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randomfoggytiger · 7 months ago

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The Scully Family In-Depth (Part XV): "Other Fathers", Deleted Scenes, and "Things to Prove"

Never Again is precipitated by Dana Scully’s sidekick complex, a trickle down from her childhood daddy issues. While I’ve discussed her feeling of neglect with regards to Mulder (posts here and here), this analysis will zero in on Scully’s strivings for perfection, feelings of neglect, and subsequent discouragement and rebellion blooming from a failure to secure someone’s pride and attention.

FATHER COMPLEXES

The first time Scully displayed vulnerability in Beyond the Sea was at her father's funeral, pleading with her mother for reassurance: “Was he at all proud of me?” By the end of the episode, she takes Maggie’s “He was your father” to heart, turning down a chance to give her father a final goodbye via the shady conduit Boggs.

After her abduction and return, Scully meets her father once again in the land between Life and Death. Standing at his daughter’s side, Captain Scully pours out his heart in a touching monologue she takes back with her into life.

More importantly, her father was the only person who knew she wouldn’t die--”We’ll be together again, Starbuck. Not now. Soon”-- and Mulder the only person who believed in her strength. Scully came back for Mulder, yes; but she still had to process her family’s hopelessness and her father’s visitation.

An interesting and important note: Scully was aware when her family gave up in One Breath-- “When they found me-- after the doctors and even my family had given up, I experienced something that I never told you about. Even now it’s hard to find the words. But there’s one thing I’m certain: as certain as I am of this life, we have nothing to fear when it’s over.”

Melissa, her voice (post here), was right: Scully was right there; and her spirit did speak back and forth with her sister in limbo. Knowing this, it makes sense why Missy pushed Dana so hard to accept every vital part of herself and her experiences in Season 3-- trying to prevent Scully's self-destruction through purposed ignorance.

The only problem is, Scully wasn't-- and isn’t-- sure how to understand her experience: on the one hand, it gives her a sense of peace when facing death (telling Mulder they have nothing to fear in Dod Kalm); but on the other, embracing that experience would require her to embrace other aspects of herself she is running from-- buried memories of her abduction, the paranormal happenings drawing naturally to her (post here), and her own fear of belief.

In A Christmas Carol, Scully can’t sleep because of her father’s disappointment in her career path; in Pilot, she glibly tells the Assistant Directors her parents considered this change “an act of rebellion” (post here); and in Beyond the Sea, she is thrilled to be on closer terms with Captain Scully (though they struggle to connect with unaddressed issues between them, post here.) Her sense of self-worth is attached to her usefulness, which is measured by the praise or adoration she strives to earn from the people she looks up to.

Avoiding instead of internalizing leads Scully from person to person-- man to man specifically-- looking for the acceptance she will only find in herself (all things.)

She is drawn to men that open her mind to new possibilities-- Daniel Waterston, her teacher; Jack Willis, her instructor; Fox Mulder, the paranormal and little green men expert-- but are also devoted to their work and expect her to come along for the ride. Scully, enthralled, follows their lead; but after time passes and she remains second priority, Scully rebels and leaves.

Scully has stayed with Mulder longer than any other romantic partner, miring herself in danger and intrigue and murder for over three years. And she has seemed-- despite the oddity of their situation-- content to be challenged and thrilled over pursuing the domesticity expected from peers her age. Yet Scully takes a sharp left turn in Never Again, contemplating her circular life path and seeking reassurance from Mulder for her decisions-- equally reaching for and rebelling against the second-place position she assumes he places her in.

I’ve already written at length how Mulder completely misinterpreted his partner’s signals (thinking she was resenting him and the work rather than wanting assurance of her place in his life) and that his resulting actions accidentally confirmed Scully’s worst assumptions and fears (compelling her into the arms of Ed Jerse); but cutting that important angle out of this episode, let’s focus on the residuals of her father’s legacy that sends her into an ouroboros of insanity.

MEASURING UP TO SUCCESS

Captain Scully lived in pursuit of accomplishment. “I’ve went at a proper pace-- many rewards-- until the moment that… I knew, I… understood that I would never see you again. My little girl. Then my life felt as if it had been the length of one breath, one heartbeat.” Although decorated properly in his medals of honor, her father's afterlife appears empty and alone, allotting ample time to count his successes while waiting for his loved ones to join.

We see the echoes of that achievement mindset when Scully reexamines her life: the endless cycle of what she’s lost or the little she’s accomplished. The lesson her father tried to impart to her from the world of the Dead is blocked by her unwillingness to fully believe; and the gnawing of bereft dissatisfaction continues to build in the wake of personal tragedies and her partner’s inability to do or express more in their relationship.

THE BEGINNINGS OF ONCE AGAIN

Scully stands behind her partner, tuning out his interrogation of a witness as dissatisfaction starts to pulse through her. Having already dismissed the case, she wanders off, trying to pinpoint or escape her swelling emotions, coming face-to-face with a wall of venerated names. These people are the embodiment of legacy: what they did mattered, who they were is remembered. Their service is recognized; their sacrifice is honored.

Their names may be what draws her, but not what keeps her. Unlike her father, who wanted his named etched in higher rank or bigger history (Personality Type post here), Scully’s attention and emotions are captured by the personal, heartfelt memorial at the bottom of the glistening pillar: “BROTHER, TWENTY YEARS LATER… I STILL MISS YOU. WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID WAS RIGHT.” She slides down silently as her thoughts begin to solidify.

Touching one of the rose petals, she ruminates on the loss of a life so insignificant to the rest of the world but so important to the ones he loved most-- that not only did he matter, but he mattered because what he did was right.

Scully may be a woman who places herself in second position, but she is also a woman that demands respect and devotion-- proof that she is valued, loved, and cherished (Personality Type post here.) Furthermore, Scully lives her life by her morals and ethics, by what is right-- breaking up with Daniel Waterston before crossing an unbreakable line, holding herself to a standard of decency and honor, and demanding Mulder hear the truth even if it's hard to accept.

As of late, there isn’t enough cherishing to balance out her self-doubts; and now that the scales are out of whack, her life seems unfairly disjointed. Because Scully is fixated on identifying and solving her problem, she misdiagnoses its cause, wondering if her presence would even be missed, nullifying the importance of her decisions and choices. And who does Scully look to first to set everything back into order? “Other fathers”-- or in this case, the Ahab to her Starbuck. (And this Ahab completely misses the memo.)

These doubts plague her hours later: holding Mulder’s plate and sitting behind Mulder’s desk in Mulder’s chair, Scully sees her workspace with new eyes, noting how lacking her presence (seemingly) is, despite the devotion she’s poured into the X-Files. The rose petal’s significance has left its mark.

Mulder poking Scully about abandoning him scratches at the open wound of “WE KNOW WHAT YOU DID WAS RIGHT”, flipping her concealed disillusionment into more outward hostility.

Still, she tempers her annoyance, slipping it under Mulder’s radar… until: “Hm. Have you confirmed the identity of these individuals?”

“That’s your assignment while I’m gone.”

Her back immediately arches at assignment: sharp intake of breath, stiffened posture, and lowered eyes-- more signs of her anger. When she refuses, both of them are left frustrated.

“So, you’re refusing an assignment based on the adventures of ‘Moose and Squirrel’?” Mulder teases, battening down his own anger with humor.

“Refusing an assignment? It makes it sound like you’re my superior,” Scully replies, stepping around his olive branch and digging her heels in.

When Mulder snaps, misreading her mood as disinterest in his work, she sighs, cryptically replying, “And it’s become mine.”

Stung, he softly asks, “You don’t want it to be?”

Scully does her best to explain the chaotic whirlpool of emotions sucking her down-- “This isn’t about you. Or maybe it is indirectly, I don’t know. I feel like I’ve lost sight of myself, Mulder. It’s hard to see, let alone find, in the darkness of covert locations. I mean, I wish I could say we’re going in circles, but we’re not. We’re going in an endless line: two steps forward, and three steps back. While my own life is… standing still”--

--but her response isn’t direct enough for Mulder’s suddenly resurrected abandonment issues.

“Well, maybe it’s good we get away from each other for a while,” he surmises, assuming she’s sick of being around him; which causes her to close up, assuming he’s sick of listening to her problems. Then he flees before she can rethink things further; and she sits and feels her admission has been ignored and minimized.

Mulder is her Ahab; but he doesn’t expect subservience in their equal partnership. Now four years in, he and Scully both expect her to waltz off to the next case in his absence; and she is nettled by their assumptions, and he baffled by her response. Scully cannot see past the tall and commanding figure of her father to notice Mulder-- shrinking from her raised hackles, blaming himself for consuming too much of her time, calling her later because he wants her a part of his life, even in absentia-- reading his withdrawal as disapproval and rebuke.

Scully has a long wait for Fight the Future’s declaration. In the meantime, she is crying out for validation and reciprocation; and stumbles across a form of it in Ed Jerse. And after a brief investigation into the Russians and Mulder’s commanding fumble over the phone, she decides to pursue that path as soon as possible.

THE ALLURE OF DISOBEDIENCE

Ed Jerse is her mother’s cigarettes personified: sinful and satisfying, different and dangerous. The tattoo you deserve.

“I’ve always gone around in this, uh… this circle," she tells him. "It usually starts when an authoritative or controlling figure comes into my life. And part of me likes it-- needs it, wants the approval-- but then at a certain point, along the way I just… y’know.

“My father was a Navy captain. I worshiped… I worship.. the sea that he sailed on. And,” she admits, looking down or up or away to keep her emotions in check, “when I was thirteen or so, I went through this… thing where I would sneak out of my parents' house and smoke my mother’s cigarettes.”

Her monologue in the bar exactly parallels Luthor Lee Boggs’s extracted confession in Beyond the Sea: “There was... that one time when I was fourteen and my parents had gone to bed and I snuck downstairs all alone. Got one of my mom's cigarettes and went out onto the porch in the dark. I was so scared: my heart was beating-- I mean, they would have killed me if they knew. But I was so excited. Not because of the cigarette-- I mean it was gross, but... because I wasn't supposed to.”

Even now, her eyes light up in recollection, a sly smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

“And I did it because I knew that if he found out, he would kill me. And then, ” Scully wraps up, halting as her voice drops in disgust, “There are other… fathers.”

“Sounds a little like… your time has come around again,” Ed posits, smooth and attentive with his unspoken promise of a good time. “I want things more like a straight line,” he adds; and so compelled is Scully that she forgets a straight, endless line is worse to her than an endless cycle.

To commemorate her breakthrough, Scully inks the chains of her life onto her back… in the same place where Mulder frequently steers her around. The tattoo she deserves, after all: trying to turn her self-punishment into liberation; glorying in the pain-- in the wrongness of it all-- in an effort to produce something new and exciting and beautiful. Starbuck, thou art aptly named.

All for naught.

“All this because I,” Mulder questions after it’s all over, “because I didn’t get you a desk?”

Scully is once again caressing the rose petal; but looks up, surprised, that he bothers to ask her about anything other than their next case. Seeing that he’s serious, that he’s willing to listen, she says, “Not everything is about you, Mulder. This is my life.”

Scully has figured out, rather late, that “other fathers” were not at play here: that her search for approval was an effort to conceal her aching loneliness because Mulder-- no matter how good his intentions-- isn’t ready to be a part of “my life.”

And Mulder intuits this, too; and falls silent.

ADDRESSING MEMENTO MORI’S DELETED SCENE

The last mention of Captain Scully in Season 4 pops up in a deleted scene from Memento Mori.

There are many reasons why I dislike (loathe, really) this scene-- the depiction of her brother, mainly-- but those are secondary to the thoughts I want to explore here.

Scully wakes from her round of chemo to a man in uniform by her bed. A flash of her coma visitation shines through; and she calls out, “Dad?” softly, with a smile.

It’s Bill Scully, Jr. that advances out of the light instead, grabbing her hand in anxious confusion. “Dana?”

“Bill?” Scully, aware of her mistake, quickly withdraws her hand and sits up, momentarily humiliated. Laughing at herself, she starts, “I thought you were, uh…”

“You were expecting someone else,” Bill smooths.

In hindsight, this is a rather morbid remark on his behalf: clutching her hand like she’s dying and half-expecting her to be expecting apparitions of the dead. (It turns out this scene is framed around him deciding she's already got a foot in the grave.)

She thanks him for coming, Bill leans in to give her an awkward hug, and the two try to regain their equilibrium in the silence that follows.

“You look good,” he lies; and Scully makes a face, not believing it but thanking him, regardless. “Charles is sorry he couldn’t make it,” he adds, confirming that he and Charlie would have been in contact had this scene remained canon. “Think he’ll call you tonight, if you’re feeling up to it.”

“Sad cause for a family reunion.”

“Yeah,” he agrees, fake chuckling.

The two fall silent before Bill expounds on his new orders-- alluding to the fact she and he might not regularly communicate about much other than work. (Another aspect that might but doesn’t quite fit with their characterization in Gethsemane; but I digress.)

“Oh, did Mom tell you? Got new orders-- NAS Miramar, Dad’s old stomping grounds.”

So, Bill Scully also keeps in contact with Maggie (no surprise), making he and his mother the communication lightning rods of the family-- and likely Melissa, too, since she visited her family and followed up with regular phone calls (The Blessing Way, post here, and A Christmas Carol.)

“Yeah, I was out there not long ago. Lot of old memories,” Scully reminisces, an allusion to her Piper Maru investigation (post here.) Cool call back, actually.

“Yeah…. Lots of ghosts now. Dad… Melissa. Mom’s gettin’ worried there’s no one left to carry on the Scully name. Guess the pressure’s on, huh?”

I, personally, believe Bill would have more tactful in this situation-- and he is, even when confronting his sister in Gethsemane and A Christmas Carol-- and am glad this scene is no longer canon.

“I didn’t choose this, Bill.”

“No-- but you chose to join the FBI. Mom and Dad sending you to med school-- you were going to be the one to save lives.”

Scully gasps, turning away to collect her words. “When Dad died, I asked Mom. She said he’d forgiven my choice.”

We have confirmation here that, while her parents were both disapproving of the FBI, it was her father that was angered by it. This fact is also backed up by her and Melissa’s conversation in A Christmas Carol (again, post here.)

I’m going to gloss over the rest of the scene because Bill is unreasonably cruel, ridiculous, and out-of-character, blaming his sister for Missy’s death when he doesn’t appear to do so in Gethsemane, Redux II, A Christmas Carol, or even Emily.

The takeaway is:

Bill feels angry at Scully’s choices but doesn’t voice them until she calls attention to his subtle pokes.

Bill is moving to his dad’s old stomping grounds, meaning he’s beginning to measure himself against his father’s legacy. Meaning, Scully may have been able to break away from her parents’ expectations, but he has not.

Not only that, but Maggie piles her expectations for grandchildren onto Bill and Tara’s shoulders (despite their struggles with infertility) while somehow forgetting her other grandchild via Charlie Scully (previous post here.)

All in all, this scene badly damages the extended Scully family quite a bit. But the fact that Bill is choosing to follow his father’s journey step-by-step leaves some interesting implications (to be explored in a future post.)

REMEMBER DEATH, PART II

Scully’s father also left an impact during her fight with cancer.

Fearing she wouldn't be strong enough for her Mulder or her mother (again, post here), Scully’s courage begins to crumble in the face of futility and exhaustion: “Mulder, it’s difficult to describe to you the fear of facing an enemy which I can neither conquer nor escape.”

After Mulder runs to her side, afraid she'd been hurt or recaptured, he finds and reads her journal, later confessing: "When I came to find you and you weren't in your room, I got scared something had happened. And I read what you wrote."

She exhales, embarrassed. "Oh. I didn't want you to read that. I decided to throw it out.

"I decided tonight, that, um…,” she continues, pebbling her chin to keep the tears back, “that I’m not gonna let this thing beat me.” Squaring her shoulders resolutely, she adds, “I came into this hospital able to work; and that’s how I’m leaving.” At his encouraging nod, Scully pauses, smiling back.

Mulder finally gives her the reassurance she’s been searching for: “Scully, something was done to you, something that you’re just beginning to remember-- you can’t quite figure it out, but it can be explained and it will be explained. And no matter what you think as a scientist or a doctor, there is a way. And you will find it, to save yourself.” The truth is, he’s always believed in Scully, even when she doesn’t believe in herself.

Scully spells out her new focus-- “Mulder, I can’t kid myself. People live with cancer. They carry on. And so will I. You know, I’ve got things to finish-- to prove, to myself, to my family. But for my own reasons.”

It’s an incredible leap forward for the captain’s daughter; and Mulder knows this, giving her a blooming smile and wrapping her up in his first initiated hug.

Scully beams in his praise and soaks up his comfort-- the right time for both of them, in spite of everything.

Mulder’s “The truth will save you Scully. I think it’ll save both of us” draws out a smile while his tender forehead kiss brings her to the brink of tears.

It’s enough for both, for now; and she pulls away, walking back bravely into battle.

CONCLUSION

Captain Scully’s long shadow stretches from beyond the grave, shading the milestones of his children’s choices and accomplishments. While he tried posthumously to give consolation and encouragement-- like Bill Mulder did for his son, post here-- the effects of his example have left grooves that circle Scully (and her brother) around and around, faster and faster, until she breaks free of those patterns and starts her own journey.

Only then-- not unlike the late Melissa Scully-- can Scully (and Bill) truly be free.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

#txf #meta #The Scully Family In-Depth #“Other Fathers” Deleted Scenes and “Things to Prove”#In-Depth #Part XV #xf meta #Scully #Bill Scully Sr.#Bill Scully Jr.#Mulder #S4 #Never Again #Memento Mori #xfiles #x-files #the x files #mine

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gabriellerudessa · 6 months ago

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Compass (Norm Maclean x OC) - V

“Last vestiges of civilization”, Betty had called their Vaults. Not much different from what his father had said.

How much of a lie that line of thinking was. It didn’t matter the radiation and everything else, the surface was surviving, while they all were holed in the ground and followed a routine determined by people that had been alive before the bombs.

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Words: 4.597

Warnings: ... The start of emotional vulnerability lol

They walked for the whole second day, stopping at a half fallen house for the night, and Marigold had explained some more – Legion. Enclave. NCR and Shady Sands, mainly.

Half of everything Norm heard were snippets Marigold had heard from travelling merchants or Dad Francesco, that had travelled a lot before settling down with Ma Guadalupe. Marigold herself had never travelled too far.

Some factions were in decline, like the NCR, especially after how Shady Sands had been bombed. Marigold’s parents had visited it sometimes, before it, and Norm was actually shocked at how many people had been there. “Who bombed it?” “No one knows.”

He had a sinking feeling in his stomach after that.

Others hadn’t reached the region, like the Legion – “Thank God”, her exact words –, and others like the so called Enclave were too secretive for anything beyond rumors be able to travel far.

His last question, as they had stopped, had been “How does one end with two husbands?” Both to try and clear the air after the heavy talks about those factions, and because it was just… Too weird for him not to ask about.

Marigold had to actually use a hand to muffle her laugh, and Norm almost felt embarrassed.

“Why the question, thinking of finding two for yourself?” She was giving the extra trouble cheeky grin.

Norm spluttered at that, cheeks flaming.

“What-? No! Why would you-? No!”

Her mirth dissipated, mismatched eyes blinking at him.

“Wait… That’s really something that doesn’t happen in the Vault?” Norm shook his head, fast, and Marigold grimaced, scratching at her nape. “Uh… Then sorry for, you know, everything I just did. Last time I heard this question, my brother Ed was trying to get council for a situation of the type.”

Norm nodded at the apology, trying to get his embarrassment under control.

“And… What was his situation?” he managed after some moments.

“In love with two women. The three of them are now a trading caravan. As far as I know, that’s all it needs. More than two people in love with each other.”

“Really? That just sounds… So simple.”

“It does… And, I mean, I never really stopped to think about this… I was four when Ma told me ‘hey now you and Catarina have another Dad and a stepbrother’. It was… Just our reality, three parents at home.” She shrugged, and Norm nodded, slowly.

“And I mean…”

“What?”

“It’s just… Like… Your dads, are they… You know… Married, to each other, or…?”

“Oh. Yeah, in our home, yeah… Why? Same-sex couples not something on the Vault too?”

“No… It’s all about the ‘having kids and perpetuating America’.” Norm shrugged.

“Seems stressing.” She grimaced, and Norm chuckled with a nod.

He could get what she had said; “just our reality”. If it’s how you grew up, and it was treated as the normal, why would you find it weird, unless something actively made you question it? It wasn’t even as if her parents had been overtly in their affections, just casual romantic touches and words that were, in retrospect, more laidback than he had sometimes seen in the Vault.

And still Ed had asked council.

“… Ed is a dragged one, isn’t him?”

“Spot on, Norm-boy.” She grinned, making finger guns at him.

---------

On the start of the third day, they entered a forested area.

“It’s not long now. Stay sharp and close, Norm-boy.”

He did, and after remembering her explanations about the Brotherhood of Steel, unbuckled and stored the Pip-Boy in his sidebag. Marigold gave him a respectful nod, hand at the top of his back to keep him close every time the path narrowed and they ended farther apart than some few steps.

As they crossed the forested area, small shelters started to appear in between the trees, strung clothes all around, small unlit fires… A community, or at least the signs of one, because it was empty of people.

Groups started to appear, walking around and verifying what was on the shelters. Most of them were covered in color-coded overalls, looking at both of them either with curiosity or animosity.

“From what I know, most of them look like Squires and Scribes, but some also look like Lancers.” Marigold whispered once they were away enough to not be heard. Norm didn’t bother to try and tell that she hadn’t explained their ranks and those were just words to him. “Any Knights and Clerics must be inside. From what I heard, I don’t think they brought in Aspirants or lower.”

They reached a metal tunnel, two Brotherhood members acting as guards, blocking them from going ahead.

“Name and business.” The one to the right said, his voice bored, and Marigold and Norm looked at each other for a moment.

“Marigold and Norm. Trading.” The one to the left took notes in a clipboard, eyes tired, and something in the gesture was so mundane that it surprised Norm.

“Allegiance?”

“Bear Family Ranch.”

“Never heard of it.”

That made Marigold roll her eyes so hard that Norm was certain she saw the insides of her brain. He bit his lip to keep his chuckle inside.

“Because you’re newcomers. We’re the most stable source of game meat and leather around here, ask any resident of Filly.”

The guards looked as if they preferred to eat glass than talk with such peasants.

“I can buy you being a hunter, but not him.” The one that had been taking notes talked, using the pencil to point Norm.

“I’m the family’s accountant.” The words escaped before Norm could actually think them through, the lie leaving his lips smoothly.

The two guards looked him over, then at each other, then back, taking in the carefully combed hair, his hands in the coat’s pockets, the straight posture, overall clean appearance with fitted clothes… And it all should fit into their idea of what an accountant looked like, because they just waved them in with a grumble.

Oh God, that had worked, thank God.

Marigold gave him a shining smile, gap visible, a double thumbs up alongside once they were through. Something in the smile made his cheeks heat up. He forced himself to give a brief nod, then snapped his head to look ahead.

The city was in a hole in the ground, big enough that he couldn’t see its end, and it managed to surprise him more than the ranch with how lively it looked. People of all the types wandered about, going out and about the buildings, but the ones using the Brotherhood’s overalls were the majority, with some using long clerical tunics, and a few Power-Armors. Marigold had warned, but it was still a shock, especially with how well preserved and cared for those looked.

“Last vestiges of civilization”, Betty had called their Vaults. Not much different from what his father had said.

They descended a staircase to the bottom of the hole, Marigold ahead, and Norm easily saw their destiny: “Ma June’s Sundries – Caps only – Thieves will be shot”. People looked at them, one Brotherhood member outright staring – probably because Marigold was one of the tallest people around, just one head shorter than the Power-Armors they saw –, but no one stopped them.

The store was a mishmash of things, and he noticed some Vault-Tec products exposed. And he could easily imagine what Lucy had said about that, damn it.

Still, what really caught his attention was a box of Sugar Bombs, dusty but closed, with a plaque under it: “Pre-war food, perfectly sealed and edible. Only six caps each.”

Pre-war. Edible.

He understood in the Vault, with its hermetic freezers and storages, but on the surface? Two hundred years after the bombs, as found? How the hell was it still edible?

What exactly had he been eating all his life?

Now Marigold’s snickers every time he ate something pre-war made so much more sense.

“Ma June! It’s Marigold! Barv, you there too?!” The scream snapped him to look ahead, Marigold by a counter, tapping her nails against the wood.

Norm stopped by her side, sighing when he could just barely look over the counter.

A woman limped towards them from the back, white hair a frizzy cloud above her head, a heavy scowl towards them.

“You better have some of those meds Goose makes. And who’s the boy?”

Marigold gave the extra trouble grin.

“We heard about the shot out, so you bet I have. And he’s Norm, helped us big. He needs some information we think you have, so…” Marigold shrugged.

Norm tried to keep as immobile as possible under the older woman heavy stare and scowl. Then she looked to the front of the store, letting out a heavy “humpf”.

“Come to the back, both of you.” She didn’t wait for an answer, turning and limping away.

Marigold nodded for him to go ahead, following close behind.

They ended in what looked like a kitchen area, a big white table in the middle. Ma June sat at a stool, the bad leg over another, grimacing.

From his place, Norm saw another woman appear, hair long and thinning, just out of the way.

“Let’s take a look at what you’ve brought.”

It was Marigold’s clue to land the backpack heavily over the table, immediately starting to take things out of it: soda bottles filled with animal fat for cooking, rolls of treated leather, tin cans manually welded with cooked radroach, ant and bloatfly, fabric packets with dried radroaches, no wings or antennae in sight, and strips of dried and salted radstag, molerat and yao guai meat… And small fabric bags with the healing powder he had seen Goose make.

Norm blinked at all that and asked how the hell it had all fit.

Ma June tried to catch one of the healing powders, and Marigold expertly moved it out from her reach, cheeky grin in place, even as Ma June’s scowl deepened.

“As you see, it’s the usual haul, plus some more animal fat, the yao guai, and the healing powder. Going by our usual rates, a hundred and fifty caps added to the usual six hundred should cover it all.”

Ma June’s scowl remained, but she nodded.

“Done. Barv, Marigold’s payment.”

The other woman started counting the so called caps, her movements fast, and soon she was delivering a small bag filled with them to Marigold. She nodded towards Ma June to get the powder, and then started to verify the caps.

Ma June’s hand took hold of one of the fabric bags, raising the pant of the leg and applying it to a wound to the side of her knee. Norm wasn’t sure if it would do much; it was stitched, but the edges were red and he was pretty sure it was starting to get infected.

“Fuck, Ma June. The powder is not enough for this type of thing. You need stimpaks.”

“I fucking know, but theses dipshits” she waved a hand to indicate the Brotherhood in Filly “fought not long ago and took all our stimpaks and didn’t even pay us right.”

“Motherfuckers.” Marigold glowered at the infected wound, still counting the caps.

Norm looked at the wound again, trying to hold in his grimace. He had three stimpaks, and he still needed information. He doubted the woman would just tell what he needed, even if he had arrived with Marigold.

How much Goose had said they could reach? 75 caps each? There were no stimpaks in the city, the Brotherhood with all of them. He would need some form of currency with him to keep going.

“I can trade you two stimpaks for the information I need plus forty caps for each one.”

Both of them looked him over, Ma June in disbelief, Marigold… He was pretty sure that what he caught in her mismatched eyes and face was heat. Oh God, he wasn’t good with this…Swallowing, he kept his chin up and stared at Ma June.

Posture, Norm. It had gotten him through the guards. It would get him through now.

Ma June pressed her lips.

“Fuck. Done. BARV! Eighty caps to the boy! Where the fuck did you find him, Marigold?”

Talking about him as if he was a stray animal just adopted.

Which, in retrospect, after what he had seen of Marigold’s family, wasn’t too far of.

“By the ruins, close to one of my traps.” Marigold smiled at him as she stored the caps, and the only word he could associate to that smile was “proud”.

The other woman approached, grumbling, and the caps and stimpaks exchanged hands. Barv immediately jabbed one into Ma June’s leg, the angry-red edges improving, not looking infected anymore.

“Fuck. What the hell do you need to know, boy?”

“My sister, Lucy. I know she was seen talking with you the day of the shot out. What happened with her after?”

Ma June squinted and scowled harder at him.

“Motherfucker, another Vaultie?” a dirty look towards Marigold. It didn’t dampen her mood in the slightest, still that proud smile and heated look towards him. “I sent her with a wounded bounty to Moldaver in the Observatory.”

Norm stiffened at the name, and Marigold’s look moved to Ma June, squinting.

“If it involves a bounty, I’m surprised you just told us that much.”

Ma June barked a dry laugh.

“You didn’t hear this part then. The shot out was because of this Enclave scientist, the bounty. The Ghoul was here for him, started the fucking shot out, and the dipshits appeared later for the bounty.”

“The Ghoul? Last Dad heard he was buried.” Marigold grimaced heavily at that, crossing her arms, body leaning back.

“Who is this?” Norm forced it out, frowning, half of him still caught in Moldaver’s name.

“Bounty Hunter. Pre-war Ghoul. Fucking dangerous.” Marigold pressed her lips.

---------

“Your sister and the scientist got a head start during the shot out, but that’s about what I know. And the dipshits attacked the Observatory and killed Moldaver, so I don’t even know if they arrived or what.”

Those words cut short Marigold’s thoughts about “reward Norm-boy with a kiss for his smart mouth and trading skills”.

“What?” her words were too loud even for her.

Oh fuck. The Observatory.

“What you heard, Marigold. What’s the problem?”

How that piece of news hadn’t reached them yet?

“Marigold, are you okay?” Norm, his voice the most worried she had heard from him.

With a fast calculus, she started counting from the paid caps.

“Do you still have a courier for messages?”

“Of course. What the fuck is wrong with you, Marigold?” She ignored Ma June’s question and Norm worried stare.

“Here. Five hundred of what you paid for the haul, and fifty for a message. Send a message to the ranch: Observatory was attacked. Marigold going down there with Norm. Send someone to take the rest of the caps.”

“Will do it, but why? Is it about Catarina? She lives outside the Observatory and without NCR colors, she must be fine.” Ma June, didn’t hesitating on collecting the caps.

Marigold wanted to scream in her face. For fuck’s sake. Really?

“Yeah, but she’s married to a Ghoul, or you conveniently forgot that’s why she moved there? You know how these dipshits are with Ghouls, I’m not taking chances. Let’s go, Norm-boy.”

She didn’t wait for an answer, turning to leave with hard steps, throwing the backpack over her shoulders as she walked. She faintly heard Norm say “Thanks for the information”.

Then he was walking ahead of her, opening the door for her with a nod, worried frown in place.

How funny. Both of them with sisters they didn’t know if they were alive or not in the same general region.

---------

They didn’t have trouble leaving the city, the Brotherhood guards looking damn happy at it, actually. It was a relief, because neither of them would be able to actually deal with them – Norm couldn’t stop thinking that Lucy had been sent directly towards Moldaver, and he could see Marigold was with her head on the news about the attack, on her own sister.

Marigold had picked a direction and started walking, steps just shy of too fast for Norm, silent and tense, instead of the relaxed and sure pace he had grown used to.

They left the forested area and went into the desert, when he buckled the Pip-Boy again; Marigold was still like that, nothing of the way she had owned the desert before Filly.

It made him worried.

Norm made sure they were safe before intervening, getting a hold of her hand – the leather of her fingerless gloves soft and supple, the skin of her fingers calloused and weathered. Marigold stopped as if struck, looking at him with shock, as if she had forgot he was supposed to be besides her.

“Are you okay?”

She swallowed, looking at the hand he was still holding; before he could let it go, she squeezed it, and Norm let it be, trying to ignore how it made his heart kick inside his chest.

“Not exactly… Sorry.”

“Don’t. You just heard the region where your sister lives was attacked. It’s all right not being okay.”

“Thanks.” She gave a self deprecating smile. “But I am putting both of us in risk. Thanks for the wake up.”

Norm nodded and she let go of his hand, breathing in as they started walking side by side again. Her face was still worried, eyebrows frowning, but her steps were slower, attentive to their surroundings, owning the desert again.

---------

“I heard you and the others mention Catarina. Another sister, right?” Norm asked after some time of walking, this side of the desert seeming to have more sparse ruins.

Marigold nodded at that, face slowly relaxing.

“Oldest sister, actually. A pain in the ass…” Marigold grinned at him. “… But our pain in the ass.”

Norm chuckled at that.

“Lucy’s also my oldest sister. Well, older, it’s just the two of us.” He looked at her, smiling. “Also my pain in the ass.”

That made her laugh.

“Older sisters, hm? Our pain in the asses, no one else can mess with them. Vice-versa too.”

“Absolutely.”

Marigold touched his shoulder, making him stop, and held her hand out, smiling.

“We will find the both of them. Preferably alive.”

Norm shook her hand, the squeeze firm – and Norm tried not to get too focused on the controlled strength he could feel through that.

“They better be, or we will bring them back to kill them ourselves for the scare.”

“Damn righty.”

---------

They spent the rest of the afternoon exchanging sibling stories – Catarina telling Marigold terminals were “magic”, him helping Lucy escape the Vault, Goose slipping extra pepper on the food as a prank, when Lucy and Chet had been caught in a storage room by all the older residents of the Vault, Regina braiding Marigold’s hair around the bed’s metal frame, he and Lucy putting shaving cream in his father’s shampoo…

He could barely remember the last time he had laughed so much. Norm was pretty sure it had been before the attack. It also had done well to Marigold; she had laughed almost as much as him, her whole face and body relaxing.

They stopped at an old two-floor home as night was starting to fall. The roof had collapsed and most of the second floor was inaccessible, while at the first all the windows had been broken, even if the door was still miraculously standing. The fact that it was the most intact building close to all the others was disheartening.

The wind twirled around them, and Norm remembered that first night in the Wasteland, the cold he had noticed only when in shelter.

“No light tonight, I presume?”

“Nope.” Marigold cleaned a place between a broken refrigerator and a still standing internal wall. “Also better if we stick close, the cold will be bad once night fully falls.” She looked around and nodded once. “Here, it’s the most hidden spot.”

Marigold put the backpack on the front of her body and sat down. Norm sat beside her, and the space was… Cozy, to say the least, the refrigerator pressed against him on one side and Marigold on the other.

“That’s how it is when you and your siblings need to stop at a place like this?” he whispered, and Marigold chuckled.

“Oh, worse. You saw how big we all are. It’s not so bad with Regina or Mika, but Moose? God, we always end up kicking each other.”

She got one of the strips of dried meat and started munching. Norm sighed as he opened his sidebag and looked at yet more pre-war food from the Vault. He had barely stopped to think during the brief stop for lunch, but now the Sugar Bombs box in Ma June’s Sundries was flashing in his mind.

“Not hungry?”

“It’s not that.”

Long seconds with only Marigold’s chewing audible.

“What then?”

Norm pressed his lips in a line. Would she laugh as when he asked about the curious situation of her three parents?

Well… She had been fast to apologize, at least.

“We plant things in the Vault, but a lot of what we eat is pre-war. And… It looks as if here on the surface too.”

“Oh. You saw some on Ma June’s, I bet.”

“Sugar bombs.” He looked at her, and Marigold blinked at him, still chewing the meat he knew the Bears themselves had hunted and preserved. “Your family doesn’t eat pre-war food, from what I saw.”

“Grandpa Juan doing. Really suspicious of the whole ‘edible more than a hundred years after the bombs’. But don’t be mistaken, occasionally we don’t resist and take a bite.” She answered with a small chuckle, then got serious. “It’s food from the place you grew up, Norm-boy. I bet it was properly stored and so on. And it didn’t go through bombs and nuclear winter.”

Norm looked again at the package in his hands. Fancy Lads Snack Cakes. One of his favorites.

“What’s that you’re having?”

“Radstag. Basically four legged and two headed. Oh wait, there’s two extra non-functional legs too.”

“Can I experiment?” and the Cakes would be after. He wasn’t sure he would be able to eat them without another thing now that he had seen the box.

“Sure, but I warn you, it’s tasty, but it’s dried so it’s also hard on the teeth.” She got another strip from the package and handed it to him.

Norm bit experimentally into it. And chewed and chewed and chewed some more. Tasty, salty, but yeah, hard on the teeth. He offered one of the cakes as he gave the second bite, and Marigold shook her head.

“Thanks, but I had it once. Too sweet for me. Dandy Boy Apples are more my taste, if we’re talking about pre-war food.”

---------

They kept eating in silence; night had fallen when they finished, the darkness not as all-encompassing as it could because of the slivers of moonlight entering through the broken windows.

Marigold made sure her backpack was closed and the hunting rifle was between her and Norm, hidden from anyone that entered the house.

“We will have to sleep in shifts, Norm-boy.”

A sigh.

“Don’t know if you noticed, but I’m pretty useless with fighting.” Marigold grinned at the sarcasm in his voice.

“You don’t need to fight. Just be awake and wake me if you hear something weird. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“… Sure. I can do that.” A clearing throat sound. “So…”

“You sleep first. I’ll wake you some time after midnight.”

“All right. Thanks.”

Silence, but with the proximity she could feel how tense he was, and Marigold started listing the possibilities in her mind – worried about his sister, fear for sleeping with a lack of walls, cold…

“I didn’t tell you everything.” He started after some time, voice quiet.

“Hm?”

“About my sister being up here.”

“I had imagined, but I’m a stranger to you. You have a right to your secrets. Everyone does.” Marigold shrugged, conscious of how he had frozen with Moldaver’s name. Conscious of her own secrets.

Maybe because of her words, maybe her laid back way, but he relaxed.

“I’m also a stranger and you still invited me into your home.”

“Flashing news, Norm-boy, I can afford to take such a risk with you, but I can totally get why you didn’t.” Watching him, she raised the arm closest to him, flexing it jokingly, the muscles visible even through the cape.

Something flashed in his face at the movement, but the lack of light made it impossible to say what.

“Still. There’s you sister and mine in all this.” His voice was soft, and he started talking.

---------

Marigold raised her arm, almost absentmindedly, making sure Norm’s head remained against her shoulder as he slept, instead of bent towards his chest. A sore neck from bad sleeping posture would make survival a little bit harder.

Even as she did it, her mind went over everything Norm had said. His sister’s marriage; the attack by Moldaver and what Marigold was pretty sure were raiders and not NCR; his father, Hank, kidnapped by Moldaver; his sister hiding him; Lucy leaving to rescue their father; the bodies he had found on Vault 32 – Regina’s routes; had she noticed something in the door? –, how the Vaulties there had all killed each other even before…

How he had asked questions, suggested the raiders were to be executed, hadn’t been the perfect Vault-Dweller, and then the raiders they had captured had been poisoned, and he was the one that carried their food but “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t”. She believed him. He still lacked that edge she recognized in people that had killed others. Rare enough to stand out in the Wasteland.

He was pretty sure he would be incriminated by that, and that’s why he had left to find his sister.

Marigold couldn’t help but think there was more he wasn’t saying; a certainty that he had discovered why the residents of Vault 32 had killed each other. She wouldn’t force him to say what, but she hopped he slept well – he had been clearly exhausted after telling her everything.

She looked over at him, the hair crumpling against her shoulder, eyelashes softly against his cheekbones, not a single frown on his forehead.

Peaceful. Just like the night in her home – Mika had caught her staring and had given her so much shit over it, saying she had “finally found a hobbit for herself”.

As if he could say much. He had been the one to give her the books and was in love with a five foot nothing guard caravan. There would be pay back when she went back home.

A sound outside the house made her raise her head… Wings. Bird wings. Far enough away. Not a danger.

Marigold felt his head sliding, and moved her arm again, not even looking.

She was glad she had been the one to find him. One of the few times her luck had held, instead of showing to be fucking rotten.

#norm maclean #norm maclean x oc #fallout #fallout series #fallout prime

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curiousb · 6 months ago

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The Knightley Family Album: Volume XV

James very quickly found employment after graduation, in the shady underworld of Merybury. Being a Loner and a Night Owl, he doesn't mind the antisocial hours - although they rarely leave time for proper nutrition - but belonging to the criminal fraternity is hardly his grand plan.

He has other ideas, of the perfect way to provide for himself, fiancée Martha and their future family. He's just biding his time, until the right opportunity comes along...

For Mary, sadly her time is finally up.

The young couple aren't slow to realise that their inheritance is just what they need, to start making their own way in the world - although the death of his mother-in-law also puts James in a rather unaccountable frame of mind! 😯

Ever since his first lemonade stand, James has had entrepreneurial ambitions. So, with money in his pocket, when a chance to purchase a business in Merybury finally comes up, he doesn't hesitate. Even better - given that he and Martha especially are Animal Lovers themselves - it's a pet shop! After a major revamp of the premises, it's opening day. (The Knightley's pet shop is my own recreation of @kayleigh-83's 'Happy Tails'.)

There's no shortage of customers already!

Some seem to need a little convincing...

...so James start working on his sales patter right away!

It's not all about shmoozing though - there are far less glamorous tasks to take care of too. He should probably think about hiring some extra staff, at some point...

And there it is - the first Simolean from his new enterprise! He should frame it, or something.

#sims 2 #gameplay #knightley family #merybury #mary bennet #martha knightley #james morland

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imakemywings · 2 years ago

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Youtube | Spotify

A mix to accompany my fanfic of the same name.

i. Which Witch Florence + the Machine ii. My Silver Lining First Aid Kit iii. The Maiden and the Selkie Heather Dale iv. It’s Alright Mother Mother v. Never Saw Blue Hayley Westenra vi. Gravity Vienna Teng vii. Shady Grove Among the Oak and Ash viii. Ticket to Lie Texas ix. Giuila Teaches Lucrezia to Kiss Trevor Morris x. What the Water Gave Me Florence + the Machine xi. Thank You Dido xii. Siuil a Run Celtic Woman xiii. Marble Halls Enya xiv. Breathless Texas xv. Beloved Mumford and Sons xvi. You’ve Got the Love Florence + the Machine

(Photo credit to Wren Meinberg on Unsplash)

#realized I never made a post for this #finduilas #nienor #the silmarillion #tolkien tag #fanmix #my mix #finduilas faelivrin #music #Ninduilas

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lesewut · 2 years ago

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"The Secrets of Inquisition and Other Secret Societies in Spain" written by Victor de Féréal in 1845 (due to my researches, found out that behind this name is Madame de Suberwick) revised by M. de Cuendiaz and tranlated into German by L. von Alvensleben. The seamy shady side of history can sometimes be so dark and terrifying, that it could easily compete with every horror movie. The 16th century is not without cause, one of the darkest epochs.

“(…) if the one, who is ruling, would be a good shepherd, he would not allow greedy people to shear his sheeps, who would cut with the scissor down to the flesh, to get the wool together with the blood. The indulgence against the Inquisition is nothing more than political calculation. The love for gold is, what covers the empire with pyres.”

Sometimes acquiring a book and have no real clear expectations, it can fastly turn into astonishment. Do not know, why calculating with an historical non-fictional book, I've achieved an amazing fictional book, that is creativily integrating "The Secrets" and "Underworld Jargon" into a romantic frame-story:

Sevilla in 1534 under King Charles V., the Catholic sale of indulgences at the zenith, just some decades after the Reconquista and rediscovery of "El Nuevo Mundo"- The daughter of the governor gets harassed by the Grand-Inquisitor, though in panic and overstrained by this unexpected and faith-shaking attack, she can fend off his voluptuous intentions. Undismayed the Grand-Inquisitor hires "Los Hermanos De Gardunia" an underground organisation, asking to carry out a contract killing of her fiancé. What an unexpected twist as a Serena (~decoy duck, often young, beautiful women) has sympathy with her age-mate and convincing her partner, who is a Guapo (quite high in the command structure) to help the unfortunate. Spiritual and sacred assistance they get by two priests, who could harldy be more different: Joseph, a minion of the Grand-Inquisitor, belonging to the Dominican Order- Johann, an itinerant preacher of the Fransiscan Order Their conversations and debates about hyprocrisy, Protestant Reformation, abuses of power, the genuine faith (just to name some relevant topics) were not only explicid and lucid, but comprehensible through seeking salvation in the simplicity of the teachings of Jesus: Love and strive to achieve perfection <3

"The luck is here", said the Apostle and laid his hand on his chest.

For an easier in-depth look I decided to share some of my notes:

In the first centuries of Christianity, popes and priests followed the paths of the Apostles- As long as they were religiously persecuted and suppressed, Christian sovereigns walked humble with God- But --> Roman Empire, who saw its general power endangered and frightened by popular uprisings, so demandment for ruling was executed through Proselytism

It is not really clear who "invented" the Inquisition, some historians locate the origin in Gregory IX. and his appointment of Dominican and Fransiscan Order as executors of Inquisition- -> Extensive preparatory work "Concilium Veronese" in 1184

1231 -> Papal bull by Gregory IX., forbidding of reading the Bible in profane language

Resistance and Oppenents -> Since early XV. century bloody fights in los commones y cortes defining "Genuine Religious Belief" against the Obscurantism of Roman hegemony -> Significant historic persons: Isabella I. of Castile - Juan de Ávila - Marie de Bourgogne (grandmother of former King Charles V.)- Maria de Bohorques - John of God (big meaning in medicine, bequethed more than 60 hospitals after his death)

King Charles V. and the Reformation -> When taking up his duties, he wanted to eliminate the Inquisitional Court with the support of Wilhelm von Croy and Selvagio BUT -> The Inquisition served political interestes and was used to strenghten and ensure the own throne -> Many souvereigns were affraid to lose their power due to the reformation, so they became members of the Inquisition (it was the surest way to save material possession) -> The King just had the right to write a "Plea" if he wanted the Court to close proceedings, but as his personal preacher Alphons Vivuez got arrested (been accused for his closeness to Reformation), he has no power, cause:

"Charles V. was the King of Spain and the Inquisition was the King of Charles V."

Organised Crime and the Inquisition (This needs a whole book for itself, it is a shame, how pure religion was instrumentalized and deformed for fleshy desires... no wonder, that distrust is still shaking through the bone and soul- what an abuse!) -> Most of the criminals are part of the Spanisch gypsy population called Los Gitanos -> there were several Oranganised Criminal Brotherhoods, but the most important was the "Brotherhood of Gardunia" -> 1821, abrogation of the "Gardunia", register of period 1520 - 1667 gives evidence for 1986 single orders directly from the Inquisition one-third of the cases were kidknappings of girls and women [!!!]

Court of Inquisition -> In every Spanish city was a street called "Callejón de la Inquisición", in the vicinity was the "Castillo de la Inqusición", therein were "The Tribunal Hall" - a chancellery - different kind of chambers (e.g. to repent, which meant long time of isolation and darkness, directly under the attic floor...) and of course the prison, thrirty foot (~9 metres) belowground, 6-8 prisenors in 8,64 m2 ... imagine the only light entering is just a small stripe directly under the ceiling (so to speak the curbstone's cracks...) and the stench [!!!] -> The aim was to torture the inmate as long as it takes to make him confess all of his sins, there were different kind of sinners and "offenses", but in the end, it always ended in social ostracism and/or death -> It was part of the system to make denuncuation as easy and anonym as possible, the denuncuation of important members of the public was not only a guarantor for entering the "Militia Christo" (one of the many institutions to stabilize this greedy malediction...) it also strenghten the power of the Inquisition, incorporating all possession and tracing the descendants -> The Autodafé was kind of the termination of Inquisitional trail, especially festive orchestration were used for demonstrating power and also for fobbing up the folk with gold and alcohol, turning pyres into great spectacles -> In the courtroom, the Throne of Inquisition was higher than the King's throne [!!!] -> So no wonder, that the Supreme Court (established by Fernando de Aragonia) and its court decisions were violated [e.g. the age limit, forbidding to arrest human-beings under 10 and above 60 years ... but the sad example of Maria of Burgundy, who was 85 years old and loved by the folk as the "Mother of the Poor", shows again, how terrible the Inquisition was... torturing her until her death with 90 years, protesting her innocence till her last gasp] -> The procession of the Inquisition was a parade to demonstrate their power, in the first row were the charcoal burner, who had the "privilige" to supply the pyres with wood, which was free of charge

Suppression of the Folk -> Considering the estate-based society, it must be heartrending to think of the discrepancy of the so called God's will and the hypocrisy of the Inquisition- confusing the genuine belief and replacing values with material -> Fear and civilian espionage were the most effective tools of repression, exploiting the blank belief of the majority

"They accustomed the folk to worhsip the materia, the Divine is for them nothing but an altar made of marble and gold."

Other historical facts -> 1484 fanatic monk Thomas de Torquemada started explicit long-term persuits -> The Inquisition in Portugal was established by J. P. de Saavedra and was supported by the Jesuits -> Donkeys were not only helpful for hard fieldwork, those modest and peaceful poor animals were also used to transport the accussed ones to their destination, their ears were cut off, so the hangman can not sell this sadly accursed creature- but also the Spanish King was carried by mules, except on sunday and holidays [also very exciting, how this liason was appreciated in many cultures for their strenght and modesty in one] -> Moorisch-Andalusian culture, actually all bloomings of the Caliphate, were aggressively suppressed - many insults of today are still attacking converted persons (e.g. the knights of La Abencerraje), especially under Deza and Torquemada - many cultural heritages of the Moors were "racked and ruined", but it is still interesting to find hints of the legacy in language and pronunciation -> Lettre de change - an invention of Jewish and Muslim population in the time of the caliphate, emerged as a compromise solution: By sending their financial backup abroad, they prepared their exile and the poor end of the wonderful, up-lifting and productive epoch, in which all three religion worked and lived peacefully together on the Ibererian peninsula

“You, who could just love and praise, why are you tolerating the crimes of those hangmen?” - “To purify the Good”, said a voice next to me.

#literature #book cover #bookworm #The Grand-Inquisitor #darkside of humanity #simony #false-believe #criticism against institutionalised religion #16th century #antiquarian book #history #Spanish culture #catharsis #abuse of power #criticism against church #Roman Empire #old book

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uniquejellyfishqueen · 8 days ago

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11/24/1835 The Texas Rangers, a horse-mounted police force were authorized by the Texas Provincial Government

*Didn’t she have horses wearing friendship bracelets?

11/24/1877 - Black Beauty, by English Author Anna Sewell is published. It became an immediate best seller and eventually sold over 50 million copies

11/24/1932 - In Washington, D.C., the FBI Crime Lab opens (officially known as the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory

11/24/1943 - During World War II, at the battle of Makin, the USS Liscome Bay is torpedoed by the Japanese near Taraw and sinks killing 53 officers and 591 enlisted men

11/24/1963 - The assassin of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald is killed by Jack Ruby

11/24/1969 - The Apollo 12 command module splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean, after it completed the second manned mission to land on the Moon

11/24/1971 - Dan Cooper, aka D.B. Cooper parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane during a thunderstorm over Washington state with $200,000 in ransom money. He was never found.

*same initials as Down Bad

11/24/1973 - Photography by Ringo Starr hits #1

11/24/1994 - At the first annual MTV European Music Awards, Oasis is named the Best UK Band

11/24/1998 - Garage, Inc., is released as the Metallica compilation of cover songs

11/24/2014 - Shady XV is a two-disc compilation album released by Eminem

The Panthers host the Chiefs on 11/24 at 1pm.

Bank of America Stadium is 33 acres.

Broke ground on 4/22/1994 and opened on 8/3/1996

The Carolina Panthers have never won a Super Bowl, losing both of their appearances:

2004: In Super Bowl XXXVIII, the Panthers lost to the New England Patriots 32-29.

2016: In Super Bowl 50, the Panthers lost to the Denver Broncos 24-10. The panthers were the favorite by 5.5. The network it was on was Westwood One…(Woodvale?….I forgot how the west was won….)

*They are 1 out of 12 teams that have not made it to a Super Bowl.

Owned by David Alan Tepper 9/11/1975 hedge fund manager of Appaloosa Management (specializing in distressed debt) founded in 1993 based in Miami Beach, FL (their logo is a horse.)

TS was wearing a Panther necklace on 11/19

The Panther on her 1989 set

The “Big cat” on her blind for love shirt in the bank vault

“Range Rovers and Jaguars…”

“Karma is a Cat”

Her 2 cat is Olivia Benson… Named after Mariska Hargitay who can speak 4 languages.

In SVU History:

* Clarence Williams III  In the 2000 Law & Order episode "Burn Baby Burn" (aired on 11/22/2010), a former Black Panther named Clarence Williams III shoots and kills two cops on the warrant squad. The episode explores the idea that police can never know what they might encounter when they knock on a door.

* Former Black Panther accused of murder  In season 11, episode 6 of SVU(aired on 10/28/2009), a former Black Panther is accused of murdering a Caucasian police officer. The episode features a politically charged trial and the accused questioning Detective Green's integrity.

PANTHER SYMBOLISM:

* Protection and guidance: In medieval bestiaries, the panther was seen as an embodiment of Christ, and was said to bring unity and harmony to the animal kingdom, while also protecting from evil.

* Leadership and unity: In modern times, the panther has become a symbol of leadership and unity, especially in comics, civil rights activism, and cinema.

* Power, protection, and ferocity: In Greek mythology, the panther was associated with Dionysus, the god of wine and pleasure.

* Grace, beauty, and mystery: For many tattoo enthusiasts, the panther represents these qualities.

* Justice, morality, and money: In The Visit, the black panther symbolizes these concepts

Or we have the Florida Panthers

They do not have a game on the 24th.. but they do play on the 23rd and 25th of this month…. Bookends of sorts. And they are all home matches for the kitties.

11/23 Colorado Avalanche W 7 vs Florida Panthers 4

11/24 KC Chiefs vs Carolina Panthers

11/25 Capitals vs Florida Panthers

The day before Thanksgiving 11/27 the Florida Panthers host The Toronto Maple Leafs (TS current stop on the ET)

11/27/1942 is Jimi Hendrix birthday (electric lady..)

11/27/1957 Caroline Kennedy Birthday (US Ambassador to Australia since 2022)

11/27/1727 - The foundation stone of the Jerusalem Church in Berlin i laid

11/27/1870 - Baseball is called "The National Game" by The New York Times

11/27/1901 - The U.S. Army War College is established

11/27/1924 - The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in New York City

11/27/1960 - Gordie Howe becomes the 1st NHLer to score 1,000 points

11/27/1961 - Gordie Howe becomes the 1st to play in 1,000 NHL games

11/27/1965 - The Pentagon tells U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson that if they are to succeed in the Vietnam War that the number of American troops has to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000

11/27/1973 - The U.S. Senates votes 92-3 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States

11/27/1983 - Avianca Flight 011 (Boeing 747) crashes near Madrid's Barajas Airport, killing 181 people on board

11/27/1989 - Avianca Flight 203 (Boeing 727) explodes over Columbia, killing all 107 people on board and three people on the ground - The Medellin Cartel claim responsibility

11/27/2009 - The Nevsky Express train between Moscow and Saint Peterburg derails after a bomb explodes causing 28 deaths with 96 people injured

11/27/2015 - A shooter in a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado shoots four police officer, one police officer and two civilians die and six are injured

11/27/2017 - Country singer Blake Shelton is named People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive

11/27/2020 - Days after the discovery is announced, the Utah monolith is removed

11/27/2021 - All Too Well, the extended version by Taylor Swift with a time of 10:13, hits #1 on the Hot 100

But also because Pittsburgh has been relevant The Penguins host the Florida Panthers on 12/3/24. 1..2..3..?

*5 days before the last day of tour.

12/3/1818 - Illinois becomes the 21st U.S. State

12/3/1910 - Modern neon lights are demonstrated for the first time by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show

12/3/1960 - The musical Camelot debuts at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway in New York City

12/3/1968 - NBC airs a TV special called Elvis

12/3/2014 Actor Taye Diggs (Private Practice) divorces Broadway actress Idina Menzel after 11 years of marriage

12/3/2015 - Scott Weiland American singer and songwriter who was the lead singer of the Stone Temple Pilots and made six albums with them

12/3/2015 - Based on the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a live adaptation of The Wiz airs on NBC

12/3/2016 - Following his death, Leonard Cohen's original version of Hallelujah enters the Hot 100 at #59

TS HISTORY IN NC (15 shows):

1/20/2007 @ Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC

5 song set list

8/2/2008 @ Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion, Raleigh

7 song set list

8/3/2008 @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater - Charlotte

8 song set list

Fearless Tour:

6/12/2009 Greensboro

9/5/2009 Charlotte

5/1/2010 Raleigh

Speak Now Tour:

6/30/2011 Greensboro

11/16/2011 Charlotte

11/17/2011 Raleigh

Red Tour: Charlotte

3/22/2013 Charlotte: “Tim McGraw”

9/12/2013 Greensboro: “Change” acoustic tour debut, “Everything Has Changed” with Ed Sheeran

9/13/2013 Raleigh: “Everything Has Changed” with Ed Sheeran

1989 World Tour:

6/8/2015 Charlotte:“You Are In Love Acoustic”

6/9/2015 Raleigh:

10/21/2015 Greensboro: “Little Red Wagon” with Miranda Lambert

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journeydb · 9 months ago

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March 26 2023 Santa Coloma de Farners

We often take excursions with Angie, Toni, and Iris outside Barcelona. Today we went to Santa Coloma de Farners and hiked and had lunch in the Parc de San Salvador. Even though Toni drives a big tractor trailer for a job, he loves driving so we all piled into his car and made the trek outside the city for only a short drive of about an hour.

The trees were mostly bare in the park and hadn't begun to leaf up yet and it was easy to imagine how much more beautiful and shady it would be in a few weeks. Because it was still a bit chilly we enjoyed the sunlight that streamed through the trees, which warmed us up.

We decided to hike to the hermitage and then, if we weren't too tired, to the tiny castle at the top of the mountain.

The views along the hike were marvelous! Santa Coloma de Farners is a lovely little city, as we noticed driving around to find the park. Our friends Jezebel and her husband, Oriol, are from there and they named their daughter, Farners, for the city. Oriol told us all about this place when they were at our Valentine's Day party in February and piqued our interest.

We stopped to rest and took some photos with the huge boulders as backdrops.

It looks like they are standing on the edge of a cliff because they are! The drop to the canyon floor was pretty steep so we were very careful and watched our step.

We reached the hermitage in about 45 minutes and spent time exploring it. Here is some information about it from the website:

"Much loved by locals, this is a XII century romanesque structure with Baroque extensions, very close to Farners castle. The semicircular apse and part of the nave remain from the romanesque period. It looks like the reconstruction of a former chapel, of which nothing remains.

It is located at the foot of Farners Castle, and between this and the hermitage, important celebrations and local festivities take place in the Farners esplanade, such as the Choral Festival or the Farners Aplec. It is also a destination point, and often a rest point, for many walking or cycling trails, including the Trail of the 10 Hermitages."

After hanging out at the hermitage we started the ascent to the castle, behind us in the photo above.

The castle was worth hiking up to, even though it was small. According to the Santa Coloma de Farners website:"

"The first mention of the castle dates back to the middle of the XI century, when the viscount Ramon Folc de Cardona swore allegiance to the Count of Barcelona. The Farners maintained ownership of the castle until the XIII century, when it passed over to Vilademany leadership. It was abandoned definitively in the XV century, except for a brief occupation of a Bourbon garrison just after the War of the Spanish Succession, at the start of the XVIII century.

Architecturally, it follows the model of castles built in the XI-XII centuries, with a main tower, which in the case of Farners castle is round and has a surface area of 211 m² and is delimited by a crenellated wall. On the inside, you can see the remains of quarters and rooms. Excavations were carried out in 1991 and 1992, and it was expertly restored to allow for visits.

This is a simple but beautiful space, that will easily transport you back to the olden days. It is worth going to the Farners esplanade, where you will see the hermitage that goes by the same name, and from this point you can access the castle. You can get to the esplanade by car, but it is also accessible on foot, or on a mountain bike. It is a short and very beautiful route, with many access options. You just need to get to the Sant Salvador Park, where you will see signposts to indicate the way to the castle.

Once you reach the castle, you will be able to visit the area around the tower, walk around the parapet and even go up to the tower, an exceptional observation point where you will have fantastic views of Santa Coloma de Farners, the Guilleries and the plains of la Selva."

We climbed the steep stairs to the top and had a magnificent view of the valley below us.

Climbing down the steep staircase from the tower was almost as hard as climbing up. We were tired by then and hungry and ready to go back to the park for lunch.

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variouscolors-old · 10 months ago

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The Kaiser's servant.

I just wanna write down some things about the AU in which Daisuke works for the Kaiser :V aka "the thingy i'm mostly roleplaying with Iggy"; but this is not exclusively for Iggy muses. If you have a Ken Kaiser or a Kaiser-like AU for a character and you're up to this, just let me know. Like, i have this same setting with Carol’s Miyako Kaiserin too, for example.

Daisuke was involved in the Odaiba fog events, but the difference here is he couldn’t remember of the important factor that led him want to be a hero: his witnesses of Taichi riding on Greymon and the battles against VenomVamdemon and the continent in the sky – Reason for that: Everyone didn’t believe his witnesses so he started to believe the monsters and the mysterious continent in the sky were a dream.

He became a Chosen differently from Miyako and Iori, he got his digivice on another day, met V-mon under the Digimental because the funny walkie-talkie device was beeping and showing him the way. He lifted the Digimental of Friendship and then met V-mon. But he decided to not get involved with the Kaiser and used the Digimental to evolve V-mon into Lighdramon and then run away to another place. Then he met chef Digitamamon (02 ep 36-37) and started working for him for funsies.

Daisuke liked that “game” and then used the funny digivice to get a Lighdramon-like armor and glaive, only to pretend being a digimon and keep working and learning with Digitamamon – adopting the name ‘Lightnimon’ or shorten it to ‘Lightni’. Digitamamon who gave him that name btw.

He got involved with the Kaiser (or Kaiserin/etc) because he saw another human and he possibly wanted to not make enemies, so he just tagged along and then became the Kaiser/Kaiserin/etc’s servant.

Takeru, Hikari, Miyako and Iori do not know he’s human. None of the Chosen know he is human. If anything, not even the Kaiser/Kaiserin/etc knows it. No one does know. And since they don’t know Daisuke enough, they might not even realize that at the first instance. Unless… (i request you to ask me first so we can plot this together btw)

Daisuke does go back to the human world and attends school, he’s still living in the same building and apartment. His parents are dumb and his sister is an airhead. There’s no actual familial drama. All of them are just a bunch of dumbasses.

Daisuke is rough around the edges, but a nice and gentle kid. It’s only that he's a tsundere and also is not very assertive like the others. Also wants attention from the others as well. Just like in the canon verse.

Daisuke definitely likes straightforward people, and detests shady people. Just like in the canon verse.

He likes to cook, make food experiments and prefers it than to be in battle. Because he’s a scaredy-cat and would rather survive than get killed in combat – especially when he’s actually a human pretending to be a digimon. However, he might be all sacrificial for the people he deeply cares for and in order to protect innocents.

He may-may-not have a crush on Hikari here. Or a puppy love for Taichi. (usually my muses, but if you’re OK with this item, then let me know)

While the others may not know him enough, he definitely slips into his real identity a lot that it would be a miracle if no one knows that Daisuke and Lightni are the same person.

V-mon is the same as the canon V-mon – he and Daisuke have clashes but they’re pretty much in sync. They’re best buds. They love doing things together. Daisuke might think it’s a game but he deeply cares about V-mon, Digitamamon and Bakumon deeply. As if it were his second family.

V-mon cannot evolve into XV-mon (yet) but he definitely can armor Evolve into Lighdramon. The Digimental of Courage is obtained later though.

V-mon is brutally sincere so he might roast Daisuke a ton while the boy is under his alias.

V-mon gets along with Digitamamon and Bakumon as well. But he knows something is wrong… He had something else to do… Oh well, it might not be that important, right?

I’m only willing to ship Lightni with the Kaiser/Kaiserin/etc or Daisuke with their real identities or with Takeru/Hikari/Miyako if i get permission from both parties (= you and me) – if not, this won’t be implied in the threads.

Oh yeah please unmask him in the most murder mystery/detective genre/Scooby-Doo/Ace Attorney/etc like, but please let me know before you’re doing it. I want to plot this first!! :3c ALSO, please don't go full overpower and unmask him that quickly, or even, use "mind reader" technique on my muses :')

Ref pics:

#master post; aus #lightni; kaiser henchman #chef lightni; knight who only works to cook

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random-movie-ideas · 1 year ago

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Superman Villain Movie Ideas, Part XV: Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor is a fantastic villain. He is Superman's most iconic nemesis for a reason. He represents such a raw power dynamic with Superman that I don't ever want to see him not part of a Superman story. Superman is a god among men who desires nothing more than to live among them, while Lex Luthor is the most powerful of mortal men, desperate to ascend above them and live amongst the gods yet finds himself unable to do so, and so rages against the gods for their power. The plot writes itself more often than not. That said, I never want to see him as the "central villain" of a movie ever again. He is such an intrinsically linked part of the Superman mythos, with a hand in the creation of a thousand other villains, that you could create an entire series, all with different main villains, and Lex Luthor would still be an essential part of it.

Origin Movie: Reeves' Superman did it, Routh's Superman did it. It's not hard.

Sequel Movie: Cringeworthy performance aside, Batman v. Superman followed the logic I would have followed. Introduce Superman in the origin against some invader or something, and then along comes Lex, distrusting the hero everyone else worships and trying to make their god bleed.

Finale Movie: Building up to Lex? Now, that's a unique spin. Then again, as stated above, he has a hand in the creation of multiple villains, so having him as a shadowy figure in the background before the finale is a natural fit there.

Supporting Villain: Created Metallo, created Bizarro, created Parasite, financed Livewire, drove Toyman to villainy, worked shady deals with Bruno Mannheim, endless possibilities that we need to start delving into.

Here are my rankings of them:

Supporting Villain: He is, in many ways, the world's most perfect co-villain.

Finale Movie: A natural followup to the Supporting Villain angle.

Sequel Movie: A natural way to do him that doesn't put him front and center.

Origin Movie: It's been done.

What do you think? Now, I'd like to cover at least five major allies of Superman, to see how best to fit them in as supporting characters.

#lex luthor #clark kent #superman #superman movie #despite being so far overdone it's embarrassing #the man is a hard villain to hate

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gabriellerudessa · 3 months ago

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Compass (Norm Maclean x OC) - Part XXVIII

Marigold squatted, gun pointing to the path as she watched something on the ground, and Norm approached carefully, stopping beside her.

A footprint, very clear in the ground, even as the earth was starting to dry up. A trail of those, and his eyes followed and followed… The path to the left.

“It was done after it started raining, so what… One hour and a half ago?”

“Around it.” He confirmed, swallowing.

PLAYLIST ON YOUTUBE

Word Count: 4.503

Warnings: Wasteland Typical Violence

XXVIII

The so-called cantina and its communal bedroom was a metal-building with two rooms, one large and closed, the other open to the night air on one side, fire stoves and two counters against the dividing wall. Marigold recognized Aspirants cooking and one Initiate manning the business side of it, tables and chairs all around. The open side opened directly to the ruins, and the lights along it – windows, streetlights, everywhere – were harsh and bright, almost looking as if the stars were on the land instead of the sky.

There was no way to deny that at least the cold fusion or whatever energy source was true. She had never seen so many lights in a single space.

How and why they were keeping it a secret from the rest of the region, she didn’t know. Ma June would’ve told her without a doubt, but no. Besides, the place was empty of non-Brotherhood; the news would’ve attracted traders from all around and the Observatory would be bustling. She didn’t understand everything about what cold fusion meant, but whatever could energize such a big stretch of land meant power in the Wasteland and she was certain the Brotherhood would do its fucking best to exercise it.

Maybe the secrecy was more about where the source of it was, which made sense, especially if they were still figuring how exactly it worked and fortifying better their position to keep it with them.

Or maybe news were just being slow, which, fair enough, that was Wasteland for you.

Brotherhood members came and went from the cantina, not paying for food and water, some Squires taking food to specific Knights and even Paladins. The few non-members paid – and a fair price at that, Marigold noted as she passed the caps to the Initiate.

They sat at a corner with their own plates and cups – squirrel and tato stew with mashed corn and water. Talk was all around them, enthusiastic and loud, and Marigold and Norm kept their ears up even as they exchanged what they had discovered in lower tones, without actually discussing possibilities and theories – better let those for when they were outside Brotherhood’s hearing range.

“Nothing that indicates Lucy?” Norm shook his head as she finished with her stew and started on the mashed corn. “Damn. That’s depressing.”

And worrying. They both heard about the fucking cold fusion, apparently Moldaver’s work, and the tension between the so called Knight Maximus and the Elder Cleric, but no one even mentioned a Vaultie woman.

The prisoner that had stolen Power-Armor was a good clue, at least. Most Power-Armor was in Brotherhood’s power from what she knew, so they just needed to find people talking about one travelling alone and so on. Hopefully it would lead to Lucy too; Norm hadn’t talked about it, but she guessed the prisoner was probably his father – which was messed up if what that Maximus guy said about the prisoner having bombed Shady Sands was true. How could he have done it from inside a Vault? Why?

She hoped it was all just a misunderstanding, because if true… Not only pre-war, but bombing a city with thousands of inhabitants? Fuck.

Marigold finished eating and leaned back on her chair, legs crossed, one arm possessively on the back of Norm’s chair, eyes watching the movement and the lights while she sipped slowly on the water – purified, fresh tasting. She wasn’t rushing with it.

Most of the talk around still revolved around the battle against the NCR and Maximus promotion, with some high-tales of how he had killed Moldaver – all contradicting each other. Few talked about the escaped prisoner, even fewer about what was being done, and no one mentioned a Vaultie woman or some Knight Titus or an Enclave scientist – Marigold hoped it didn’t equate to bad news about them. And, as Norm finished eating, all the talk diminished even more, as the Brotherhood members departed to their own quarters.

Fuck. She had hoped to hear something more interesting and definitive, that complemented better what they already had. For no one to talk about Vaulties, they hadn’t really found one, and they hadn’t known Norm’s father was one. Where was Lucy? Had she even arrived?

“I think it’s better we go to sleep and leave early tomorrow.” Norm said after he finished, sounding as disappointed as she felt, and Marigold nodded, finishing her cup of water.

“Yeah.”

They took their tableware to the counter and paid for a couple of beds. The Initiate rattled out the number and handed them two robust padlocks with keys – “there’s lockers under the beds, you can put your things in them.”

Thank God.

The communal bedroom was filled with metal bunk beds, old and rusted, mattresses exposed. Their numbers dangled in small metal plaques attached to them, and Norm read them in low voice as they walked, not bothering the few people already sleeping.

She wasn’t surprised when both of the numbers the Initiate had said indicated a single bunk bed.

“I’ll fall trying to reach the higher bed.” Marigold sighed and shrugged; there was a reason Goose and Mika were the ones to usually get the higher beds. Too many times her and Regina – and Moose, when still single – had made bunk beds tumble just by trying to get into them.

“And I’ll fall during the night.” Norm’s shoulders slumped and she nodded, still remembering how he had tossed and turned the only night they had shared a bed and not cuddled. “Did he say anything against sharing?”

“Nope.” She grinned and winked at Norm, already pulling the two lockers from under the bed. “But that’s a great idea, Norm-boy.” And maybe would help cheer him up.

Norm shrugged with a small smile, taking their blankets out and helping her with storing the bags and locking the padlocks.

That taken care off, they cuddled in the bed. It was usually a tight fit for her, her feet easily dangling outside, and with Norm it was even harder. However, as they hugged each other tight under the blankets, his head against her shoulder and neck, her arms pulling him into her, their legs intertwined, she wouldn’t exchange that moment for anything.

---------

The night went fast, and soon they were waking with the sounds of more people getting up and moving around them. Somehow, he and Marigold had gotten even more intertwined during the night, blankets twisted around limbs, and they needed some minutes to get out without tumbling into the ground, whistles from anyone that passed by them making his ears burn.

Finally they managed to get up and got their bags – everything exactly as they had left – and folded the blankets into them before leaving the communal bedroom.

There was another bunch of Brotherhood members cooking in the annexed cantina and another manning the counters – Aspirants, Marigold specified, marked by the dog tags around necks and lack of jumpsuit, and an Initiate. They paid for a bowl of food and a cup for what passed as coffee in the surface.

The food was mashed corn with meaty pieces that Marigold called “iguana”, soft and white-ish, the taste subtle and pleasant. The coffee, made with something Marigold called “coyote tobacco chew”, was black, bitter, thick and weird, and for the first time exactly as he liked without him being the one to make it – in the Vault the rule was usually either too weak, too full of sugar, or both, and he hated all those variations.

The talking around them was muddier than last night, more about the responsibilities awaiting the Brotherhood members that day than recent news. He noticed the Dane-person appear, taking a tray with them – “Knight Maximus’ breakfast”, had been their words –, as others did, but that was the only thing that caught his attention in some way. Norm and Marigold didn’t dally long after eating.

They left the Observatory hand in hand, just like they had arrived, a comfort that Norm had missed. Two different guards were at the gates, noting their names in the clipboard as they left, and then they were walking the trail down the mountain, the morning sun doing its best to warm the day despite the cold wind.

---------

As they walked, the trail sunk back amidst the thin trees, slowly descending, the Observatory getting farther and farther away. Norm sighed and finally allowed himself to try and process what they had heard – and what they hadn’t.

“From where the hell that cold fusion came?”

“Wish I knew, Norm-boy. I was even thinking last night, about how they’re keeping it a secret.”

“The rumors implied it was Moldaver, that she activated it while fighting the Brotherhood…”

“Makes sense. Still your question: from where? She had the tech the whole time?”

Norm stopped talking for a moment, thinking, frowning…

“Maybe it involves my father, or at least Vault-Tec… If she had this the whole time, why go inside a Vault and kidnap someone that works for Vault-Tec before activating it?”

Marigold made silence, hand squeezing his, and he sighed, frown remaining.

“…I was going to say that it may involve the scientist, but considering that we heard nothing about Lucy or that Knight Titus, I think it’s safe to say they must still be after the Enclave scientist… Even if it does sounds like something from the Enclave.” She hummed, voice serious, and Norm groaned, scratching at his eyes with one hand.

“Damn it. That, Moldaver’s death, and with my dad God-knows-where, supposing he’s the escaped prisoner… Lucy won’t even have to who deliver the scientist.”

The pieces made less sense than before. The new ones only told him about some stranger Squire-turned-Knight and his tensions with the highest ranking officer in the region, of probably his father running away in a Power-Armor and being the guilty for Shady Sands, of damned cold fusion… And that was it.

Knight Titus, with whom Lucy had left Vault 4? Nothing. Considering he was after the scientist and what the Brotherhood had done to Filly after such scientist had passed through, Norm had no doubts that the man’s presence would’ve been mentioned, at least to say if he had been successful in his mission or not.

No Lucy. Not even the damned scientist. It was anti-climactic, all his stress over it and over everything influenced by it feeling as if for nothing.

Damn it, all of it was almost as bad as his lack of answer regarding his mom.

Norm was so fucking tired of half-answers and trying to fit a bunch of pieces that didn’t even seemed to belong to the same puzzle. One thing was trying to discover what the hell had happened with Vault 32 and what was going on with Vault 31… Another was trying to discover where the hell Lucy was and how to find her, while desperately hoping she was still alive.

And he was all out of clues regarding location, state of living, everything.

“Come here.” Marigold whispered, stopping and pulling him into an one-armed hug, his forehead resting on her breasts.

He breathed her in, sand and gunpowder and blood, arm around her waist and pulling her closer, not allowing the hand-holding to fade. Her free hand slowly massaged across the top of his back and shoulder.

All that without including the stress over his relationship with her. Damn it.

“… I don’t know what to think, expect, or do, Marigold.”

“You don’t need to decide now, Norm-boy. Let’s focus on reaching Catarina’s house, eat lunch and note down everything we know and discuss what it all mean, there. Maybe there’s even some clue in Catarina’s terminal that you didn’t notice.”

Norm sighed and raised his head, looking up at Marigold. He got she was trying to encourage him, but it seemed cruel that he had a clue regarding his father – lying person, he still loved him, still didn’t know how to untangle the mess of feelings –, but not about his sister, the one he really needed to see and talk with.

“… Do you think we could’ve done something different to try and discover more at the Observatory?” He finally asked, and her hand cupped his nape, thumb stroking his hairline.

Norm felt her breasts moving as she sighed, eyebrows frowning slightly.

“No.” She wetted her lips. “The only people that would’ve know more were either high-ranking Brotherhood members, and any imprisoned NCR. Maybe the Squire-turned-Knight, he was supposedly there when the prisoner escaped, so he would at least have some definitive answers about if it was your father or not.”

He drummed his fingers against her back.

“And we would’ve needed an excuse to talk with either of them. And there’s no way we can give one without going into details about my Vault or my father. And there’s still no way to know if they would’ve answered us or imprisoned us or whatever.” Norm whispered, closing his eyes.

“Unfortunately.”

He sunk more into the hug, fingers digging into her waist, her hand squeezing his. It helped his heartbeat, no longer in his throat, relaxing slowly into it all.

“… Can we stay like this just a little longer, Marigold?” Norm forced himself to ask.

“Of course, Norm-boy.”

---------

The “a little longer” turned into almost half an hour, and Marigold carefully pulled them both more to the trees, humming… She didn’t even know what, but she felt Norm relaxing so she kept at it, ignoring that small, annoying part saying that she should convince him to go back to the ranch with her – “you don’t know where your sister is and we have no place to search for more clues”.

If Marigold had a way, she would slap some common sense in that fucking part of her. They had clues about his father, if anything going after the man would mean stumbling into Lucy, at some point. And if they found clues about him in the whereabouts, she was staying with him too. No need for that… Despair.

Eventually he retreated from the hug, hand tugging lightly at her braid. Marigold went, touching her lips to his, firmly, but trying to imitate those sweet kisses Norm so easily gave her. She must’ve done something right, because she felt him smiling and sighing into it.

“Thank you.” He said against her.

She nodded and started guiding the path down once more, a calmer pace, hands not letting go, ears attentive to the path.

They stopped briefly at the start of the trail so Norm could buckle back his Pip-Boy. Marigold was just starting to guide again… Then a solitary drop of water hit her nose.

Soon more drops, the Geiger count rumbling lowly from Norm’s forearm, and then more, until it was a light drizzle upon them. Not enough to soak them, clearly just slightly radioactive, but still annoying. Marigold barely stopped to think before grabbing the bottle of Rad-X and giving one pill to Norm, just then taking her own.

Norm swallowed the Rad-X and extended his hand towards her, even as his eyes watched the rain around them – in the sunlight, not through a night-vision scope.

Something in the brown was marveled. It made Marigold smile as she started pulling him down the path towards Catarina’s house, double careful when slippery rocks appeared – the last thing they needed was a twisted ankle or anything like it.

---------

The water was cold on his skin, but at least the leather coat and the Vault-Suit kept it off from most of him, water just sliding against the fabric. Still, Norm closed tighter the neckline of the coat, trying to keep it from seeping down his neck and under his suit. Marigold didn’t have the same luck, only the leather bracers and short cape sliding off the rain, while pants and shirt were slowly and inexorably getting wet.

The water glimmered lowly in the light of day, and throwing looks to the trees showed the weird squirrels enjoying it, cleaning their sickly looking skins, drinking from the shallow puddles forming and licking stones. Somehow, the smell of petrichor was even more intense than the other night, the air inside his nose and lungs fresh, humid, totally different from the dry warm air he had gotten used to.

The paths that went through dry streambeds were more dangerous, not enough water to turn them into streams, but still making the rocks and stones slippery. Marigold repeated numerous times for him to be careful as she kept him ahead of her, always hugging him when they left those.

The rain eventually stopped, leaving only the fresh air and wet earth under their feet. The clouds disappeared in the sky, midday approaching, warming the day and the wind.

It didn’t take long after it for them to see the large stone with the childish-looking bear painted on.

“Not long now.” He hummed under his breath.

“Yeah.” Marigold stopped suddenly, hand tightening in his before letting go and he frowned at her.

“What is it?”

She was already holding the hunting rifle ready, tip pointed to the ground, slowly approaching the stone, head turning and watching everything around. Norm stopped and looked around too, not hearing anything beyond the low chippering of the squirrels and the light squishing of her steps in wet ground.

Marigold squatted, gun pointing to the path as she watched something on the ground, and Norm approached, stopping beside her.

A footprint. Very clear in the ground, even as the earth was starting to dry up. A trail of those, and his eyes followed and followed… The path to the left.

“It was done after it started raining, so what… One hour and a half ago?”

“Around it.” He confirmed, swallowing.

“Light feet, it’s not as deep as it could be, most weight on the front… And smooth, which usually means leather soles, like mine.”

“Another Bear?” Oh, please, it would make things so much easier…

“Nope.” Marigold raised and stepped firmly close to the footprint. Besides the size – Marigold’s foot clearly way bigger than the footprint –, Norm immediately noticed it had a careful indent of a ‘B’ in the heel. “We mark our soles for this reason. It’s not always there’s ideal condition for it to appear, but when it does, it’s clear to see.”

Norm sighed, holding the revolver, even if unsure if he would be able to use it much; cutting a neck was one thing, shooting at someone was another.

“Hopefully whoever left those ignored the house.”

“That’s my hope too.” Marigold nodded and started for the path. “Now let’s keep silent, Norm-boy.” He nodded, following her and trying to imitate the light and almost soundless footsteps.

He concluded that he was really bad at it.

---------

The strings of a fiddle reached them before anything else as they walked; Norm guessed they were in the middle of the distance to the house.

Then someone humming along, happily, the sounds approaching, and Marigold looked back briefly, a confused look and a shrug, before looking back to the path.

A bend later, and a man became visible, Brotherhood jumpsuit, black but mud-stained in patches of browns, tall but not nearly as tall as Marigold.

Her hunting rifle went up, pointing at his head, and the man let out a high-pitched scream, raising his hands, a small object falling to the ground.

“PLEASE DON’T SHOOT!”

“What are you doing here, Brotherhood?!”

“I’m-I-I-I-” the man stuttered, trembling, eyes crossing to keep looking at Marigold’s gun.

Norm circled behind Marigold, noticing an open bag on the men’s shoulder, vegetables sticking from it. He hadn’t stopped to actually analyze Catarina and Sarah’s garden, but it seemed clear from where it had come.

“He was getting food from the garden.”

“THAT!”

A moment of silence, the man with hands still up, the short mousey-brown hair wet and sticking in all directions. The fiddle music still echoed and then Norm noticed it came from the object in the ground: a small radio.

“Brotherhood offers food for free to their members and there’s a corn field in the Observatory. Why are you here?” Marigold asked once more, words slow and paused, and Norm recognized the same coldness from when they had met the other Bounty-Hunter.

“I-I can’t return, they’ll kill me!”

Marigold frowned.

“Why?”

“I’m-I’m turning into a Ghoul! Here, look!” The man raised his head, exposing his neck.

It was Norm’s turn to frown.

“Describe what you see, Norm-boy. If you so much as twitch towards him, Brotherhood, I’ll blow your brains.”

The man nodded, fervently, and Norm slowly approached.

At the man’s neck, there it was.

“There a weird scar… It remembers a burn but… Not exactly? There’s weird grooves.”

“Sounds just like a radiation burn. So what, Brotherhood?”

“It-It was a bolt! Through my neck!” Norm blinked.

“You mean it healed like that instead of killing you?” he asked, and the man fervently nodded, and Norm looked at Marigold. There was a small ounce of pity in her face.

“Fuck.” Marigold. She breathed in. “Raise one foot, Brotherhood. Take a look at his shoes, Norm-boy.” Her voice was calmer and he remembered her explanations about how the Brotherhood persecuted ghouls and other people with mutations because of radiation. Apparently not even members were an exception.

Norm nodded and the man carefully did as she ordered.

“It’s rubber. There’s grooves in it. Not smooth.” He looked at the line of footprints they had been following. “His foot is also way bigger than those.”

Norm retreated back towards Marigold and the man put his foot down.

“Did you pass by anyone? Saw anyone? Heard?”

“No… I was in the garden by the better part of the morning. With the radio on.” Apparently Marigold’s calmer demeanor meant he was also calmer, clearly considering the risk of dying as lower.

But he was still wincing

“Of course you were.” Marigold sighed and rolled her eyes.

“How long have you been getting food from the garden?”

The man’s shoulder bunched up.

“Almost two weeks, I think. Didn’t saw anyone. There were things starting to dry and rot. Figured no one would miss some food, if it was going bad anyway.”

“Didn’t try and hack into the house?” Norm raised one eyebrow.

“Didn’t want to risk the owners finding me if they returned.”

“You must be at the narrow pass, on the other path.” Marigold raised an eyebrow and the man nodded. “Too narrow for Power-Armor and a lot of hidden crevices. Smart.”

Norm exchanged a brief look with Marigold. Not who had left the footprints, hadn’t heard anything… He felt a pit in his stomach, the disappearing form in the distance flicking through his mind.

Marigold mouthed one name: “James”. Norm swallowed. It horribly fit. The man knew where they were going, after all, even if didn’t know the exact location of Catarina’s house. If he had managed to survive, he didn’t even need to follow their trail.

In retrospect, if it was James, they were lucky to have found the place before him.

“Can I go now? I don’t want trouble.” The man had lowered his hands a little.

“You have been a deserter for almost two weeks?”

“… Yeah…” the man answered Norm’s question carefully.

Norm raised an eyebrow at Marigold. Almost two weeks. Not inside the Brotherhood anymore, but wandering the region. Maybe he knew something, at least from before the attack. God. He hopped so.

Marigold just nodded, gun tip to the ground.

“Not yet, Brotherhood.” The man groaned, hands lowering. “We need some information, but here’s too open. You walk ahead.”

“Fuck. Promise not to shoot or kill me?”

“If you don’t attack us or give me reason to think you know the owner of the footprints, then sure.” Marigold shrugged, the man’s shoulder’s slumping.

“Can I at least get my radio?”

Marigold grinned, extra trouble, and Norm snickered.

“Yes, but please turn it off. We heard it before we saw you, Brotherhood.”

The man’s ears burned red as he leaned down.

“It’s Thaddeus.” He grumbled and started walking, radio off.

---------

Thaddeus walked ahead of them, in silence, and Marigold kept her rifle pointed in his general direction.

Despite the warming of the day, her clothes almost dry, the footprints were still easy to follow. Marigold could clearly see how different from Thaddeus’ they were: the former Brotherhood also had heavy steps, weight evenly spread in the footprints. Someone used to carry heavy loads. Former Squire, she bet.

Then the house appeared, and the footprints went directly to the closed door.

If not for the radio, Marigold would doubt Thaddeus’ allegations of “didn’t see or hear”. And if it was James, and he had been the one to disappear probably thanks to a stealth-boy, then even without the radio.

He had managed to approach the terminal and put the holotape in the ranch without raising any alarm, after all.

She pulled Thaddeus by the neck of his jumpsuit, noses almost touching, making sure to show her teeth like a wild animal.

“You stay silent and quiet and don’t fucking run. If it’s who I think, you’re lucky he didn’t cut your neck.” She whispered, and Thaddeus nodded fervently.

Marigold let him go and he stumbled as his feet touched the ground again.

The perks of being so tall.

Norm was waiting her, and they slowly approached. There were sounds from inside, but the metal and concrete muffled it all enough that she couldn’t say what was causing it.

The door was closed, and Norm approached the terminal, fingers dancing over the keys. He mouthed “locked” and she carefully put her ear to the metal, noticing Thaddeus approaching carefully, hands twisting around each other.

A voice, amidst breaking glass… Slowly the voice became more recognizable as of fucking course James, and she mouthed it. Norm winced.

Then the words became easier to get and… Bloodbugs flying around? What?

Then she remembered the poisoned food and James penchant for eating other’s food, and she grinned, big.

She mouthed “Heart-Crasher”, slowly retreating, and Norm shook his head with a wry smile. Good choice of his, leaving it behind.

Marigold landed the rifle in the table carefully, then did the same with her backpack and bag-belt, Norm looking at her curiously.

She could still remember the razor touching Norm’s neck, the fear that James would say to Nip-Nip that they better kill Norm. The coward had run away and insisted on going after them. She wasn’t letting the poison do all the work. Besides, Heart-Crasher could take a fucking long time to kill sometimes.

Her Ma’s knife in one hand, the drop-point one in the other, then she mouthed at Norm to unlock the door.

Norm looked at her, frowning, then pulled her closest hand and kissed her knuckles. He mouthed something against her skin, and she couldn’t say what exactly. Norm’s eyes watery, he let go and turned to the terminal once more.

#norm maclean #norm maclean x oc #fallout prime #fallout series #fallout #I finished writing #there will be 34 chapters total #just need to keep editing and fine tuning it all #before posting each one

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skydoit · 2 years ago

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Paris Art History May Term: Final Exam Reflection

Group members: Skylar DeWitt, Rachel Douma, Lauren Carpenter, and Bryn Couturier

Temple of Sibyl (19e)

As our first stop on our scavenger hunt final, this beautiful park and monument was a great way to start! At first glance, we were all stunned by the beauty of the temple sitting atop its rocky outlook. Upon further inspection, we discussed questions such as whether or not the rock formations were natural, and when the monument was made. After doing some research I was able to find out that the rock formations it sits on are actually man-made, and that the temple itself was designed and completed by the architect Gabriel Davioud in the late 19th century. Witnessing it today we were able to observe Parisians engaging in a multitude of Saturday leisure activities from walking their adorable dogs to exercising along the water’s edge. Even though the two walking bridges to access the island were closed, this was an amazing stop to relax and take in the nature-filled space that seemingly transports you away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Passerelle Richerand pedestrian bridge (10e)

When walking up to this cast iron walking bridge, we noted the beauty of the view of the canal from the top. Now decorated with an assortment of what could be argued as graffiti or street art, this bridge stands as a reminder of the canal itself. Build in the early 19th century by Napoleon I, this canal was one of the first planned waterways to bring drinking water to the city of Paris. Now still connected to the seine river through ports, this calm river is a popular spot for a shady river walk or view of the neighborhood.

The foundation of the Bastille in the Bastille Metro Station (11e)

Upon stopping at the Bastille Metro Station, we found ourselves face-to-face with a moment of preserved history! History is not something I have found myself expecting to find when scanning my Navi-go and entering the Paris metro station, but this example of a memorable historic site changed my expectations entirely. Discovered during the expansion of line 5 on December 17th, 1906. As we saw in the Bastille station on line 5, it has since been marked off and preserved within the new Metro addition. Marked not only by its historic stone appearance and protective glass covering, the city of Paris has added plaques and information signs to help inform anyone from the daily passerby or visiting tourists of its history and importance. Having learned about the extensive, and at some points, destructive history of the Bastille, we all found it amazing to witness the original foundation and wonder about its distance below modern-day ground.

https://www.travelfranceonline.com/bastille-metro-station-platforms-murals/#:~:text=Bastille%20Metro%20station%20was%20inaugurated,order%20to%20highlight%20its%20layout.

La Madeleine (8e)

Travelling to the 8th Arrondissement, we stopped at the Église de la Madeleine, or, La Madeleine. With construction beginning under King Louis XV, La Madeleine bears the traditional features of a Greek temple, like a frieze and a columned entrance, distinguishing itself from the surrounding Haussmann buildings. With 52 Corinthian-style columns lining the building and the frieze depicting the Last Judgement, overlooking the city, the Madeleine is best known for its sheer size and unique, neoclassical style. Today, the Madeleine still serves as a Catholic parish church, as was orignially intended, and is the focal point of Rue Royal; however, due to construction, we were unable to get a full view of the front of the building. Currently, scaffolding covers large swaths of the columns, and the stairs are largely blocked off to pedestrians. Because of this construction, we unfortunately could not take in the full splendor of the Madeleine, but we were still able to enjoy the frieze and the columned side view of the building, and note how the art and architecture periods we have studied parallel each other.

“Église de La Madeleine - Paris Tourist Office.” Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau. https://en.parisinfo.com/paris-museum-monument/71158/Eglise-de-la-Madeleine

“Eglise de la Madeleine Visitor Guide.” France This Way. https://www.francethisway.com/paris/eglise-de-la-madeleine.php

Century-old rats in the window of Julien Aurouze and Co. (1er)

Julien Aurouze and Co. showcases a surprising collection in its storefront windows… From a distance, the shop appears charming with its painted green exterior. Yet, upon closer inspection, our group discovered the macabre sight of rat carcasses hanging inside. Although we found it disturbing, we were captivated by the remarkable preservation of these bodies spanning a hundred years. Upon research into the history of Julien Aurouze and Co., we found that it has served as a pest control shop since the 19th century (Mishmash, 2016) Fun fact: it has even been included in the Pixar movie ratatouille! While it wouldn’t be #1 on our list of places to visit in Paris, it was quite an interesting site to see.

Citation:

Mishmash, U. (2016, August 1). Unusual Shop Fronts: Julien Aurouze & Co., Paris | Urban Mishmash. Urban Mishmash | Paris. https://www.urbanmishmash.com/paris/city-guide/shops/julien-aurouze-co-unusual-shop-front/

Street sign on rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1er)

In the first arrondissement is the rather unassuming street “Jean-Jacques Rousseau.” The street was named after the philosopher, writer, and musician Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778). Rousseau lived on this street during the height of the enlightenment who believed that human beings are inherently good and only become bad when corrupted by society. Therefore, he believed that society should function based on the general will of the people and thus led to Rousseau being one of the first to argue for the sovereignty of the people. Rousseau’s philosophy was instrumental in the development of ideas that would culminate in the 1789 revolution and continue to influence French politics to the present day. The apartment where Rousseau lived with his wife still stands on Rue Jean-Jaques Rousseau and serves as a reminder to the ideas that freed the French from the monarchy and allowed them to develop a government that supports its people above all else.

Citations:

“Jean-Jacques Rousseau.” Wikipedia, May 13, 2023. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau.

“Rue Jean-Jacques-Rousseau (Paris).” Wikipedia, April 9, 2023. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rue_Jean-Jacques-Rousseau_(Paris).

Grave of Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvior in Montparnasse Cemetery (6e)

In the Montparnasse Cemetery lies the grave of Simone de Beauvoir and her life partner Jean-Paul Sarte. Simone de Beauvoir was a French existentialist philosopher and writer who was instrumental in the early feminist movement in France. Her partner Jean-Paul Sartre was also a philosopher and the pair both read and influenced each other's works. Beauvoir and Sartre never married or had children but remained life-partners until his death in 1950. Sarte’s existentialist philosophy helped shape both academic and public thought during the 1900’s and 50,000 people visited his grave after his death. Simone de Beauvoir’s work was fundamental in the progression of feminist thought. Both Beauvoir and Sartre influenced philosophical thought both throughout France and in the rest of the world.

Citations:

“Jean-Paul Sartre.” Wikipedia, May 24, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Paul_Sartre#Career_as_public_intellectual.

“Simone de Beauvoir.” Wikipedia, May 25, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_de_Beauvoir.

The ruins of the Roman baths at the Musée de Cluny (5e)

In the 5th Arrondissement of Paris, large Roman ruins seem out of place, yet, the Haussmann buildings and tall trees surround the expansive remains of a Roman bathouse. Now a part of the Musee de Cluny, these first or second century ruins span 6000 square meters and are what is left of an ancient frigidarium, the cold room of a bathouse. With tall ceilings visible from the street, but the “ground level” now being underground, these ruins are a unique Parisian landmark. As some of us had all already visited the Musee de Cluny earlier this week, we appreciated the opportunity to view the ruins from the exterior, something we did not do upon our first visit. We noted how, from the street, the ruins do not look as expansive as they are from the inside, and remarked how different and unassuming the exterior looks. On the street surrounding the Cluny, a market was bustling. Booths lined the sidewalks, selling normal market goods in a spread out setting; we wanted to stop at a macaron booth that we stopped at on our first visit to the Cluny, but had to rush to our next location.

“The Ancient Thermal Baths.” Musée de Cluny: Le Monde Médiéval. https://www.musee-moyenage.fr/en/site/the-ancient-thermae.html

The exterior facade of St-Étienne-duMont church (5e)

As we approached St-Étienne-du-Mont church, our group was greeted with a delightful surprise – the captivating beauty of the cathedral. Positioned in the heart of Place Sainte-Geneviève, it exudes an imposing grandeur that dominates the surrounding area. Numerous individuals were scattered about, amidst the presence of rectangular stones placed around the vicinity. The architectural design seamlessly blends gothic and renaissance influences, featuring a stunning gothic rose window and flying buttresses. Although we regretted not having the opportunity to explore its interior, the sheer loveliness of the exterior was a sight to behold.

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