#Crags Hotel

[wanderguidehub]

Ascending Heights: Climbing and Mountaineering at Eldorado Canyon State Park, CO

Conquer the Vertical World Nestled in the heart of Colorado’s Front Range, Eldorado Canyon State Park stands as a premier destination for climbing and mountaineering enthusiasts. With its towering sandstone cliffs, diverse rock formations, and challenging routes, this park offers a thrilling playground for climbers seeking vertical adventures. From beginners to seasoned experts, Eldorado Canyon…

[postcard-from-the-past]

Crag Hotel on the Penang Hill, Malaysia

British vintage postcard

[akystaracer22]

The Exception to the Rule

Synopsis: How far do you bend your morals for someone you love?

Notes:

This is definitely a turning point to the story and is a little jump ahead of everything so far.

From here on out, there will be two different types of oneshot, flashback oneshots which happen either in Heaven or in Eden, and present day oneshots which are primarily in Hell.

This also adds a new epithet to Adams repertoire! Technically.

There are OC’s in this one, I can’t avoid it.

Heaven politics! Theres a lot going on in heaven I can’t talk about because nobody in hell knows about it, but I can finally start talking!

I listened to More than Anything, Connor’s Main Theme, and Gladiator while writing this.

In exchange for starting the extermination early, the one after would take 18 months as opposed to 12.

I have named over 60 exorcists. If you see a reference no you don’t.

Vaggie wasn’t the first angel to show mercy to a sinner.

I drop so much fucking lore in this jesus fuck.

This one shot was supposed to come so much later.

Shit

SO, MICHAEL’S INVOLVED NOW!

Hey uh, you know how I said I can’t write stupid characters? Yeah… Adam can act and think like a damn general now ig.

Adams over 6,000 years old he knows how to move quickly.

... I really like my BAMF characters huh.

Word Count: 1862

Fic under cut!

“Adam?”

“Over here Luci,” The first man replied easily, looking towards where the angel had entered the wastelands.

Well… wastelands was a bit of a stretch now.

Once he was able to improve the soil, grass was able to finally start growing and…

The oak tree Adam was taking a break under was a testament to his labour. It was still growing and would probably take another year or so with the help of Lucifer’s magic before it’d resemble the mighty trees most people knew.

It didn’t make Adam any less proud of it.

The fallen angel got up and stretched his wings as Lucifer rounded a crag and came into view.

One of Adams wings hiked up before he could shove the instinct down, it was just Lucifer.

“Charlie wanted to know if you wanted to come up for lunch or if you’re fine down here,” The devil started, “She and Maggie are making pastries from the pear’s you dropped off yesterday.”

“Vaggies baking? Better hope your daughters good then, Vaggie’s got a tendency to burn whatever she touches.”

Regardless, Adam started making his way towards the hotel, completely disregarding the unspoken offer to just teleport there.

Lucifer just laughed and unfurled his wings as Adam began the trek up the stairs, flying up beside the man.

“I doubt you have room to talk about when it comes to cooking.”

“I helped Eve cook you know,” Adam scoffed, “I had a few specialties of my own.”

“And yet Maggie can’t cook.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up, plenty of my daughters can cook! Lux is extremely good at dessert foods and Needle can make some great fucking lunches.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes really! It’s Mari you have to look out for. The presentation of her food? Stunning, beautiful, gourmet even. The taste? I thought I was going to die a second time over the toilet.”

Lucifer cackled and a light chuckle escaped Adams lips as the angel almost fell out of the sky at the mental image.

“Shut up! I’m serious I thought I caught some sort of illness! They don’t even have illnesses in heaven!”

“I would pay to see that!”

“I bet you would be you sick fuck.”

“Hey! I-”

Lucifer went dead silent, and Adam almost asked what was wrong before he heard it too.

Shouting.

He didn’t even glance at his friend as they were both caught in Lucifer’s magic, bringing them both to the hotel lobby.

“I’ll stop the fight.”

“I’ll grab my fucking axe,” Adam headed down the hallways until he found the gym, carefully taking his axe off the wall and slinging it over his back before booking it to the hotel exit.

“If you’d just give me a minute-!”

“Your majesty-”

“Alastor.”

“Mom!”

“Oh for fucks sake!”

Adam slammed open the doors and jumped the stairs, “What the fuck is going on-!”

Adams brain short circuited immediately after taking in the situation.

Lucifer was frozen stiff with his wings spread wide, his head whipping around to stare open mouthed at Adam. Alastor and Lilith’s glaring contest was broken as they also stared at the first man. The princess and Vaggie were holding hands and Charlies demonic traits receded at Adams arrival.

The other residents were also still at the first mans arrival, nervousness and surprise evident in everyone expressions, even Nifty stopped moving. Under normal circumstances Adam’s gut would have twisted from all the attention.

That usual knee jerk response was completely crushed under the weight of the other three present.

Adam was barely aware of the fact that he’d dropped his axe as he took in the maskless faces of three of his exorcists.

Echo almost dropped her scimitars; her hair was undone from it’s usual bun to brush against her shoulders. She almost stepped back from him before a wing from her sisters steadied her.

Delta was much more graceful, sheathing her rapier and swallowing thickly; Adam understood how she felt. She’d recently had a haircut, her undercut looking crisper than the last time he saw her.

Nina’s war pick clattered to the ground as she brought her hands to her mouth, tears cropping up in the corners of her eyes as she took in his ruined form. In contrast to Delta, her hair had grown out; the normal buzz cut fading.

Adam stood in the silence, wings slowly folding in from where he had mantled them prior. He didn’t know what to do. These were his girls, and they were here and fuck, they were outnumbered. But… shit they were here to kill him weren’t they.

“…Sir?”

Fuck it.

The first man sprinted forward; wings spread wide as he reached out for the three of them. Weapons hit the ground as he pulled his kids into a hug.

If he was going to die, he’d like to die hugging his girls.

Adam didn’t expect the three of them to hug back. His shoulder grew wet as Nina’s tears started to fall; Echo made a soft noise as she buried her head in the feathers of his good wing. Delta’s wings were touching the tips of his own as she all but collapsed into the huddle.

Huh, seems like they were all mad here.

Adam didn’t give a fuck; he was hugging his exorcists and that was enough for him at the moment.

“So… we’re good?”

Moment over.

Adam pulled away to glare at Lucifer, “Do you fucking mind?”

“Sorry sorry! I’ll shut up now!”

“No, you’ve ruined it. Moments gone and done thanks to you,” Adam huffed, regretfully stepping away from his girls even as he kept his good wing extended to the three exorcists, guiding them by the wing towards the hotel.

“Come on, I have a feeling you three aren’t here just for show.”

- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶༒˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -

Adam blew lightly on his tea before sipping it, leaning forward to pour the exorcists some tea as he worked to calm his still slightly frayed nerves.

He’d managed to move the girls into a private room before unceremoniously kicking everyone else out, if anything happened Lucifer would break into the room in a flash, so it wasn’t like he was in any real danger.

Besides, they were his girls, it’d be fine.

“So,” Adam swallowed, before  “What brings you three to this side of the pentagram? The hunts not on for another eight months.”

Echo swallowed thickly and Nina bowed her head, it was Delta who answered.

“I- Netto discovered that heaven knew you were alive, sir. Lute wanted to come down immediately but the rest of us were able to convince her otherwise.”

“She’s too far in the eyes of the high seraphim, if she disappeared they’d know.”

“So, we decided to go instead,” Nina finished for her sisters.

Adam stared at the three of them, horrified, “What?”

“What Nina’s saying is… we’re staying here.”

“Why the fuck would you three do that!” Adam hissed, feathers bristling at the implications, “You all have so much to lose-”

“We don’t,” Delta asserted, scowling at the window, “You know damn well what hells denizens took from us.”

Adam froze as the image flashed into the forefront of his mind.

Charlie. Echo and Delta’s missing piece to their trio. They were best friends even beyond the bonds of sisterhood. Where one was the other two were close by. Charlie was the sunshine to their storm, always taking time out of her own day to brighten up the other exorcists. She preferred to use a crossbow to keep away from sinners, something Adam was always grateful for.

Charlie’s body was missing several ribs and most of her organs, looking every part like it had been ravaged by monsters. It took effort Adam didn’t have every day to not go to cannibal town and raze it to the ground. For Charlie, for Zirco, for Steel, for Feather and Annie and every exorcist he failed.

Even-

A scream, a plea as Adam struggled against divine magic nononono please stOP PLEASE-

Wasp

Adam whole body tensed up. Fuck, Wasp. He hadn’t- shit he’d almost managed to convince himself that that had never-

Fuck.

The girls were looking at him now, Nina reaching out a hand to him.

“And you?”

The hand pulled away, “What?”

“Nina, why did you decide to come down here,” Adam rasped, “You- fuck you were planning on proposing to your girlfriend why-”

“Because your our leader,” Nina answered quietly, like she wasn’t taking Adams breath away with a single sentence, “And Regina understood, she agreed with me.”

Nina held up her phone with a sad smile, “Besides, at least this way it’s easier for me to watch out for her dad.”

Adam wanted to send the three of them back to heaven immediately, this was no place for angels. Vaggie was lucky she found Charlie immediately.

But Delta and Echo had backbones of steel, and once Nina set her mind to something there was no stopping her.

Shit, Netto and Lute were smart to send them.

Wait-

“What did you mean when you said heaven knew I fell Delta,” Adam whispered, “I should have fucking died. How did Netto find out I fell.”

Delta sighed and gazed tiredly at him, “Same way she always finds things out, she got it straight from Michaels lips.”

Adams blood froze before his mind caught up with him. Michael was involved with this. Fuck of course he was it was Michael, and if he was involved… then it stands to reason the rest of the ancient archangels had something to do with all of this too.

The first man stood up before pausing, if his gut was right, this wasn’t just about his fall. For the ancient archangels to be aware of his fall and do nothing for ten months… there was something he was missing.

He’d need to wait, maybe even bring Lucifer and the others in on this. But first…

“I’m in room 2101, Lucifer’s wing. 2100 is taken by the king of hell himself and his wife but the rest of the floor is empty,” the three exorcists perked up at Adams commanding tone, “Get set up and get settled in. Echo, send a message to the others and tell them I’m okay.”

“Already done.”

“Love that, Delta how is training looking?”

“Lute’s leading the effort sir, we’ve been working hard to fix our holes.”

“Great, get back in contact with Lute. I have a few techniques that can help. And for fucks sake tell her to use whatever prosthetic she has to her advantage; I fucking know she’s not.”

“Yes sir!”

“Nina, keep an ear out. Both for anything Netto has for us and for anything in hell. Carmilla Carmine, and the Vees are important. Especially Carmine, she’s the one with the angelic steel. Do not engage.”

“Go it sir.”

“Good, I’ll get you three for dinner. Remember, stay sharp, stay armed, and whatever you do. Don’t fucking trust the Radio Demon. He’ll kill everyone in this hotel the moment he’s off his fucking leash.”

The leader of the exorcists watched the three of them head down the hallway towards the front desk before turning and heading for the stairwell.

He had a lot to think about, and from the looks of things he still had an extermination to plan.

[braintapes]

The Hotel Podcast Season 3 Analysis: Part 4 - The Hotel Herself

Today, we'll start to wrap up anything left to cover for the Owner's arc, then dig some more into the Hotel Herself, her character, and her relation to the Staff.

I have little in the way of fancy preamble this time, except for that I'll consider this my big treatise on the character of the Hotel Herself and I will be discussing more than just her presence in Season 3. I really can't talk about her without getting into...everywhen and where else.

This is also the longest post in the series, at 8 full pages long. Not that much longer than the other posts, I guess, but it feels long to me. Take breaks if ya gotta. Here's some links to Part I - The Manager, Part II - The Lobby Boy, and Part III - The Owner.

It is a joy for me to write this up and to share it with you. If you read even a little bit, I'm grateful. If you read all of it, I'll be over the moon. So I thank you very kindly for your time :-)

Let's get into it with 3.10 In Which We Burn. This episode is about both of them, all of them really. This is where we start to get into that whole, 'interconnectedness of the self within the Hotel' thing I put a pin in before. Strap in for the ride.

The Owner begins again in the void. There is nothingness all around him, yet he wanders forward to somewhere, something he can't quite perceive yet with only a vague idea of what he's going to do:

I would know if I was going the wrong way. Returning from somewhere to somewhere. I don't know where I'm going, but I know how to get there. I think there's someone there already. I think I'm going to kill them. No, that's not quite right. That's not it. But it's all I can think of as I walk thru endless endless nothing. "I'm going somewhere. Someone is there. Someone to kill." Over and over I repeat the words, trying to make them make sense. Trying to find the parts that stick out in sharp directions. Like a mountain crag that needs weathered down by time to dust.

...There's that mountain again. This is a version of the Owner reforming after his last death, one that strikes me as prototypal, almost. He exists in the void for what's implied to be a long time and seemingly has no memory yet of the previous episodes events? He has no memory of...anything. Just him and the endless darkness.

I think that the Hotel is forming him slowly here. Experiencing through him. The Owner doesn't fully exist yet, he's still baking in the metaphorical oven. Without any memory or experience besides the void, she seeps through into him as he fumbles for something.

"I'm going somewhere. Someone is there. Someone to kill."

Consider the creature versions of the Staff ala season 2 or 5, how they seem to have foggy memories that slip away until they settle into being whatever monster of the week they're going to be. This feels the same way to me. Compare the above line with the following from early on in 2.3 Mr Heavy Bones:

Something in me, not me, something separate, needs to kill them.

I also want to point out not just the similarity of those two lines, but how said lines could easily refer to the Hotel herself. Hear me out - If I wanted to describe how the Hotel operates in as succinct a way as possible, it'd be something like the above! Someone is there, somewhere. Someone to kill, someone needs to be killed...

He approaches, or perhaps the lobby approaches him as it comes into view. He's disoriented, the ceiling and the floors mixed up and everything is going by too fast, he's completely disconnected from the sense of time and space of the Hotel's shape. In a flash, he remembers and is immediately reset again. The Hotel instructs:

Watch it again. And pay attention this time.

On it boss!

The music has changed to The Hotel Herself's theme, Cosmic Heartbeat, and continues to play as the Owner goes through another run. The perspective is slowly starting to shift - although we're still seeing through the Owner's narrative eyes, understanding is on the horizon. The Owner goes again and looks at the Manager.

THE OWNER: She's already been killed. Is that what was sticking out? Is that what I needed to weather? I don't think so. I don't believe it, but I do as I'm told. Dying isn't easier the second time. THE HOTEL: (Yyyyyyyyou've) You've died much more than that. You've died again, and again, and again and again. Here comes another one, don't miss it or we'll have to start over.

She's responding not just to his words, but to his own internal narration. The line between them gets a tiny bit blurred, line by line ;)

So, then, if it's not the Manager he needs to see, maybe the Manager's murderer? He takes note of the gibbering creature, starts to remember more but the Hotel grows a bit frustrated with him. The Owner's not quite picking up on everything yet.

So we go back again for another round and the Owner grows more harried. With each death he sounds more and more ragged and I have to give huge props to Graham Rowat. Like I said last post, his performance as the Owner is always wonderful but this episode in particular has always stuck out to me as a high point. The Owner sounds so desperate here, so battered. He's lost and in pain and so afraid of dying yet still trying so hard...

He goes through again, makes it past the Manager and the gibbering creature and sees the Lobby Boy cowering in the corner. He's so overcome with disgust at the Lobby Boy he loses sight of what he's supposed to be understanding and the Hotel kills him again. He's getting lost in the details, not paying attention to the bigger picture. He needs to see beyond himself.

THE HOTEL: We have nothing but time here. (here here h e r e) Time (time time time) and pain(pain), if you want it. I already understand (everything)everything(everythgibber) WINGS FLAP THE OWNER: PLEASE! No more! THE HOTEL: But you don't understand yet. (don't don't don't understand yet ) Until you have an understanding you will receive only pain and time. AGAIN!

There's a bit of implication that this goes on for longer than just the exchanges we get in the episode. Now can see that the screams of his that echoed throughout the season, such as at the very very beginning and on the second floor, were the result of him witnessing these events again and again from his own jumbled perspective. I picture the Owner in my mind's eye falling, hurtling upside down through the Hotel, flying through time and space at Her direction.

I also want to talk a bit about the Hotel's part in these exchanges, and on her broader relationship with the Owner. To my understanding, official word on season 3 is that it's the Hotel experiencing her own origin like a memory, but because time, self, etc. aren't separate concepts for Her, it's experienced in this weird distorted kinda way. But nevertheless, she is here, experiencing all of this alongside the Staff and alongside the audience. She's watching and reliving these events and the Owner seems to be a sort of...Dante, almost? Sort of. He's there to watch with her.

What is the Owner's role through most of the series? His very title the Owner is superfluous because he very obviously doesn't own anything. He has no authority whatsoever, only the costume of it. He holds the threat of replacement over the heads of the Manager and Lobby Boy, but he can't actually do anything to them. The only time he tries to do something during season 4, he gets his ass handed to him just as much as he beats the Lobby Boy. He has no real authority over the guests – he certainly scares them, but he doesn't build the rooms or check them in.

What is he tasked with doing, then? He is to observe the proceedings of the Hotel, observe the guests and the Staff, and file reports to the Hotel. Again, he has no meaningful authority. His reports are meaningless in terms of running the Hotel. She can and does do whatever she wants regardless of what he has to say or think about the matter. So what purpose does he serve to her? This is what drives the Owner fucking bonkers in a 'constant accumulating dosage of radiation over time' type of way. It's the main reason he has such a hangup about not being insignificant, it fuels his hatred (read: JEALOUSY) of the Lobby Boy, it's why he makes it his business to shout at everybody else for not doing their jobs right, it's why he breaks down in season 4, I could go on.

For her, his reports may not have a purpose vis-a-vis hotel operations, but that's not the point. He's her confidant, her right hand. To him, that's an ideal he must constantly strive to live up to and fulfill. To her, she enjoys the company. Someone to watch it all with her. The Owner is so different from her in temperament that in his unique position, I think he gives her fresh perspective, a way of seeing things from different angles. I'd offer this excerpt from 4.8 AJ, Taylor, and Wayne:

I know he wants to understand though, the Owner, for me. He's such a sweetie. Always thinking of me. He wants to do a good job on his "reports". I like his reports, I like hearing about his day, and hearing about the staff, and how they like it, and how he likes it, and if I can do anything to make it better for everyone. I can, of course. Heh, I can do anything.

In 4.11 The Owner - V she tells him:

Now wait just a damn minute. I know you don't like my Lobby Boy, but you have got to get it together. The floor staff are absolutely necessary to running the day to day, but you and I are supposed to support them, drive them forward to new fantastic heights!

The Owner responds, then the Hotel responds:

They were! They are! But it's you and me, kid. I really thought you and I were gonna be able to work together more closely on this. And it's supposed to be fun! You may be like them, one of them but when you come here you're on my level. I elevate you to singular significance, even if it is just to chat.

I know those are long excerpts, but I feel they're necessary here. The Manager and the Lobby Boy have each other. They improve each other and work well together. I strongly feel that their interactions fuel their character growths. The Hotel sees the Owner as the Lobby Boy to her Manager. It's the two of them, working together! He's beneath her, of course, everyone is, that's just how it goes. But they're a team!

The Owner very much doesn't see it this way. He conceptualizes himself entirely from his place in the hierarchy, his title as The Owner. He is above the other Staff and exists to further Her will. He's so god damned worried about running everything that he cannot see past this through to what the Hotel actually wants - his company. The Owner ties himself up in knots partly due to his internally and externally imposed isolation from the Staff. I wouldn't say it made the Owner the way he is, he did just kinda come out of the box like that, but it absolutely exacerbates his issues in a feedback loop. It drives the Hotel mad because she can't understand this. For all she says she understands everything, she struggles to get why the Owner gets so wound up. Something something divorce core or what have you.

...That, um. Got away from me a little bit.

Anyway.

Aaaall of that is to say, if the Owner isn't there to actively affect things, then he must be there to watch. That's been his role, to me, from all of his season 1 episodes to now. His role here, in season 3 specifically, is to watch and learn. And She watches through him, watches him watch, and he is the vehicle through which she makes meaning of Herself all over again through new eyes. Ties it all together.

[More could be said on this about this being the Owner's on-boarding - the exact word he uses to describe this later on in 4.11. But if I start up again I don't know where I'll stop so I need to move on for now.]

The Owner's arc is pretty much done here anyhow. He goes around again and eventually he starts to understand. Starts to! He sees himself in the Manager's place, dead on the floor. He sees himself as the Lobby Boy, cowering in the corner. He sees himself as the gibbering creature.

You're so close to understanding.

THE OWNER: No. No! As the lobby passes I see my own reflection at my feet. The Hotel begins pulsing rhythmically. THE MANAGER (echoing): I see her standing here in the void, fear carved into her face. THE LOBBY BOY (echoing): I see him, and the fear turns into awful understanding. THE OWNER (echoing): Killer and killed. Predator and predated. Ashes to ashes.

The Owner becomes them all one by one, and they, in death, become each other. Cycle through being each other, it seems. Here is the moment of understanding. They are all one in the same. None of them are separate from or above death. They are not separate from the Hotel – they are the Hotel, split into distinct parts which are separate yes, but inextricable from Her. A long silence passes before:

THE HOTEL: The mountain has been weathered. Do you see? MANAGER/LOBBY BOY/OWNER: Yes. THE HOTEL: My will. My purpose. You kill for me. MANAGER/LOBBY BOY/OWNER: Yes. THE HOTEL: You die for me. MANAGER/LOBBY BOY/OWNER: Yes. THE HOTEL: Darkness is the universes natural state. MANAGER/LOBBY BOY/OWNER: We are the light, one and separate, existing briefly, extinguished and anguished. THE HOTEL: Now, at the end, our work can begin. Front desk bell DINGS.

AaaaaAAAAA!!!!! AAAAAH!!! THIS. THIS IS MY TOP FAVORITE SEQUENCE IN THE PODCAST EVER. This is what got me. I already liked the series since I'd made it up to this point, but this is what made it feel special to me. The timewarp end-beginning stuff, the interconnected self, the cosmic nature and presence of the Hotel Herself, all of it resonated somewhere deep in me. This contextualizes the entire thing for me in one line I think about Frequently:

Darkness is the universe's natural state.

That is why I honed in so hard on the light/dark fire/death imagery. The implication that darkness, void, nothingness, death - that all of that is a resting point. The light is an aberration, something new and anomalous which exists for a time before resetting back to default.

The way I picture the Hotel is as a cosmic entity of, well. Cosmic proportions. Too vast to comprehend on a meaningful level. She's not the representation of death in general, she's simply a part of the universe that embodies some of the void. The space between.

After all, a hotel is a place between where you started and where you want to go, isn't it? You go there, you stay there, you leave there. A candle is lit, it burns, it dies. Leaving only cold, empty darkness behind.

It's the inherent contradiction that makes the Hotel Herself in my mind. She exists as an entity, yet is as a void. Symbolically representative of death, yet she contains life and light within her in the form of the guests and the Staff. From her void, she Becomes in infinite fractalling, spiralling shapes. Hotels and lobbies and rooms and doors. Something from an underlying nothing.

Note, I don't mean the terms 'empty' 'void' and 'nothing' as derogatory. She is not hollow (though she does contain hollows). In terms of symbolism, 'nothing' is as much Something as 'something' is. It's like...In art, you have negative space. It's defined by being the absence of something. The interplay of negative and positive space creates the artwork. That's what I'm getting at with the light/dark stuff here.

Another food for thought: How about 'light' in terms of seeing, or perception? Not only does the Hotel take on infinitely many forms in shape, but she also influences and manipulates how she is perceived. The guests, Staff, and New Crew all perceive the Hotel differently - I made a post about this subject a while ago that you can read, even! [That post is outdated now re: the New Crew stuff at the end, but I thought it worth including anyway.]

Incidentally, I think the Hotel does have trouble seeing back at the Staff. She knows them inside and out, don't get me wrong, and she can twist them any way she chooses. But they have gotten out of her grasp before. Her tensions with the Manager and the Owner in season 4 come to mind, she has trouble seeing things from their perspective and vice versa. The Hotel is above them, and that is its own position with its own perspective. The limitless is, ironically, limited.

Now let's talk about the Mountain.

The mountain has been weathered. Do you see?

It's the most predominant recurring motif of the season alongside the fire. I consider it complementary and even entwined with the fire. Firstly, on its own, I consider it to represent structure. The mountain is at once something to be scaled and something to be weathered. In both (contradictory) cases, it is playing within space. The painting process, as opposed to the proverbial color palette.

It directly represents the structure of the Hotel as, like, a hotel - the Staff's roles each represent a floor. The Manager is the lobby, the entryway, the ground/first floor. This is why she has to be the one to search for the place the Hotel will be in the forest, why she has to introduce the season and the series (she opens season 1, too!) while the Lobby Boy is already just kinda...there when his turn comes up.

Second floor is the guest floor, a horizontally infinite maze of hotel rooms, hallways and doors. This is the midpoint, the journey from life to death. Of course, the deaths don't have to happen here, but many do. This floor is a role of its own. It exists dedicated to this purpose. Then, there's the third floor. A dark office that is at once a void yet also filled with paperwork, desks, computers, so on. As I write this, I realize I said all this in the last post so I won't drag this out.

Point is, as we ascend, we zoom out more. The lobby is only ever the lobby. It's a personal, one-on-one entryway. The second floor is broader – there are many rooms for many guests. Only one may check in on a given night, but since time works differently here, all the guests are already there and already dying and already dead etc etc. The third office overlooks the floors beneath it, overseeing not just the guests but the Staff, too. What's above the third floor? Darkness.

These correspond directly to the Staff's roles and we've had PLENTY going on across this season that makes those connections as well. The Manager in 3.2 Hammering Bones experiencing the building of the Hotel first-person style or the Lobby Boy's whole thing kind of tying him to the burning rooms, for example.

[Stray thought: If I wanted to get real artsy with it I could talk about the hierarchy here not just a physical building structure and corporate structure, but also as structure of the human body - Starting from the ground, standing firm as the Manager does, going up to the hands which build, to eyes that watch, to the brain that is. well. everything. But thaaaaaat's leaning a bit too into my own personal projections as I see barely any canon basis for this so. Take or leave at your discretion. I just adore symbolic trios.]

Form and light. Mass and shape. The Hotel as a tiered yet deeply interconnected structure containing fire and light that exists in service of snuffing out the fires that enter her. Do you see my vision here?

Weathering the mountain is grinding down 'something' into 'nothing.'

When the Staff have all been weathered, they are Her again.

There's a little bit more to the ending of this episode, echoes of the old Managers, Lobby Boys, Owners, ending with:

THE HOTEL: …We hope you enjoyed your stay with us. Your Hotel for the night. We hope you'll enjoy all your nights with us. THE MANAGER/LOBBY BOY/OWNER/HOTEL: WELCOME! The Hotel theme plays over credits.

This is a lovely ending to the season and I like it very much. I apologize that I don't have much to say about it beyond that, I just got so lost in the symbolism sauce back there.

I still have more to talk about, actually, while I'm still here. Before I spoil and rot in this text post. It's been 7 long pages now but there's still work to be done before the skin sloughs off my bones. Because in all my talking about the Hotel as she exists, her how and her form and all that, I never really talked about the Hotel Herself, did I?

Maybe I did a little, here and there, but that's just not enough for me. The Hotel Herself is such a character and while she's always been here in this season, yes, we don't get a lot of her directly. And there are still questions that might arise from the whole 'the Hotel is also the Staff and they are all each other' thing that need answering.

Namely, why would she do this in the first place?

[Well, aside from the whole 'well there wouldn't be a story at all otherwise' thing]

The Hotel exists as. ah. the Hotel. Like I said earlier, she chooses that form for Herself, that's who and what she is! A hotel is that positive space 'something' and it has a structure, a prescription just like the archetypes of the Owner, the Manager, and the Lobby Boy do. She has many variations, from a cabin to a rental home, to a dingy roadside motel to the fanciest most elaborate 5 star resort, but these are all her own kind of instancing as defined in my previous post. The only difference is that she, at the highest level, exists simultaneously as all of these instances at once and thus has an eternal awareness of Herself that the Staff do not.

I draw a distinction between the Hotel Herself and Madam Hotel because of this. To me they are NOT interchangeable. Madam Hotel is a specific instance, a specific form that is her, but not all of her. Not fully. She seems more...cloudy, I suppose, as Madam Hotel. Everything is all new to her. Existing in a human body is new to her, seeing things from this perspective is new to her, and she lacks the cosmic clarity of the Hotel Herself in her vast endless entirety.

Still, she retains the same personality. And I really, really want to talk about the Hotel's personality. She's so fun!

She is endlessly curious, always excited for novelty. She likes watching the lights inside her twinkle and interact just as much as she likes putting them out. ALL of it is wonderful fun to her. There's an infectious enthusiasm about her in her season 4 narrations, where we see her fully in her element as Herself. Some excerpts:

[Stretching noise] MMMMMMMM-MM! Sometimes you just have to stretch out and take up some space, am I right? And we have THREE guests tonight! THREE! They aren't getting a room though, so I thought it would be okay to to relax a little, let it all hang out. Well, let some of it hang out, anyway. Really explore the notion of unwinding. My lobby is still rooted firmly, I mean we do have to meet the guests halfway you know. But tonight I just let myself unspool up and up and up and up up up up [giggles] ohhh it's really almost just like doodling. Filling in the fiddly-bits with scrabbly brick and twisted metal and I'm even experimenting with the windows tonight. Kind of greasy and yellow, I don't know, stained with nicotine or some other poison. Just one of those little subtle touches that's more for me than the guests. They don't notice almost anything. Sillies. They just see me as a normal old building, red carpet under an awning.

[4.8 AJ, Taylor, and Wayne]

I lay down, lounging on the side of a very green and bushy highway by an airport. I'm the kinda place people go when they don't have anywhere else to go. Or don't want anyone to know where they went. I fill my dull yellow paint with cracks, for character. The staff barely even have uniforms here, and they look pretty rough themselves. Gotta look the part, right? I put the Lobby Boy's Supply Closet around back this time. The lobby is pretty small, but the fresh air will do him good.

[4.11 The Owner - V]

Look at how much FUN she's having being herself!!!!!! I love her so much!!!! Each instance is an experiment and exploration in self-creation. Okay, hang on, let me have one more. I know the bonus episodes aren't canon, but The Garden has stuck in my interpretation of the Hotel Herself since it aired, let me have this.

My hands shoved knuckle deep into the cool, dark soil of the universe. I flex my digits and churn it into a place something could grow. I plant seeds there and nurture them best I can with water and food and little lights. There are things that live down there that suck up mud and chew on slime and help it all flourish. It's an entire ecosystem. Carefully balanced and tended too. I don't know anything about plants or gardening so I have to make up the rules as I'm figuring them out.

I won't rehash the whole episode but the whole thing really gets across that she is at once the garden and the gardener, every single part. The metaphor of the garden, of growing plants and flowers and hoping for the best, figuring it out as you go, feels SO in-line with what we see of her in the main episodes.

Back to my point, the Staff are integral parts of the Hotel. How could you have a Hotel without Staff to run it? They are instruments whose tones and timbres affect the sound of the night's composition.

They are her, but they are also themselves, too. The reason they can individuate is to allow for new variations, new shapes and forms, a new angle to look from or new idea to explore. I realize this paragraph runs the risk of getting meta very very quickly but I don't know how else to explain my thoughts here. In-universe, the Hotel Herself made these constructs, but if they were all the same, they'd be only darkness!

It at once excites and frustrates her when their tensions come to a head. She tries to bond with the Manager and the two ABSOLUTELY DO NOT see eye to...eye...The Owner goes completely off the rails in his breakdown. Even the Lobby Boy sides with the Manager and is starting to show signs now of getting a backbone.

The Hotel takes on her own roles, then, in responding to them. Becomes at once the workplace and the workplace CEO who is so obscenely rich they are effectively disconnected from reality and consequently the people working at the company. She is the matriarch of the family, for all of the good and bad that entails in her dynamic with the Manager. [This is why I kinda took the punishment angle in the first post of this analysis series. I don't view it that way anymore, not fully, but I feel this is an important part of their relationship as it currently stands.]

Through it all, even then, the constant push and pull is part of the fun! The contradictions, the interplay of something and nothing...I feel like I'm starting to repeat myself. On the one hand, I feel like I have so, so much more to say that I didn't even scratch the surface of yet. On the other...I feel like I've said the same things three times over.

Fitting, sure. But I'll have to end this post at some point. I'm getting tired. My vision is blurring. And on the metaphorical side, something something turning into a pile of rotten flesh on the floor something something.

One last, laaaast thing for now: I've gone over the cycle, the endless loop, the endlessness, all that good stuff. But the Hotel Herself also has linearity of her own. She goes from an it, from the Powers That Be, distant and impossible to understand, to the Hotel Herself, present and full of verve and energy and personality. She revisits her origin, but from a perspective of herself in time in which she already understands everything.

She's always been here, and all that. I just find that really poignant and I wanted to get into it more but couldn't find alllll the words I wanted.

I'd love to keep writing more stuff like this, it's been an absolute blast for me. Reading the transcripts, listening to the episodes, getting my little snippets in the word doc and writing about them...I hope you've enjoyed reading my work just as much. Like I said at the top, it means a lot even if you just, like, skimmed through. Thank you so much for your time and have a good one :-)

[heartxandxhome]

❝ you’re stuck with me now — like bark on wood. ❞  

Horizon: Forbidden West

The heat in Lestallum was beyond stifling. The city itself thrummed and thrived on the temperature with the ladies of Exineris chatting as they walked past in cropped tops and their boiler suits tied around their waists.

The market vendors called for attention, hawking their wears to anyone with a few gil. Store-owners done the same and the kindly man at the front of the Leville hotel informed people how many rooms remained for occupants. It was almost as if the busy city was ignorant of what had happened Insomnia ... that or it didn't have time to stop and grieve its far-larger sister. Shards still needed to mind, energy converted to electricity, and a vastly-growing census to provide for. The only true reflection of the horror were the hunter trucks that came and went in a constant flow.

Seeking some fresh air on the lookout, Sarah looked out over the enormous rift canyon that was Taelpar Crag; how many times was this war going to tear her family apart? Almost an answer to her silent question, Kaleb leaned against the lookout's railing beside her. "What happens next?"

Sarah's words were quiet, almost lost on the welcome breeze, but she nodded at the trucks that pulled into the forecourt. "... I guess I'm afraid you'll be taken away by hunting. Again." Not that this was the same as then; the hunters were helping anyone who needed aid right now and that was to be admired. But she was selfish and didn't want to lose what they had rekindled.

There was a moment of hesitation where she thought it might turn into the old argument from Galahd, but Kaleb shook his head and flashed a cocky smile. "you're stuck with me now - like bark on wood."

And relief washed over Sarah for the first time since escaping the city; she didn't know how to do this alone. How to keep Selena safe and search for Nyx on her own. But she wasn't the same lone woman from Galahd, not anymore. "I think I can live with that."

[the-last-dillpickle]

first lines game

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

A few days late since i’ve been sick (🤮) but I got tagged in this game by several people, started doing it and then got sleepy tired and saved it into my drafts. Only just remembered it was hidden in there. Anyways.

1) Julian rode the turbolift to Ops, bouncing with anticipation. By this time tomorrow, he would be waking up to gorgeous pink sand beaches, orange hued cliffs across the pristine waters of the bay, and, if he was lucky, a lover or two clinging onto him in bed. (Hold, Bashir/Sloan, M)

2) Julian woke to a shifting in the bed next to him. He kept his eyes closed, reluctant to move when the pleasant haze of a good sleep was clinging to his forebrain. (In Morning, Bashir, T)

3) Winn rubbed at her temples, wondering who in the world might be ringing at her door chime this time. (acta deos numquam mortalia fallunt, Bashir/Winn, E)

4) Sloan is a toxic sludge—the byproduct of the Federation’s careless existence. He taints everything he touches, a carcinogen by design. (the love canal and other disasters of hope, Bashir & Sloan, T)

5) “What-” Julian started, only to cut himself off with a bubbly belch. He paused, looking mildly upset by the interruption and frowning at the bottle of alien liquor in this hands before looking back to Miles as he continued, “What if I was tiny and helpless, and you could do anything you wanted to me?” (small intents and purposes, Bashir & O’Brien, T)

6) The sun was rising over Casperia Prime’s equatorial continent. Bruised twilight hues gave away to radiant orange beams that left not a single crag on the distant limestone cliffs unilluminated. None of it touched inside Julian’s hotel suite. (The Jet-Setter, Bashir/Sloan, M)

7) The Romulan didn’t laugh at the joke. Nevertheless, she tilted her head and a small smile graced her lips before it was quickly covered over with a sip of her drink. Julian counted that as a win and picked his own glass up off the bar to do the same. (New Lows, Bashir/Sloan, E)

8) Julian laughed brightly. Miles felt his heart drop. Of course this had been a stupid idea. It didn’t matter what any of his therapists had ever said; Feelings were one of those things that were better left unsaid and unacknowledged. (name something that's twelve inches and completely straight, Bashir/O’Brien (one-sided), T)

9) Julian hated sleeping alone. Actually, no, not really. Scratch that. He hated waking up alone, and also, trying to fall asleep alone. (sleepsong, Bashir/Sloan, T)

10) Garak was a degenerate. He knew it. He understood it. His association with Julian Bashir was continuing proof of it. (pricked, Garak/Bashir, E)

[journeydb]

September 22 2023 Segovia and Madrid

Happy 72nd Birthday Bruce! My handsome husband is nearly as vibrant today as on the day I first met him when he was only 25 years old. He has slowed down a bit as he has aged but has only become wiser, kinder, more resilient, and more compassionate! This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, our driver, Frank drove us to Segovia to visit the city, the aqueduct, the cathedral, and the alcazar.

The aqueduct is AMAZINGA and even longer than I imagined. We walked the length of it and back to the city center. It was a bit chilly so we stopped in a shop and I bought a lovely, warm, colorful scarf.

We climbed the stone steps to tour the upper part of the city and found the cathedral to be impressive.

What REALLY impressed, though, was the alcazar, which is another name for a castle or fortress. According to Wikipedia:

"The Alcazar of Segovia is a medieval castle located in the city of Segovia, in Castile and León, Spain. It has existed since at least the 12th century, and is one of the most renowned medieval castles globally and one of the most visited landmarks in Spain. It has been the backdrop for significant historical events and has been home to twenty-two kings, along with notable historical figures.

The fortress stands on a rocky crag at the western end of Segovia's Old City, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, above the confluence of rivers Eresma and Clamores. Today, it is used as a museum and a military archives building since its declaration as a National Archive by a Royal Decree in 1998. It has also worked at times as a state prison, a Royal Artillery College, and a military academy.

The Alcazar served both as a royal palace and a fortress for the Castilian monarchs, and its architecture reflects the grandeur and is a notable example of "power architecture": the impenetrable walls, the deep moat, its impressive towers like the Homage or Juan II's, and the strategic location symbolize power and authority. Furthermore, the luxury and opulence of its interior, with lavishly decorated rooms and coffered ceilings, were designed to awe and subdue visitors, reinforcing the authority of the Kings of Castile. Similarly, the legends and rumors surrounding the Alcazar of Segovia have played a significant role in its history.

Despite its stern and fortified appearance, the Alcazar of Segovia has also been a place of daily life. Many princes, nobles, and infants have grown up within its halls, and their presence has helped soften the palace's appearance, making the castle a home for many.

Its history begins in the 12th or early 13th century when the royal family of Castile had quarters in the Alcazar, known as the "major palace". In the Homage tower, the treasure of the Crown of Castile was stored, from which funds were secured to finance Christopher Columbus's first voyage.

In 1437, the books of the royal administration were moved to the Alcazar, establishing one of the first royal archives of Castile and laying one of the foundations for the current General Archive of Simancas. Additionally, the Alcazar housed the royal armory, which served as the basis for the one now exhibited in the Royal Armory of Madrid.

The Alcazar has been the stage for crucial events in Spain's history, such as the Cortes of Castile, held there on multiple occasions; the signing of the Concord of Segovia, which laid the groundwork for the formation of the Spanish nation, took place there; Isabel the Catholic, one of the most significant and influential women in history, left the Alcazar to proclaim herself queen of Castile. It was also the site of the last meeting between Christopher Columbus and King Ferdinand the Catholic before the explorer's death.

The marriage of Philip II to Ana of Austria strengthened the alliance between the House of Habsburg and the Hispanic Monarchy. As the headquarters of the royal college of artillery, in the 18th century, the first military flight for military purposes was carried out, marking the beginning of military aviation, and the chemist Louis Proust, a professor at the Royal College, formulated the Law of Definite Proportions, a fundamental advance in modern chemistry.

The Alcazar of Segovia has made its mark on cinema and popular culture. It was used by Orson Welles in the film "Chimes at Midnight" and served as inspiration for Cinderella castle in the Walt Disney movie."

By the time we finished visiting the alcazar we were famished. We had noticed this restaurant , Casa Vicente, when we began our tour of the upper part of Segovia, so we returned there for lunch.

It was warm and cozy inside, with a roaring fire in the fireplace. Just what we needed to take away the chill! The food was nourishing and flavorful, and as it filled our bellies it made us feel happy and a little drowsy. It was a good thing Frank was driving because I dozed off much of the way back to the hotel.

When we got back to our suite we found that the staff had left a gift for Bruce's birthday. It was a nice gesture but little did they know that I don't like balloons because if they are released into the atmosphere and descend to Earth they create a hazard for birds, turtles, and other animals who may eat them thinking they are food, which can harm and even kill them. Balloons also contribute to plastic pollution. They can take hundreds of years to biodegrade. Over time these pieces get smaller and smaller, eventually turning into microplastics, which can then pollute the water supply and end up being ingested by fish, and then people.

The better gift was the fruit that housekeeping left us when they cleaned our suite! We rested and played games during what was left of the afternoon and then went to Amos Restaurant at the hotel for Bruce's birthday dinner. I was still full from lunch so I didn't eat much but, as you know, if you know, Bruce, he can ALWAYS eat, so he enjoyed the meal a lot!

[garyjugert]

Thursday May 16, 2024

Uniclues by Gary Jugert:

1 Travails of big haired one on equatorial oceanic dot.

2 The one I don't mind you getting on.

3 Dessert for rock climbers.

4 Fabulous U.

5 Baldwin neck lettuce.

6 Dessert for Italians with neck aches.

7 Order a PB&J at the Hotel Bel-Air.

8 "Yes Dear" deer.

***

1 ISLE AFRO ACHES

2 SOME LARGE NERVE (~)

3 CRAG ICE CREAM

4 SPARKLED TO A T

5 ALEC KALE LEI

6 ALEVE GELATO

7 EAT JIFFY OUT (~)

8 HART BEATEN DOWN

[jsbsam]

Who knew Bolivia has so much to offer?

Tuesday 21 November 2023

We've been out of Internet coverage for the past 3 days - wonderful. Obviously we've survived our 3 day adventure into the Uyuni Salt Flats and the High Plateau, but what was it like and did it live up to expectations?

I have to say that my expectations were fairly low as I'm a cynic and was fully prepared to be ripped off by travel companies preying on unsuspecting, naive tourists. Obviously, MM's expectations were sky high as she'd done her usual research and was ready to teach the poor guide a thing or two.

Our guide, Carlos, arrived promptly at our hotel in Uyuni at 10am with our driver, Luiz. It turned out that MM and I were the only people on this particular tour, so we had Carlos and Luiz to ourselves - lucky them! Our first stop was in the centre of Uyuni as Carlos said that there would be little or no chance to buy anything once we got going, so we purchased water, banana's and a few other things to eat between meals and on the last morning when we headed for the Chilean border and wouldn't get any lunch. Carlos stressed that we should not try and take food, banana's, apples etc across the Chilean border as this was against the law and we should make sure that we eat everything before we got there. Understood? Yep, understood, no foodstuffs to cross the border.

Fully provisioned, we set off for the train cemetery which is located just outside the sprawling urbanisation that is Uyuni. There is a track that runs absolutely straight from Uyini to Chile, but now it is only used for freight and only a couple of times a week. Until the mid 1980's trains were running regularly, transporting minerals across the high Plateau. Then demand and prices plummeted so the old steam trains were just shunted off the track and left to rust - tragic.

After that we headed onto the Salar de Uyuni, the salt flats. The first stop was the salt hotel, just as you enter the salt flats. The flats and the hotel were used in the Star Wars film, I can't remember which one, but it starts with the hero (Skywalker?) being found in the middle of a salt desert by someone who tells him he's a jedi. Anyway, when you see the flats it is other worldly and you can understand why they used it.

From there we drove into the middle of nowhere. You couldn't see anyone else, occasionally another 4 wheel drive could be seen in the distance, but basically you were on your own, surrounded by white salt and silence - incredible. Carlos and Luiz prepared a lunch of llama meat and vegetables which was interesting and then we drove to Cactus Island and climbed to the top of the crag for some incredible views. From there we drove 60km across the flats to Conquesa island where we spent the night as the only people in this unique hotel.

In the morning we had breakfast and headed up Conquesa mountain to see the Inca mummies, all buried in the foetal position and then headed south across the salt flats to explore the high Plateau. It's amazing to think that the flats and the High Plateau are sitting in the mountains at more than 4200m (c14,000ft). The scenery was amazing as we're the lagoons that were different colours due to different minerals and were home to thousands of flamingo's. The highest place that flamingo's can be found in the world. We stayed the night in a hotel in a room overlooking the lake and the flamingo's.

I should mention how the temperature changes. During the day it's really hot but as evening approaches the wind gets up and the temperature plummets, to the extent that the water can freeze overnight, even at this time of year (late spring).

This morning we were up early as we had quite a few things to see before heading to the isolated border of Hito Cajon. We saw volcano's, lakes, flamingo's, geyser's, eroding rocks, hot springs and a couple of broken down 4x4's.

I have to say, that as we'd been driving along on these dusty, rutted tracks I had wondered what would happen if our vehicle had a problem. The place is so remote and there's no phone coverage. Basically, you have to wait until someone comes along and they then get to the next point where there is a building and let them know that someone is in trouble. It can take hours to get picked up and in bad or hot weather that's no fun. I was just pleased that it wasn't us that had the breakdown.

At around 10.30am we reached the Bolivian border, and, as feared it was really, really remote - nothing there at all. No shops, no taxi's nothing. I was right to have been concerned. Fortunately, our Chilean driver was there to meet us as I'd arranged whilst we were in Uyuni, the day before we set off. We left the 2 apples we had left with Carlos and Luiz, transferred our bags into the Chilean van said goodbye to them and headed off for the Chilean border about 2 miles away, a big no-mans land. When we reached the Chilean checkpoint we noticed that the van in front was unpacking all their bags and putting them through an airport like scanner. There were signs everywhere reminding people not to bring food, explosives etc into the country. No problem I thought, we left the apples with Carlos and MM exploded her dynamite in the silver mine at Potosi. Why would I be so calm, I've lived with MM for donkey's years, I should have known. A little voice suddenly said "what about my peanuts, they're in my bag - if they scan it, they'll find them. And oh, what about that health food stuff I bought in Sucre, that's in my big back pack". This had all the signs of being another Melbourne 2016 when she got caught trying to smuggle fags in from Thailand! From looking very calm and unflustered we suddenly looked very shifty indeed.

As the bags went onto the conveyor belt I was wondering how I might make her life in a Chilean jail more bearable once I'd got back to England. I hadn't come to any conclusions when the officer just said "OK". That was enough we got our bags back in the van quickly, hopped in and off we went.

It was about a 45 minute drive down into San Pedro de Atacama, which, unsurprisingly sits in the Atacama desert. The road from the frontier was a proper road, something we hadn't seen for sometime. However, as soon as we entered the town itself the dusty, unmade roads reappeared as we made our way to our hostel. This is a real backpacking town, it reminds me of Luang Prabang in Laos, or downtown Hanoi - backpackers and back packer bars everywhere, very nostalgic.

To close, I have to say that it was a fantastic 3 day trip. We were fortunate in that we hardly saw anybody else at all. It was as if we had Bolivia to ourselves for 3 days. The views are just incredible, the landscape is spectacular, vast and unspoilt. It really is a hidden gem, visit if you can.

[sigiriyajunglesblogs]

Ancient Fortresses and Their Unique Features: Comparing Sigiriya to the World

Sigiriya, the ancient rock fortress of Sri Lanka, has long been a point of intrigue and admiration for travelers and historians alike. Often referred to as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, this UNESCO World Heritage site holds its own against some of the world’s most famous fortresses. But how does Sigiriya stack up when compared with other ancient fortresses from around the globe? Let’s explore.

1. Sigiriya — The Sky Fortress of Sri Lanka

This granite peak that soars above the surrounding plains is more than just a fortress; it’s a testament to ancient urban planning, artistry, and ingenuity. Its frescoes, which date back to the 5th century, showcase beautiful, mysterious women whose identities are a subject of debate to this day. The “Mirror Wall,” once polished so perfectly that the King could see his reflection in it, now holds the scribbled verses of ancient poets, creating an impromptu anthology spanning over a millennium.

2. Masada — Israel’s Mountain Holdout

Overlooking the Dead Sea, Masada is a symbol of resistance and heroic sacrifice. The fortress is renowned for the tale of Jewish rebels who, facing a Roman siege, chose to take their own lives rather than be captured. Its cliff-side isolation made it an almost impregnable fortress, showcasing the brilliance of its architects.

3. The Great Wall — China’s Stretched Fortress

The Great Wall, with its snaking presence across vast stretches of China, served as a protective barrier against invasions. Unlike the compactness of Sigiriya or Masada, the Great Wall’s magnificence is in its incomprehensible scale, showcasing the might of the emperors who envisioned it.

4. Edinburgh Castle — Scotland’s Crowned Jewel

Perched on an extinct volcanic crag, Edinburgh Castle has played a pivotal role in Scotland’s history. The fortress houses the legendary Stone of Destiny, upon which monarchs were crowned. Its architecture and artifacts make it a treasure trove of Scottish history.

5. Mehrangarh Fort — India’s House of the Sun

Standing tall above the blue city of Jodhpur, Mehrangarh is one of India’s most impressive forts. With walls scarred by cannonball hits and intricate carvings showcasing Rajasthani art, it’s a blend of beauty and might. Local legends of the curse and the fort’s patron deity only add layers to its already rich history.

Conclusion

The fortresses of the world, from Sigiriya to Mehrangarh, stand not just as testaments to the military prowess of ancient civilizations, but also their artistry, beliefs, and values. Each fortress, with its unique features, tells a story that is deeply rooted in the culture and history of its homeland. While Sigiriya’s frescoes and Mirror Wall hold their own against the features of other fortresses, it’s clear that every ancient stronghold has a magic distinctly its own.

Discover Sigiriya’s beauty by day and retreat to the tranquil embrace of SigiriyaJungles Hotel by night.

[nouseformoonlightfic]

chapter 1 end notes

Some historical notes:

The Chautauqua Movement began in New York State towards the end of the nineteenth century. It was an educational movement that quickly spread through the US, emphasizing teaching and self-improvement. In the Western US, like Colorado where this story is set, these goals somewhat overlapped with progressive-era interest in natural beauty and physical fitness and Chautauqua sites became places for tourism with a self-improving bent. For context: Teddy Roosevelt is also creating national parks, and museums are becoming increasingly publicly accessible at this time– there was a huge sense that people wanted entertainment and fun that they could feel was also fairly edifying. In this fic, Ed is a little skeptical of these goals, but that has as much to do with his reluctance to see his city change as anything else. You can still visit the Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO today– and I believe the site in NY as well. The summer of 1903, when this fic takes place, was a major year for the Boulder Chautauqua: it hosted Rischar’s brass band (referenced in this fic) for the entire season and hit a major heyday of social and educational events. You can see images of Rischar’s band here: https://localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A71893 and find more info on the Chautauqua here: https://www.chautauqua.com/2021/chautauqua-movement-history/)

The Daily Camera, the paper Ed writes for, was a real newspaper in Boulder in 1903, and is still the town’s paper today. Greyson, the newspaper editor in this fic, is completely made up. I have no idea if the Camera ran a social column, but they were very popular in other daily papers of the time. Extant copies I’ve seen of papers from New York State include everything from who was hosting dinner parties, what musicians and lecturers were touring nearby towns, who was hiring for what kind of jobs, not to mention life milestone announcements like weddings and funerals. Daily periodicals were super important to community life in the past, and now are a great way to learn about what the average day might have looked like at the turn of the century. The society pages were typically written by women reporters, or were assembled from notes that people sent in to the editor announcing whatever events they were hosting or attending– it would have been pretty unusual for a field reporter like Ed to be moved from ‘real’ news to these columns, but I’ve taken artistic liberty there because I just love giving that man stuff to be grumpy about.

The Crags mountains which are referenced throughout the fic are better known today as the Flatirons. All of the trails that Ed and Stede hike in this fic are trails that still exist today.

Conway’s Saloon was also a real place, and was situated at 1147 Pearl Street. The CO Carnegie Library has some great images of the interior of this historic bar, which is now a clothing store on the Pearl Street Mall.

I have slightly stretched the truth when it comes to the Hotel Boulderado: the hotel didn’t open until 1909, but it is such a magical landmark that I couldn’t resist including it here. (there’s some beautiful historic images of the interior and more info on the hotel website: https://www.boulderado.com/about/)

There’s also quite a bit of detail I include about fashion of the period. it’s such an interesting time of transition from the stuffiness of the gilded age to more relaxed eras, especially in a frontier context like the Rockies where people were constantly moving through, introducing new trends from back east and beyond. there are also some very real environmental conditions that make some of the more impractical edwardian elements passé more quickly. If people are interested, I’ll put together a lookbook but here are some links for good overviews of the fashions featured in this fic: https://victorian-era.org/edwardian-era-mens-clothing.html , https://www.filson.com/blog/field-notes/evolution-of-mountaineering-gear/ .

I used the amazing Chris Woodyard’s information about the fashions for men’s bathing suits in this time period when thinking up Stede’s outfit for the Boulder Creek excursion, though I have stretched the truth a little bit. Chris’ work is such a treasure, as she’s an expert on 19th and early 20th century newspapers and has made so many resources digitally available. Also, if you like the macabre, she has great books on Victorian death ideology and hauntings. https://mrsdaffodildigresses.wordpress.com/tag/edwardian-mens-bathing-suits/

The steamboat travel guide that Ed reads was real, published in NY in 1902. I have no idea if it was boring or not, sorry for potentially unfairly roasting the memory of one Cromwell Childe.

[travelonourown]

Mon July 17

Had a nice train trip from Durham to Edinburgh, with Uber trips between the train stations and hotels. After a cup of tea in our Hotel Ceilidh Donia room, we walked to Holyrood Palace via gorgeous Holyrood Park, with its hills, crags and long lawns. Took pictures along the way, had beer in The World’s End pub, and then dinner across the street in No. 1 High Street pub. On the way back to our room, we checked out the Lady Stairs close, with its references to Scottish writers & poets.

[ukdamo]

Messina

David Keplinger

Take Messina: you'd be impressed and even sad that I remember. The crag of mottled faces the rocks made like old pensioners in back pages of a magazine. The light as bright as dentistry.

In Messina you're alone‚ available‚ the youth in your face still rising. As if there'll be no end to youth and solitude‚ the sea below Messina answers: solitude is beauty‚ even after you

get cold‚ go back to the hotel‚ and light begins to change‚ to fade‚ at each stage resonant. Messina? I have never been. You told the story quickly when I loved you; now here it is

exactly as you left it‚ its old stone faces alternately old and then like children‚ elated by a fallen tooth.

[azvolrien]

Jordan - Day 6

           Today wasn’t as long as the last few, and thankfully involved much less walking. We were due to check out of the hotel at 11. Some of the group made an early start to go back for another look at Petra, but Mum and I were both pretty tired and slept in until about 9.

           The bus left at about 11 as planned and, after a quick stop at a viewpoint overlooking Wadi Musa (Petra itself was hidden in the rocks, but we could see the God Blocks), set off southwards, down the busy desert highway towards the famous Wadi Rum.

           The paved road only goes so far into the desert, so after getting our tickets from the visitor centre, the bus dropped us off at the Rum Village to go the rest of the way to our camp for the night by 4x4. ‘Camp’ makes it sound more rustic than it really is; we’re sleeping in little cabins rather than actually being under canvas, and each one has its own shower and toilet (though not much else!). We dropped our overnight bags off in our respective rooms – the 4x4s aren’t big enough for all our suitcases – and climbed back aboard for a 4-hour tour of the Wadi Rum.

           I’ve been in desert regions before, but crossing Arizona in an air-conditioned people-carrier is a very different experience to riding across the Wadi Rum in the back of a battered pickup truck, especially when the benches in the cargo bay have no seatbelts and the driver spends a while amusing himself driving up and down the dunes in a very sandy rollercoaster ride.

           It did remind me of Arizona in some ways, though. The rock formations around Sedona wouldn’t look out of place if you somehow transplanted them here, though they would be greatly outnumbered by the local versions. Every corner you turn brings you to a new astounding sandstone crag, towering high above the desert floor in complex shapes that suggest enormous lions and other animals frozen in stone. In addition, the first stop on our little desert tour was a cliffside where people – both the Nabataeans and those who came later – had scratched images of camels and ibex into the rock, not dissimilar in style to the petroglyphs of the Southwest.

           After the carvings, we stopped off at a local Bedouin’s tent for some tea and a little souvenir shopping while he played some music on a single-stringed instrument whose name escapes me. It was also a good demonstration of how well the Bedouin tents fit the desert; the tightly-woven goat-hair fabric completely blocks out both the sun and the wind, cool in the heat and warm in the cold.

           We moved on, passing other camps – some cabins like ours, some actual tents, and some space-age domed pods – on our way around the desert, stopping again at an impressive sandstone arch where locals offered camel rides to visitors and then at an area Reem pointed out as a Star Wars filming location (there has been a lot of filming here), before making a final stop to watch the sunset and returning to the camp for an evening meal of chicken and lamb, slow-cooked over hours in a traditional Bedouin sand-oven until it all but melted off the bone.

           I had hoped to do a little stargazing after dinner, but the full moon was so bright that I could really only pick out a few main constellations, so instead I turned in to write up my diary and get ready for bed. It is, at least, much quieter than the previous hotel room.

[better-life-design]

20 THINGS TO DO IN KESWICK CUMBRIA

Hike up Helvellyn

Boat trip on Derwentwater

Swimming in Derwentwater

Visit Castlerigg Stone Circle

Visit Derwent Isle

Hike up Catbells

Shop at Keswick Market

Visit Whinlatter Forest Park

Visit Honister Slate Mine

Viewpoint at Friars Crag

Walk the old Keswick Railway line

Explore the Mirehouse Historic House & Gardens

Keswick Museum & Art Gallery

Birdwatching at Bassenthwaite Lake

Afternoon Tea at Lodore Falls Hotel

Keswick Golf

Watch a show at the Theatre By The Lake

Visit Derwent Pencil Museum

Climb up Lodore Falls

Watersports on Derwentwater lake

Visit Hope Park

Link to original article

[college-girl199328]

The Hudson’s Bay store in Banff, Alberta, will be shuttering in August of this year. The store is the smallest in the chain and has a prominent location on the main shopping street in the town, known as a tourist hot spot. Hudson’s Bay has operated department stores in the village since 1940. The current Banff Avenue Hudson’s Bay store spans about 20,000 square feet over two levels. Located at 125 Banff Avenue, it’s the largest store in Banff at the moment, and its closure spells the end of such window displays as canoes with HBC striped point blankets and other branded merchandise. The current store is the second department of Hudson’s Bay in Banff.

The first Bay department store in Banff opened at 202 Banff Avenue in 1935, according to the Crag & Canyon, and the building is still standing today and is named Caribou Corner. In 1947, the Bay relocated to its current 125 Banff Avenue location, which was expanded by annexing a restaurant space in 1979. The prior tenant at 125 Banff Avenue was Adams Radio Parlors Ltd., which had various electrical appliances, including radios, that could be rented.

Over the years, the 125 Banff Avenue Hudson’s Bay store has sold merchandise, including fashions, handbags, accessories, and cosmetics, as well as the iconic HBC-stripe merchandise that has proven popular with tourists. Fur coats and accessories were also part of the mix in decades past, as the Hudson’s Bay Company was a seller of fur garments. Having begun in the fur trade, the current Banff Avenue Hudson’s Bay store is awkward, with each level spanning just under 10,000 square feet. That includes a street and basement that feature low ceiling heights. 

Given the low ceiling heights in the basement and the single level above ground, the store could be ripe for redevelopment. That could include demising the street level into multiple retail units or demolishing the building for something new. The store boasts 75 feet of frontage on Banff Avenue and a lot of depth—more than 130 feet. The Bay owns half of the 123-125 Banff Avenue building, and another holds the other half. 

Various redevelopment opportunities are possible. A new mini-mall could be developed on the site; Banff Avenue is already home to several, featuring smaller interior storefronts with businesses catering primarily to tourists. A hotel or other use could be located above, or even residential units if the market warrants it. It’s not yet known if Hudson’s Bay will return to Banff with a smaller storefront featuring Hudson’s Bay Company-striped merchandise, which is popular with international tourists. In the past, Hudson’s Bay has opened such dedicated, smaller stores in busy airports. 

The announcement follows our exclusive report last week that the Londonderry Mall store in Edmonton will also close. The 118,000-square-foot store opened in 1971 and saw soft sales in recent years as the store was downsized to include just two central check-outs. Throughout the pandemic, Hudson’s Bay has shut stores in downtown Edmonton and downtown Winnipeg, as well as at Les Jardins Dorval in suburban Montreal.