#and around pre moon cairngorm

[somairle]

" you’ve changed quite a bit since i saw you last. " Antarct for Phos :3

PRE ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP PROMPTS

how can phos be sure this isn't a figment of their imagination? surely, it must be. they have the sudden need to rub their eyes just in case. was the moon playing tricks on them again? but the sight of antarctictite doesn't vanish, their visage clear against the background. phos's imagination could only ever conjure whisps of antarc's form, never enough to fully look at. cairngorm only served as a placeholder from time to time, but they never were actually like antarc. gold alloy pools at the corners of phos's eyes, an unexplainable emotion following. there may be very little left of phos's original gemstone, and perhaps he couldn't always remember antarc's face, but at least their memories of antarc were clear.

"y-you...," he starts, taking a small step forward towards them. they glance down at their gold arms, the alloy reflecting the light around them brightly, "it worked," they whisper, a small breathe of wonder, disbelief, and awe. "you're actually here? i'm not hallucinating you this time?" phos whispers the question, almost falling back into the habit of speaking at the ghost of antarc, rather than to them. "he promised he could... the chances were low! i just thought..."

the gem takes a step towards antarc, his hands reaching for the other, a new mournful look replacing the previous excited one. "i'm sorry. if i had only been quicker... if i had reached for you, they never would have taken you. all that winter, you were teaching me to be stronger... and i failed you." phos stood straight then, "but i'm stronger now. i can control my arms and my legs are faster than ever before... i may have lost my head, but with lapis's old one, i'm smarter, too!" they trail off then, hopeful eyes, almost pleading and expectant. and just for a moment they were their old self again.

"i always hoped one day i could show you just how strong i am now."

[warriorssurvivalandstuff]

Production notes in description and under the cut. Much longer here without a 5000 character limit to adhere to. Highlight:

Didn't intend this when the first frame used to just be og Phos kneeling there but realised mercury dress Phos works well for "wedding dress". The bad intro would've been Phos wandering over to the Cape instead of a pile of mercury for that case. Phos technically gained and lost the (quick)silver treasure before seashell huh?

Cinnabar is used in Chinese traditional medicine for its mercury content as a sedative, and mercury poisoning affects the motor neurones to cause tremours among other symptoms, so there's that for matching it to "morphine shakes" here.

"Violent man" and "Heart's decayed" might fit better switched around in the grand scheme but the focus on this scene is heart decayed for Phos. Also transitions to the next line better. Flipped from the panels because I need Cinnabar on the left side, also to transition to the next line better. There's other instances like this (the changed pov for "Don't go!", Phos before Cairn smashes their head for the night raid...) Though I might flip this around? If I want to keep Phos on the left side for pre-moon? That'd mean I have to flip around the next sequence somehow too though.

Here, Phos is walking further away from Cinnabar. Not sure what exactly "Smoking out the window" conveys but it sounds like a better place than "Get high in the bathroom" while not by much. Using this chorus for the difference and later reversal between Cinnabar and Phos' situations. Might add Euclase and Rutile looking at Cairn making Phos carry the scythe.

Was trying to do a transition there. If coloured, the dark night, a bit of red shine, mercury and star sparkles would blur alright into Cairngorm's broken arm. A previous draft was to show Cinnabar hunched in their cave but this would be literal "get high" and the transition for cave view was tougher.

It was unintentional but almost every "Baby" frame is a close-up of Phos suffering.

Phosphenes is a kind of hallucination (seeing light without light to be exact). Would overlay their faces onto the shards like the anime intro but too cheesy for me, it's just a Phos pun here. I would probably do that if depicting the Ghost Quartz loss fight instead since Phos was distracted thinking about recruiting Cinnabar for their schemes then.

Adamantly in my notes that Cinnabar doesn't visit Phos during 102 years. They're likely using that time to forget about them, the clipboard was even placed deeper in the cave so they stop staring at it every moment. Buried in the back of their mind if you will. Only one frame shows the clipboard kinda deteriorated because I forgot to apply to all.

"He's got a new girl-" (Points at Lapis head) Phos mostly wanted advice and insight from Cinnabar, and Lapis kinda fills this. Would attribute the confidence/influence from Lapis for Phos ignoring Cinnabar's call to stop. Though not sure if Phos was expecting Cinnabar to change their words to ask to come along instead since it sure looked like Cinnabar was gonna take their offer at first.

I've seen a quip going around that Phos remembers Cinnabar with their arms (kinda forgot them after winter).

The transition from LaPhos to MoonPhos would be less sudden if properly coloured but can't be bothered, the dramatic shading for Cinnabar's field of view wouldn't be so dramatic if LaPhos' clothes were black throughout.

It is a choice that og Phos is further than MoonPhos.

Staging this part was tricky, it was definitely going to be Phos trying to convince Cinnabar to come to the moon but had to make up visuals when it's a speech in the source. Thank goodness for mouldable hands, abstractness is more fun than having pop-up bubbles depicting it. Depicts the gems around Adamant, then them rising (to the moon) and leaving Adamant behind to pray. Guess they could change to moon clothes (just Phos' style since Phos is moulding and not a fashion designer) to make it clearer. Yellow and Dia were namedropped in text, but had to fill in someone for the last finger and went with Alexandrite for seniority since Phos was trying to look credible with this. Though maybe Rutile would've worked for having contact with Cinnabar and having respectable knowledge, then them not actually going would be funny. Made the choice at 3 am and didn't want to change it. Cinnabar at the thumb position makes them further from the rest and gets pulled closer + mercury removed after the ascension, Dia is next to them assuming Phos knows about them being born the same year (Doubt it but again they namedropped Dia (probably for the hardness (oh well)(Alexi happens to be hardest after Padpa so unknowingly justified that)), Phos is in the middle because, Yellow and Alexi just arbitrary order. Might swap Phos and Dia's places, Phos being hidden behind Adamant could work well. After the gems rise (go to the moon), Adamant is behind bars (isolated). This is the main reason Cinnabar doesn't follow. This image also parallels Phos being put in a cage after they visit Earth post-raid. A draft of the hand theatre was going to be about removing the mercury (the desperate last ditch argument) but this is much better after the staging got worked out, it follows the progression and actually points out the main problem with Phos' recruitment attempt, though "don't breathe out" is quite "don't exude mercury". Hopefully it's not too abstract but Phos making hand blobs and poofing them wasn't great either.

"So fun but I got bills to pay." could be sarcastic or it could be Cinnabar actually turning down a better situation for piety to Adamant. Either way they're soured on Phos seemingly losing empathy for their situation because the parallels between these three go hard.

It was hilarious that Phos just stood there until daytime afterwards. And they're now on the moon (light) side while Cinnabar remains in the night (or so they think).

"Smoking" now features both of them in the middle chorus, would try to do the same for "Get high" but no ideas that look good. Honestly here towards Padpa wrecking Cinnabar was tough to script and stage.

Tonight, Phos is the Lunarian on the receiving end of mercury wave. Actually utilising phosphenes-hallucination this time with a callback to Cinnabar defending Phos with mercury despite not wanting to use it.

Still unsure how Padpa wrecked Cinnabar exactly. Seen it floating around that it was indirect but a whipcrack-like effect from their sword that did it. I'll just make it clear here it was Padpa that did it even though they should be standing a ways behind Phos.

As a callback to previous chorus, Cairn smashes Phos' head in. I think they've got a decent role in this thing despite not being about them, Bort a bit too.

Cinnabar is on the right edge for every frame this sequence (soft skin press cold hands sleep sweet) except the last. In the part where Phos gets Caesar'd, it's uncertain if Cinnabar, Red Beryl or Sphene threw the last sword. Guessing Sphene since we don't see the other two with a sword ever, even though Sphene didn't seem to have one either when touching up the cage. Peridot had one so assuming they were both patrolling. ...Forgot to include Bort again after the cage disappears.

Honestly I think Phos just crawled to the island's edge to escape instead of actually seeking out Cinnabar in their cave. But I won't argue if Cinnabar's on their mind.

Needed the mercury mark for "Coffee stain", so a dramatic shift from flappy board to empty. If shaded, the pages would cast no shadow to suggest not actually being there. I believe this parallels how Phos declares they can break hardness 2 with a single touch later, as the clipboard had once represented "only ally/friend" to them. And well it sits in Cinnabar's cave.

Still made of gold, no more curly hair or river eyes. It's the original Phos that Cinnabar holds with importance. It's nice to believe that they could've been fulfilled without dramatic changes for og Phos to be feel accomplished by solving a long-running issue while Cinnabar gets a pestering friend undaunted by the poison. But that'd be boring to actually have instead of this mess so thank goodness the possibility is just there to make the angst sharper.

Cinnabar is now matched to "Smoking" with the scene kinda similar to the first one with Phos, running along with the other gems. Phos now matched to "Get high", where they're separated from the others and on a flight of stairs like the cliff Cinnabar stood on. There's hints to Phos-Adamant parallels with the placement, and... Cinnabar-Aechmea parallels?? What. Why does he have Cinnabar's haircut.

"Lightning" to Phos' spiky gold and "Fingertips" to Cinnabar's hand would fit better but the flow and sequence of events demand otherwise, it is Cinnabar who makes the first move. Same for "Jump" matching to Phos emerging from the mercury pile, it simply flicked too fast to make any sense.

Would have Phos actually slowly emerge from the mercury pile but lost steam. This entire sequence might get a remaster down the line anyway, I need to properly draw the big splash clash.

"April to our death bed," They officially met in autumn but whatever. And they both die (metaphorically) after this part.

The "Baby" exception. It's a close-up of Cinnabar's broken head this time.

And we're back to the start. This was unintentional, as said above, but it's a nice effect as all the lyrics are over.

And we end with the product of their whatever entanglement. Phos doesn't have actual cinnabar fragments picked up with the mercury I don't think, like it's possible but we see them swerving around the focus pile and broken body so pretty sure it's meant to be none.

Thumbnail: Burial box is a vibe, doesn't get focus in the actual vid so there. Gut feeling says that whole thing concludes them quite well, and death theming. Cinnabar is kinda someone who watches things die around them and of the few(?) who sees the graveness of death due to their poison. The body and box themselves are ambiguous in identity with gloves over the unpowdered and identifying fingernails, but the two mercury blobs reflect the colour of Cinnabar's hair above and Phos' uncollected shards around. The indirectness adds to it imo. Might switch them actually so a top blob reflects what's inside the box instead, or just horizontal flip to match the starting positions of the ending turnaround.

Favourite dynamic. Now get them out of my head.

[jdu662]

10 songs that bring back memories of my travels: Jo Frost's playlist

10 songs that bring back memories of my travels: Jo Frost's playlist

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Alamy Zorba’s Dance by Mikis Theodorakis

© Photograph: Alamy Cape Verde accordionist Victor Tavares, known as Bitori, on stage with bass player Danilo Tavares.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of family holidays to Greece. These days Zorba’s Dance is undeniably a bit of a cliche, but when I hear that slow bouzouki intro, I’m reminded of my dad, who would put this LP on after drunken dinners and start dancing the sirtaki. I watched Zorba the Greek for the first time during lockdown last year when I came across it in my dad’s DVD collection. I was surprised by how much it affected me, making me pine for Greece – and for my dad, who I realise looked remarkably like Zorba (played by Anthony Quinn).

Vuoi Vuoi Me by Mari Boine

© Provided by The Guardian Sami musician Mari Boine on stage in Norway. Photograph: Gonzales Photo/Alamy

Womad has been the source of so many of my musical introductions: it was there, in 2007, that I first saw Mari Boine – the unofficial ambassador of Sámi music – perform live. It started a fascination with Sámi culture and joik, the distinctive guttural song style of the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia. Several years later I was invited to Kautokeino, way up past the Arctic Circle near Boine’s home of Karasjok, for the Sámi Easter festival. It felt like a crash course in all things to do with joik and reindeer, but it also gave me an invaluable insight into Sámi history and the people’s relationship with those who colonised their land. These days the Sámi have their own parliament, flag and national day (6 February).

That’s It! by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

© Provided by The Guardian Jazz at Preservation Hall, New Orleans. Photograph: Alamy

Like many others, I saw most of my travel plans scuppered last year, including a road trip from Nashville to New Orleans to coincide with the New Orleans jazz fest. The impetus for the trip had largely come about while binge-watching the HBO series Treme. We’d compiled a playlist for our journey through Tennessee and Louisiana, but when it became clear that our dream of visiting venues such as Preservation Hall in New Orleans wasn’t going to happen, we’d play it at home. This track by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band always lifts my spirits, gets me dancing and makes me dead set on rebooking our trip as soon as it’s safe to do so.

Bitori Nha Bibinha by Bitori

The most internationally celebrated artist from Cape Verde is the late Cesária Évora, the doyenne of morna music, steeped in saudade (nostalgia or longing). I could have picked any number of Cesária songs, but when I visited Santiago – largest of the Cape Verde islands – it was funaná that became the soundtrack of my trip, blaring out of the packed alugueres (minibus taxis), market stalls and bars. Funaná was banned by the Portuguese up until 1975 as they feared the songs in Creole were subversive and its frenetic dance rhythms immoral. Septuagenarian accordion player Victor Tavares, AKA Bitori, is the genre’s unlikely star, largely thanks to singer Chando Graciosa who persuaded him to record this in 1997, and to Samy Ben Redjeb of Analog Africa, who rereleased it in 2016.

Train Song by Sakar Khan

One of the most atmospheric festival locations I’ve visited is the Mehrangarh Fort, home of Riff – the Rajasthan International Folk Festival, held each October during the harvest moon in Jodhpur. This colossal red sandstone edifice reverberates with the sound of Rajasthani folk musicians such as Manganiyar legends Lakha Khan and the late Sakar Khan, masters of traditional bowed, stringed instruments the sindhi sarangi and the kamayacha. Riff is a full-on immersive experience and to do it justice, a certain level of stamina is required as concerts start at dawn, carry on through the heat of the day, then continue long into the night. Whenever I hear the rasping sounds of these ancient instruments, I’m instantly transported back to Jodhpur.

St Thomas by Sonny Rollins

© Provided by The Guardian The Jazz a Vienne festival, France. Photograph: Alamy

One of the benefits of studying French and German (in those happy EU days) was being able to spend a year as an English language assistant in a school in Vienne, just south of Lyon. After my stint teaching, I volunteered at Jazz à Vienne, a wonderful two-week jazz festival held in the town’s Roman amphitheatre. I returned every summer during the early 1990s, making lifelong friends and getting a crash course in jazz in the process. Over the years I saw incredible artists, including Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and Sonny Rollins, who remains one of my favourite sax players. The experience became the foundation for my love of music from around the world and my work today.

The Plateau by Jenny Sturgeon

I’ve always found comfort in walking, and last year it took on even greater importance. So between lockdowns, my partner and I headed up to the Cairngorms to do some hiking. Just before our trip I received Jenny Sturgeon’s musical tribute to Nan Shepherd’s book about the Cairngorms, The Living Mountain. Every hike we embarked on would reveal different landscapes – and every type of weather imaginable. Back in London, listening to Jenny’s album brings back memories of those mountains, especially hearing the bird song on this opening track, as Jenny sings: “Step on step, foot by foot, we walk that’s how we know, through the heather and the mud, the plateau ringing through our blood.”

Count Your Blessings by the Como Mamas

© Provided by The Guardian Porto Covo beach, Alentejo. Photograph: Alamy

One of my European festival highlights in recent years was FMM Sines, held on Portugal’s wild and relatively untouristy Alentejo coast, in the towns of Porto Covo and Sines. A really relaxed, friendly vibe permeated the opening weekend in the seaside resort of Porto Covo, where a mixture audience of locals and travellers congregated in the main square. The Como Mamas, from Mississippi, were unknown to me, but turned out to be a revelation. As the three singers took to the stage, the atmosphere transformed into something resembling a devoted congregation at a gospel gathering. Since then, Count Your Blessings has become a mantra, particularly last year.

Pothole in the Sky by Lisa O’Neill

© Provided by The Guardian Irish musicians at O’Donoghue’s pub, Dublin. Photograph: Hugh Reynolds/Alamy

One of the things I sorely miss during these socially distanced times is those random conversations you strike up with complete strangers over a pint. There’s nowhere better to do this than in Dublin, especially in one of the city’s many music pubs, such as The Cobblestone or O’Donoghue’s. I haven’t been lucky enough to see the Irish singer Lisa O’Neill at a session, although she was apparently a regular in pre-Covid times. The combination of chat, beer and music is perfect and I can’t wait to revisit.

La Grande Folie by San Salvador

Most of the travelling I do as editor of Songlines is to festivals around the world, and one of the things I most enjoy about them is the communal listening experience. There’s something visceral about hearing music being performed live with other people around you. For me, San Salvador perfectly encapsulate this feeling. A sextet from Saint-Salvadour in south-west France, they sing in Occitan. There’s a real physicality to their music and something incredibly powerful about the combination of voice and percussion. They always finish their sets with La Grande Folie – a song that resonates with these crazy times.

• San Salvador are due to perform at Songlines Encounters Festival at Kings Place in May (Covid permitting)

[midewana]

Nov 14, 2018

Phos and several of the restored lustrous crashed on a planet inhabited by regular humans. There was something about this part of the universe that caused humans and human-derived beings to occasionally crash-land here and that was also how this planet was originally colonised. Most of the lustrous, led by Phos, formed a new headquarters around the crash site while some of them sort of defected and lived in a nearby city but were free to return if they wanted.

I followed the life of a lustrous similar to pre-Moon Cairngorm who was trying to use this planet's technology to repair their ship. The plan wasn't working well, though, as engineers were reluctant to help. At some point they met a lustrous who was born on this world and told them their life story so far. The new gem, who was "offscreen", asked who their leader was and where to find them. The Cairn-like gem replied that it was Phos, someone lacking in mental stability and whose mind was pretty out there but who nevertheless meant well and tried doing the right thing. The camera changed angles, revealing the new offscreen lustrous. This was Phos, who was somehow restored into a full Lapis body plus long hair, making them unrecognisable as Phos outwardly. They pouted in response to the mean comments about them but were hopeful that a better future was about to come.

[dansnaturepictures]

Looking back on our January trip to Scotland in 2018, four years ago this week 

Between 17th-20th January 2018 I had some of the best times of my life on the ‘Birding Bites’ birdwatching tour with Heatherlea in the Highlands of Scotland and on the Moray Coast. I can hardly believe four whole years are soon to have passed since this, and I always feel quite nostalgic of this time around this time of year. So I felt like doing a post to remember this trip. I shall set the scene on this trip and what it meant to me, describe overall the enormity of it for me, take each of the two days in the field there and remember my feelings as the days began, key moments/species of it and how I felt at the end of the day. Then explore the legacy on my hobby this trip had. 

Going back to September 2017, four months from my 21st birthday and I finished my apprenticeship office role at my first job. My Mum told me that for my 21st birthday the whole family had paid for me and her to go on a birdwatching trip somewhere and she told me the dates which as I took up a part-time role and looked for a full time one I must say I had pre-booked holiday for. But she didn’t tell me where the trip was. I became so excited at the prospect of it and guessing where it might be. My first thought was I hoped it would be Scotland, as I had longed to visit this country of renowned wilderness and range and calibre of species of birds as well as mammals and everything. I sort of thought it would be, but prepared a back up guess of somewhere in England to say if asked what my guess was so that if I guessed Scotland and it wasn’t my family wouldn’t think I was disappointed. But honestly I had in my head somewhere relatively close to the border, perhaps to visit WWT Caerlaverock which I had told my family I’d like to go to one day specifically and still would. It was a massive dream of mine to visit the Cairngorms too. So when my 21st birthday fell on 7th January 2018 I was over the moon to open up wrapped up train tickets to Aviemore. Right in the Cairngorms beyond my wildest dreams, to stay at Nethy Bridge for the tour. I could not believe it and was so happy. My family clearly knew exactly what I wanted and its one of the greatest presents I ever got. 

The two days away in the field and two days travelling there and back were everything I hoped it would be and more. I thought of a list of iconic Cairngorms and Scottish species when I found out where we were going, bird and mammal and thought to myself if I could just see one of those whilst there that would be amazing. All of those icons which this specific tour aimed to see, we saw on the day around the Highlands on 18th. We saw other amazing species including lots for the first time that year that day, and the next day on the Moray coast saw more sensational wildlife and also the sheer amount of what we saw in a day was probably unprecedented for me. It was two amazingly busy days seeing some of the finest wildlife the UK has to offer. For my bird year list and life list the numbers of what we saw were groundbreaking. What made this experience all the more brilliant was the landscape covered in a blanket of thick white snow in the Highlands for the other side of my hobby giving me some of the greatest views and landscapes if not the greatest, that I had ever seen and I loved taking photos and taking this in. Seeing snow in a way I never had before. For someone who is known for getting hot quite easily, sitting in the tour bus with three layers and thermal socks on and not being too warm with the heating on after a look outside of the bus summed up how memorably cold it was which has lived long in the memory. It was all with an excellently skilled and friendly team at Heatherlea Scott and Mark our guides and the team at the hotel who made the trip so awesome. And as I explore below we met some other brilliant people on the trip with us. 

A year ago tomorrow 17th January was all about travelling up and a sense of doing something we’d never done before. Getting trains to and across London, then up to Scotland passing places like Yorkshire, Newcastle and Northumberland where I’d never been before at that stage was so exciting in itself. An abiding memory was the snow getting thicker and thicker the further north we went into Scotland, and as Scott picked us up from Aviemore station and drove us to Nethy Bridge seeing glimpses of the iconic pine forest landscape through the headlights at night made me think “Wow, I’m actually in Scotland”. The wonderful moment of seeing Christmas lights still up in villages, and being told it was because the winters are long and dark up here but also because one company puts up and takes down the Christmas lights for every village and hadn’t done these yet lived long in the memory. 

That sense of into the unknown for us was prominent to start 18th January too and I was so excited. Being up and out in the snow early was a perfect introduction to being outdoors in the light in Scotland. It was a day packed with wow moments. Seeing the snow cover everything everywhere, seeing our first ever Red Grouse at Dorback, seeing our first ever mainland Red Squirrels near there and at Loch Garden, just visiting RSPB Loch Garten a place I had heard so much about, seeing Crested Tit there, a Capercaillie somewhere else one of the greatest birds I’d ever seen without doubt, a White-tailed Eagle flying over from the road, some of the moments of my life seeing Golden Eagles soar over against the blue sky on a sunny day with the thick snow below finally catching up my Mum on a bird she had seen as a teenager on mainland Europe, seeing Red Deers in a way I never had in the vast landscape, an exciting telescope view of my first ever Mountain Hare, seeing my earliest Dipper in a year too and getting an amazing view of a Black Grouse another first for us with Red Grouse and other birds stars throughout the day. My abiding memory from this day was the scale of it all for me as the first time I’d seen five new birds in a day since I was a child, as well as how in aw of everything we were. I took photos aplenty that day, including the first six in this photoset of a view at Dorback, Red Squirrel near, Crested Tit at Loch Garten, the icy Loch Garten itself, Golden Eagle over Garbole, Strathdearn and a view down an icy river at Coignafearn, Strathdearn one of the biggest feelings of wilderness I felt all trip. 

On the 19th its hard to remember how I went into it, I was probably in a daze of excitement and joy from the packed day before and just making the most of it and looking forward to the day ahead, and so relaxed and happy as we took the journey. It was a trip out to Moray to plenty more fantastic locations and we saw incredible amounts of birds. A huge proportion of our year ticks that day were birds I had seen less than five times in my life which was extraordinary and birds I’d seen closer than I ever had before or in a way I never had before. Whooper Swan, Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Common Scoter, Red-throated and Great Northern Diver, Bar-tailed Godwit, Yellowhammer, Fieldfare, Purple Sandpiper, Grey Partridge, Waxwing in someone’s garden, Guillemot, Golden Plover, Velvet Sctoer, Knot, Linnet and Hooded Crow were my many highlights seen that day. I reflected so much on how this was an equally monumental day for us, and felt so happy and rewarded to have had this phenomenal whistlestop birding experience in this amazing place as the group had our last tea together and reflected on the two days. I took the final four pictures in this photoset that day of Lossiemouth the place that impressed me most and the furthest north I’ve ever been and Waxwing in the garden in Burghead and a group of Eiders there. 

The 20th was a day definitely more tinged with sadness that it was over as we made our way home and as my Mum put it when coming back from the station in the evening it was like come back in from the wardrobe that took us to Narnia. But the 20th did give me some key moments to look back on, such as a Red Deer looking right at me into the train with little Red Grouse darting around in the snow too a key bird of the trip as we passed back through the Highlands. A real moment I can always go back to which summed up the trip and everything I loved about it so much as we saw a lot of amazing scenery from the train coming back which was in the dark on the way up. I came away thinking Scotland was everything I’d hoped for for years and more, I loved my time there and it really is an extraordinary, wild and welcoming place. 

I often look back at Scotland 2018 and think that birding trip changed us as birders a little. Its subtle to see as I have loved birds for so long and I had been birdwatching for over a decade beforehand so I wouldn’t want it to be thought that I loved birds less before than I did after, but after Scotland we seemed to increase our passion and desire to try and see as many birds as we could always. We undoubtedly learnt a lot about different species on the trip from the guides and others and also maybe learnt to a appreciate a landscape and all species it had to offer within it a bit more. An interesting measure is year list wise as I felt the injection of year ticks in Scotland always gave me a chance for 2018 to be one of my greatest year lists and be my highest ever which I had achieved in both 2016 and 2017, and that did happen in that extraordinary year as I finished on 198 birds seen. I sort of thought in the closing months I need to make the most of this and as I overtook 2017′s previous highest total for me with months to spare and see as much as I could as the year would be a one off. But 2019 more than matched it with me being on a similar amount or more bird species seen than 2018 on given days and it kept pace with it and I went two better and saw 200 species that year 2019 now my highest ever year list. I didn’t think it would ever compete with what we had seen in Scotland the year before propelling that year list of mine but we made it with the great drive we now had. 2020 had an even faster start than 2018 and 2019 but was hindered quite rightly by lockdowns its scary to think where I might have finished in 2020 without Covid happening. As I have said so recently 2021 was in the league of 2018 and 2019 for birds I saw I only saw one less than 2018 last year. 

The interesting thing about 2018 when comparing my year lists in January with work the new job I’d started 2nd January 2018 and feeling a bit ill in the days before the Scotland trip when we had leave and the weekend my birding opportunities were limited so the amount I had seen on those dates was relatively low compared to the years that followed and some before but then Scotland happens and with my first Grey Heron of 2018 seen in a London park from the train on the way up 33 year ticks in three days made at the time 2018 the highest any of my year lists had been on those dates quite comfortably and only in 2020 have I ended January on more birds seen so far. When comparing my year lists and how many birds I had seen as of 15th January in years last night 2018 is quite far down and I thought to myself this morning I bet this year still riding high will fall behind 2018 this week. It likely will but if I manage four year ticks today which isn’t impossible and there are still targets to chase for my Lakeside lunch time walks this week too, I would stay ahead of 2018 for now so me having such a fast start to this year is part of the desire the 2018 Scotland trip inspired. 

What was also unique as our first residential birding tour ever it was just so lovely to be with like-minded people, all enjoying our passion. For someone who has always struggled with social anxiety this was invaluable so maybe made me a little more proud of my interest and willing to talk about it to others etc. which is important. 

I think the fact we managed to get all the way to Scotland too inspired our June holidays in 2018 and 2019, usually focused on seabirds we actually visited Yorkshire (also my backup guess!) for Bempton Cliffs and others later in 2018 and Northumberland in 2019 for the Farne Islands quite far away for us. And for the latter being very close to the Scottish border we could not resist a hop over for a second time for me visiting St. Abb’s Head near Eyemouth seeing amazing Scottish coastal scenery like the amazing Bass Rock, a Northern Brown Argus one of the greatest butterflies we’ve ever seen and more. So lovely to return to Scotland a place I love so deeply, and I hope I’ll do it again soon. 

Contained within the blog below, a post I did about the trip a year on from it, are the links to the blogs I did on the days in 2018.

https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/182141986063/a-year-since-my-scotland-adventure-today-marks

[kobat0s]

phosvolutions ranked

original phos (ep 1-5/ch 1-10): a sweet child. kind of an idiot who just sat around in the grass and complained a lot, but what can you do when you’re 300 years old and still jobless. had a pure love for sensei and just wanted to make everyone happy. 7/10

agate legs phos (ep 5-8/ch 11-19): a speedy kid. but they couldn’t quite run away from the consequences of their irresponsible actions. 6/10

gold arms phos - post-antarc (aka depressed phos) (ep 9-11/ch 20-27): a sad rock going through an existential crisis. sports a cool new look. this phos went through some really amazing character development. phos became useful, but at what cost? 8/10

gold arms phos - post-shiro (aka suspicious phos) (ep 11-12 &beyond, hopefully/ch 28-38): what the fuck. 0/10

❈ manga spoilers under the cut

gold arms phos - post-ghost (aka healthy phos) (ch 39-44): cairngorm literally punched the depression out of phos, and the result is a phos who’s both more competent than pre-gold arms phos and much more upbeat than the previous gold arms phoses. having a snarky partner in the form of cairngorm also made for a lot of fun banter. 100/10

lapis head phos (ch 46-48): what a beauty. this phos has all the upbeatness and strength of the previous post-ghost phos, plus lapis’ powerful analytical skills (and sexiness). also phos is a senpai now! 10/10 

   *(ponytail phos technically falls under the same phosvolution as lapis head, but due to the sheer power of the ponytail, their rating goes up to 1000/10)

short haired phos (ch 48-56): this phos goes right back to suspecting sensei. ok. at least they’re not nearly as sad about it as post-shiro phos, thanks to cairngorm being around. then again, they did decide to just up and go to the moon. 5/10.

moon phos (ch 56-present): phos has another existential crisis, but this time they decide to drag in a bunch of other gems into having crisises with them, too (the moon is a metaphor for having an existential crisis).  however, credit must be given to their fuckin amazing new look, especially the sexy backless outfit. 8/10