#he had a black sun tattooed literally in the centre of his forehead

[tweedfrog]

Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola poses a bold question: what if 2 men fixed their interpersonal issues and vastly different political alignments by becoming in-laws. It also asks what if an architect had magic powers and could stop time? And there was a random trombone player who became a nazi after hanging out with 4 people in a car and then he got killed like mussolini? Hmmm? What then?

[llucy-san]

OC Biography Tag

Tagged by my lovely mutuals I'm thankful for them as peoples and their characters ❤️❤️ @faithchel @risenlucifer @nightwingshero @pd3

not sure who already did this but will @fromathelastoveritaserum @f0xyboxes @goodboiboomer-fc5 @smithandrogers @xbaebsae @tommymillers @theknifegame @tomexraider @ja-crispea @starsandskies @shelliechen @v3ryvelvet @lobanhart

Hayley Moore

The Basics

Full Name: Hayley Louise Moore

Codename: Sweetpie (John) Hale (close friends - Nadia uses it the most)

Birth Date: August 15th, 1991

Birth Place: New Orleans

Nationality: American

Organization/Group: Duncan's Corporation (Atlanta), Project of Eden's Gate (Hope County)

Former Affiliations: Some jobs while studying law, internships mostly

Family and Friends

Father: Scout Moore

Mother: Camille Moore

Siblings: none

Other Relatives: Nadia is her closest friend, more likely her sister, after getting married Jacob and Joseph became her brothers in law and lastly Faith her sister in law

Spouse: Kyle Peters (ex-boyfriend) John Duncan later Seed (husband)

Children: Twins - Kol and Valerie

Description

Height: 5′5″

Weight: 135 Ibs

Hair Color: Chocolate Brown

Eye Color: Olive Green

Skin Color: Olive

Any Scars? None

Any Tattoos?

Flock of birds on the left shoulder blade

Wisdom written in latin on the right inner wrist

Any Piercings? Ears piercing

Random Fact

Other Notable Features: Beauty mark under the left eye

Very sharp and excellent lawyer

Not a big fan of being the centre of attention and especially when she finds another article of her private life in a newspaper or a magazine 

She cancelled the engagement after learning of John's little affair with his ex Victoria (she made it up to revenge Hayley)

Nadia was there for Hayley during the hard times, and she was the one who literally came to kick John's ass to pull himself together and go after Hayley.

Hope Lansdowne

The Basics

Full Name: Hope Amelia Lansdowne

Codename:

Judge (Joseph after the crucial accident with her brother)

Shorty/Beanie/ Geronybro (Hurk and Sharky)

Kid/Kiddo (Dutch)

Sweetheart/Honeypie (Adelaide)

Birth Date: September 24th, 1993

Soldier/Clown (Mary May)

Birdy (Ophelia - Peggy close friend)

Birth Place: Whitetail Mountains, Hope County

Nationality: American

Organization/Group:

US Army (101 Airborne Division)

Resistance (Whitetails)

Project of Eden's Gate (Judge)

Former Affiliations: Local pilot of Whitetail Mountains

Family and Friends

Father: Malachi Lansdowne

Mother: Olivia Lansdowne

Siblings: Marcus Lansdowne ( older brother)

Other Relatives: none, all dead

Spouse: well her love life is really complicated. She dated with John a little bit but then she dated Jacob but both relationships didn't end up well. But she also had moments with Silas - one of the project soldiers

Children: none

Description

Height: 5′6″

Weight: 140 Ibs

Hair Color: Blond

Eye Color: Blue

Skin Color: Olive

Any Scars?

Small scar on her forehead hidden under compact locks (car accident)

Small cuts on the arms (knife), bullet mark on the right arm (shot by peggie)

scar on the left thigh (helicopter crash)

Any Tattoos?

Dove on the right side of her collarbone (both Hope and her friend Rose)

Pride on the left side of her collarbone

Indian pattern down the valley between her breasts ( did it while she was drunk and wanted to prove Sharky she won't give up their silly game)

Any Piercings? Ear piercing only

Other Notable Features:

Random Fact

Served in the army for 5 years, 2 trips in Afghanistan 3 trips in Iraq

Her last journey was almost critical for her

Thanks to her resilience and experience, she survived all the trials and battles (prison camp, project, also the new world)

Even after breaking up with both brothers (John, Jacob) she never made peace with her rivals. (Holly-John, Alexis-Jacob)

During the arrival of the law enforcement, she pulled herself into the backdrop and hid under the guise of a new identity (Judge) because the one deputy who put the handcuffs on Joseph's hand brought back a lot of memories from the past

Marcus Lansdowne

The Basics

Full Name: Marcus Adam Lansdowne

Codename:

Marcus/Soldier (Jacob)

Marc (Hope)

Sweetie/Dummy (Avery)

Birth Date: February 2nd, 1987

Birth Place: Whitetail Mountains, Hope County

Nationality: American

Organization/Group:

US Army

Project of Eden's Gate

Former Affiliations: Owner of Children Camp in Whitetails

Family and Friends

Father: Malachi Lansdowne

Mother: Olivia Lansdowne

Siblings: Hope (younger sister)

Other Relatives: none, all dead

Spouse: Avery Claire (wife)

Children: none

Description

Height: 6′1″

Weight: 170 Ibs

Hair Color: Blond

Eye Color: Blue

Skin Color: Sun-kissed

Any Scars?

scar above eyebrow (fight against whitetails)

Knife scar on the left wrist.

Scar on the right shoulder blade

Any Tattoos? Black band on left arm

Any Piercings? Nope

Other Notable Features: Birthmark above the eyebrow

Random Fact

For a long time after his parents died, he blamed himself for what happened 

Eli was the one who introduced him to the project and the one who brought it to one of the masses

Head of the hunters and later the superior of the Chalet training camp in the mountains

After the peace between the project and the resistance has settled, he participated like many others in the reconstruction.

[cali-holland]

Teenage Love Story, Part Four- S.M.

Pairing: Shawn Mendes X Reader

Prompt: Shawn’s big day- performing at Rogers Centre, and the first time you two see each other in months.

Word Count: 3400

Previous Parts: Teaser   One   Two   Three

~~~

“Shawn, stop.” You whined breathlessly through a fit of laughter.

“Never.” He laughed, continuing to tickle you with his hands roaming viciously around your hips.

“I need to pack.” Your words made his smile falter and he stopped his actions with an over-dramatic sigh. His hands rested on your waist as you leaned up to peck his lips.

“Do you have to go?” He asked, pulling away from the kiss with a small groan.

“To college? Yes.” You said with a small giggle, your fingers making their way to lightly tug on and twist around his curls at the nape of his neck.

“You could always just stay with me on tour, you know?”

“I’ve spent all summer with you.” You teased. After you two graduated, Shawn took off on his tour for Handwritten and you followed him all over North America. You stayed with him in Pickering for his birthday, and now you had a day to finish up packing back in Nashville before moving out for college. Shawn had pulled you away from your anxious thoughts on getting everything gathered for college with a tickle fight, making you appreciate him being there with you even more.

“Mmm,” Shawn hummed before shaking his head, “I’m going to miss you. The shows won’t be nearly as good without my number one fan there supporting me.”

“I’ll always be with you. I’m going to miss you too.” You told him and he gave you another kiss.

“Just promise me that you won’t go falling for any college guys, yeah?”

“Promise me that you won’t have any groupies, and we have a deal.”

“Deal.” He laughed, and you kissed him for a third time before moving away from him to continue packing, just like you had been doing earlier.

“You know, next time I see you, you’re going to have two albums out.” You stated, thinking about how his new album, Illuminate, was dropping in a month. You sat in front of your dresser and began to hand him your clothes and he placed them into your suitcase. 

“And then I’ll really count as a rockstar.” 

“You’ll count once you get Rogers Centre.” You teasingly remarked. Shawn chuckled as you absentmindedly gave him some of your underwear. You scoffed when you looked over and realized what he was laughing about.

“Want me to take these with me, huh, babe?” His face was red as he continued to laugh at his own humor. 

“Shut up, just put them in the suitcase.” You rolled your eyes at him.

“Nah, I think I’ll take this for the road.” He held up a single pair of your black underwear, discarding the others into the suitcase.

“Shawn,” You sighed, quickly taking it from him and placing it in your bag. Your eyes darted towards your open bedroom door, making sure your parents hadn’t passed by, “That’s it- you’re on shoe duty.”

“Aw, come on, you don’t want to take my underwear with you?” Shawn teased.

“Yours probably smell disgusting. Why would I want them?”

“I’ll keep that in mind for when I do a Calvin Klein photoshoot.” You playfully hit his shoulder and he pulled you in for a kiss, not wanting to lose the opportunity to show you just how much he loved you.

As you were drawn away from your deep sleep, all you wanted to do was kiss Shawn again. Back then, it seemed like the two of you would share countless kisses for all of time- that you would always be happy together. It was with a heavy heart that you realized that it may never happen again.

Today was a big day for you- and well, definitely a bigger day for Shawn. His first stadium show was today at the Rogers Centre, and today was the first day you would see him in person since the airport all those months ago. After calling Aaliyah a few weeks ago, she had managed to get you a ticket to the show. It was for the same VIP area that she’d be in with the rest of the special guests such as his entire family and his close friends.

You let out a large sigh as you climbed out of your bed that felt unusually cold last night. Yawning and stretching, you got ready for the day, already trying to plan a simple outfit for later tonight. If you were feeling brave enough, you’d even dare to go backstage with Aaliyah after the show, an offer that she had made to you in an effort to get the two of you back together. You had told her that you’d at least wait until after the show to see him, if you were even going to, because the last thing you wanted to do was to open that wound right before his big show.

Later that night, you made your way through the stadium’s crowd nervously. You knew his fans recognized you, you knew it was currently going around on social media that you- his ex-girlfriend- were here at his show. As you arrived to the VIP area, you immediately went to Aaliyah.

“Y/N, you made it.” She smiled, pulling you in for a hug the moment she saw you.

“I wouldn’t miss it. Thank you for this.” You said. Your eyes trailed over to Karen and Manny, and you suddenly felt guilty for the past nine months. They were like second parents to you- they treated you like their own daughter, and you hadn’t reached out since the break up.

“It’s so nice to see you again.” Karen stepped forward first, breaking the awkward tension in the air. She gave you a warm hug, one that you didn’t know you had missed.

“It’s nice to see you too.” You replied kindly. You took a deep breath as you looked around the stadium. It was even bigger than you had imagined, and you felt so overwhelmingly proud of Shawn.

“One day I’m going to headline it.” You could hear his voice in your head, so sure that one day he’d be right here. The soft moment was broken by intense screams as ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ began to play.

“That’s his cue.” Aaliyah told you happily. She pulled you over to the barricade so you could stand right there with her, in the front row. Soon, the song ended and the familiar notes of ‘Lost in Japan’ started. Aaliyah cheered beside you as Shawn’s silhouette appeared. Smiling, you cheered on your rockstar too.

“All it’d take is one flight, We’d be in the same time zone,” Shawn began to sing as he stood with the microphone stand. Your heart almost burst as you watched him sing and move happily- you had always told him that he belonged on stage, and he never proved you wrong.

It wasn’t until the bridge that he swiftly moved across the stage to where you were standing. You wanted to sink back into the crowd, to hide your face from him, but Aaliyah kept you close to her and you knew the fifteen year old wouldn’t let you leave easily. That sad feeling in your heart vanished when Shawn saw you. He did a double take, blinking a few times to check that you were in fact there. He smiled breathlessly at you and you could tell he was trying his hardest to keep it together. 

“Do you got plans tonight, I’m a couple hundred miles from Japan, and I,” He sang, sending you the smallest of winks before turning to walk towards the other side of the stage. You were mesmerized by him- you couldn’t take your eyes off him, even as you bit down on your lip to hold back a few tears.

“Don’t start crying on me now.” Aaliyah playfully nudged your arm with her elbow. You let out a small laugh, keeping your eyes trained on Shawn. You didn’t know how you made it nine months without him, but now you knew you couldn’t take another day of this pain.

After the concert, Aaliyah led you backstage and you watched from the sidelines as the team and Shawn’s family crowded around him, cheering on the sweaty singer. You stood away from everyone else, not wanting to infringe upon his moment. You took that moment to watch him- he was all smiles; his curls had started to stick to his forehead, but they were still just bouncy enough; his white tank top clung to his body, showing off his new butterfly tattoo- the only tattoo that you didn’t literally hold his hand as he got it; he hugged every single person that he could, overwhelmed by the fact that he just ended his first stadium show.

You suddenly didn’t feel brave anymore. He was so happy, and you were worried that seeing you would ruin it. He saw you in the crowd, but maybe he had winked at Aaliyah, maybe he had forgotten what you looked like, maybe he didn’t care, maybe he didn’t love you anymore. Your stomach began to turn anxiously and, with some tears starting to form in your eyes, you quietly snuck out of the room and down the hall and out the door, praying that no one noticed.

But someone did.

Shawn had been searching for you since the second he got off stage. He wanted nothing more than to run to you, to talk to you, to tell you that he’s missed you, to kiss you, to love you again. As he navigated his way through the hugs from the group surrounding him, his eyes went around, trying to find you. It wasn’t until you were walking down the hallway that he saw you. He watched your disappearing form and his smile faltered. You were here, and, just like that, you left- and he never got to tell you how he really feels. His heart hurt, but he kept a happy face as he continued to celebrate with his family, his crew, and his friends through the night.

~~~

You didn’t sleep much that night. You couldn’t close your eyes without picturing Shawn on stage. Your bed felt cold the night before, but it was freezing tonight without him there to hold you and keep you warm. 

Finally, the sun was up and you found yourself at the small piano in your apartment- you had a few days to stay before you left for your last semester of school. Your fingers grazed over the keys, playing the soft melody of ‘Lover’.

A knock on your door pulled you from your thoughts. You considered calling back to them, saying ‘go away’, not wanting to be disturbed. They knocked again, and you groaned at the persistence of this unknown person. You pulled your loose robe tighter around your body, not wanting whoever was at the door to see you in your pajamas- which consisted of one of Shawn’s old t-shirts and loose shorts. Getting up from the piano, you made your way over to the front and opened it.

You didn’t know what you expected when you answered the door, but you definitely did not expect to see Shawn standing there, holding two cups of coffee from your spot in Pickering while displaying a smile that looked like a mix between a nervous one and a tired one.

“Hi,” Shawn said quietly.

“Hi,” You replied, your voice just above a whisper.

“Can I- Can I come in?” He asked, clearing his throat.

“Yeah,” You nodded, opening the door wider and letting him into your apartment. He walked inside and you shut the door behind him. The two of you stood there awkwardly in your living room, trying to think of the proper way to go about everything. “What do you have there?”

“Your usual.” He stepped forward and outstretched his hand to you for you to take the coffee. You slowly took it from his hand and took a sip, reassured by the warm, familiar feeling of your drink.

“Thank you.” A silence overcame the two of you once more, before you spoke up again. You smiled genuinely, “I was at the show last night. It was amazing.”

“Thanks. I saw you in the crowd a few times with Aaliyah.” Shawn replied, “I listened to the album. Your songs are incredible.”

“I had a lot of inspiration.” You said.

“Well, I’d love to hear the backstory.” He stated, his voice suddenly more hopeful and lively as he smiled at you.

“You see, about nine months ago, my boyfriend and I got in this stupid fight and we broke up. I wasn’t ready to move in with him then, but-” You paused and set down the coffee cup, trying to think of what to say next.

“There’s always a but.” He raised his eyebrows at you playfully, also putting his cup on the counter.

“But I am ready now and I’m afraid it’s too late. I’m worried that maybe he moved on.”

“Or maybe he hasn’t. Maybe he can’t get her out of his head; maybe he wanted to give her some distance and that’s why she never heard from him; maybe he listened to every word on her sister’s album, trying to figure out what parts were about him; maybe he had his first stadium show tonight and almost backed out of it because he thought she wouldn’t be there; maybe he wants her back more than anything else; maybe he’s still madly in love with her- his lover.” Shawn pleaded, his sad smile never once faltering as he spoke.

“Every word?” You asked quietly and he nodded.

“He can’t listen to ‘Death by a Thousand Cuts’ without crying.” He laughed.

“I love you, Shawn.” You said, your hands reaching out for his.

“I love you so much, Y/N.” He grabbed your hands in his and pulled you in for a kiss. As you kissed him, you felt yourself begin to cry, overwhelmingly grateful that you had him back. It wasn’t until he pulled away and you opened your eyes that you realized he had started to cry too.

“Damn, who knew nine months apart would bring on the waterworks.” Shawn laughed, letting go of your hands to wipe away your tears. His hands rested on your cheeks as you wiped away his tears too.

“What do you say- want to try again? I don’t want a future without you.”

“On one condition.” His hands went around to the back of your neck and he gently took off your necklace. He held up the ring to you, “This stays where it belongs, no hiding it.” He slipped into back onto your ring finger and placed a soft kiss to it.

“You did tell me that you were replacing it one day.” You teased.

“I still fully plan on marrying you.” He reassured you, “Remember, you’ve loved me for three summers now and you want them all, lover?”

“There’s nothing I want more.” You wrapped your hands around the back of his neck as he rested his hands on your waist. “By the way, I’m kind of graduating in December and I got a job offer already- in Toronto.”

“Toronto, hm?” He bit his lip, raising his eyebrows at you again.

“I figure I should accept the position- that way I can actually move in with my rockstar boyfriend.”

“I think he’d appreciate that.” Shawn leaned down and kissed you for the second time that night, and you knew it wouldn’t be the last of the night either.

~~~

December 2019

“What do you think about this?” Shawn asked jokingly, holding up a green soap dish with a white bunny rabbit on it. He smiled as you laughed at the object.

“We can’t have a rabbit themed bathroom.” You giggled, your hands resting on the cart. It only had two objects: a sleek black mug rack for all of Shawn’s coffee needs and a fluffy blanket that you insisted on getting. Having finally graduated, you moved into Shawn’s apartment in Toronto. Since he hadn’t really been around to keep it homey, and he didn’t have the best eye for interior design sometimes, you two decided to go shopping for new things to bring life to the apartment.

“I don’t know, I think this bunny would match the frog butter tray.” He replied and you immediately looked over at the cart, seeing that he had managed to sneak the glass object by you. It was a cute idea, but the frog looked tormented and you definitely thought it was haunted.

“Shawn, no.” You whined playfully, taking it out of the cart and returning it to the shelf. You took the bunny soap dish from his hands and put it back on the shelf. “We have a butter dish, and who uses bar soap anymore?”

“But what if we start using bar soap?” He joked, reaching for the dish again.

“No,” You swatted his hands away from it as he laughed at you. He stepped behind you and put his hands on the cart, trapping you between his arms. The two of you kept walking through the aisle of miscellaneous kitchen and bathroom dishes. Shawn paused in front of the salt and pepper shakers.

“What if-”

“We are not getting the fire hydrant dog one.” You said, already knowing what he was eyeing. The salt and pepper shaker sitting in front of all the others was a bulldog lifting its leg to pee and a matching red fire hydrant.

“You’re really no fun sometimes.” He pouted and you turned around in his arms to kiss him.

“We already have shakers.”

“But we don’t have a dog peeing on a fire hydrant.”

“I’m done in this aisle. I’ll be in the picture frames.” You took the cart from his hands pushed it down to a few aisles over. When you stopped in front of the hanging picture frames, Shawn wasn’t behind you and you lightly rolled your eyes, knowing he was probably distracted by another random, animal themed dish. You smiled, seeing a black heart picture frame. You carefully picked it up and examined the wood detailing, trying to decide if it’d match the few picture frames Shawn already had.

“Whatcha got there?” You laughed as you heard Shawn’s voice when he finally caught up to you.

“Cute or cheesy?” You asked, holding it up to him.

“Cute.” He nodded, and you looked down, noticing the few objects in his hands. You raised your eyebrows questioningly at him, and he let out a small chuckle. “They’re just towels.”

“Do they have dinosaurs on them or something?” You teased.

“God, I wish.” He held up the two light blue towels to show a matching embroidered ‘Mr.’ and ‘Mrs.’ on each towel. “What do you say?”

“Cheesy, but cute.” You replied. You placed the picture frame down in the cart, expecting him to do the same with the towels, but he didn’t.

“Yes or no?” Shawn asked.

“To what?” You laughed suspiciously, trying to figure out if what you thought was happening was actually happening.

“I have to do everything, don’t I?” He joked, putting the towels in the cart before getting down on one knee.

“Shawn,” You breathed out and he reached into his pocket to grab out a ring box.

“Y/N, I’ve loved you since I was sixteen. This past year has been crazy without you, and I never want to let you go again. I know we’re young and you’re going to argue that we should wait, but you’re worth the wait, you’re worth everything to me. I only want to be with you. Will you be my Mrs., my lover? Will you marry me?” Shawn smiled hopefully, the delicate ring sparkling in the velvet box in his hands.

“Yes, my answer will always be yes.” You said, tears in your eyes as you watched him slowly take off your leaf ring and replace it with the diamond ring.

“Told you I’d replace it.” He kissed the new ring before placing the old one on your other ring finger.

“I love you so much.” You told him as he stood on his feet again. You pulled him in for another kiss. “I can’t believe you just proposed to me in the middle of a store.”

“What, do you want me to redo it?” Shawn asked, faking offense from your teasing comment.

“No, I love it.” You smiled as he leaned down to kiss you again. With a new ring resting on your left hand, you knew these sweet kisses with Shawn would be endless and you couldn’t want anything more.

Part Five

~~~

Tag List: @peterparkyourassonme @someinsanefangirl @kbearr12 @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @haute-shawn @winterin127 @loveylangdon @wasteddarlinglover @turtoix @green-lxght @clairestarkparker @marissje @shawnandconnor

[lettersfromtaiwan]

Birthday In Wulai

To mark another completed orbit of the Earth around the Sun since the day I stopped not existing, EVA and I decided to head out to the Atayal Tribal town of Wulai, and then on to a small village that lies deep in the mountains at the end of Route 107, Fushan:

As you can see from the zoom-in map below ... this is literally as far as you can go in this direction. There’s one road in and the same road out. When Typhoon Souledor recently wrecked havoc in Wulai this road got blocked by landslides. Villagers along the route, unable to ride out for supplies had to hike instead. Where the journey would normally take them an hour tops, they walked for 12 hours to reach help. You can see no other road even comes close to Fushan. Once you’re off the road, you’re deep in a forest of vertiginous and fatal slopes liable to mudslides and raging floods. It’s a uniquely inhospitable environment for anyone unfamiliar with it. 

On Saturday afternoon, we hopped on my trusty steed scooter and rode over the mountain through Cemetery City to Liuzhangli and then on down to Xindian where we took a break at Bitan Riverside Park, before completing the relatively shot but winding hop upstream to Wulai.  Once there we checked into our hot spring hotel (an expensive treat), popped into town for dinner then returned to steam in the spa before hitting the sack early to save energy for the next day.

After about forty-five minutes out from Wulai we finally arrived at Fushan Village. Lots of signage, in various conditions and accessibility, is available to guide the visitor. Note the romanised Atayal language ...

We decided to walk the ancient canal trail to the butterfly park  but first I took a snap of this wall design ...

Walking along the canal high above the village ...

The park itself was still under construction and butterfly season is Spring and early Summer so it didn’t take long to complete the park ...

The obligatory flora shot ...

Then it was back to the village ...

Brick, unlike tile over concrete, ages well in colour and texture ...

Fushan Village has different sections. There are useful signs like this to help you learn more about where you are ...

It says the Atayal originally settled in Fushan Village which omits the fact that the original settlers here arrived after journeying from locations in Nantou County in the center of the country.  Some of the restaurants in Tranan ...

And the picturesque river beside it ...

Tranan marks the end of Route 107 ...

Back to the main village around mountain, we took some time to walk through the buildings ...

... a field of fruit cacti ...

Everywhere, the village is decorated with distinct designs ...

The local elementary school is a centre of the community and functions as an emergency helipad ...

Then it was up the hill to the Presbyterian Church ...

This is the old church ...

... and this is the new one ...

We also briefly met the minister who was leaving after completing the Sunday morning service and tending to his congregation.  This is him below on a modified promotional poster for the film Seediq Bale in which he played Seediq revolt leader Mona Rudao ... (Note: it is an appropriative liberal interpretation / act of historical revisionism to say the Wushe Revolt was a part of the Taiwan Independence struggle) ...

... in real life I didn’t recognise him until EVA pointed out he was the very same guy.  The church, and faith, is also a major pillar of the community ...

Quite a few dogs milled around the village including a pack of five all slightly disabled canines hopping around.  The dogs were friendly but I generally kept my distance (literally once bitten twice shy) ...

Most of the buildings had painted murals on them, which one youngster explained were done by the families themselves ...

With time getting on and light fading we decided to make our way back to Wulai, stopping along the sheer mountainside road to take in the views ...

Taiwan is (should be) famous worldwide for it’s suspension bridges.  There are a plethora of them amongst the mountains, nearly all of them decorated beautifully and many of them at great height about the valley floor. Here’s one such example ...

Even the stone wall next to the road was carved with Atayal patterns ...

Two prominent components of Atayal culture are hunting and weaving, success at which are used as traditional markers of, respectively, male and female status and maturity within the community. Every male got a forehead tattoo at the age of fifteen or sixteen but only those who had completed a head hunt earned the right to have a prestigious chin tattoo. Likewise, women who demonstrated the ability to weave complex patterns and thread arrangements would earn the facial tattoo that stretched from ear to ear through and around the mouth. Hunting, and specifically with dogs, was a way for the community to add important component to their diet, hunting expeditions often taking up to two weeks or more out in the mountain forests.  The capture and killing of wild boar was both a key way for a hunter to gain respect / status but also a big boost for a village running low on food, especially in winter.  Thus we see this reflected in statues that can be found in most Atayal villages ...

On our way down to Wulai we stopped at Wulai Waterfall ...

There is a museum here that describes the history of the area as well as introduce the logging business and logging railway that economically transformed the valley and local communities. Apparently the railway which now runs from Wulai to the waterfall but used to run all the way up the valley almost as far as Fushan became a major tourist attraction in the 50s and 60s but was knocked out of commission by Typhoon Souledor. Work is currently underway to fix it.  The waterfall area is marked by a collection of hotels and spas, a cable car that spans the valley, and a street of restaurants and shops where you can buy various Atayal and indigenous themed souvenirs. We ate at a place called Ganafu (open weekends only) which served an absolutely amazing Trout burger.  The owners were super friendly and took the time to chat with us about Atayal culture and the local economy ...

We learned from them that Fushan Village was adapting to survive economically, most recently by increasing tourism (e.g. Butterfly Park, trails, hot spring spa) and will soon provide local guided tours. We noted one restaurant in Tranan was booked that day for a group of one hundred.  

Finally, we glided down the small road to Wulai (in mountains I usually run the engine on neutral and coast down the roads to eliminate engine noise and avoid disturbing hikers and wildlife I’m sharing the road with) and stopped by the Wulai Atayal Museum (Mandarin only site) ...

It’s a fascinating place and in it we met one Atayal woman who runs weaving classes and a souvenir shop. I asked why so many Atayal patterns were red, black, and white and was told that it was mostly owing to a lack of available materials to dye the thread in other colours. Personally, I find this tricolour motif of Atayal clothing and weaved products to be the most distinct and aesthetically pleasing of all the indigenous styles in Taiwan. Somewhat macabrely, the museum has a map showing where each indigenous group largely resides / originates from in Taiwan and appears to have a running tally of the number of members (who comprise about 550,000 or 2.6% of Taiwan’s total population).  It was a sombre to reflect that many of the tribes down to hundreds of members would, along with their languages, oral histories, and culture, probably expire in the coming decades.  Here’s the info board in question (apologies for the poor quality) ...

The museum is definitely worth a visit and contains enough material on three floors to spend a good few hours. There’s also lots of interesting quirks such as this sign on the Atayal tradition of head hunting which seems to have been written by someone keen to rebut certain allegations ...

I think we’ll be returning to Fushan Village again for the Butterflies and the trails sometime in the Spring or Summer, if only to walk one of two famous hiking routes that run from the village all the way to the plains of Taoyuan in the west or the Yilan delta in the East.  (The hikes both take about eight to ten hours, one way).