was an anime reference, but it was me, Dio
Dire Straits: You can tell how bigoted a radio station is based on how much of Money For Nothing they censor
Doobie Brothers: I have yet to smoke weed, but I listen to the Doobies, and I think that’s pretty close
Dylan, Bob: I take back everything I said about him in my youth
Eagles: Hotel California isn’t their best song, but the memes that come from it are second to none
Edgar Winter Group: @the--blackdahlia
Electric Light Orchestra: Actually an orchestra and sound a fuckton like George Harrison
ELO: I really hesitate to ask what happens with the 7 virgins and a mule
Essex, David: no prominent memories of him
Fabulous Thunderbirds: cannot spell
Faces: Who on earth thought that was a good album name?
Faith No More: I got nothing
Fixx: One Thing Leads To Another is a damn bop
Fleetwood Mac: I ain’t straight, but I’m simply not enough of a witch to enjoy them to full potential
Fogerty, John: He got sued cause he sounded like himself
Foghat: Slow Ride slowly becoming less coherent feels like a drug trip
Foo Fighters: He was just excited to buy a grill
Ford, Lita: deserved better
Foreigner: dramatically overplayed
Frampton, Peter: a masterful user of the talk box
Free: dramatically underplayed
Gabriel, Peter: leaving Genesis changed him a lot
Genesis: if someone likes Genesis, clarify the era, because yes, it does matter
Georgia Satellites: sing like you have a cactus in your ass
Golden Earring: Twilight Zone slaps, but it doesn’t slap as hard as this station thinks it does
Grand Funk Railroad: Funk
Grateful Dead: I like their aesthetic more than their music
Great White: there are so many fucking shark jokes
Greenbaum, Norman: makes me think of Subway for some reason
Green Day: the first of the emo revolution
Greg Kihn Band: RocKihnRoll is literally the most clever album name I’ve ever seen
Guns N Roses: They have more than three good songs, but radio stations never recognize that
Hagar, Sammy: I’m still trying to figure out where he lived to take 16 hours to get to LA driving 55 and how fucking fast was he driving beforehand?
Harrison, George: He went from religious to rock, and if he had continued rocking, he would have gotten too cool
Head East: I respect people who use breakfast foods as album names
Heart: Magic Man and Barracuda are played at least once every goddamn day. They’re not even the best songs!
Hendrix, Jimi: I have both a cousin and a sibling named after Hendrix references
Henley, Don: Dirty Laundry gives me too much inspiration
Hollies: Somehow sound like they’re both from the 60s and the 80s at the same time
Idol, Billy: he’s doing well for himself
INXS: Terminator vibes
Iris, Donnie: knockoff Roy Orbison
James Gang: too many funks
Jane’s Addiction: if TMNT had a grunge band representative
Jefferson Airplane: *assorted cheers*
Jefferson Starship: *assorted boos*
Jethro Tull: The only band to make you feel not cool enough to play the flute
Jett, Joan: icon
J. Geils Band: I requested them on the radio once and it got played
Joel, Billy: he really did just air everybody’s business like that
John Cafferty And The Beaver Brown Band: literally wtf is that name
John, Elton: yarn Elton sits in my basement, unstaring. Please someone take him from me
Joplin, Janis: Queen
Journey: Stop overplaying Don’t Stop Believing. It takes away from the rest of the repetoire
Judas Priest: literally started the gay leather aesthetic
Kansas: another fucking band Supernatural stole
Kenny Wayne Shepherd: the man confuses me to the point where he isn’t in the right place alphabetically
Kiss: Mick Mars and I will simply have to disagree on the subject
Kravitz, Lenny: runaway vibes
Led Zeppelin: Fucking fight me if you don’t think they’re the most talented band (maybe not the most talented individually, but collectively, no one comes close)
Lennon, John: My least favourite Beatle for reasons
Live: I got nothin
Living Colour: slap a decent amount
Loverboy: do you not get TURNT the fuck up to the big Loverboy hits? Who hurt you??
Lynyrd Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama is a Neil Young diss track
Marshall Tucker Band: no opinion
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band: VERY STRONG OPINIONS THAT THEY AREN’T GOOD
McCartney, Paul/Wings: Power couple
Meatloaf: I have nothing but respect for a man who willingly named himself Meatloaf
Mellencamp, John: voted cutest lesbian of 1987
Metallica: I liked their appearance on Jimmy Fallon
Midnight Oil: I get them confused for Talking Heads a lot
Modern English: who?
Molly Hatchet: Hollies vibes, but also Georgia Satellites vibes
Money, Eddie: DAN AVIDAN, IF YOU SEE THIS, COVER TAKE ME HOME TONIGHT
Motley Crue: Stan Mick Mars and John Corabi. They’re the only ones who deserve it
Mott The Hoople: no one loves them except for David Bowie
Mountain: props for naming an album ‘Climbing’
Nazareth: I want to make a John Mulaney joke here, but I can never come up with one
Nicks, Stevie: witch queen
Night Ranger: I get them confused with Urge Overkill
Nirvana: Kurt Cobain was the ally grunge needed
Nova, Aldo: he’s Canadian, at least
Nugent, Ted: *serves a ghost as jerky*
Offspring: nothing here
Osbourne, Ozzy: this bitch crazy
Outfield: Your Love is kind of a sketchy song, but it slaps hard
Palmer, Robert: low quality Eddie Money
Pearl Jam: *grunts in Eddie Vedder*
Petty, Tom: I have so many feelings about Tom Petty and they are all good
Pink Floyd: which one is Pink?
Plant, Robert: solo career is a crapshoot, but his voice is unparalleled
Poison: I want them to write a song called ‘Alice Cooper’
Pretenders: I want to say good things, but I have nothing to say
Queen: A doctor of astrophysics, a screaming girl, a disco queen and a diva walk into a bar. It’s Queen; they’re there to play a gig
Queensryche: neutral opinion
Quiet Riot: they got big because of a song they hated. I love that
Rafferty, Gerry: the second-sexiest sax opening in all of music
Rainbow: Ritchie Blackmore created something very magnificent
Ram Jam: one good song and they didn’t even write it
Ratt: I’m sure they have more than Round And Round, but I don’t know it
RHCP: funky, but if you have paid money to hear them, you’re going to The Bad Place (I don’t make the rules)
Red Rider: basically Golden Earring
Reed, Lou: Walk On The Wild Side would be such a cool song if it wasn’t so dull
REM: American Tragically Hip
REO Speedwagon: Props for having a dad joke as an album title
Rolling Stones: Never in my life could I imagine the drummer being named anything but Charlie
Rush: How to make being uncool the coolest fucking shit
Santana: The world needs more Santana
Scandal: There’s something really funny about The Warrior being my brother’s “song” with his girlfriend
Scorpions: Was Wind Of Change written by the CIA? Only the spotify podcast I got an ad for once could say
Seger, Bob: A different variety of Eric Clapton (frankly a better variety, but that’s just me)
Simple Minds: we ALL forgot about you
Skid Row: Sebastian Bach is prettier than all of us
Soundgarden: music that makes you feel like you dunked your head underwater
Springsteen, Bruce: my arch-nemesis. Maybe someday, he’ll find out about it
Squeeze: according to my friends, the stupidest band name ever, but they’re theatre kids, so you know
Squier, Billy: If he can make it through 1984 alive, you can make it through whatever bad day you’re having
Stealers Wheel: Yet another band who I always mistake for George Harrison
Steely Dan: my house’s nickname for the Robber in Settlers Of Catan
Steppenwolf: Either makes me think of Jay & Silent Bob, Jack Nicholson, or that time I had to cut 6lbs of onions
Steve Miller Band: when you’re in the right mood, they slap hard
Stewart, Rod: my soundtrack to summer 2015
Stills, Stephen: Love The One You’re With Is Catchy, but the lyrics are questionable
Stone Temple Pilots: the only band to write a song about goo you smear on yourself
Stray Cats: an obscene amount of merch is available for them
Styx: Supernatural would have ruined them for me too if I hadn’t been into them previously.
Supertramp: I hunted for Breakfast In America for two years and it was worth every hunt
Sweet: I will never understand my two-month obsession with Ballroom Blitz when I was 15, but it was legit all I listened to
Talking Heads: you may find yourself in a pizza hut. And you may find yourself in a taco bell. And you may find yourself at the combination pizza hut and taco bell. And you may ask yourself; ‘how did I get here?’
Temple Of The Dog: I keep confusing them for Nazareth
Ten Years After: somehow still relevant
Tesla: not the car or the dude
The Beatles: Evokes a lot of opinions from people. Mine is that I love them
The Clash: I showed my sister the ‘Lock The Taskbar’ vine ONCE and it still kills her
The Doors: evokes teenage terror from deep within my soul
The Guess Who: Canada’s answer to confusing question-themed band names
The Kinks: kinky
The Police: wrote the theme of 2020 and everyone somehow forgot it was about a teacher resisting becoming a pedophile
The Ramones: playing all of their songs in a row wouldn’t take more than 2 hours
The Romantics: you don’t think you know them, but if you’ve seen Shrek 2, you have
The Who: If someone can explain Tommy to me, I’d be glad to hear it
The Zombies: I think they happened because of the 60s
Thin Lizzy: Could the boys maybe leave town?
Thorogood, George: blues, but make it modern
Toto: the most memed song behind All Star
Townshend, Pete: just makes me think of the end of Mr. Deeds
T-Rex: Mark Bolan is an icon
Triumph: The no-name brand of Rush
Tubes: like the yogurt
Twisted Sister: they did a christmas album and my mom does NOT hate it
U2: U2 Movers; we move in mysterious ways
Van Halen: RIP Eddie
Van Morrison: honestly, who’s named Van?
Vaughn, Stevie Ray: Steamy Ray Vaughn
Walsh, Joe: The Smoker You Drink The Player You Get
War: Foghat, but even groovier
Whitesnake: the most successful band to be named after a penis
Wright, Gary: the 90s thanks him for writing the song every movie used for the “guy sees cute girl and it’s love at first sight” scene
Yes: To Be Continued
Young, Neil: The best part of CSNY
Zevon, Warren: the album cover of Excitable Boy makes me deeply uncomfortable for reasons I don’t understand
ZZ Top: has been the same three guys since 1969. Lineup unchanged.
3 Doors Down: They feel a little modern to be on a classic rock station, but whatever
38 Special: Why 38?
328 notes
·
View notes
Text
1, 2, 3, 4, and Jaaaam~!
As time of writing, I’ve faced off and beaten 1010 on Normal. Wooo~!
So, more 1010 stuffz!
Either through updates or I've merely been watching play throughs with turned down graphics; Having now played the section, the 1010 battle and cutscene sprites now have their eyes the proper matching color.
However, at this point, I ain't gonna discount or discourage the "White Eyes Synch" HC.
Turns out, according to Kliff’s brief, Neon J had been a Captain of the Cruiser. Now I don’t know about the time frames of the Royal Malaysian Navy, but for US Navy, it takes a collective of 21-23 years (at an estimate) to get to rank of Captain [No idea if this means starting at the rank of Seaman Recruit or starting as an O1; either way this dude was a full eagle].
Means, Neon J was in the military for a loooong time.
So, when you destroy a member of 1010, they leave remains behind that can be transformed to face off against other members of 1010 or as something benefitial for the PCs.
Fanfic Writers, do with this as you may.
So only White (Rin) and Red (Zimelu) have parry attacks. Meaning they're the guys our PCs are more likely to go after first (The designated Leader; and the persumed more combative or warlike 1010 member / Bad Boy).
Barraca Mansion also has those five colored portraits.
The section of Metro Division leading up to the Boss Fight is just covered in dance-dance games.
According to the NSR-Post, type 4 Battledroids are still in service, and do in fact have background memories to hold in combat. In a previous post, I've already speculated that 1010 may have Neon J's memories...
Consider what it took to actually get to the boss fight. That's not just one limo, that's an entire floating fuckin escort with god damn canons. And not all of them were cars, half of em were akin to the Battleship Limo.
Basically, Neon J didn't just command one ship, he had an entire fuckin Fleet.
Part of Neon J’s voicelines do call 1010 “robots”.
I know the section was mean to play for laughs, as a break from the character driven plot, but really reeeeally look at this level:
- When you defeat a body of 1010, you can transform the remains to go against the other members.
- You are actively being photographed / recorded fighting and doing all this damage to 1010.
- The fact that Neon J acknowledge Yinu and had an entire escort, means he already knew you were coming and was actively preparing to face you
- Which is probably why he had his factory out. Let's face it, 1010 are Battledroids with weapons included, and most folks don't even come to their stomachs in height. Unless a fan is wearing full Halo MJOLNIR power armor and wielding a Fallout Fatman, you don't need to break out an entire robot factory if anything happens. Plus, shields.
Neon J knew that BBJ were coming, and prepared accordingly, hell, 1010 was actively waiting on you (even though none of it was enough)
- Consider everything. Neon J was a captain who faced what might've been some pretty historically bloody and brutal wars, and while he did break out weapons...
... None of these weapons do ANY personal or permanent harm to you / BBJ. Not even the sawblades or the missiles.
... Hell, consider the jump over. Nearly none of the other boss security levels have flash when you fall off edges, you just sorta pop back up, but 1010's? There's a red flash that pops up when you fall off, as if something was actively teleporting you back on to the car platforms.
... Think there might be a chance that, while Neon J knew you were arriving, he might have had more sympathies for BBJ than previously considered?
... Consider 1010. A Mohawk (Red) is, after all, a very Rock based Hairstyle. And Yellow? Its a pompadour, a "Rockabilly" hairstyle. How bout Blue's Lennon Specs (The Beatles were a Rock Band)... And the biggest boy bands of the 60s were Rock Band.
... Neon J goes over the top with his loyalties to NSR, like, uber over the top. And even the game acknowledges that he's paranoid. Its almost like he's playing a Role...
Time.
According to descriptions found by playing Zuke, NSR (at least) takes place after the 90s.
While for Neon J, he has fought since the 60s (68; It sounds like he might’ve just gotten out of basic training, the way he talks).
This leaves a 30-40 year time frame to consider.
Take into consideration, however, that this world has flying battleship cars, robots, a virtual idol that isn’t holographic glass, and folks have duper supernatural powers.
This could be in the 2100s or more for all we know.
A Change of Pace, HEADCANON TIME!
White is the Default Droid.
Not so much in 1010, but in battledroid standards. You program in what you want the bot to be or do after the fact, and the color will indicate such. All battledroids have combative abilities, but their out of combat jobs are:
- Red - Maintenance. (Believe it or not, a saw is pretty useful on a ship)
- Blue - Parade (?). I mean, batons?
- Green - Grenadier is kinda hard to find outside of the niche combat, but consider Fallout GOAT. Probably does a lot of background jobs, like laundry.
- Yellow - Missiles. Probably a Bridge stationed bot, and does a lot of calculations. Missiles are a calculated effort to aim and launch. They're not Grenades where you pull the pin, and hope that it only goes off at the designated 5 seconds (and not sooner).
- White - Default, and as we've seen with Rin, probably the kind that commands or acts as VIs (Virtual Intelligence, basically a smart interface).
1010 = Superhero fighting squad
Oh please, a bunch of "young men" with color coded appearances and color coded weaponry, lead by a Captain with a Factory that actively replaces their bodies?
And you're telling me they're ONLY a boy band? These dudes are fighting crimes like the god damn Power Rangers with all that equipment.
Neon J supported BBJ
Consider all the above suggested. The Dude knew full feckin well that NSR wasn't the greatest of the great, and half the 1010 level proved that he was pretty much prepared for your arrival, and possible his own defeat. Let's face it, the dude was a Captain for a long damn time, and like commanded a small fleet in that time (not unlike the 1010 Level). You don't do stuff like that without some major strategy and awareness, ESPECIALLY, if you've survived entire wars and terrifying / inhuman conditions.
Plus consider his over exaggerated speech. With all the evidence in mind, and all the visuals, the dude was definitely playing up his NSR schtick. There was nothing stopping him from just unleashing an entire army of invulnerable and shielded 1010 bots to root you out and stomp on you mercilessly. Believe me, this dude had the resources, the weapons, and the experience, to put out two brat indie bandmates.
He threw the fuckin fight.
... Though I'm pretty sure he didn't like the Breaking Yinu's Piano Part. At least for everyone else it was either a justified humiliation or just... unplugging stuff, not outright destroying priceless heirlooms. Notice how that's the only thing he mentions, and he's the only Megastar to take into account another Megastar (and that's excluding Tatiana).
1010 Memories
The dance, the shared voice, the synchronization; oh yeah, 1010 probably had a share of Neon J's memories (though likely not all of them).
This goes hand in hand with the popular Fanon that 1010 were based on former Squadmates of Neon J's.
ITS CYAN
Sorry, but we've seen the direct difference in Sayu's fight with the Glowsticks and we see Purl-Hew's bright cyan blue next to an actual neon Blue. Purl-Hew is Bright Cyan Blue, he's not Regular Blue.
... So you see, I like color theory and have a set and unbreakable idea of color patterns.
Rin's weapons
I believe Rin's capabilities is Synchronization with his bandmates, and the capacity to use Shields. Remember that there is no Rin phase for the Factory, and the shields fall out of the fight immediately after Rin is perma-defeated. Plus, the quasi-Purple-Magenta color matches Rin's poster seen in both the fight and on Barraca Mansion.
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
“illusion”
Chapter 13
Yo it's been a while! Sorry about that, I've been busy working on another fic (Triad, if you want to check it out). Anyway, here's the beginning of a fierce battle lol- things will not go as planned. I also forgot how to write fight scenes lol but that's okay bc the emotional moments here are nice. Anyway, enjoy!
WARNINGS: description of graphic injury. Also, I’ll be making an sfw version of this soon so stay tuned!
AO3 LINK (WARNING- THE WORK IS OVERALL SPICY MINORS DNI)
"There are injured civilians and Magic knights throughout the city! Some might be shipped out as POWs soon, but that's why we're here, to stop it! Our primary objective is to clear the area of innocents and the injured, then wait for reinforcements from the Silver Eagles to arrive and drive out the enemy. Is that clear?"
"Yes sir!"
There's barely a second to waste, so Captain Hervey barks out his orders to us as we shoot towards the border town, finally coming into view. My heart is pounding, my hands gripping the wood of my broom handle so tight I'm surprised it hasn't cracked. Alice holds onto me as I drive, bent over a bit to avoid getting a face-full of my hair as the wind whips through it. All of us are here on brooms, except Julius, who went off ahead by himself to scout out the area. His absence just makes me more nervous. I hope he comes back soon- what if they were waiting for him, and he gets captured, or worse-
My thoughts are (thankfully) cut off as Hervey continues his spiel. "Once Julius gets back with info, I'll split you up into groups, then deploy you. Remember, try not to attack the enemy until all the civilians are out of the way."
I nod slowly to myself, my eyes still transfixed on the city. There's smoke rising, and I can hear magic blasts from afar. This morning, the vague order came directly from the Wizard King: "The border town of Lullin has been under siege from the Diamond Kingdom for three days. They have finally broken through the Crimson Lion Kings' defenses. Your squad will hold them off until the Silver Eagles arrive as backup."
And that was it. The strange thing is, none of us knew about this siege, even though it's been going on for three days! We land on the outskirts, out of sight from any of the forces inside. The town was walled, as are many border towns, and the fight is going on within the pit. Was it kept secret on purpose? Whatever was going on here, it was now our problem. The Grey Deer were used more as a diplomatic squad, escorting royalty, nobility, and foreign visitors. Most of the battling was done by the Silver Eagles and the Crimson Lions. But today must be desperate, because here we are, nervous as can be, getting ready to jump into our first real fight in a while.
"Well, at least we get to kick some Diamond ass!" Nigel, of course, is rearing to go, even though I suspect this newfound confidence is just a way to cover up his own nerves. He does a few lunge stretches, which at least lightens the mood. "Giles, lets have a contest!"
Giles, who looks like a corpse right about now, nearly jumps out of his skin at the sound of his name being called. "Huh? I don't think this is the time for a contest!" he objects.
"No, no, it'll be easy!" Nigel smirks and hits his hand into his palm. "Whoever takes out the most diamond guys wins!"
"Take out? Like, KILL?!"
"No! Like- take out-"
"You didn't think this through, did you?" Alice asks, her face not matching her teasing tone. "Don't bother keeping count... just..." Her gaze drifts, and it's obvious that her next words are meant only for Giles.
"Don't... get yourself killed because you're distracted. Just survive." Her smile reappears, just a whisper. "Alright?"
Giles stares at her for a long second, the sunlight shining on his glasses. You can see the understanding start to dawn on his face, and even he manages to smile back, a smile meant to quell her worries.
"Of course. Right back at ya, Alice."
Suddenly, there's a loud whoosh and a CRACK in our encampment. We whirl around to see Julius land there as powerfully and gracefully as usual. My lips part for a moment in a quiet sigh of relief. He's back! And unharmed!
"Julius, what's the situation?" Hervey demands, turning to walk over to his Vice Captain. "How many are there?"
Julius takes a moment to catch his breath before answering. "A lot..." He shakes his head. "Maybe a hundred Diamond mages. Plus their General."
There's a worried murmur among the squad at the mention of the General. Instead of captains, the Diamond Kingdom army was led by their "8 Shining Generals," who were rumored to be as fearsome as they come. If one of them was here, and had already defeated the Crimson Lions, how on earth are we supposed to make any headway?
"Dear God..." Hervey twists his goatee anxiously, his forehead creasing at least five times as he considers what to do. "Do you know which one?" He glances up in time to see Julius shake his head. "Well, we're going in blind... perhaps we should stick to the perimeter-"
"The Crimson Lions are being kept hostage in the center of town," Julius cuts in before his captain can finish. "The General is stationed in there I believe. As for the residents, they're being kept in their homes in several areas of town. I don't know what the enemy plans to do with them, but I think we should try and evacuate them before the Silver Eagles arrive." He glances around at the rest of us. "We'll split into four groups. Three will sweep the houses and evacuate civilians. Me, Captain Hervey, and a few of you will head for the center and cause a distraction." His gaze hardens for a moment as the orders are issued. "We should be able to accomplish this quickly. I don't want any civilians to get caught up in battle once the Silver Eagles are here."
We all nod silently in agreement. Hervey opens his mouth to say something, but even he can feel it; When Julius spoke, everyone's nerves were eased, if only for a moment. For a moment... it was like Julius was the Captain.
With that, Hervey splits us up into groups and tells us to prepare ourselves. I get put into a group with Wren, Giles, and Martin, which I'm not thrilled about, but at this point I'm to jumpy to even care. Everyone is tense, their hearts pounding adrenaline through their bodies. Alice sits on a rock and taps her foot. Martin starts biting his nails. Malota and Hervey talk together quietly. Julius hasn't spoken- or looked at me for that matter- since we left the base. Now, he stands alone on the ridge overlooking the passage to town, his face turned away from me so I have no hope of reading it. But his shoulders are squared, his head held high, and his stance sure. Whatever lays ahead, he's ready and confident. My heart starts pounding for a different reason, but I shake my head to rid it of any intrusive thoughts.
I have to clear my head, to get ready for this... I have to focus more than anyone else here.
Using my Illusion magic is tricky enough, and even more so in the fray of battle. I have only seconds to read someone's face, cast my spell, and generate an image of something in their mind that will stop them from attacking me. Like with those bandits before, I'll probably go with injuries that will shock them. I squeeze my eyes shut taking in a deep breath.
Injuries... injuries...
It would be so much easier if I could see my own illusions, but by nature they only appear in the minds of my targets. I have to transmit that image as convincingly as possible if it's going to do anything. And in order to do that, I do... research. I have a box full of medical textbooks and trauma first aid manuals under my bed, which have some pretty realistic pictures inside. Every time I crack open a page, my stomach turns and I feel dizzy, but I force myself to look.
It hurts that much just to study... I can't imagine how it must feel to see that injury appear on your body.
But now I have to do just that. I have to hurt people again.
Maybe it'll feel nice... I suck in another breath through my nose, squeezing and releasing my fist a few times.
I've been hurt a lot lately... maybe it'll feel nice to finally hurt someone else.
I imagine what it'll be like, when enemies are attacking and I have no choice but to use my power. I already know, that every single one of them will have Lawrence's face plastered on in my mind's eye.
Before I can think to hard about it, I hear someone crying.
Blinking slowly, I remove myself from my trance and turn to see someone slumped behind a tree, their head hanging and their arms hugging themselves like they were the only real thing left in this world. "Um... are you okay?" I take a few cautious steps, walking into the treeline and realizing that it's none other than Cecelia who's crying.
As soon as she hears my voice, she looks up, her eyes already swollen and red. "Oh- uh- yeah-" She reaches up and starts to wipe her face frantically. "I-I just got really nervous for a second, I t-think I'll be fine now-" She lowers her hand and takes a deep breath. But, when she releases it, more tears burst out. With a whimper, she covers her face, her shoulders trembling.
She's scared. Well, we're all scared, but she lets it show on her face. Her eyes are overflowing with water and she bites her lip hard to keep it from twitching.
She's... so scared...
"Cecelia..."
Without really thinking, I walk forward and pull her into a hug. Cecelia freezes up for a moment, her face planted right into the fluffy shoulder of my robe. I give her a squeeze.
She's only 15... and yet she has to go to war with the rest of us.
"I don't really remember my first battle. I was your age though," I start to say, not exactly sure where I'm going with this. Lately, I'm the one who had to be comforted, so being there for someone else isn't coming as naturally as I would like. But I have to do the best I can. "I bet you won't even remember this in a few months."
Slowly, Cecelia nods and lets her hands come up to hug me back, but her crying does not cease. "Are you s-sure?"
...no.
"Of course." I stroke her hair gently, my heart clenching more and more.
Oh god... if anything happens to her...
"Hey, what's going on here?"
We both look up to see Alice peek around the tree, her eyes widening when she spots Cecelia's tears. "oh! CC..." Instead of being paralyzed like I was, Alice immediately melts into a grin before stepping forward. "Give me your hand."
Hesitantly, Cecelia, lets go of me and lets Alice take her small hand. Alice bends down just a little to look the girl in the eye, her irises glinting with golden determination. "You're nervous, right?"
Cecelia nods.
"You can say it, it's okay."
"I...I-I'm scared..."
"That's perfectly alright. But listen-" Alice clasps her other hand over Cecelia's. "You're in my group, right? So I'll protect you! No matter what. And you're going to protect me too!"
Cecelia's breaths are still shaky, but somehow she manages to smile as well.
"I will..."
"Promise?" Alice sticks out her pinky finger, causing Cecelia to giggle. They lock fingers and shake once.
"Promise!"
The somber air is gone now, replaced by something more hopeful. I let out a relieved sigh before turning to leave. I wish I was as good as Alice, I think sadly. She's so good at handling these types of delicate situations. She's always been my rock... Could Alice really be involved in my attacks? Was she really part of that plan?
... no. Of course not.
"Hey! You too!" I look back to see Alice and Cecelia looking at me. "Promise me you'll protect yourself, and everyone else in your team," Alice repeats.
"Well, maybe not Martin-" Cecelia pipes up, grinning as both Alice and I collapse into peels of laughter. "I'm kidding, guys!"
"Cecelia, never change-" I tell her through a giggle, reaching up to wipe my own eyes. "And yes... I'll protect everyone, I promise."
With that, there's only mere minutes before we have to set out. The fear in my veins is still there, but my new-found confidence beats it back into being silent. This is just like many fights and battles before. Maybe on a larger scale that I'm used to, but it's just another fight. A fight that I will probably forget within a few months. I leave Alice and Cecelia alone, stepping back out into the meadow. Once again, my eyes are drawn to Julius, still standing by himself on the ridge. Should I go say something? I gulp nervously, my heart fluttering a little. Part of me doesn't want to bother him, but at the same time, I wonder if I will regret passing up this one last chance.
"... hey."
Julius looks to his side as I finally walk up to him, my eyes fixed on the city in the distance. "Oh, hi. I was wondering if you were going to come keep me company."
I shoot a glance up at him to see him smiling, and my nerves melt away immediately. "Ah, I see... well, better late than never?"
"For sure." He closes his eyes for a moment before opening them again to study my face. "Well... it's been an... eventful day, hasn't it?"
I gulp nervously, glad that we're facing away from the others because my face is definitely starting to heat up. "Um, yeah, I suppose it has-" I let out a breath of embarrassed laughter, the memories of earlier this morning flooding back. These past few days were crazy, and something tells me it's just going to get worse. "I'm sorry, I guess-"
"Sorry? For what?" Julius winks. "I enjoyed myself, you know." I raise an eyebrow, my heart pounding a little. Between last night and this morning, things between us have... escalated. And now, on the horizon of battle, there's nothing I'd like to do more than throw myself into his arms and hold him one last time. I'm sure he'll be fine, but I don't want to die without that...
But we can't. I feel eyes burning into our backs, watching us closely. Malota, I know, is watching. She and Alice alone know about me and Julius, and any wrong move could set off an explosion.
"If anyone should be sorry, it's me." Julius finally speaks again, his eyes narrowing slightly as sadness pools within them. My breath catches in my throat at the look, and I almost want to start crying right then and there. "I... hope you don't feel like I'm taking advantage of your situation, because you're vulnerable. And I hope you know that I was serious about everything I said before, and-"
Suddenly, he's the one who seems desperate to confess something, even though he's been honest with me from the very start. I can't do anything but stare at him blankly, dumbfounded that he's apologizing, before blinking away my shock.
"You're special to me."
And Julius... you have no idea how much I want to love you.
My heart strains hard at the walls I put up around it, begging me to set it free and finally surrender it to someone on my own terms. But this isn't a good time... in fact, it's the worst time possible. So I keep it imprisoned just a little longer.
"Julius-"
He stops talking as I reach out. I want to touch him, to rub up his chest, to grab the collar of his shirt and shut him up with a big kiss. And from the look in his eyes, I know he wants the exact same thing.
But I don't do that. I just let my hand land on his shoulder, like a good comrade would.
"You have nothing to apologize for. Honestly." I offer him a smile, one that I hope comforts me just as he does.
Slowly, Julius nods, then reaches out to grab my shoulder as well. We stand there, still, for a moment, but any longer and people would start to think. So I let go, and he does the same. "We need to go." Julius inhales deeply, the sadness gone from his eyes. "Be careful, alright? There's a lot I want to talk about when this is over."
"Oh?" I shoot him a wink as I step away. "And a lot you want to do with me, right?"
Julius's eyebrows pop up in surprise, but he can't suppress a grin, a slight tinge of pink appearing on his cheeks and nose. "Of course, of course. I still owe you a reward, don't I?"
I open my mouth in mock shock, even though that one comment is sending my heart reeling once again. Oh my god, I better survive today! I'm not sure what Julius has in mind for that "reward" but something tells me that it's going to be something I'll remember for a long, long time.
----------------------------
As soon as we part, the world descends into a blur. Hervey is once again shouting orders, and everyone jumps onto their brooms, ready to go. In one swam, we lift off the ground, but then our groups break off to surround the city. "Hey! Loser!" I look over to see Alice grinning at me as she starts to zoom away. The wind muffles her words, but I can just make them out. "See you later!"
"You too!" I smile and give her one last wave before turning away.
Wren, Giles, and Martin fly behind me, silent but already with their grimoires out. I squint my eyes against the wind as I watch the center of the city like a hawk, where Julius and the others will be causing a distraction.
Any second now... come on-
It happens; the entire area grows cold, and a huge spike of ice rockets up out of the earth like some evil, jagged tower. "There! That's the captain's magic! Let's go!"
"Hell yeah!" Wren lets out a hoot as we start to spiral down to our assigned sector of the city.
"Hold on! Don't go so fast!" I yell over to him. "Someone's gonna see us, we need to give them time to get distracted-"
"So? We're here for a fight!" Wren smirks. "Anyway, it's not like you're in charge, I'm the oldest here."
"Maybe Giles should be in charge!" Martin pipes up. "He has glasses, right?"
"Martin, that's the dumbest thing you've ever said." I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing to God that I had been paired with Julius or Alice or anyone other than these two. "Fine, Wren, you lead us, but for the love of GOD, please don't do anything dumb."
Wren's ego is just growing by the minute, and he even does a fist bump in midair. I roll by eyes at him before looking back down at the city, and notice some soldiers running out of a large building and towards the center of town. "There!" I point out. "That's where-"
"Where the prisoners are being held!" Wren cuts me off rudely. "Martin, you head towards the closest wall and start making a hole in it. I doubt we'll have time to escort the civilians to the main gate. And you two-" he glances over at Giles and I. "We're going in hot, so get ready!"
"Aye aye!" Martin swoops away towards an abandoned section of the wall, his brown grimoire already flipping open. I don't have time to watch him activate his wood magic and land, because Wren, Giles and I start our dive. The wind whips around us, and the few Diamond guards still stationed at the building finally notice us. "Look out!" They start to open their Grimoires, but it's too late.
"Illusion Magic: Sudden Death."
There's seven of them, more than I expected, but the two that I don't manage to transmit the illusion to stand there shocked as their comrades suddenly start screaming and clutching at their stomachs. "Huh? What the hell? What's wrong?"
"Feather Magic: Harpy's Fury!"
They look up just in time to see a barrage of sharpened feathers shoot down at them. The projectiles cut and stab, until the remaining enemies fall to the ground in an unconscious heap, just in time for the three of us to make our graceful landing.
"That was awesome! Did you see me take those guys down?! Did ya?!" Wren nudges one of the fallen with his boot, getting no reaction in return.
Giles puts his broom down and frowns curiously at the enemy through his spectacles. "What did you do to them?" he asks me. "I mean, what did you show them?"
I shrug. "Not much..." I gulp nervously, forcing myself to shut the images away in a compartment of my brain. "Intestines usually does it."
Giles winces a little, but shakes his head. "Well, you distracted them-"
"Come on! We're going to be slower than the other teams if you keep chit-chatting!" Wren yells, already halfway through the door. Giles and I exchange an exasperated look before running after him.
To our surprise, the first halls seem rather empty. If I had to guess, this is some sort of common area for the town. Which means that there's a large, central room, perfect for holding a large number of prisoners. There's probably more guards stationed around there-
Sure enough, we turn the corner and come across an opening. There's a large double door, barricaded shut, with three guards in front. They seem surprised to see us, but we don't give them time to act. Well, more specifically... Giles doesn't."
"Horn Magic: Mighty Ox!"
With a loud yell, Giles balls up his fists and punches forward with both at the same time. Right on cue, two sharp, massive horns form around them, spotless ivory shining in the lantern light. As he thrust forward, the horns broke free, rocketing towards the enemy. With a resounding bang, they went flying back, breaking through the door and skidding to a stop on the tile floor beyond. "There!"
"Damn, Giles-" I can't help but say, my mouth twisting into a smile. Giles, soft spoken, bookish Giles, was a beast! No wonder Alice liked him so much.
Giles brushes off his sleeves before giving me an uncharacteristically confident smile. "Surprised? You've seen this magic many times."
"Yeah? And it still blows me away every time."
"GUYS?" Wren suddenly wines. "Come on, we have a shit ton of people to save."
I don't answer, just sticking my tongue out at him briefly before running to enter the great hall. Just as we thought, it's packed to the brim with people, frightened civilians who are huddled together on blankets and flimsy looking cots. "Y-You're Magic Knights!" one of them exclaims, tears edging her eyes as she realizes that they are saved.
"Yeah, yeah, we're the Grey Deer." Wren crosses his arms as he "kindly" addresses the crowd. "Everyone, get up and get moving! We've prepared an escape route to get you all out of here before the Silver Eagles get here to kick these guys' asses!"
There's a flurry of movement as people jump up, grabbing their meager belongings and scrambling to get ready. Wren gives us a worried look, his eyes narrowing slightly. I know what he's thinking: this is going a little too smoothly. Let's get out of here. "Giles-" Wren turns to address him. "Make a hole in that wall over there. It's quicker than walking all the way back through the building."
Giles nods, bringing out his grimoire once again. "Right!" He directs his attention to the wall, his back to us. "Horn Magic-"
Midsentence, I see it appear on his back. A ball of energy shoots between Wren and I to hit him, and on impact I see his body freeze in place.
My eyes widen, not quite taking in the sight, not before it's too late.
"GILES-"
"AAAAAAH-"
Giles's body crunches up, a quickly growing spot of green foam spreading over his back. His shirt dissolves along with it, and I see that his skin has been burnt an angry red color. With one last agonized cry, Giles stumbles and falls to his knees, shaking with pain.
What?! Wren and I finally react, spinning around to see a group of ten mages coming into the room behind us. One of them, the man in front, wears a fluffy black coat, his hair slicked back over his head, and a wide, cruel smile on his face. Three stones are embedded in his head, one on each cheek and another above his lip. His grimoire is an acid green color, matching the magic that hit Giles, and floats open in front of him. Wren and I stay frozen in place, our heart pounding as if we were in the sights of an apex predator.
Because... that's exactly what this man is.
Almost in slow motion, he speaks.
"Slime Mold Magic... release."
A shuddering breath is ripped from Giles's throat as the magic leaves his body, returning to this man's Grimoire. I glance back to see him sit up, still pale and shaky. Shit! Who is this guy?! I turn back to look at this new enemy. He's strong, I can tell... oh god...
"You three... Magic Knights. I can tell that you're young." The mage licks his lips. "And full of potential. We value that in the Diamond Kingdom. It's not something I should waste." The way the words leave his lips is akin to a hiss from a snake. "So, I'll give you one chance... leave now, and I won't harm you."
"No way!" Wren immediately answers, his hand on his Grimoire. His eyes hold none of their usual mirth; only shrewd observation as he takes in his options. I nod slowly along with him, still formulating a plan of my own. "We came here to save these people, and that's exactly what we'll do."
The mage laughs, the cruel sound echoing through the hall. A few of the frightened civilians behind us are whimpering in fear. "Foolish children... do you really want to feel the wrath of one of the Shining Generals?"
"H-Huh?" The threat takes me by surprise and I can't help but let the gasping word leave my lips. "But..." I glance at Wren, who has gone pale as well. "Wasn't the General supposed to be in the center of town?"
"Silly girl." The Mage laughs again, louder this time, his Grimoire already flipping to a new page.
"Did you think we'd only send one?"
ooooooooooooh noooooo MC has to fight a shining general now... with two questionable comrades lol. How will this turn out? Find out whenever I decide to update again lol!
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
Credulous
Ch. 6: J…….
Genre: FallenGuardianAngel! Jimin, Supernatural
Members: Jimin
Pairings: Jimin x y/n
Synopsis: love is an uncontrollable feeling, even for those who were meant to protect, and only protect. Nothing more and nothing less. Yet somehow, there was always outliers.
Warnings: None really
Word count: 5.8k
A/N: Hope you all enjoy! Please like and reblog if you do!
Ch.1 | Ch.5 | Ch.7
~
The bus I took was pretty barren, like a desert with cactus in randoms spots, with the occasional eagle perched on it. I took my seat, somewhere in the middle, near the back. The driver took a few minutes to finish loading the luggage. As he did I got comfortable in my seat, resting my head on the window. The smell of vanilla with lavender and roses was slightly filling my space, it wasn’t strong in the slightest. As a matter of fact, the vanilla wasn't as apparent as the flowery smells. The connection Jimin and I shared was becoming apparent as well, but barely even there. “Rest your head on my shoulder.” He whispered, as if not to startle me. I felt slight panic though, I was afraid someone would see him and wonder how he got on. “Only you can see me right now, and hear me for that matter.” He reassures me as if he read my thoughts. I give a little sigh, relaxing as I rest my head on him. I’d be lying if I said I felt the same amount of warmth I felt when we first met. Everything about him from that night was starting to disappear, or lessen at least. I wondered if maybe it was because I was getting use to his presence or if it was the stress he’d mentioned before, taking its toll on him. If it was the latter, I worried for him. Even if he was a heavenly being, the fact that he had stress at all proved to me that he could be fragile too.
I entangled my hand in his, trying to return the comfort he’d giving me all this time, hoping that maybe I could act as a remedy that could get his heart beating again. “Malum.” Jimin whispered, repositioning his chin atop my head, ever so gently, it was as if he was barely pressing down. “Hm?” I hummed slightly, letting my eyes flutter shut. “You know I love you, right?” He asked, his voice was filled with more emotion than I’d ever heard anyone put into words. The suddenness of them catching me off guard, the genuine raw emotion burning through my ears, like hot iron making its way to my heart until it left a permanent mark. I didn’t know what to say, or what to do. “I…” I pushed away from him, staring up into his eyes. They were soft, not expecting anything, just hopeful. I just wasn't sure what they hoped for.
“All I want is your safety and happiness. You know that, right?” He continued. I don’t know why I’d felt so weird about it, he was my guardian, that’s what he meant when he said it. He loves me as much as any other guardian angel can love their assigned human, that’s what he meant. Nothing more to it. So why did I feel so oddly about it? “Of course.” I whispered back to him, as I noticed that the driver had finally made it in, getting ready to pull out of the station. Anyone who was remotely close to me, was wearing headphones. I could talk freely to Jimin without anyone questioning me, but I didn’t want to be louder than a whisper because the same silence would make my voice identifiable. If the driver heard me, he’d think I was crazy.
My hold on his hand tightens, as if to assure him. “I’d be lost without you.” The words escape my lips in such a breathy whisper, as I let myself rest on his shoulder again, hoping to drift into sleep even if just for a little while. His soft humming lulling me into slumber. I was supposed to be back home, at my parents house before midnight, which gave me plenty of time to rest. So I let the movement of the bus’ wheels on the concrete ground rock me, like a baby being carried by its mother on a rocking chair. Everything was so peaceful.
~
“We are currently 8 minutes away from our destination. Please be sure to gather all your belongings and be ready for our arrival. Don’t forget to wait for your luggage after you’ve gotten off.” The drivers announcement wakes me up. I’m thankful that he speaks in such a soft voice, saving me from being startled awake. As I regain consciousness, I realise that Jimin is gone now. My eyes look to the window to see the familiar city I’d been away from longer than I’d like. I waited for the bus driver to give me my luggage before walking into the bus station to await a taxi I'd called.
It didn't take long to arrive home from the station, nothing over 10 minutes. Which was great because I made it home with a little less than half an hour left before 12. I paid off the taxi with the remainder of the 100 dollar tip I'd received from the odd customer. I still could not believe that, that money was literally just enough to pay for my bus ticket and the taxi ride here. My head was starting to throb as I tried to explain how a simple customer, who had given me a weird nickname by the way, was able to predict what I’d go through? There was no way, he’d probably just been generous with what he decided was a fair amount to tip, and decided to write whatever?
Trying my best to put the thought aside, I knocked on my parents door and waited for them to open. I hoped I wasn't waking them, I had warned them I'd be here around this time. “Y/n! My beautiful daughter, oh you're home!” My mother says excitedly as she opens the door, pulling me into a tight hug. My father laughing behind her, bringing my suitcase inside with him. “Come on in sweetheart, you must be cold.” She ushers me inside the warm home, the one I've missed for quite some time now. Being an adult was tough, and being away from your parents for the first time was worse. I knew it was part of life, and I didn't mind it, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't miss being in this house. In their presence. “I've missed you both. So much.” I sigh as I hug my dad, he pats my back slowly.
“We're so glad to have you home.” He smiles down at me, kissing the top of my head. The lights are mostly off but the ones that are, are dim creating a cozy environment. “Why don't you go rest, and we’ll plan something for tomorrow in the morning.” Mom asks me as they lead me up stairs. Even though I’d slept on the way here, I’m still exhausted. So of course I nod my head in agreement as we come up to my room. “Goodnight sweetie.” My mother says as she opens my door before walking off with dad. It’s just as I left it before moving out into my apartment. My white desk with all sorts of stationary on it, sticky notes on the wall in front of it. The fairy lights I had hung all over my room still intact, I wondered if they still worked though. I laid my suitcase on the floor and opened it, bringing out my pajamas. My burgundy bed covers perfectly made, it looked so inviting. I changed quickly and got into bed, leaving my phone charging on my nightstand. My mind drifted off not too long after and I welcomed it, ready to rest.
Instead of drifting into peaceful sleep, however, my mind started to go into dreamland for the first time in awhile. Only it wasn't a dream, but a nightmare. A weird distorted image of Jimin replying in my head. Oddly enough, the strange customer who had given me the 100 dollar tip was behind him, wicked smile on his lips, horns on his head paired with dark crimson wings. The same color as the tears streaming down Jimin's face, which was contorted into a pained expression. His hands tied behind his back whispering apologizes as I tried to run towards him, but I wasn't moving, my body trapped in place. The man behind him brought his hand up, his fingers getting ready to snap. All I could hear was my agonizing screams, asking him to stop, but it was useless. He'd snapped his fingers, and flames consumed Jimin. My body shot up in my bed as hot tears slipped down my cheeks, burning like alcohol on fresh wounds. I couldn't believe I had witnessed that, even if it was just a nightmare. So vividly, it was like it had truly happened. My hand came to my throat as I tried to breathe, but it was hard as I started hyperventilating.
“Malum? Are you okay?” Jimin was quick to rush to my side, bringing me into his embrace. “I thought I'd lost you.” I manage through heavy breathing. It didn't seem like just a nightmare, if I was honest, and that scared me. I wrapped my arms around him, not wanting to let him go. Afraid that he'd be taken from me. I've only known him for half a month, but I felt like I'd known him my whole life. I hadn't realised the gravity of just how much I cared for him. The way he looked at me when I studied, his adoring smile always made me blush. How he'd always check on me, to make sure I was alright, helping me out with such meaningless things like finding my keys. The fact that he knew what I wanted, when I wanted it. All he wanted was for me to be okay, but I didn't know that all I wanted was for him to be so too. I wanted him to stay by my side for as long as I could have him.
I was afraid I was becoming too attached to him, of what my feelings for him really were. He was my guardian, and he could never be anything more. “Please say that you'll always stay.” Another stream of tears slipped down, as I couldn't imagine him being ripped away from me. He pushed back the strands of my hair, holding my face from either side, wiping away my tears with his thumbs. His eyes staring into my soul, their beautiful dark brown shade was mesmerizing. “What are you saying? I'll always stay here. With you.” He leans in, leaving a reassuring kiss on my forehead. God I hoped my nightmare as meaningless, I hoped with everything inside me that his words weren't anything but the truth.
“I just can't imagine not having you.” I sighed into his neck as he held me close. Just as I'd said that, a knock came from my door. “Honey? Is someone in there with you?” My mother's voice chimed in, somewhat muffled because of the door. A slight panic came over me as I tried to think of an excuse. “No… No, not at all. I'm just talking to myself.” I face palmed at my own excuse, I'd probably sounded crazy. Not like most people didn't do it, but no one would admit it, because it would make them sound like a lunatic.
“Are you sure? I swear a heard a man's voice.” She insists, Jimin leans back slightly, his head falling back as he giggles quietly, watching me struggle. “Oh, I'm just watching something on my phone. But did you need anything?” I ask trying to change the subject as I hit Jimin’s arm. Not that it helps, so instead I cover his mouth with my hand. “Okay, well breakfast is ready. Why don't you come down and eat with us.” She says, thankfully not mentioning it again.
“I'll be right down.” I wait for her footsteps to sound further away before I remove my hand from his mouth, giving him a stern look. All he can do is raise his hands in the air as if he wasn't sure what he'd done wrong. “You just love seeing me panic, trying to cover for you, don't you?” He chuckles shaking his head. I get up from my bed, walking to my suitcase.
“Of course not… Besides that would be bad for me.” I could tell from his tone he wasn't being serious, even though half of his sentence was true. “Just admit it. You evil man, making me struggle.” I try my best to sound serious, but the slight laugh in my tone is apparent.
“Okay, just a little.” He giggles again. I grab my shoe and fling it at him, but once I turn to look at him he's gone and in his place is the shoe I’d thrown laying on my bed. There's a slight pull at my heart, as the images of my nightmare flashback for a second. Hoping this isn't the last time I see him, I gather a change of clothes and my toothbrush. After I'd washed up and changed, I walked down to the dining table. My favorites were set up on the table, in elaborate arrangements, pleasing to the eye. I was more than ready to dig in. “Mom… You really didn't have too.” I smile at her, taking a seat. I'd missed her cooking so much, and to wake up with all my breakfast favorites was a wish come true. At the same time I didn't want her to overwork herself for me. “It's been so long since you were home. I thought it would be perfect.” She smiles, as the smell of everything makes my mouth water.
“It is, it's perfect. Thank you, mom.” I pick up my fork, taking a bite. All of the flavors coming together in perfect harmony, nothing to overpowering, but just right. A symphony of flavors bursting in my mouth. It really had been so long since I'd had her cooking. “Your mother and I were thinking of going to the science museum. The one we use to go to when you were younger. You loved that place so much, we thought it would be perfect.” Dad smiles at me, waiting to see my reaction. I nod quickly, loving the idea. I could barely remember the place, as it had been that long.
“I heard they added some new stuff, is it true?” I wondered out loud. The website for the museum had mentioned something along those lines a couple months ago, but I wasn't sure if I'd read correctly because I was multitasking as I had done it. “A colleague of mine went with her son just a few weeks ago. She said there was new additions and some changes to already existing exhibitions.” Mom explained, which made me get so much more excited for it. Both my parents were what some might call, science nerds, so naturally growing up they'd shown me related things. I grew a liking to it, of course. But I had a feeling my parents always knew it wasn’t for me. Although, to be fair I wasn’t sure what was for me.
“Well I’m excited to go! It’s been so long since we’ve done something as a family.” I smiled happily at the both of them. We finished eating soon after, mom sending me up to my room to get ready, stating that surely I had nicer clothes to wear. I laughed at her comment and agreed, a somewhat prestigious place like that wasn’t to show up in ripped jeans and a simple tee. I replaced my current outfit for a black skirt and a beige blouse tucked into it, pairing it with black boots. The car ride to the museum wasn't too long, at least it didn't feel long, but it did take close to 40 minutes. It was pretty far away from home, but we still managed to make it relatively early in the morning.
The line to get inside was pretty big, so much so that many were standing outside waiting to go in. Surprisingly so, the line moved relatively fast. More than I'd expect it to with this many people waiting. We finally made it inside and started exploring. Taking pictures here and there. As we went along we noticed all the new additions that were made. Like the electric wall that makes your hair go crazy because of negative and positive energy mixing. Or the new area that was dedicated to climate change, and the negative effects it had on the atmosphere, and the earth in the long run. Everything was just as interesting as I’d remembered it, my parents throwing big scientific words around as they explained things to me. Not that I’d understand everything, but I got the gist of it, I enjoyed listening to them happily explain things to me. Watching them enjoy it made me happy.
After some time of walking, we headed out for lunch. “Wasn’t that just amazing?” Dad asked me as he buckled his seatbelt. The both of them with big smiles on their faces. “They adore you so much. How could they not?” Jimin’s voice says from beside me, my head turns so quickly to see him seated beside me, I think I nearly gave myself whiplash. He can only laugh at me, as I try to go back to conversing with my parents. “Yeah, just how I remember it as a child. I love the climate change section they added.” I try to keep our conversation going. Which works, my parents both busy talking to each other about it now. “Did you miss me.” He asks, innocent smile across his lips, I can only shake my head at his comment. “Do you always have to startle me when I’m around people?” I giggle slightly as I whisper to him, my parents not even aware, thankfully.
“I’m sorry, I just needed to check on you. After what seemed like a nightmare this morning, I wanted to see for myself that you were alright.” His eyes are sincere, as I hold his hand in mine. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better to be my guardian. “As long as you’re here, I’ll always be alright.” I couldn’t help but smile at him. I was starting to forget my parents were still in the car, because my mom was calling my name when I heard their voices again. “Hmm?” I ask her.
“I was just asking where you’d like to go for lunch.” She repeats herself. I didn't realise I completely stop listening to them, I'd only paid attention to Jimin in that short span of time. I was just so glad that he was back, because to be honest with myself, my heart had been beating irrationally this whole time. Worried he'd never comeback, I couldn't help but feel anxious. Maybe I should get use to it though, seeing as he was breaking rules letting me see him. Letting me know he exists, not that he ever mentioned it, but I was starting to realise it. “Anywhere is fine.” I smiled slowly at my mom as she nodded, my dad pulled out of the parking lot, taking us wherever. I could only look back to Jimin, trying to burn his image in my head, in case the ones upstairs decided it was time he stopped visiting me.
My parents started talking again and I commented here and there, as I did I felt Jimin’s hand leave mine. He was gone again. I fought the anxiety that was building up inside me, and tried to keep smiling for my parents. We finally made it to a restaurant we use to frequent when I was much younger. We made it in, and got seated almost immediately and just as quickly got our orders taken. “Sweetie.” My mom spoke to me, fixing her shirt.
“Yeah?” I gave her my full attention, waiting for her to say what was on her mind. “You never told us why you had the week of from both work and school.” She wondered, which she was right about, I’d only mentioned I had the week off but never explained why to her. I was still quite shocked at what was happening in school to be honest. “I still can’t believe why myself, but apparently the dean and couple professors have been money laundering with the students tuitions.” I shook my head slight as I sighed. Both my parents went wide eyed, not being able to believe it. “Money laundering?” My dad repeated as I nodded my head, insuring him that’s what I’d said. There reactions were similar to mine, when Rae had first told me.
“Yeah, Rae said that one of our professors was involved so there was a chance that by the time we went back to school, we’d have a new professors.” My mother raised an eyebrow as if saying wow. Which I agreed to. “What about work?” My dad questioned. I took a sip of my drink before answering his questions. I made a mental note to call Stephen later this week, see how he's doing. Poor guy, I could only imagine what he was going through. He'd seemed so rough the last time I'd seen him at work. “My boss gave us the week off, apparently his mother was in an accident. He just didn't want to deal with the shop, since he had to go and take care of her.” They both nodded, taking in the information.
“Poor guy, is his mother badly injured?” Mom inquiries, but frankly I didn't know. Stephen didn't give us any specifics, and I didn't blame him. He didn't have to tell us, if he wanted to keep his private life as that, private, then I was okay with that. “I'm not sure, he didn't say. He looked really stressed out though. I hope she's okay.” I sighed, I really hoped for the best for him and his family. The rest of the lunch went peacefully as we reminisced. Silly things I use to do as a child, places we'd use to go together, or short vacations we'd go on. I'd missed my parents and spending today with them was great. I felt refreshed.
That was until we'd gotten home, and I realised that I still didn't have my wallet or anything with me. Which of course I needed. I knew my parents could probably buy my ticket for me without a problem, as a matter of fact they insisted once I told them why I needed to go to the bank. But I didn't want to rely on them or their money. So, I walked to the bank that was near our house. Of course, dad argued that he could drive me, but it was in walking distance and I didn't mind. Eventually he gave up and they let me walk. The walk there was around ten minutes, which wasn't too bad, but it was chilly out so I was glad I decided to put on a sweater. I just hadn’t noticed that I’d mindlessly put on Jimin’s sweater until my mom pointed it out, before I’d left.
“Is that a man’s sweater?” She asked me, as she inspected it. I was caught by surprise, looking down at it. “Oh… I uh… I saw it at a store and really liked it. I didn’t mind that it was a man’s. Why? Does it look okay?” I asked her, trying to sound as innocent as possible. She brushed it off saying it looked nice on e regardless and walked away to the living room with my dad.
It still had his scent on it, strong vanilla with slight lavender and roses. I missed that smell. These days, his stress was making him change in all aspects. His light was dimmed, his roots turning black, his scent barely there, and our connection was weak. But his sweater reminded me of how cheerful and full of light he was when I first met him. I wished I could do something to help him get over his stress. I made it to the bank sooner than I thought, must have been because I was so caught up thinking of my guardian. “Hi, how can I help you today?” The woman behind the desk asked as she looked away from her computer screen. Her perfectly placed dark brown hair. Not a strand out of place.
“Hi, I just wanted to take out some money. I’m here on vacation, but I forgot my wallet at home. I wondering if I could do something about it?” I asked her. She smiled kindly, nodding at me, typing something into her keyboard. “Of course, do you have your ID?” She asked me, and I reached into my purse. Thankfully I had left a second ID at home with my parents before leaving to college. I got it out and handed it to the woman her took a look before typing some more. The process wasn’t as hard as I had imagined. She just asked a couple questions that seemed to be routinely. Once she’d given me my money inside a little envelope which I stuffed in my purse, I walked out. Before heading home I decided I wanted to buy some junk food from a convenience store that was close. Little did I know I’d run into David here, much less in my hometown. An odd thought that he’d been stalking me came to mind, but I remembered that he’d said he loved in a different town as well. Maybe he was here visiting as well.
“Y/n? Hey? How are you doing?” He asks, walking closer to me. I smiled at him as he leaned in for a hug. I didn’t want to be rude so I returned it. “I’m fine, I’m sorry about the other day. I really didn’t mean to just leave you there.” I sigh, feeling sorry that I’d done that to him, he didn’t do anything wrong. But I also just couldn’t be there, after what I’d gone through before that, I just needed to run away. “Don’t worry about it, I understand.” He smiles back. I nodded, walking with him through the store as we got what we needed.
“I’d like to take you out soon though, like we said that night.” He smiles, paying for his things, as I wait for him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go out with him. Leading him on wasn’t fair, and to be quite frank I don’t even know what took over me that night that made me say and agree to things I wasn’t truly feeling.
He’s everything I’ve ever wanted, how could I say no? My mind started up again, just like that night. The vacancy inside my chest coming back just as addictive yet unpleasant as before. The sudden emptiness taking my breath away. But I was quick to regain it, a little use to it. “Yeah… you know what?” I pause, thinking of what I was about to say.
Just say yes, look at those pink lips. So kissable. I need to try them. My voice was starting to become more seductive, but it was odd, didn’t sound exactly like myself. I was confused. “Let’s do it. I've been meaning to see you again.” I was confused at my own words, but I went along with them, even if I wanted to disagree, I couldn’t bring myself to do so. I couldn’t explain why either. But I did notice that everytime I spoke in such away to him, or the thoughts that I was having came to mind, the smell of lavender and roses was growing stronger.
His smile grew from ear to ear which made me do so as well. “Oh great, I’d love that. Maybe when we get back? I know the perfect place to go to. I think you’ll really like it.” He speaks as he guides me out of the store. I just nod my head, walking close to him.
“Sounds great, getting to know you better. We barely got the chance to last time,” I pout slightly, looking up at him. “and I know from the short time we spent together last time, it’ll be fun doing so.” His cheeks stained with a rosy color that I knew well enough it wasn’t from the cold breeze. “But David, you never said why you’re in town.” I wondered out loud.
“Oh, I came to pick something up from a friend who lives here. Since we have the week off school, I decided I’d stay over a little longer. Haven’t seen the guy in a couple months.” He explained with ease, and I nodded as he did, taking in the information as I walked. Relief when he explained, the thoughts of him stalking me escaping. I breathed a little more freely after that. “Are you here visiting someone too?” He questions me now.
“Uh, yeah I came to visit my parents.” I smiled, we were getting closer to the street I had to take a turn on, which meant I may have to say goodbye to David. “Oh that's right. You mentioned you lived two cities away.” His face expressing the sudden remembrance to the piece of information I'd told him that night. I giggled slightly at it, before we were interrupted.
“Malum? What are you doing?” Jimin's familiar voice calls out to me, as I hear his footsteps get closer. My mind told me to ignore him, because if I responded, David would think I was weird, talking to air. My heart dropped in a matter of seconds when David questioned me, however. “Is he talking to you?” He asked, and I realised Jimin wasn't hiding, he was making himself visible to David. I turned around to face him. I noticed the black in his hair was starting to pass being just in his roots. Was he okay?
“Ji… What are you doing here?” I stopped myself from saying his name, not wanting David to hear. Instead I questioned him on his presence, and the fact that he was openly letting David see him. “Your mother sent me out to get you, she felt you were taking too long. Was a bit worried.” He explained as he grabbed the bag from my hand. Obviously I knew he was lying, but why was he? “Let's go home, yeah?” He gestured towards my house with a slight nod of his head.
“Who is he?” David questioned, his expression was a bit bitter at Jimin, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't notice Jimin's sour one as well. “Uh, who are you?” Jimin retorted. My eyes going wide for a second. “This is just, uh… My neighbor, were childhood friends.” I giggled as I tried to come up with an excuse on the spot, hoping David would ignore Jimin's comment. “I really should get going now.” I smiled, I was about to hug him goodbye, but Jimin's hand slipped in mine, catching me off guard. He pulled me away towards my house, all I could do was wave at David instead, as he stood their dumbfounded. His expression growing more confused when Jimin snaked his arm around my waist and kissed near my temple. Leaving me just as confused, as I looked up at him.
I would have said something, but I was just so speechless at Jimin's actions. Once we were a couple houses away from mine, I took my bag and pushed him away. “What were you thinking?” I angrily said, as I walked away. My mom and dad were chatting in the kitchen and didn't stop to ask what they were up to, instead just announcing I was home before rushing up to my room. “What was I thinking? What about you?” Jimin's voice was a bit louder than it usually was with me, a tad bit aggressive as well. I was use to him scolding me sometimes, but even then it was sweet and calm. This? I'd never heard from him, he was so different now.
“Me? I did nothing wrong? I was talking to a friend, coming home. Until you decided to show up, and reveal yourself to him. What the hell was that about?” I fought back, my voice wanting to yell at him, but I knew I couldn't. My parents would come and ask what was going on, and that was out of the question. “Out of all people, him? After what happened a couple nights ago? I don't want you around him. Is that too much to ask? Only look at me. I've told you, you're mine,” He takes a few steps closer to me, his stare is intense, and where his usually brown eyes that had a spark of light in them use to reside, are now deep dark brown eyes that could easily be mistaken for black. An emotion I wasn't familiar with expressed in them. “I need to know you're safe.” I felt like my body was floating, my mind was not existent now, and I was losing myself inside his eyes. That was until I realised that the moment his words left his lips, the black in his hair start consuming the blonde that was left. At the same time, the little bit of light that still followed him was gone, nothing at all was left. I wasn't sure why, but I felt a piece of me leave, in that instant. A single tear fell from my eye, as I reached to touch his hair.
“What's happening to you?” I questioned, my fingers touching the dark strands. The blonde disappeared so quickly, leaving nothing behind but black hair that resembled the feathers of a raven sitting on a windowsill. My heart ached, as I wasn't sure who was standing in front of me anymore. His hand wasn't as warm as it use to be, as he wrapped it around my wrist. His soft lips leaving a kiss on my hand. “I've told you, it's just stress.” I couldn't help but think that I was the one causing him all that stress. He didn't want me around David because of what happened the last time I was with him. He was afraid I would be in danger around him. Here I was, trying to relive his stress, but I was just adding on to it.
“I'm… I'm sorry, I'll stay away from him. Just, please don't worry so much.” I needed to find a way to help him, I just wasn't sure how. “I just need to have you here with me, and everything will be okay.” He pulls me into his embrace, one that feels oddly different in a pool of familiarity.
I was his? As I let him hold me, his words came back and repeated themselves in my head. Only look at me. What did he mean?
#bts jimin#bts jungkook#bts au#bts jhope#bts jin#bts suga#bts#bts angst#bts v#bts namjoon#bts maknae line#bts hyung line#bts guardian au#bts reactions#bts yandere au#bts yandere
29 notes
·
View notes
Text
A Freewheeling Conversation with Temptation’s Wings
~By Shawn Gibson~
I have wanted to interview Asheville, North Carolina stoner-sludge band TEMPTATION'S WINGS for Doomed and Stoned for a while now, so this is special. I used to work with drummer Jason Gardner for a few months on a construction site, where we first met. One thing led to another and we started talking metal. The rest is history. I had a radio show at the time and told Jason to give me some music from Temptation's Wings to play it on air. Jason made a press kit and dropped it off at the radio station, which had a flyer for an upcoming show which I went to. I had them on my program at least two or three times, as well. When I see these guys live, I see my friends -- my metal family. To Jason and guitarist Micah Nix: many more years of bard’s tales, mead by the fire, and ravishing tales of Bloodshed and Conquest!
The Path EP by Temptation's Wings
Hey Micah! What's up man?
Micah: Nothing much, what's going on?
Not much it's been awhile.
Micah: I know man! How you doing?
Good. Watching a game between Syracuse and Clemson.
Micah: Cool.
Pulling for Clemson.
Micah: I'm sorry I can't agree with you on that one. (laughs)
So who do you pull for in college football?
Micah: I'd say it's better than Alabama! I'm a Carolina guy, University of North Carolina.
I remember when Temptations Wings were playing the Odditorium and Carolina Chupacabra came up from Columbia SC. You made a joke on stage towards the lead singer about having the wrong Carolina shirt on or something.
Micah: Oh yeah I remember that. (laughs)
So you guys are at practice or are you done?
Micah: Were just unloading. We had a show last Sunday. Our PA has had some feedback issues. We're moving some speakers around and trying to figure it out.
Is Jason with you?
Jason: What's up man?
How's it going?
Jason: Good. How are you?
Good. Glad to hear your voice. Great to talk to you guys! Sorry it's been so long! Please forgive me!
Micah: It's alright. Not a problem. We've missed you!
I miss you guys! I try to keep up with posts on Facebook and Instagram. I've been grateful to go to all the shows for Temptations Wings that I did! Thanks again for dedicating or mentioning me when you guys played Bloodshed and Conquest. Means a lot!
Micah: Oh, of course, man. That was our jam!
It was awesome you guys giving me a shout out when I'm in the audience! I appreciate that. So you guys have a live album you recorded out now? Tell me a little about the album.
Micah: It was our first show in [Asheville, North Carolina] as a four piece, since Chad moved over to guitar. It was the second time we played the Grey Eagle. We know they have a good system there. We were like, "Let’s record this thing live and see how it turns out ya know." If everything sounds good, we can put out a live album and show everybody a snapshot of where we are at.
Right on. What’s the name of the album?
Micah: It's called Savage Tales - Live at the Grey Eagle.
Do you guys have that on Bandcamp or where can we get this?
Micah: Yeah, that's on Bandcamp, Spotify, iTunes, Google Music. There are a couple that I've never even heard of that are streaming it. Any kind of streaming apps or sites should have it.
Following you guys over the years and not just as a friend as a fan noticing very positive reviews you guys have received. I'm proud of you guys!
Micah: Our last album Skulthor Ebonblade was on Spotify and more streaming services and was getting out to people and turns out a lot of people liked it. It was really awesome to read the positive feedback.
I'm very glad just to bear witness to your earlier days and watch the growth you have had. You've had some lineup changes and going from a three piece to a four piece band. The music is still the same. The message is still the same.
Micah: It's still kind of Bloodshed and Conquest kind of theme. We have a lot of metaphors for real life. Story telling is what we like to do.
Savage Tales-Live at The Grey Eagle by Temptation's Wings
What is something that makes you guys laugh?
Micah: I saw a collection of fart memes this morning. I laughed until I cried!
Jason: Tridents and nets. (laughs)
That is a funny combination. I've told you guys years ago I'm a mace and flail kind of guy. Do you guys still have that weapon I gave you?
Micah: (laughs) Yeah we do! It's on top of our PA.
Nice!
Micah: The club the Bandit gave us!
I saw a memory you had re posted a picture of us holding the club in the studio before or after the radio show. That shows you care about somebody to give them a weapon ya know?
Micah: Oh, I know. That's a legacy piece. One of our crown jewels.
So for anybody that doesn't know anything about Temptations Wings, what are your influences?
Micah: I think we get Black Sabbath a lot. Now that we have two guitars I think you'll be able to hear we are Iron Maiden nerds. Jason and I like going back to days of Bloodshed and Conquest where we were nuts over Amon Amarth.
Who are some Asheville bands and bands from western North Carolina you guys love to play with?
Micah: We've been wanting to play with them for a while. Labor Day weekend we played with Bask.
That was at Heavy Mountain wasn’t it?
Micah: Day one of Heavy Mountain Festival in Asheville North Carolina.
Did you stick around for day two?
Micah: Oh yeah!
I missed that one and I'm crying over it. I wish I could have seen you guys play at this. It was a sick lineup! Inter Arma, Obituary, Bask, High On Fire.
Jason: Yep. Exhorts!
I had their latest album from Prosthetic Records sent to me. Good stuff!
Jason: We saw them a few months prior in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Sweet, Clemson touchdown. What are some good books you have read?
Micah: I just started one. I can’t remember the name. It's a new author and his first book. It has won awards for Fantasy. Dawn Of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw. I'm only maybe a third of the way through it. It's excellent. It is about this kid living in a town that starts to have weird things happen. I don't want to give anything away. The dude is going to be a great author for many years. Jason is still reading The Never Ending Story. (laughs)
The Never Ending Story!? (laughs) It is one of the best! I wish I had a luck dragon!
Jason: One of these days!
What was that like playing with Bask?
Micah: They are all really down to earth guys. We've met em, hanging out at various shows and stuff. They gave us the rock star treatment. A fridge full of cold beer, all the pizza we could eat. The show was sold out!
I was going through my voice recorder inventorying all my interviews on there. Temptations Wings is one of the first interviews on there. I listened to Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth's interview and remembering seeing Temptations Wings open for Iced Earth! I remember you guys telling me at sound check Jon Schaffer was quoting Chappelle's Show and shouted "Darkness everybody!" when you guys were on stage, busting your balls!(laughs)
Jason: I remember that! It was epic!
You guys played with Y&T? How was that?
Micah: It was cool. Some people might not recognize the name but recognize names of songs by them.
Temptations Wings has a good following in western North Carolina and you guys have opened for some bigger touring acts. I'm very proud of you guys!
Micah: Thanks, man! We are still dumb founded by a lot of it too.
What is in the future for Temptation's Wings?
Jason: More writing, more recording, more shows.
Micah: We are trying to decide how to do our next release. We are not sure if we want to do enough songs for an EP or go ahead and wait and do a full album.
You guys have songs written? Maybe write some new songs?
Jason: Yeah we got like five ready to record right now. We'll discuss it I guess.
You guys have done well that way to always have a show coming up and put out an EP or full length album. Always having something to show for hard work and practice!
Micah: We always try to keep busy. We like to create. We try to get better every time we write a song. Trying to stay busy and stay in people’s minds. Play more shows and see what opportunities we get.
Definitely! I want to spread the word for Temptation's Wings. Let me know when you guys have some shows or music to share! I usually re post you guys' stuff on social media. Create more Bloodshed and Conquest!
Jason: We'll have to play that next time you come up. It's been a long time!
Micah: (laughs)
Skulthor Ebonblade by Temptation's Wings
What has been an awkward moment as a band?
Jason: Uh, never really awkward. There was one time we played out of town and the show was mismanaged. I kind of felt bad for the band after us because they got all there stuff out and was trying to load in and didn't get to play and ran out of time. That was weird. Never really awkward. We don't show up drunk or forget our songs.
Actually, on that show, the guy who put the show on left before our set was done. I'm not sure anyone told that last band they weren't playing. They kind of said we're done with metal for the night.
Jason: Yeah! They had to move on to a hip hop pajama party! (laughs)
Whaaaat? (laughs)
Micah: Now that you mention it that was pretty awkward. (laughs)
That's about all I've got for ya. Anything you want to push or plug?
Jason: Thanks for reaching out man! We were wondering if you were still doing anything with Mountains Moved or you changed your name or something.
I bought a domain name and am going to have a site for that down the road. I still have my ear to the ground. I have been grateful to be part of Doomed and Stoned and interview my friends Temptation's Wings again! I miss you guys! If I can help share your music let me know!
Micah: We always appreciate it, man!
My pleasure!
Micah: You were actually the first radio or any interview that we ever did. You've been there since the beginning.
Yes sir!
Micah: We appreciate all of it!
Jason, I still have that flyer you sent to MainFM. I still have it from the little press packet.
Jason: What show was that?
Probably The Get Down, back then. The flyer had a barbarian of course! (laughs) I couldn't tell you the line up to save my life.
Micah: We might have it on our wall of fame here in our practice area.
Anything else coming up?
Jason: Our end of the year festival at the Odditorium. Steel and Stone Festival 3. We are headlining. We also have Coffin Torture from South Carolina.
Sweet! Are you guys going to get 'Dismal Planet' on vinyl.
Jason: I've got one saved for me.
I think there are only 200 copies.
Jason: I've got one saved.
They are going to go fast!
Micah: They have some really cool colors too!
Hell yeah they do! I got the blood red! Once again your live album, 'Savage Tales - Live at the Grey Eagle' is on Bandcamp right?
Jason: Yeah, Bandcamp or message us on Facebook or Instagram for physical copies. Twitter, we are on there too. On the live album there are two new songs.
This Wednesday I'm going to see Midmourner, Oakskin, and Modelow in Charleston, South Carolina.
Micah: [Midmourner] played around here not to long ag0.
There was Starkfest at the Radio Room Greenville SC, Oakskin, played there. I went to the second day July 7th. Oakskin, Coffin Torture, Ape Vermin, Garrow, Horse Flesh, and Xael.
Jason: We like Ape Vermin a lot! We saw them open for Monolord at the Mothlight.
Oh my god dude! I saw posts for that. I wish I would have seen that one! Did you guys see Conan?
Jason: I did!
Jason, you lucky son a bitch!
Micah: I was unable to see Conan. I switched back to day shift so now I can see shows again.
Have you heard the new album?
Micah: Yeah, I have it. It's awesome!
I have not yet. I will open it like a bottle of wine and savor it!
Micah: Uncork it and experience it when your ready.
Well that's all from me. Thank you for your time guys!
Micah: It was good to talk to you again!
It's good to hear your voices again. Jason and Micah, have a great night! Hope you have a good practice!
Micah: We'll do it, man! Hope you have a goodnight!
I appreciate you guys. I am proud of you guys and I'll make sure not to be a stranger! I apologize to you guys!
Jason: It's fine, everyone has things going on.
Micah: Life happens! We would like to play Charleston! We have been talking about that for a long time. It has been a long time since we have been down there.
If you come down here I'll spread the good word about the show, just let me know! You guys have a goodnight!
Jason: You, too, Shawn! Thanks, man!
Micah: Thank you!
Follow The Band
Get Their Music
#D&S Interviews#Temptation's Wings#Asheville#North Carolina#Stoner Rock#Sludge#Metal#Shawn Gibson#Doomed & Stoned
1 note
·
View note
Text
The Suicide Squad: Inside James Gunn’s DCEU Supervillain War Movie
https://ift.tt/3ywaJGW
In November 2019, I found myself in the middle of a war zone. Well, the closest approximation of a war zone I’ve ever found myself in during my time visiting the sets of blockbuster movies. If I had been brought to this particular set in Atlanta on a sunny autumn afternoon without knowing what movie it was that I was supposed to be getting a peek at, the scene presented to a group of journalists probably would have convinced me that this was some new war movie or straight up action blockbuster, and not one that features a collection of DC villains and antiheroes at its core.
The set in question is called “Jotunheim” and it’s apparently an objective Task Force X needs to conquer in The Suicide Squad. But for all intents and purposes, this could be the kind of Nazi fortress that the gritty characters of movies like The Dirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare need to conquer, whether or not they get out alive. That’s no accident, according to director James Gunn.
“A lot of the film is within the genre of war caper films,” Gunn tells reporters later that day, specifically referencing The Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes, and others. “It’s not really something that’s existed for a long time, but in the late 60s that was one of the most vibrant genres of the world. [We wanted to] kind of … add on to it with The Suicide Squad.”
There’s no sign of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, or any of the other oddball DC characters at the center of Gunn’s newest movie as we stroll the Jotunheim set. Whatever wild action took place here seems to have been resolved long before our arrival. But the evidence is everywhere and it must have been one hell of a fight.
From the decrepit guard tower and busted fence at the perimeter to the entrance of Jotunheim (which has a massive hole blasted in it) is probably a distance of 100 meters or so. And virtually every inch of that shows the scope of whatever took place here: burnt out bunkers, overturned and semi-destroyed jeeps, sandbagged guard stations, and so much debris, a mixture of real rocks and carved foamcore and plywood “masonry.”
“It’s a giant construction project” producer Peter Safran jokes about the number and scale of practical sets that have been built for The Suicide Squad. “The idea is to do as much practically as we possibly could.”
That reliance on practical sets and effects wherever possible is a theme that keeps coming up throughout the day as we tour sets and look at production artwork, scale models, weapons, and more.
“We built literally three football fields of a set and that’s so unusual in this day and age,” production designer Beth Mickle says of Jotunheim. “You just never do that. We wanted to have real rubble behind them in the battle sequences, and we wanted to see the building that they’re attacking. For that scene to exist in a film today is just highly unusual. And we’ve done that set and then a dozen others of that scale, so it’s incredible.”
Both the war movie vibe and the love of practical effects are very much in evidence on another set, a convincing indoor recreation of a jungle with a guerilla camp nestled in the middle of it. There’s dirty laundry hanging, filthy pots strewn around, a crumpled pack of cigarettes, and a half empty bottle of watery beer…and what appear to be bloody chunks of skull and assorted viscera littering the grass. Like Jotunheim, something went down here, and whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty.
The Characters of The Suicide Squad: Meet Task Force X
It all stands in almost stark contrast to the wacky assortment of brightly-colored characters that make up the actual team. The concept art and costume tests for these characters were suitably colorful and wildly offbeat, and it’s almost hard to make this line up with the gritty, war movie vibes of the Jotunheim and jungle sets. But storyboards reveal a nighttime action sequence on a beach, with the Squad invading the fictional nation of Corto Maltese, and were it not for the colors and unique designs of the characters wreaking havoc, this too would be evocative of just about anything other than a superhero movie.
A production office is papered with life sized posters of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark (performed by Steve Agee and voiced by Sylvester Stallone…although we don’t know that at the time), Blackguard (Pete Davison), Savant (Michael Rooker), Mongal (Mayling Ng), Weasel (Sean Gunn), The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Javelin (Flula Borg), Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), TDK (Nathan Fillion), and Bloodsport (Idris Elba).
Looming large is also Idris Elba’s ominous, armored character who we now all know as Bloodsport, but who the studio remained cagey about identifying during this set visit for some reason, leaving reporters to speculate on the identity of the badass in blue, black, and gold. Between the color scheme, the armor, and an impressively intimidating assortment of weapons left out on a table for reporters to ogle as it’s explained that each weapon transforms into or folds out of each other, speculation about Bloodsport ends up occupying a fair amount of the downtime between interviews.
So what exactly could possibly hold such a motley crew together?
“You have to remember that all either have been wrongfully accused or done horrible, morally wrong things,” John Cena says. ”You can see the good in people, you can also see the evil in people… All of these people have real bad personality problems. So I think when you get that type of group together, that’s what makes it fun. Everybody is kind of different. But I think criminals see criminals, they just size everybody up. I think every one of them is like, ‘how is this person going to stab me in the back?’ That’s the world they come from.”
Cena is playing the authoritarian Peacemaker, a character who sees himself very differently than many other members of the Squad do. But the actors behind two of the stranger characters in the film, offer some additional perspective on the team dynamic.
“There’s people in this story that really want friendships, and people that don’t want anybody near them, just like all of us,” says David Dastmalchian, who plays Polka-Dot Man. “I think all of us have felt at times like we are totally disposable to either our employers or society or you name it. So that’s been interesting, in the relationship [between the characters] with the dynamic that starts to build or break down.”
“These are all characters that for the most part, probably don’t even know the existence of the other ones,” Steve Agee says. “Some of them do, and it’s the story of The Suicide Squad. They are forced to be together, and do this task, this mission. So, part of the story is just watching these people adapt to being around each other.”
Flula Borg (who gave journalists a rambling, uproariously funny interview about his character which you’ll see more of on DoG soon enough) spoke about how his character relates to Viola Davis’ team leader, Amanda Waller.
“Judging from all the relationships that Javelin has I would say poor, non-existent, unhealthy, crosses lines, should consider not interacting with other humans,” Borg says. “Javelin doesn’t worry about how people treat him. He treats them … What’s the golden rule? He has the Javelin rule, which is like ‘suck it, I’m cool.’ I think that’s his rule.”
Even here with the characters, the commitment to practical effects is strong, especially in areas where you’d fully expect them to rely on CGI. For example, Daniela Melchior, who plays Ratcatcher 2, has a little helper rat named Sebastian. While the hordes of rats the character is capable of commanding will necessitate CGI, at least some of the rats are real.
“We have three female rats [that play Sebastian],” Daniela Melchior says about the um…practical rats that the movie is using. “It’s a little bit distracting sometimes because I have to act lazy and tired like I don’t give a shit about whatever is happening… and I’m just like, ‘come here.’ But she doesn’t want to come, she wants to find new places and go, so we’re like, ‘okay, we’ll try one time with the rats, we’ll see what happens.’”
And when one of the rats playing Sebastian doesn’t want to do as they’re told, only then does the movie revert to CGI to get the desired “performance” from the furry co-star.
“I don’t know if I can say this,” Melchior says conspiratorially. “But actually, [some of the cast] are a little bit afraid of rats…I’m always trying to say ‘look, she’s so sweet, she wouldn’t hurt you.’”
From Suicide Squad 2 to The Suicide Squad
Like the characters themselves, The Suicide Squad has something of a rough past. The first movie failed to become the surefire franchise-starter the studio hoped for in 2016, and while a Suicide Squad 2 was put into development almost immediately, it wasn’t until Gunn became available that the project finally solidified.
“There was no plan before James,” Safran says. “There were other writers that had worked on various Suicide Squad scripts over the years, but… this was starting from ground zero, starting from scratch. All the characters that he selected were just characters that he was a fan of and wanted to play with. I think, in typical fashion for James, he picks more obscure characters…he liked the idea of being able to take these characters and imbue them with whatever characters he really wanted, or characteristics that he really wanted to play with.”
One of the “characteristics” Gunn wanted was to truly tap into the spirit of DC’s long-running and beloved Suicide Squad comics of the 1980s, which were co-created and stewarded by Jon Ostrander.
Read more
Movies
The Suicide Squad: Margot Robbie On the Enduring Appeal of Harley Quinn
By Kayti Burt
Movies
The Suicide Squad: How Idris Elba Brings Bloodsport to Life
By Stephanie Williams
“I don’t think of it so much as an interpretation of what Ostrander wrote but I do think of it as a continuation of what he did,” Gunn says. “It’s very much in line with that. When he was first putting this team together, he was only able to get certain characters. For him, it was the fun of taking these characters that weren’t as well-known and developing them in a real way. And it’s one of the greatest superhero runs of any comic book series.”
(Gunn also notes that Ostrander has a cameo in the film.)
As for whether or not The Suicide Squad is a sequel to or a reboot of the previous film, all involved are both diplomatic and evasive. The official line is that any characters that were together in the previous film do already know each other, but as for the actual events of the 2016 movie, that’s where things get murky.
“We just don’t address it any tangible form,” Safran says. “Yes, they’re the characters and actors that played them in the first movie, but we really wanted to make sure that this stands on its own two feet. It’s not a sequel, but there are some characters that were in the first movie, so it’s not really a full reboot either. So we just call it James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.”
cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });
Inside Jotunheim
Later in the day, journalists are taken inside Jotunheim via soundstage, an indoor construction that appears almost as sprawling as the outdoor set. As we saw outside, the remnants of what was likely a furious battle are all around. A stuntman in full Peacemaker gear is hanging around as we see Robbie’s Harley, Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man, and Agee as King Shark (“the studio is trying to play down the whole Polka-Dot Man/King Shark universe they’re building,” Dastmalchian jokes) make their way through the rubble. Elba’s Bloodsport isn’t visible, but we’re assured he’s part of the scene.
While it’s Sylvester Stallone voicing King Shark in the film, it’s Agee on set here, wearing a grey mo-cap suit with the kind of padding you see on MLB umpires and somewhat shark-shaped wire headgear. He also appears to be holding a skull.
Harley, however, is wearing the ornate red dress glimpsed in the trailer (although it’s somewhat the worse for wear at the moment). As she navigates the carnage in Jotunheim, Gunn calls out for Robbie to “hum a little tune.” She does just that, conjuring exactly the kind of aimless musical free-association you’d expect from a mind like Harley Quinn in the midst of battle.
“Harley’s been through some things as you can see by this point in the film,” Robbie says to reporters between takes. When it’s noted that Harley’s baseball bat, a fixture in the previous film, is nowhere to be found in this scene, she jokes “My baseball bat is back home in LA, next to my bed, in case anyone breaks in…I’ve got other weapons in this one.”
We don’t get to see these Squad members engaged in any combat during the shooting of this scene, and it’s not clear if this is the interior from the same “entrance” that had seemingly been blasted into the outdoor structure, or somewhere else inside the fortress. But the clues all point to one thing: like everything else in this movie, where The Suicide Squad goes, destruction and chaos follow.
The Suicide Squad opens in theaters and on HBO Max on Aug. 6. We’ll have more from our set visit in the coming days.
The post The Suicide Squad: Inside James Gunn’s DCEU Supervillain War Movie appeared first on Den of Geek.
from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3dMcFTU
0 notes
Note
What do you think Keith’s favorite little things in life are?
oooh this was really fun to answer but once again I went off on a super long tangent, OOPS SORRY HAHA. Also not proofread so… be warned lmao. Under the cut:
- Nature!!! Keith is a nature boy and loves quiet, natural places. He probably feels really content in a natural settings, the kinda environments that have a stillness to them. Not silence- he hates silence- but quiet; birdsong and crickets and the wind, the sounds of wildlife etc. etc.
He likes sunsets and sunrises, likes the sound of rain and storms (even if being stuck indoors when there’s things to be done can be pretty frustrating), likes watching birds and other animals he finds doing their own thing. He can probably identify a lot of different bird species, might even have at least a vague idea about what their different calls sound like.
But there’s also the more adventurous and boyish side to Keith that would really love exploring those kinds of natural places. Hiking for sure, but also maybe stuff that’s a bit more daring, too. He has a healthy respect for nature, and has decent survival skills, so maybe he’d be a bit of a thrill seeker.
dsfjk sorry for getting a bit sidetracked but here’s a story: I had a couple of friends come down to visit me last week, and at the end of the day while we were heading home, we took a detour to look at Hopkins Falls, a waterfall close to my town.
I looked at a dry part of the cliff face that had a lot of rocky parts jutting out and said as a passing remark to my friend Matt something like, “hey, wouldn’t it be badass if someone could just straight up and climbed that wall?”
APPARENTLY he took that as a challenge because the next thing I know he was giving me a fuckING heart attack and climbed a cliff face about 5 times his height in like, 20 seconds flat. Then, realised that he couldn’t get back to the lookout path from where he was and had to climb back down, and the whole time I couldn’t help but be horribly aware of the VERY UNSAFE ROCKS AND POTENTIALLY DEEP WATER below him.
Yeah. That’s Keith. He’d scale a cliff with no safety gear just because he KNOWS he can pull it off, and he’s curious about what’s at the top, okay?
So yeah, Keith likes nature and he likes birds and he likes exploring!!
- He also seems to genuinely like training? There’s been a couple moments in canon where we’ve seen him training by himself in his downtime. Having a task set out in front of him that he can work through to reach a goal is just how Keith likes to operate; I imagine he finds a lot of satisfaction in learning new moves and knife tricks, and at being able to pull off the things he’s been practicing in battle.
Burning physical energy like that probably helps him think clearly too, so maybe he also uses training as a way to help clear his head. Keith’s very action-driven, doesn’t like staying idle for too long or sitting still when he could be doing something, so training and practicing with his Blade are good outlets for that.
- Movies!! I imagine that Keith loves goofy action movies, especially the classics. I’ve noticed that it’s a pretty popular headcanon that Keith is a bit oblivious when it comes to pop-culture, and I also personally like the idea that he just… doesn’t really keep up-to-date with more recent stuff if it doesn’t interest him. Lance might make an Avengers reference or something and Keith’s just “??? don’t get it, don’t care”.
But he’s surprisingly knowledgeable about the old classics like….. idfk, Die Hard for example (I myself am very ignorant about action movies and a lot of pop-culture in general LOL)
OH, and old Sci-Fi. He doesn’t like, watch it religiously or w/ever and has only caught a few scattered episodes, but he’s seen some classic Who before and was pretty into it. When he gets back to Earth he wants to hunt the old series down and watch it from the start. He thinks the dated effects are charming and after his time in space, the old Doctors remind him a LITTLE bit of Coran, haha.
I don’t see him being much of a Disney fan at first, because he hears about all these animated films about princesses and true love and just kinda says “pass”. He just wouldn’t be interested? But uuh there was a hc that came up when @ravensimaginaryfriends and I were talking abt Kallurance stuff a while ago where Lance introduces Keith and Allura to Disney and they end up having a whole bunch of Disney marathons and it was a VERY good convo.
Keith becomes surprisingly fond of Disney movies! Not so much the older Princess-y ones but even those he doesn’t hate. They’re simple and not showboat-y and can be kinda fun to watch with friends. But he loves the friendship/family-oriented ones like Lilo and Stitch and Fox and the Hound (because let’s be real those are the BEST ones anyway).
I also have a hc that Keith is a big fan of Miyazaki. His favourite Ghibli film is Howl’s Moving Castle, because that’s my favourite and I’m always right. (NO lmao he probably likes, uuuh… idk Mononoke, bc it has more badass fighting and cool nature-y vibes. Or Spirited away, because the dragon is cool.)
Other lil things:
- Reading!! He has to be in the right mindset for it, and he doesn’t really have time for it at all up in space, but back on Earth Keith really enjoyed reading. Even if was just perusing through old books on constellations or hoverbike magazines or whatever. He finds it relaxing, when there’s nothing else he’s pressed to be doing.
- Keith is a carnivore and he loves meat lol. He isn’t a picky eater (living in the desert like he was, and up in space with limited resources like he is now, he can’t really afford to be a picky anything.) But uuuh if you gave him the choice he’d choose a steak over a plate of veggies any day. He loves gravy on everything. Also, would probably kill for some greasy take-away food? It’s a very simple pleasure but he loves Maccas. (if he ever went to McDonalds during his time living alone then he’d buy like, 3 Happy Meals for himself, because he can be a big eater and 1 isn’t enough for him but uuh sometimes the toys are cool LOL)
- He likes classic rock music, and classic pop, as well as some occasional bluesy or jazzy stuff. He didn’t really own a phone or Ipod or whatever, and would just listen to the radio back in his shack, but he’d always have it tuned to the same station that played the classics. Eagles, The Moody Blues, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, etc etc. Doesn’t really have a favourite artist, just really likes the energy of music, and enjoys anything with a good beat or solid melody. Has a secret love for the Bee Gees.
#voltron#keith kogane#vld keith#vld#keith (voltron)#post#keith#asks#anon#hc#words#this is okay to rb!!!#honestly just assume all my posts are unless i say otherwise lol#woops i really gotta go work on other stuff now#i'll reply to the other asks tonight if i get time!! <3
21 notes
·
View notes
Text
Dad Letter 090620
6 September, 2020
Dear Dad--
Well, my job search has slowed to a crawl, but it does proceed. What’s slowing me down right now is the stupid Covid-19. Our country just doesn’t have its shit together when it comes to this pandemic, and it’s proving costly. How many employers out there will care enough, or be financially capable of making sure I’m safe? I’m not going to catch a virus I could have avoided catching, even if Tom Hanks and The Rock both caught it. (They both recovered from it too; that’s good!)
One of my favorite directors is making a new movie! I’m very excited about it. The director is David Fincher, and he made stuff like Seven, Zodiac, The Social Network, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. His next movie looks like it’s going to be in black and white, about Herman Mankiewicz, who wrote Citizen Kane. (The movie is called Mank.) I don’t expect many people to be as excited about this as I am, but I love David Fincher’s work, and I love when a modern director is good enough to pull off a black and white movie, and I love Citizen Kane. This one really pumps my nads, as it were!
The past week has been shockingly uneventful, even for a week happening during the time of plague. Mostly we’ve done our usual domestic shit, but with an extra helping of new kitten, and also, it’s very fall-like here already! We’ve spotted a few trees that are starting to turn yellow and orange, and it’s very chilly in the mornings. I love Maine! Today Zach got a 12-pack of sodas from the store and it says “GO PATS” on it. Obviously, I don’t give even the littlest fuck about the New England Patriots, but I like how geography can affect the soda advertising one gets exposed to. One of our rock and roll radio stations here claims to play, “all the wicked awesome hits you love.” Using “wicked” in that manner is, I’m coming to understand, a very northern-half-of-the-country thing to do. Self-doubt seems big up here, too. That’s reassuring.
So our two cats are getting along better. Three days ago, they had their first tussle. They’d attempted tussling before, but it was always one-sided: little Horta would leap into the air, spread-eagle, and land on Sam, with the intention of biting Sam’s face off. Sam would be annoyed by this, maybe growl or hiss, and walk away. NOW, however, Sam is making more use of his pimp-slappin’ paw, and they’re locking together in a playful embrace where they each do bunny kicks to disembowel the other, and try to bite the other’s face. There’s no growling or hissing; Sam is the attacker from time to time, instead of being the victim every time, and they seem to just love the shit out of it. They’ll play fight for a half hour, and then they’ll both crash, because they wore themselves out, and sleep for six hours.
There’s a church near me that has a Sunday service that they apparently do live on Facebook and I’m considering watching it one Sunday just to see what it’s like. As I’ve transitioned from young adulthood, to adulthood, to the age when I start getting tons of mail from the AARP, I’ve come to realize there’s a lot about church that I think I’d enjoy. I think it’d be fun to have an excuse to wear something nice, not too nice, but something with no sports logos, and go do something with the community, particularly if I didn’t have to do any of the things I’m humorously unskilled at, like drinking beer, or dancing. (I’m perfectly fine dancing if there’s no one else around, by the way.)
So OBVIOUSLY the only possible fly in the ointment when it comes to my church plan is the whole atheism thing. I still believe in capital-G God about as much as I believe in Santa Claus. I’m not a jerk about it; I wouldn’t presume to question anyone else’s faith, because I don’t assume my beliefs will necessarily work for anyone but me. Those are the answers to life’s questions that I found, but they’ll probably find different answers, answers that work for them, and that’s fine. That’s how shit is supposed to be. The question is: Will they accept someone into their flock who wants to be there, is genuinely kind, or at least trying to be, who does the right thing, or at least tries to, but has no belief in God, and no desire to find one? I’m not even 100% sure what flavor of church it is. It’s just a pretty little New England church here in Old Town with a pretty little white spire on top.
One thing that gives me courage, whenever I do stuff that’s likely to scare the shit out of someone, or get their blood up, is the honesty of my motives. I’m not there to whiz on anyone’s beliefs. They have something to say, and I want to devote at least one Sunday morning to hear it. Plus, I certainly wouldn’t be dishonest about who I am, or what I’m doing. (That’s the only scary part. They might not appreciate window-shoppers, especially ones as fluent in the language of sin as I.) But I’m not worried. If I’m attending a virtual service online, it seems the chances that they’ll discover my wicked secrets and attempt to run me out of town with torches and pitchforks will be greatly diminished. I can’t imagine how they pass a collection plate in a virtual service, but I assume they direct you to a place where you can donate online. So, if I do that, I’ll definitely let you know how it goes. I predict the following headline: “Local Sinner Burned At Stake For Presumptuous Church Attendance.”
I’ll bring this letter to a close, and wish you a happy early Labor Day! I’m still in my Halloween movie marathon, and today’s movie is going to be Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, from 1974, a Hammer horror film. It begins with the protagonist freeing a beautiful woman from a pillory, who then tags along with him and his hunchback assistant. Later, he asks if she’s going to stay (with him) or go, and she says, “I’ll stay, if you’ll have me.” And this is the only movie I’ve ever seen where the main character actually narrows his eyes and says, “Oh, I’ll HAVE you.” Then they go off and hunt vampires. More next week. All my love to you both!
0 notes
Text
16 March ‘20 :
the Goodbyes
18 March ‘20
Ikarnian - Inside Liftharos’ house - 🕛 7:00
〜 ✴︎ 〜 ✴︎ 〜
Today is my last day here in Ikarnian.
I’ve spent the last week packing and reorganising all my possessions, damn if I’ve not become an hoarder since I moved here!
3 years have passed since I arrived in this little town in order to keep an eye on my grandparents’ home; who could have thought that in the meantime I was going to become the new mayor?!
3 wonderful years I’ve shared with my neighbours, my friends, my new family. All the sweet memories are coming back at once slowly getting bittersweet in light of my imminent departure.
Still in my bed I try to focus on the last few thing in schedule for today:
* Breakfast with Cookie, she insisted in making her famous pancakes one last time...I’ll miss her so much!
* Then I’d go and say my goodbyes to Reese, Cyrus and Harvey. I wish them all the joy possible!
* Back home to prepare some rice salad for the town pick-nick, this was Friga’s idea!
* After that what?! My suitcases are already full and in custody at the train station. The lunch will probably turn into dinner ... my last thing to do is to enjoy this day with everyone that cares for me!
I’ve to get up and start doing something or I’ll end up crying again!
Walking towards Cookie’s home was a nice stroll through the nice garden I’ve helped planning. I still the remember the frustration when Klaus and I only managed to create red roses, “at least this colour reflects my feelings for you” he always said giggling, what a smug, flirty friend I got!
When I arrived at her door the smell of the dozens of carnations all around made me feel dizzy, so I sat on the nice tree stump with a strange hearth shaped design on it. It was indeed a lovely day. Cookie came outside wearing her favourite green apron and rushing me in: “ I’ve made pancakes, cookies too you know I learned a new recipe from Chevre, you like orange juice right?! I found some pretty ones in the orchard on the other side of town...” I loved to see her talk incessantly whenever she felt sad or uncomfortable.
“I’ll miss you, I’ll miss you all, I hope you know that” I interrupted her.
Putting the sweets tray on the table the pink dog came sobbing towards me, opening my arms I hugged her:
“Why do you have to leave us?!”
I never thought about how to answer that question.
I just smiled at her and said “Aren’t we hungry?!”. That was enough to make her jump again in the chicken picking toppings, fruits and everything she had prepared for our ritual breakfast together.
“I’ll see you this afternoon! Thanks again for all the food!” I shouted at Cookie while taking the promenade with the sea view, once again a lovely major project I managed to pull off!
“Why do you have to leave us?!”
This question kept buzzing in my mind, I knew that my time in Ikarnian was going to be limited but I loved it as it was endless, was that an error? I don’t think so.
My dream after all was to be an archaeologist, sure ikarnian had her fair share of fossils and gyroids but I wanted more: I wanted to meet the people that lived when we were not even thoughts! And when I heard the new project of the Nook’s I couldn’t resist!
The opportunity to visit and build a city in the newly discovered archipelago down south. A bunch of island that were slightly mentioned in the books of the ancient tribes that inhabited the world before us, can you imagine my joy when it turned out that it wasn’t just a legend! I need to go!
🕛 11:45
It’s almost noon I have to go back home and start cooking.
Here he is, Pierce, on top of the lighthouse his favourite place. He waves at me and spiralling lands in front of me: “ Going home? Up for a run to see who can beat the record?” Smirk.
Always the same, “3,2,1 the last arriving is a duck!” I yelled while I started running.
His stunned face followed by a funny run was always something that’d make my day. He is such a nice man my favourite Eagle!
What was intended as a competition to see who was the fittest and manliest creature in town evolved in a fast walk between two friend saying what the future was presenting them.
“ I want to open a stadium here in Ikarnian”
“ That’s an awesome idea man! I have some money to spare if you need them”
“ Do you really mean it? That’s a good idea I mean”
“ Of course! You are the perfect eagle for the job! You like all kind of games, you are (surprisingly) good with managing money and the perfect body for a golden statue to put at the front door!”
“ Ahahahahaha, thanks Big L., it means a lot coming from you. Will you come back to see it?”
I noticed his voice lower as he ended the question. I smiled. I took his feathery “hand” and said: “ I promised you I’ll be your friend the day you put your house on my backyar! And what kind of friend would I be if I wasn’t there sharing your achievements?!”
“ Ahahaha I know that. Ahaha. It’s noon already I have to go!” Awkwardly, and with the reddest face ever, he hugged me and in a second he was already up in the sky.
Dammit! I didn’t say goodbye to the alpacas and Harvey! Well it’s late now maybe I’ll see them this afternoon. I need to start cooking that rice salad or we’ll end up with a lukewarm mess.
However like today was also the day of the unplanned dates here I have a snooty penguin and a purple little frog waiting for me in front of my house.
“Friga! Diva! What are you doing here?!” I asked waving at them.
“We are waiting for you Dummy! Let’s make some food together” responded the lady with whom I’ve spent every single day in this town, Friga.
I let them come inside aiming for the kitchen, they keep asking any sort of questions: did I packed all my clothes? Imagine being stranded on a deserted island without enough pants. Did I check my passport? I did Diva I did it already. I smile thinking about these two wonderful ladies helping me cooking. These two in particular were the rocks for me, whenever I needed someone to talk to and receive an honest and direct answer they always were there for me, with some chocolates to help the hard truths more tolerable.
🕛 17:30
We prepared an incredible amount of dishes in the four hours inside my kitchen, humming to our favourite K.K. Songs: Diva and I do really love K.K. Bazaar. Still humming we headed to the small garden where the picknick was held.
Everyone was there, all my neighbours, Reese and Cyrus as well as Harvey. And of course here comes panting Isabelle holding in her paws more cups, plates and bottles anyone of us’d have carry. Her usual self!
The chats were interrupted by food, by games, by stories of this wonderful city.
“ Do you all remember that time we lost Poppy?!” inquiries Harry.
“ Stop!” Yelled the poor squirrel.
“ Chevre came looking for her near my house all preoccupied. Did you see poppy?! Hohoho and when we finally found her she was stuck in a pit !!!” Continues the hyppo.
I pat Poppy telling that I was really worried that time and that’s enough to calm her and put a smile on that lovely face. Her and Chevre insisted on sitting by my sides offering me the food they made; in these three years they mastered all my favourite dishes. I was full but the food kept coming. Once in a while one of them started sobbing by herself and it was my job to reassure them: “ I’ll never forget you!” Or “ of course you can come visit, and so will I do” or “ silly I promised I’d send you a letter every week!” And I meant every single word that left my mouth.
It was getting dark and after kissing and hugging everyone I had to get back home, the train was leaving early in the morning and I’d use a few more hours of sleep.
I started heading come when I felt and heavy arm over my shoulders. I looked up and Klaus was there with a serious face on.
“ Did you really think I was going to let you go home by yourself?! What if a bear came after you?” He giggled.
“Thanks, it’s handy to have a bodyguard!” I said with my eyes watering.
We never needed to talk much, when we first met we knew we were meant to be friends right away. He lived right in front of my house after all, a small river diving us...but a bridge was built the same week he moved in.
We shared a lot of interests, history, politics, art countless were the hours spent at one of our places looking at books or paintings. I loved him so much and he knew that.
Our steps kept getting smaller and smallerto let us enjoy the evening breeze as long as possible.
“ Will you please keep and eye on my peach tree in front of my house? You can take as many as you need” I asked.
“ Don’t even need to ask that”
“ You know I will come back once in a while right? And you have to come as soon as I build an house...you’ll have a room just for yoursel..”
He interrupted me by giving the biggest hug a boy could handle. His fuzzy yet soft fur tickling me. All the tension of these days left my body as I was a sponge being squeezed.
“ Thanks” I murmured. As I said we never needed to talk much.
A quick peck on the cheek and here I was alone already safely at home.
I put on my pyjama and I went straight away to bed. The thoughts were many but the stress and fatigue of moving was taking its toll.
My last night in Ikarnian was scarily getting closer and closer. Goodnight to you my friends.
0 notes
Photo
Rockin’ Out
It is Tuesday and I am sensing that we are all tired of hearing about the Coronavirus, the stock market’s ups & downs, baseball cheating scandal and the other nonsense that; hold that thought while I sneeze 😊!! Sorry, couldn’t resist. Going to change directions today and put out a blog with some human but also some reality. It is around music, rocking out in my car, and yes, the uncomfortable moment where you are jamming out, windows down, radio turned up and you glance to your right and see the dude in the car next to you looking at you like you are some sort of weirdo. Yeah, that happened yesterday afternoon. I was driving home after finishing up a great trail run. A beautiful March day in Arizona. It was one of those runs that you just felt calm and peaceful after. I popped in the car and put on the classic rock (I will circle back to this) station and kept in there for a few songs. I wasn’t really paying attention to the songs; I was caught up in my surroundings and enjoying the drive with the windows down. When you drive with the windows down, at least for me, I turn up the volume so I can hear while the wind is whipping by (or maybe my hearing is on the downslope 😊) and typically don’t turn it down when I come to red light or stop sign. As I accelerated through a light, I focus my attention to the delicate piano cords from Freddie Mercury rolling into Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. This song came out when I was a year old and was a chart topper soon after that. Hell, Queen was one of the biggest bands in the world as we rolled into the 80’s and by the time I heard of them, “a 70’s band,” they were considered “classic rock.” They were incredibly big back then and then the Wayne’s World – Bohemian Rhapsody scene made them a cult following. Anytime the song would come on, at the well-known part, all heads would start bobbing up and down till the point that when we stopped, we were dazed and confused a bit 😊. Well, sure enough, on my ride yesterday, that is exactly what happened and at the head bob couldn’t have been timed any better than when I rolled up to a red light, volume cranked up, head going nuts, and me singing loud. Then, the “Galileo’s” started, I looked up and there was “the dude,” probably about 20 something, looking at me like I was listening to some crazy freakshow music. In reality, he probably knows the song, whether it be from Wayne’s World or the movie released last year with the same name. BTW – if you haven’t seen it and are a fan of Queen, or “classic rock” music in general, definite watch. I gave him the “I am still cool hang loose sign and drove off, laughing…….at myself mostly. 😊
As I was driving the rest of the way home my mind shifted to that “classic rock” term. Over the last few years I’ve heard Guns N’ Roses, Van Halen, Def Leppard, and even Pearl Jam referred to as classic rock. What the hell? Then I thought about Queen, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Led Zeppelin, Eagles etc. that I grew up listening to in the 80’s and 90’s. Yep, these bands at that time in my childhood, where only a decade or so old as well and they were considered classic rock. Hell, Guns N’ Roses & Pearl Jam, the more recent bands listed above are now 30+ years active. That means I’ve been listening to them for that long too!!! Holy shit! I guess they are classic rock. Hell, Led Zeppelin, Stones, etc. are 50+ years & some of these dudes are still touring too! That is awesome and another great thing is that this music, classic rock or whatever you want to classify it as, still gets the heads bobbing, the volume turned up, and those feel good vides.
I’ve shared a number of things that have helped me heal through the years and I believe music is one of those things. Haven’t really talked about it though. At this point in my life, there isn’t much that I won’t listen too, yes, even the stuff that my two teenage daughters want to play while we are driving around: I begrudgingly have it on; this just gives me another opportunity to act like a goof, especially if their friends are in the car. Unfortunately, I don’t know the words to any of their songs but if I did, well that would be a fun time right there 😊. Through the years, as I shared, there was my “classic rock” phase, rap & R&B, the Grateful Dead (yes, just the Dead, that is all!!), country, alternative, heavy metal, hell, I even got into some classical shit too, for a short time but it is pretty soothing; pretty much all over the place. Now, it is all about what gets me feeling good. I know, a song won’t necessarily make you “feel good” but it can certainly get you smiling, moving, singing, and maybe even dancing a bit, to the displeasure of our teenage kids 😊. It can be fun, soothing, relaxing, thought provoking, and yeah, sometimes sad. There are certain songs I hear that conjure up some great memories or situations from the past. There are other songs that make me cringe and get me angry, anything by Taylor Swift. I know, I know, so many people love her but, uugghh, she makes my blood boil and that is a whole blog topic 😊!!!! She is the only one really, I think much of what is out there I can tolerate.
The last note here is that these folks, whether they are “classic” or brand new, are coming out with some great stuff and some of their stories on how they got there are fantastic. Creativity to an extreme. The level of effort these folks, in cases kids……go to put out their message and the courage to share it, I am grateful I get to listen. So that is my little funny story with a spin on how music and be another form of healing. The next time you are in your car and that head bobbing song comes on, no matter where you are or who you may be with, dance a little, sing a little, and smile a lot; it’s fun as shit!!!
0 notes
Text
Great Leaps Forward
Every generation has its “you know where you were when” moments. My dad used to say that there simply weren’t any Americans his age who didn’t know where they were when they heard about Pearl Harbor or where they were and what they were doing when they heard that FDR had died. In a different age, that same comment would have been true with respect to Fort Sumter and Lincoln. But for people of my generation, the two “where you were and what you were doing” moments are definitely the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the precise moment Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.
I was ten years old when President Kennedy was assassinated. It was half past noon in Dallas when the shots rang out, so still early afternoon in New York. I was in Mrs. D’Antona’s fifth grade classroom on the second floor of P.S. 196 when our principal, Mr. Tauschner, came into our classroom and whispered the bad news to our teacher, who promptly burst into tears. Having no choice, the principal himself told us what had happened. And then someone brought a television into our classroom and we were allowed to spend the rest of the school day watching the news.
When Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, I was sixteen. I was lying on my back on a blanket on the lawn behind the dorm at the University of Vermont in Burlington in which they housed participants in the special music program for high school students they used to run there each summer. Lying at right angles to my head was Lily Goodman, normally of Wilmington, Delaware, but that summer also spending her summer on the UVM campus in the same program I was in (and being much more talented a singer than I was a pianist). Between our heads lay my red transistor radio tuned to some local news station with the volume up as loud as it could go. We listened patiently to endless replays of the great man’s words of earlier that day: “Houston, Tranquility Base here; the Eagle has landed.” And then, just few minutes before eleven PM, we heard the man, now speaking from the lunar surface, say that he was taking one single step as a man, but that that step was simultaneously a giant leap forward for all mankind. And it was my memory of that specific experience that came right back to me last week when I read that Beresheet, a 1290-pound spacecraft owned and operated by Israel Aerospace Industries, had successfully lifted off on its lunar mission last Friday atop a Falcon 9 rocket owned and operated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company. The plan is for Beresheet (appropriately, “Genesis”) to orbit the earth for a while, then to depart for the moon under its own steam and then, after a journey of about seven weeks, to touch down on the moon on April 11.
It’s a pretty exclusive club, the one to which belong nations who have done this: only Russia, China, and our own country have managed successfully to land spacecrafts on the moon. But the club is expanding: India is expected to become its fifth member later this spring, as is Japan within a couple of years. Still, it won’t be that big a club even after India and Japan join. And Beresheet’s, once it lands on the lunar surface, has another distinction worth mentioning because it will be the first private-sector landing on the lunar surface in history.
It’s not hard to understand why this club has so few members. For one thing, it’s a really long ways off—the moon is about 239,000 miles away from the earth. And it’s a journey fraught with dangers and difficulties. And it costs a fortune to undertake a project like this—the price tag for the Beresheet mission is a cool $100 million, and that is the least amount ever spent to send a landing craft to the moon. (Could that detail be related to the fact that this will be the first lunar landing not paid for by a government spending money it prints up itself? I wonder!) Of special interest to me personally, though, is the list of digitized items Beresheet is going to leave on the moon for future visitors—perhaps even some eventually not from Earth—to ponder: details about the spacecraft and the crew that built it, an Israeli flag, a copy of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, dictionaries in 27 languages and all of Wikipedia, the memoirs of a Shoah survivor, a Hebrew-language Bible, recordings of the most popular Israeli songs, and some children’s drawings inspired by the mission. Just thinking about someone from a distant galaxy coming across this one day and trying to puzzle through all that data is intoxicating!
Things seem to be going well; the spacecraft sent home its first selfie just the other day, looking over its own shoulder at itself and the earth behind it from a distance of about 37,600 miles. (If you look carefully, you can see the outlines of South America and Australia.)
But all of this excitement regarding Beresheet has awakened another set of emotions in me as well. This summer will be the fiftieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon. Last December marked the fiftieth anniversary of Apollo 8, in the course of which the first picture of “earthrise” was snapped when Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders became the first human beings to leave low earth orbit, reach the moon, orbit it, and then return to earth safely. There’s a “Beresheet” moment in this story as well: Apollo 8 orbited the moon ten times, in the course of which they made their memorable recording of the first verses in Genesis and Astronaut Anders took his now famous picture of the earth rising out of the black of space.
What happened to our need to discover? The incredible successes of the mid-twentieth century, which included Project Mercury, which sent the first American into space; Project Gemini, which first brought astronauts into space for an extended period of time; the Apollo program, which brought astronauts to the moon and back; the Skylab program, which put our nation’s first space station into orbit; the Space Shuttle program, which endured two terrible tragedies but nonetheless succeeded in bringing reusable spacecrafts into the picture—all of these were enormous scientific, intellectual, and cultural achievements. But somewhere along the way, we seem to have to lose our way.
NASA still exists, of course. We continue to play a leadership role in the International Space Station, although our astronauts travel there and back on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. There are all sorts of research missions underway to Mars and beyond. But the idea of human-led exploration itself—the principled willingness to send people to go where no one has ever gone and to do things that no one has ever done, thus to make more great leaps forward for humankind in the Armstrongian sense—that feels as though it has somehow vanished from the American psyche. The last American to stand on the moon, Eugene A. Cernan, was mission commander of Apollo 17, which went to the moon and returned in 1972. Apollo 18, 19, and 20 were cancelled due to budget cuts.
Mentioning the Space Shuttle program makes me rethink my comment above about the “where we were and what we were doing” moments in our lives, because I remember—and clearly—where I was in and what I was doing in 1986 when Challenger broke apart just seconds after take-off and all seven crew members died and where I was on February 1, 2003, when Columbia disintegrated upon re-entering the earth’s atmosphere, which disaster took the life of all seven of its crew members as well. (There’s an Israel connection there too, of course, because the sole non-American on board was Colonel Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.)
But those disasters only made us more eager to succeed and, indeed the Space Shuttle program continued until 2011, by the end flying off on 133 successful missions involving 833 crew members (including the fourteen who died on the Challenger and the Columbia). And then we lost interest. Or it feels as though we have. And that is why the launch of Beresheet, for all it excites me, also unnerves me a bit by forcing me to wonder where our American sense of pioneering, of derring-do, of courage in the face of incredible obstacles, of exploration of the unknown, where all that went to? I suppose lots of people can think of lots of better uses for all that money—and the expenses involved were, to use the term literally for once, astronomical. But what price tag can or should we put on the sense that we are actively engaged in setting out on new paths, including ones on which no human being has ever travelled? Or that we are not wrapping up the search for knowledge in the universe, but only beginning to fathom what it is we don’t know about…everything? Underlying the need to explore, after all, is a foundation of humility born of the conviction that knowing how little we know can and should energize us to step further into the seductive unknown rather than retreat into blissful unknowing like timid children.
On one of the Saturday nights after the appearance of the new moon in the nighttime sky each month, we at Shelter Rock gather outside to recite the ancient prayer called Kiddush Levanah, the Sanctification of the Moon. Taking the moon as the embodiment of the unattainable, we use the sight of its return to the nighttime sky as an opportunity to renew our commitment to seeking to know the Creator through the contemplation of Creation. As I look up at the sliver of moon in the dark, I occasionally think of that night long ago in Vermont when I lay on a blanket and looked up at the moon as the first man in history took some first tentative steps onto its surface. It’s that precise sense of courage mixed with awe and, yes, humility, that I wish we could summon up again in our American psyche to remind us that there really is no upper limit to what we can dream of doing.
0 notes
Text
Easy Rituals
As promised, for @choosyfruit.
++
Any minute now… there it was. The station’s retrojets came online, adjusting the orbit. When he looked out the window, the jets made a rainbow against the flare of the sun along the axis of the station.
Ezra came to watch this every day, or at least that’s what people thought. No, no: that was true, but it wasn’t quite like that. He did it once when he was in a particularly bad mood and it had lifted his spirits in that particular moment… but a moment gets associated with a place and a ritual before too long. No matter how far he came, Ezra found himself always stumbling whiskey-breath and dutch-courage into some new ritual.
Anyway, someone had spotted him here once or twice trying to recapture that soothing feeling, watching the rainbow jets gently correct the taurus’ rotation, and they had assumed he ‘came here every day’. He thought he might as well.
“Easy!” Came Adrian’s voice up the corridor. “Knew I’d find you here, mate: predictable.”
“Aww, you know I left you a trail of bread crumbs, but those damn rats.”
“No rats here, idiot!”
“Then what happened to my bread crumbs?” Ezra slapped his face, feigning enough worry to get a pretty solid chuckle out of Adrian. The other soldier activated his omni-tool and checked the time, but Ezra was already yawning and sidling vaguely in the direction of the living quarters with plenty of time to actually make for the atrium…
“Alright mate, you gotta help me with this phase inverter assembly.” Adrian stepped after, “I’m never gonna remember all these pieces unless you drill ‘em with me.”
“Kiminsky,” Ezra turned on his heal, put his hands on the taller man’s shoulders, as if confiding some deep secret in him, then gently rocked Adrian’s body until he earned a smile. “Of all the things I would ever stay up for,” he snickered to himself and began again in a haughty voice. “Of all the things I would ever deny myself a beauty sleep for, drilling phase assembly components with you would be… just the caviar or drills. Just the pinnacle of distractions. But I’m tired as hell, man, I’m sorry.”
“Aw, come on, Easy!” Adrian followed after when Ezra began making for the living quarters again. “You know you’re gonna stay up watching that stupid vid in your bunk for the next hour, anyway!”
“Yes, well helping you is the caviar of distractions, but watching ‘Grex and Ponshoo’ is the lobster thermadore. This little red hen requires a full meal.”
“What the hell are you even—“
“A. Kiminsky it’s not that I don’t love you, but I’m leaving the program once I’m through this course, so you’re going to need to learn to figure things out.”
Adrian stopped abruptly and Ezra frowned to himself before mustering a cheeky-chubby-mystery smile and turning to face his friend.
“You’re not gonna be a ship engineer?”
“No, I’m transferring to field tactics and tech.”
“How the hell’d you get the clearance for that?”
Ezra shrugged, crossed his arms. Adrian would say it for him in a minute…
“Course you did,” Adrian scoffed, hands on hips, “Everything’s so fuckin’ easy for you, huh, mate?”
“I mean, come on, I’m good with tech! Have you seen me dance? Try to cook? Good-with-an-omni-tool is the universe making up for the shit childhood!”
Adrain didn’t seem to be paying attention.
“…are you switching programs for that guy?” he smirked.
“Which guy?” But Ezra knew.
“THE guy?” Adriand laughed.
“I mean , he is in Field, yeah.” Ezra rolled his eyes, forced his arms uncrossed, forced his shoulders casual. He just knew people were going to say he had a crush, some people just didn’t understand friendship. “I dunno, I’ve only wanted to work on a drive-core for like a year anyway, it’s not like I’m making some radical change.”
“It’s who you’re making it for, Easy, m’boy!” Adrian crowed. Ezra snorted.
“Kiminsky, you dime-store chuckle-fuck idiot-burlesque, I will never help your sideshow-ass with a single ‘nother tech assessment if you do not check your goddamn tone this second.”
“Jesus, Easy, you are wound up about this dude, huh?”
It was going to be really hard to meet up in the atrium after getting grilled by Pvt. Adrian Kiminsky of all people about what a crush he had. Ezra felt it shouldn’t really bother him at all to rebuff Kiminsky’s speculation then go on and have a good meet-up in the atrium, but he just knew it’d be awkward on his end.
“I told you, Kiminsky, I am tired. You caught me out of my armor. You’ve disarmed me. Your razor wit and perception have left me a stuttering wreck. I’m at your mercy, you eagle-eyed scion. I am in LOVE with this soldier. It’s gonna be forever.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Adrian brushed the sarcasm aside, still chuckling. “But seriously, he’s pretty hot—don’t you think? He’s an attractive dude, right?”
“Sure of course,” thank god, Adrian seemed to be dropping it. The way shaking off a rumor made his face hot always made Ezra uncomfortable. “But we’re like, friends! For a while now. That ship has sailed and neither of us were even on the pier.”
Then Ezra thought about it…
And that was a mistake, because now those shoulders and that smile and that stubbled chin had a foothold in his mind. He could very easily think about that being his man’s stubbled chin et al. He could think about that laugh laughing at all the dumbest jokes he planned in his head and never said out loud. He could think about the way he looked when he was tired, could imagine calming his man down at the end of the day and navigating the way they might flop around until it felt right for one of them to be the big spoon…
Nope. Think about it later.
“Well,” Ezra forced a yawn. “Yuck it up, varren-chow, but I’m off.”
He left Adrian and made to meet Shepard in the atrium.
But it was too late. His head was full of all the little rituals he longed for despite himself.
Shepard had already done so much as his friend to stabilize his course, and he’d done the same—he liked to think—for Shepard. It was ‘easy’ for Ezra to go down that rabbit hole again and again, until imagining him and Shepard became a little ritual of its own by the time he walked to the atrium-side of the station, afflicted with the terrible thought:
‘Why not?’
#character sketch#original characters#de facto love february#de facto love february 2017#in love#Ezra#mass effect#choosyfruit#Shepard#pre-game#experiment
9 notes
·
View notes
Text
Pictured Rocks to Blind Sucker Campground, August 2016
Before the photos, it might be helpful to understand how I came to backpack the Pictured Rocks...
I’m a member of the “Michigan Hiking and Backpacking” Facebook group. One day in July 2016, a guy named Matt posted photos and a trip report to the group from his solo NCT hikes in and around Wilderness State Park. I was doing a little hiking and thought it might be fun to make more friends that are also interested in hiking/backpacking and camping. So, I commented on his post that I’d be interested in joining him on a hike if he ever wanted company. We chatted back and forth for a couple of days and he mentioned that he already had a backpacking trip to the Pictured Rocks planned and that he was looking for someone to join him.
We chatted a lot about the details of the trip mostly via text message. Matt is a strong planner and very good with details (I’m less effective than Matt on both fronts). He had already hiked a few hundred NCT miles by this point and had a great sense of what he wanted to accomplish with the trip. He essentially had the whole trip planned and invited me to join. I couldn’t believe my luck!
Matt and I didn’t even speak by phone before the trip. All of our communications were text message and Facebook messages. We both drove up to the U.P. late the night before our first day. I slept in my car at Straits State Park and he slept in his car at a truck Stop. We agreed to meet early for breakfast at Big Boy in St. Ignace. It was probably one of the most outgoing (at least out of my comfort zone) things I’ve done in recent memory. I walked into Big Boy wondering if I was about to have breakfast with a serial killer. I’m sure Matt probably thought something similar about me.
Seriously, it seemed a little crazy. I drove 250 miles to spend a week in the woods camping with a guy I’d never actually met (or even spoke to on a phone.) We seemed to get along pretty well from the beginning. That week turned out to be a great adventure. Matt and I have since hiked more than 200 miles together on the NCT....
After breakfast, we drove to the Blind Sucker State Forest Campground. We hiked the “Blind Sucker Pathway”. It is a loop that includes a few miles of the NCT and some trail along the Lake Superior shore. It was beautiful and I think I fell in love with hiking in the U.P. that day. The views of Lake Superior were amazing and got even better on subsequent days.
The next day, we drove to the Grand Sable Visitor Center in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We picked up our permits, left our cars and caught our shuttle to the Munising Visitor Center. From there, we headed into the park to start our adventure hiking eastward.
Grand Island was ever present in the distance for the first 20 miles of the trip. (The land you can see through the trees below is Grand Island.)
These steps were quite the luxury. In most places, it is all hiker stairs...(roots and rocks.)
Matt decided to get high for this pic. (I’m more leery of heights.)
The river just beyond the Miner’s Castle visitor center: The color of the water in U.P. steams is almost always kind of rusty. The ground water there contains tannin and the color adds to the spectacular array of interesting aspects of the wilderness.
This photo is taken from Miner’s Beach.
There are so many fantastic overlooks and views of the rocks from the trail. This trail is definitely one of my most favorite that I have ever hiked.
The Pictured Rocks Cruise Boats and colorful kayaks were also ever present. They come by every few hours.
This is the mouth of the Mosquito River. We spent our first night camped at the Mosquito River Camp Ground. We had a great camp site with easy access to the river for water. I absolutely love this section of the park. I had day hiked to the Mosquito River a couple of years prior and loved it. It was very exciting to get to backpack there and stay the night.
Broader perspective of the Mosquito River.
The river mouth at dusk.
As the evening wore on, our chance at a full sunset was overtaken by storm clouds rolling in overhead.
Quick shot of me...
You have to look really closely in the photo below, but there is a bald eagle flying just below the tree line at the top of the rocks just left of center.
Matt sitting atop the rocks.
Matt on top of the rocks.
Grand Portal Point is one of my favorite spots along the trail. It is one of the best views on the whole trail, in my opinion.
Chapel Beach looking West.
Chapel Rock. This is one of the best known spots on the trail and yet somehow, I managed to not get any “great” photos of it. This is the best shot I took that shows the whole thing.
The tree on top of Chapel Rock. (See the root leaving the rock below on the middle-right?)
Going from memory, so I’m not completely sure, but I think this is spray falls.
We spent the second night at the Beaver Creek campground. Beaver Creek is below.
There were some bears around, but about all we saw was their leavings.
Beaver Lake in the Beaver Basin Wilderness.
This is the trail from the Beaver Creek Campground to the Beaver Lake.
Camping at Beaver Creek gave me one my favorite sunsets on the trip.
Different perspective, same sunset.
We spent our last night of our Pictured Rocks trip at the Au Sable campground. We were lucky to get there early enough to get to take the lighthouse tour.
A shot from the top of the lighthouse taken during the tour. We were able to walk around the outside of the top.
The Au Sable Light at dusk.
I loved this artifact in one of the buildings at the light station.
Grand Sable Dunes.
The “Log Slide” atop the dunes.
From the top of the dunes looking back at the Au Sable Light. (The little white structure in the photo.)
Me at the completion of the Pictured Rocks hike with the Grand Sable Visitor Center in the background. We finished the Pictured Rocks section on the 100th birthday of the National Park Service. The Park Service provided some very tasty cookies at the visitor center in celebration of its birthday. (They were extra yummy after four days of backpacking food.)
We continued along the trail past the Visitor Center to the Grand Sable Falls. The falls are between the Visitor Center and Grand Marais.
We hiked this a different day, but I moved the photos to match the geographical order. We actually hiked the beach from Grand Marais to the Falls and then back. It was only a mile or so, but it was tough hiking in sand.
This little guy was at the Grand Marais harbor light.
The Grand Marais Harbor Light.
We continued east of Grand Marais towards the Blind Sucker Campground.
This is the Blind Sucker River along the trail. After leaving Pictured Rocks, we spent a night in a hotel in Newberry to get cleaned up. The next night, we moved back outside to stay at the Blind Sucker State Forest Campground (#2). We had a great spot with only a couple of neighbors at the far end of the campground. The campground features large wooded sites with pretty good separation between most sites. Many sites have direct access to the river/lake.
The trail makes its way to the Lake Superior shore in several places along the way. By far, some of my favorite moments on the trail were in the places like this where so few people will ever make their way to see the beautiful views.
One of my least favorite spots was a large section that had been logged. I’m not against logging, but this section was hot without tree cover and it had lots of limbs/litter on the ground that were hard on the feet. We were at least hoping to scare up a bear somewhere in these big open spaces, but alas...no luck....
One of my favorite spots was this little two-track. We saw paw-prints through this space of a mama bear and a cub or two.
Matt has eagle eyes. He spotted so many critters like this little chipmunk along the way. I didn’t even notice most of them until he pointed them out.
Follow the blue blazes.
This gorgeous sunset was taken near the Lake Superior State Forest Campground. I didn’t alter the color in any way. It was a beautiful sunset that we caught as we were driving back to the campground after finishing a hike.
The last section that we hiked was the craziest. It was six or seven miles that ran from the Lake Superior Campground to the western edge of Muskellunge Lake State Park. It hadn’t been maintained in a while. There were literally sections of the trail that had eroded into the lake. Other sections were so overgrown that we were constantly battling our way through the leaves and branches. In many spots, Matt could be twenty feet ahead of me on the trail and I couldn’t see him at all because of all of the overgrown vegetation. It made for an adventurous day of digging our way through the woods. I don’t have much in the way of photos because the trail was kinda bad and I put the camera in a case to focus on finding my way safely. I think it was my least favorite section of the trip.
The photo below was after we finished for the week and were about to head home. It was the selfie to mark our successful week. I’m not sure I’d recommend to everyone to head off to the wilderness with someone you meet online, but I’m really glad I did in this case. Matt and I have hiked several times since this trip including spending another week in the U.P. in October 2016 that covered even more NCT miles. I’ve had so much fun with the adventure, that Matt has inspired me to want to hike even more of the NCT. I’ll be adding more miles in 2017, some with Matt and others and some solo. I’ll definitely be doing the 2017 #Hike100NCT challenge.
This is me walking in to work the next Monday after the trip....Do I look happy? I just keep repeating to myself: “Working pays for hiking trips.”
Rocky’s Recommendations:
1. There’s a common Internet meme that reads, “The comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” I’m happy that I was more adventurous than my usual self. It turned out to be a great experience. I left my comfort zone, made a new friend, had a fun adventure and continue to look forward to future adventures. If you decide to head off into the woods with someone you meet online, perhaps let another friend know your plans and check in with friend on pre-planned intervals so they can send the calvary, if needed.
2. The Pictured Rocks are stunning, but they are also one of the most busy backpacking destinations in Michigan. Go. See it. Enjoy yourself, but know that you will likely not be alone or find a lot of solitude in the campgrounds. I like solitude, but this trip was so epic that I didn’t mind the “cozy” campgrounds full of adventurers. If you are serious about your solitude, the trail east of Grand Marais is a little less scenic, but much quieter and much less traveled.
3. Dispersed camping is not permitted in the Pictured Rocks. All campsites require a reservation. New in 2017, reservations are made online using the web site: https://recreation.gov
4. If you’re a person who “needs” a campfire, know that most camp sites in this park either do not permit fires or only permit a single fire at each campground in a communal fire ring. Each camp site at Blind Sucker had a fire ring.
5. The latrines at the campgrounds we visited are, well, not very well placed for privacy. They are essentially a seat that is next to a tree. Some of the campgrounds have a nearby group camp site. If the group site is unoccupied, you’ll have more privacy if you make your way to the group site latrine. The camp ground at Mosquito had outhouses, but they smelled so terrible, that I just wanted to avoid them. There is a port-a-john at the Au Sable Light House that is about half a mile from the Au Sable camp ground.
6. We enjoyed a beer and burger at the Lake Superior Brewing Company after our hike. The food was good! Stop by and give it a try, but expect it to be busy since it’s the only game in town.
7. Stop by Grand Marais Outfitters. They have a lot of cool stuff, but when I was last there in October of 2016, they sold cool t-shirts with an NCT blue blaze. If you’re an NCT hiker, it’s a cool souvenir option to remember your trip.
8. We spent a night in the Quality Inn in Newberry mid-week. The room was clean and comfortable for a reasonable price.
9. We had a great burger at the Newberry Country Club Woodland Grill/Bar. (It was a quick walk across the road from the Quality Inn.) If you’re in Newberry and hungry for a burger, I’d highly recommend you give them a try. I was a bit leery when our burgers were served on triangle-ish shaped buns, but wow were they tasty.
10. I snore obnoxiously. I always take a container of disposable ear plugs with me when I’m hiking/backpacking so that I can offer them to others that are sleeping near my camp. The earplugs may help keep the peace at night and in the daytime.
11. We used TrailSpotters to shuttle us the 40ish miles from Grand Marais to Munising so that we could then hike back to our cars. The driver was friendly and knowledgeable. The drive went by quickly and I recommend the shuttle service. They also offer emergency pickup/assistance for a much higher fee.
Questions? (Corrections?) Don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
#picturedrocks#lakesuperior#upperpeninsula#hiking#backpacking#beaverbasinwilderness#beavercreek#ausable#mosquitoriver#muskellungelake#grandmarais#camping#puremichigan
1 note
·
View note
Text
Thursday 13th Busselton
First night very cold min 3.8 and 5.1 @ 7am!
Next door had tv loud and bit noise for short time at 5.30am but settled. I forgot ear plugs so definitely getting some today.
RAC accomodation nothing to write home about but aircon effective and I was nice and warm! Place is on the non sea side of Caves road so I need to find the beach. Next time will find somewhere closer to the beach.
Yesterday nice drive down and stopped Pinjarra (bakery),Coolup (to eat my purchase for lunch),drive around Yarloop, stop Harvey and then on to Busselton. Quick orientation drive around Busselton and shop for dinner and back here by 5pm. Quiet evening.
The car (Kia Serato)
It is full of technology I haven’t had time to learn. I think I should read the manual. It is nice but not impressive. Has a big boot,comfortable seats but seems to have more road noise than I expected.
Left about 9.40hrs and stopped Dunsborough for brekky burger at local place for late breakfast. Drizzle leaving Busselton but beautiful and sunny at Dunsborough and on way. Still cold.
Had a fantastic brunch in Dunsborough! A breakfast roll but so tasty and very Dunsborough 😁.
Drove most of the day and went to see Cape Naturalist and stopped off at Eagle Bay,Bunker bay and Meelup. Loved Meelup and Bunker but eagle bay verybuilt up. Then drove to Yallingup where while I was driving around it started pouring with rain so I sat in the car looking out over the ocean while it poured. It was really cool and I love doing that sort of thing. From then on the weather was unbelievable. Sunny, 18degrees slight breeze and no flies. Even the locals particularly at Cape Leeuwin said it was the best day weather wise for a while. I certainly picked the perfect day to do my big touring day!
It was getting late and I had originally decided to do Augusta tomorrow but a chance turn got me onto the Caves road tourist drive. 110kms of absolutely stunning trees and scenery. I love my trees and winding country roads and I got it all with good weather to boot. I ended up going to Augusta and out to the Leeuwin light house and it was ideal and beautiful. Really looked it’s best with no wind, warm but not hot and no flies!!
I then headed back via Margaret River. However the road through it is cut off ie Bussell Highway and the detours pretty well non existent! I stopped at the first open shop and it was the fudge and chocolate shop. The universe was smiling on me as apart from goodies a very helpful and lovely young shop assistant gave me simple written instructions to get back on the Bussel Highway and they involved turning left,right or straight through roundabouts so even I could follow them. So back safely except having successfully done all that driving and navigating so well I managed to overshoot the entry to the RAC place I am staying in and had to consult google to get back!!
Anyway have a bag full of fudge and a red wine so all up a successful and very pleasant day.
Friday 14th Busselton
Min was 6.3 at 10pm last night and 7.3 0600 this am. Had a quiet morning incl going to beach for a walk. I also had a good walk around the RAC site I am staying at. I have to say it is really great. It is large ,lots lawn,trees, wetlands and lots of room for kids stuff. Eg footy,basketball,BMX track, kids areas, barbecues, swimming pool. Really the sort of place ideal for families. The beach is just across the highway and best to drive but still close if you want to go. Although most kids can satisfy themselves without leaving the park. Even parents can sit on the lawn or strategically placed seats and read or generally chill. The wetlands have a little bridge. I have seen ducks on the water but also surprisingly I have seen them fly short distances and land on a tree branch! Didn’t realise they did that!
Later decided to go back to Margaret River and Cowaramup as I had just driven through them the day before. I loved Cowaramup. It has a lovely park, and is such a pretty place. It also has lollie and choc shops, what more can you ask. I seem to gravitate to those shops🤣🤣. As I was driving saw the turn off to Gracetown so on a whim went there. Lovely beach area and the “beach” for Cowaramup. Sat and read there for a while and decided not to go into Margaret River but to find Prevelly Beach (the beach associated with Margaret River. It is stunning both in its natural attributes ie waves, reefs and rocks but also the level of thoughtful development of the site. Obviously there are big crowds for the surf competitions and the development of the area seems to be aimed at managing this and protecting the area. Again I had Fantastic weather. Only a couple of sun shower, otherwise warm(18) sunny and breeze only.
Saturday 15th Bussleton
Today is wet and windy as predicted. I originally thought I would be driving to Albany today but it is actually tomorrow. I am hoping my luck holds and the weather will be less wild tomorrow for my drive. Today will be a largely at home day. Plan to read and do quiet stuff whilst looking out at the lovely peppermint trees and lawns through my big glass door. Feeling very cosy when the rain and wind starts!
Sunday 16th Drive to Albany
Well my good fortune continues and the weather whilst still some showers is much improved and looks like a good day for a drive. As usual I made it up as I went along with regards to where I stopped. My main target was to get to Albany by 5pm to be well off the roads before sunset and the Roos! Headed off toward Nannup. You know it will be good if you get a good parking place and I did! What a lovely place and I managed to arrive for their open garden and Tulip and flower festival. Had a lovely walk around including to the park and river. Very picturesque. I didn’t realise how pretty and quite big the town actually was. Then headed off for Manjimup . Again much bigger than I realised and the drives to all these places are just beautiful the winding roads, beautiful big trees and landscapes and so much water! Although roads are not always highway size they are pretty good and traffic was very light indeed. Even if you get caught behind a slow driver the views and landscape make it easy to just log with the flow! Had lunch at Manjimup and decided to do a quick sorte into Pemberton. Again much bigger and well resourced. Would love to have done many of the drives I saw plus other activities and go to Peaceful Bay. However as in all my trips I always see more I want to do but just can’t fit it in. At least being in WA I have a better than usual chance of getting back and doing some of them! It was then on to Albany via Walpole and Denmark. I didn’t stop at either but am planning to go back while I am here and try and see as much as I can. I arrived in Albany or at least Big4 Park Middleton Beach a bit before 4pm. The park is only a set of dunes away from Middleton Beach. I have a little cabin, very close to the entrance and I just cross the internal road and I am at the dunes across which I walk to the beach. I would love to have walked but the showers were coming and I am tired so will do another day. My little cabin is well appointed and freestanding so no shared walls like at Busselton. However the heating is a gas fan heater which is pretty inadequate given the temps max out at 13 and I suspect there is no insulation. However in their defence there is an electric blanket on the bed! Fortunately I planned for such an eventuality and am prepared to manage the heating or lack thereof! The cooling is only ceiling fans so I assume they expect you to use the beach to cool off.
The whole place seems to be better kept than RAC Busselton.
Monday 17th Albany
Woke to rain wind and cold! Good thing I had planned to do some planning for the weeks activities and housekeeping tasks with maybe a drive. It is currently 10am and the rain just keeps rolling through so will see how the pm goes.
11am temp 10.3 and feels like temp according to BOM is 4! Heavy rain with little gaps (very unpredictable!) and gale force winds on the sea! Seems going to be the same for tomorrow. Have whale watching booked for Wednesday 🤞.
Spent day reading, housekeeping bits and shopped for food. Finally about 3pm the rain seemed to be lest frequent and heavy but wind still high. Went for drive and look at emu point and then int the town, down to the harbour area and the new Entertainment Centre. Really wild winds and seas and I had to hold on not to be blown off (or that’s what it felt like!). Then drove to Frenchman’s point and out to the Whaling station. Just sat and watched the seas as have been to the station several times. Lots side roads to go down but given the gale force winds and bouts rain I thought it safer to head home. However did do a stop at salmon holes. I love standing looking at wild seas and wild coastline in high winds! Something primeval about it! Anyway got home just before 5pm. Winds still very strong but rain does seem to be less frequent. Predicted to be gale force and rain again tomorrow. Might go inland to Mt Barker tomorrow.
Good news is I have managed to coax the heater to maintain about 20degrees so pleasant in here today.
Tuesday 18th Albany
Another very wet day but wind not so bad. Decided to do drive to Mt Barker and back through Porongarup. The scenery was not exciting for me and the weather was so rainy that had to concentrate on driving. The drive between Mt Barker and Porongarup down to the Chester Pass Rd (different way back to Albany) was nice. There are 2 draw backs doing a driving holiday on your own. One is that it it’s hard to really get a good look at the scenery when you are driving. Secondly, especially in the areas I have been travelling in, you can’t pop in and sample at the very many wineries you come across!
Just spent the afternoon at the Nation Anzac Centre and surrounds. Dodged the rain but managed to see most everything without getting wet! I even climbed the Mt Clarence Summit and saw Padre White Lookout and the Desert Mounted Corp memorial. The views are magnificent and they make the memorials more poignant especially with the information signs all around. Also saw the Princess Royal Fortress buildings and the Convoy Lookout plus HMAS museum. Unfortunately the weather didn’t en outrage any walks but might be able to do them later in the week, weather permitting.
Wednesday 19th Albany
Today first morning I woke to no rain. Wind down and looked good but couple showers but by 9am all clear. Went out on a whale watch cruise, no whales but a wonderful day on the water. You see so much and from different perspective to seeing from the land. I was out on the deck for the full 4hrs and despite freezing wind and roughing seas it was worth it. I love rough water and this was 3-4mtr swell and 2-3mtre seas so lots of flying up and bumping down. I had an ideal spot with handhold to stand, seat behind and just back from the big sprays. Being a Cattereran water can blow up right in the middle! We did not have any rain and the sun shone albeit the wind was biting. Still out in the Southern Ocean it is to be expected. All round an exhilarating trip! Even better is that the company gives you a free pass to come again if you haven’t seen whales! It can be used any time so they must be pretty confident of whales. Apparently this is the first time this season they haven’t seen whales. This is also usually the best time of year to see them. As the sound is very murky and there is a lot of fresh water flowing in post the storms in last 2 days I assume this has caused the whales to change their habits!
Came home full of energy so decided to go for a walk-in the Ellen Cove Boardwalk however it has been closed all week for works. Will have to see if I can do bits that are accessible other than from Middleton Beach. I did go down to the bit of Middleton Beach I can access from the Park and which I had seen for a quick look when I came here first on Sunday. What a difference the 2 + days of storms and gales makes. There is significant erosion and unbelievable amounts of seaweed on the beach!some of it was shaped like anthills!
Thursday 20th Albany
It is 8am and 8degrees having dropped to 5 overnight, overcast and light drizzle. For the first time for as long as I can remember I am actually wearing my thermals! Certainly makes you warmer without bulk. I have only been wearing the tops but on the boat yesterday I wished I had on the thermal leggings as well! My fore into some lighter clothes was misplaced for sure! Despite all the weather issues it has not stopped me doing what I want and in fact is quiet exhilarating! Today I will do my best to dodge the rain and go out to blowholes, natural bridge etc which are all turnoffs from the Frenchman’s bay road and which I missed when I drove out a few days ago because it was getting late and the wind was very strong. Didn’t want to get blown off a cliff🤣.
This trip has been a series of personal indulgences, which it was intended to be. I have eaten what I want, read when I want,watched DVD’s, seen what I want when I want and indulged myself generally. No worries or need to consider others, no routines to be kept. This has been my idea of a holiday! Hopefully I will feel regenerated on my return home and ready to face the challenges.
Drove out and saw all the places on the Frenchman’s bay road I missed including a drive out to the old Quarnaup quarantine station which is now a sport and rec camp. I couldn’t get in but the views on the way up are wonderful. I did see the whole complex from the sea yesterday and it looks like it has really been done up. In th e shallow water close to the headland it sits on is a wreck, of Cheynes 2, which after a bit of a chequered career post whaling seems so have drifted from a government mooring during a storm and ended up where it is. Scuttlebutt says the boat may have been helped on its way by th e government department who didn’t know what to do with it!
I then went to the Gap and the Natural bridge both of which I have seen a few times. However this time it was very different. They have a magnificent new panther, viewing platforms etc for bot with the one at the gap cantilevered over the gap. So much safer and allows great views without risk!
I did go to the blowholes which I have also seen but piked it as the steps down were steep and others had said they weren’t blowing anyway. I then went to 2 places I don’t remember seeing before and both were well worth seeing with easily accessible and amazing views. The weather for my morning trips was sunny and dry and absolute calm wind and ocean. Just glorious to enjoy these views. The 2 places were Stony Hill and Jimmy Newells Harbour.my last stop was to the little town of Goodes Beach which is just before the whaling station turn and opposite side of the road. This is a very modern and pretty upmarket place given the homes and the general are. The beach was one of the many which are currently covered in mountains of seaweed courtesy of the storms but looks to be a nice beach.
On a whim I decided to take a turning off Frenchman’s bay road called lower Denmark road as there were 2 places I had seen on the map I was curious about. Both are approximately 29km from Albany. One was Mutton Bird. It is a lovely beach with no seaweed, if a bit out of the way. There is some 4 wheel driving tracks around and accomodation not too far away. The other which I think is a great family place but tucked away is Cosy Corner. Has good accommodation and there is a camping area closer to the beach. The beach is gorgeous, easy to access, has toilets and some wonderful shady areas and picnic and barbecue facilities. It would be my pick! Mutton Bird and Cosy Corner are about 5 kms apart. I have had perfect weather today which just turned to wet as I was driving back home for a late lunch. My good fortune continues!
Friday 21st Albany
My last day in Albany! Weather sunny if still cold but good day to do some of the walks I have had to postpone due to the weather.
Just took just under an hour to walk on a very pretty walk trail between Middleton Beach and emu point. Lovely Bush, flowers and birds. Generally flat with lots seats along the way for the weary and several beach access openings if you want to detour. The walk is west to east so was walking into the sun but the Bush gives a lot of shade. The end point is the Emu Point Cafe so perfect as started immediately outside my cabin! This weather is ideal for these sort of walks. Cool and sunny. The sea is calm as is the wind. Am now sitting having morning tea looking out over the water at Emu Point. Upped the pace going back and did it in 46mins! Certainly not feeling cold in fact the first time I have raised a sweat since I left Perth!
Saturday 22nd The drive home to Perth
Up early to 7degrees but sunny. Set off 8.10 with intention of doing a bit of zig zagging to see a few places on way home . Idea was to Kojonup, across to Katanning up to Narrogin then back across to Williams and home. However turned off toward Katanning before Kojonup and saw Cranbrook, Broomehill, tambellup, and saw magnificent fields of gold as paddock after paddock of bright yellow Canola. Stopped at Katanning 1005 for morning tea.
Great drive home. Sunny and lovely drive.
Seeing my own state was low on my holiday list 6months ago but now I see so many possibilities. We do tend to ignore what is right in front of us and take our beautiful state for granted. At least one positive outcome from the consequences of the virus.
0 notes
Text
Maldives North & South Male Atolls
Maldives North & South Male Atolls
North South Maldives
Maldives North and South Male Atolls
At the centre of the country, the two atolls either side of Vaadhoo Kandu are the focal point of Maldivian tourism, where the first resorts cautiously developed in the 1970s. Today they’re home to the Maldives’ main international airport as well as many of the country’s most famous and best-established island resorts.
The lively national capital, Male’, the economic and political centre of the country, lies between North and South Male’ Atolls, and yet it’s hard to imagine anywhere much more pristine than the islands that surround its bustle. The nature of Maldivian geography means that, once you leave the area around the capital and the airport, you’re immediately in a desert island paradise, even in the most developed part of the country.
Some excellent dive sites are found on these atolls, despite the coral bleaching caused by El Niño back in the 1990s. Some of the most interesting sites are on either side of Vaadhoo Kandu, the channel that runs between North and South Male’ Atolls. At the outer edge of the atolls, the dive sites are accessible from only a few resorts or by safari boat, and you’ll probably have them all to yourself. Gaafaru Falhu Atoll, north of North Male’ Atoll, has at least three diveable shipwrecks. Some of the Maldives ‘best surf breaks are also in North Male’ Atoll and this is home to a small, seasonal surfer scene.
North and South Male’ Atolls will be where most people experience the Maldives and both atolls are stunning visions of cobalt-blue water, white sand and island idyll – both worthy introductions to this extraordinary paradise.
ATOLLS NORTH & SOUTH MALE
NORTH MALE’ ATOLL North and South Male Atolls together are officially known as Kaafu Administrative District. The capital island is Thulusdhoo, on the eastern edge of North Male’ Atoll, with a population of about 1150. Male’ itself is not the capital as it is considered to be its own administrative district.
Thulusdhoo is an industrious island, known for bodu beru (big drums), traditional dancing and a government warehouse for salted fish. It is also unique for its Coca-Cola factory, the only one in the world where the drink is made from desalinated water.
The island of Huraa (population 850) is visited by tourists on island-hopping trips, but it’s not yet as touristy as other North Male’ islands. Huraa’s dynasty of sultans, founded in 1759 by Sultan Al-Ghaazi Hassan Izzaddeen, built a mosque on the island.
Many tourists visit Himmafushi (population 1000) on excursions arranged from nearby resorts. The main street has two long rows of shops, where you can pick up some of the least expensive souvenirs in the country. Carved rosewood manta rays, sharks and dolphins are made locally. If you wander into the back streets, you quickly get away from the tourist strip to find an attractive, well-kept village with many modern amenities, including an attractive cemetery with coral headstones.
A sand spit has joined Himmafushi to the once separate island of Gaamaadhoo, where there used to be a prison. The surf break here, aptly called Jailbreaks, is a great right-hander, accessible by boat from nearby resorts.
Further north, Dhiffushi is one of the most appealing local islands, with approximately 760 people, three mosques and two schools.
Mainly a fishing island, it has lots of greenery and grows several types of tropical fruit. Tourists from Meeru Island Resort are regular visitors.
Sights & Activities
DIVING
North Male’ Atoll has been well explored by divers and has some superb dives. Some are heavily dived, especially in peak seasons. The following is just a sample of the best-known sites, listed from north to south.
Helengeli Thila, also called Bodu Thila, is a long narrow Thila on the eastern edge of the atoll famous for its prolific marine life. Reef fish include surgeonfish, bannerfish, butterflyfish and dense schools of snapper and fusilier. Larger fish and pelagics are also common – sharks, tuna, rays and jacks. Soft corals are spectacular in the cliffs and caves on the west side of the Thila at about 25m. The large hard coral formations here are recovering from coral bleaching quite quickly, possibly because of the strong, nutrient-rich currents.
Also called Saddle, or Kuda Faru, Shark Point is in a Protected Marine Area and is subject to strong currents. Lots of whitetip and grey reef sharks can be seen in the channel between a Thila and the reef, along with fusiliers, jackfish, stingrays and some impressive caves.
The alternative, less-picturesque name of Blue Canyon is Kuda Thila, which means ‘small Thila’. A canyon, 25m to 30m deep and lined with soft, blue corals, runs beside the Thila. The numerous overhangs make for an exciting dive: this is one for experienced divers.
Bodu Hithi Thila is a prime manta-spotting site from December to March, with a good number of sharks and many reef fish. The soft corals on the sides of the Thila are in excellent condition. If currents are moderate, this site is suitable for intermediate divers, and the shallow waters atop the Thila offer superb snorkelling. Nearby, the Peak is another great place to see mantas in season; it is also home to some large Napoleon wrasse.
The outer-reef slope of Rasfari drops down to a depth of more than 40m, but a couple of Thilas rise up with their tops at about 25m. Grey reef sharks love it here – you might see 20 or 30 of them, as well as white-tip sharks, barracuda, eagle rays and trevally. It’s a Protected Marine Area in the Maldives.
A curving cliff near a channel entrance forms the Colosseum, where pelagics do the performing. Sharks and barracuda are often seen here. Experienced divers do this as a drift dive, going right into the channel past ledges and caves, with soft corals and the occasional turtle. Even beginners can do this one in good conditions.
As the name suggests, Aquarium (a coral rock formation about 15m down) features a large variety of reef fish. A sandy bottom at 25m can have small sharks and rays, and you might also see giant wrasse and schools of snapper. It’s an easy dive and suitable for snorkelling.
Across the Kandu from the Aquarium, Kani Corner is the start of a long drift dive through a narrow channel with steep sides, past caves and overhangs decorated with soft corals. Lots of large marine life can be seen, including sharks, barracuda, Napoleon wrasse and tuna. Beware of fast currents..
HP Reef, also called Rainbow Reef or Girifushi Thila, sits beside a narrow channel where currents provide much nourishment for incredibly rich growths of soft, blue corals, and support a large variety of reef fish and pelagics. The formations include large blocks, spectacular caves and a 25m vertical, swim-through chimney. It is a Protected Marine Area.
Also called Barracuda Giri, the attraction of Okobe Thila is the variety of spectacular reef fish that inhabit the shallow caves and crannies, including lionfish, scorpionfish, batfish, sweetlips, moray eels, sharks and big Napoleon wrasse.
The demanding dive at Nassimo Thila follows the north side of a fine Thila, also known as Paradise Rock, which has superb gorgonians and sea fans on coral blocks, cliffs and overhangs. Numerous large fish frequent this site.
The best time to see the mantas for which Manta Point is famous is from May to November. Coral outcrops at about 8m are a cleaning station’, where cleaner wrasse feed on parasites from the mantas’ wings. Cliffs, coral tables, turtles, sharks and numerous reef fish are other attractions, as are the nearby Lankan Caves. The Protected Marine Area of Banana Reef has a bit of everything: dramatic cliffs, caves and overhangs; brilliant coral growths; big predators such as sharks, barracuda and groper; and prolific reef fish including jackfish, morays, Napoleon wrasse and blue-striped snapper. It was one of the first dive sites in the country to become internationally known.
The reef top is excellent for snorkelling.
Book your stay at Maldives
Resorts in Maldives, North and South Atolls.
Most of the resorts in North Male Atoll, Maldives are reached by speedboat from the airport, though some of the more distant and smarter ones also offer transfers by seaplane. Unless otherwise noted, Maldives airport transfers to the following resorts are by speedboat.
BUDGET stay at Maldives – North & South Atolls.
Giravaru is a cheap and cheerful diving resort that has been threatening to close and renovate itself for some years now, but it still showed no sign of doing so at last visit. And to be honest, that’s something of a relief, as cheap and cheerful resorts seem to be going the way of the dodo in the Maldives.
Location:
North Male’ Atoll
Distance from Airport:
11 Kilometers
Number of Rooms:
65 Rooms
Transport:
25 minutes by Speedboat, 01 hour by Motorboat
Accommodation / Room Amenities:
–Fresh hot and cold water
– Ensuite bathrooms
– TV with In-House Movies/CNN
– Piped-in Music
– Air Condition
– IDD Telephone
– Hair Dryer
– Ceiling Fan
– Mini-Bar
Resort Facilities & Recreational Facilities
Giravaru
Giravaru has an unusual history – the Giravaru people are believed to descend from the earliest inhabitants of the Maldives, and as such, they are ethnically distinct from the rest of the population. About 30 years ago the number of people on the island had declined to the point where they no longer included the 40 adult males required to support a mosque, so the islanders all moved to Male’ and Giravaru became available for resort development. Sadly, there’s nothing left of the aboriginal Giravaran culture on the island.
The diving school here is excellent and extremely friendly, with plenty of good diving sites nearby. Yet the whole place remains pretty average otherwise – particularly suffering from its proximity to Thilafushi (or Rubbish Island as it’s known to one and all in the Maldives), meaning that your desert island idyll can be slightly spoiled by the odd plastic bag washing up on the beach. The tiny swimming pool is also in a state of bad repair. Lunch and breakfast are somewhat lacklustre, although there’s often a good choice at the big dinner buffet. The majority of Italian guests seem entirely happy with the experience, however, perhaps preferring to concentrate on the fantastic diving and cheap evening drinks in the bar. Rooms are simple but comfortable units spread around the island in small clusters, all with private bathroom and air-conditioning.
Coral-thulhagiri
THU-HRES-Thulhagiri_Island_Standard_Deluxe12
Water-Bungalow-Thulhagiri-Island-Resort-Spa
thulhagiri-coral
tourist information, maldives tourism
Thulhagiri-sandy-beach
Thulhagiri Small, intimate and low-key, Thulhagiri in Maldives is as laid back as it is pretty. Its wide, sloping white beaches and thick vegetation of palms greet you as you arrive at its small jetty, beyond which a new row of water villas was nearing completion on our most recent visit (the second set on the island, and a testament to their great popularity). The resort itself is very rustic, with a charming open-air reception area and other nice touches including a lily pond.
Read the full article
#beach#diving#holiday#holidaytime#honeymoon#indianocean#island#islandlife#love#maldives#maldivesisland#maldiveslovers#nature#ocean#paradise#scubadiving#sea#sunset#travel#travelphotography#vacation#AtollHotel#BeachWedding#BestHoneymoonPackage#BestHotelsInMaldives#BestResortsInMaldives#coralReef#Dolphin#fish#fishing
0 notes
Text
The Greatest Hits of the Galapagos Islands
“You’ve got to respect the place that you are diving. The Galapagos Islands are like nowhere else.”
So says Ruly Menoscal, the lead guide on my 10-day cruise aboard the Galapagos Master. And boy is he right — diving in the Galapagos is like an all-you-can-eat buffet of only your favorite dishes. There’s no throwaway coleslaw or potato salad here. On our trip, the closest we come to a so-so dive is our check-out in the harbor of San Cristobal, where there’s little coral and a sandy bottom without much to see — until two of the harbor’s resident sea lions join us in about 30 feet of water. After 20 minutes underwater, I’m hooked.
Only four of the 21 islands are inhabited, which leaves most of 3,093-square miles (8,000 square km) completely untouched. This makes for a raw, wild landscape and little to no run-off in the water. Even better, three ocean currents — the cold South Equatorial Current (the source is the Humboldt Current), the warm Panama Current, and the cold, deep Cromwell Current — converge in the Galapagos, creating arguably the world’s richest marine environment.
Now boarding the Galapagos Master
I meet the other divers for my cruise at the small, easily navigable airport in San Cristobal. There’s excited chatter in several languages on the bus to the harbor — there are Germans, Swiss, English, French and Canadian divers on board — in fact, I’m the only American. On our stroll down the pier, the sound and sight (though maybe not the smell) of at least 100 sea lions, lolling on the harbor rocks delights me. After a short ride out, we board the waiting boat.
There are 12 staff onboard, including our chef Angel, pretty much always my favorite crewmember. Our guides Raul (who goes by Ruly) and Jimmy have been on the boat for varying amounts of time. Guides here are freelancers, moving from boat to boat, working a few weeks on, a few weeks off. Each of ours has thousands of hours underwater in the islands though, so we’re in good hands. We take a quick look at the dive deck before heading inside the boat, first through the dining area and then past a large camera station, and finally into the salon, occupying the bow of the boat. Wide, comfortable looking blue banquettes and a few comfy-looking beanbag chairs beckon, but first it’s downstairs to check out my cabin.
There are four cabins on the lower deck and four on the upper deck, and mine is more than roomy enough. I’ve got no roommate, so I use the extra twin bed for storage and guiltlessly claim every hanger in the armoire. After unpacking — tip: bring more comfy clothes than you think you’ll need — we head upstairs for a short tour before the boat briefing. On the upper deck, occupying the aft of the boat, is a large, shaded seating area, with even more beanbags and comfy couches. Up one more level is the sun deck where I find — you guessed it — more beanbag chairs, a cocktail bar, and a fantastic 360-degree view. No time to enjoy it yet, though; first it’s time for the boat and dive briefings.
Each day except the first two will feature three or four dives; today we just had time for our checkout, and tomorrow we’ll dive once in the afternoon after an island walk. I’m equally excited for both and head downstairs early to get some sleep for what’s sure to be a full day.
North Seymour Island
Divers on Galapagos liveaboards are allowed two visits to land: we use our first the next morning on North Seymour Island, a small, uninhabited spot that’s positively bursting with life. A few hours’ nature walk along a signposted route (leaving the path is not allowed) introduces us to iconic blue-footed boobies, nesting frigate birds, sunbathing iguanas and dozens of sea lions, from small pups to burly bulls.
Although there is some tree cover on North Seymour, the landscape of the islands themselves is generally stark. It’s all volcanic rock, with little tufts of greenery and patches of low trees. There are no big land mammals in the Galapagos; there’s simply not the environment to support them. But the animals here — and there are many — have thrived since the islands became a protected national park in 1959.
After completing the loop path and snapping dozens of pictures, we’re heading back to the boat for our first “real” dive. As we’re leaving, a few more groups of tourists arrive for walks of their own. One of them asks me if it’s worth it, to which I chuckle softly and reply, “Oh yes. Yes, it is.”
Diving in Galapagos
As Ruly said from the get-go, you’ve got to respect the place you’re diving. Marine life in Galapagos is spectacular, but you’ve got to earn it with potentially challenging conditions, so I follow the briefing closely, admittedly a little nervous about back-rolling with a negative entry into potentially strong current. On our trip, we’ll have up to 27 dives, including two full days each at Darwin and Wolf Islands, followed by days at Isabela, Fernandina, Cabo Marshall and Cousins Rock.
Although the boat can easily accommodate 16 divers, our group is small at 12, so we split into two groups of six. We dive via two pangas, taking turns going first; always at the same dive site but never crowded together.
We gear up and get ready for our first “official” dive in the Galapagos in the channel between tiny Mosquera Island and Baltra near North Seymour. After 50 minutes underwater, I’m filled with awe. We drop down on some sloping boulders that front a nice sandy patch and almost immediately there’s a small school of scalloped hammerheads along with a giant blacktip shark. There are countless turtles, giant schools of fish, eagle rays, scalloped hammerheads, the blacktip, turtles —sometimes all at the same time. We drift along with the boulders to our right and level up from 70 feet to about 50 where the current catches us. Up and over the boulders we go, flying along in about 12 feet of water on an extended safety stop.
Once we’re all back onboard, it’s time to begin the overnight journey to the legendary Darwin and Wolf Islands, where there’s simply too much to cover here. Stay tuned for another story focusing exclusively on these legendary dive sites.
Dive, dive, dive
After four full days at Wolf and Darwin, we move on to our next site, Punta Vicente Roca, off the northwest coast of seahorse-shaped Isabela Island. It’s the largest in the island chain, formed by six active volcanoes. The site sits right on the seahorse’s lower jaw. Unfortunately, however, I’ve developed a cold overnight and can’t clear my ears for the dive, which will be relatively deep and involve a search for the site’s iconic residents — mola mola.
I’m gutted, but my panga driver Javier graciously putters me around the bay while the divers are down, looking for tell-tale signs of molas at the surface. We luck out and spot a few, so I slip as quietly as possible into the water to get a peek. I’m rewarded with brief glimpses of these famously shy fish before they disappear into the deep. Not to be outdone, the bay’s resident sea lions come to play with me on the surface as well. They dive-bomb and twist around me, matching their play with my own level of enthusiasm. For a non-dive day, I couldn’t be happier.
Next up is Cabo Douglas, home of another famous Galapagos resident: marine iguanas. These ingenious, endemic reptiles have figured out that the algae encrusting the boulders just offshore is a fantastic food source. Each day at mid-morning, after the sun has warmed the chilly water a bit, they slip beneath the surface to munch on the algae below. They grip the rocks with their strong claws, spending up to 40 minutes underwater to feed before coming up for a gulp of air and submerging again.
“It’s a 40-minute safety stop” says Ruly of the site, where divers will spend as long as they can in chilly water only 10 to 15 feet deep (3 to 5 m). And I’m lucky that it is, because my ears still aren’t cooperating. “They’re feeding, so don’t disrespect them,” says Ruly, right before we roll into the water. I hover on snorkel above the eating iguanas, nearly as close as the divers below, who’ve been told to maintain a 5-foot (1.5 m) distance. The iguanas are nonplussed by our presence, rising to the surface and cruising back to the shore like surfers gracefully riding a wave when they’re done with their meal.
We spend our final dives of the trip at Cabo Marshall to see mantas and Cousins Rock, famously a photographer’s dream site for sheer volume of life. My dive trip is over, however, and I’m relegated to snorkel. I’m simultaneously happy for excited divers emerging from the water and jealous that I wasn’t with them. My unfortunate cold has mostly, however, strengthened my resolve that I must return.
Life aboard the Master
As with all liveaboards, we fall into an easy rhythm on the Master. We wake, eat a light breakfast, dive, eat a full breakfast, dive, eat lunch, have a nap and a snack, dive, and eat dinner. Repeat. If there’s a diver in the world who doesn’t love a routine like that, I haven’t met him. Most of the guests spend the afternoon on the upper deck, filled with comfy chairs and couches and exposed to the air but thoughtfully covered to keep the sun at bay. As we move, frigate birds fly alongside the ship, gracefully gliding in and out of the breeze and alighting on the bow when we stop.
Silky sharks join us as well, showing up just downstream of the galley shortly after we anchor. Slowly undulating in the water below, they’re almost as excited for meal times as we are when the galley flushes out organic waste. Aside from our final land excursion in Santa Cruz and our walk on North Seymour, we don’t see another soul for 10 days, either on the islands or on a dive site — and it’s simply glorious.
Tortoise time on Santa Cruz
On our final day, we make the second land excursion to Santa Cruz. It’s by far the busiest island in the Galapagos with a population of around 12,000. We’re meant to go to the Darwin Research Station to see giant tortoises, but instead detour to Rancho el Manzanillo, a privately-owned farm where dozens of tortoises roam free. Ruly gives us a brief talk in the onsite restaurant about the tortoises’ ecology and history and guides us on a short walk before turning us loose to wander the paths and forested area in search of giant tortoises on our own.
I happen upon a pair munching quietly in the shade and settle in near a tree to watch them, remaining as unobtrusive as possible. Despite their size, they spook easily and do not care for close human contact. After about an hour, it’s time to head back to the boat and begin the journey back to San Cristobal, from where we’ll disembark the next day.
Details
With eight cabins, the Galapagos Master can accommodate 16 guests. Cruises are either seven or 10 nights; longer itineraries get two full days at each Darwin and Wolf Islands. You’ll want to be nitrox certified before you go, as there’s no training offered on board. Make sure you’re comfortable in potentially strong currents as well — bring an SMB and know how to use it.
How to get there:
To reach the Galapagos Master, you’ll initially fly into either Quito or Guayaquil; plan on an overnight in whichever city you choose the night before your flight on to San Cristobal. If you book your domestic flight directly with Master Liveaboards, a company representative will meet you at the airport before your flight to San Cristobal to walk you through the process. In Quito there’s a separate check-in area for the Galapagos where they’ll screen your bags and attach green zip-ties once they’re through. You’ll then proceed through security as usual.
On arrival in the Galapagos you’ll pay a $100 national park fee (in cash) before boat representatives whisk you away for the trip of your dreams.
When to go:
There’s no bad time of year to go to the Galapagos; it just depends on what you most want to see. The most popular time of year understandably is whale-shark season, from June through November. During this time divers can see up to a dozen whale sharks on one dive at Darwin’s Arch. It’s not impossible to see these giants at other times, however; I visited in April and saw them on three separate dives. This season brings cooler water conditions, so plan accordingly.
From December through May the water is warmer, typically from 78 to 82 F (25 to 27 C), and there are more mantas, and other rays, around Wolf and Darwin Islands. This is typically the best season to see the iconic “wall of hammerheads” at Wolf Island as well. I was there in May, however, and the water was slightly colder, topping out at 75 F (24 C) and cooler at depth. Although we didn’t see mantas, we did see whale sharks and tons of hammerheads.
The post The Greatest Hits of the Galapagos Islands appeared first on Scuba Diver Life.
from Scuba Diver Life https://ift.tt/2D2m9dP
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
convertcad
Untitled
theselfproclaimedwitch-blog-blog
what. an. idiot.
luckysheikah
apparently, xxi century combeferre
nahie
Empezando a vivir
slutforbbcshemale
Untitled