#also river turns 3 in two-ish weeks ????

[cruelsmmr]

soon to be mama of two 

[jwood719]

On America’s Roads and Highways

“Stay on target!  Stay on target!”

Taking a moment to stretch; the blur is from my movement, the motorcyclist wasn’t really going anywhere.

“...stay on target...”

I-70 as car park: can we stack your traffic for you?

Heading back to West Virginia in July, I thought I’d take the chance and run through the road construction on I-70 east of Indianapolis -- and it turned out to be the grind promised by highway department signs: “heavy traffic - expect delays,” as seen above.  Narrowing down to one lane in each direction, the traffic did not “zipper” together, but instead jammed up and jockeyed way too much, which slowed everyone down, or brought us to a dead stop a few times.

Much easier driving was had elsewhere:

The two shots above are of Interstate 77, which runs north-south in western West Virginia.  Away from Charleston, the traffic was pretty light, which I appreciated as long as it lasted.  The hazy skies these were shot under are because of the wildfires.  Smoke from Canada as well as some from the western U.S. was bent by the prevailing winds southeast across the Mid-Western states toward the South and Mid-Atlantic, the very high, thin layer hanging pale where there should have been blue sky.

U.S. 35 in Ohio, angling north-west to south-east, is over much of its length built to the standards of the interstates, though the three times I’ve been over it there was far less traffic -- at least once beyond the Dayton area.  As seen below, the 4-lane appears like the early interstates must have looked once upon a time -- like in 1963:

In West Virginia, the Robert Byrd Highway System was also built to interstate standards, while keeping the (mostly) unrestricted access.  U.S. 50 between Clarksburg and Parkersburg shows this:

If I didn’t know better I’d think it was a shot I’d taken from I-70 in eastern Ohio.

Where the interstates don’t go, or where Senator Byrd’s highways weren’t built, there were the smaller highways, like U.S. 60 in the Kanawha River valley east of Charleston:

Like the rail roads before them, many improved roads in the eastern mountains follow the river valleys -- it’s just easier building that way.  Where the roads can’t follow a flowing stream, the option is to follow the contours of the hills themselves, as below:

on West Virginia 66 west of Cass.  I don’t have photos of the really twisty-turny hairpin turns ‘cause I was, like, steering n’shit.  But many miles of up up up, down down down, left right left right left right were had touring through the central part of the state -- and those roads were improved by a great deal beyond the dirt tracks that they would have been before road improvement became a serious matter.

This image typical country road near Charleston in 1921 shows the condition of most roads in the U.S. prior to the 1950s. [1]  Or, depicting some twisty-turny as well as some improvement -- it looks like it’s been macadamized and there are guard rails! -- is this shot of the National Pike near Hancock, Maryland, in 1922: [2]

Road improvement, even if it was only macadam and wooden rails, kinda’ started in the East and worked West.  Trips, even by automobile, let alone with horses, much less by foot, were measured in days or weeks, not hours.  I was able to make the run from western West Virginia back to north-central Indiana in less than 10 hours (allowing for one long-ish stop and road construction -- it is Orange Cone Season) rather than the week it might have taken in decades past.  If y’wanted to go somewhere, you’d a took a train!

While improved over its condition of early travel, the Fayette Station Road in the New River Gorge is still narrow, twisty, and is today one-way over much of its length:

Descending from Lansing on the north, to the bottom of the valley, then back up again near Fayetteville on the south side of the gorge, the road still allows tourists access to what had been (until 1977) the only local road bridge over the New River:

With the opening of the New River Gorge Bridge (I suppose I might term it “the World Famous...”) travel time over the river was reduced from 45+ minutes to less than a minute.

Looking east from the New River Gorge Bridge: hard to know what you’re lookin’ at.

Fayette Station Road circa 1920: narrow, twisty and dirt. [3]  If you met someone going the other way, one or the other of you would have to dare the edge, or back up to a wider spot to pass.

The new New River bridge from the old one.  At 3,000+ feet the new bridge is not quite a mile long, but appears to the driver like most other bridges; the first time I passed over it, I didn’t even realize that I was traversing a famous bridge -- you really can’t tell it’s anything at 65 MPH.  But it is “up there:” according to an NPS placard, “Two Statues of Liberty and one Washington Monument can fit under the arch with twenty feet to spare.” [4]

The second time I drove over it, I did know what I was driving on (”Oh, hey it’s The Bridge!”) and made like a tourist to stop and take photos:

like y’do.

Photos: R. Jake Wood, 2021 except

[1 and 2] Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog:

[1] “Country view near Charleston, W.Va.” by Lewis Wickes Hine, 1921.

[2] “National Pike, west side of Sideling Hill Mountain, near Hancock, Maryland” by J.E. Feltner, 1922.

[3] National Park Service website, as shown on the Fayette Station Road Audio Tour page.

[4] National Park Service on-site placard graphic near New River Gorge Bridge, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve (photo by R. Jake Wood).

Of note is that the federal New River Gorge area was re-designated as a National Park and Preserve by act of Congress in December of 2020, something the gov’ment got right!

Looking west from the New River Gorge Bridge: worse than lookin’ east.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Heya Steph! I was wondering, you have so many fic rec lists and read so many, do you have on or a few johnlock fics you could always reread? Like, they are that good you can read them over and over...

Hi Lovely!!

AHHHHHH ACTUALLY, I’ve made a list for this before, but you know what? IT NEEDS A PART TWO because I actually pulled a lot of fics off of it to keep it shorter, so WHEE THANK YOU for giving me a reason to share even more of the fics I ALWAYS go back and never tire of!!

TOP 30 READ AGAIN FICS Pt 2

See also:

Top 30 Read-Again Fics (March 2019)

Top 20 Fave 40K+ w. Fics (April 2017)

Ten Fave Short Johnlock Fics (Easy Reads April 2018)

25 Fave Johnlock One Shots (April 2018)

Top 10 Fave Fics (September 2018)

Another Top 10 Fave Fics (June 2019)

Two To Tango (The Cold Hands, Warm Heart Remix) by igrockspock (T, 1,207 w., 1 Ch. || Domestics, John Whump, Worried Sherlock) – When John is wounded while pursuing a suspect, Sherlock refuses to leave his side.

Take My Hand, Knot Your Fingers Through Mine by patster223 (K+, 2,003 w., 1 Ch. || H/C & Friendship, Whump) - "I know this is an inconvenience for you, but I would really rather you were awake right now, John." John is unconscious, and Sherlock decides to talk to him anyway. Sherlock/John pre-slash.

Let Go by thisisforyou (G, 2,743 w., 1 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, First Kiss, Fluff, Anxious / Worried Sherlock) – In the end, separating John's things from Sherlock's in the chaos of their sitting room is like pulling a limpet from a wet rock. Especially when the rock is clinging on for dear life, because Sherlock doesn't want to let go. Short, fluffy h/c Johnlock oneshot.

And as the seasons change, I love you more by Teatrolley (NR, 3,219 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff and Angst, Est. Rel., Marriage / Proposal) – A year in the lives of John and Sherlock, essentially.

Measuring Damage With the Fujita Scale by teahigh (T, 3,548 w., 1 Ch. || First Kiss / Time, Vacation / Holidays, Friends to Lovers, Bed-Sharing, Pining Sherlock, Sherlock POV, Angsty Fluff, Scars, Awkward Talks) – John goes back into town, into the storm, and Sherlock realises he forgot to say, “I just want to be alone with you.”

Last Christmas by Mazarin221b (T, 3,911 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Pining Sherlock, First Kiss) – That Earth-shaking revelation, then, leads to a problem, and one that Sherlock realizes should be solved quickly, before John’s dates turn into girlfriends or boyfriends, because sometimes girlfriends or boyfriends can turn into wives or husbands while your back is turned. Every time John hums happily at the mirror as he shaves, splashes on a little gift cologne Mrs. Hudson bought him for Christmas, Sherlock is drawn back to that night by the fire, and the way John’s touch had made the world stand still.

Because Blah Blah Blah Happy by cwb (E, 4,578 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Cuddles, Kissing, First Kiss, Requited Love, Pining Sherlock) – John is entirely done with the milk situation and gives Sherlock a list of shit he's pissed about. Sherlock sets out to make John happy. John is happy. Sherlock makes his own list. They are both very, very happy.

In Which "John" Becomes a Synonym for "Help" by asignoftwo (T, 7,391 w., 1 Ch. || Injured John, Worried Sherlock, Fluff) –  After the fall Sherlock returns to Baker Street and is reunited with John. When John is injured on a case Sherlock is faced with the reality that he could lose John again, and it tears him apart.

I'm Pretty Sure This Changes Shit by cwb (E, 7,672 w., 1 Ch. || Fluff, Cudding, Doctor/Patient, Accidents, Pining Sherlock, Blow Jobs, Oral / Anal, BAMF John, Minor Injuries, Dev. Rel.) – Sherlock finds increasingly ridiculous ways to get John to patch him up after hurting himself.

I can’t pretend by Salambo06 (E, 7,692 w., 1 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Victor Trevor, Jealous John, Miscommunications, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Anal, BJs) – They had arrived more than a hour ago, and the moment they had walked inside the hotel reception, John had understood why Sherlock hadn’t wanted to come. Two men, posh suits and expensive watches on their wrists, had come to greet them with sharp remarks and badly hidden mockery, and John had seen red. Sherlock hadn’t said anything, mostly ignoring the two men entirely, and without thinking twice about it, John had slid an arm around Sherlock’s waist and introduced himself as his husband.

Sibling Rivalry Or Fighting Over John Watson By Jessa7 (T, 8,085 w., 1 Ch. || Romance / Humour) – Mycroft is just as much of a genius as Sherlock is. He keeps randomly kidnapping John for chats, and the locations get better. Cue Sherlock’s younger sibling complex rearing up and jealousy ensues.

High Tide by stardust_made (T, 8,540 w., 1 Ch. || Jealousy, Angst, First Kiss) – A little favour Sherlock stupidly agrees to do for Mycroft leads to John meeting a handsome, affluent man, who is going out of his way to woo him. Sherlock struggles with the situation and with his own reactions to it. Part 1 of The High Tide Series

The Newlywed Game: Johnlock Edition by patternofdefiance (E, 9,020 w., 7 Ch. || Fake Rel., Friends to Lovers, Humour, Romance, Smut) – What it says on the tin: John and Sherlock pretend to be married in order to be contestants in a Newlywed Game. Of course it's for a case. Of course it doesn't stay that way. Part 8 of I Blame Tumblr

The Devil You Know by PipMer (T, 9,300 w., 1 Ch. || Friends to Lovers, Romance, Holmes Brothers, Jealous Sherlock) – The Holmes brothers are behaving oddly. John is dazed and confused. In other words, it's business as usual at 221B Baker Street. Except when it’s not.

Drive by lifeonmars (M, 9,537 w., 1 Ch. || Virginity, Awkward First Times, Minor Injuries) – John and Sherlock are stranded by the roadside, and John is injured. They need to spend the night in the back of a humvee. Sherlock is confused. John is understanding.

Their Great Reward by BeautifulFiction (T, 10,095 w., 1 Ch. || UST, First Kiss, Fluff) – Boxing day, in John's opinions, is the worst day of the year. Christmas is over, the tree is wilting and stripped of gifts, and there's a week of dead-time until the clean slate of the new year. However the combination of a blizzard, a power-cut and Sherlock might just make it a day to remember.

I Used to Live Alone Before I Knew You by etothepii (T, 11,052 w., 1 Ch. || Winglock || Angels / Demons, Supernatural Elements, Occult) – Where Mycroft is an angel, Sherlock is a demon, and John is still John.

The River Variations by withoutawish (T, 11,619 w., 1 Ch. || Soulmates, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Three Garridebs, Romance, Light Case Fic, Near Death Experience, Angst and Fluff, Dark Humour) – John Watson never knew that he wanted a ‘no toast in the mornings’ normal until he realized what an honor it is to be destroyed by Sherlock Holmes.

Pleasure to Burn by scullyseviltwin (E, 17,863 w., 1 Ch. || Firefighter AU, Firefighter John / Arson Investigator Sherlock, Slow Burn, Pining, Case Fic-ish) – “If you’d kindly stop knocking about in there and destroying all of my evidence, it would be most appreciated!” John groaned and for a moment rested his head against the side of the truck. Of course he was the only captain left on the scene, which meant he would have to be the one to deal with the arson investigator.

Checkmate to a Castled King by LaSuen (T, 18,290 w., 1 Ch. || Friendship, Hurt / Comfort, Sick Sherlock, Rev. Reich.) - John dies. Or at least everyone thinks he does.

Vena Cava by SilentAuror (E, 27,452 w., 1 Ch. || HLV Fix-It, Romance, H/C, Angst, Infidelity) – Sherlock has been shot in the chest; John has been shot in the heart. Though everything is broken, they do their best to heal the wounds that Mary left on them both.

Our Enthusiasms Which Cannot Always Be Explained by withoutawish (M, 32,961 w., 1 Ch. || Christmas, Fluff and Angst, H/C, Post-TRF, Case Fic, Mild Gore, Sherlock Whump) – The list that is tacked haphazardly on the refrigerator of 221B reads, ‘Kidney(s), and/or a full cadaver (preferably male, late 30s, under six feet tall), bag of fresh toes, sixteen cow’s eyes (corneas retained), dual exhaust hand –held flame thrower, an unopened first edition copy of Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness', and no less than ten abhorrently gruesome murders in the upcoming month.” The one neatly hanging next to it simply reads, “Sex.” One of these lists is not John Watson’s. If John Watson were to put what he really wanted in list form, to live in a land somewhere beyond ‘almosts' now that Sherlock Holmes has indeed returned to him, he would never be able to look his flatmate in the eye ever again.

That Partitioning of the Things of Youth by wearitcounts (E, 35,353 w., 7 Ch. || Humour and Angst, Post-TRF, Fake Relationship, UST / RST, Friends to Lovers, Jealous John) – Victor Trevor is in town, and nobody's happy.

The Boy Who Drank Stars by kinklock (E, 36,157 w., 4 Ch. || Howl’s Moving Castle AU || Witches and Wizards, Slow Burn, Magic, Jealous John, Happy Ending, Bed Sharing) – “I’m looking for a castle,” John informed the scarecrow. “A moving one.”Except that, as it turned out, it was not a moving one at all.

A Week is Just Seven Days Isn't It? by scifigrl47 (T, 39,906 w., 4 Ch. || Humour, Friendship/Bromance, Stroppy/Bored Sherlock, Undercover/Army John, Texting, Pining-ish Sherlock, John Whump) – When John heads overseas for a week, Sherlock's forced to fend for himself. It goes about as well as anyone could have anticipated. Which is to say, very, very poorly. Don't worry, things'll be fine in just seven days.

There's Someone On Your Shoulder by halloa_what_is_this (NR, 41,215 w., 6 Ch. || Pining Sherlock, Introspection, Daydreams, Sherlock Loves John So Much it Hurts) – Sherlock trips and falls head over heels in love, makes a lot of lists and stares, stares, stares.

The Norwood Love Builders by flawedamythyst (T, 47,798 w., 9 Ch. || Fake Relationship, Slow Burn, Post TRF Angst) – Sherlock and John go undercover to solve the murder of Joanna Oldacre, but things are complicated by the many feelings John has been repressing in the wake of Sherlock's faked death and return.

The Green Blade by verityburns (T, 72,929 w., 15 Ch. || Casefic, Bromance) – As a serial killer hits the headlines, the police are out of their depth and the next victim is out of time. With faith in Sherlock Holmes at an all time low, this is a case which will push loyalties to the limit...

Breakable by MissDavis (E, 117,627 w., 34 Ch. || Established, Fluff/Angst, Depression, Paralysis, Happy-ish Ending) –After John is seriously injured, Sherlock struggles to figure out how to help him, keep himself sane, and maybe, just maybe, get their life back to the way it's supposed to be. Part 1 of Breakable Not Broken

A Further Sea by i_ship_an_armada & ShinySherlock (E, 125,492 w., 23 Ch. || Historical Pirates AU || Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Doctor John / Pirate Captain Sherlock, Sailing, UST / RST, Masturbation, Action / Adventure, Mild Angst & Peril, Romance, Shaving, Molly/Janine, Bottomlock, Hand / Blow Jobs, Past Drug Use, Slow Burn, Mild Violence, Facial Shaving, Happy Ending) – Here be a tale of adventure for both body and soul, but beware if ye be not of stout heart, for this be piratelock, ya savvy? Luckless ship's surgeon John Watson takes a chance, and finds himself eye to eye with The Ghost, the scourge of the seven seas and a definite thorn in the side of the blaggard, James Moriarty. But when John finds there's more to this most cunning pirate than be meetin' the eye, he has to choose... is it a pirate's life for him?

[thecandywrites]

Of Heaven and Fire Part 6

Ok, let me introduce the family. Starting from the upper right corner moving from left to right. Mom- Mallora, Dad- Rhen, King Tehnore with his queen Kahlika right under him. to the left of her is the room under the throne where Mallorah pleads for her daughter’s life. The castle in the clouds they live in to the left of that. Second-ish row under Mallorah, Mallorah’s mom Viv, to the right of grandma is grandma siren. and then to the right of that is of course a close up of our girl Yana and right under her is her little balcony on the ship, (isn’t it cute?!) now, bottom row, Yana reaching orgasm, Yana, Brock (Cugas looks just like him but with different tattoos) and of course the ship. 

Now, lets see how this all starts to come together just as things can start to unravel. I couldn’t help but think of that Beetles song- Come Together, particularly the chorus “Come together- right now- over me.” Me being Benyana.

tagging @probablyclever​ @funmadnessandbadassvikings​ and @imherefortheforthefanart​  

In case you missed it Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Meanwhile 12 hours earlier- 

Your friends and family were now searching for you in every orc clan they came across, spending all the gold they could turn on fire hawks that the orcs managed to catch and upon inspection, all of them didn’t turn out to be you and none of the orc clans knew of the clan who had attacked but were eager to set up trade with Suchi for furs and game and pledge their enmity with the clan who did. 

“Any luck?” Your mother asked as your siblings returned with even more furs and added them to the heap in the living room before they crashed on the furniture and each other. 

“None, no one knows anything. The only clans we haven’t asked are the ones by the sea which there are dozens more, there’s more clans than colonies, each clan is chalk full of huge, just huge- badass warriors who could snap us in half with a snap of their fingers. But talking to the others, the ones by the sea have no reason to attack because they have their hands full just fishing and defending territory, especially fishing grounds. The biggest one is The Hurricane Breaker Clan, they’re the biggest and fiercest and even the orcs at the bottom of the mountain fear them and their fishing grounds are the best fishing grounds, leaving the weakest one to fish over water dragons that ice their boats and fish so that they have to wait for it all to thaw out before they can eat any of it. But the Hurricane Breaker Clan is at the mouth of the river that feeds the other side of the mountain range but have no actual dealings with the moura themselves and it makes absolutely no sense for any of them to attack.” Your brother Kaive explained as he ran his fingers though his hair, dragging his nails against his scalp, feeling even more frustrated. 

“If a clan by the sea are keeping her, I think I may have some luck trying to contact my mother and the rest of my family, see if they can help.” Your father Rhen told your mother Mallorah. 

“I think I’ll have better luck contacting mine.” Mallorah murmured as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth before Elder TriKeng knocked on the door as your little sister Peridelli answered the door. 

“Grandpa!” She greeted happily before he came in and picked her up and kissed her cheek as he hugged her. 

“Oh you’re getting so big!” He praised before he came into the rest of the house. 

“Any luck?” He asked as everyone shook their heads. 

“Well, I have a little bit of good news, the elven Lord Ralitar has agreed to join in the search and I requested an audience with the fae Prince Matae, who has also agreed to search, since they can go through the realms the easiest and the quickest.” TriKeng revealed, keeping his tone even and hopeful.  

“What did Prince Matae ask for in exchange?” Rhen asked warily. 

“A chance to court her once she’s found, a noble moura with siren in her, even if it isn’t active- it caught his interest and the chance to play the hero would be a legend told for generations.” TriKeng disclosed as your family all rolled their eyes in annoyance. 

“Even if that nobility is based on nothing?” Your mother Mallorah pointed out. 

“It isn’t nothing, you have my nobility. Benyana is still the granddaughter of a Haute Cour, even if she is the granddaughter of an adopted daughter. That’s still plenty good enough.” TriKeng countered gently as he sat next to her on the sofa and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she leaned into him.  

“I have also been to see the Seer. And he informs me that she is under a powerful curse- a hex really, she is tethered to an orc but the tether makes her hard to find and the one who’s she’s tethered to is protected because of the curse, but that she is well, she is being well fed and cared for and is not being abused and that no harm has come to her yet. So whoever has her is at least caring for her well, besides enslaving her. She is not being used to turn gold, but she is healing those around her on her terms, not theirs. So she has some autonomy and while she is kept against her will, she is not being used against it.” He revealed as everyone blew out a breath of relief.

“So she lives.” Your brother Ralitar concluded. 

“Yes, very much so, she is fighting for her freedom and the Seer says that one who is like a brother to the one who captured her is fighting for her freedom too and his own empathy and sympathy has reached out and attached to her and if seeing her fly free is the last thing he’ll do then so be it. The Seer also said that he has placed a protection on her shortly after she was taken, that all who see her- will love her and want what’s best for her. And it’s working. All who see her adore her and she endears herself to those who see her but those who see her aren’t anyone we know. I have asked every merchant that I know of that I will handsomely reward anyone who comes forward with information as to her whereabouts. And so far no one has come forward with good information. They have even brought girls with their hair bleached to look blonde to the gate but they’re all fake and the information is conflicting and so far all their claims have turned out to be false once they’ve all been thoroughly investigated.” TriKeng informed them. 

“Well at least she’s well and at least she’s not abused.” Rhen nodded. 

“We we were just talking about what we should do, I feel I should go to my mother and at least ask if any of them will help.” Mallorah admitted. 

“You must do what you feel is best.” TriKeng advised. 

“Thank you for all that you have done.” Rhen thanked TriKeng graciously. 

“I will take your thanks only upon Benyana’s safe return.” TriKeng smiled sadly. 

“Well I must go. I will leave you in peace, you all have my blessing and sympathy.” TriKeng offered before he got up and hugged everyone before he took his leave. 

“If I don’t go, I’m going to go insane,” Mallorah announced once TriKeng left. 

“Then go, Kaive, Yaviane, you’re in charge while we’re gone, I’ll go to my mother and see if I can get in touch with my mother and she should help if she’s in a clan by the sea.” Rhen announced. 

“Ok,” Kaive nodded. 

It took your mother putting your baby sister in a special sling before she left and flew through winds as the strom was still out to sea but blowing at her and it took quite a bit to actually get there but she found her mother among the others who were sitting by talking as the young ones flew in the cyclone. 

“Mallorah! What are you doing here dear? Oh how old you look!” Her mother Vivialra asked when she noticed Mallorah as she came and embraced her as she looked at her worriedly, looking for any bruising marks or wounds. 

“I need to talk to you privately.” Your mother pleaded desperately. 

“Of course, of course.” Vivialra agreed before she walked over to a cloud and made a small room for them.

“What’s wrong?” Vivialra asked worriedly before your mother broke down and started sobbing before Viv made couches for them. 

“Remember a couple of weeks ago when the colony took refuge in the clouds?” Mallorah instigated. 

“Yes, did those monsters destroy your home?” Viv asked. 

“They broke it.” Mallora wept. 

“They took Benyana, they’re keeping her prisoner, but we don’t know where they are or what clan took her, only the Seer was able to deduce that much, but mother she’s a slave! They enslaved her!” Mallorah wailed as Viv gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. 

“No!” Viv cried out, feeling the pain in her core before she put her arms around her daughter and held her tight as Mallorah sobbed into her mother’s shoulder.  

“How can I help?” Viv asked. 

“We need to find her! She has a curse on her and we just can’t find her, the colony was attacked by orcs and that’s who captured her but there’s so many clans and all the clans we’ve gone to don’t have her and we’ve been looking for her ever since she was taken about two weeks ago but we can’t find her anywhere, TriKeng was able to convince a fae prince to look for her in his realm and the other realms that we can’t get to.” Mallorah explained. 

“Wait she was captured by an orc?! Those are the worst! No, absolutely not. This will not stand! Why didn’t you come to me sooner?” Viv asked. 

“I didn’t think I would get any help.” Mallorah answered truthfully. 

“Well, your siblings might not be induced to help or your father but I will and I will ask all who I can to help, come, we need to talk to someone else.” Viv urged as she took your mother’s hand and left the room before she marched over to the king who was on his throne watching his own children and grandchildren fly in the cyclone. 

“My King, a private word, please.” Viv requested before the king looked over and looked at your mother before a confused frown crossed his features as he got up and walked over to them before he ushered them to the private room under his throne. 

“What’s the matter?” He asked. 

“Your majesty, I understand that even though I am no longer of your realm, as a desperate mother, please hear my plea.” Mallorah began. 

“About two weeks ago, Suchi was attacked by orcs, my daughter Benyana led the defensive charge against them and turned the tide of the attack. However in the commotion, she was captured and placed under an enslavement curse, a hex so strong she’s invisible to even the Seers. We have searched every orc clan we can and we can’t find her. She was captured as a missile hawk but the Seer has revealed that the hex revealed her true self to her captors.” Mallorah explained as she did her best not to sob but tears still left her eyes. 

“Please, please help me, even if you can only spare one person to help us search, it will help.” Mallora pleaded before the King looked at Viv. 

“Here’s your one.” The King said dismissively as he gestured to Viv who looked angered and appalled. 

“Tehnore! Heaven help me, this is your daughter, your granddaughter who has been captured! By orcs no less! And enslaved! Such a thing hasn’t been done for centuries, possibly millenia! Don’t you think that if word got out that the orcs of all people learned how to enslave mouras that all mouras are not in danger? It would be the dark ages all over again! Every moura heavenly or otherwise would be at risk! Take your head out of your ass long enough and find some decency to help. You have never taken ownership of her because she was drab, she’s not asking you to go out there and announce that she’s yours and she’s not asking for anything other than help getting her own daughter back. You have never lifted your finger for her sake and you have done nothing all her life, for once- do something!” Viv demanded as Mallorah looked at her mother in alarm. 

“You have always claimed that. I let her live didn’t I? Many infant moura have been put to death in their sleep for less offenses.” The King argued as Mallorah clutched your baby sister to her chest even tighter, turning away from the King so as to hide her from his sight. 

“Let’s just go, thank you for your time your Majesty.” Mallorah placated as she grabed her mother’s arm and drug her away. 

“Yes, let’s not keep the gutless King from his festival.” Viv sneered before she left with her daughter as they came out and found an angel standing there, waiting for them. 

“Ramiel.” Viv breathed as she recognized him as a blush came to her cheeks. 

“Viv,” Ramiel greeted, his deep rich voice saying her name with reverence as an adoring smile danced on his features at seeing her again, not having seen her in a quite a while. 

“This is my daughter Mallorah. The most horrible circumstance has befallen her, her daughter Benyana has been captured and enslaved by orcs!” Viv explained as Queen Kahlika overheard it and came over to investigate. 

“Oh no!” Queen Kahlika gasped in horror as she overheard it and came closer to share in the conversation.  

“We came to beseech the king for assistance, but he’s unwilling to give it.” Viv said with a hateful look over her shoulder at the King who left to sit on his throne once again. 

“Of course not, he’s too ashamed of his own true offspring.” Ramiel grinned knowingly as Queen Kahlika looked away guiltily as King Tehnore scowled from his throne. 

“So I really am…?” Mallorah asked. 

“Yes, I can see it plain as the sun. But what you don’t know Mallorah is you are a chimera.” Ramiel explained. 

“What?” Mallorah frowned in confusion. 

“You are my daughter too. It seems you are two beings in one body you are both the offspring of myself and the King, quite a normal occurrence for angels so while the king is technically your father, I am too, forgive me for not making myself known to you sooner, I have had my hands full with the heavenly court and only in the last few weeks, finally retired. I noticed there has been a moura sunning herself on the roof of a house by the sea for the last couple of weeks, trying to gain strength and upon further inspection, I noticed she was wearing a magicked anklet.” He said before he made a scene show in a bubble between all of them that showed you walking through the market with Kari, the chain in your pocket and the cuff on your ankle as you bought spices and foods for her as you treated this little orc girl like you would your own beloved little sisters, doting on her and teaching her to read and write but when Brock came into view, his entire being was blury. 

“She’s so thin.” Mallorah realized but was so relieved as she reached out and touched your face before the bubble popped and disappeared. 

“The magicked anklet is peculiar, it’s been magicked by the strongest shaman I’ve ever encountered especially among the orcs and it keeps me at bay to the point even if I materialize in front of her, she can’t see me or hear me or touch me, nothing in any other realm can. I’ve kept an eye on her and I have done what I can to steer danger away from her and the tether keeps the one she’s tethered to protected. At least from me and my kind. But I have overwhelmed everyone I can around her with guilt. So much so that they can’t sleep or enjoy food or drink and all they can think of is how to free her and are eager to constrew anything negative that happens to the fact that an enslaved moura is in their midst.” Ramiel explained before Viv hugged him tight, thanking him from the bottom of her heart before Mallorah did the same. 

“Can you take me to her?” Mallorah asked. 

“It would be tricky, because right now she’s at the bottom of the ocean, only an hour ago, I was able to help her angel reflex to kick in and me and my brethren were doing our best to pull her to the heavens but the tether resisted it, to the point it would have killed her by cutting her in half from the tether pulling and us pulling in opposite directions. So she did the only thing she could- she had to change into her siren form. She managed to convince her captor to drown her, which he did despite me and my brethren putting abhorrence and panic into everyone around her but it worked. So once she was a siren, I contacted her grandmother and told her of the situation which she immediately responded and was able to rescue her because Benyana changing forms weakened the tether considerably so that the pull is greatly reduced and when and if she changes back to her usual form it will weaken further still, her grandmother is taking care of her in her home and they are catching up as we speak, it wouldn’t surprise me if she meets the rest of her oceanic family by tonight.” He revealed with a proud smile as everyone breathed out a sigh of relief and thanked the gods. 

“Oh good.” Your mother and your grandmother breathed in relief before Queen Kahlika got her children’s attention and had them come over and whispered what was happening to them before Prince Delmal came forward. 

“Excuse me, I understand that your daughter is in some trouble.” He interjected. 

“Yes, she was captured by orcs and is enslaved to one, and we’re working out how to get her home.” Viv answered. 

“I understand that you are a true heir.” Prince Delmal said to Mallorah. 

“I didn't know until just now.” Mallorah answered. 

“I know my father has either killed or banished many of my siblings because they were born drab- a sin he and the others of his generation are ashamed of, but that will be no more shortly.” Prince Delmal said as he wrapped his arm around his mother who became downcast as Viv also became downcast as well as Mallorah looked between them and realized the King had killed his queen’s own children. 

“So what happened?” Prince asked patiently as Mallorah retold what had happened as Prince Delmal became appalled and enraged before he gave a hateful look to his father. 

“Ramiel, I have observed that you’ve come here for the last two weeks, to petition the king to intervene on Benyana’s behalf and he has refused so far hasn’t he?” Delmal instigated before the Queen, Viv and your mother all gasped in horror before they turned to see the King practically pout on his throne. 

“He has,” Ramiel confirmed. 

“The whole time?!” Mallorah exclaimed. 

“Sister, what I can offer you- is that once the festival is over in two days time- I will have at least a legion at your disposal and I know they will make sure Benyana returns home safely. And when I’m made king in just two months, I will right this wrong. For now, this is all I can do.” Prince Delmal generously offered. 

“Thank you so much.” Mallorah thanked her before she tried bowing but Delmal stopped her. 

“Please, you’re family. You are a princess in my book and have a greater claim to the throne than I do. But I sense you are happy in your present life and don’t wish to usurp me.” He laughed which made her smile through her grateful tears. 

“No. Never.” Mallorah shook her head. 

“Then all will be well. I’ll go to our priests, and see what we can do for her from here, make no mistake, I venture she will back back at home by no later than the end of the month, if not by the end of the week.” Delmal offered. 

“Thank you, thank you so much.” She thanked him. 

“Come fly with me once in the cyclone, then return home.” He offered. 

“I have…” Your mother tried to excuse herself as she gestured to the babe at her chest. 

“Please, I swear on my life, I will not harm her, please, let me hold her while you fly.” Queen Kahlika requested as Mallorah looked to her mother. 

“She loves babies. I know she won’t harm her. I’ll keep a close eye on her.” Viv promised with a smile as Mallorah reluctantly took off the sling and handed her baby over to Queen Kahlika who immediately started to coo and hold her carefully before Delmal took Mallorah’s hand and escorted her to the cyclone where they flew together, your mother having forgotten how fun this was, having not flown it in for decades. 

“You’re so precious, I almost don’t want to give you back.” Queen Kahlika cooed to your baby sister Zelina as she bounced and swayed in place. 

“Isn’t she?” Viv agreed as she stood next to the queen as even Ramiel got close to see his youngest granddaughter. 

“I’m going to bless you little one- may you live very well and may you know ease and happiness like the back of your hand and may your beauty surpass all others.” Queen Kahlika blessed Zelina as she kissed her head as Zelina grasped the Queen’s finger and cooed in delight before the Queen gently rubbed her nose with Zelina’s. 

“Oh don’t you love that baby moura smell?” Kahlika cooed to Viv who bent over and smelled Zelina’s hair as she kissed the crown of her head. 

“Yeah,” Viv giggled. 

“She’s so precious.” Kahlika gushed before Mallorah came back, laughing at a joke Delmal had managed to tell her.

“See? Momma’s back, did you have fun?” Queen Kahlika asked. 

“Yes, despite the circumstances.” Mallorah answered as she got her baby back. 

“Thank you for everything.” Mallorah thanked Delmal as she hugged him. 

“You’re welcome, can I hold my niece?” Delmal asked before your mother also passed the baby over to him. 

“Oh I can’t wait until my kids give me some of these, if only they would get married, I don’t suppose Benyana would be interested would she?” He half joked. 

“You’d have to ask her.” Mallorah answered. 

“Fair enough.” Delmal nodded as he kissed her cheeks before Ramiel got a chance to hold her, almost crying and blessing her in his own way. 

“My granddaughter, you are oh so precious, let me escort you back home.” Ramiel offered to Mallorah before he gave Zelina back to her before he flew her home before he revealed to the rest of your family your current circumstances and gave all of them angelic treasures and gifts. 

Meanwhile your father was just now reaching the river at the base of the mountain and jumped in, welcoming the change to this form, not having gone through it in over a decade before he swam as fast as he could through the river leaving a wake after him and scaring the shit out of the fisherman trying to fish in it and after he managed to swim most of the day, he swam out of the mouth of the river before he heard his mother’s voice. 

“Rhen!” She called as she stayed put at the mouth of the over river as he swam up to her. 

“Holy shit you got big!” He marveled before he came and hugged her face the best he could as she laughed. 

“Well I’ve been living deep son, found a great cave and got a pet shark and been eating a lot.” She laughed. 

“I suppose you’re looking for Benyana?” She grinned. 

“Yeah, where is she?” He asked. 

“Oh over at your sister Galinara’s house, she’s meeting the rest of the family, I must say she is the prettiest siren I’ve ever seen in my life and she’s the new favorite, everyone who sees her instantly loves her, I would think even King Salomis would probably take her to be either a queen or his son’s queen if he ever saw her.” She ventured. 

“Mom, she doesn’t…” Rhen tried to counter. 

“I know, I know she doesn’t really belong down here unless she wants to be down here. But she has taken to the sea so well!” She insisted. 

“So what about the curse on her?” He asked. 

“Oh it’s weaker than ever, her changing to a siren weakened it and when she changes back to herself, it’ll weaken still, but don’t you worry about it, I have a plan.” She beamed proudly. 

“Oh?” Rhen raised a curious brow. 

“You see, all these estuaries are laid claim by one group of people or another. This one is controlled by a neighboring orc clan, the clan that took her was the Stormbreaker Clan, this one, this is the Hurricane Breaker Clan. And I made a deal with them- once the fleet of ships that belongs to Stormbreaker- sails back to their harbor over there, after they catch their fish and once this hurricane dies- that Hurricane Breaker will give Stormbreaker an ultimatum, either join their clan, or die and they will personally escort Benyana back home and they’ll even build you and your family a new home, spare no expense because look at all that gold up there.” She urged as he peeked his head out of the water and saw it. All of it true gold, not moura gold. 

“It was more than enough to persuade them. And once she’s home and settled and happy then the bastard that took her and cursed her and tethered her to himself, will be brought back to me and I’ll make sure he will never bother her again.” She grinned. 

“Oh thank goodness, thank you.” He thanked her as he hugged her again. 

“So don’t worry, I’ll make sure she gets home safe and sound and I’ll make sure anyone who would cause any harm to Suchi- will die if they drink the water around it.” She revealed, her grin blooming into a full blown smile. 

“Give it till the end of the week at the latest and she will be back home in your arms. Now I suggest you spy out a good place you want your new home to be.” She urged. 

“I need to see her first.” Rhen insisted. 

“Ok, you can see her but that tether won’t let you get too close.” She informed him as she left her blessing at the bay and left with him and brought him to his sister’s house where he got to see you through the window, holding your little cousins in your arms and talking about home and eating giant clam as he noticed the belt and the chain before the belt and chain started to coil around you and constrict you painfully. 

“Ow,” you flinched as you looked down at the chain before trying to brush it off before your father got further back and it stopped. 

“See? That thing is worse than a guard shark.” his mother noted as burning tears came to Rhen’s eyes.  

“Make the bastard who did that to her pay with his life, I want him to have the worst most painful death.” He growled at his mother. 

“Oh I will.” She grinned smugly before she noticed the gang of boys with treasure in their sacks who hid behind some coral, not sure if it was safe. 

“Come on out boys, meet her father, but he can’t get close to her because that cursed chain hurts her every time he tries.” She explained as they came out. “Bring your gifts, it will please him.” She insisted before they came back out with their sacks of treasures. 

“Sir.” They greeted as they greeted him respectfully and humbly before he talked with them as they showed your father the treasures they picked out for you as your father smiled for the first time in weeks as he appraised it all. 

“Well if she wants to be courted by you, she’s free to do so. She’s not promised to anyone.” He explained as they all got really excited. 

“Obviously she’s my princess, I would expect her to be treated as such.” He urged them. 

“Oh no, not a princess, a goddess! She’s the most magnificent creature we’ve ever seen! I mean look who’s all here, you have siren, selkie and merman alike. Any of us would give anything and do anything for her.” They insisted. 

“Good, for now, protect her and make sure she comes to the river…” 

“That leads to the mountain she came from, we can smell it on you Sir.” They answered. 

“Good.” Rhen smiled proudly. 

“Well, if you’ll excuse me I gotta head home and get ready for her to come home.” He excused himself before he left and once he was out of earshot Rhen’s mother Kyma addressed the boys. 

“Do whatever it takes to woo her. I don’t care who does it, but she’s powerful, I know you can feel it too. Once she’s free from that curse, she’ll have the world come to its knees for her. Even if she has to marry into the royal court- I don’t care. She’ll bring light wherever she goes. Go to my lair, take whatever you think would please her best and I’ll bless you myself so that you can be human and go up the mountain with her and stay human as long as you want and as long as you need to.” She offered as they readily received her blessing before they quickly swam to her lair and filled all their sacks with as much as they could carry before they brought it to a nearby shipwreck, making the wreck the perfect place for a mating ball before they returned to you. 

A few hours later-

You were on a dock, not a dock of the Stormbreaker Clan but a bigger, nicer one and you were standing there with Brock before your grandmother rose from the water, her smile from ear to ear only she looked at Brock the way you would look at a tasty meal before you got between Brock and her, pushing Brock down the dock. 

“Grandma? What are you doing here?” You asked as you kept trying to back up down the dock but she kept moving forward, more and more of her body being revealed from the water and you wondered how she wouldn’t die from being crushed by her own weight. 

“I’m getting you revenge sweetheart.” She answered as she reached out to grab Brock but you pushed Brock out of the way so she couldn’t grab him. 

“No, I have had my own revenge, it’s enough, stop looking at him like you’re gonna eat him!” You argued as you kept going but the dock suddenly got so much longer, impossibly long. 

“But he’s going to be so tasty and that curse will only be lifted if he’s dead.” She argued as she reached for him, her claws ripping the clothes right off of him as he was trying to run away but couldn’t really get any traction. 

“The curse is already lifted grandma! It’s done, it’s over, it’s ok.” You tried to tell her but she kept grabbing at him, her claws leaving huge bloody scratches and gashes down his body, ripping muscle and revealing bone on his body but it was like he was in the water as his blood floated in the air before it was wafting to her face as she breathed it in, her whole body going into predator mode, her eyes blacking out completely, her claws becoming longer, venom dripping from them like a fang off a snake and spikes soon covered her body like armor. 

“No! Please grandma! Don’t, you can’t eat him! Please! I love him!” You yelled before you awoke with a start- disturbing your sleep pile a little before they all seemed to grab you and squeeze you to make sure you were ok before they drifted off to sleep again. Leaving you there with your eyes wide open in the dark, both wanting yet afraid of sleep. But you felt panic in your soul. Like Brock was in danger of being eaten alive and something in you just made you want to save him. 

You managed to slip your way out of the sleeping pile and once you were free, you ignored all the treasure and jewels and made a break for it and swam as fast as you could. 

“Come on, lead me to him.” You pleaded with the chain and belt before they suddenly began to swim in front of you like a snake, cutting the water so that it was easier to swim in and pull you in the right direction as you pushed all that seed that had been stuffed in you out so that you were more streamlined again as you swam as fast as you could, as if a giant shark was chasing you before you found the right ship as you started banging on the doors to the hold, slapping them and scratching at them, screaming at the top of your lungs for them to let you in before you swam down a ways and suddenly swam with all your might and dove down to breach the water’s surface to land at least on your little balcony before you saw Brock poke his head out of his own window before he closed it and rushed into your room and onto your balcony to grab you and pull you into your room before he fought against the gust of wind to shut the doors as you started to cough up water from your lungs as the slits and gills around your chest started to flutter as you gasped for breath. 

“Brock!” You cried before he was down on his knees next to you in an instant after shutting the doors to your balcony so that rain didn’t come in before you pulled him down to the floor and clung to him. 

“You’re ok, you’re ok, you’re safe,” Brock soothed as he laid down on the wet floor and held you tight. “You’ll change back, it’s going to be ok, just stay with me, keep breathing, breathe with me, breathe in and breathe out.” You coached you just like your father had done when you were little as he pressed his forehead to yours and stroked your hair and your back, careful not to actually touch your sensitive gils and despite the only light coming into the room being strikes of lightning and pulsing of yellow on your moura marks on your fins which indicated alarm, you could see the sincerity and worry in his teary eyes and in his tone as he clung to you just as tightly and desperately as you were clinging to him as you felt your body start to dry out as it sprawled out over him as you focused your mind on changing back to a moura and then slowly then all at once you felt yourself changing, the slits on your ribcage closed as the gills transformed into your whole lungs as the tail turned back into legs and the fins retreated to form a night dress, just barely damp. 

“You did it! I’m so proud of you!” Brock praised and that praise was like the most addictive drug to you. 

“Thank you for helping me.” You thanked him before he gingerly got up and carried you to your bed before he tucked you in and then took some rags to mop up the water that was on the floor as exhaustion started to really affect you. 

“Brock.” You whispered tiredly as he was gathering up the soiled towels. 

“What?” Brock immediately answered, looking to you worriedly before he came and got down on his knees next to the bed. 

“Stay.” You requested as you held his hand as he squeezed back reassuringly. 

“Ok,” He agreed before he looked at your couch to see if it was big enough to sleep on. 

“No, stay here,” you argued before you scooted over and pulled the covers down.

“I don’t think…” He began to argue before you sat up and kissed him, your arms wrapping around his neck, all your anger, your resentment and exhaustion- gone in a flash along with your night dress, simply tattoos on your body now as relief that he was safe and that now that you were with him- you could protect him and he’d be ok was all that mattered as you softly opened your mouth to suck on his bottom lip and that seemed to be his breaking point before he eagerly kissed you back, leaning over the side of the bed to pin you down to the bed and kiss you the way he had been dreaming for almost two months. 

“Please, stay,” you pleaded after you broke for air. 

“You’re impossible to say no to, you know that right?” He mock complained which made you smile before he quickly stripped out of his sopping wet clothes and dried off with another towel before he slipped into the bed before he pinned you to the bed again, kissing you deeply and touching you with both reverence and desperation which you found you just loved and adored and this felt so right as he moved down to take your breast into his mouth and suck on it which caused your moura marks to light up brightly and began to pulse again. “Woah,” he breathed in awe as he looked down at you in amazement, feeling unworthy that such a beautiful, amazing and awe inspiring creature would want him, especially like this as you reached down to grab his cock which had since become hard enough to drill through concrete with and stroked it before you guided it to your entrance and coated the head in your essence which made his own head seep with precum before the belt came undone and fell off and it surprised both of you but the smile on his face was brighter than sunshine as he grabbed it and threw it across the room before he got on his knees and picked up your hips and entered you slowly at first before he became fully sheathed, his cock making your lower belly bulge which turned you on even more as you were comfortably stuffed, not overstuffed and not anywhere close to underwhelmed, it was perfect, like his dick was perfect, the perfect size, shape, curve and length and girth, like it was custom made by the gods just for you, the moura marks got even brighter so that the whole room lit up, an iridescent glow draped everything as you managed to cross your ankles behind the small of his back, his narrowest point on his body before his elbows planted on either side of your head so he could hold himself up so he didn’t actually crush you or smother you but you wanted to feel that weight on you, like if he didn’t lay on you, you were going to float away as you pulled him down, kissing him deeply as it suddenly clicked- you had tasted him before- in your dreams, the taste matched and was right, his voice and sounds were the all the right notes and were music to your ears- like hearing your favorite song by your favorite singer instead of a cover of it by someone else. And his natural rhythm he picked up as his hips started to move and snap into yours was just perfect too like your favorite song wasn’t being sped up or slowed down, it was just the way you liked it. 

And like getting to the favorite part of your song, soon his own rhythm sped up and you could hear the sound of his flesh colliding with yours and the sounds of his cock slipping in and out of your pussy mixed in with your labored breathing and his labored breathing and his face twisting into one of tortured bliss as his grunts and moans and keens mixed with your own as his face was now nuzzling with yours as your fingers clawed down his back as he started to lose control, his own tattoos starting to glow and pulse too but it was like he didn’t notice or care as his movements grew rougher and more desperate before it was like lightning struck as your orgasm finally built up enough to snap and flood your body, your back arching off the bed and your chest pushed against his as your moura marks got so bright it was like the moon was trying to turn into the sun as your orgasm pulsed and shone on your body as he finally let himself go as he slammed as far into you as he could before his hips stuttered as he spilled his own seed into you and squeezed you so tight it was a little hard to breathe but you loved it, you loved every bit of it as your inner walls fluttered and constricted around him, milking every drop from him before he collapsed on top of you, careful not to crush you as you both basked into the afterglow. 

“Please don’t go into the ocean anymore, I was worried sick.” Brock pleaded. 

“Well I don’t know if it’ll be necessary, I was able to meet the dragons while I was gone,” you countered as you grinned smugly as he braced himself up on his elbows to look at you as your moura marks started to fade as they stopped pulsing as you came down from your high. 

“And?” He asked anxiously. 

“They agreed to not ice the boats anymore if the nets are shallow enough not to disturb the nest.” You smiled brightly before he enveloped you in a hug and kissed you all over which made you giggle as he rolled over to his side, his now softening member pulling from you as you rolled with him, cuddling into his chest as his heat continued to flood into you, warming up more than just your body, but your soul and spirit too, as his arm became your pillow again as the other arm wrapped around you, his fingers softly stroking your back and you felt incredibly happy in this moment. He was safe, you were safe and the rocking of the ship in the storm around you was relaxing and the rain hitting the windows was lulling both of you into sleep. 

“I love you Benyana,” you heard Brock whisper right before he drifted off to sleep which made your eyes open before you looked up at his face, a gentle smile on it and he looked so happy and peaceful but something stopped you from returning it. So you simply kissed his chest in response before you cuddled close to him, protected from the outside world as you pushed nagging guilty thoughts out of your head to welcome sleep too.

[sarakuper]

Zion National Park, Utah (again!)

Stop #34, Nov 3-6

For our second time in Zion on this trip Sean and I had a truly unforgettable experience as we completed two bucket list hikes. If my only mother knew what I was doing, she would have killed me…. but don’t worry Ma! We did it all very safely and came back in one piece. 

We arrived Sunday afternoon at the same dispersed camping site we stayed at back in July when we visited the first time. This time we camped at a spot higher up with views overlooking another beautiful canyon.  We set up camp, cooked dinner, played Kaluche (yes, I won.. again!), and mapped out our next day. We talked about doing Angel’s Landing, a very popular and difficult hike, about 5.4 miles long, that challenges anyones fear of heights. This hike boasts incredible views of the Zion Canyon and the need to use chains to climb all the way to the top of Angel’s Landing. A large majority of the hike is your typical, but also gorgeous, steep hike with several switchbacks. The last quarter of a mile (sounds short, right?) is where you risk your life holding onto chains and climbing up a steep and narrow cliff. 1-2 feet off the “trail” in either direction and splat, you’re dead. Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It’s such a popular trail, people are basically waiting in line to climb to Angel’s landing! On average one person per year dies on this hike, but thousands of people hike it each year. Possibly hundreds of thousands. While we were discussing the possibility of this hike, Sean was unsure he would do it. He doesn’t fear many things (or at least doesn’t show it), but his fear of heights is real.

Monday morning came and we started our accent. Several switchbacks later we reached Scouts Lookout which is a plateau just before the risky climb to Angel’s Landing. This area was super crowded, and Sean and I were thinking “Let’s climb to the top and then come back here for lunch”. Angel’s landing is literally 0.5 miles away, so I thought this would be quick and we’d be eating lunch in no time. I also thought the portion of the hike we did was pretty much as risky as it gets… maaaaaaan was I wrong. 

Here is where the chains just begin. It was so crowded in this area, but we are so close right? I thought it was just around the bend. We started using the chains and I turned back to Sean where he shook his head at me. He didn’t need to use words; I knew this meant he wasn’t coming. I nodded back and continued on thinking to myself “this will be quick!”. Well, I got around the bend passing a large majority of the crowds, and there it was.. the scariest view I’ve ever seen. Reality set in as I actually saw the treacherous 0.5 mile hike ahead to the top of Angel’s Landing. At this point I thought “I’m already here. I made it this far. I’m doing it.”. 

A few minutes into the climb I made friends with the people immediately ahead and behind me. Most of them also came with a parter that stayed back at Scout’s Lookout. We encouraged each other and thought out loud “holy shit this is so dangerous and sketchy”. I don’t have a particular fear of heights, but I couldn’t even look to the right or left of me. All I could do was look down at my feet and the immediate steps ahead. I was terrified. This is where I thought to myself… if my mother knew what I was doing…  

I wanted to turn back. I was actually thinking this hike is so freaking stupid because of how dangerous it is. How is it possible that its crowded with hundreds (and maybe thousands) of people doing it each day!? There was no turning back now. We scrambled up the entire way, using the chains to pull ourselves up and to hold onto for dear life. But I did it. I made it to the top. I was so shook, I barely took any photos. I sat down and stayed down feeling the comfort of the ground below me. After the first set of chains I had to put my camera in my backpack because I needed it out of the way during the climb. One of the girls I climbed with forced me to get up and take pictures, and so here they are. 

I was very anxious to get down and be reunited with Sean. This “short” climb took way longer than I expected and I had already been gone for an hour. So, with most of the same people I climbed up with, we began our decent back to Scouts Lookout. I thought the way down would be way worse for 2 reasons; 1- navigating around the uphill traffic. There was NO room for two way traffic, and the large amounts of people doing this made it extra dangerous. 2- going down you are looking directly at the cliffs beside you. You are looking at how you will fall and die if you misstep. So yeah, thinking about the downhill made me even more scared. But as it turns out, and I’m not sure why, the decent back was actually less scary than the way up. I made it back to Scouts Lookaut and found Sean, immediately running into his arms for a huge hug. I wasn’t sure if he was worried about me because I was gone for so long, but he gave me a huge smile and high five. He actually climbed up to a different viewpoint and was watching me climb up and down through his binoculars. He was very proud of me and also felt reaffirmed that he didn’t do it because of what he saw through the binoculars and because of what I shared about it. This might have been the craziest thing I’ve ever done and I will never do it again. But damn I DID IT!!

After the hike into the Grand Canyon my legs were absolutely fried. I was very excited that after completing Angel’s Landing my legs and body felt strong and were not aching in pain. I guess the South Kaibab hike to Skeleton’s point was a good warm up hike after all! 

That afternoon and evening we prepared for our next adventure, hiking to The Subway from the bottom up. We rented water shoes and socks from a local rental shop. A few days prior I inquired with the Wilderness department at Zion about a getting a permit to do this hike. It’s a non maintained trail in the backcountry that takes route finding, scrambling, and hiking through water to complete. I tried to get a permit for this hike back in July but was denied because they reached the maximum number of people to permit for that day. Looking back I’m so glad I was denied then; I was not a strong enough hiker to complete this challenge! Looking at the stats this hike is 9.1 miles and 1,500 feet in elevation gain. I’ve completed hikes with more challenging statistics, so I was confident that I could do it. But this hike is a lot more technical and complex than that. And no matter how much we read about it, I didn’t realize how challenging this hike actually was until we were there doing it. 

The trailhead was almost 1.5 hours away, and so we hit the road before 7am to get a decently early start. We started the hike on a normal path for about 0.5 miles before completing a very (and I mean VERY) steed downward climb to the river. Once we made it to the river we placed neon rope around the area as a marker so we knew where to get out of the river on the return. We didn’t see a “trail” at this point, so we hiked through the river upstream. As long as we follow the river we will make it to The Subway.

After about 30 minutes navigating around rocks and trying to not to slip, we realized we were moving very slowly. We needed to find the trail so we could get a move on. Sean found the “trail”, which came and went every few minutes. We crossed the river, climbed, and jumped over large rocks and boulders to make our way through. It felt very strenuous, and was taking much longer than a typical hike. This gave me a serious appreciation for maintained trails where all I needed to do was “follow”. But Sean was our guide that day, and when I wanted to turn around because it was too hard he gave me the tough love I needed to make it to the end. It was me who wanted to do The Subway so badly anyway! Well, after 4 hours (yes, it took 4 hours to go 4.5 miles!) we made it to The Subway. And WOW, this place was absolutely spectacular. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

We took enjoyed the scenery, took photos, ate lunch, and began our hike back in hopes to make it back for Jaxon before sunset. It turns out the hike back was a lot easier and went by much faster. Maybe that’s because we actually found the “trail” and did a lot less hiking through the river and scrambling compared to our way up. Oh, and did I mention there are dinosaur tracks right along this trial? Seriously! They are very hard to find, but with our AllTrails map we were able to spot them!

We made it back to the car around 4pm taking us a total of 7.5 hours to complete this hike. We were proud of ourselves as we left the trail feeling very accomplished! I could never have done this hike without Sean and am grateful for his ability to navigate us safely and push me  with tough love and encouragement when I needed it most.

What an incredible two days we just had. What an amazing 4 months its been.

We have another week of traveling in the trailer and visiting national parks before we begin preparing for the next chapter of our trip. Once we get to Denver on Nov 13(ish), this amazing part of our journey will come to an end.

I’m feeling very grateful for all the new places we’ve seen, experiences we’ve had, and for the time me, Sean, and Jaxon have spent together just us in the small quarters of our trailer thats become our home. It will be hard to say goodbye to our mobile home, but significantly harder to say goodbye to Jaxon. That is something we are really not looking forward to; my heart breaks just thinking about it.

Thanks for reading, love you all.

[mimicofmodes]

Sanditon, episode 5 part i

When we open, Charlotte is in her Georgiana pelisse, so we can guess something’s up! She’s bringing Georgiana a book, but from their manners as she hands it over in front of Mrs. Griffiths, this is clearly a ruse. Georgiana claims to be shy about reading in front of other people in order to get her minder to leave, which Mrs. G believes for some reason.

They make a nice contrast, both in gowns we haven’t seen before, I think. Although Charlotte is wearing the same habit shirt as in episode 4. Georgiana is impatient to get out and just see Otis for a little, but Charlotte counsels patience.

Esther is also doing the thing she was in the last episode, wearing a sleeveless gown without a shirt or chemisette under it, which they’re playing as informal ... but this is an anachronism, probably. You’d be more likely to wear a cotton print gown or a loose jacket with a petticoat, or something like that. All I can think is that she’s going to sweat into it!

Lady Denham turns up, antiquely dressed again, and the three Denhams are tied together visually with dark reds. Lady Denham’s there to tell Esther that she has accepted Babington’s attentions on her niece’s behalf, so go get dressed and put your hair up and head out to see him.

Tom Parker’s brown palette similarly ties him to the workmen and their purpose most of the time, but I realized that I’ve never talked about neckties. Tom’s is always white while Stringer’s is always a printed cotton. White neckwear was fashionable in the period (finer material, harder to keep clean, etc.) but prints were serviceable. As Tom walks away with Charlotte to see the river, she looks back at Stringer and grins broadly! <3 (He’s very pleased to get away as he’s being badgered some more about making payroll.) Stringer brags about her interest in architecture to his colleague.

Ugh, I love this gown. It’s so perfect for her. Esther is on edge because Edward is talking like her marriage to Babington could never happen, but she’s starting to consider it. Edward isn’t quite sure what to make of this change - I think he’s questioning whether she’s serious or just trying to make him jealous.

At the river, the Parkers are playing/watching cricket. Even Arthur is engaging, and Diana is ... smiling?! We’re all happy. They’re preparing for the upstairs vs. downstairs cricket match, which sounds like it will have the subtext of Sidney vs. Stringer for Charlotte. It’s a bit unlikely for Mrs. Parker to be in short sleeves in the morning/outside, however - by the late Regency (as I think this is supposed to be, given the 1820s-ish fashions that keep popping up; I’d assume they were thinking 1817-1818 to coincide with the writing of the text) you wore long sleeves in morning dress/informal undress, and short sleeves were reserved for full dress.

Charlotte rushes back to Georgiana to suggest a plan for her and Otis to meet during the match, which is clever.

Crowe (not Crouch, sorry) still sucks, but his loud waistcoat is great! It would be better for the 1820s, but see above. Same for the coat, I think, although I’m not as up on my coat-cuts. The funny thing that’s just occurred to me about Sidney always dressing in black is that to the audience, it says “bad boy, dangerous, dashing,” but in-period it would have said “sober, possibly a professional.”

Sid has come back to tell Tom that they really, really can’t get any more money for the building projects. :/ He and Charlotte have a very intense non-conversation where they’re both clearly simmering with rage.

Stringer, in a much better hat, tells Tom that they really, really can’t keep working without pay, and Tom promises to cough up some money in two weeks. Hmm, where does he plan on getting it?

I don’t tend to pay much attention to Mrs. griffiths’s clothes as they’re deliberately boring, but it’s good to show them once in a while. The color of this gown matches the wallpaper and wainscoting, a signal of this being her house, or possibly of her being a domestic, indoors person. Sidney has turned up to let her know that he’s going to leave Sanditon for the rest of the summer (isn’t his occupation supposed to be bringing people to the town in order to boost its profile?), so she’s fully in charge of Georgiana.

The Misses Beaufort also match Mrs. Griffiths/the wallpaper, so that’s where this color story is going. Georgiana contrasts and clashes. (Left Beaufort has some great Gothic detailling in the Van Dyke/dent de loup zig-zag edging of her spencer(?).) One thing I haven’t mentioned yet, somehow, is the long curl Georgiana is always given ... this is usually a thing they do in 18th century films/shows, and you may recognize it in Poldark, where Elizabeth pretty constantly has one. It’s an inaccuracy, though - when longer curls were the thing, they were paired, with one on each side, and more usually multiple. I don’t know why they decided to do Georgiana’s hair this way.

The cricket match is being held on the beach. Charlotte is dressed in a Georgiana-blue, fantastic early 1820s spencer (the round puffs over the sleeves, the lowered waistline), likely because she’s enacting a plan for her friend. 

Mrs. Parker’s pelisse is so familiar but I can’t think what production I know it from. Anybody else?

Georgiana is in a turquoise/teal spencer, definitely a new color for her and this show! She really stands out from her group.

The Gentlemen (I’m giving them a team name) are all in dark coats with light waistcoats and trousers, a combination that was quite fashionable but, given the fact that the characters generally don’t dress that way, comes off as a sort of uniform or “athletic dress”, which is anachronistic. I’m not 100% sure of the intent here. The Workers are late, which is making Tom lose it - they had threatened not to show, which would make it clear to everyone that they hadn’t been paid and that Tom was in financial difficulties.

[insert comment about Lady Denham’s anachronism here] although I will say that this is an interesting new color for her. Her hat is like ... Edwardian? Clara’s spencer is very cute.

Esther is also stuck in the 1770s/1780s today, with her own over-the-shoulder curl and that little tricorn hat. What on earth? Babington comes over for a conversation in which Lady Denham provides all of Esther’s responses, and afterwards she lectures her niece about needing to put some effort in. Clara obliquely taunts her a bit more and Esther leaves, her usual response.

Just as the Gentlemen are about to call it, the Workers arrive, led by Stringer. Charlotte wishes him good luck and they’re super cute and flirty, then wishes Sidney good luck in a cranky way. And the game begins!

[smallblueandloud]

TV Show Meme

pick 5 shows, then answer the following questions. don’t cheat. tag 10 (or however many) peeps.

i was tagged by @everythinghappens-love just now and @asthewheelwills several weeks ago (i’m very sorry, it’s been... busy).

(also, i was going to do emmys edition, but i’ve seen at least one full episode of a grand total of... two emmy-nominated shows, so uh. not gonna happen, lol.)

1. Doctor Who

2. Agents of SHIELD

3. The West Wing

4. Frasier

5. The Good Place

1. Who is your favorite character in 2?

oof. i mean, i’ll pretend this is a hard question, but daisy. hands down. i mean, not only is she gorgeous, she��s really unconventionally smart, super powerful, and full of longing to have a family.

(also, she’s ridiculously easy to write)

2. Who is your least favorite character in 1?

um. i mean, if we’re talking about davies!who, i don’t really... have a least favorite character? i love them all a lot, and they’re all super nuanced and it’s just... really wonderful

if we’re talking all of nuwho, either missy or river song. nothing against them personally, their writing was just. really horrible.

3. What is your favorite episode of 4?

the inkeepers. it’s hands down the funniest episode in the whole show.

i hunted for a gif of any moment and couldn’t find one, so i’ll leave you with a quote:

Frasier: All right, stop it! Get a grip. You're not being asked to do anything that none of us hasn't done before in our own kitchens in our own homes! Now quick, Niles, kill five eels!

Niles: Wait, wait! What?

Frasier: I'm serious! Every restaurant critic in Seattle is out there and they all want anguille, so start killing eels!

Niles: Wait, wait. How do you suggest I do that?

Frasier: How do I know? You're the chef. Throw a toaster in the damn tank for all I care!

[a few minutes later]

Frasier: Not to worry, Gil, the eels are on their way.

Gil: Our mouths are watering, Frasier.

Frasier: Our chef is in the process of...  

The lights flicker, a humming sound is heard from the kitchen.

Frasier: ...frying them now.

4. What is your favorite season of 5?

probably season 2. i don’t know why, but the idea of the six of them being a team in the afterlife when there’s no one else to help them is... i don’t know. i really like it, can’t tell you why lol. (oh, and the montage of the different attempts is my favorite scene in any tv show, ever.)

5. Who is your favorite couple in 3?

josh/donna, obviously :D

6. Who is your favorite couple in 2?

i’m gonna cheat and put my favorite ship from aos, which is, as all of y’all know, fitzskimmons.

i have nothing to say except that i love my babies

7. What’s your favorite episode of 1?

turn left! definitely, for sure, always and forever.

god, it’s like someone wrote, combined, and filmed the dhr and donna fics of my dreams.

8. What is your favorite episode of 5?

it’s a tie between 2x10 (best self) and 3x07 (the worst possible use of free will). i turn on the former whenever i’m feeling down/bored/sick, and the latter... look, i’m cheleanor trash, okay? moving on.

(no gifs because i’m starting to feel guilty for the length of this post)

9. What is your favorite season of 2?

s3, because it has the most clips of normal team life (from what i remember, haven’t gotten there in the rewatch i’m doing for the fsk rewrite yet lol). also, the storylines were interesting and they actually put time into developing the friendships, which i’m missing a lot these days.

10. How long have you watched 1?

HA. huh. uh. four-ish years, i think? yeah. it was around the time that i discovered queen, and i would play bohemian rhapsody on repeat as i read fanfic (which means that now, sometimes, i hear a certain queen song and am hit with a very strong, very specific urge to read 10rose fic for the next 72 hours.)

11. How did you become interested in 3?

my mom made me watch it at first, and i was hooked by the first episode. it’s just... so smart, and so fast, and i love it very much.

12. Who is your favorite actor in 4?

is this even a question? david hyde pierce. obviously.

13. Which you prefer, 1, 2 or 5?

wow, you really just... went for my three favorite shows, huh? i guess as a measure of overall quality, the good place. for characters, agents of shield. and for plot, definitely doctor who.

14. Which show have you seen more episodes, 1 or 3?

doctor who! although-

as it turns out, i have watched 100 doctor who episodes, exactly. (go me!) on the other hand, i’ve watched 68 episodes of the west wing. so that answer’ll change pretty soon, lol.

15. If you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

frasier? frasier? you want me to become someone from frasier?? uh... okay, uh...

niles, i guess? just because his apartment is... truly magnificent, lol. also he gets to marry daphne

16. Would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

surprisingly, yes? i think this is the best combination on the list, actually. frasier knows... uh... i don’t know, sam? he went to school in *googles frantically* new jersey, so that could work?

honestly, i have no idea, but i need toby ‘i am a know-it-all’ zeigler and frasier ‘i am a pompous ass’ crane to be in a room together. it would be hilarious.

17. Pair two characters in 1 who would make unlikely but strangely okay couple.

clara/yaz. i will not be taking questions at this time.

18. Overall, which show has the best storyline, 3 or 5?

oh, oh man. you had to choose the two shows with the most cohesive storylines?

sorry, tww, but i’m gonna have to give it to the good place. the storyline and pacing are *chef’s kiss* divine.

19. Which has a better theme music, 2 or 4?

uh? i don’t even think that’s a choice, since frasier barely has any theme music and anyway, i hate letting frasier crane win at anything (lol). agents of shield!

i’m tagging @paperairplanesopenwindows, @aethersea, @florchis, @skyler10fic, @cassiesinsanity, and *flounders* @nereb-and-dungalef, just based on who i’ve been talking to recently. feel free to ignore this, or, conversely, if i didn’t tag you, feel free to pretend i did!

[starstruckpurpledragon]

Aromantic Awareness Week: Fanfiction Roundup

AKA hey look I wrote things.

I really wanted to write stories for Aromantic Awareness Week because representation is important, but at the same time coming up with original characters is hard.  Thus fanfiction.  The only prompts I could find were for personal essays/experiences, but @aroworlds was taking art submissions all week and I really want to say thanks for reblogging all my fanfic.  I’m glad you found the meta I added in the posts to be interesting and relatable, which is what I was hoping for since I knew that aside from Doctor Who I was writing for some fairly niche-ish fandoms which could make the fanfics a hard read.

I ended up writing four fanfictions for aro awareness week: (the links here are to the tumblr posts which in turn have the Ao3 links to the actual story, that way anyone interested can read the meta behind the story even if you’re not interested in the fanfic/fandom itself)

Day 1: Found Family (And Other Cliches) - A Tales of Link fanfic exploring an aromantic headcanon for Zephyr specifically, though I also headcanon the rest of the main characters as being aspec as well.  The relationship between Zephyr, Allen, and Sara can also be interpreted as a QPR though the world it takes place in doesn’t really have the terminology for that.

Day 2: The Path to Darillium - A Doctor Who fanfic that was basically me working through my feelings about the Doctor and River’s canon relationship, my headcanon that the Doctor is aroace, and how to reconcile the two things. 

Day 3: Unexpectedly Articulate (No More Tripping Over Words) - A Tales of Symphonia fanfiction about aroace Colette figuring out what to do with her life now that she no longer has to die to save the world.  It also features an aromantic allosexual original character.

Day 4: Hearts in a Void - A Kingdom Hearts 3 fanfic exploring what was happening with Ienzo at Radiant Garden while the main characters are off being heroes.  Ienzo largely grew up as a Nobody and now that he has a heart again he’s having to relearn his emotions and is questioning pretty much everything about himself, though he settles on aromantic to describe himself over the course of the story.  There’s also an aro-spec Leon in there who is in a sometimes romantic, sometimes not relationship with Rinoa (his canon love interest from his original Final Fantasy game).  Finally, there’s some poetry in there which, as I don’t typically write poetry, utterly confounds me in that not only did I write it but I kind of like it too.

I did have an idea for a Harry Potter story as well, but hit some writers block on that one which I couldn’t figure out how to get around.  I’ll probably return to it in March or April, once I’m done participating in a fandom festival for The Flash. 

It was a lot of fun writing these and I hope everyone who read them enjoyed them as well.  I’ll be writing more aromantic fanfics as the year continues, so keep an eye out.

@fuckyeahasexual here’s some fanfics for #fyeah art friday 

[dillydedalus]

what i read in march

several antigones & some other stuff

call me zebra, azareen van der vliet oloomi

oh boy. i really wanted to like this one, but uh. nah. so this book is about zebra, a young iranian-american from a lineage of ‘autodidacts, anarchists and atheists’, still traumatised by her childhood experience as a refugee (incl. her mother’s death on route). when her father dies years later, zebra decides to retrace the route of her exile thru barcelona, turkey, and back to iran. this sounds great! the beginning is good! but zebra is a quixotic figure (don quixote is unsubtly flagged as THE intertext several times), delusional about her own importance, obsessed with some kind of great literary mission and obnoxious & condescending & egotistic as all fuck (she looks down on students but treats her realisation that like, intertextuality is a thing, as this grand revelation when like..... we been knew since Lit. Theory 101) - and this is intentional & part of the quixotic thing & in general i approve of abrasive & bristly & difficult female characters BUT i expected there to be a gradual process of realisation where she sees that a) maybe her entirely male lineage of geniuses ain’t all that, c) her mission is uh.... incomprehensible. instead, once she reaches spain, she gets bogged down in endless pretentious bullshit and a #toxic relationship that takes up way too much space. knowing that all of that is likely intentional doesn’t.... make it good. also the writing is pretty overwrought for the most part & not even your narrator’s voice being Like That excuses plain bad writing, like the  absurd overuse of ‘intone’ and ‘pose’ as dialogue tags. i see the potential and i see the point & i liked some of it but uh. not good. 2/5, regretfully, generously

in the distance, hernan diaz

i don’t really go for westerns or man vs wilderness stories but damn i’m impressed. despite the violence & deprivation and sheer amount of gross shit, this story of a swedish immigrant getting lost in the american west for decades remains at its core so human, so tender, so sad (honestly this book is SO SAD, yet sometimes oddly hopeful), so evocative of isolation, loneliness, and the desire for human connection. 4/5

notes on a thesis, tiphaine rivière (tr. from french)

god, if i ever considered doing a phd i sure don’t anymore. this is a short graphic novel about a young woman’s descent into academic hell while writing her dissertation about labyrinths in kafka. it’s funny, the art is expressive and fanciful, and it is incredibly relateable if you’ve ever tried to actually write your brilliant, glorious, intricately constructed argument down, battled uni administration or had a panic attack over how to phrase a harmless email to a prof. Academia: Not Even Once. 3.5/5

red mars, kim stanley robinson

this is a very long hard sci-fi novel about mars colonisation & terraforming, discussing the ethics of terraforming, the potentials of a truly ‘martian’ culture, and how capitalism will inevitably fuck everything up, including outer space. all of this is up my alley and i did really like the first half (early colonisation efforts), but the 2nd half (beginning of terraforming, lots of politicking) was a slog - i liked reading about how terraforming was going, but the rest was just bloated, scattered and confusing. also there’s a tedious love triangle the whole time. 2/5

dragon keeper (rain wild chronicles #1), robin hobb

i love robin hobb she really can write a whole 500+ page book of set-up, characterisation and politicking and make it WORK. anyway, this has disabled dragons, a quest for mystical city, lots of rain wilds weirdness, a dragon scholar in an unhappy marriage, liveships, a sweet dummy romance, and uh... a lil penpalship between two messenger bird keepers? not much happens but it’s so NICE & so much is going to happen. also althea & brashen & malta turned up & i screamed. 3.5/5

season of migration to the north, tayeb salih (tr. from arabic)

this is a seminal work of post-colonial arabic literature, a haunting tale of the impact of colonialisation, especially of cultural hegemony in the education system, the disturbing dynamics of orientalism and sex, and village life in a modernising post-colonial sudan. it’s important, it’s well-written, it’ll make you think, but fair warning, there is a lot of violence against women - it has a point but still uh... wow. 3.5/5

dune, frank herbert

SOMETIMES.... BOOKS THAT ARE CONSIDERED MASTERWORKS OF THEIR GENRE.... ARE WORSE. so much worse. the writing in this is atrocious (”his voice was charged with unspeakable adjectives”), herbert somehow manages to make court intrigue and plotting UNBELIEVABLY DULL and sure, it was the 60s, but i’m p sure people knew imperialism was bad in the 60s! the main character, the eugenically-engineered chosen one or whatever, literally spends years among the oppressed & resisting natives of a planet ruled by a space!empire and at the end he’s like ‘i own this planet bc imperialism is Good Actually’. emotionally neglecting/abusing your wife, who you (!!!) decided (!!!) to marry for political reasons bc you’d rather marry your gf is also Good Actually (cosigned by the protag’s mother....) the worldbuilding is influential for the genre, sure w/e, but mainly notable for there just.... being a lot of it, the whole mythology-science makes No Goddamn Sense, all around this is just Bad. Bad. 0.5/5 i hope the Really Big Worms eat everyone 

dragon haven (rain wild chronicles #2), robin hobb

this healed my soul after toxic exposure to dune. anyway w/o spoilers: everyone is very much In Their Feelings (including me) and there’s a lot of Romance and Internal Conflict and Feelings Drama and Complicated Relationships and Group Dynamics and also dragons, which are really like very big, very haughty cats who can speak, and a flood and a living river barge with a mind of his own (love u tarman!). it’s still slow and languid but so so good. also: several people in this have to be told that People Are Gay, Steven, including Sedric, who is himself Gay People. 4/5

an unkindness of ghosts, solomon rivers

super interesting scifi story set on a generation ship with a radically stratified society in which the predominantly black lowerdeckers are oppressed and exploited by the predominantly white upperdeckers, mixed in with a lot of Gender Stuff (the lowerdeckers seem to have a much less stable and binary gender system than the upperdeckers) and neuroatypicality. it’s conceptually rich and full of potential, but just doesn’t quite stick the landing when it comes to the plot. 3/5

sanatorium under the sign of the hourglass, bruno schulz (tr. from polish)

more dreamy surreal short stories (ish?). i didn’t like this collection quite as much as the amazing street of crocodiles, but they are still really good, even tho you never quite know what is going on. featuring flights of birds, people turning into insects, thoughts about seasons and time, fireman pupae stuck in the chimney, and the continuing weird fixation on adela the maid. 3.5/5

angela merkel ist hitlers tocher, christian alt & christian schiffer

a fun & accessible guide to conspiracy theories, focusing on the current situation in germany and the current boom in conspiracy theories, but also including some historical notes. i wish it had been a bit less fun & flippant and more in-depth and detailed bc it really is quite shallow at points, but oh well. also yes the title does indeed translate to ‘angela merkel is hitler’s daughter’ so. yes. 2.5/5

the midwich cuckoos, john wyndham

fun lil scifi story in which almost all women in sleepy village midwich are suddenly pregnant, all at the same time. the resulting children, predictably, are strange, creepy, and possibly a threat to humanity. i get that it was written in the 50s but it is strange to read a book where almost all women, and only women, are affected by A Thing, but all the main characters are men & no one tells the women ‘hey we think it’s xenogenesis’ -  like realistically 80% of women affected went to the Neighbourhood Lady Who Takes Care of These Things like ‘hello, one (1) abortion please’ and the plot just ended there. i still liked it tho! 3/5

antigone project

antigone, the original bitch, by sophocles (tr. by fagles)

god antigone really is That Bitch. that’s all i have to say. 4.5/5

antigone, That Bitch but in french, jean anouilh

the Nazi-occupied france antigone. loved the meta commentary on what tragedy is and how antigone has to step into the Role of Antigone, which will kill her “but there’s nothing she can do. her name is antigone and she will have to play her part through to the end”. i didn’t really like (esp. given the ~historical context) the choice to make creon much more sympathetic, trying to save antigone’s life from the beginning. hmm. 3.5/5

antigonick, anne carson

look, antigone really is That Bitch and you know what? so is anne carson. best thing i’ve read so far this year, don’t ask me about it or i’ll yell the task of the translator of antigone at you. 5/5

home fire, kamila shamsie

honestly i really wanted to like this bc politically it’s on point and an anti-islamophobia antigone sounds amazing, but it just doesn’t succeed as a book/adaption. it spends way too much time in build-up/backstory (the play’s plot only starts in the second half of the book!), waaayyy to much time on the weirdly fetishistic antigone/haimon romance, and even the most interesting characters (ismene & creon) don’t fully work out. sad. 2/5

currently reading: the magic mountain by thomas mann, but i should be done in a week or so! also: the paper menagerie by ken liu, a collection of sff short stories

[douxreviews]

Outlander - ‘The Deep Heart's Core’ Review

By Laure Mack 

"Today we ride faster than yesterday."

The bonding and family magic continues until it's over. But is a TV family even a family without at least one misunderstanding followed by a volatile exchange between them?? I think not.

Their first fight! What a doozy. And it was Da that got grounded. Usually it's the other way around. 

On a scale of 1 to 10 how wrong is it that I enjoyed that fight? Not the fake fight where Jamie strong armed some sense into his daughter and helped her realize that she had done all she possibly could do against her attacker. Because that was actually hard for me to watch. I instinctively turned away a couple of times. I don't know if it was seeing a father get physical with his daughter or seeing Bree get pushed around and manipulated, but it was unpleasant for sure. That's not a dig at all. Sam Heughan played it very well. Showing the camera and audience what he was trying to do while still pushing Bree's buttons and enraging her to react. It was well written and well acted. And how horrifyingly poignant to have a parent with their own sexual trauma to help you cope with yours. What a sad shared commonality.

No, I'm talking about that knock down drag out when Bree found out that Jamie put the beat down on Roger. Bree and Jamie go toe to toe in the tempered rage department! He did not come out very well here at all. It was a little odd seeing the king of men knocked down a few pegs. And I guess there is where she will hold him for the foreseeable future seeing as how they aren't going to see each other for four(ish) months. I appreciated that Bree wouldn't let him off the hook. Not because he beat up Roger, which admittedly wasn't his finest moment, but because of the nasty rant he spewed when he thought she lied about being raped. It was not a good color on him. She didn't ask him to beat anyone up for her and it's cheap to place the blame of his actions on her shoulders. Get it together, Jamie.

So much emphasis is being placed on the father/daughter relationship that it might be easy to miss the mother/daughter beats that are peppered in. I enjoyed them just as much as anything we got between Bree and her dad. Especially after seeing the strains of their relationship through the years, I really enjoyed the emotional stability between them now. Claire, a surgeon, is able to give Brianna the option of a surgical abortion. A conversation fraught with emotional landmines under any circumstances. It was nice of her to afford Bree that choice and to extend it so gingerly and give her the dignity of supporting any decision her daughter made. Of course it was also sad to think of all the women that wouldn't have a surgeon to rely on. And Claire stayed by Brianna's side often even embracing her during that entire confrontation in the cabin. She had her back. Let's not forget that Jamie lied to Claire too, but she didn't call him on it until after Bree had walked away. Not making the betrayal about her at all even though she was kept just as in the dark. Good mom points.

And then there's Roger. He's not having a great time. Beaten and sold and marched. His friend dies and then he is face to face with a ticket home. A ticket out of the horrors he has come to know in the past. A way out of bleeding and being chased. Back to his books and cheeseburgers and plumbing. (Maybe. I think we are supposed to assume that since he can hear the buzzing he would be able to go back to his place. Or something.) Anyway. You guys. It would be hard to stay, right? Ugh, I thought Richard Rankin really really killed it with this scene. I wanted give him a hug. I'm always very impressed when an actor makes me feel what the character is feeling. As much as I don't want him to abandon Bree, I also really wanted him to save himself. The war between self preservation and self sacrifice danced on his face and in his gestures and in the pained noises he made. Wow wow wow. Gold stars. But I'm pretty sure he won't be leaving. I could see it playing out like Claire getting dragged from the stone at the last second a la season one, though.

Almost weekly wig-related rant: This has been the season of the low ponytail. Was the low pony to 18th century North Carolina really what the side pony was to Kelly Kapowski? This isn't rhetorical, I'd like to know. Either way, I'm not here for it. It looks a little off on practically everyone. Maybe it's a family thing? But if Frasers don't have the countenance to pull it off then there really is no hope for the rest of us. I feel obligated to say that Murtagh's wig and low pony look the best in a sea of low ponytailed wigs.

3 out of 4 knots in a rope

Bits and pieces

According to TPTB, the title The Deep Heart's Core came from a poem that was originally supposed to be included in the ep but was cut from the final version.

Also, I have to say that I loved the life on the ridge montage that we got. Very Little House on the Ridge. I could have watched more of that for a while. So sweet.

The nightmare where Roger turned into Bonnet was well shot. I knew it wasn't real from the start but it made my skin crawl anyway. Ick. In season two, Jamie had nightmares where Claire turned into Black Jack Randall. 

Bree smacked Jamie and Ian in this episode. Murtagh had the good sense to bolt out of the door. I also really loved Bree telling Jamie that he was insane for thinking she would trust him to go and find Roger alone.

Around the campfire the Mohawk told stories in their language, effectively excluding their white English speaking prisoners. Much like the Highlanders excluded Claire using Gaelic. This was, for some reason, a strong throwback episode. Reminding me a lot of seasons past. Not complaining, though.

Murtagh had a few silent moments that I loved this week. It was so nice of him to volunteer to take Bree to River Run. Much like he took charge of looking after Jamie for most of his life. He just belongs. 

I also loved seeing Murtagh with Aunt Jocasta. They were flirting, right?? Cute. Murcasta sitting in a tree??

There were a few that made sense given the time period but that I really could've lived without:

Jamie insisting that Brianna get married. Jamie lashing out at Brianna when he annoyingly jumped to conclusions and tried to blame his actions on her. Ian proposing to Brianna should he not be able to save her current husband whom he sold for a silver dangly bit.

Brianna: "I don't want to be married." Jamie: "With a bairn coming, you must."

Brianna: "Where is Roger? Lizzie told me Roger was here, and Jamie beat him." Jamie, not Da. 

On a side note, Da is still hard for me to swallow. It sounds more like something Maria von Trapp sings about than a name. I'm sure I'll adjust eventually.

Jamie: "To think I was defending your honor, and now I come to find you claim yourself violated upon finding yourself with child." Bree: "I was violated, you self-righteous bastard! By someone else! You beat up the wrong man."

Brianna: "No! You do not get to be more angry than me." This was such a good point. You go girl.

Bree: "I'm sorry, Mama." Claire: "Whatever for?" Bree: "For making you leave me."

Murtagh: "You must have taken careful note of my hands, to recall them even after thirty years have passed." Jocasta: "How could I not? You could hardly keep them from my sister, every day of her young life. Every time I looked at her, there you were with a hand out to help her, or with flowers in them for her." 

[kesravonfu1984-blog]

N n t n nRomantic tension and anticipation are palpable in the ground floor room at the National Art Museum of Ukraine, where each Sleeping Beauty lies on a high white bed two hours a day. But the project is more of an artistic experiment than an act of match making. The marriage pledges that the visitors sign are not legally binding and some of the Sleeping Beauties admitted they would not get married to someone they disliked. Morgan Co., financed the International Mercantile Marine Company in the hopes of becoming rich off of sea travel, but this turned out to be a bad investment because of the unpredictable nature of sea travel and travelers themselves. J. P. Had Lasik September 5. While I wasn't allowed eye makeup I found myself playing with cheek and lip products more which was a fun change. For the first month or so my upper eyelids were sore not terribly but almost like how if you push on a bruise, it's tender. Furniture finishes can be classified into several basic types: varnish, penetrating resin, shellac, lacquer, wax, and oil. All these finishes are designed to protect the wood and to 경상북도출장마사지 bring out its natural beauty, and all of them can be assessed in terms of how well they accomplish these objectives. Consequently, choosing a finish comes down to two essential factors: How do you want the wood to look? How durable do you want the finished surface to be?. So the day you get your period is Cycle Day 1 (CD1). If your cycles are "normal", you ovulate roughly around CD16 ish. So by the time you are able to find out you're pregnant, you're around CD26 ish which means your about 4 weeks pregnant.tesla023 42 points submitted 3 days agoThere was a kids clothing store in a mall near us that had one of those. Maybe we should have handed over the empty bottles to the employees, but those got tossed into the trash, so the employees got nothing. All other valuables that could be were not already in people carry on bags was transferred over so they would not be in the checked baggage and under the scrutiny of those working the baggage check counter.It should be noted that the flight was rather hellish for all parties involved. Over a dozen very, very, very drunk students got very rowdy in a small plane, and there was a 12 hour delay that held up our layover. I got sick around 2pm Tuesday coming back onto the ship from Labadee. In public, in front of security on the gangway. I went right back to my room to continue being sick/sleeping it off until I got a call from security around 5 telling my husband to drag my ass down to medical. 경상북도출장마사지 He an intelligent bloke but he stays indoors for days at a time and breaks down with anxiety constantly. However, many parents are constantly at the end of their tether with their autistic kids. I think some also have a tendency to take it out on everyone else around them because they are so unhappy and fed up with their child behaviour.. I received this variation as well except for the lipstick was a weird brown color called River Clay. More like River Dirt. It washed me out so badly I don see how I could every wear it in public. Jennie looks like she going to a fashion show and Lisa looks like she trying to star in a new Step Up movie. I know Jennie is little Ms. Fashion and Lisa is the cool dancer, but aesthetically all their appearances have been a mess.

[doomedandstoned]

Conan Share Earth-Shaking Set at The Live Room in Belfast (plus Interview!)

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

Doomed & Stoned is proud to partner with CONAN and The Live Room Belfast to share this striking live studio performance of the band playing three of their standards: "Total Conquest," "Satsumo," and "Gravity Chasm." This comes just weeks ahead of Conan's new album, 'Existential Void Guardian' (2018), releasing September 14th on Napalm Records.

Start Together Studio recently launched The Live Room Belfast to invite touring bands in for special recordings, usually between 3-5 songs, as a way to capture the intimacy of a live studio performance. This set was recorded, mixed, and edited by Niall Doran, with help from Assistant Audio Engineer Paddy McEldowney, and filmed by Ciara McMullan. The team did a fantastic job of capturing the massive weight of the Liverpool trio's legendary riffs and especially the fearsome caveman vocals of frontman Jon Davis.

This all took place on May 16th, the morning before Conan took the stage with Monolord and Elder Druid at Voodoo Belfast for an unforgettable show. Jon also sat down with Elder Druid guitarist Jake Wallace (who organized our recent Doomed & Stoned in Ireland compilation) for an in-depth interview.

And now, it's time for Jon Davis (guitar/vox), Chris Fielding (bass), and Johnny King (drums) do their thing! Enjoy...

Conan On Tour

10.08.18 PT - Moledo / Sonic Blast Moledo Fest 11.08.18 UK - Winchester / Boomtown Fair 16.08.18 IR - Galway / The Loft 17.08.18 IR - Cork / Cyprus Avenue 18.08.18 IR - Limerick / Dolans Warehouse 30.09.18 UK - Sheffield / O2 Academy 02.10.18 NL - Eindhoven / Effenaar 03.10.18 DE - Bochum / Rockpalast 04.10.18 DE - Hamburg / Logo 05.10.18 DE - Berlin / Musik & Frieden 06.10.18 PL - Wroclaw / Firlej 07.10.18 PL - Warsaw / Poglos 09.10.18 LT - Vilnius / Rock River Club 10.10.18 LV - Jelgava / Melno Cepuriso Balerija 11.10.18 EE - Tallinn / Sveta 13.10.18 FI - Helsinki / Blow Up 4 Festival 15.10.18 SE - Stockholm / Kraken 17.10.18 SE - Malmo / Plan B 19.10.18 DK - Copenhagen / Stengade 20.10.18 NL - Leeuwarden / Into The Void Festival 07.11.18 AU - Canberra / The Basement 08.11.18 AU - Melbourne / Max Watts 09.11.18 AU - Sydney / Manning Bar 10.11.18 AU - Brisbane / Crowbar 12.11.18 NZ - Wellington / Valhalla 13.11.18 NZ - Auckland / Whammy Bar 16.11.18 RU - Moscow / Aglomerat 17.11.18 RU - St. Petersburg / Zoccolo 23.11.18 UK - Nottingham / The Loft 24.11.18 UK - Leeds / Temple Of Boom 25.11.18 UK - Newcastle / Byker Grave Festival 26.11.18 UK - Glasgow / Audio 27.11.18 UK - Manchester / Rebellion 28.11.18 UK - Coventry / The Arches 29.11.18 UK - Cardiff / Clwb Ifor Bach 30.11.18 UK - Milton Keynes / The Craufurd Arms 01.12.18 UK - London / Boston Music Rooms 02.12.18 UK - Oxford / Buried In Smoke X-Mas Weekender

Interview with Jon Davis of Conan

~By Jake Wallace (Elder Druid)~

Recorded May 16, 2018 in The Live Room Belfast

Do you enjoy being on the road so much?

Yeah, we do. We have always tried to tour as much as possible, ever since the very beginning. I remember the first time we played outside of Liverpool with Charger in late 2010, and that was a really big thing, something we were pushing for to try and breakout of Liverpool gigs. We almost immediately started getting opportunities to tour and play, and for a year or so it was just weekends here and there, I really loved that. Then we got the opportunity to go touring around Europe. Of course, that brought its own problem then, because we had to get a van, so we invested a bit of money in an old Ford Transit. And I remember spending nearly £600 on installing a cool sound system in there, so that we could listen to Iron Maiden on the road full blast. Like with speakers right by our heads in the bulkhead.

There's something about being on the road, and everyday just looking forward to playing the music that you've written, and the law of seeing the reaction of people who are listening to your music, that you've written sometimes easily, sometimes songs have come together when they've been difficult to write. I've always found it really rewarding to play music, whether I'm on my own, or whether in the practice room with the lads, or whether onstage. And I remember when I was 16, promising myself I would do this, telling myself that I'm gonna play music cause I saw playing music as a long term thing that I would be in charge of. I never really wanted to work for anyone else, I always wanted to do music, and I remember as a shy and less than confident teenager, thinking this is a path that I can grow, and I really enjoy, something I could do for the rest of my life, hopefully.

When I get too old to lug cabs then I'll just pick up an acoustic, and do something with that. So getting on the road has been something we've loved from day one, and now were touring all over the world. This year already, we've had a US of 5 weeks, we've been to Japan for a week, and we've got more far-flung shows lined up for the end of the year, not announced yet, plus European tours, another UK Tour, and we've got an album out soon. I mean it's just -- we love it. I couldn't do anything else now, if I had to have an office job, I'd probably commit suicide, seriously. (laughs)

What make Monolord the perfect match for this tour, and will you be back in Ireland anytime soon?

I mean, we wanted a band as physically attractive as us, and we've finally done it with Monolord. Seriously though, they are a really cool band, they are really good people to tour with, they're professional, friendly, really interesting people, and they come from a different culture to ours, and we enjoy being on the road with them. We're not sharing a van with them, although we have done, we shared a night liner with them in October last year. And we didn't know what to expect then, as we didn't know them very well on that tour, but we got along really well. They're from a different culture but very similar people, at the same time, at the core of what we all are in a love for music, and they put their money where their mouth is, in terms of that. They also like to tour a lot, they release really great music, and they're a really good live act. So when you are choosing a band to tour with, our booking agent puts forward bands and it was really natural, that us and Monolord tour together. It's cool that we get to this joint headliner, switch headliners every night. Yeah, they're just great. I mean, I don't think we've ever toured with a band that we didn't really like, some more than others, obviously, but they are cool as fuck.

I suppose it's an interesting parallel, between both bands having three members, you get to see how another band performs as a three piece as well every night. Tell us about the origin of the band name, and how you guys have created a genre known as 'Caveman Battle Doom.'

Well, Conan could have been called anything, really, from '70s and '80s science fiction movies. You know, Krull was one idea that I had for a band name, very briefly I thought about that. We were called Elf-Beater for a time in our practice room -- that's obviously an awful name so we were never going to use that one long term. Conan just came to me one day, you know, I was going through some personal stuff and I'd had to move into my parent's for a little while, and I started this band up with an old friend of mine who was a bass player, but he played drums a little bit. So we started and we actually wrote and recorded "Satsuma." We had these songs, and we didn't really have a settled name. We were going to call ourselves Pazuzu for a little while or Demon-Demaro, as like a Bebo page in that name. There's some really old demos if you can search for that.

Initially, I wanted it to be a little bit occult-ish type of stuff, and then quickly I realised the lyrics weren't really going in that direction, and we were more about Sword & Sorcery, Science Fiction, and Mythology. Then I remember sitting there one day just kind of thinking, "What do I for a band name?" and then it just came to me. And it stuck, there wasn't really any other bands, well there was an Argentina metal band called Conan, but I think they had expired in the '80s, so there was nothing, no current bands within our scene, with that name, or anything close to it, so we grabbed it with both hands.

How did the name 'Caveman Battle Doom' come about?

The very first show that Conan did in Liverpool was with friends of ours, John McNulty and Gemma McNulty. They weren't married then but they are now, and they're really close of mine, and the band, they recorded at our studio. But they put us on our first ever show, when it was just me and Paul O'Neil, a two piece, and on the poster for that show, I think it said "primitive battle doom," "caveman battle doom," or "caveman doom." The label we were on, fast forward a couple of months, we recorded Horseback Battle Hammer and we released stuff on CD with Aurora-Borealis Records. They used that phrase as part of their sales pitch, on the website, taking it from that first ever poster, and then we thought we’d put that on a t-shirt because it looks cool and it sounds cool and those t-shirts just sold like hot cakes. So we thought, that's a cool name to make a joke about. Obviously, we haven't created our own genre; it would be awesome if we did cause we'd obviously make loads of money then, but it's just a bit of fun.

I know yourself are involved in Black Bow Records and Chris is involved in Skyhammer. How did both of those projects come around? Was it through the band that this became something you were interested in, or what was the path towards a label and a studio?

When I moved into a large house in a rural location, not far from Liverpool/Chester, there was a couple of extra buildings. One of them was a large coach-house and I actually wanted to turn that into a rehearsal studio initially. But it needed a lot of building work, which would have cost a lot of money, so I thought, "I wonder if I could somehow turn this into something that would repay some of that investment? So I'll do a practice room and then I may be able to rent the practice room out to bands." And I thought, "Nah, I don't think that will make generate enough money to make it worthwhile, unless we have people in there all the time." And if we did that, it could just be people in there 2-3 hours at a time and it would be a bit of a nightmare to manage, with it being a home. I then thought of, "Well I could turn it into a recording studio." So I got a couple of quotations for layout and stuff like that. It became obvious that it was going to be really expensive to do. So I thought, "I'll do that and see if I can maybe learn the ropes, I might work in there myself as a recording engineer."

For an extremely short-lived time I recorded bands in their practice rooms. I had one band ask for a refund, so then I thought, "Maybe I need to practice a little bit more." So I was going to set up the studio and decided not to, in the end, when Chris got in touch. Me and Chris had been friends and I'd been asking him what microphones to get and what stuff do I need really to set up a studio. We got chatting then one day out of the blue, and he wrote to me saying he had a really crazy idea and could he ring me. So I said okay. He gave me a call and Chris' idea was that he would come and work in the studio and take over and run it, and I waited a little bit and spoke to my wife. Then in the morning, we chatted again and it became obvious that yeah, it was going to be a great idea. Chris and I started working in the studio from August 2013, the build started in May the same year. We had a company called Studio People do it and they were brilliant.

The first band in there were called Bast and they came into the studio. They didn't have a label, I think they had been in talks with Candlelight Records, but nothing had been agreed at that point. So they recorded this album called Spectres and I said, "Why don't I just release it for you?" It was cool to release the first thing we ever recorded at the studio and that album did quite well. I had to repress it and then another band came in and I released theirs, as well. Then I spoke to Fister and Norska from America, I did a 7-inch split. Before you know it, I'm releasing music from bands all over and it's just snowballed. I didn't expect it to and I didn't really try very hard, to be honest.

I'm still learning all the time about running the label, make mistakes all the time, but I love it and it fits in nicely with the band, fits in nicely with the studio. I'm able to really diversify within music now, because obviously everyone has to earn a living somehow and unless you're very lucky, you can't earn a living from just the band. Some people can, but I can't, so I have to add other things on to make it possible to have a career in music. So that's all I do now, thankfully.

You guys feature heavily in the upcoming documentary 'The Doom Doc' which is due out this summer. How important is a documentary like that in promoting the underground?

I think it's cool, because it engages with people who may not have necessarily have checked out the bands that are being talked about on it. It gives a good overview of what the scene is like and it's something that you can take all round the world. We're friends with Joe Allen, one of the lads who made the documentary, and we played in Japan with him recently and his band Kurokuma. We played a sell-out show in Tokyo in a venue called Earthdom, which hadn't sold out for ten years or so. And part of the reason why it sold out so well was because the documentary was really popular over there. It's really cool, because it's shone a light on the very grassroots level of heavy music in the UK and beyond, and I don't think a documentary has done that really for UK heavy music, the very grassroots level, or I've never seen one that does it. Obviously, in America you have Such Hawks, Such Hounds. It's good that something like that has been made in England.

Finally, you've got the next album 'Existential Void Guardian' coming out in August. What can you tell us about that?

Well, it's all recorded and mastered now. We're just waiting on a video getting done for one of the songs and I'm not going to give any of the songs away, but it's cool, it's heavy as fuck, and we're really proud of it. It's the first album that we've done with Jonny on drums and it was quite a challenging album to make, because if we'd had anyone else on drums I don't think we'd have been able to manage it. But fortunately, Jonny being as professional as he is, he came in after touring with us for one month, just practicing a riff or two here or there in sound checks, and we sat down in the studio and we kind of wrote the drum parts of the album within a week -- or a weekend event, maybe 3-4 days -- so it came together. It wasn't easy, but the fact that it came together at all was a miracle, because we didn't allow ourselves the usual amount of time to write an album. So we pushed ourselves to the limit to get it written and get it to a level that were really happy with, because we wouldn't have released it otherwise. We wrote the drums and the guide guitar in the first few sessions, and then we went back and recorded guitar and bass, and when we got back from Japan we recorded vocals.

It came together in a different way to all the other albums. Maybe Revengeance was a bit like that, but everything up until then was the product of weekly practices, an hour or two every week. So we're kind of getting into this vein now, where we're writing music almost like as soon as we sit down. We get together and we can all play and write music together. It's really cool. I think a lot of that is to do with Jonny, because he's got a particular style that really blend in with what me and Chris are doing. It comes out mid-Sept. Tony Roberts is doing the artwork, as many people would expect, the artwork's cool. And we've got a really good video coming out, it's been done by the same people who shot the "Foehammer" video, and I gave them this idea of what I'd like them to do with this next video, and it's insane. It's everything I would ever want from a Conan video -- it's so sick, it's amazing.

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[saltypetai]

Tag game

I was tagged by @mangplushie​

last

drink: water 💦💦

call: Sasa a week ago but I tried calling Anna today but she was at work :(

text: It was with Anna lol “:(” and the previous text “:((((( I miss u” lol I’m a clingy bitch

song you listened to: Downtown by Anitta and J Balvin

time you cried: around 15 minutes ago

have you ever

dated someone twice? no

kissed someone and regretted it? no

been cheated on? no

lost someone special? yes

been depressed? yes

gotten drunk and thrown up? no

favourite colours: violet, lemon yellow, mustard yellow, walnut brown

in the last year have you

made any new friends? yes

fallen out of love? yeah with bts i’m sorry

laughed so hard you cried? yes

found out somebody was talking about you? Yeah my friends made a gc organising my surprise bday party I  s o b b e d also madina said she was talking with a group of people who she said she could not say the names of but they were talking about how much they loved me and my hort: hurts

met someone who changed you? Anna changed my life honestly

found out who your friends were? ig lol

kissed someone in your fb friends list? platonically

general

how many people from your fb friends list do you know in real life? honestly I can’t remember most of the people I met in my school in Malaysia JSJHGDJ I see all these names and I’m like huh????? 

do you have any pets? my stepmum has three cats

do you want to change your middle name? never it’s my muslim name and also my mum chose it and it’s the prettiest name ever

what did you do for your birthday last year? I just stayed at my grandparents’ house but my aunt surprised me with a homemade cake and I cried

what time did you wake up today? 10:57 am 😔👊

what were you doing last night at midnight? watching buzzfeed unsolved

what’s something you can’t wait for? to go to uni and to see my brother next year

what are you listening to right now? the waves crashing into the walls of the river bank

have you ever talked to someone called tom? not that I recall

something that gets on your nerves: l**** r** lmao not a fan of her racist comments and how obsessed she is with us. We’re not friends!!!

most visited websites: instagram, twitter, youtube, vlive

hair colour: black (technically dark brown)

short or long hair: i wanna have short hair but I don’t think it’ll suit me

crush on anyone? yeah Donghyuck and Ria

what do you like about yourself? I like my smile and how I’m quite positive (despite me crying all the time lmfao). I like to think I’m resilient

want any piercings? yeah I kinda want a helix

blood type? A+ like my grades hopefully

nicknames? Nidhi calls me Els it’s cute. My family also has some nicknames for me

relationship status: dating Donghyuck obvs

zodiac sign: cancer sun, cancer moon, scorpio rising lmao i’m a weak water bitch

pronouns: she/her

favourite show: I don’t watch much tv but I like Black-ish. Fave kdrama has to be Goblin

tattoos: I’m a halal girl

righty or lefty? righty

ever had surgery? nope

piercings? basic lobe

sports? watersports in general i.e. sailing, kayaking and windsurfing. I also do some nugu martial arts called Tang Soo Do and I got my yellow belt last week

vacation? I’m on holiday right now. My next trip will be to a care home to volunteer. My last trip was Turkey. I would like to go to Japan/Korea with my brother and fam and also Egypt.

trainers? idk i don’t really care about shoes I just get whatever’s comfy since i’m flat footed

eating? nope, I ate pasta though just now for lunch though

drinking? water

about to watch? The Unit, Lilo and Stitch cuz it’s iconic, Jumping Girl and Saving Mrs Go Bong-shil which is long overdue as a Luna stan

waiting for? my school to give me my damn predicted results

get married? No, marriage scares me plus I’m already married to Lee Jong Suk

career? doctor!

which is better

hugs or kisses? I like both but no one kisses me anymore since sophia isn’t around :( HAND HOLDING though... that’s really nice I love that shit. I love holding Anna’s hand

lips or eyes? eyes

taller or shorter? I say I don’t mind but secretly I love back hugs and people resting their heads on mine. I love resting my head on other people’s shoulders when sitting side by side but everyone is too short for me. But I also like Nadia clinging on to me and resting her head on my shoulder so... yeah idk

younger or older? I really don’t care as long as the age gap isn’t too large

nice arms or stomach? stomach. round tummies are cute and so are abs. all tummies are cute

hookups or relationships? I don’t really think I’m ready for a relationship at this stage of my life since I’m always studying or crying over Donghyuck so uh hookup

troublemaker or hesitant? what does this mean????? hesitant i guess??

have you ever

kissed a stranger? no

drank hard liquor? no as I said I’m a halal girl

lost your glasses? yeah it was so sad I never found it in the end

turned someone down? several times, I turned down a marriage proposal once lmfao

had sex on a first date? no

broken someone’s heart? I hope not

had your heart broken? ya big time

been arrested? no

cried when someone has died? yes

fallen for a friend? oof yeah it hurt like a bitch

do you believe in

yourself? yup but sometimes I have my moments

miracles? ye

love at first sight? yeah why not

santa? no

kiss on the first date? yes

angels? yeah

other

best friend’s name: I have a lot of people who I consider as my best friends but anna and sasa deserve an honourable mention

eye colour: brown

favourite movie? s-shrek...

favourite actor? Lee Jong Suk and Kim Go-Eun even though I’ve only watched two of her dramas

I tag: @jaehyooonnssh @fremione @iheartunic0rn @metoo-3  but you odn’t have to do it if you don’t want to 💕

[obsoletelibrarian]

Hello, friends, family, countrymen!  I am off on a new adventure!  I am trying to keep a better track of this year than the one I spent in Toronto.  I did better in Oxford, so I will try to go back to that dedication.  For those of you who don’t know, my husband Dan was recently offered a position working as an instructor and researcher for ETH Zurich, a position where he will earn a full salary, and also leave in 3-ish years with a PhD.  Not a bad deal!  I always knew he was a smart one.  A real keeper.

Anywho, I am therefore now in Zurich, Switzerland.  We just decided to pack up and leave in fairly short notice.  We had to fly to San Francisco to get Visas, which was a terrible process which involved me at 3:00 am demanding that an airline give me a flight so that their delayed flight wouldn’t prevent us from reaching our consulate appointment, and several other such hiccups.  Especially difficult was the fact that while we tried to prepare to move, I was working very hard to participate in a version of Comedy of Errors in Clement Park, Colorado.  Brutal.

But we have made it!  I have now been here a little less than a week.  It has been about 94 degrees or hotter all week, which is insane, particularly with the humidity.  I feel like I have been just damp forever.  The Swiss spend their summer weekends in the lake and the river, but due to the airline accidentally leaving part of my luggage in Minnesota for the time being, I have no swimsuit.  I just bought the cheapest swim top money can buy, so that I can wear it with Sofi shorts as a bathing suit next weekend, to cope with the heat.

Our new apartment is nice.  350 square feet is more than I thought it was.  Our kitchen is actually quite nice, although the appliances are all half sized!  Food is in smaller portions here anyways, so it actually all fits.  This complex is actually for both students and retired individuals (it is government-run housing).  So our bathroom has a shower seat for a more elderly person than either of us.  There’s also a tiny cot/bed that smells strange.  We only use it for storage.  We sleep on an air mattress we brought with us.  We have a small issue with cockroaches, but it is nothing our boot soles cannot handle (thus far).  The two windows are open until we go to sleep, and we bought a rotating fan to deal with the heat.

Getting settled has been difficult.  The immigration office didn’t want to accept us without our marriage license, which was hard.  I was praying harder than I’d ever prayed that the guy would let us off easy on that one, and he did, so thanks to God for that one.  We still have to have our biometrics taken to get residency, and we are really worried that we won’t get full residency until our current entry visas run out, so we’re just moving as fast as we can and praying for the best.  We got Swiss health insurance, which also took some doing, but was necessary to get residency.  

At the immigration office, we were also mandated nuclear medication, because Zurich is so close to many nuclear sites.  It is a weird thing, and we still have to go to the “Apothece,” or Pharmacy, to get those pills.  This goes with the missile barn (not nuclear missiles, I think it’s just anti-aircraft or something--the nuclear is from power plants) we saw just in the city.  You can tell that it’s a missile barn because of the large “VERBOT” (forbidden) signs and the roof the comes off with a pulley system.  We had read about these before arriving here.

We just got Swiss bank accounts, but it’s taken some doing.  They are really worried about Americans doing illegal offshore stuff out here, so we really had to prove our poverty and good intentions.  But we ended up with the nicest banker of all time, who had learned German and English in the past couple of years, after having to learn Italian first when his family moved from eastern Europe.  His dream is to move to America and become a painter.  He was so nice, and gave us espresso, mineral water, and chocolates on a fancy tray as if we were the rich clients he normally works with.  He did a great job, and I hope he gets to paint someday.

We both bought year long bus passes for the greater Zurich area, which are great.  I hope onto any transportation I want and get wherever I want to go in no time.  Yesterday, Dan was at work, so I went over to the Altstadtt, the Old City, where you can see the Alps across Zurichsee, the big lake here.  I walked around the lake, and also saw more of Bahnhofstrausse than I saw from our banking time.  

I also went to the two old churches in the Altstadtt:  Grossmunster and Fraumunster.  GM was founded by Charlemagne himself, and FM was founded by his grandson, so you can imagine that I was absolutely elated to visit them.  They both have been redone many times, so actually the coolest part to me about each is the crypts underneath.  In GM, there is this ancient medieval statue of Charlemagne that used to be on the roof, but it weathered away too much, and there are these very old drawings/pictures on the wall from medieval times.  In FM, they actually have taken cross sections out of the floors in the crypts, because you can see all the levels of church buildings that have been erected at the cite, from old nun housing to waterways, all intersecting each other with different-aged stones.  They even have parts of columns from the era when Charlemagne’s grandson started the church.  Truly breathtaking.  FM also has a Chagall window, which is just gorgeous.  It is actually 5 panes, each a different color and scene from the Bible, and I just sat in the church, staring up at them and crying, because there is something about that beautiful old church with those beautiful new windows that is holy.

Dan actually couldn’t buy those bus passes before I got here though, because he made the mistake of speaking English at the counter.  They told him, “We speak German here” and turned him away.  Whether it was my meager amount of German (we eventually spoke English at the counter anyways) or our newly stamped paperwork from the Swiss government, it was much easier to get passes the second time.

Overall, we hear, “You are in Switzerland, and we speak German here,” a lot.  It’s like karma for every USA person who has mocked someone who speaks Spanish.  The older man in the apartment next to us told us that right away, and then explained the rules of the apartment complex, eying us warily.  He took us to the mailroom, and asked us where the name “Hammerland” was from, sighing that “you never could tell where people were from, nowadays.”  At first, I was worried that he didn’t like us at all, because we were Americans.  But he warmed right up to us, and now I believe he is the best friend we have out here thus far.  He gave me a book of German “Weisheit,” or wise sayings, and a card to get into Fraumunster for free (it is normally 5 franc).  He also has given us tips for everything from fashion to tourism to life.  His English is excellent, because in the 60s and 70s he was part of the music scene in New York.  After that, he studied Renaissance art and music in the Sorbonne!!!  How cool is that?!  

Dan hasn’t met many people at school thus far, but that’s because his group mates are on a trip, and he is going to get to hang out with them much more when they get back!  And we did make some friends at church.  We went to the IPC, the international protestant church, where they speak English and are very welcoming.  They offered us friendship and help, and one of them attends Dan’s school in the chemistry department.  Additionally, the assistant pastor’s wife is from Colorado, with family in Minnesota, she left her career to follow her husband here, and her name is Jenna.  It was such a relief to have a person who understood me well so immediately.  So we think we might make some friends here.

Dan and I have been having some good adventures, finding good places to buy groceries (the main stores are called Migros, Coop, and Denner, but boy, are they all expensive!), walking by the river and seeing all of the people in intertubes or swimming in the dammed sections, seeing art in the Wasserkirche (the Water Church), and trying to adjust to the very cheese-and-small-bits-of-bread diet we have out here (Dan has to adjust.  I think I’ve been eating Swiss accidentally all along!).  So things are starting well, despite some setbacks.

Some things you may not know about Switzerland, because I surely did not:

1) They don’t believe in air conditioning.  Ever.  They only have it in supermarkets and banks (and some busses, but rarely).  So most stores, churches, and our apartment are approximately a billion degrees at the moment.  And sticky.  Swiss women (especially the elderly and pregnant) all carry these white collapsible fans with little flowers painted on them in the Swiss style, and the bus is filled with the sound of little fans going back and forth.

2) The Swiss are all SO TAN.  Every single person has a golden summer glow.  I am about eight shades whiter than anyone here, which definitely sets me apart.  Dan looks much more like a Swiss person than me, but he dresses American so it is a dead give away.  Luckily, in public, I keep being mistaken for a Brit (unlike poor Dan who has been really lashed out at for his USA heritage), which is overall less of a problem than being an American.

3) Pretty much all bottled water is sparkling, or “mit gass”

4) It doesn’t look like pictures.  Most of Zurich is a bunch of concrete apartments, trying to fit as much as possible into the smallest space.  It reminds me a lot of London in that way--there are beautiful old buildings, but a lot of the city is just overcrowded and overbusy.  I kind of like it, though.  The bustle reminds me of Toronto.

5) They don’t get married in Switzerland.  People hardly date, but if they do fall in love, they just live together until they die.  People literally cannot comprehend me and my situation when we explain it.  Get married?  And then move somewhere without a job prepared, simply because of a partner?  As one person curtly informed me when I suggested it, “Well, the Junge do not do that here.  Here, we are all supposed to function.”  That has been a little disheartening.  Only that other Jenna at church understood my predicament.

6) The healthcare isn’t free.  Indeed, we will be paying quite a lot for it.

7) There are no taxes on food!  What you see on a pricetag is what you get!  Huzzah!

8) Swiss croissants are called “Gipfeli” and are delicious

9) Swiss German is a cross between half of the world languages, I feel like.  There are signs in French talking about hair stylists, advertisements with English puns, Italian menu items, and weirdly almost-German greetings.  When you meet someone, you say “Gruezi,” and when you bump into someone you say “Ӓxcusi,” and if someone bumps into you, you say “Scho guen” (it’s all good).  None of these things is German, but they are all quite Swiss.

[fendor]

Miss Knotwise

Tobias and Rosa Knotwise, deciding that their passion and talents for research in herbology and alchemy were wasted among the generally well-cultivated fields and unambitious neighbors of their homeland of the Foloi Fields, as well as seeing a need to flee after (mostly) accidentally poisoning some of said neighbors with an experimental brew, set off for a journey of adventure and discovery among the exotic flora and fauna of the Silverthorn Jungle at the southern end of the eastern continent.  Making there new home along the banks of the Silversong River near the base of the Thornspire, they built a comfortable cottage with a well-tended garden of foodstuffs from home, a large green house to cultivate interesting specimen from the surrounding jungle, and a detached (for safety sake) alchemical and apothecarial laboratory.  They lived a contented life, studying and experimenting with the various plants of the jungle, developed a reasonably good relationship with the Goblins of Nott's Landing with whom they would trade, and eventually gave birth to a daughter, you.

Growing up, your parents, while being loving and nurturing, allowed you a lot of freedom to be and do your own thing, though, of course, you spent time learning some of their passions ("No child of mine is going to be ignorant in the healing arts." "A good homecooked meal is the best way to make people happy, even if that people is just you.")  and how to defend yourself ("A good blade can get you through rough vegetation, or someone tries to rough you up."  "A short bow, for when you really need to stab someone across the room.").  However, you were always more interested in wandering the jungle and befriending nature spirits (who began to follow you around, a swarm of little green fairy-lights fascinated by this wild child) and the local wildlife, especially the, to you, large lizard creatures.  

A pack of Compsognathus, bipedal carnivores about the same height as a fully grown halfling, had claimed a section of jungle north of your home as their hunting grounds.  You had spent weeks trying to get them to trust you, bringing treats and soothing words.  As you were making your way home one evening, you heard a terrible roar.  Making your way towards the noise, you see that a adolescent thunder lizard had seemingly cornered a young male compy.  Quickly drawing your bow, you fire an arrow into the corner of its mouth as it lunged for its prey, making it jerk its head in pain, allowing you to slip in and stand between it and the smaller lizard.  Screaming defiance up at the T-Rex three times your height, you loose another arrow, this time directly into its eye, causing it to rear back in pain, before withdrawing to seek easier hunts elsewhere.  

As you stood there, buzzing with adrenaline and trying to catch your breath, you felt a gentle nudging at your side.  Turning to see what it is, the lizard nuzzles against you and gently licks your face in thanks for saving his life.  He followed you home that night, and has followed you everywhere since.  

Now grown to young adulthood, your wanderlust is no longer satisfied with your jungle home.  So, with a tearful but understanding goodbye from your parents, you mounted up on your compy friend, and, surrounded by a pack of mini-compies (the physical form that your befriended swarm of nature spirits has taken since the night of the T-Rex), made your way to the city of Nott's Landing to seek your fortune.  You were in town just a few days before you got a job offer from a Tabaxi sea captain who was fascinated by your horde of lizards.  

You now find yourself sailing the seas aboard the Quirky Thing under Captain Feather in the Wind, cooking the meals and looking after the ship's hawkstriders. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Mark of Healing Halfling, Outlander-ish Background, Lizard Mistress Ranger

ASI:  Dexterity +2, Wisdom +1 Size:  Small Speed: 25 feet Armor: Light armor, medium armor, shields Weapons: Simple weapons, martial weapons Tool Proficiency:  Alchemist's supplies, Cook's utensils, Herbalism kit, CHOICE of one musical instrument Saving Throw Proficiency:  Strength, Dexterity Skill Proficiency:  Animal Handling, Athletics, Nature, Perception, Stealth, Survival (CHOICE of one of these for expertise) Languages:  Common, Halfling, Goblin, CHOICE of two additional

ABILITIES Lucky:   When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die. You must use the new result, even if it is a 1. Brave:   You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened. Nimble:   You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours. Medical Intuition:   Whenever you roll a Wisdom (Medicine) check or an ability check involving an Herbalism Kit, roll a d4 and add the number rolled to the total ability check. Healing Touch:   You can cast the Cure Wounds spell with this trait. Beginning at 3rd level, you can also cast the Lesser Restoration spell with this trait. Once you cast either spell with this trait, you can't cast that spell again until you finish a long rest. Favored Foe:   When you hit a creature with an attack roll, you can call on your mystical bond with nature to mark the target as your favored enemy for 1 minute or until you lose your concentration (as if you were concentrating on a spell). The first time on each of your turns that you hit the favored enemy and deal damage to it, including when you mark it, you increase that damage by 1d4. You can use this feature to mark a favored enemy a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest. This feature's extra damage increases when you reach certain levels in this class: to 1d6 at 6th level and to 1d8 at 14th level.

Canny Explorer: Choose one of your skill proficiencies. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make using the chosen skill. You can also speak, read, and write 2 additional languages of your choice. (these are already listed as CHOICEs above) Archery Fighting Style: You gain a +2 bonus to attack rolls you make with ranged weapons. Spellcasting: You can cast spells using your Wisdom.  Isn't that awesome?  (I'm not copying the spellcasting bit from the PHB). Spellcasting Focus: You can use a druidic focus for the material components of a spell that do not have a gold cost. Spells of the Mark Expanded Spell List (from Race): On top of the regular Ranger spells, you can also choose from the following when level appropriate: 1st level spell:  Healing Word 2nd level spell:  Prayer of Healing 3rd level spell:  Aura of Vitality, Mass Healing Word 4th level spell:  Aura of Purity, Aura of Life Primal Awareness: You can focus your awareness through the interconnections of nature: you learn additional spells when you reach certain levels in this class if you don't already know them, as shown in the Primal Awareness Spells table. These spells don't count against the number of ranger spells you know. Ranger level 3:  Speak with Animals Ranger level 5:  Beast Sense Ranger level 9:  Speak with Plants Ranger level 13:  Locate Creature Ranger level 17:  Commune with Nature You can cast each of these spells once without expending a spell slot. Once you cast a spell in this way, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. Ranger Conclave (Lizard Mistress): At 3rd level, you choose to emulate the ideals and training of a ranger conclave. Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 11th, and 15th level. Gathered Swarm: A swarm of intangible nature spirits has bonded itself to you and can assist you in battle.  Until you die, this swarm remains in your space, crawling on you or skittering around you within your space.  These spirits have taken on the form of miniature Compsognathus, only a few inches in height. Once on each of your turns, you can cause the swarm to assist you in one of the following ways, immediately after you hit a creature with an attack: The attack's target takes 1d6 piercing damage from the swarm. The attack's target must succeed on a Strength saving throw against your spell save DC or be moved by the swarm up to 15 feet horizontally in a direction of your choice. You are moved by the swarm 5 feet horizontally in a direction of your choice. Swarmkeeper Magic: Also at 3rd level, you learn the Mage Hand cantrip if you don't already know it. When you cast it, the hand takes the form of your swarming nature spirits. You also learn an additional spell of 1st level or higher when you reach certain levels in this class, as shown in the Swarmkeeper Spells table. Each spell counts as a ranger spell for you, but it doesn't count against the number of ranger spells you know. Ranger level 3:  Faerie Fire, Mage Hand Ranger level 5:  Web Ranger level 9:  Gaseous Form Ranger level 13:  Arcane Eye Ranger level 17:  Insect Plague Animal Companion: At 3rd level, you learn to use your magic to create a powerful bond with a creature of the natural world. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 50 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth an animal from the wilderness to serve as your faithful companion. You normally select your companion from among the following animals: an ape, a black bear, a boar, a giant badger, a giant weasel, a mule, a panther, or a wolf. However, your DM might pick one of these animals for you, based on the surrounding terrain and on what types of creatures would logically be present in the area. At the end of the 8 hours, your animal companion appears and gains all the benefits of your Companion’s Bond ability. You can have only one animal companion at a time. If your animal companion is ever slain, the magical bond you share allows you to return it to life. With 8 hours of work and the expenditure of 25 gp worth of rare herbs and fine food, you call forth your companion’s spirit and use your magic to create a new body for it. You can return an animal companion to life in this manner even if you do not possess any part of its body. If you use this ability to return a former animal companion to life while you have a current animal companion, your current companion leaves you and is replaced by the restored companion. Companion's Bond Your animal companion gains a variety of benefits while it is linked to you. The animal companion loses its Multiattack action, if it has one. The companion obeys your commands as best it can. It rolls for initiative like any other creature, but you determine its actions, decisions, attitudes, and so on. If you are incapacitated or absent, your companion acts on its own. When using your Natural Explorer feature, you and your animal companion can both move stealthily at a normal pace. Your animal companion has abilities and game statistics determined in part by your level. Your companion uses your proficiency bonus rather than its own. In addition to the areas where it normally uses its proficiency bonus, an animal companion also adds its proficiency bonus to its AC and to its damage rolls. Your animal companion gains proficiency in two skills of your choice. It also becomes proficient with all saving throws. For each level you gain after 3rd, your animal companion gains an additional hit die and increases its hit points accordingly. Whenever you gain the Ability Score Improvement class feature, your companion’s abilities also improve. Your companion can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or it can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, your companion can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature unless its description specifies otherwise.

[stone-man-warrior]

October 28, 2020: 2:53 pm:

Rantings from my suspended Twitter account today:

Green credentials.

Lots of text!

Long 'one liners', no period.

The Brits at Ruk are famous for their economy of language use. These tweets are out of normal contextual form for them, highly suspicious activity from Reuters UK, as per usual.

I think someone should send Reuters UK a gaint size box of periods.

I'll bet they are superstitious about the periods.

Send Reuters a truckload of periods, then, wait to see what they do with them.

Trump Quote of the day:

"If it isn't big, you don't have to vote for me" Big Text in Bullhead Arizona.

Fun Mystery fact, the kind that no one talks about, and, there are no existing photos to show online:

Bullhead Arizona, on the Colorado River, and, just about one or two miles down river from the Laughlin casino's, there are enormous statues.

Ten of them as I recall, five on each side of the river, in pairs that are opposite each other on the banks of the Colorado. The statue pairs are arranged about one quarter mile apart from one another.

At least one set of them has a tunnel beneath the river, enter the statue, to enter the tunnel, to get from Nevada to Arizona, and vice-verse.

Rumor has it, that the Mormons in Hollywood put the statues there.

The statues can be described best as "Flying Monkeys" from Wizard of Oz movie fame.

You could also say they are Gargoyles.

Flying Monkey's was the first thing I thought of as I floated my boat between them, thinking "WT actual F is that?".

Very creepy to see them. They are about fifty feet tall, are not small, are big. Online, there is a few photos of a small rendition of the same thing out on the river walk at one of the casinos, but, that one is only ten or twelve feet tall, and there is only one there at the casino. These other Flying Monkeys are big, and there are at least eight, I remember ten. It was 1991-1994 ish.

No one ever talks about them. If you scour the internet, you can find two or three written eye witness accounts of the existence of the giant Flying Monkeys of the Colorado, but you won't find any photos.

I drove to one of them, there were people inside of it. It turned out to be a bad idea to go look at the Flying Monkeys there, I don't remember why it was a bad idea. I do remember that I only stayed long enough to get of my car, I didn't go near the statue because of the people who came out of it when I got there.

Arizona Terror: There is a lot of it.

One thing I think should be of concern, is that in Arizona, it's a crime to be crazy. All they have to do is have some asshole say that you have a mental disorder, if that happens, the police can lock you up.

The truth about mental conditions and the way they relate to terror, is that it's a "brain disorder", and that means it's a "knowledge disorder", and that means that the person "knows too much", is locked up so they won't tell anyone what they know.

In Oregon, the same kind of thing is dealt with by making sure the person in question is harassed and menaced daily, and, is kept confined in their homes, until they can be lured into commuting a crime by retaliation for such daily menacing. BTW, Menacing is a serious crime. It's a lot more than a boy who bothers Mr. Wilson. Also, such persons are issued special "Smart Meters" on their power meters. I have three of them at my house. One on each of my three power drops from the transformer.

The Smart Meters have cameras on them, they look just like the ones on an iPhone.

The Smart Meters don't need a meter reader to come see usage, they broadcast the actual usage, as the usage occurs, live, all day, and all night, constant monitoring of power consumption.

It's a big deal.

Privacy encroachment into your home.

The meters and the software that runs them, and reads them, can learn over time about individual electronic items that are in use by virtue of the amperage drawn at the meter. The terrorist know when the laundry is running, that means they know you will be in the laundry room, live at the time. They know that the laundry is making some noise, useful to cover other noises as they come into the house to attack. They know if you are likely to be in the shower, naked, unarmed and vulnerable by a combination of lights drawing amps, and the water heater turning on with those lights.

It's a big deal, bad idea to have a Smart Meter that broadcasts live, all day.

Silver Creek Rd in Bullhead: Some of the most unbelievable things have been seen there, near the HWY95 intersection, and up the hill from there.

Once, there was an ambulance in front of me as I was driving down the hill on Silver Creek. The ambulance stopped about one quarter mile from the hwy 95, up the hill. Someone got out of that back of the ambulance, and so did the driver. The one in the back sat in a wheel chair, but did not seem as though he was confined to it.

A wheel chair, on Silver Creek... it's a very steep hill, descends into the busy Hwy 95 intersection.

The man in the wheel chair took off down the hill.... about fifty mph is my guess. He went through the intersection, which is a blind intersection for most of the traffic.

On the other side of hwy 95 was a ramp, and beyond that was an inflatable stunt movie bag, a giant air pillow.

The man hit the ramp, and flew into the air, and into that inflatable bag. Traffic continued to flow.

I went on my way. I got to a restaurant called Black Bear Restaurant. There was a four wheel drive limousine next to me in traffic there by the restaurant. The limousine exploded.Into bits.

Traffic continued to flow. As if it happens every day. There is a small hospital at the top of Silver Creek Road. In around 1991, I needed to take my son to an Emergency doctor, we went there, and were turned away.

"Are you French?"

No

"You don't speak French?"

No, my boy needs a doctor not a language class.

"We can't treat the boy, he is not French" That happened there. Later, another time at the same hospital, there was a live rock band playing in the place where the cafeteria used to be. It had been converted to a sound recording studio complete with live stage and isolation booths, records in frames on the walls, and down the hall were people in hospital beds, doctors doing radiology readings on backlit wall mounted light board, nurses going room to room, and reception staff all doing reception front office work, while that band was playing in the cafeteria/recording studio.

That happened. I think it was 2008 ish.

Knowing what I know now, and seeing what I saw then, and other things, it's clear to me that the place had been converted into a SAG practice area for hospital takeovers. What I was seeing was a practice for takeover. The band, might have been there to mimic pressure, so that that the actors in the beds, the nurses, the fake doctors and everyone involved could show that they can do what they need to do while under pressure. The band in the hospital playing loud, echoed and was unpleasant sound quality in there. The people all behaved as if there was no band playing.

Titanic Terror. The boat goes down, the band keeps playing on deck.

The same kind of thing happened in Grants Pass when the whole town was transformed into a practice for the hospital takeover in Las Vegas, when Concert 91 happened. No one has exposed the truth yet, that the hospitals in Vegas were overtaken by a combination of Canadian terror army, and Screen Actor Guild entertainers. The hospitals were ambushed by five hundred fake gunshot victims.

In Grants Pass in the week before that, the whole town, everything was a practice stage. The new construction of the Hampton Bay Suites at I-5 exit 58 was the place where the enormous sound system was tested, and practiced to mimic the sound of gunfire. That fake gunfire could be heard along the freeway all the way to Walmart and AM/PM.

The people at Am/Pm  were playing role of hotel check-in clerks as people brought store items to the counter. I was asked if I wanted to upgrade my room to a suite, when I just wanted some tobacco and a iced coffee. At the Fred Meyer inside the store, it was converted to a casino gaming floor practice area. The Fred Meyer employees dresses in Vegas Cocktail waitress outfits, with trays, saying their lines. Instead of cocktails on the trays, they used flan, Mexican pudding, in cups.

There is a meat cooler where chicken and pork is kept, it's about the size and shape of a craps table. There were people there in the Fred Meyer meat department throwing dice into the cooler, and there were gaming dealers dressed for the part, every one saying their lines.

None of the people knew anything about the game of craps. They were faking it, and doing a bad job of faking it.

The jewelry department was fitted with a "Wheel of Fortune" game, people around it saying their lines.

lots more, no one is interested in truth to hear any of it.

When Donald Trump says: "There must be law and order" he is really saying "there must be lawn order" and that translates to "there must be coup de gras order" He will follow that up, with the marching orders. 

3:02 pm.