#Hammond School University | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

liquidorcard · 2 months ago

Text

Lily can't keep her own "Sympathetic" Villains rules Straight: Anthony Gramuglia edition

See Crim's edition for the rules and outlines. Here we go.

Lily's Response to Ant:

Lily's probably going to get a significantly worse score on this one because me and Ant I think have similar media diets. We begin:

1. In the book, 100% he is THE villain. The movie not as much. Still though, I think movie Hammond more than fit's Lily's criteria. -1 life found a way

2. We already went over this (yes I am still writing p.3 of my Magneto post.) -1 Anthro cow delivering your children

3. Kyubey's keeping the universe from ending Lily. How could you get closer to having a point than that? -1 timeline

4. See Crim's post. He does fail #2. Again though, by Lily's original parameters this was a valid entry. But I have to give her the point. +1 spider gets it's legs ripped off

5. I bet she thought this was clever. -1 gate keeper.

6.N/A

7. I don't even know what she's talking about here. -1

8. Del Toro sends his regards. -1 Nerdy fish man.

9. LILY HASN'T SEEN THE BROADWAY SMASH HIT PLANET OF THE APES THE MUSICAL, STARRING TROY MCCLURE!? For shame! -1 (has anyone else watched that movie recently? I'm not saying it's aged poorly, but like, it is profoundly unintentionally hilarious, watching it in the modern day. I know this was like, the whole thing back then-- leading men who were too cool for school, but Taylor is such a fucking asshole. Cornelius is the real hero of the film, and everyone bullies him for not matching their lunatic energy. #justiceforCornelius #GeorgeTaylorisoverparty)

10. N/A (Trekkies don't try me.)

11. N/a

12. N/A (I mean I feel like I've probably seen the whole Mummy franchise just through memes at this point but. Lily's reasoning here is fucking asinine though-- as per usually Ant us uniquely getting her goat.)

13. This is actually the first example that breaks rule #3. Sorry fam I love Elfen Lied too, but it's a bit of a hot mess. +1 dead puppy

14. Scar is a dead ringer to Lily's criteria. She straight up just didn't have a pot to piss in, so she just wrote "no." -1 Dwarf in a flask

15. For the record, my boomer mom has seen Ghost in the Shell. The movie anyway. -1 body on loan

16. I watched this as a kid but can't really remember anything about it, so, I gotta put it as N/A.

17. This might actually be the first time I've seen anyone else memtion this movie . . . But still. -1 burnt wheelchair

18. Not plus ultra. -1 for all

19. Oh fuck off Lily. Glass houses. -1 jutsu

20. Sai, Crim and Ant spoke pretty extensively about this one. -1 angry hair raise

21. This one too. -1 demon pig

22. Yes she is. -1 dad

23. See Crim's list. -1 Prisoner 24601

24. N/A

25. Read ANY book, Lily. -1 absent godly parent.

26. I've only read the first one. N/A

27. Lily's reason here is bullshit but I haven't seen Columbo either. N/A

28. Why not Lily? -1 Jimbo

29. YES SHE FUCKING IS LILY. Just because in a modern context her story is a lot more tragic doesn't mean she isn't intended to be a villain. Lily made up the rule "has a point," but if they have an iron clad one she just declares them not a villain. -1 head

30. OBJECTION! NOW YOU REMEMBER VILLAIN AND ANTAGONIST ARENT TRUE SYNONYMS FOR EACH OTHER!? -1 Lily if you could just ONCE try to engage with a media discussion honestly.

31. N/A. I'll get around to watching it.

32. Not in Dracula Untold. -1 Damn Luke Evans looks like he was cloned from Orlando Bloom. I can't tell those two apart.

33. DIFFERENT DRACULAS. HOLY SHIT. -1 Lily this rational is so piss poor it's embarrassing. Even for you.

34. N/A

35. Isn't he in Kingdom Hearts? -1 Ah Ha Ha Ha

36. Another non-surprise. -1 traveler on his way home.

37. I haven't played enough Kurby to know why Meta Knight is a sympathetic villain. N/A

38. I've played enough to know Lily's right on this one. +1 Deddeddeedeeededededeeedede

39. A) several characters on both Crim and Ants' lists have been protagonists. B) IT'S FUCKING COMMON POPCULTURE KNOWLEDGE DONKEY KONG WAS THE ANTAGONIST IN THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF BOTH MARIO AND DK. -1 Lily I'm fucking shocked you don't know this. Genuinely. That's saying something, considering it's you.

40. Solid Lily continues to be the worst one. -1 LIQUIDDDDDDDD

41. Yes she is. Her point is the magic is what keeps her fucking family safe. -1 gift

42. You'd probably like this movie actually, Lily. Not the book, but. Or maybe not, there's no incest lesbians I guess. -1 sexy tree

43. I'm going to give Lily the point to maintain consistency that mind-manipulation doesn't count as "a point." Before he put on the crown he's not really even an antagonist, so. He IS an example of a sympathetic villain, however. +1

44. THERE ARE OTHER ANIMALS ON THIS LIST. Another one who's spot on, so she can't figure out how to even pretend to argue against it. -1 Beauty who killed the beast

45. GODZILLA ISN'T LITERALLY A NUKE. -1 pop culture jokes don't substitute proper media analysis

46. The Kaiju Lily. Her name is the title of the film. It's not Ant's fault You're too lazy to Google shit. -1 Viking Relic

(Biollante would have been my personal pick for sympathetic Kaiju. And her dad. She would have broken Lily's first rule since she's probably not aware of exactly what's happened to her, but. Her father at least fits Lily's criteria. A lot of the Kaiju are sympathetic though.)

47. This is a perfect example as to why Lily's rules are ridiculous. John Kramer is, in my opinion, outrageously unjustified in what he does. He follows her rules though. Having a bad point is still having a point. How "well written" he is wildly different depending on the movie, but because he's at least well written sometimes I'm counting him. -1 foot

48. You haven't read Paradise Lost Lily. I know you haven't. -1 Satan crying for everything he's lost

49. God Lily I wish you'd actually read something for once because this is an even better example as to why your rules are a joke. -1 Facist Worm King

50. This is a specific example. -1 tears, it's a waist of good suffering.

LILY'S FINAL SCORE: 19/50

38% - F

Got wrong: 24

Got right: 2

Removing the ones I haven't seen:

19/39

48% - F

Removing the ones Lily hasn't seen:

15/37

40% - F

Removing the ones we both haven't seen:

2/26

7% - F

#lily orchard #lily orchard critical #anti lily orchard #lily peet #lorch posting #lily orchard stuff #youtube #eldrich lily #liquid orcard #anthony gramuglia

21 notes · View notes

steddie-fanfic-recs · 6 months ago

Text

Dare to Eat a Peach

by ItCanBePalped

Rating: Explicit Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson Characters: Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson Additional Tags: Omegaverse, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dual-sexed omegas, Alpha Steve Harrington, Omega Eddie Munson, steve harrington pov, Oral Sex, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Virgin Eddie Munson, or at least hints of it teehee, Vaginal Fingering, Blow Jobs, One Pump Chump Eddie Munson, maybe two or three, Hurt/Comfort, Canon Universe, Pre-Relationship, Background Steve Harrington & Benny Hammond, my benny hammond as ersatz parent for steve agenda will never die Words: 4,340 Chapters: 1/1

Summary

Ever since Steve first presented as an alpha and returned to school he’s been craving peaches. He’s pretty sure he smelled someone, someone special, but hasn’t managed to smell them again. He makes due with the fruit itself, tries to sate his hunger as best as he can- at least until his pups drag him along to track down Eddie Munson.

#steddie #steddie fic rec #oneshot #1-5k #au omegaverse #omega eddie #hurt/comfort #alpha steve

20 notes · View notes

wrestlinghistorywithkay · 4 months ago

Text

Remembering A Hardcore Legend: Celebrating The Life And Career of Terry Funk

Today is the one year anniversary of the passing of the legendary Terry Funk. I hope this article helps you all understand who he was and why he is important to wrestling.

Terrance ‘ Terry’ Dee Funk was born to Dorothy and Dory Funk Sr. on June 30, 1944 in Hammond, Indiana . He had an older brother , Dory Funk Jr. the Funk family soon moved to Texas during the end of World War II. Terry and Dory spent their childhood in the wrestling business as their father was a wrestling promoter. After high school, Terry attended college at West Texas A & M University, where he was also an athlete. He was on the football team and on the amateur wrestling team.

Terry Funk had a career which took place for half of a century ( 50 years ) . He was also known for the hardcore style of wrestling , which he is considered one of the pioneers for . His career began in 1965 at his father ‘s wrestling promotion , Western States Sports out of Amarillo , Texas. He became the NWA World Heavyweight Champion in 1975 after replacing his brother , Dory, who was set to face Jack Brisco for the championship. Dory never showed up to the promotion for the match. He also had a rivalry with ‘ The American Dream ’ Dusty Rhodes , with Funk coining the catchphrase, ‘ Dusty Sucks Eggs ’ . He also spent part of his career in Japan in the promotion, All Japan Pro Wrestling ( AJPW ). This was from 1972 to 1991.

Funk soon found his way to World Wrestling Federation from 1985 to 1986. He also had a stint in World Championship Wrestling ( WCW ) from 1989 to 1990 and again in 1994 . He returned to Japan in 1994 as a part of the International Wrestling Association of Japan ( IWA). He participated in the King of The Death Match Tournament in 1995. He would also have a stint in Extreme Championship Wrestling ( ECW ) from 1993 to 1997. He would have rivalries with stars such as Cactus Jack ( Mick Foley ) , Raven, Stevie Richards, Sabu, and his protege , Tommy Dreamer. He was even ECW World Heavyweight Champion before losing the championship to Sabu during a Barbed Wire Match at Born To Be Wired in 1997. Funk would soon find his way back to the WWF in 1997.

Terry Funk would be a surprise entrant in the 1997 WWF Royal Rumble at number 24. He was in the match for 15 minutes and 18 seconds until being eliminated by Mankind ( Mick Foley ). He had a short retirement before returning to the company in December of the same year to become tag team partners with Mick Foley. He adopted the gimmick , ‘ Chainsaw Charlie ’. He would also form a tag time with 2 Cold Scorpio during his time in WWF as well. He would return to ECW in 1998 and had a rivalry with Tommy Dreamer before a second retirement in 1999. Funk would return to WCW in 2000. He make appearances in Ring Of Honor , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Major League Wrestling. He would also spend time on the Independent Wrestling circuit before making a few more appearances in the WWE. Terry alongside his brother , Dory , would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009 by Dusty Rhodes. However , Terry would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a solo wrestler by Mick Foley . In 2016, Funk was seen at Wrestlemania 32 giving advice to Dean Ambrose ( Jon Moxley ) , before his match against Brock Lesnar, which was a No Holds Barred Street Fight. Funk gifted Ambrose a chainsaw as a nod to his Chainsaw Charlie gimmick . He would return to the Indie scene the same year .

Terry Funk passed away at the age of 79 in Phoenix , Arizona. On the August 25 edition of Friday Night Smackdown , the WWE paid tribute Funk and Bray Wyatt , who passed away the next day. Thus , in honor of Funk , ‘ The American Nightmare ’ Cody Rhodes , came down to the ring and announced a Terry Funk Memorial Hardcore Tag Team match with the participants being The Street Profits and The Brawling Brutes.

Wrestlers such as Mick Foley , Tommy Dreamer, Eddie Kingston , and Jon Moxley have all credited Funk for influencing their careers. Bret Hart has also praised him for being one of the greatest in ring performers.

My Final Thoughts:

There will never be another Terry Funk. If it was wasn’t for him being so influential in hardcore wrestling , I think that we wouldn’t have promotions such as Game Changer Wrestling ( GCW ) , which is known for deathmatch wrestling and I don’t think hardcore wrestling would be popular . Terry Funk was one of those wrestlers who influenced almost everyone . Watching his matches on the internet and on Peacock, makes me wish I could go back in time and watch live . He is a reason why I love Deathmatch and Hardcore Wrestling. Long Live The Funker! Go watch a Terry Funk match if you haven’t ! You’ll be amazed!

1944-2023

Love You All,

- Kay

#wwe #wrestling legend #wwe hall of fame #wwe legends #terry funk #extreme championship wrestling #world championship wrestling #classic wrestling #hardcore wrestling

5 notes · View notes

jeannereames · 1 year ago

Note

I'm new to reading about Alexander the Great, and I read your books first, then Mary Renault's. I like your Hephaistion a lot better, and Olympias (Myrtale), but the two novels were a lot alike in the story itself. I saw at least one reviewer said that yours was like a retelling of hers: "dangerously similar." So I wondered how much her first novel on Alexander influenced yours?

You’re not the first to ask, and the answer is: very little.

When I get that line about my novel being “too much like” Mary Renault’s, or even “fanfic” on Mary Renault, it tells me the reviewer is completely unfamiliar with the ancient sources themselves. For those who are familiar, I never hear this (perhaps because where we differ is obvious).

Unlike the novelist who makes up a completely original plot, when writing historical fiction, at least of this type, there IS a historical thread to follow. I’m not copying Renault. I’m following Plutarch, Diodorus, and, to a lesser degree, Justin. So is she.

Where we “cross” is on the historical elements in the original sources.

If you remove those bits, our two retellings don’t have much in common. Likewise, even in some of the elements from those sources, we differ in interpretations. My novel also begins a good deal later in ATG’s life. We do both end with the same event—I suspect because, when history gives you a “made for Hollywood” incident like the murder of Philip, you don’t turn it down. LOL. Also, for me, it’s the “natural joint” between Alexander-the-prince and Alexander-the-king. Just as the end of Alexander’s stay at Mieza with Aristotle forms the hinge between the two novels—or originally, the hinge between two halves of one novel. (Which is why I was able to divide it in half, when Riptide insisted that I do so in order to publish it, due to its original length.)

But the plain fact is I’d written my own before I’d ever heard of Mary Renault. I backed into Alexander as a result of some grad classes at Emory. He kept popping up in lecture, and I realized I had NO idea who he was. As an English major, I’d read Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” so I knew the “big” Roman-era names. But I’d managed to get out of both high school and my BA at the University of Florida without taking any (real) history classes. Now I was running into mentions of people (and places) with which I was completely unfamiliar.

So, I waltzed over to the Emory library and picked out two bios on Alexander: Nick Hammond’s Alexander the Great: King, Commander, and Statesman, and Peter Green’s Alexander of Macedon (the original version, with pictures…I picked it because it had pictures). As I’ve said elsewhere, I couldn’t have selected two more different views of the conqueror if I’d tried. And that’s what intrigued me…so I kept reading. Then I decided to write a novel about the “making” of him (coming-of-age), and the importance of Hephaistion in his life (because Green was so dismissive of the poor guy). Hephaistion was originally much clearer in my mind. In fact, he’s the (real) protagonist of Dancing with the Lion…certainly for the novel’s first half (Becoming). So I’m glad to hear you liked how I portrayed him.

It was only later that somebody said, “Oh, hey, have you heard of Mary Renault?” English major or no, I hadn’t. I did pick up her novels on Alexander but read only a little way before putting them down precisely because I didn’t want to be influenced by her work. In fact, I read nobody’s novels on him until I finished my original (way too short) rendition. Then I started on the second draft (which turned out to be way too long).

But by that point, my picture of Alexander, and even more so, Hephaistion, was quite set. As was the story I wanted to tell.

So no, Mary Renault’s novels had little impact on the genesis of Dancing with the Lion. But you are not the first person to wonder.

Ironically, Mary Stewart’s Crystal Cave and her subsequent Arthurian Saga had a much greater impact on how I chose to tell Alexander’s story. I did read those as a teen girl, and they fomented a fascination for King Arthur in me that lasted into college. The fact I wound up getting a PhD in Greek history is ironic, as I actively avoided it in high school and (undergrad) college, all my love given to Celtic and Scandinavian myth and history. I still do enjoy Celtic myth, btw. And it was with some amusement that I realized the tale of Alexander and Hephaistion was the foundation for the legend of Arthur and Lancelot. That probably IS part of why Alexander and Hephaistion gripped me so.

So yes, a “Mary” did influence me, but Stewart, not Renault. 😊

#asks #Alexander the Great #Hephaistion #Hephaestion #Mary Renault #Mary Stewart #historical fiction #Classics #tagamemnon #alexander x hephaestion #alexander x hephaistion #ancient sources on Alexander the Great

23 notes · View notes

dust-n-roses · 2 days ago

Text

My Favourite First Listens of 2024!

It's been a big year of discovery for me, continuing to delve into prog and metal and embarking on the extreme metal journey with my developing tolerance of harsh vocals. These albums, old and new (in chronological order of when I heard them) are the highlights of my first listens this year :)

#1: Misplaced Childhood (1985) – Marillion

I heard this either right at the end of last year or right at the beginning of this year, as my mum found her copy after Christmas when we got our record player. I only knew Kayleigh, which though a good track is very much an 80s ballad, so I was stunned to hear how proggy and conceptual the full album is and it quickly became a favourite. It has the quirkiness and quasi-symphonic sound of early 70s Genesis with the bombast of the 80s, and the flow of the album is wonderful – I'll never hear Kayleigh in the same way again now I know how Pseudo Silk Kimono leads into it!

Favourite tracks: Waterhole (Expresso Bongo), Blind Curve, Childhood's End?

#2: For All Kings (2016) – Anthrax

I finished the Big 4's discographies near the beginning of the year and was pleasantly surprised at how good latter-day Anthrax is. Their most recent album is full of great songs and has a well-constructed balance of heaviness and melodicism, with Joey Belladonna in great vocal shape.

Favourite tracks: Breathing Lightning, Suzerain, Blood Eagle Wings

#3: From Mars to Sirius (2005) – Gojira

I was skeptical at first at how a heavy album with plenty of harsh vocals could be a conceptual masterpiece as I'd heard, but after a couple of listens I started to get it. The music scratched an itch for something more intense and being a nature/animal lover I latched onto the concept and Gojira's overall philosophy quickly. The balance of groove-laden riffs, bludgeoning death metal and more ambient sections is just right for it to be intense all the way through without being exhausting to listen to, and it succeeds in taking you on its journey.

Favourite tracks: Backbone, From the Sky, The Heaviest Matter of the Universe, Flying Whales

#4: Orchid (1995) – Opeth

And so we come to Opeth, my biggest discovery this year. I'd heard of the band and was curious about their prog credentials but intimidated by the death metal side of things, however decided to give them a go having started dipping into heavier waters. Being their debut, Orchid was the first album I heard and it absolutely blew me away; I knew instantly that I'd deal with growled vocals if it meant I could listen to the music. Oh, the music – wonderful melodic lead guitars, folky acoustics, atmospheric and meandering song structures. It’s such a unique soundscape and an album that I only wring more joy from as I get further into the style.

Favourite tracks: In Mist She Was Standing, Under The Weeping Moon

#5: Ghost Reveries (2005) – Opeth

Fast forward a bunch of Opeth albums and we come to the first one that caught my attention after my initial deep dive. Ghost of Perdition was the first song I kept coming back to, and The Baying of the Hounds followed in its footsteps. The balance of clean/harsh vocals and soft/heavy music on this album is executed perfectly and the softer parts made it easier to get into as a newbie to the death metal aspects, but it keeps on giving now those parts are just as enjoyable. A well-sequenced album full of great, memorable songs.

Favourite tracks: Ghost of Perdition, The Baying of the Hounds, Beneath the Mire, Harlequin Forest

#6: Sorceress – Opeth (2016)

Ironically, since I came at them from an old-school prog background, I found the first couple of prog Opeth albums (Heritage and Pale Communion) harder to get into. Sorceress, though, I adored straight away and still do for its 70s hard rock style, a heavier take on the prog sound with abundant Hammond organ. I love the songs on it and the cohesive vibe throughout, plus Mikael’s gorgeous clean vocals really shine.

Favourite tracks: Sorceress, The Wilde Flowers, Will O The Wisp, Chrysalis, Era

#7: Foregone – In Flames (2023)

I was aware of In Flames’ Clayman album when I heard the newly-released bonus track from this, Become One, and fell in love. Listening to the whole thing cemented the thought that I needed to explore melodeath, as the Maiden-esque riffs coupled with death metal heaviness and a good balance of clean/screamed vocals was something I didn’t know I needed. Banger after banger, what else can I say?

Favourite tracks: Meet Your Maker, Pure Light of Mind, In The Dark, A Dialogue In B Flat Minor

#8: Hand. Cannot. Erase – Steven Wilson (2015)

I wasn’t convinced by the idea that Steven’s solo work could rival Porcupine Tree, just because I love PT so much. Boy, did albums like this prove me wrong! A prog-pop masterpiece imbued with the nostalgia that enamoured me with his songwriting in PT, Hand. Cannot. Erase has everything – instrumental prog weirdness, electronica, achingly melancholic soft sections, an evocative lyrical concept and even a poppy chorus in the awesome title track. It makes me feel so seen, musically and lyrically, and that’s what I love about him.

Favourite tracks: 3 Years Older, Hand Cannot Erase, Home Invasion, Happy Returns

#9: To The Bone – Steven Wilson (2017)

Another prog-pop masterpiece that emboldened my obsession with Steven, this is an eclectic yet well-curated bunch of songs that just connected with me immediately. It’s got beautiful ballads, perfect pop, experimental electronica and a couple of fantastic straight-ahead hard rock songs, with some of his best singing too. What more could I want?

Favourite tracks: Pariah, The Same Asylum As Before, Permanating, People Who Eat Darkness

#10: Hybrid Theory – Linkin Park (2000)

I finally got round to delving into Linkin Park’s discography this summer – good timing! This is the nu-metal album, and turned out to be my favourite LP record not only because of the great combination of heavy guitars and sometimes aggressive vocals with hip-hop elements, but because of the catchiness they incorporate.

Favourite tracks: One Step Closer, By Myself, In The End, Forgotten

#11: The Mantle – Agalloch (2002)

I saw this recommended in a thread discussing albums like Opeth’s Orchid, then heard In The Shadow of Our Pale Companion in a prog metal playlist and just thought, I need more of this. The sound of this album and band is so melancholic without being dull, a gorgeous musical marriage of folk, black metal and post-rock/metal that transcends them all. This album really does sound like you’re taking a walk in a snow-covered Scandanavian forest (even though these guys are American), contemplating existence with a healthy dose of pantheism. A masterpiece that I connected with straight away, and struggle to describe except to say: listen to it!

Favourite tracks: In The Shadow of Our Pale Companion, I Am The Wooden Doors, The Hawthorne Passage

#12: Blackfield II – Blackfield (2007)

Another entry for Steven Wilson, this time making art rock with Aviv Geffen. Of course, there’s a heavy dose of melancholia in Blackfield’s sound, but it’s got an accessible alt-rock feel and more straightforward song structures. That’s not an insult, though, as this is a great collection of songs with lovely vocals from both of them.

Favourite tracks: Christenings, Epidemic, Where Is My Love?, End of the World

#13: Luck and Strange – David Gilmour (2024)

This was the first album that I’d heard for the first time on vinyl, and from the first, so utterly Gilmour guitar notes, it had me in tears. Between the nostalgic lyrics, his singular guitar sound and voice, and the Pink Floyd references scattered through the music, my experience of this album was immediately emotional and to top it off, it led to an experience I never thought I’d get: seeing David Gilmour live. It still hasn’t sunk in, but between the magnitude of that event and the beauty of the music itself, this album had to be on the list.

Favourite tracks: Luck and Strange, Between Two Points, Dark and Velvet Nights

#14: Absolute Elsewhere – Blood Incantation (2024)

Amongst all the old bands still to discover, I don’t pay tons of attention to new releases, but discovering Opeth gave me an interest in anything labelled ‘progressive death metal’ and an album with space-electronica interludes was bound to intrigue me. Considering the disparity in styles between bludgeoning death metal and Berlin school progressive electronica, this album flows surprisingly well and feels cohesive in its ambitious fusion. It took a few spins to fully grasp the heavier sections, but this is an enjoyable listen and one that makes me glad I took the dive into more extreme metal.

Favourite tracks: The Stargate [Tablet I], The Message [Tablet II]

#15: Flowermouth – No-Man (1994)

No-Man is the next Steven Wilson project for me to explore, and despite my initial apprehension for something contemporary of the 90s, dance/hip-hop influence and all, their sound has been growing on me. This album has a spacey atmosphere amongst the dance beats, topped with gorgeous vocals from Tim Bowness, and has repeatedly drawn me back despite being a style I wouldn’t have expected to like much (that’s Steven’s songwriting, I guess, or just bias from my desire to like his whole catalogue). An intriguing soundscape and cool new vibe which I’ll continue to explore in the new year.

Favourite tracks: Angel Gets Caught In The Beauty Trap, You Grow More Beautiful, Things Change

#16: The Last Will and Testament – Opeth (2024)

Having gotten into Opeth at the beginning of the year, it was exciting that they were releasing a new album and even more so when it turned out to be a return to metal territory, fusing their recent symphonic prog leanings with their classic prog-death sound. To top it off, it’s a concept album! And it didn’t disappoint: there’s prog, there’s jazz, there’s death metal, there’s baritone vocals, there’s growls, there’s narration and even flute from Ian Anderson – all packed into seven unpredictable, immaculately composed ‘paragraphs’ and the beautiful dénouement of the ending track, A Story Never Told. Everyone’s playing shines, Mikael’s songwriting skills are as endlessly brilliant as always, and it flows as a full album like all the best prog records. Thoroughly enjoyable!

Favourite tracks: §3, §4, §6

#dustnroses.txt #year in review #music

2 notes · View notes

jpbjazz · 21 days ago

Text

LÉGENDES DU JAZZ

JOHN ABERCROMBIE, DU JAZZ FUSION AU FREE JAZZ

"{Abercrombie} should have had even more recognition for his contribution. When you go back and examine it, you can hear that warm, Jim Hall thing, but John definitely developed his own distinct voice on the guitar. He could really come together, adapt to any situation. But always with his own unique voice in the mix."

- Jack DeJohnette

Né le 16 décembre 1944 à Port Chester, dans l’État de New York, John Laird Abercrombie était le fils unique des immigrants écossais John Abercrombie et Elizabeth Beattie. Abercrombie a été élevé à Greenwich, Connecticut. D’abord attiré par le rock n’ roll de Chuck Berry, d’Elvis Presley, Fats Domino et du groupe Bill Haley and the Comets, Abercrombie adorait également le son du guitariste de jazz Mickey Baker du duo vocal Mickey and Silvia. À l’époque, Abercrombie avait aussi deux amis qui possédaient une impressionnante collection de disques de jazz, ce qui lui avait permis de se familiariser avec la musique de Dave Brubeck et de Miles Davis. Le premier guitariste de jazz qu’Abercrombie avait écouté sur disque était Barney Kessel. Abercrombie explique comment il était tombé en amour avec le jazz: "I heard Barney Kessel and immediately, I wanted to do that".Comme la plupart des adolescents de son époque, Abercrombie avait commencé à jouer de la guitare en tentant d’imiter Chuck Berry.

D’abord influencé par Barney Kessel, Abercrombie avait aussi été marqué par George Benson, Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery et Jim Hall. Mais loin d’être limitées aux seuls guitaristes, les influences d’Abercrombie comprenaient également Miles Davis et Bill Evans. Commentant l’influence de Kessel et Montgomery sur son jeu, Abercrombie avait précisé: “I realized that they had a different way to play than a lot of the other guys from their generation, and I liked the way they played better. Somehow it seemed more melodic, more lyrical; there was more space.”

Abercrombie avait pris ses premiers cours de guitare à l’âge de dix ans. Après avoir obtenu son diplôme du high school, Abercrombie était entré, à l’âge de seulement seize ans, au prestigieux Berklee College of Music.

Durant ses études à Berklee, Abercrombie s’était familiarisé avec la musique de Jim Hall, l’album The Bridge de Sonny Rollins et les albums The Wes Montgomery Trio (1959) et Boss Guitar (1963) de Wes Montgomery. Au cours de cette période, Abercrombie avait souvent joué avec d’autres étudiants au Paul's Mall, un club de jazz de Boston qui faisait partie d’un club plus large appelé le Jazz Workshop. Les apparitions d’Abercrombie au Paul's Mall lui avaient éventuellement permis de rencontrer d’autres musiciens de jazz comme les frères Michael et Randy Brecker. C’est aussi au Jazz Workshop qu’Abercrombie avait entendu pour la première fois John Coltrane et Thelonious Monk. Abercrombie étudiait toujours à Berklee lorsque l’organiste Johnny Hammond Smith l’avait invité à l’accompagner en tournée. C’est d’ailleurs avec Smith qu’Abercrombie avait fait ses débuts sur disque en 1969.

Après avoir décroché son diplôme de Berklee en 1967, Abercrombie avait fréquenté la North Texas State University durant une brève période. Il s’était installé à New York en 1969.

DÉBUTS DE CARRIÈRE

Toujours en 1969, Abercrombie s’était joint aux frères Brecker dans le cadre du groupe de jazz-fusion Dreams. Durant cette période, Abercrombie s’était également produit avec le groupe de Billy Cobham, même s’il le trouvait un peu trop orienté vers le rock aux dépens du jazz. Abercrombie avait enregistré trois albums avec le groupe de Cobham, qui mettait également en vedette les frères Brecker. Abercrombie avait enregistré trois albums avec Cobham: Crosswinds (1974), Total Eclipse (1974) et Shabazz (1975).

Un jour, alors qu’il faisait la première partie des Doobie Brothers avec le groupe de Cobham, Abercrombie avait commencé à penser que sa carrière était en train de prendre une mauvaise direction. Il expliquait: "One night we appeared at the Spectrum in Philadelphia and I thought, 'What am I doing here?' It just didn't compute."

Devenu très populaire comme musicien de studio, Abercrombie avait enregistré avec Gato Barbieri en 1971, Barry Miles en 1972 et Gil Evans en 1974. Il était également un collaborateur régulier du batteur Chico Hamilton. Il avait aussi joué avec le saxophoniste anglais John Surman et le trompettiste italien Enrico Rava.

Le désir d’Abercrombie de jouer avec un groupe plus orienté vers le jazz s’était finalement matérialisé lorsque le batteur Jack DeJohnette l’avait invité à venir jouer avec son groupe. À la même époque, le producteur Manfred Eicher, le fondateur et président des disques ECM, lui avait proposé d’enregistrer son propre album. Le premier album d’Abercrombie comme leader, intitulé Timeless (1975), mettait en vedette DeJohnette et le claviériste Jan Hammer, qui avait été son compagnon de chambre dans les années 1960. Abercrombie explique comment il avait commencé à jouer avec Hammer: ‘’He played in a strip joint in Boston, and I'd run down and sit in with him before the strippers came on." Comme quoi, les bars de danseuses peuvent parfois mener à des directions insoupçonnées !

En 1975, Abercrombie avait formé le groupe Gateway avec DeJohnette et le contrebassiste Dave Holland, avec qui il avait enregistré les albums Gateway (1976) et Gateway 2 (1978). Très influencé par le jazz de chambre, la musique du groupe était également très marquée par la musique de Jimi Hendrix et du groupe Cream.

Même s’il avait enregistré avec d’autres compagnies de disques au cours de sa carrière, ECM était devenu son principal port d’attache. Abercrombie avait d’ailleurs continué de collaborer avec ECM durant l’ensemble de sa carrière. Le groupe Gateway interprétait des compositions des trois membres de la formation, dans un style très influencé par le free jazz. À la suite de sa collaboration avec Gateway, Abercrombie avait aussi enregistré dans un style plus traditionnel trois albums intitulés Arcade (1979), Abercrombie Quartet (1979), et M (1981). Ces albums avaient été enregistrés avec un quartet composé de Richie Beirach au piano, de George Mraz à la contrebasse et de Peter Donald à la batterie. Abercrombie expliquait: "It was extremely important to have that group... it was my first opportunity to really be a leader and write consistently for the same group of musicians."

Au milieu des années 1970 et 1980, Abercrombie avait également collaboré avec des groupes dirigés par DeJohnette et participé à d’autres sessions pour ECM dans lesquels il avait joué de la mandoline à l’occasion. Abercrombie avait aussi joué en tournée avec le guitariste acoustique Ralph Towner avec qui il avait enregistré deux albums, Sargasso Sea (1976) et Five Years Later (1981).

DERNIÈRES ANNÉES

Au milieu des années 1980, Abercrombie avait continué d’interpréter des standards avec le contrebassiste tchèque George Mraz. Il avait également joué du bebop avec le guitariste John Scofield. Au cours de cette période, Abercrombie avait aussi accompagné d’autres artistesde la compagnie ECM. De 1984 à 1990, Abercrombie avait commencé à expérimenter avec la guitare synthétiseur. Abercrombie avait utilisé l’instrument pour la première fois en 1984 dans le cadre d’un trio avec Marc Johnson à la basse et Peter Erskine à la batterie, ainsi que dans un groupe de free jazz avec Paul Bley. Selon Abercrombie, la guitare synthétiseur lui permettait d’avoir un son plus lourd et plus ouvert. Le trio d’Abercrombie avait enregistré trois albums mettant en vedette la guitare synthétiseur: Current Events (1986), Getting There (avec Michael Brecker en 1988), et l’album live John Abercrombie / Marc Johnson / Peter Erskine (1989).

Abercrombie s’était également associé à de nouveaux musiciens au cours des années 1990 et 2000. En 1992, Abercrombie avait enregistré un album de free jazz avec l’organiste Jeff Palmer et le batteur Adam Nussbaum. Par la suite, Abercrombie avait fondé un trio avec Nussbaum et l’organiste Dan Wall avec qui il avait enregistré trois albums: While We're Young (1992), Speak of the Devil (1994) et Tactics (1997). Le trio s’était transformé en sextet avec l’ajout du trompettiste Kenny Wheeler, du violoniste Mark Feldman et du saxophoniste Joe Lovano, ce qui avait donné lieu à l’enregistrement de l’album Open Land en 1999. Au cours de cette période, Abercrombie avait également travaillé avec un groupe composé de Marc Copland au piano, de Drew Gress à la contrebasse, de Joe Lovano au saxophone et de Joey Baron à la batterie. Évoquant sa collaboration avec le groupe, Copland avait précisé: "Playing guitar and piano together can be problematic, but with John it was effortless. We both liked to leave space, and often were rewarded with beautiful chordal washes of color."

Abercrombie avait aussi réuni le groupe Gateway dans le cadre de l’enregistrement des albums Homecoming (1995) et In the Moment (1996). Abercrombie avait également joué en duo avec le guitariste Ralph Towner et les pianistes Richie Beirach et Andy LaVerne.

Dans les années 1990, Abercrombie avait définitivement renoncé à jouer avec un pic de guitare, préférant utiliser ses pouces comme seul appui. Ce changement avait donné à sa guitare un son plus profond et plus rond, ce qui convenait parfaitement au style de jazz de chambre qu’il avait commencé à jouer à l’époque.

Abercrombie avait continué d’enregistrer et de faire des tournées jusqu’à sa mort. Il avait également continué de publier des albums pour ECM, avec qui il avait collaboré durant plus de quarante ans. Comme Abercrombie l’avait déclaré en entrevue, il avait toujours adoré l’approche véhiculée par ECM. Il expliquait: "I'd like people to perceive me as having a direct connection to the history of jazz guitar, while expanding some musical boundaries."

John Abercrombie est mort d’une crise cardiaque le 22 août 2017 à l’hôpital de Hudson Valley dans l’État de New York, à l’âge de soixante-douze ans. La santé d’Abercrombie s’était grandement détériorée au cours des dernières années de sa vie. Il laissait dans le deuil sa femme Lisa Abrams, qu’il avait épousée en 1986. Abercrombie vivait dans le comté de Putnam, dans l’État de New York.

L’année-même de son décès, Abercrombie avait publié un dernier album intitulé Up and Coming. Tout en réflétant le sens de l’humour pince-sans-rire d’Abercrombie, le titre de l’album évoquait le statut tantôt idéalisé et tantôt sous-estimé de la guitare comme instrument de jazz. Déplorant qu’Abercrombie n’avait pas toujours été apprécié à sa juste valeur, le batteur Jack DeJohnette avait commenté: "He should have had even more recognition for his contribution. When you go back and examine it, you can hear that warm, Jim Hall thing, but John definitely developed his own distinct voice on the guitar. He could really come together, adapt to any situation. But always with his own unique voice in the mix."

Au cours de sa carrière s’étendant sur plus de quarante ans, Abercrombie avait enregistré près de cinquante albums tant comme leader qu’accompagnateur. Guitariste polyvalent, Abercrombie avait été influencé par une grande variété de styles musicaux, allant du rock à la musique latine, en passant par le country, la musique électronique, le bebop, le classique, le swing et le free jazz. Comme professeur, Abercrombie avait également fait des lectures au Purchase College à New York.

Privilégiant souvent les instrumentations inhabituelles, Abercrombie avait même joué de la mandoline électrique sur l’album 4x4 de McCoy Tyner en 1993. Après sa mort, le batteur Jack DeJohnette, qui avait collaboré avec Abercrombie durant plus de quarante ans, lui avait rendu hommage en déclarant: "John could go anywhere – rhythmically, melodically, harmonically – at the drop of a hat. {...}. He had a very warm sound, and always played with sensitivity, dynamics. He could create atmosphere with his comping, and through his great use of space." Même si Abercrombie était de la même génération que des vétérans de la guitare électrique comme Sonny Sharrock et John McLaughlin, son tempérament le rapprochait davantage de jeunes guitaristes comme Pat Metheny, John Scofield et Bill Frisell. Abercombie était d’ailleurs devenu un pionnier du jazz-rock un peu par nécessité, car il n’avait pas vraiment de modèles qui auraient pu lui donner la direction à prendre. Il expliquait: "I had to figure things for myself. I grabbed onto every device I had in my arsenal — my knowledge of harmony and the guitar, the few little fuzztones or pieces of gear that I used at the time — and tried to fit in. When I'd play with Jack and Dave Holland, or some other players, I responded to what I was hearing around me, and let the sound of it all teach me what I was supposed to do."

Dans son compte rendu d’un concert d’Abercrombie avec le contrebassiste George Mraz en 1986, le critique John S. Wilson avait comparé le style du guitariste à celui d’un claviériste. Wilson écrivait: “Mr. Abercrombie has a light, keyboard-like manner of developing performances, sometimes spreading from a sweeping line of single notes to a fullness that suggests an organ.” Commentant le jeu d’Abercrombie sur les balades, Wilson avait ajouté: “He moves through light, almost diaphanous lines that gain in strength through their rhythmic flow and increasing melodic exposition.”

Mais même si Abercrombie avait brièvement joué de la guitare synthétiseur dans les années 1980 et 1990, il avait toujours refusé de se laisser dominer par la technologie. Abercrombie n’avait jamais cessé de se renouveler et avait toujours tenté de garder un regard neuf sur sa musique. Il expliquait: ‘’Even a tune you play over and over again — if you keep it fresh in your mind and you approach it with a fresh outlook, then it stays fresh. You don’t have to find new and exciting types of music to play.’’ Il avait ajouté: “That stuff just happens when your attitude is really good, when you approach things with an open mind.”

Évoquant ses principales influences à la fin de sa carrière, Abercrombie avait commenté: ‘’I like to listen to ethnic music, like folk music from different countries. I really like Asian music, like Japanese music, Chinese music and Indian music. I like classical music. I love Bach. And then the jazz I grew up on, which, after Barney Kessel, became people like early Miles Davis groups, John Coltrane and especially the Bill Evans trio. I still listen to that. I find I don't have too many new things that draw me in as much as the older stuff. I think there are some amazingly good players on the scene. But I always find myself coming back to the guys I listened to as a kid. I'd rather listen to Miles Davis than someone sounding like Miles Davis.’’

Malgré tous les avantages apportés par la technologie du multi-pistes, Abercrombie croyait qu’il était important de ne pas rater son coup lorsqu’on enregistrait. Il expliquait:

‘’All music is imperfect, but in jazz since you’re improvising, at least the way I play, I’m trying to follow my train of thought in a solo I have things that I’ve played before, but I try to think about that. I just play the song. And when you’re doing that, the imperfection is that I’ll flub notes or I’ll play notes I may not really mean. If I had a chance to overdub, I might go back and fix them. But the fact is, the actual first time you play something, it’s almost never perfect, at least to my ears. Every time I listen back to solos of mine I’ll hear something I like and then another phrase that I can’t stand. You have to live with what you play. And the recording medium puts that on us.’’

Abercrombie adorait citer cette phrase d’Eric Dolphy: ‘’Once you play the music, it’s in the air. It’s gone.’’ Abercrombie avait ajouté: ‘’That’s true. But when you record it, it comes back to haunt you sometimes.’’

#jazzmusic #french #musique

2 notes · View notes

fan-a-saurus-rex · 2 months ago

Text

Sanctuary | Part 1

(Gif credits to @felixlefebvre )

Plot: It’s been several years since humans started sharing earth with dinosaurs for the first time in history. The massive creatures are now protected under law, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t still in danger. That’s why you dedicated your life to helping them.

Pairing: Zach Mitchell (Nick Robinson) x Reader

Warning: none

Masterlist and Requests/Prompts

* * * * *

You had been at Jurassic World in December of 2014, the day of the incident. You had only been 17 at the time. You were on a school trip for Science Club. It had started out fun and exciting for the first few days, but the third day was a total disaster, as anyone who was there could attest to.

Shortly after recovering from your injuries, you celebrated the holidays with your parents and returned to school. Months later you graduated high school and started attending college. You decided to study paleontology.

You had always loved dinosaurs growing up and finally getting to see them was a dream for you. You had hopes that someday, you could apply what you learned in school to a future career.

What you hadn’t ever expected to happen was for dinosaurs to be living amongst human worldwide, outside of the confines of a zoo setting. They lived amongst the wildlife of modern day, amongst people.

When the opportunity to work at the Biosyn Sanctuary, now known as the Hammond and Lockwood Memorial Sanctuary, after the company had been shut down due to corruption at the highest level you couldn’t resist the offer. You started working amongst some of the top scientists in the field as well as other experts.

At the sanctuary you were in charge of the health and well-being of the prehistoric animals. They may be living wild, but are protected under law. Any animal that becomes ill or injured is taken care of at the sanctuary. The sanctuary is also in charge of taking in any rescued dinosaurs that being illegally trafficked on the black market.

At the moment you are in charge of monitoring any baby dinosaurs that were born at the sanctuary. It was likely, especially with the dinosaurs living in a natural setting, that any babies born would need medical attention, but it was still necessary to do from time to time. Since it was nesting season, things had been a bit busy for you.

“Y/n, found another nesting site, pretty sure it belongs to a herd of triceratops” you heard one of the technicians in charge of watching the security cams say across the room.

You walked over and looked on the monitor. “Interesting, lots of nests this season” you said smiling “thanks for the heads up, I’ll grab someone from security and head down to check them out”

“Good luck, I’ll keep a lookout as always, radio back if you need anything”

“Will do, channel 5!”

He gave you a thumbs up and you grabbed a walk-in-talkie from the desk and it tuned it to channel 5. You walked down the hall to Claire and Owen’s office to let them know you’d be heading down to the nest site and would need a security escort.

“Morning! They found a nesting site on the east side of the sanctuary, headed down now. I’ll need security to take me down” you said as you walked in, grabbing some necessities.

You hadn’t been paying too much attention to who was in the office at that time so it shocked you when you heard a voice that didn’t belong to Claire or Owen.

“I’ll escort you down”

You turned to see Zach, Claire’s oldest nephew sitting at Owen’s desk.

“Oh thanks Zach, give me just a minute” you said, blushing a bit, you’d had a bit of a crush on him since you met, even though he was your best friend.

Zach and his brother Gray had been at Jurassic world the day of the accident as well. But they were caught up in much more chaos than you ever were. You didn’t talk about it with him that often, neither of you liked to remember what happened.

Zach graduated the same time as you. You both ended up at the same university, though you hadn’t met till a few years ago. Just like you, his experience shaped him to love the prehistoric creatures that now shared the planet with you. While you took a more biological approach in your studies, he chose to study animal behavior of dinosaurs, inspired by Owen��s work with the Raptors. He was now working as a security escort for the scientists at the sanctuary. His expertise on animal behavior and tracking gave him a keen sense to look out for dangerous situations.

Naturally his younger brother Gray, had also studied paleontology in college. He was now working to get his graduates degree and was an intern at the sanctuary. He spent a lot of time studying with Dr. Allan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler.

You grabbed a few more things from the office and put them in your bag.

“Okay, let’s head out” you said heading for the door.

You both headed outside to the hangar where all the helicopters and armored vehicles were stored. You knew you weren’t permitted to drive so you got into the passenger seat, while Zach got in the drivers seat.

“Where on the east side are we headed?” He asked

“There is a rocky clearing just outside the forest, about a mile from the lake” you said showing him a map of the sanctuary.

“Okay, I know where that is” he said starting the engine and driving the two if you out there.

“So, anything interesting been happening lately?” He asked while driving.

“Besides monitoring 15 different nesting sites and chasing down new hatchlings that need to be given post hatch check-ups?” You asked laughing softly.

“Yeah” he said smiling

“Not really, just the usual. Owen has been keeping tabs on some sketchy dudes in Utah who were supposedly seen holding some Stegosaurus in a barn on a horse ranch. But the area was raided by local police and they didn’t find anything. They must have let the stegs go once they knew they’d been had.” You said laughing.

“Too bad, I was looking forward to arrivals”

“Me too, I’m tired of chasing down babies” you said laughing as you realized you’d finally pulled up to the nesting site, about 100 feet away as to not disturb the animals.

You got out quietly and grabbed your backpack. You headed over to the first nest and peaked inside. You heard a soft snort and looked over to see a mother Triceratops standing about six feet away.

You put your hand out to calm the creature “it’s okay Mama, just checking” you said as the female dinosaur began to calm down, shaking her head around playfully.

You bent down and counted the number of eggs, noting their condition. You did the same for each of the other 10 nests on the site, but the last one seemed…off, for lack of a better term.

“Zach, come here” you called.

As he approached you looked down at a nearly empty nest, aside from a few broken eggs.

“New mother?” You asked him curiously. Sometimes first time mothers were clumsy with their eggs and didn’t exactly monitor them as they should.

“Maybe” he said examining the nest further “the eggs were definitely crushed before they began to develop” he noted.

You looked around the area a bit more for other clues as to what might have happened. Suddenly you spotted something you’d never seen before.

A set of strange tracks were spotted around the area, headed in the direction of the wooded area. You’d never seen tracks like these before but they appeared to be from a creature that walked on two legs, most likely something big, judging by the size of the prints left behind.

“Shit….” You said, looking over at Zach.

“What the hell made those?”

“I don’t know….the look like nothing ever seen before” you said, taking out your phone to document the tracks. “Let’s get out of here before it comes back” you said.

Zach nodded and headed back to the vehicle with you. You radioed back to the sanctuary headquarters.

“Found some strange prints at the nest site, most likely from a predator. About 1 and a half feet in length. One of the 11 nests was compromised.” You said.

You heard Owen over the radio moments later “come back to the headquarters, well someone out to get plaster casts”

“Coming back now” you said.

You looked over at Zach, a bit concerned. The predators were usually kept at bay, feeding on local wildlife such as deer and elk, many of which were bred specifically for feeding purposes.

When you returned to headquarters you noticed some higher-up security personnel packing up to get plaster casts of the prints. You gave them the necessary information they would need, as well as showed the images you’d taken. They looked just as confused as you.

You went inside shortly after to share your findings with Claire and Owen.

A few hours later the team came back with a single set of cast tracks. You watched as Owen and Dr. Grant examined them.

“I’ve never seen anything like them, fascinating” you heard Dr. Grant say.

“And the eggs at the nest were crushed?” Owen asked you.

“Yeah” you said quietly. “Did the team find anything else while they were out there?”

“Unfortunately no, just the tracks” Owen said “we’ll continue to monitor the site, and all other known sites, just in case this thing comes back….whatever it is”

That one statement gave you a chill up your spine. ‘Whatever it is’ was not a comforting phrase to hear, especially after all the bullshit you’d witnessed in the past. Jurassic World scientists creating a hybrid, the heir to Lockwood’s fortune using the DNA from said hybrid to create his own abomination, and individuals breeding and training predatory dinosaurs as weapons of war was bad enough. Now this?

* * * * *

To be continued….

#fanfiction #fanfic #Jurassic park #jurassic world #nick robinson

5 notes · View notes

tortoisesshells · 11 months ago

Note

Perhaps 'padlock' for the writing prompt?

Kind Anonymous Friend, if you're still here, this is almost certainly not what you were looking for, but there are pirates. I'm temporarily borrowing @widowshill's Dark Sails alternate universe, because the 1960s are nice and all, but golly I miss the 18th century.

She had not thought her life worth much, when the unknown ship raised a flag which signaled there would be no quarter given; the tension aboard the little Sally Jennet thick and suffocating, Victoria Winters had thought it only right to go below, and make her peace in the shabby little box which had been her living quarters these weeks and more. Purdy, who would have been an old man ashore, told her to pray it would be over quick – but the mate! Mister Vaughn had handed her a pistol, and told her to make the best use of it she could. It had been over out of her sight: when, still clutching the pistol in numb hands, she was brought out to the deck, she noted their flag had been hauled down without a shot fired in anger. The Sally Jennet’s captain had weighed their lives heavier than their cargo, and she was grateful for it – only – There was nowhere to go, at sea – save to the devil. And that had been days ago.

She alone of the crew and passengers of the Sally Jennet had been taken aboard the Requital, and though she had been made a prisoner, she was granted the privacy of an airless cabin, with a door that was not locked. Unbolted – but guarded. Victoria could go where she pleased, within reason. A chair was hers, if she wanted it, in the sun – rations were what they were, but poverty ashore was not much different than the deprivations of the sea – the monotony of a merchant ship was, through the light-winded horse latitudes, the same monotony as that suffered by pirates given no quarry to chase and fang. But then – how many of these liberties were the whim of the Requital’s grim captain, instead of right conduct at sea? Those thoughts haunted her, becoming a kind of an iron shackle of their own, the long chain of her fears rattling behind her wherever she turned.

Was this fair? Was she only having these thoughts because she was holding one hesitating fist to the door of the Great Cabin, afraid to make a sound? She had been invited. It had not even been a command – Devlin, the Requital’s master, had issued such invitations before, and waved off her polite refusals with a proud look, and the same remark: Well, you know your own mind, little governess. It had frightened her, and then irritated her, and then, at last, she’d agreed.

Arming herself with these thoughts, she knocked. When Devlin bade her enter, she did – keeping her spine straight and her eyes ahead, the best manners she had – idle curiosity was a fine thing, but not in such circumstances as these. Devlin stood, like a gentleman. His expression was not calculated to allay her fears.

“Little governess,” he started, and Victoria protested that her name was Miss Winters.

Devlin nodded. “Miss Winters, then. I have been wondering how you came to join us.”

“You know that, sir: I have been hired by Mrs. Stoddard, of Collinsport, to instruct her nephew. As I cannot fly, I had to make the journey by sea.”

“You are very young,” he said, helping her to her seat. It startled her – she had only seen it done on the stage, or for Lady Hammond, her benefactress – more things than the law of the realm could be overturned under the black flag, it seemed.

She worried at that thought, and took a sip of the wine. “I have been two years out of school, though I have been an instructor there for that time.”

“Why you?”

“My qualifications are good,” she said, with a certainty she did not feel, “As are my references.”

“There’s dozens of young women who can say the same,” Devlin replied, impatiently, “England having, at present, more bodies than lawful occupation for them.”

“I cannot be any more specific than that. All I know that a position was found for me, through our patroness. It may well be –”

But that was an ungrateful thought, and she tried to put it away unobtrusively – and failed. Devlin, wolfish, leaned forward; Victoria, miserable, trapped, stared down into her own plate, hoping for answers in the stewed mutton. There were none. She forced herself to wear a careful, neutral smile, even as Devlin pushed forward with his query. “It may well be what, Miss Winters?”

“As you say – I am young, and poor. I have nothing to tie me to England. That would make me an ideal candidate for such a far-away place, would it not?”

But this was not so amusing as he had been hoping for. A curious look came over him – a bitter one. “It would,” he replied.

They fell into quiet, for a few notable moments; she listened to the groan of the ship and the noises of the sea, which had been so constant as to constitute silence in the absence of other sounds. England seemed so far away as to have been a dream – dry land, a fancy. Devlin was still watching her, the bitterness of his look lurking in the set of his jaw; she reminded herself that, whatever comforts she had been given, she had first met him with a sword in his hand, and a pistol in her own. She forged on. “Captain Devlin, I would like to know why you ask these things of me.”

“Idle curiosity, Miss Winters. We have been – thrown – together.”

She protested before she could stop herself – if it was not rude, it was a harder position than she had meant to take.

“No, no, speak – by all means.”

“It was only after that I said I was for Collinsport that you took interest in me. I do not think I could call your questions idle, knowing this.”

“I was responsible for the disruption of your voyage. I merely hold myself accountable for the end of it.”

“Captain Devlin –”

“Had you rather go into Nassau or Tortuga, with the rest of them?” There was that wolfish look again; something in the lightlessness of his eyes and the set of his jaw – and then, she thought, if not wolfishness, then some other predatory thing. She had heard, from old Mr. Purdy, watching fins glide by, auguring something strange and terrible beneath, that sharks’ eyes were lifeless. Dark. Devlin, weathered and sea-going, wanted only those fins – by such a standard, at least. Victoria held to her chair a little more tightly, and leaned back. “Surely you’ve heard the stories. They’ve eaten alive hardier men than you.”

She shook her head. “I know to fear those places – and I know to fear this one, too.”

“In general, or in the specific?”

“Sir?”

Devlin repeated himself, and then, leaning forward again, with a particular purpose she could not entirely fathom: “Is it a general fear of piracy, Miss Winters, or a specific fear? Of – of the Requital?”

“I am law-abiding – god-fearing,” she answered, like reciting a catechism she did not particularly believe.

“Given the nature of divine retribution, that may be wise. But what have you to fear among us? We’ve done you no harm, as you have deserved none.”

“And what will become of me when you find those you intend to harm?” Victoria shivered, unintentionally – the heat, even in this place of constant breezes, was trying. “Shot does not distinguish. It is only metal.”

“You will go below,” he shrugged. “The day will be carried, and we will carry on, and you can come back to the air and sun. Pity us, instead, for our red work.”

“You have chosen it.”

Devlin looked at her incredulously – angrily. All that lightless malice of his bitterness was distilled down to a point, a snarl. “Chosen it? Chosen for me, little governess. To be accused of piracy is to be condemned to it – until death, one way, or another.”

“As you say, Captain Devlin,” she said, placatingly, “But –”

“You have no notion of it. None at all.”

“I am only a governess, sir –”

“To Mrs. Stoddard,” he finished, for her. “She is a god-fearing woman, by all accounts – a fearful woman, at any rate. You shall have to ask her about piracy – her, and her brother. They once thought quite highly of the black flag.”

There was no answering that. Victoria pushed her stew around for some time, and then, after a period which she had been taught was polite, excused herself.

#if i had a nickel every time a POV character of mine described a LI as grim; and/or shark-like; i'd have two nickels. which isn't much;#but it's weird it's happened twice now.#fic #my fic #the dark sails au #anyway. burke devlin's immediate realization that vicki's just like him; only 10 years before; in any universe is a thing that can actually #be so personal. and precious. to me.

5 notes · View notes

snowboyclarkov · 2 years ago

Text

My Ideal Verse

This is a picture including every single series - whether that be movie, anime, game, YouTube series, DeviantArt artist or other - into my ideal crossover universe. At this point I would make these additions:

Inazuma Eleven GO

Made In Abyss

Katawa Shoujo

Azur Lane

My Hero Academia

Kiss Him, Not Me!

Chainsaw Man

Komi Can't Communicate

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Heaven's Lost Property

Saitama Chainsaw Girl

That one series with Blindy and Blondy by Popopoka (logo not available)

As of 18th June 2023, these additions were made:

The Lego Movie

Fireman Sam

Keijo!!!!!!!!

Bottom Gear

As of 12th July 2023, these additions were made:

Library of Ruina

Injustice

Street Fighter

S.C.P. Foundation

Pumpkin Night

Mabinogi

As of 29th August 2023, these additions were made:

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Henkei Shoujo

As of 31st October 2023, these additions were made:

Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger

Avataro Sentai DonBrothers

Ressha Sentai ToQger

Uchu Sentai Kyumager

Mashin Sentai Kiramager

As of 26th November 2023, these additions were made:

Doctor Who

All of my OCs would also feature in this verse. So would Shem-Ha from Symphogear, Dooku from Star Wars, Castoria from Darling Duality, Chantel DuBois from Madagascar and that series where someone teaches English to rural primary-school-level Japanese kids. Limbus Company would not be in the verse. DonBrothers and King-Ohger are the only two Super Sentai sub-verses in my ideal verse.

--------------------------------------------------

There would also be the series where these pieces come from.

I call this one above and posts directly related to it the St. Marley's Asylum series.

My Own Universe by Clarkov on DeviantArt - The original post that the template at the top of the pictures was made for.

My main OC-verse is one where all of these series exist in the same universe. Even Monster Girl Encyclopedia. Slavaria Cossack is a friend/weird harem group and is utterly shameless about it, with the same sort of chemistry that Clarkson/Hammond/May have. The 9-13 became members at various points after Sahaidachny's 'you're allowed to be you' arc. All of them are 15 in present day. 9-13 are based on existing characters in the same sense in which JJBA Stands are based on existing songs.

Slavaria Cossack (birth place) - current MGE mamono species (original)*:

Clarkov Sahaidachny (Vynohradiv) - Soldier Beetle (human)

Natalya Horbach (Kharkiv) - Shirohebi (human)

Yevhen Slobodyan (Berezne) - Wonderworm (human)

Stanislava Artemenko (Lebedyn) - Myconid (human)

Valentyna Morozova (Mykolaiv) - Tritonia (human)

Myroslav Kozak (Yevpatoriya) - Black Harpy (human)

Reichiru Inazuma (Fukuoka) - Oomukade (human)

Lyubomyr Dobrovolskyj (Pereiaslav) - Akaname (human)

Esmeralda Petersburg (Moscow) - Dhampir

Tess Dileva (Hoddesdon) - Sahuagin (human)

Kirumi Silkenstar (Ashikaga) - Mantis (human)

Karaina Caulton (Harlow) - Lich (human)

Suki Ryushima (Fukuoka) - Yuki-Onna

*Can alternate between mamono and human forms just like in Rosario + Vampire.

Note: 5 of my OCs in chronological order of meeting C.J.S. after his 'being able to be himself' revelation over the course of a few months - the stoic bodyguard-in-training Esmeralda Petersburg, the disciplinarian Tess Dileva, the poetic Kirumi Silkenstar, the spunky wannabe witch Karaina Caulton & the highly introverted loner Suki Ryushima - are derived from and inspired by existing OCs found on (y/n) x yandere quizzes on Quotev that I took a liking to thanks to the story/characters/detail/etc., like how much of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is inspired by Western songs. This includes their personalities. I took 5 such quizzes honestly answering the questions posed based on my personality and that of Clarkov J. Sahaidachny, my first and main OC, which are very similar in most ways but very different in some areas. These 5 were the results. As for the dere sides, they start out full on and become more mentally sound as time goes on. That part is inspired by the development of Mizore Shirayuki in Rosario + Vampire. It's how I have to do almost everything in life. Start out with a base, then slowly build it into my own thing. It's a bit annoying, but I make do with what I have. I'll leave a link to the quizzes below.

The quizzes:

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/14308763/and-they-were-roommates-yanderes-x-reader

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/9340557/Bloodstained-Roses-Girl-Yanderes-X-Male-Reader-Part-0 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/9459484/Bloodstained-Roses-Girl-Yanderes-x-Male-Reader-Part-1 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/9916834/Bloodstained-Roses-Female-Yanderes-x-Male-Reader-Part-2 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/9941208/Bloodstained-Roses-Female-Yanderes-x-Male-Reader-Part-3 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/9982278/Bloodstained-Roses-Female-Yanderes-x-Male-Reader-Part-4 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/10307250/Bloodstained-Roses-Tess-x-Male-Reader-Part-5 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/11771247/Bloodstained-Roses-Tess-x-Male-Reader-Part-6

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/10443555/How-Far-Will-You-Go-Yandere-RP-Part-1

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/11634020/Tendrils-Of-Enchantment-Supernatural-Girl-Yanderes-x-Reader-Part-1 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/11809703/Tendrils-Of-Enchantment-Supernatural-Girl-Yanderes-x-Reader-Part-2 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/11897977/Tendrils-Of-Enchantment-Supernatural-Girl-Yanderes-x-Reader-Part-3-FINAL

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/12939352/Which-Yandere-Is-For-You-Part-1 | https://www.quotev.com/quiz/12940932/Which-Yandere-Is-For-You-Part-2

19 notes · View notes

railwayhistorical · 2 years ago

Photo

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

Let me say something out of the blue—the original, studio version of “The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys” is one the best musical recordings ever made. Winwood is on piano, of course, but also the Hammond. The congas, drums, and bass move things along while we listen to Steve’s distinctive voice. (He wrote it along with band mate Jim Capaldi.) The far off, eerie sax, perhaps distorted by some newfangled, for the time, electronic device, is mesmerizing. And that final discordant note! This stuff, this intellectual and aural material, nourishes me.

[Update: while there is a sax in the mix here, the long solos in the 2nd half of the tune are apparently Winwood’s organ but piped through a fuzzbox.]

Of course, I may feel this way, assured of the recording’s greatness, because I listened to the wonderful, long, piece many, many times while at a certain age. Most often, perhaps, while I drove around rural southern Indiana in a large second-hand automobile with my friends. We may have consumed beer and/or weed, but that’s not certain.

Beyond any of that, however, I believe I feel so strongly about this piece due to my brain. The cells of that organ, being at a certain stage of development, absorbed the notes and words and sounds and rhythms and wove it in with my dreams and deep-seated feelings. And then all of that wonder was stored, saved in a special place, deep in the center of my cerebral matter. I’m not special—most people love the music of their youth.

But how was it that I purchased and listened to this particular album rather than some other, more mainstream, pop music of the era (circa 1980)? Perhaps it was due to the fact that Bloomington was a university town, and I ran around with sons and daughters of professors, or that the famous music school may have been an influence on our burg in some kind of micro-climate fashion. My range of LPs included Mingus, Coltrane, Miles Davis but also Blind Faith, Led Zeppelin, and Peter Frampton (due to the live album no doubt). I also had an affinity for Duane Alman’s artistry.

Whatever it was that led me to this music—something contingent on my surroundings, or found within my acquaintances, passed like a gift, or due to some other unperceived, random combination of things or influences that cannot possibly be perceived let alone calculated—I’m grateful for it.

Final thought—put this piece of music on the next intergalactic space probe, burned into an LP made of gold, and launch it into space. We should do this if we want extraterrestrials, those ultimate others, to have a decent opinion of our race. You can listen to it here.

#lowsparkofhighheeledboys #stevewinwood #traffic #jimcapaldi #1971 #1970s #low spark of high heeled boys #traffictheband

11 notes · View notes

queenofthemilkcowboogieblues · 1 year ago

Text

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Masterlist ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Doctor Who

The Fruits of Eternity

Summary:

Alexandra Jane Crowley: The only daughter of Crowley and Aziraphale. Her short life has already been wrought with pain, but will a 900 year old alien be able to help her move on from memories that she would rather forget? Or will her adventures with the Doctor only add more pain to her life?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Broadchurch

A Forget Me Not at the Crime Scene

Summary:

Evelyn Alexandra Smith. She stopped travelling with her mother and father through space and time when it was time for her to go off to University. However, there were more reasons behind it than just school. She became a police officer, and rose through the ranks to become a DI as Broadchurch CID. What happens when the death of Daniel Latimer puts her in the path of DI Alec Hardy?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cobra Kai

Muscle Memory

Summary:

When Anastasia moves to the San Fernando Valley half way through college, she wouldn't have believed in the idea that she'd bump into a down on his luck, former karate champion, Johnny Lawrence. She definitely would have laughed if someone had told her that not only would they become best friends, but she would come to love this oblivious man, who tends to take no notice of the love she feels and display's quite clearly on her sleeve. However, how will her decision to help Johnny open his own karate dojo affect their relationship, and will she finally get a taste of the love she's so desperately craves?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ghostbusters

Echoes of the Future Series:

Echoes of the Future

Summary:

Starlette Malcolm has known Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, and Ray Stanz for five years. It's plainly obvious to Ray and Peter that their coworkers have feelings for each other. However, the start of the successful Ghostbusters business will put Starlette and Egon's budding romance to the test as well as the mysterious circumstances surrounding Starlette herself.

Higher and Higher

Summary:

Five Years after the Ghostbusters saved New York from Gozer's wrath they have fallen into their own routines and patterns after being forced to give up the very profession that had saved the city. However, when strange occurrences begin to crop up around the city centering around a mysterious pink slime, it's up to them to take up the mantle as Ghostbusters once again and save the city.

Stranger Things Have Happened

Summary:

At this point, Starlette has come to accept the fact that strange and unusual things will always happen in her life, and she's just going to have to live her life with Egon around them. In other words, these are the events that happen between Ghostbusters II (1989) and Ghostbuster: Afterlife (2021).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jurassic Park/World

Chaos Theory Series:

Chaos Reigns

Summary:

Dr. Amaryllis Grant, much like her brother Dr. Alan Grant, has, for as long as she can remember, longed to see the dinosaurs that her brother told her stories about when they were younger, and it came as no surprise when she followed in his footsteps with the sole purpose of digging up fossils just for the opportunity to reach out and touch all that remains of them. However, when John Hammond, quite literals drops the opportunity to get to see dinosaurs alive and in all their glory, will she jump at the opportunity, or will she see be able to put aside her passions and see the consequences of using science to play God with nature. Will those consequences catch up with her in a personal and intimate way?

Ornithoscelidaphobia

Summary:

Or∙ni∙tho∙sce∙li∙da∙pho∙bi∙a – A noun referring to the extreme or irrational fear of dinosaurs.

It's been four years since Dr. Amaryllis Grant had nearly died during the accident at Jurassic Park, and she's been tasked with the mission to observe the dinosaurs that were left to their own devices on one of Isla Nublar's sister islands in an effort to ensure that they are left alone, and nobody else has to be injured or killed. However, when has anything ever gone right on these islands?

Convergence

Summary:

It has been eight years since the original events that took place at Jurassic Park, and four years since the unfortunate incident that took place on Isla Sorna and in San Diego. Needless to say, Amaryllis Grant-Malcolm has gotten to the point where she thought those events were long behind her, and it happily enjoying life with her husband, her daughters, her brother, sister-in-law, and her nephew and niece. However, money to continue a dig in Montana is rapidly drying up, and when the opportunity comes to get the money needed to keep it running, her brother jumps at the chance. What else is Amaryllis to do, but go with him on an what was supposed to be a simple trip flying over Isla Sorna? What could possibly go wrong?

Playlist for Amaryllis: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5n3dH6PsoYMBnJ5wCjkMYN?si=d2c4919d38d24b5a

The Cost of Scientific Discovery

Summary:

Chrysanthemum Alana Malcolm, the youngest daughter of Doctors Ian Malcolm and Amaryllis Grant-Malcolm, is offered a position at Jurassic World, and she's apt to take it since she's been dreaming of working with dinosaurs since she was little, hearing the stories that her parents told her. However, her decision comes at a cost, not only to herself, but her family.

The Divide Between Worlds

Summary:

It's been three years since the events that took place at Jurassic World, and every one has seemingly moved on. However, the threat of an extinction level event due to an impending volcano eruption, throws Chrysanthemum Malcolm right back into the mix, and into a plot to exploit the dinosaurs.

Butterfly Effect Series:

The Cost of Scientific Discovery

Summary:

Playlist for Chrysanthemum: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5kblAWsYEvM0hrxLaFWdCI?si=b217e8ffd7a9445c

The Divide Between Worlds

Summary:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Independence Day

Stardust Within

Summary:

Apollonia Martin, a former tactical aircraft maintenance specialist, had settled happily into her job as a satellite technician at Compact Cable. However, she never expected to be dragged front and center into a full-on alien encounter as she begins to experience visions of the invaders' movements, and secrets from her past are brought to light in the worst way possible.

Play list for Apollonia: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jpNfaWrZTSeWIvflPaTIP?si=0947a2ebe77e4eb8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

West Wing

The Person Behind the Camera

Summary:

Photography is an important aspect of any Presidency as it not only helps to record memorable events that occur throughout the course of that President's term in office, but also plays a crucial role in shaping the President's public image to garner support. However, the field of photography, and more importantly, the individual's behind the lens are often ignored in favor of more prominent roles. This is the story of Winifred Ludwig, the Chief Official White House Photographer throughout the Bartlet Administration.

7 notes · View notes

bluepenguinstories · 1 year ago

Text

Remoras Full Chapter LXXXI: Human After All

My week was spent with Tigershark after she came home Sunday night. I wanted to say that nothing went wrong during that week, other than the difficulties that came with communicating with 10 and 11-year-old children. As in, what I was supposed to be counted as.

Gardening with grandpa helped teach me about the importance of maintaining a healthy environment for flora. Watering, fertilizer, where seeds should be planted. Cooking with grandma helped teach me the importance of planning ahead, following recipes, and what ingredients go well with what.

I’d like to say I knew a little more about gardening than Tigershark, but she probably still had me beat on cooking.

“Boof!” Fetch liked to make those noises sometimes. They were different than a ‘woof’ or a ‘whoo’ or a ‘arf’ sound. Fetch didn’t make ‘arf’ sounds, as ‘arf’ sounds were reserved for smaller dogs, unless those smaller dogs had laryngitis or even bronchitis (I knew about those things, generally speaking).

As for Tigershark, we...or, I, felt the distance setting in. We didn’t walk as close. We didn’t hang out as much during lunch or recess. I had Celeste, and made friends with another, Ronnie. Tigershark had Hammond, and recently met a girl named Rhubarb. We had our groups, and that was fine. At least we still spent plenty of time together at home.

Really, as much as the distance might have pained me (had I felt pain for anything), it felt rather normal. That’s what life was starting to feel like in general: nothing magical, just school, home, school, home, ad nauseam.

That was the most painful of all: how ordinary it all had become. I had not long ago worried that I had run out of anything interesting to discover. That ambiguity has run its course and I was stuck having to face absolutes.

No, that wasn’t fair; there were always many ways things could have gone.

That things had gone more or less in my favor from the start wasn’t a coincidence, but there was still wiggle room where events could have gone any number of ways. That was the problem, wasn’t it? My favor was also working against me. It always has, as I knew the universe was just as tricky as I, and just as well, didn’t take kindly to being tricked.

I understand now that’s what brought the distance between Tigershark and I.

We could see into each other’s heads, as we were connected, but I was still able to keep secrets of my own. And she knew it, too. Even if she didn’t know the cause, she no doubt felt my constant feeling of dread. That I would have to go soon.

Did I want to leave? No. But it was necessary in order to even things out with the universe. That’s what it all came down to, right?

Still, nothing like that happened.

The week passed as normal.

The dread didn’t end, but neither did the sense of normalcy. Both feelings battled for dominance over the other, and so far, neither had won out.

So Friday night, after playing some video games, Tigershark climbed up to the top bunk of the bunk bed. I put my Nintendo Switch away under my pillow.

“Goodnight, Tigershark,” I said into the ether.

“Goodnight Astraea,” she said back. She sounded exhausted. Maybe it was just being sleepy, but it could have just as likely have been from the wrestling club she recently joined (Hammond and Rhubarb were in that club as well, and in fact, that’s where Tigershark met Rhubarb).

I closed my eyes. I knew I wouldn’t sleep, as I never did, but I still wanted to try getting into the act. If I could one day understand the process, maybe I could have willed my way to sleep. Alas.

Instead, I thought about the week. How I could have made more precious memories. Left a stronger impression. Over the course of a week, or at least five or six days, it was possible to make many precious memories. Or at least one or two.

When I opened my eyes, I was met with total darkness. I tried standing up, but hit my head against a wall. As it turns out, I must have been inside some kind of box. Metallic, perhaps?

I felt around the walls in front of me.

Sturdy, cold. Definitely metallic.

I tried banging my fists against it. Whatever this place was, I just got the feeling that I was never meant to be there. I pounded away, but it didn’t seem to make so much of a dent.

My small, human fists with their small, human fingers throbbed and its flesh felt tender. If I could see, maybe I would have found them bruised. That wasn’t right, was it? That I was able to feel such pain.

But I already knew what that meant. I was beaten up already. I couldn’t find an explanation for the pain, but I figured, this must be how the universe does me in.

“Please. Please,” I bit my lip and begged. The pain on my fists was sharp and it burned. As if the very notion of having them attached to me was painful.

“This isn’t right. This isn’t how I should go. I should at least say goodbye, I –”

A latch clicked and I fell onto a bright, golden floor as the wall opened. I looked back: indeed, it had been a box. More like a large, leathery suitcase, but a box nonetheless.

“On the contrary. This is exactly how you should go,” crooned a slick voice. Though I had never heard him speak before, I met him several times. I knew him even before I was born. I looked up, past the box I had been stuffed in and saw him clad in a purple, three-piece suit: Aion Eterna.

He stood with a slanted, cold smile. After getting a good look at him, he walked back up the stairs of the stage and sat atop its edge, his legs folded. Behind him was a thick, red curtain.

I looked around and saw the bronze, marble pillars along the sides of the hall which stretched out to whatt I thought was an impossible distance. Behind the pillars were the back walls with their yellow bricks. That next led me to stare down at the floor, and that was when I noticed that the floor was not gold at all, but contained the same yellow bricks.

“How am I here?” I asked.

“Luck, mainly,” he rested his arm on his knee and spread out his palm. “You wouldn’t believe how easily this could have gone wrong. First, I traveled to the town your friend’s grandparents live with my own plane that I got stashed away. Just a small, private helicopter. Nothing fancy. I pretty much had five days to twiddle my thumbs. But I didn’t do that, did I?”

“Of course not. It’s not like you,” I felt a little more ease, but that was in spite of his presence, not because of it. “So go on.”

“As you wish. Next, I scoped out where you were staying at. It didn’t take me long to find it, and I passed by the window to your bedroom a few nights just to be sure. Do you know how uncomfortable that made me? Do you know the optics of an old man like me creeping in on a child’s room?”

“Have you ever felt discomfort?” I sure was uncomfortable, but that was a different matter.

“I wonder. So, Friday night, I had to pick through the lock on the window. I was lucky once again that the child in the room didn’t stir awake. You were, of course, awake, but your eyes were closed, and were they to have opened, I’m sure you wouldn’t have come willingly.”

“No. Even if I knew it was going to happen sooner or later.”

“You did? Of course you did. Really, I don’t know if that makes this easier or harder for me.”

“So what comes next? You stole me away in the middle of the night? But how could you have done that without me noticing?”

“Sedative. I injected one into your neck. It knocked you right out. The next day, you were deep in sleep. That child tried to wake you to tell you that she was going back up to see Ray, but you didn’t stir awake. So she wrote you a letter, because she still wanted to say goodbye, but she didn’t want to wake you. After she left, I had a short period where her grandparents wouldn’t check in on you. I crept back in, stole you away, and placed you in the box as I flew back here.”

“That shouldn’t be possible. I would have felt that. Not to mention, it shouldn’t have affected me. I can’t go numb and I can’t fall asleep.”

He drew a labored breath. As if he was the one who should have been exhausted.

“What ever gave you that idea?” He shook his head. “You were asleep before you even came to life.”

Those words didn’t sit well with me, but I couldn’t figure out why. It made sense, but at the same time, it left me with questions, how could I be asleep before being alive?

Ignoring the potential questions I had on that subject, I asked a separate one:

“Why did you bring me here?”

His mouth opened, almost to release a gasp, but he closed it again before he said:

“You already know the answer to that. I brought you here because you brought me here. I had my suspicion already, but meeting Cronus and traveling to the Hall of Memories confirmed it.”

My eyes widened with worry.

It really had worked in my favor. Both Rhea and Remora were alive. Nemesis lived, too. But I…

“I changed my mind,” I told him, “You can find another scheme to pull, but I’m done.”

He shook his head with his head down and a heavy frown placed upon him. He looked mournful, and maybe it was the first genuine emotion I ever felt from him.

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“I want to go home! I want to see grandma and grandpa again!”

“What home? The home you had no longer exists.”

“What do you mean? Did you do something to grandma and grandpa?”

“Not at all,” he closed his eyes. He still didn’t show any smile, “that was never your home. That was the child’s. Your home was in a secret base of operations, out in the stars. That base no longer exists. I’m sure you know why.”

Remora.

I didn’t have strong feelings about her, but I knew others cared about her. She should have thrived. For all the destruction she may have caused, she still deserved a life.

“I wouldn’t want to go back there, anyway! That place had nothing for me! I want to stay on Earth! I want to have friends and go to school! Life here is interesting!”

“Like it or not, you served a purpose there. Here, you are only a hindrance. I’m sure you’re aware of that, otherwise you wouldn’t have brought me here.

“Well…” I stuck out my tongue. “I don’t want you anymore! I never liked you, anyway! I’m leaving!”

He pressed his palm into his face.

“You’re welcome to try,” he mumbled.

“You’re not going to attack me?”

“Not yet.”

I eyed him, but he didn’t move. If push came to shove, I could always warp out of there. Going between past and present was as simple as walking forward or backward.

So I turned from him and walked forward. I managed to walk past the first set of pillars, but as I tried walking further, I hit a wall and fell back.

“Oww...my nose,” I rubbed it.

I looked ahead of me and still saw the rows of pillars and the hallway which should have led outside, but as I stood up and felt around, I found myself unable to walk any further.

“I have a bounded field set up,” he said from afar, “others may enter, but you’re stuck in here with me. Only I could bring it down.”

I stomped back toward him.

“So do it!”

He said nothing. Didn’t even shake his head.

“I can still warp out of here! You can’t stop me!” I yelled into his face.

But as I tried to close my eyes and focus, I found I couldn’t move. It was like my mind was blocked from thinking of any other place to go.

“It’s not like you’re powerless, but the barrier I erected has weakened you some,” he explained.

No. Maybe I wasn’t powerless. But I couldn’t imagine what power would help. I knew it would happen, I just never knew how, and I had been anticipating it for a while. I even wished for it.

“So why haven’t you killed me already?” I sat down next to the box I was smuggled in, “That is why you’re here, isn’t it? So go ahead and do it.”

He looked to his right, away from me, and bore an absentminded expression.

“I think I’m just hesitating. You have no idea how hard this is on me. I don’t enjoy killing, you know. I always have someone else do it for me. Even if it’s an easy task for me, it doesn’t bring me the same thrill that it does for others. It just feels wasteful. People are more useful alive than dead, and although you aren’t what I would consider a person, the act itself is the same.”

“If you’re this broken up about it, then why go through with it?” I scowled at him.

“Because unlike you, I don’t back out of a deal. I see it through to the end and just hope that there’s a silver lining. Usually, I come out on top, but I’m used to failure, as well. In big ways, too. But even then, I’ve had to accept the consequences and cut my losses.”

I pursed my lip.

So this is regret, I thought.

There was much more to regret, and would probably come to regret if I lived long enough to do so.

“Do you know what will happen when I do this? Ray and his friends will come to hate me. If I was never brought here to do this, I could have kept my mouth shut about my past affiliations. Maybe I could have made friends with some of them, but that time has long passed. I’ve made sure to act out the part of a villain so that it will at least soften the blow, but it doesn’t make this any easier; do you know how much I hate being in the spotlight?”

“I don’t care. You are a villain. That’s why I brought you here.”

He raised his head and his brows raised along with it.

“Do you really see me as a villain?” He asked.

“Yes. You’re my villain.”

“I read about the conversation you had with Marco. Still, I can’t help but be hurt. It may be true that I have no conscience, and no doubt, I’ve committed many heartless acts for my own gain, but why would you, who up until recently, had no concept of morality, see me as a villain?”

“You already know why.”

He nodded slowly.

“I suppose I do. I treated you like cattle and harvested you. Prevented you from having a life.”

He nodded again, this time faster, as if to the tune of a jazz song.

“I won’t apologize for that,” he shrugged his shoulders. “That was your purpose. That’s how you should have stayed.”

I don’t know what I expected. That he would be sorry? No. I knew better than that. Still, it ate at me.

We may have both been in this predicament, but he was going to ensure it was seen through and afterward, he would see it as another simple, heartless act. Meanwhile, I betrayed everyone who ever knew me. After all, it was my plan, not his. He just worked out the details.

Aion and I were connected in ways I could have never been connected to with Tigershark. In a Frankenstein sense, he and I were like father and daughter. Even if I came from the stars, that connection wouldn’t be severed. I knew I shouldn’t fear the end of Astraea; when it was time, I would return to the stars where I belonged.

Fear wasn’t in my nature. It wasn’t the emotion I was born as. If I was ever born at all.

“What emotion am I?” I asked. It occurred to me that I never did have a name for it. Only analogies, which didn’t do me any good in my predicament.

“I don’t know. Maybe that’s the point.”

He smiled now, and fished into the pocket of his suit until he pulled out a cigarette and lighter.

“Do you smoke?” He offered.

“I’m a kid.”

He scoffed.

“Suit yourself. But for the record, that form you’re wearing is just a matter of convenience for you. You’re much older than that, maybe almost as Ananke and I.”

“Shouldn’t I be older?”

“Aha, there you go.”

He flicked his lighter and held the cigarette between his teeth. They were awfully white, but also looked rotten in a way I would call a house void of bacteria. As he lit the cigarette, he kept his head turned away from me and blew out a cloud of smoke.

“Ah. You know, whenever I smoke, it’s like I’m putting a gun to my mouth. When I light it up, it’s like I’m pulling the trigger. But when I take a puff, I find that I’ve been shooting blanks this whole time. Do you know what I mean?”

“No.”

“These chemicals don’t seem to have an effect on me. The nicotine doesn’t have a hold over me, nor do any of the other substances they load into these things. It’s like the tar that should have covered my lungs fades away into dust every time. There’s no stimulating effect, either; I feel neither low nor high.”

“Don’t you only do things that are useful for you?”

“That’s a misconception: I’d rather do whatever I can make use of, but I don’t find killing you to be much use for me. As I said, I see deals through to the end. Some may see me as a handsome devil, but I really am Dr. Faust. Learn to accept the cards that have been dealt.”

“So why do you smoke, then?”

“Call it an oral fixation.”

“I don’t understand.”

He took another puff. I expected him to say more. To fill the silence. It fit his image, somehow, to keep talking just to hear himself talk. But he didn’t do any of those things. He just continued to take puff after puff, blowing smoke along the way.

Maybe it’s me that wants the silence to be filled, I thought.

My thoughts were answered with the voice of another. But it didn’t come from Aion.

ASTRAEA! It was a high-pitched call. I knew that call anywhere: Tigershark. Astraea, where did you go? Grandma and Grandpa said you weren’t at home, and they don’t know where you went! I’m back at the diner, so I can’t come back home, but please tell me you’re there!

I tried to block out any thoughts of my own. Whatever answer I gave would have brought harm to her.

Please answer! If you can hear this, please...just a hint. Anything. Where are you?

I couldn’t see her, but the voice that echoed in my head sounded close to tears. Even still, I knew better than to answer.

...It’s a golden? Yellow? Place. There’s pillars. I don’t know where at, exactly, I heard myself reply to her, as if against all warnings, my mind wouldn’t allow me to go without answering her.

Do I even have a mind? I wondered.

Of course you do! Um...golden place...I don’t know, but I’ll tell Ray what you said! Came Tigershark’s answer.

I was ready to curse myself out. I didn’t mean to ask her whether or not I had a mind.

Aion stood up and held the drained cigarette butt between his fingers. He walked over to the far wall of the stage, near the curtains, and walked behind them. It only took a few seconds before he emerged. He walked out with his cane.

“There’s an ashtray in the back. It’s bad manners to litter, you know,” he pointed his thumb behind him.

I nodded.

I needed no explanation, but there was a sort of mystery about what could have resided behind that curtain. Saying that could have been his way of humoring me.

More time passed. Whether a few minutes or an hour, it wasn’t clear. Only that there was silence between us in that time.

At last, his face contorted into a resolute expression. He unsheathed the blade that resided under his cane, and tossed the sheath aside.

“I’ve stalled long enough,” he stated with a flat tone. No sense of humor to him, nor a grave seriousness. It reminded me a little more of Rhea’s voice than Ray’s. How I wish he was either of them rather than who he was.

He leaped down from the stage and closed the distance between us. I backed away. I should have stayed still and accepted it, but my legs betrayed me, as if they still hoped there was some way of backing out.

Still, I was no fool: it would have only taken one swift strike for it all to end.

Before he could strike, I felt a sharp, black line, fly past me and in his direction. He held one hand over his face, caught the object between his index and middle finger, and I saw blood trickle down his hand from the space that held the object in place. His blood was red, but darkened, slick, and murky, to the point that it reminded me more of motor oil.

Between his fingers was a small, thin throwing knife.

Aion spread his lips into a toothy grin.

“Looks like I stalled too long,” he muttered, before looking past me and flicking the knife onto the floor.

“ASTRAEA!”

I turned my head and saw Tigershark running from afar, as well as Demetria, Remora, Ray, and Nemesis.

What are you all doing here? I wanted to shout, but I already knew the answer.

“So, Demetria, I presume?” He called out. “I heard about your exploits. You’ve pulled some amazing feats. However, seeing you now, I’m a little disappointed.”

“Ugh! I wish I paid better attention! I should have known you were trouble!” Demetria snarled, and her face was red and twisted in rage. She looked angrier than Nemesis who wasn’t far behind her.

“Yes, well, hindsight and all that,” he dismissed.

Ray tossed a rifle over to Remora. I knew it wasn’t her old, signature rifle. All the same, she readied it in Aion’s direction.

“You may have lived a long life, but you can still bleed,” Remora said, almost as if a warning.

“My poor, pitiful janitor,” his eyes fluttered as his lips lowered to a face of displeasure.

“Let her go and I’ll spare you.”

“Yeah! Let my friend go!” Tigershark shouted.

He chuckled.

“You are all so ridiculous, it hurts. Do you really think you can bargain with me? Be honest,” he began walking toward me once again, his cane-blade readied in one hand.

Remora took the shot.

It was over in an instant: one little swing of his cane-blade and the bullet landed on the floor.

“What? How can that be so?” Remora’s eyes darted between him and the floor.

“It’s not that I was fast. I just got lucky,” he explained. Before I could get any brief relief, his focus shifted back to me. A remote of sorts fell out from his left sleeve and I noticed many yellow buttons set against the dull gray that made up the remote.

Despite looking down, I could tell what he was about to say wasn’t meant for me:

“You know what they say about third time being the charm?”

He pressed one of the buttons.

“That’s why you’re not getting a third chance.”

Tigershark was the first to bump into the invisible wall. She fell over, and Nemesis helped her back up.

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Set up another bounded field, of course. This time in their direction. Now no one can come between us.”

“Why are you doing this?!” Tigershark cried.

“I think I stand for everyone when I say that we’d all like to know,” Ray joined in. “She’s a child. Powerless. Explain yourself. You owe us that much.”

Aion stopped. I continued to back away, and although I still wasn’t close to the others, I wasn’t far from being close, either.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Ray: this thing is not a child. Nor are they powerless. They are infinitely older and more powerful than anyone here,” Aion said.

“That’s my friend you’re talking about!” Tigershark shouted.

His gaze shifted toward her.

“That is not something you can be friends with. They are not human. Never were.”

“Yes she is!”

“No. Some have called the kind of creature this is a cosmic entity, while others have referred to them as angels. I find both to be too broad of statements. But what’s a better term? ‘Emotives’? No, that still doesn’t work.”

“I already know all that! She’s still my friend!” She began banging her hammer, the same one I once made for her, against the invisible wall. I knew it wouldn’t shatter. That was the worst part of all.

“Fine. It’s useless as it is to argue with a child, but let me try: you can consider yourself friends with this thing if you’d like, but you can’t befriend them the way a person can befriend a person. This thing is infinitely larger than you. If anything, if they see you as a friend at all, it’s in the same way that an owner would see their pet as a friend. You two were incompatible from the start.”

“That’s not true! It’s never been true!”

Aion raised an eyebrow.

“You were the one who tried to argue that angels weren’t evil. I can reason with that, actually: they have no concept of good or evil. They simply are. But there’s no doubt how dangerous they are. Their very existence is akin to a natural disaster. Tell me something: if you had a chance to stop a hurricane from happening, wouldn’t you take that chance?”

“I...I don’t know.”

“It’s true that natural disasters are dangerous, but they still play a vital role in our ecosystem. They’re as important to the world as anything else,” Ray cut in.

“Goddamn it, Ray. Can’t you wait your turn like a good boy?” He growled. Rather than return his attention to Tigershark, he changed over to Demetria. “And you, didn’t you say that if this creature hurt Tigershark, you would do anything in your power to kill them?”

Demetria clenched her fists.

“That...that may be so, but Tigershark is happy with her. Astraea hasn’t hurt her, or anyone. There’s no reason to go after something that means us no harm,” Demetria argued. “The only one who means harm here is you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. Again. This being has brought harm to all of you this whole time. They’ve just been using surrogates. Cronus? That was all them. They brought Nemesis here, with the sole purpose of bringing harm to your precious Remora. They even brought me here for the purpose of bringing about more conflict. Don’t tell me those actions were harmless.”

“What?” Nemesis gasped. Demetria went silent.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone! I never wanted Cronus to exist!” I cried.

“But if it wasn’t for you, he wouldn’t have been a threat.”

“She didn’t know any better!” Tigershark shouted while continuing to pound her hammer against the wall.

“Irrelevant. Ideas of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ may not exist for ‘her’, but creating conflict is still in ‘her’ nature. Even if it worked out in the end, it’s not going to stop. It’s only going to grow bigger until this planet is no more. Do you really think ‘she’ can resist ‘her’ nature?”

“Yes! And I will help her!”

“Grow up,” he scoffed. “Learn to help yourself first.”

“So you fully intend to kill this angel?” Remora asked.

“Of course. I’ll do what you or Demetria couldn’t. Because I don’t have such sentimentality. Have you heard about one of the tests they did at witch trials? They would tie the witch to a log and throw her into the river. If she lived, she was a witch, and there may be no helping the townsfolk then. But if she died, she wasn’t a witch, and was instead human. Maybe an innocent life was taken and the ones who tied her up were now the evil ones, but at least the town was safe. It’s not a method I agree with, especially one which is contingent on witches not being real. Because if they existed, well...there would be no saving those townsfolk.”

“So you intend to do something similar?”

He gave a solemn nod.

“Do you know the true purpose of the janitors?”

“We were tasked with defending from or eliminating any potential threat to humanity.”

“Broad strokes. Over time, the original meaning and intention became blurred, but never truly erased. There was an external threat, discovered long ago: these celestial beings. That was the true threat to humanity.”

“I get that. Our weapons were created to harm byproducts of them or people who were infected, even possessed by them. Most of us never encountered one, but we all heard about them. But we all knew that we couldn’t harm the actual thing.”

“Those weapons were merely experiments as it was. It was theorized once that an angel could be harmed by using one of their parts against them. As it turns out, the weapons made from their parts could harm their creations, but it still couldn’t harm the main body.”

“So what makes you think your effort will be any different?”

“Because my weapon is like the opposite: I can kill an angel at their source, but I cannot kill their byproducts. I tested it out once before, as the angel of anger is no more, yet I couldn’t keep the damn thing from procreating. Anger still lives on through its offspring. I just have to accept that the universe is a safer place, even if its influence is still vast.”

“What if you’re wrong, then? What if Astraea isn’t the main body, but another byproduct? Then all this scheming, all this effort –”

“All these questions. Does nobody ever trust the method? This is the main body. It’s only condensed down and contorted until it took the shape of a little girl. But within that imitation human lies an endless web. Some would call it the cosmos itself.”

Something welled up in me.

It was a feeling of how wrong everything was.

Not just everything, but everyone, and that included myself. I should have agreed with him, that I had this vast power. That I was dangerous. That I deserved to be taken out. But I also wanted to be friends with Tigershark. I still wanted to experience the life of a human, no matter how mundane or ordinary. Taking that away…

It didn’t matter. Because I already knew what I was.

“SOMEONE! HELP ME!” Tigershark yelled and the others joined in banging at the wall. Demetria used her scythe, Remora used her pole, Nemesis had her curved sword. They were all trying to save this thing that should have disgusted them.

I turned, looked Tigershark in the eye.

“I’m sorry. For everything,” I said to her. My voice was choked up. My mouth was dry. All of it was wrong because I shouldn’t have known what it meant to be choked up, nor should my mouth had dried.

“Don’t say that! We’ll get you out of here!” Tigershark pleaded. Tears began to take form around the lids of her eyes.

“Do you have any last words?” Aion asked, his blade pointed in my direction.

“Yes,” I nodded. This time with a smile on my face. I should have had enough power. I didn’t know why any of them were panicking. I could form a barrier of my own. I could still block his attack.

I held my hands out in front of me.

“I’m not what you think I am. I’m not an angel after all,” I recited.

“Oh really? And what are you?” He readied his blade and ran toward me. If I had any power left in me, I could do this, it would…

...pass right through my hands and into my chest.

I felt the poke before it went in. Sharp, heavy.

I didn’t scream, I only gasped as the air escaped me.

Looking down, I noticed the blood drip onto my white dress, staining it. Worse, it seeped onto his blade and slid from there as well. My vision began to blur, and my eyes were having trouble staying open. Everything felt slow, fast, heavy, weightless. Numb. Feeling only pain.

“NO!” Tigershark screamed.

A streak of tears ran down my face, and I uttered what would be my last words:

“I’m human.”

Amen.

#writing #stories #remoras full #fiction #tigershark #astraea #human

2 notes · View notes

mariacallous · 2 years ago

Text

I’ve been in academics for more than 20 years as a member of the physics faculty at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. Here, the department is small enough that all of us get to share in the course load, which is quite nice—it gives me an opportunity to teach a wide range of courses, from physical science (for non-science majors) all the way up to quantum mechanics.

During the first years of the pandemic, everyone in education had to adapt, and most of our activities weren't conducted in the most ideal environment. At my school, we started off by moving all classes online using Google Meet. (That wasn’t too much fun.) This was supplemented with short lecture videos. (I actually enjoyed making those.) Next, we implemented a hybrid model where some students would be in class and some would be online. (This was terrible.)

While remote learning can have some advantages, as a teacher I noticed that we all picked up some bad habits over the past couple of years. Have you noticed that after a holiday, when you’ve sat around and watched too much football while eating more than you normally would, you might not be at your regular level of fitness? Well, the same thing can happen with learning.

With exercise, you know that after the holidays you have to hit the gym or get outside in order to get back in shape and feel ready to take on the world. With learning, I think it is more about figuring out how to constructively use the technologies that helped us go remote instead of relying on them as a crutch.

Smartphones

It can be shocking to realize how much power we carry around with us all the time. Not only is your phone a very powerful computer, it also has a decent camera and a host of other sensors.

And smart phones often belong in school: It's possible to use your phone to collect and analyze data. For an experiment, students can use the accelerometers in the phone to measure the distance an elevator travels. Or how about using a long-exposure photo to measure the speed of the International Space Station? You can even solve physics problems by creating Python code right on your phone, or use built-in lidar to create 3D maps of a room.

In larger lecture-style classes, as a first step in class discussions, I have the students use their phones to vote their answers to conceptual questions. (One of my favorites is about the acceleration of a tossed ball at its highest point. A common answer is that since the velocity is zero, the acceleration is also zero—but that’s not true. In fact, if the acceleration was zero at the highest point where the velocity is also zero, the ball would just magically appear to be stationary.)

However, there is one way the students use their phones in class that I think is not always such a good idea: They take pictures of everything. (Admittedly, this has been going on for a while, so it’s not purely pandemic-related.) Now, don't get me wrong—I also take a lot of pictures. Photos are not just a great way to capture memories of your favorite dog; they can also serve as a reminder of things we need to do, like taking a picture of the grocery list. So what's the problem with students taking a picture in class of a physics solution or the derivation of an equation?

Let me give a real life example. It's my introductory physics course, and I'm going over a practice problem. I find it to be useful to model effective problem-solving strategies so that students can see the entire process. Of course, students have an opportunity to ask questions as I demonstrate the solution, and I pause several times to let them attempt each part before progressing. Once we make it to the end, the problem is finished, and at least part of the solution is written on the board. (Sometimes stuff gets erased.) Before you know it, some phones come out. Snap!

Why is that bad? I think it encourages students to think of physics problems as being like the game Pokémon Go, where the object is to capture as many solutions as possible. But it’s not: The process is important, not the solution.

I don’t mind if the student is just taking a picture to help them remember the result, intending to go back and work through the whole thing on their own. That's not a bad idea. However, I'm just afraid that all too often a student feels that the solution is the goal. Having the answer is not the same as understanding.

Or take the example of students who start off working on a problem in pairs using presentation boards mounted around the room. After working for five minutes, each student will move to a new board with a new student to work for five more minutes. This goes for three or four rounds until most pairs have solutions. (I got this idea from a fellow physics educator; it's called whiteboard speed dating.)

Sometimes these speed dating problems are a little difficult. Students can find it challenging to even start. They are afraid to put something on the board that might be wrong, because no one wants to be wrong. Wouldn't it be better to just not write anything down and wait? I mean, surely Dr. Allain (that's me) will eventually go over the solution and then boom, phone picture!

When this happens, I tell the class the following very important idea: "It's better to do something wrong than to see something right."

Those mistakes are part of the learning process. You can't expect to always get everything right when you are learning. It would be like going to basketball practice but not taking any shots because you are afraid that you might miss. Yes, you are going to miss. Missing a goal is how you get better at taking shots. The same is true for physics or any type of learning.

In the end, I let my students take photos, because there’s a chance they might actually use the pictures in a practical way. Also, banning phones would mean that I couldn't have any phone-based classroom activities, and it might send the wrong message that I have all the answers and the students need to earn those answers through hard work. Instead, the answers are just the tip of the iceberg.

But if you’re a student heading back to school in January, and your teacher allows phones in class, my advice would be to take pictures if you need to save something off the board. But don’t stop there. Force yourself to go back and work through any problems or solutions from those pictures. Treat the photo as the beginning of the learning process, not the end.

Online Answers

There's another place where the students’ focus on answers—instead of the learning process—is clearly visible: websites that give solutions to physics problems. During the pandemic, students took advantage of these more often, because more assessment was moved to an online form, which makes it easier to cheat. And because these sites are becoming more popular, there are now more of them. This makes me sad. The problem is that students can just copy a solution without understanding it, and it's all too obvious that many times this is exactly what happens.

Consider the following very common projectile-motion problem that is covered in just about every physics textbook: A ball is launched horizontally off a table that is 1.2 meters above the floor, and it hits 1.7 meters from the starting point. What is the launch velocity of the ball?

The problem is normally solved by looking at the horizontal and vertical motions separately. (That's the cool part of projectile motion.) Just about every textbook calls the horizontal velocity vx and the vertical velocity vy. So, when a student submits a solution using u for the horizontal velocity and u' (called u-prime) for the vertical velocity, it just looks weird. Why would they pick those symbols for the variables? You know why: They found the answer online.

You might think that if instructors assigned unique physics problems, the students would actually create their own solutions. That doesn't work. I can make something weird (and honestly quite fun) for a physics question, but students post it online within hours. It would actually be funny if it weren't so bad for learning. And even worse, someone is making serious money from these online solutions, which often require a subscription to their services.

If you’re a student who is tempted to use online answers, I’d urge you to use them only to work through a part of a problem that you are stuck on or to double-check that you’ve understood the problem correctly.

Attending Class

There's one more thing that students have a problem with lately—going to class.

Online learning isn't all bad; in fact, for some learners, it offers opportunities that weren't there before. Videos can help students keep up with class—well, if they actually watch them—and they provide an opportunity to review material that was perhaps a bit confusing. Going remote gives students a certain amount of flexibility to compensate for things that happen in real life, like catching the flu or getting a flat tire. Life happens, and it would be a shame to miss out on school. And it can be a bonus in Louisiana: When we have to cancel class because of a hurricane (yes, that happens), we won’t lose much class time since we can just switch to an online mode.

But there's something about in-person classes that I've found difficult to replicate in an online environment. I like to think of a physics class as a community of learners. Students can play the role of educator and learner at the same time when they interact with their peers. (And don't forget the other learner in the course—the instructor. Even teaching an introductory physics course, I still find some new understanding every time I teach it, which is why I love it so much.)

If you’re a teacher, there’s so much more that can be done during class time than just lecturing. You can have students work on problems—or even better, have them find the error in a solution to a problem. You could have them create problems that other students could solve. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. If you are looking for more ideas (at least in physics), check out the American Association of Physics Teachers’ resource site: Compadre.org.

If you are a student, try to attend class as much as possible. Don't think of it as though you are in a movie theater watching a bunch of answers. Instead, use that time to engage in all the learning opportunities.

In the end, the goal is to practice, not to get everything right. When it comes time to work on your homework, let yourself get stuck. Work the problem to the point where you don’t know what to do anymore. Getting stuck is the first step to getting unstuck, right? After all, if you don't have any troubles with a physics problem, then you either already understood it or it wasn't that great of a problem to begin with.

7 notes · View notes