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davidmariottecomics · 2 years ago

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A Matter of Time

Surf's up, gang!

Aloha from the beach! Okay, not really. I'm at home at time of writing, but I've made 2 whole trips out to the ocean this week, so I'm feeling beachy! Which, if you live near the water, is a pretty good way to feel in the summertime!

In enjoying the season, I started thinking about the complex production timelines of comics, the ways in which some comics feel timely when they were created well ahead of the events they seem related to, and a book I read recently that had one time element that really didn't work for me. So let's take some time to talk about time!

Story of Seasons

Where I live in the U.S., summer means a certain thing. At this time of year, we're largely through the June Gloom and into hot, sunny days. The sun rises before I'm usually up, and I wake up early, and sets around 8 p.m. Most nights, in at least some parts of town, there are fireworks. Folks are having barbecues at home and along the beach--which people are flocking too. The college-aged kids only roll up after they've got up, and since they don't have school, you can usually not expect to see them before noon. And while the coastline's popping, closer to us, things are quieter exactly because school's out and the college campus has largely cleared out. And, specific to where we live, it means the trolleys and buses and some buildings and street signs, have assumed their summer wrap, promoting Peacock and Futurama's return and whatever else companies spent boodles of money on to promote ahead of and during San Diego Comic-Con.

That's what the exterior of my life is like right now. Sweet, hot, summertime fun outdoors--though I spend most of my time in with the cats. And there's still a little bit of that in my work. I'm planning meeting up with folks at San Diego Comic-Con and, while I'm not particularly involved, I'm watching Riley Farmer get the Sonic the Hedgehog: Endless Summer one-shot buttoned up for next month. But most of what I'm working on is already well ahead, working actively on releases across the fall, and switching from planning to the first steps of production on our winter releases with spring 2024 already cresting the horizon.

It's a funky dichotomy. If you go into a comic shop in the next two months, summer programs will be in full swing, from DC's big summer crossover event, Knight Terrors to IDW's Endless Summer, to Ultimate Invasion and the Hellfire Gala stuff Marvel's got going on, as well as Skybound's kicking off their Energon Universe, and whatever stores have left of the projects kicked off for Pride.

But because you're seeing those things in stores, it means they're done and as I've talked about a bit before, generally comics have to be done a ways before their release. In an ideal situation, a comic is done between 7 and 10 weeks before the on-sale date. In a less ideal situation, a comic needs to be done at least 3 weeks before the on-sale date for most printers/distributors/final-order-cutoff reasons. But, in the former case, it means this next week, I'd be looking at what needs to go out right around mid-September--the first week of fall. And those are the things that'd be finishing. Let's say you'd need at least 10 weeks before that for finalizing the script; drawing, coloring, lettering, and doing any production on the issue; and getting it approved by all the relevant stakeholders. So the things entering that phase in the next week wouldn't actually see stores until the last week of November.

In the books world, there are three spans, rather than the four seasons. Those are Spring (Feb-May), Summer (Jun-Aug), and Fall (Sept-Jan). And when you're working purely with single-issue comics, when you're in one span, you're generally working on titles for the next. When it comes to collections and OGNs, you can be working on stuff years ahead of time. (As an aside to all this, it's also super interesting that this is how things are sorted because it really speaks to publishing in the northern hemisphere... sorry to anyone in the southern hemisphere who is looking at IDW's Endless Summer and thinking "but it's winter!")

I bring all this up as a reminder that comics take a long time to make and when there are comics have a particularly timely element, like a summer event, they're the result of months of work and planning to hit that specific date that falls in that seasonal span. And while tons of planning can go into something like a 5th week event (in months with 5 Wednesdays, some publishers will add extra titles on the 5th week so they have releases for that Wednesday without disrupting the regular monthly schedule of their titles), it also means sometimes something happens that seems very intentional, but is purely coincidental!

Unintended Timeliness

Wendy Xu has a new book coming out next month, The Infinity Particle. Like all of her books, it looks very good. Straight from the copy, it "explores big questions through the eyes of an aspiring inventor and the lifelike AI she finds herself falling for." And in the build-up to release, advance reader copies have gone out to booksellers, librarians, and reviewers--the folks who should see the book early because it will help the book get more traction in stores, libraries, and more visibility with readers. But because of developments over the past year, it also is now very closely tied to a hot button issue: AI. Through the circumstances of the world around The Infinity Particle's release, early reviews and examination of it are inherently looping it into the larger conversation. Wendy's gone on the record about, as she said, "'AI' (derogatory)" and "AI-in-fiction (complimentary)." But one of the things she's also been very clear about is that she's been working on this book since 2018 when we weren't talking about AI in the same way.

I bring this all up because, when taken with my previous point about how long it often takes comics to be made, a lot of the timeliness that you may seen in a work can be coincidental. As another example, I've been asked a few times about whether the Metal Virus arc in IDW's Sonic the Hedgehog was in any way inspired by the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. That arc is, in many ways, about a global pandemic. That arc, also, was pitched over a dinner at WonderCon 2018, where only the very first issue was on sale a week early and the series had not yet launched widely. The majority of it was written and in production before March 2020 when the U.S. really shut down in the early days of their response. So, no, the timelines don't really work out, it was just happenstance.

And as a writer/artist/editor/etc, that's one of the things you have to keep in mind. I came from journalism, where timeliness was often an important part of storytelling. "New" is 3/4ths of "News." But outside of strips and editorial/political cartoons, it is much harder to incorporate true timeliness to your comics work. So, often, the default is to look for timelessness--something that isn't pegged to a specific event or set of circumstances, but that can be appreciated whenever because it speaks to something larger. Timelessness doesn't need to be forward-looking necessarily. It can be reacting to or interpreting long-standing history. But the benefit of trying to tell a story that always feels relevant, even if the cultural context around it may change the reader's interpretation from your intention (and there's a longer conversation to be had about interpretation vs. intention), is it usually doesn't feel immediately aged.

The flip side of things having an unexpected timeliness is when you try to execute something to be timely, but in the interim of writing to execution or just through the flow of time, it just isn't anymore. Somewhat recently, Becca rediscovered "Boyfriend" by Big Time Rush. Obviously, this song is like 13 years old anyway, but boy howdy does the song feel it's age when they call out 2008 Best Picture winner, Slumdog Millionaire. It's not to say you can't or shouldn't put things in the context of the time they're written in, just that being considerate of it is probably to your benefit because specific cultural and contextual touchpoints should feel additive to the work and the intention, not haphazard as a way of showing modernity. (Two quick asides to this: 1. If you don't like "Boyfriend" by BTR musically, you do need to watch the video because it is wild. However, maybe "Boyfriend" by Dove Cameron will be more to your tastes and is incredibly funny if you listen to it as a response to the BTR song. 2. Cultural references aren't the only things that can feel dated or be misused and make your comic worse--see every time AAVE is misused in comics and the creators are immediately dunked on.)

A Timeless Romance... And Leia Organa

Last bit for today, building off what we were just talking about. I recently read Neon Gods by Katee Roberts. It's a smutty retelling of Hades/Persephone set in modern times. (I'm still figuring out some upcoming blogs, but certainly the aforementioned AI and also why SO MANY WORKS are gravitating to Hades/Persephone are on the shortlist). Overall, I liked it. Like many first books in a series, I hear it picks up in later volumes. There's a lot to say about it, but one thing that really stuck out to me was while I understand that it is set in modern day, anytime it made a specific modern reference, it really threw me off.

Throughout the book, people make calls on their smart phones and have video conferences and there are guns and cars and skyscrapers and other hallmarks of modernity. And it is totally fine. It sets the scene and makes sense for the story being told. But every once in a while--I remember it happening 3 or 4 times--something specific gets called out and it feels weird. One of those times being a reference to the gold bikini Leia wears in Return of the Jedi. It's the sort of touchstone that should feel innocuous. Most folks know it, even if they don't super know Star Wars. But when it happens as like a singular pop culture reference in a work (the other specific callouts I remember feeling odd were a reference to UC Berkley and a brand-name medicine), it weirdly works against the modernity because it feels too concrete in a world of otherwise abstract modern life. It is so solid, so recognizable, that it almost begs the question of why there aren't more references throughout and it vaguely asks questions of the world and of the characters that aren't actually consequential to the plot--or, perhaps, that are consequential to a larger overarching plot that isn't really investigated in depth in the first book. Either way, it was just a little moment that in my reading created a bump that I'm remembering a week and a half later better than some of the actual plot elements or hot smutty scenes, which probably is not the intent of that otherwise kinda throwaway line.

FRIENDS!

Okay, shifting away from all that for a moment, I wanna talk about my many cool friends! Who have a new page on my website! Inspired by the webrings of old, I wanted to do a little something to help folks who find their way over to my site find their way over to the sites of other cool folks who are making comics! Right now, you'll notice a lot of family and people who work on Sonic in addition to a few other friends, but always happy to add folks that I've worked with or know and like who might want a bit more web traffic flowing their way.

While we're on the topic, I know a number of former IDW folks are still looking for work. You'll find links to their LinkedIns there and if you have any opportunities that might be a good fit, please reach out! Also specific shout-out to Yu & Me Books, who could use some help at the moment.

Patreon!

I'm now on Patreon sharing, wouldja believe, this very blog! As well as some other cool stuff that I've got planned! If you've been enjoying the blog for a while and want a new way to read or support it with a small tip, the Patreon might be for you. I'm also going to be doing Patreon-exclusive blogs that show off stuff like scripts and pitching materials that I can share, WIPs of some of my personal projects, some weird video/audio/streaming content at certain levels, and have a somewhat ambitious group funding goal where subscribers to my top tier mostly help me fund making more short comics by being able to pay cool artists I know!

Do you not want to read this pitch for my Patreon? Good news: If you subscribe to it, this is cut out from the blog! Ooo aah!

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Craig of the Creek (Cartoon), Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video game), My Adventures with Superman (Cartoon), the beach, Girly Drinks by Mallory O'Meara (Book), the aforementioned Neon Gods (okay, that was last week, but y'know), Stab that Cake (TV show), the only real social media, Clapback, Cruel Summer (TV show), Crime Scene Kitchen (TV show), "Shy Boy" by Carly Rae Jepsen (my queen), the music video for "Water Slide" by Janelle Monae (really loving the aesthetics of their new stuff), Starship Troopers (Movie), thinking about The Love Witch (due for a rewatch).

New Releases this week (7/5/2023): Sonic the Hedgehog #62 (Editor) Brynmore #1 (Editor) - Actually came out in my last gap week, but go grab it!

New Releases next week (7/12/2023): Off week for me! Buy something else groovy!

Final Order Cut-Off next week (7/10/2023 - AKA Preorder Deadline) Brynmore #2 (Editor) Godzilla: War for Humanity #1 (Editor)

Announcements:

I'll be at San Diego Comic-Con! My schedule's gotten pretty full, but if you're going to be there, do reach out and let me know. I'll at least try to say hi! IDW announced our panels for the year and I'll see you at Sonic the Hedgehog: Speeding to the 900th Adventure on Sunday at 10, room 25ABC!

Side note, because con is coming, I may or may not have an update the week of SDCC itself! And Becca's Twitch streams will be off that week, but they'll be streaming throughout the rest of the month. Just anticipate Tuesday streams, rather than Wednesdays, because of some scheduling conflicts. Just through July.

Oh! And a reminder I am on Bluesky, but don't expect to see me on Threads! That service seems lousy!

Pic of the Week:

Becca and I at the beach! Beach stuff including some cool shells and part of a crustacean's shell!

#comics #sonic idw #neon gods #summertime #comics scheduling #infinity particle #metal virus saga #comics behind the scenes #patreon

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robininthelabyrinth · 4 years ago

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Cultivated-to-Immortality post-canon where cultivation in modern day is mostly mysterious and many doubt it's real - and then WWX gets a cooking show...

“I’m going to murder him,” Jiang Cheng said blankly.

He wasn’t even angry or frustrated or any of the things he normally was when he said something like that. That would require actually reacting to -

What he just saw.

With his own eyes.

For real.

“You can’t do that,” Nie Huaisang said from where he was curled into a tiny little ball on their on-the-verge-of-breaking-down couch – modern things were really crap. The thing couldn’t be older than what, thirty or forty years, and it was already useless, and Nie Huaisang wasn’t helping matters by crying tears of laughter into the worn-out cushions like he was right now. “He’s immortal, remember? We’re all immortal.”

“Immortal in the sense that we won’t die of old age,” Jiang Cheng said. “I can still kill him.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I wouldn’t,” Jiang Cheng admitted. He was pretty sure they’d established that back in Wei Wuxian’s first life, forget his subsequent resurrection or when they all unexpectedly achieved immortality. “But I could definitely break his legs. He’d heal from that quick enough.”

“The day you break his legs will be the same day you do it to Jin Ling,” Nie Huaisang said wisely. “And I know you wouldn’t do that to our beloved junior squad.”

“You really need to stop calling them juniors, they’re all married with children and grandchildren a half-dozen times over already, and anyway stop getting away from the main point, which is this – this – this travesty.”

“It’s not a travesty,” Nie Huaisang said, pretending towards solemnity. Jiang Cheng didn’t know why he bothered, it wasn’t like they hadn’t spent centuries together by now on account of immortality being a little lonely and them not liking anyone else who’d reached immortality enough to want to spend that sort of time with them. “It’s a cooking show.”

“It can be a cooking show and a travesty! It’s a cooking show run by Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng growled. His stomach hurt just remembering the many times he’d been suckered into trying something because this time I’ve really got it down, I promise, you’ll like it! “Of course it’s a travesty. Did you see the set up he has going on? He has an entire wall of hot peppers!”

“Hmm, good point,” Nie Huaisang said. “You’re right. Something needs to be done about this.”

“I’m glad we agree.”

“I’ll send him some peppers from our garden,” Nie Huaisang decided. “I have that new varietal breed that we’ve been working on, extra hot; he’ll love it.”

“Don’t you dare send him the Zidian pepper without letting me try it first,” Jiang Cheng said pointedly. “It’s mine. He only gets leftovers once I’ve decided it’s complete. Anyway, are you telling me that you don’t think that this - this - this thing is a disgrace?”

They both looked at the screen, where the words ‘CHEF CULTIVATOR’ had appeared in large letters.

“I don’t know,” Nie Huaisang said thoughtfully. “I rather like the conceit of it – the mysterious food-obsessed Chairman kidnapping the heirs of the various cultivation clans...it’s all very historically accurate, at least?”

“One, Wen Ruohan wasn’t a Chairman, he was a tyrannical warlord who made all our lives absolutely miserable. Two, if that set is supposed to be the Nightless City, why is it so dark, and what’s with all the lava everywhere? I’m not even going to touch on the rock chair thing that no cultivator who values the state of their ass would ever sit on -”

“I don’t know about that,” Nie Huaisang said, looking down at their shitty couch with a exaggerated thoughtful look.

Jiang Cheng ignored him. He didn’t want to go couch-shopping again. It’d only been a few decades!

“And three,” he said, soldiering on, “I feel the need to point out that the cultivation clans were not named ‘Spicy’, ‘Barbecue’, ‘Vegetarian’, and ‘Expensive Fusion’.”

“But he’s got the coloring right and everything! And it’s really funny to see a chef outfit done up in that awful Jin gold color...”

Jiang Cheng put his head in his hands.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nie Huaisang said, completely unable to resist bursting out in occasional bouts of giggling. “This is exactly like the time the Wen sect forced all of us to attend their indoctrination camp. Exactly like! You’re just misremembering.”

“I’m pretty sure that I’d remember being forced to compete in some sort of absurd cooking competition with mystery ingredients.”

“Would’ve been nice if we had.” At Jiang Cheng’s incredulous expression, Nie Huaisang shrugged. “Better than listening to Wen Chao talk, no?”

“…well, yes,” Jiang Cheng admitted. “Still, the whole thing seems a bit much. Cultivation is now state-regulated - by which we mean mostly banned from public knowledge - and our sects are all shrouded in mystery...this does seem to lower the tone a bit.”

“Like you care about tone.”

Jiang Cheng, who’d declared that he’d stopped giving a fuck sometime around the eleventh century, had to concede that.

“How’d he get the whole thing approved by the government?” he asked instead. “I thought they censored anything to do with modern-day cultivation.”

“I don’t think they’re that concerned about him spilling actual cultivation secrets on his cooking show.”

Jiang Cheng huffed, not wanting to admit that Nie Huaisang had a point. At any rate, the commercials were over and the show was continuing; he had better things to do than listen to Nie Huaisang talk, like watch the television.

After a few moments, his face began to turn purple.

“Oh,” Nie Huaisang said, and buried his face back into the pillows. “Oh no. Oh no.”

“I cannot believe him,” Jiang Cheng said. “I can’t – he can’t –”

“Now, now,” Nie Huaisang said between laughter so hard that he was hiccupping. “Be nice. If Wei Wuxian is the despotic Chef Cultivator and - oh this is terrible - Grandmaster of Demonic Cooking, that is on the hunt for a chef worthy of being his successor by forcing teams to challenge his stable of in-house chefs, it only makes sense that the ‘challenger’ team would be protected by the – by the –”

Jiang Cheng closed his eyes. “Lightly-Braised Lord?”

“That!”

“I would say that I can’t believe Hanguang-jun agreed to this, except he hasn’t said ‘no’ to Wei Wuxian in centuries,” Jiang Cheng said bitterly. There was a reason he refused to live with them. “This is a disgrace.”

“Accurate, though!” Nie Huaisang said, grinning. “That’s a very mild flavor of cooking, very appropriate for Lan Wangji.”

“I think you mean tasteless.”

“I mean, Lan Wangji is that, too, at least when it comes to Wei-xiong”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t exactly say that that was wrong.

They continued watching.

“Oh no,” Nie Huaisang said a few moments later. “The Ghost Pepper General. Poor Wen Ning!”

“It doesn’t fit,” Jiang Cheng said with a sniff. “He has no flavor profile.”

Maybe he was getting more into this than he would be willing to admit.

...he wasn’t going to admit it out loud anyway.

Nie Huaisang sniggered. “I hope Wei-xiong isn’t the judge.”

Jiang Cheng stared at the screen. “I still can’t believe this is actually happening.”

“I love it,” Nie Huaisang said. He was now scrolling on his phone. “The internet agrees with me, apparently. It’s a hit!”

“It figures.”

Their phones gave a chime at the same time, indicating a message on their group chat.

“Huh,” Nie Huaisang said. “That was the notable Chef Cultivator himself.”

“Oh, I bet it was,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, making no move to reach for his own phone. “What does he want? To apologize?”

“No, to offer us walk-on roles in the event he gets renewed for a second season.”

“Absolutely not,” Jiang Cheng said at once. “I refuse to be known as the Sandwich Shengshou or whatever he comes up with.”

Nie Huaisang dissolved into giggles. “Oh no. He would, too!...I wonder what I’d be?”

Jiang Cheng huffed. “You’d be – the Saltshaker. Obviously.”

“Oh noooooooo…”

#mdzs #jiang cheng #nie huaisang #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wen ning #my fic #my fics #complete and utter crack #I feel like I should apologize #oneiriad #to be clear this is shamlessly based off the original Iron Chef show

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moon-yeongjun · 4 years ago

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Keep Calm and Prom On Pt. 2 || Juxie

He and Vixey once again had another shift. There had been less and less of these lately-- and that was a good thing! After all, Vixey had only needed the Market until she got onto her own two feet. She was hard at work on her own petition, at least from what Jun had heard from her so far (though Vixey was still so shy when it came to discussing it) and soon, he had a feeling, she’d be handing in her resignation.

But until then, here they were again. This time, Vixey was helping Jun do a little display for barbecue and cook-out items, since summer was in full swing!

And that meant small talk. At least with Vixey, Jun did not mind so much.

“So how was it with Al, eh? You two have a good time?” Jun asked, raising his eyebrows. Truthfully, he was hoping there might have been...some surprising spark between his two friends. Wouldn’t that be nice?

@vixey-chakraborty

#juxie #gif chat #look i did not have a better title i tried for a solid ten minutes

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blackmaylovesfries · 5 years ago

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“SAY THE NAME” - Family Complete

Asked: No

Words: 1701

Sinopse: Seventeen Hybrid AU - Finally everyone is together in your house! Here is your first dinner with everyone present. And a surprise at the end.

Notices: Not so good English. This is the last chapter for Introduction! From now on I’ll be doing the main OT13 x Reader SAY THE NAME. Italic is English.

BIRTHDAY POLL ♬ (Please, answer the solo ones!!) Solo stories’ destiny

Masterpost

Previous / SAY THE NAME

After you left the oldest trio to help The8 to accommodate himself, you went to the pool, talk with the other hybrids. At the way you could only think about the lecture everyone at the center would give you as soon as they heard about the total of 13 hybrids you just adopted. Oh gods, even the government representatives would certainly come to nag you…

Well… At least all of them came wanting to stay, even The8, so it’s not like they can be taken from you at this point… Praying so nothing bad happen with your new big family, you arrived at the pool, where 9 of your 13 worries were. You smiled at them while approaching with some towels they left on the chairs around the water.

“Oh, hi, Y/n!” Wonwoo came walking at you when the hybrids noticed your arrival. He wasn’t in the water, so he was dry. “Is Minghao at his room now?” He held your free hand. You just nodded, making he smile. “Great! So now we can start to prepare for dinner!” The feline screamed for the others at the end.

“Eh? I think it’s better if I go shower then. I’ll welcome him in our room.” Vernon got out of the pool, grabbing one towel from you, kissing your cheek and running inside.

“Yah! Don’t run!” You and Jihoon, who had just arrived at your side, screamed to the canine that was already long gone. You sighed while Jihoon started to direct the others, deciding who should go immediately to shower and who could wait or start doing things. You gave the towels to Mingyu, Seokmin, Seungkwan and Junhui.

As the bathrooms were all occupied now, since they didn’t liked to use yours, the dry ones, Wonwoo and Jihoon, started to get the Welcome barbecue ready to Mingyu and the others who really knew how to do it. The wet hybrids, Soonyoung and Chan, filled some balls to decorate the pool and you started to arrange the tables and utensils.

It took for the first boys to come back almost 30 minutes. You could tell that everyone was at the best clothes you had given them. When Junhui, Mingyu and Seungkwan came, they told you that the 95’line were taking a shower and Vernon was waiting for The8. They also told Hoshi to go take a bath since Dokyeom were almost finished too.

Chan stayed, waiting for one more bathroom to be free. The shark hybrid dried himself with a towel and started to make the playlist of the night. As Mingyu and Jihoon started with the barbecue, you also went to take your bath and groom yourself for the occasion. It didn’t took long as you didn’t really wanted to use a lot of stuff.

You went back outside with your hair up and a summer dress. When you arrived, all the boys were there already. The lights were already on and the music the maknae, who had also taken a quick shower, had chosen was already playing. You looked around and saw the boys had finished decorating the area. You couldn’t avoid a smile.

---

“Y/n!” A voice in the table’s direction called the human. She looked over and saw that sitting there were Seungcheol, who called, Joshua, Woozi, The8 and Wonwoo. The girl smiled at them and examined the other groups formed at the area. Jun, Seungkwan, Chan and Vernon were fooling around, dancing to the music and laughing. Mingyu, Jeonghan, Dokyeom and Hoshi were cooking and taking care of the barbecue.

The human girl couldn’t stop smiling. She absorbed the harmonious environment, finally understanding why she always felt that all these hybrids were destinate to find her… Her recent dreams made sense to her now as she looked at the boys… They were definitely stars, she could see how they were glowing already and all that potencial they had.

“Hey, guys!” Y/n screamed, taking her phone out and grabbing everyone’s attention. “How about our first photo before really getting to the food and all the dancing?” She smiled to the hybrids. Most of them got close to her quite fast, not hesitating for even a second. Others… Well, everyone had their own pace. But even The8 or the reserved older felines didn’t stay frozen for long.

“Ready?” The girl arranged the camera so everyone was in the frame. For that she had to be a little far from them, so her height didn’t interfere much on the photo. “1… 2… 3!” She smiled, as did most of the hybrids. Minghao didn’t but it did not ruined the picture. As soon as the human putted down the phone, several of the hybrids went to check on it.

“Oh! I look good!” Junhui laughed before handing the phone for others and going to play again.

“Dokyeom’s face!” The gag trio and Vernon laughed hard zooming in the puppy’s face. After everyone was satisfied with the picture, all the presents went back to their first completed family dinner. The group did this for all the hybrids that came before, as long as the human got time to do it. That’s why this barbecue was for the last quartet to join the house.

Everyone enjoyed the dinner very much. The first hybrids Y/n adopted made sure that no one was left alone for even a single moment, the younger ones were doing gags and entertaining everyone and the older ones were making sure that everyone’s plate were always full of food. All the group laughed and had fun until late at night. Even The most recluse ones gave some smiles and some laughters through the night.

The human didn’t have the stamina to stay too long with the hybrids, so near midnight, she went to sleep, letting the boys alone. That made hybrids that weren’t used to you yet relax and the group grew louder and wilder. No one was hurt and nothing was broken but… the boys all slept in the living room at the end and you just found out about it the next day, when you woke up early to prepare their surprise.

---

“Morning, morning!” You entered the house with a big package in your hands. You put your shoes in place and arrived at the living room with the package. The boys that were scattered around there greeted you. “Did you guys ate yet?” You smiled at them as you cleaned the coffee table to lay your package there.

“Jeonghan-hyung and Mingyu are finishing it now.” Junhui pulled you to his side, hugging you. “What is that, Y/n?” You rolled your eyes for his actions and laughed.

“Let’s eat first. Then I explain.” You could feel the curiosity on every hybrid’s eyes. But none of them asked again about the thing you brought. You all ate breakfast made by the cooking duo of the day and went back to the living room. You sat on the floor, in front of the square package and opened it.

“Wow!” You could hear several of them being impressed by what you revealed to them. It was a picture! The picture you had taken the day before actually. You had made it bigger and framed it. Smiling, you told them your idea.

“So… As this is the first picture of all of us, what do you guys think about signing your names and your aspirations? We will hang it somewhere where we can see it everyday and do our best to achieve it. What do you guys think?” You knew that it was a romantic idea but it was a great chance for you to know how to help each hybrid better.

The boys looked around to each other for a minute before Jun came to you and took the metallic pen you were offering him. He found a place near the frame and started to write. Soon all the others followed him, you being the last. You smiled as you wrote your message and Seungcheol helped you to hang it on the entrance hall. Now your family was truly completed.

---

The signs and messages:

JUNHUI - “I hope to help my new family to grow and to be happier. I hope me or anyone won’t ever need to leave our home.”

SOONYOUNG - “I will do my best so this house and everyone in it doesn’t suffer or feel down. I wish this happiness lasts forever.”

WONWOO - “I know I’m not the best but I promise to protect every single member of family with my life if needed!”

JIHOON - “I don’t understand why we’re doing this. But I understand that everyone here is important, so I’ll do my best to be nicer with them.”

SEOKMIN - “I want to show the gratitude I feel towards this new family. So my goal is to make everyone as happy as they can be.”

MINGYU - “I’ll do chores and do my best! My goal is to not break anything and to do my part in this house so life here becomes better and better!”

SEUNGKWAN - “As someone with less scars than the others, I’ll do what I can to help the heal… As long as they don’t piss me off :)”

VERNON - “I’ll do my best to not get in the way and to support everyone. That’s the only way I’ll can show them how I care.”

CHAN - “I’ll find a way to perform and help hybrids in need! For my and my new family’s pride!”

SEUNGCHEOL - “As the oldest… I strive to become someone the youngers can rely on and can be proud of. Fighting!”

JEONGHAN - “As I said before coming here: I ultimate goal is to protect my new cuties from any external harm.”

JISOO/JOSHUA - “I’m still figuring out myself. But I’ll do my best to not let my biggest fear separate me from the children.”

MINGHAO (Keep calling me The8, human) - “I’m here to help the biggest number of hybrids abused by humans possible. I’m not a house hybrid, but I don’t hate the new brothers.”

Y/N - “Besides doing my best in work, my goal for these boys is to give to them all the love and care they deserve.”

Tag: @hopsiclesposts ; @woohoney ; @warm-smiles-and-blue-skies ; @childfmoonn ; @moonmin-miya ; @mimisxs ; @yamashiro888 ; @littleheartsays ; @naminalati

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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How F9 Brings Back Justice for Han and Asian Inclusion

https://ift.tt/3hakkfH

This article contains F9 spoilers.

One thing is for certain about the Fast and Furious film franchise—it has been a wild ride. Other aspects of the Fast Saga are less certain. Although the F9 title definitively labels the latest film as the ninth installment, it’s actually the 10th film. Or the 11th. You could even say the 12th if you include the short film. It depends how you want to count it. For a franchise laden with car chase clichés, the Fast Saga makes a lot of long, winding detours.

Consider how these movies treat death. Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) set the precedent by ‘dying’ back in Fast & Furious (aka Fast & Furious 4) only to return in Fast & Furious 6, working for the other side. Coincidentally, at the end of that film, there was a major reveal about Han (Sung Kang). The character was introduced in the third film in the series, The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift, but dies about three quarters of the way through the film. Yet he then reappears in the next three Fast and Furious movies, which were set before Tokyo Drift. The circumstances of his death were clarified in Fast & Furious 6. Jason Statham’s Deckard Shaw killed Han. Now those events have been clarified even more in F9, thanks to returning director Justin Lin. As it turns out, Han didn’t die at all.

F9 is the fifth Fast and Furious film directed by Lin, and by design, Han Jue’s story arc is the central thread for all five Lin installments. Tokyo Drift was Lin’s first Fast film, as well as the franchise’s sharpest turn. It was almost an entirely new cast in a new setting. Lin stayed on to direct the following three installments. To keep Han’s story going, he shifted gears and jumped back in time. Just like with Star Wars, Fast & Furious through Fast & Furious 6 comprised a prequel trilogy, so the order in which the Fast Saga films were released doesn’t match the story’s timeline. The second film, 2 Fast 2 Furious, is followed chronologically by the fourth, Fast & Furious. The next two are in order: Fast Five followed by Fast & Furious 6. Then comes the third release, Tokyo Drift where Han dies. Fast & Furious 6 and Tokyo Drift take place more or less at the same time. Even the beginning of Furious 7 overlaps with the final events of Tokyo Drift.

After stepping away from the franchise for its seventh and eight films, Lin is back in the driver’s seat in F9, which is why Han is also back. However, Han has always been riding with Lin, even predating his involvement in Fast and Furious lore…

High School Han

In 2002, Lin directed the critically-acclaimed Better Luck Tomorrow. That film also starred Sung Kang in the role of Han. It was a story about four overachieving Asian teenagers who start selling cheat sheets and subsequently fall into the gangster lifestyle of drugs and crime. It was loosely based on the murder of Stuart Tay. Tay was an Asian teenager who was killed by his fellow high schoolers when they thought he would betray a computer heist they were planning. The murderers were college-bound with Ivy League potential, and the story was branded as “the honor roll murder” by the Orange County register. In Lin’s interpretation, Han is one of the murderers.

Widely hailed as a benchmark film for Asian-American representation, Better Luck Tomorrow won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance where it was rigorously celebrated by Roger Ebert, which led to MTV acquiring it.

When Lin took on Tokyo Drift, he wanted to add a cool Asian character into the mix. He tapped Kang to reprise the role of Han, albeit an incarnation of Han that was tailored to the franchise. The Better Luck Tomorrow Han is young and brash. Han is a teenager, although Kang was 30 he first played him. In Tokyo Drift, Han is older and wiser, a mentor to the film’s protagonist Sean (Lucas Black). Nevertheless, there are connections that make the character whole. The Better Luck Tomorrow Han is a chain smoker. In Fast Five, Han’s girlfriend Gisele (Gal Gadot in her first feature film). She attributes Han’s constant need to occupy his hand to being a former smoker. Tokyo Drift was only four years after Better Luck Tomorrow but the character of Han aged considerably.

Why Han Matters

The Fast Saga currently ranks as the seventh highest grossing film franchise in the world. And unlike the other top-earners, these movies were arguably the most diverse and inclusive from the onset. While the MCU has Black Panther and the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Star Wars introduced Finn (John Boyega) in its third trilogy, those casts remain predominantly white. In fact, the top 25 top grossing global franchises are all led by white casts. Fast and Furious is the exception. This makes Han the most prominent Asian character in a Hollywood franchise in the world.

What’s more, Han is cool. Until very recently, most Asian Hollywood roles were stereotypical or tokens. Han a richly developed character, even if Better Luck Tomorrow is disregarded. In Tokyo Drift, he’s a wealthy elite street racer with his own garage packed with awesome cars, attached to a club where he’s surrounded by gorgeous women. That was an unprecedented role for how Asian characters were presented in mainstream Hollywood entertainment in the 2000s.

Han’s relationship with Giselle is also extraordinary. While there is a long cinematic history of white men hooking up with Asian women, it was extremely rare for an Asian man to kiss white woman in Hollywood cinema. Han and Giselle become an item in 2009 with Fast & Furious. The following year, it was a huge deal for Jackie Chan’s interracial kiss with Amber Valletta in The Spy Next Door.

Jackie claimed it was his first onscreen kiss and he was already well past a hundred films to his credit at that time, although most of them were China-made. Han got to snog Wonder Woman onscreen before anyone else, including Chris Pine, and if that’s not cool, what is?

Lin carried another actor over from Better Luck Tomorrow. Jason Tobin played Virgil Hu, Han’s cousin and another one of the murderous teens. Virgil is the biggest punk of the gang. In Tokyo Drift, Tobin plays Earl Hu, one of Han’s friends and a master mechanic. Is the Hu surname a coincidence? Not likely for Lin. Tobin also appears as Young Jun in the Bruce Lee inspired TV series Warrior, where Lin is an executive producer alongside Lee’s daughter Shannon. Again Tobin plays a punk gangster. Tobin reprises Earl in F9.

Beyond Hollywood inclusion and representation where Han really matters is global box office. Hollywood was another COVID casualty. During the pandemic, the United States was dethroned as the biggest box office in the world. As of right now, China claims that title. Perhaps this is one reason F9 premiered there first, as well as in other Asian regions along with the Middle East.

Movies

Fast and Furious Timeline Explained (Including F9)

By David Crow

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Hollywood Execs Are Crediting Fast and Furious with Growing Embrace of Diversity

By David Crow

It’s been out for over a month and has already grossed $203 million in China alone, plus an additional $8.8 million in the other markets at the time of the U.S. premiere. Thanks to this, F9 is already the fourth highest earner in the world in 2021. It is right behind Godzilla v Kong, but both of them are trailing behind two Chinese blockbusters that most American are completely unaware of yet, Detective Chinatown 3 and Hi, Mom.

The Fast Saga’s rise has a lot to do with its international appeal, culminating with winning over Chinese audiences. It was under Lin’s steady hand that the franchise became a global player. Adding Han brought Asian representation to an already diverse cast. Tokyo Drift passed an international milestone where the film made more outside of the U.S. in the foreign markets—$33.9 million more. This disparity widened with each successive movie, so by the time Fast & Furious 6 rolled around, the international earnings accounts for nearly 70 percent of the total box office, and the door was open to that lucrative Chinese market.

Furious 7 was the first of the franchise to be shown in China and blew up there with a record-setting $390 million take, earning the title as the biggest non-Chinese film in the country at the time. That helped to elevate the worldwide box office past $1.5 billion, with over 76 percent of it coming from international earnings. The Fate of the Furious did even better, breaking its own record as China’s top-earning foreign film with $392 million, and the international box office accounted for 81 percent of the worldwide take.

Lin is smart to bring Han back. And if he really wants to appeal to that Chinese market, he’ll boost Virgil Hu’s role in F10. Han is Korean. Hu is Chinese. Tobin has appeared in Chinese films previously, including Jackie Chan’s Rob-B-Hood so the Chinese audience is familiar with him.

Justice for Han

At the end of the previous installment, The Fate of the Furious, Shaw is awkwardly accepted into Dom’s cookout. Fans of Han Jue and the franchise were outraged. How does Han’s murderer become part of the club? This triggered the Twitter movement #justiceforhan. Now that we know Shaw didn’t murder Han, it’s up to Lin to decide what happens in F10, which he is slated to direct next (it still doesn’t resolve Shaw’s acceptance at the barbecue because Dom’s gang still believed Han was dead then).

Perhaps it’s all some grand scheme by Mr. Nobody (Kurt Russell). With the Fast Saga, so much is uncertain, even Han’s name.

For F10, a confrontation between Han and Shaw seems inevitable, especially with F9’s post-credits cameo showing Shaw. Perhaps the next film will finally give enough closure for Shaw to earn his seat at the table, or for Han to banish him from it.

At the end of F9, when the car drives up to fill the empty seat at the barbecue table, it’s uncertain who the driver is. Maybe it’s Jakob (John Cena), Dom’s newly introduced brother in F9. Maybe it’s Shaw coming back for seconds, or maybe Brian O’Conner (although reviving the late Paul Walker digitally again would be tacky now). Maybe it’s even Giselle (sure, Giselle ‘died’ in Fast & Furious 6 but if Gadot came back, just think of how many tickets they’d sell). Fast and Furious is full to twisty turns, like any good car chase. But with Lin in the driver’s seat, Han is sure to get the justice he deserves.

F9: The Fast Saga opened only in theaters on Friday, June 25.

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The post How F9 Brings Back Justice for Han and Asian Inclusion appeared first on Den of Geek.

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softchenlele · 6 years ago

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day 1: pining - lee chan

words: 1.4k+

genre: 100% pure organic fluff, a tiny bit of sad boi feelings from chan

author: kitty

lee chan is truly, utterly fucked.

that's his first thought as he steps into the living room, where seungkwan and you are happily chattering over a drama episode. you're just there, you know, doing your thing and roasting do bong-soon for being dumb with your friend, and you're still the most wonderful thing he's ever seen.

"you know, you're gonna give yourself an ulcer if you insist on keeping quiet", said soonyoung once.

between the ulcer and the broken heart, chan chooses the ulcer. it would probably feel better than risking to lose your friendship, says chan every single time.

it's the little things, chan thinks. the way you run your hand through your hair, and every strand seems to fall perfectly; the way you can never seem to sit properly on anything, the way you smile at him when you tell him softly, "welcome back", every time he comes back to the dorm.

it's also every kind gesture, like that time you physically dragged him out of the dance room when he was still there, alone at 1am. like every time he feels under the weather, depressed about his work, or sad because he misses his family, and you never fail to bring him his favorite snacks and candy to cheer him up (truthfully, it's not exactly the snacks or sweets that get him to cheer up, it's your presence by his side). or the many times he fell asleep in front of the tv, and he'd wake up to you, trying to get him to bed or trying to put a pillow under his head, so that he wouldn't get a nasty neck pain and be grumpy about it the next day.

honestly, he wouldn’t have predicted he’d fall for you like that. but again, he’s not complaining.

today, the guys decided to go out to the han river to have a picnic, play, and generally have a good time, and of course, you tagged along with everyone. you had even worked together with mingyu to prepare all the food for the picnic, along with soonyoung and minghao, and chan would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to today’s meal.

as everyone started to run around the riverside, enjoying the warm summer weather, you stayed behind a bit with mingyu to find a place to put the food in the shade. as he sees you talking with mingyu and smiling up at him, chan can’t help but feel a tiny pang of jealousy; it’s quickly gone, though. you can’t feel possessive about someone who’s not even yours to begin with, he reasons, he leaves that to regular asshats. he’s just a bit sad that you’re get so well together, that’s it, just a little sad. as seungcheol calls for a friendly volleyball match, he shakes his head and joins soonyoung, jun and minghao for a little faceoff with seungcheol and the hip-hop boys.

he sees you sitting on the floor with the vocal team as they wait for their turn, and he can’t really help the tiny smirk tugging at his lips when he hears your voice shout “get them, lee chan‼”, but what he could have helped is the ball that hit him square in the face, while he was distracted with you. behind him, jun and soonyoung all but explode into laughter, jun hunched over and holding his poor stomach for dear life. barely suppressing a giggle, minghao trots over to chan, asking him if he’s alright; at least someone remembers that it hurts, chan thinks. when he sees you laughing at his misfortune between jihoon and joshua, his face seems to not hurt at all anymore.

with a hurt (though he’s overplaying it) and distracted (though he was very much focused after his little meeting with the ball) chan, it was no wonder they lost the match, soonyoung proclaims. however, the performance boys quickly forget their lost match when chan comes back with half a watermelon and a good knife, and they sit back comfortably to watch the hip-hop team plus you start their match against the vocal team, in a very noisy, shouty, screamy 5 vs 5. he thinks he can hear seungkwan complaining already.

munching on his watermelon, chan watches you play, and he’s got to admit that you’re not half bad; you’re better than him, to be honest. your strikes are precise and your jumps are calculated, one could think mingyu would have an advantage compared to you since he’s so tall, but you’re on par with each other. your team works smoothly and efficiently, and quickly enough the five of you are overwhelming the vocal team. wonwoo hits the decisive smash and with that, you end up winning the match. seungcheol doesn’t linger near the volleyball field and makes a beeline to the ice box, lifting his prize triumphantly: the Beef Meat of Victory.

jihoon sets up the food for grilling on one of the stone barbecues of the park, and seungcheol is quick to run over, whining for him to not touch his precious meat, because you lost to us, jihoon, you can’t do that! seungcheol should keep close to the barbecue, in chan’s opinion, because whining at the short man like that is the best way to make him eat a piece of meat just for spite.

he takes his seat right beside you, in a move he hopes unconspicuous and smooth, and starts passing plates, cutlery and chopsticks around the ring of people that had formed itself around the food baskets. he then offers everyone the remaining bites of watermelon; starting with you, of course. you accept a few bites into your plate, and the smile you give him in return makes him all warm and fuzzy inside. that’s one of the things he’ll never get used to, but at the same time he will never ever get tired of that feeling. it’s nice, it’s comforting, he loves it.

jihoon comes back bringing the freshly grilled meat with seungcheol in tow, chewing on what seems to be a piece of beef meat, if the pout on the leader’s face is anything to go by. jeonghan takes that as his cue to start putting the side dishes and rice out in the middle of your little circle, and everyone digs in, happily talking and chattering. there are jokes, playful shoves, falsely outraged gasps, laughs, all of that together forming chan’s favorite background noise. he listens in quietly to your conversation with vernon and seungkwan about the latest additions to vernon’s closet, and he chuckles as he watches seungkwan animatedly express his confusion about that one pair of red glasses.

as the group finishes their meal, you call for everyone’s attention. not that you ever need to call chan’s attention to you, mind you, but he’s never going to admit that out loud. with a big proud smile on your face, you take a pie out of the last bag left, and chan feels his mouth water at the sight of the huge strawberry pie you just uncovered. he lets his mind wander, and suddenly he wishes he could be the one baking with you, smudging flour on his fingers and chocolate on your face. the idea is almost as sweet as your smile, he thinks, but he has to let it go quickly, because you’re asking him for the second time if he wants any – of course he wants a slice, you’re the one who made it after all.

it’s sweet and a bit sour and so, so fruity, the strawberries don’t taste like the ones you buy at the supermarket but rather like strawberries you’d grow yourself in a garden, he thinks. maybe you bought them from a local producer? he looks over his shoulder at you, and he softens a bit at the sight of you, a calm, content expression on your face, appreciating every bite of that delicious pie, and the sunset behind you only adds to the beauty of the picture before him.

chan is truly and utterly fucked, he fell in love harder than he meant to, but he’s enjoying every second of it; it’s a wonderfully nice feeling after all. as he looks at you tonight, with the setting sun as your background, he promises himself to tell you how he feels. maybe it’s not for today, but someday, someday soon, he’ll gather his courage, and hopefully the next time he watches the sun set with you, it will just be the two of you, holding each other close and wishing that moment could last forever.

#seventeen imagines #dino #dino scenarios #lee chan imagines #dino imagines #lee chan #lee chan scenarios #seventeen #seventeen scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #original works #admin kitty

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benthemusicalbeard · 5 years ago

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3 Jun 2020

Afternoon! I hope you are all keeping well as lock down progresses. We have seen a slight easing of restrictions around certain activities and without sounding like a judgemental parent, I trust you are all still abiding by the rules! Some new music to accompany you as you go about your days. Music is one of the key things keeping me sane, that and over-barbecued sausages and strawberry ice cream as weather looks to be picking up for whatever format our summer takes.

First this week I give you Jacob Collier. The London born multi instrumentalist and producer appeared on my radar this week with the song I’m sharing. His musical talents first entered the public domain with a viral YouTube video of a split screen version of ‘Don’t You Worry ‘bout A Thing’ and subsequent signature to Quincy Jones’ management company. Collier developed a solo audio-visual experience based around track loops using his enviable special talents on multiple instruments. His style is a infuriatingly catchy mix of a cappella improv and reharmonisation mainly with a contemporary jazz groove. His debut album in 2016 titled ‘In My Room’ was recorded and produced by him from his family home and songs from this album won him two Grammy awards; his arrangements of ‘Flintstones’ and another Stevie Wonder song ‘You & I’. A further two albums have been released, the first two parts of a four part volume album collaborating with many different artists and introducing new styles and sounds. The first two albums, ‘Djesse Vol 1′ and ‘Djesse Vol 2′ were released to high acclaim and a further two Grammy awards followed for his arrangements of ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Moon River’. He has returned with a new single taken from ‘Djesse Vol 3′ to be released this summer and the one I’m sharing is the third of these singles to be released, a great track which fully showcases Collier’s undeniable talents.

Jacob Collier feat. Mahalia & Ty Dolla $ign - All I Need - https://youtu.be/MJpiozQUJvE

Second up this week and the legendary Tony Allen. He sadly passed away in April this year and I kept meaning to share one of my favourite tracks of his and to introduce you to the guy who pretty much single-handedly founded the Afrobeat genre. Allen was born in Nigeria in 1940 and was a well respected drummer by the age of 20 playing with many notorious Nigerian jazz musicians in bit part. It wasn’t until 1964 though when Allen was invited to play in famous Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti’s new band that he found a permanent role. They subsequently became known as Fela & Afrika ‘70 and as a group they recorded over 30 albums together and it was during this time that Allen developed and introduced the wider world to his style which had evolved from a purely jazz sound to that of Afrobeat, a mix of African rhythm which is instantly recognisable but containing jazz and soul rhythmic elements. By 1979 the group were experiencing difficulties in the form of arguments over artistic leadership and royalties owed to the band so Allen decided to depart, taking many of Afrika ‘70 with him, to start a new group. Since 1980 Allen performed alongside a plethora of musical artists from all genres keen to utilise the beats of Allen. One of the more well known collaborations were the ‘supergroup’ ‘The Good, The Bad & The Queen’ which introduced Allen to Albarn, as well as The Clash’s Paul Simonon and The Verve’s Simon Tong. Albarn would work with Allen multiple times, even including Allen on the latest Gorillaz album. Allen maintained his status as a pioneer of Afrobeat and was present on tens of albums all wanting a safe pair of hands on drums whilst providing his unique style and rhythm and that’s what sets him apart. You can often tell a guitarist from the style or sound of their play but not very often you can do that with a drummer but Allen is that exception. A true great.

Tony Allen feat. Damon Albarn - Go Back - https://youtu.be/8-hMkHkoFrU

Last but by no means least this week we have the talented Alexander Wolfe. A singer songwriter from Cambridge, Wolfe’s first dip into the music world was when he formed a band called ‘Taxi’ with Jamie Cullum. The band had reasonable success but disbanded mainly due to Cullum’s pending solo deal which elevated him to stardom whilst Wolfe was left to go it alone. His debut solo album ‘Morning Brings A Flood’ was released in 2010 I have listened to this album at great length this week. A wonderful album containing songs packed with emotion and worthy of the acclaim it got, standout tracks for me are ‘Lazybones’ and ‘Movement’. The album was followed by the 2012 acoustic album ‘Skeletons’ and the 2014 ‘From The Shallows’, the latter containing songs which achieved mainstream airplay in ‘Trick Of The Light’ and ‘Sunburn’. His latest album ‘Little Death’ came in 2019 following a small break after liquidation of the label he was signed to. An album which is a snapshot of Wolfe and his life, it contains some beautiful songs none more so than the ode ‘Catherine’. The song I’ve chosen to share I actually found due to my interest in comedian Spencer Jones who appears in the video to the song. The track is used in the TV series Flack and lyrically at least describes Wolfe’s mental torment with himself, offset against a very sweet video with comedian Jones at his unique and weird best.

Alexander Wolfe - Tired Of Me - https://youtu.be/xY60j_YI5Lw

Three more songs there for you to listen to, accompanied by plenty of back catalogue from each artist show you be a fan of their sound. Until next time we speak, stay safe x

#jacob collier #tony allen #alexander wolfe #music #Songs #playlist #new music #new songs #Spotify

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writeforcarat · 6 years ago

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Home [Part 2]

—Cat Shelter Volunteer!Wonwoo × Reader (feat. Jun) —Fluff [PART 1]

The next morning, Wonwoo was jolted from his seat behind the reception desk, when he heard the front door open, only to see Jun—his co-volunteer who miraculously recovered from a bad bout of food poisoning overnight—walk into the shelter; the smile that had already formed at the corner of his lips abruptly waning into a pout.

“You okay?” Jun asked. The sudden change in his colleague's expression was too hard to miss.

“Er—” Wonwoo scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with an answer. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? You had some bad sashimi over the weekend and now you seem fine.”

“Well, I’m still alive, aren’t I? But it looks like you’re not too happy to see me today. Or were you expecting someone else?” Jun asked with a smirk, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.

“I just didn’t expect you to come in for work so soon. That’s all.”

Jun threw Wonwoo a look of suspicion before heading off to the locker room to leave his stuff.

Falling back in his seat with a sigh, Wonwoo tried his best to divert his thoughts because the truth was, he had been waiting for you. In fact, he pulled an all-nighter just to finish his project, so he could come to the shelter that day and break some good news to you. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so excited about going to work.

You arrived about an hour later, the signed drop-off form in your hand. Expecting to see Wonwoo, you were quite disappointed to be greeted by an unfamiliar face from behind the reception desk. He was a good-looking young man—handsome, actually—but you couldn’t care less.

“May I help you?” he asked, noticing how you were anxiously looking over his shoulder.

“I’m sorry—um—I’m looking for Wonwoo.” you said “I’m Y/N. He texted me last night about the cat I dropped off here yesterday.” You placed the drop off form on the desk.

“Ah,” the boy clapped his hands together, then collected the form for filing. “Wonwoo doesn't work here anymore."

"Wait, what?"

Laughing at your bewildered expression, the boy said, "I was kidding. He's at the back. Go have a seat, while I call him.”

“Thanks.” Slightly annoyed, you scooted over to the couches that were exhausted by deep scratches, as the not-so-funny jester disappeared from behind the desk.

Wonwoo was tending to the cats in the playroom, but mostly looking after the cat you brought in, making sure the other cats don’t bother it. Its injured foreleg had been bandaged by the vet to ensure a speedy recovery.

“Hey, Wonwoo,” Jun called, peeking through door. “There’s a girl named Y/N waiting for you outside.”

“Oh,” Wonwoo’s head perked up, despite trying his best to conceal his excitement. Scooping the spotted white and grey cat he was petting, he stood up to exit the room.

“Last time I checked, people came here to look for cats and not humans like you,” Jun teased, to which Wonwoo responded with a “Shut up.”

“Just saying.”

Wonwoo found you at the receiving area, flipping through the pages of a pet magazine's back issue. While he did think you looked attractive the first time he saw you (raincoat, wet hair, messed up makeup, and all), he was quite stunned by how beautiful you actually were.

For that day, you deliberately picked the nicest outfit you had—a lavender sun dress, which you paired with white canvas trainers. Although the ensemble was not exactly that special, it was an escape from your usual T-shirt-and-trousers get-up. It also took you a good 30 minutes to fix your hair into a ponytail that looked Pinterest-worthy kind of messy and not downright unruly.

“Y/N,”

You looked up to see Wonwoo, cradling the cat against his chest, walking towards you.

“Oh my, there she is,” you cooed, gingerly taking the cat in your arms from Wonwoo’s. Compared to the last time you saw her, she’s a lot cleaner now and looks much more relaxed. “How is she?”

“After running some tests yesterday, the vet ruled out serious infections and diseases,” Wonwoo said. “So yeah, apart from her sprained leg, she’s perfectly fine.”

“That’s great,” you exclaimed. “Heard that, Kitty? You’re okay!”

Your smile must have been infectious, because Wonwoo was beaming, too. Seeing you overjoyed like that made him inexplicably happy. “And… there’s more good news,” he continued.

“What is it?” You asked excitedly.

“Apparently, Kitty is expecting.”

“Oh my God!” You gasped, the cat stirring in your arms.

“The vet saw it in her X-ray results yesterday,” Wonwoo explained. “We thought we were going to find a fracture or, maybe, something worse, but what we got was something even better.”

“My goodness!” Excitement mixed with disbelief, your emotions were on an overdrive, your brain trying to process the information you’d just received. “She’s going to be a mum?”

“Yes, Y/N, Kitty's going to be a mum!”

You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t want to throw your arms around Wonwoo at that moment, because you did. What you didn’t know was that he felt the same way, too.

Soon enough, visiting the shelter had become part of your daily routine. You’d drop by early in the morning before going to work at the academy. Usually, you’d help out in taking care of Kitty—you decided to name her that, laughing off your lack of creativity—but you didn’t mind looking after the other cats as well. You had even memorised their names and how they looked.

Your presence at the shelter also became the volunteers’ new normal that they even encouraged you to be part of their team—an offer, which you politely declined due to the demands of your actual job. You assured them that you’d help them out whenever you could, though.

Wonwoo was the happiest about having you at the shelter almost every day. Little did he know that aside from Kitty, he was the main reason you visited so often. Together, you’d run errands and chores—some of which he previously did not enjoy doing, but with you around, the tasks he used to hate turned out to be so much more bearable.

You, too, liked spending time with Wonwoo. You especially loved how he’d tuck stray strands of your hair behind your ear as you cleaned after the cats, or how he’d bring you some snacks before you left for work—little gestures that never failed to send butterflies fluttering in your stomach.

One morning, just after refilling the cats’ feeding bowls, Wonwoo finally approached you to ask you out for dinner. The invitation came out as a mumble at first, but when you said you couldn’t understand him, he repeated it, his words loud enough for Jun to turn around and give him two thumbs up. Blood rushed to his cheeks, making him blush in embarrassment.

“I thought you’d never ask,” you smiled and his bashfulness was replaced by elation. You agreed to meet at a restaurant near your academy later that day.

Over dinner, you got to know more things about Wonwoo, like how he couldn’t eat seafood (you ordered pork barbecue and vegetable wraps instead), how enthusiastically he’d geek over videogames, how he’d makes use of puns to make up for his dry sense of humour, and how he’d make this adorable nose scrunch whenever he laughed (okay, you had seen it before, but it was a sight you’d never get tired of).

Everything he did and said were so endearing, and just when you thought you couldn’t find him any more attractive, he’d do something and you’d feel your heart skip another beat.

You capped off that night at a café, your conversations getting deeper and more personal as time wore on. He’d told you about his dream of becoming a singer, which his family dismissed as a waste of time. You'd also opened up to him about why you came to Seoul in the first place.

“I needed a change in my life. A change of environment,” you said, stirring your cup of hot chocolate. “Things back at where I’m from were not exactly working out as planned, so I left to have another start, search for happiness, and, maybe, find a new home, too.”

Your gazes met, and you realised that your eyes were welling with tears. You didn’t want to be a dramatic mess on your first date, but there you were—overwhelmed by bottled up feelings that only Wonwoo was able to draw out from you.

“How about now?” Wonwoo asked softly, taking your hand resting on the table into his. A warm smile formed on your lips at the sight of your hands intertwined. “Are you happy?”

“I think it’s too early for me to answer that,” you glanced back up at Wonwoo, who was looking intently at you. “But right here, right now, I’m feeling so much better... with you.”

Gaaaaah!!! This is my attempt at writing fluff, and I dunno if it’s working at all! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed Part 2! I wish I get the time to work on Part 3 soon, which would probably the last instalment of this story. NGL, I still can’t believe this turned out to be longer than I thought it would be.

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travelingtheusa · 5 years ago

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ALABAMA

1 Jun 2020 (Mon) – We ran a bunch of errands today. Shopped at CVS, WalMart, Publix, the liquor store, and the post office. We also did laundry and stopped at McDonalds for breakfast while waiting for the clothes to finish. We had lunch at an Irish pub, too. They have a patio and we were able to eat outside. I guess that’s the new criteria for picking a place to eat. Our mail was forwarded from Texas and we received it with no problem. We went into the lodge and settled up our bar tab back from the day we were in there for the tornado. I called Memorial Sloan Kettering to have my medication shipped to me but the pharmacist said I had no refills. She would have to call the doctor to get authorization. She never called back so I’ll have to have it sent to me when we get to Indiana.

I finished my 2018 Travels slideshow but now I can’t seem to burn it to a CD. This is so frustrating! I will have to see if Best Buy can help.

We leave tomorrow. We will try to avoid big cities so we don’t run into the rioters that are out there protesting the murder of George Floyd. The country seems to be coming apart at the seams.

31 May 2020 (Sun) – We stayed around the campsite today. A gray dog is now in the yard next door along with one German shepherd. I sat down and wrote letters to the Human Society, the police department, the County Animal Control Division, and the local animal shelter. I hope they can save this dog.

30 May 2020 (Sat) – Paul discovered one of the tires on the RV was low. He filled it yesterday and it lost 10 pounds overnight. He took it off and brought it to a tire repair store. The mechanic said it was a bad valve and replaced it. Hope that does it.

We got to Zoom with Caiden and Miranda today. It was the first time using Zoom and turned out to be pretty easy to use. Travis has been facetiming or calling almost every day to check on us. I enjoy the contacts.

29 May 2020 (Fri) – I asked to have our mail forwarded. It should be Monday or Tuesday. We will leave as soon as we get the mail. We have to be up in Goshen, Indiana by June 8th. Paul wants to stop by Vanleigh Vilano in Tishamingo, Mississippi first so they can take a quick look at the slide out and confirm our problem is a warranty issue. Then it will be a fairly straight up to Indiana.

I picked up garbage along the back and side of the property line. We have spent over two months looking at the stuff and I couldn’t take it any more. I got two garbage bags full. I probably could have gotten three bags of garbage if I wanted to dig into the leaves.

Paul washed the truck and camper today. We are getting ready to move on.

28 May 2020 (Thu) – We took a ride to Sokol Park, the same one we went to with Bonnie a few days ago. But instead of going into the dog area, we hiked a trail through the woods. It was a short one but nice in the trees. It was after 11 a.m. and the sun was hot. Bonnie was soon panting heavily. We didn’t do much more than a mile.

After the park, we stopped at King’s Kitchen for lunch. It was a café with tables on a patio. We sat outside with Bonnie and ordered our meals. Bonnie enjoyed her burger very much. It was a very pleasant change of pace and the food was very southern. Unfortunately, we noticed that they were not wiping down the tables after use. A couple sitting at a table nearby got up and left but the table sat with no cleanup. When we finished, we wiped down our table and hands. Then used sanitizer when we got in the truck.

27 May 2020 (Wed) – We stayed around the camper today. Thunderstorms pummeled us most of the day, sending Sheba deep into the closet.

26 May 2020 (Tue) – Didn’t do much today. It rained most of the day. Paul worked on maps for the New York caravan. I worked on the slideshow for our 2018 travels. This is a very enjoyable project.

25 May 2020 (Mon – Memorial Day) – We had to go shopping today for pet food. Since we were out, we also went to the supermarket and picked up a few things. We also stopped at McDonalds for breakfast. I’ll bet the drive in places did especially well during this pandemic. People who don’t normally eat McDonalds or Wendys or Chick-Fil-A have gone there because delis and cafes have been closed.

Noah called to facetime with us. He’s so funny. I love talking to him. Travis had his in-laws over for a barbecue. His brother-in-law was supposed to come over but didn’t. We just hung around the camper for the rest of the day. The sun is so damn hot! It blazes bright, too. Anything light colored seems to reflect and magnify the sunlight. Walking outside during the day absolutely requires sunglasses. Walking the dog will be reduced to early morning and evening. I imagine the roadway/parking lot gets very hot for her paws. At the height of the day, it feels like standing in front of an oven. The sun is certainly more intense down here in the south. I rarely remember the sun feeling like this back up in New York.

24 May 2020 (Sun) – The day started out overcast and oppressive but cleared up later. I worked on creating a slideshow of our 2018 travels. Paul is still trying to get the 2017 slideshow he did to burn on a disc and make a copy of our 2016 adventures. The technology is very challenging.

23 May 2020 (Sat) – We stayed around the campground today. In the afternoon, thunderstorms rolled in and my phone was dinging with weather advisories. At 8:30 pm, I got another notice. Thinking it was another weather advisory, I half glanced at the notice then sat bolt upright. It was a Public Safety Alert that said “Escaped inmate seen in your area.” It then went on to describe the man. I went to the door and locked it. Paul as quite amused by my reaction.

22 May 2020 (Fri) - We slipped out early this morning and did laundry. There was one woman with a small child and a repairman in the laundromat. After the clothes went into the washer, we drove to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and brought it back to eat in the truck. There was a lot of traffic on the road. Seems like the whole state has opened up.

21 May 2020 (Thu) – We went to Home Depot today to pick up material for Paul to use in revising Sheba’s perch in the truck. The shelf he has for her now is just a little too small. The new one will accommodate her better. With her spinal issues, she can’t curl into a ball like most cats so we have to make the form fit her straighter posture when she lies down.

The parking lot was pretty full. When we entered, a worker with a cell phone said she had us. She was counting people as they entered the store and entering it into a program. When we exited, another worker counted us. One adds the number of people going in and the other subtracts the people going out. I guess they are keeping the number of people in the store at any one time to a maximum number. Most of the customers were not wearing masks. We wore ours and all the employees had masks on.

Governor Ivey held a press conference today. She announced the openings of businesses and the restrictions that will stay in place. She also said that people have to take personal responsibility for their own safety. I liked that. There are many people who are not at risk for the coronavirus and shouldn’t have to remain at home. Others, like us, are vulnerable and should take precautions to protect ourselves. That is just a fact of life.

There are two German shepherds in the yard of the house below us. Are these the original dogs that were there when we first arrived or two different dogs? Where have they been if they’re the same dogs? Does the guy have a business where he keeps his dogs for guard duty? Hmmm.

20 May 2020 (Wed) – We took a ride around the corner this morning and got the address of the house below us where the man was abusing the dog yesterday. If I see him doing anything like that again, I will call the police.

We took Bonnie and drove to Capitol Park. It contained the ruins of the capitol building that burned down in the late 1800s. I don’t know how you can make ruins attractive but the town somehow managed to do it. There were plaques all around telling the story of the buildings that used to be there. The park was small but neatly kept.

Then we drove to a dog park. It was almost 8 miles away (the UA Arboretum is still closed). It was a very nice park – large, grassy area with a concrete walkway around the perimeter of the park. It lets the owners walk while the dogs play. Unfortunately, there was dog crap all over the place. Apparently, people walk and talk on their cell phones and don’t pay attention to what their dog is doing. No one picks up after their dogs.

There was no sign of either of the dogs in the house below today. They were not out in the yard at all. I am distressed and at a loss at what to do. I think he killed the two dogs. When we first got here back in mid-March, there were 3 dogs in the yard (2 German Shepherds and a poodle) but I haven’t seen them in a while. The 2 that were in the yard yesterday looked like border collies (black and white). I don’t know if I am looking into the yard of a serial killer. I want to call someone but I don’t know who. To make it worse, Paul does not agree that there’s anything wrong and nixed my call. He thinks I have watched too many TV shows about killers.

19 May 2020 (Tue) – A new critter showed up next to our camper today! I was looking out the window when I caught sight of a small creature walking by. I thought it was one of the cats that walk through the area from time to time. There’s Blondie (a yellow tom), Tabby (a gray, striped tabby), and a black and white cat that we haven’t given a particular name to. Anyway, when I looked closer at the gray ball of fur I discovered it was a groundhog. It calmly walked along the edge of the grass, stopping to munch on the greens from time to time. After a while, it went into the bushes and disappeared.

I was very disturbed by an event that took place next door this afternoon. I was outside watching Sheba when I heard a dog screaming. Looking down into the yard of the house below us, I saw a dog running back and forth in terror. Thinking its friend (there were two dogs) was caught in something or facing off with a rattle snake, I strained to see what was going on. The trees and bushes have grown in pretty thick. What I witnessed horrified me! A man was wrestling with a dog who was screaming. Then the dog stopped screaming. The man was kneeling on the dog and smacking it. But the sound it made was not like anything I have ever heard before. It was a kind of popping sound. I yelled out, “Hey! That’s no way to treat an animal!” He stopped hitting the dog but remained kneeling on it. So I suggested that I was going to call the cops. He got up and went into the house but I never saw the dog get up. Later, the man walked back and forth to his shed a couple of times. Neither dog was seen again.

18 May 2020 (Mon) – We went food shopping at Publix this morning. I really liked the assortment of choices. Maybe we’ll make this our regular store. We were both surprised with the amount of food we bought. We didn’t think we needed that much. The cost was over $300! At least they had steaks.

After shopping, we stopped at Another Broken Egg for breakfast. Sitting by the river, eating a scrumptious meal, was so delightful!

This afternoon, we saw a few cars parked over at the lodge. A guy in a pickup drove over and started talking with me while I was outside watching Sheba. He said they opened up today but he wasn’t going in. They never let us know what was going on. They put up signs on the door the last time they were here describing the circumstances of their reopening. One of them says “If you’re sick, don’t come in here!” I thought that was pretty funny. The other signs are just print outs from online that describe recommendations from the CDC and requirements from the Alabama Department of Health. It basically called for a reservation or call ahead system. Sounds restrictive to me.

15 May 2020 (Fri) – We drove to Moundville today and walked around the Archaeological Park. It is an historical area with 29 mounds built between 1200 and 1600 AD. The tallest mound was about 60’ high and had a great view of all the other mounds in the area. It was quite a climb up! Then we walked around the area. It was almost 1.5 miles. Good exercise.

Afterward, we drove around Moundville looking at the area. It is kind of depressed with a lot of run down, poor parts to the town. We bought lunch at McDonald’s then stopped in the ABC store and picked up a couple of bottles of liquor. It was good to get out again.

When we got back, there were several cars parked at the lodge. We thought it had opened but it was probably the officers who were meeting to discuss the best way to open the lodge, given the restrictions the state is putting on businesses. They were gone by 5 p.m.

14 May 2020 (Thu) – We bought breakfast at Chick-fil-A, then went to the laundromat, put the clothes in the washers, and sat in the truck to eat our meal. Clothes transferred from washer to dryer, we remained seated in the truck until it was done. One of the machines did not fully dry all the clothes and we put them back in for another 12 minutes. They still came out damp but we just took them home and spread them out to air dry.

When we pulled into the lodge parking lot, the neighbor’s dog was running loose (again). It had managed to slip out of its harness and was exploring our campsite. I chased it back to their RV. The lady didn’t even know the dog had escaped.

13 May 2020 (Wed) – We drove back to the Riverwalk this morning and had breakfast at Another Broken Egg Café. We were the only people on the deck when we arrived but were joined by other couples as they arrived and chose to eat outside, too. The meal was excellent and Bonnie especially enjoyed her scrambled egg. When we were done, we walked the Riverwalk to the end and back. There was a visitor’s center on the route and Paul stopped in to get some brochures on the area. Unfortunately, they didn’t have much and the clerk wound up telling Paul to go online.

We ran out of propane two nights ago. He went out today and got a refill.

12 May 2020 (Tue) – We put Bonnie in the truck and drove to the Riverwalk. It was a very nice walk and the park was very nicely maintained and there were many people walking/running/biking on the trail. We came across Another Broken Egg (a breakfast place) along the trail. We will have to go there for breakfast. Parking is limited to just one hour so we’ll have to take a shorter walk if we stop to eat. They are pet friendly so we could bring Bonnie and let her have breakfast out, too. She’ll love that!

When we arrived back at the lodge, a red SUV turned into the parking lot in front of us, drove to the back where our RV is parked, then left. It looked like the same inspector who was here yesterday. He had another man in the car. Was this his boss on a field trip? We’ll find out.

11 May 2020 (Mon) – Another very warm day. Summer is around the corner! Someone was working around the lodge in the morning. We went food shopping this morning. We also stopped in two CVS stores to pick up hand sanitizer. We still can’t find Wet Ones (hand wipes). At least, everyone seems to have worked out the toilet paper issue as everyone has it in stock.

A man came onto our site today claiming to be an inspector with the County. Someone complained about us being here. He says there is no camping authorized here. We pointed out that the hookups are not new; that they’ve been here for many years. He dismissed our argument. We had a very pleasant conversation. He is originally from Elmira, New York and was sympathetic to our situation. When I asked if he was going to evict us, he said no. He also recommended that we take a walk along the Riverwalk on the Alabama University Campus down the road. We’ll try it tomorrow.

10 May 2020 (Sun-Mother’s Day) – The weather is getting hot. It starts out cool in the morning in the high 40s/low 50s but then the sun comes up and it burns hot. It must be because we are closer to the equator that the sun feels so intense.

Folks have been working in the Elks Lodge all day. Maybe it means the place is getting ready to open. At 5 p.m. Paul went out to Olive Garden and picked up a meal for us to share. It was delicious!

9 May 2020 (Sat) – We ran out of milk today. We walked next door to the Dollar General and picked up a quart of milk. All the stores in the strip mall were open. When we drove into town the other day, Paul noted that the mall was open. JC Penny’s was not open but the rest of the mall was. Guess the state is starting to open up. People are demonstrating in other states and a woman was arrested for opening her hair salon in spite of state directed orders to remain closed. It’s starting to get hairy out there!

We have been going back and forth with Jon Katin of the SMART Travel Committee. They want us to put a cost to the NY caravan. Most of the campgrounds don’t open until Memorial Day and many websites just say they are closed due to the pandemic. They offer no information on prices. We will have to wait until we can physically get up to New York to get the costs. In the meantime, we have developed a caravan for 8 days in Reading, PA for the WWII Reenactment. I sent that to Jon. He is afraid that there are not enough travelers to fill all the caravans that being offered (5 of them). How funny is that? They were concerned about getting enough caravans and wagon masters to offer caravans. Now, they’re afraid they can’t fill them all.

8 May 2020 (Fri) – It rained most of the day. Paul picked up dinner from the Olive Garden tonight. It was a pleasant change. The food was good. I finished the slideshow. Once Paul has had a look at it, I’ll start one for 2017.

7 May 2020 (Thu) – I think I am living Groundhog Day. The past three mornings I have gotten up, the clock has read the exact same time: 6:54 a.m. Weird, huh? I have just about finished the slideshow for our 2016 travels.

6 May 2020 (Wed) – We went out early this morning to do laundry. There were already a couple of people in the laundromat. After putting the wash in the machines, we sat in the car and ate our Chick-Fil-A breakfasts. Then we went in to put the clothes in the dryer, then sat in the car playing with our iPad and iPhone. When the laundry was done, we stopped at CVS on the way home to pick up hand sanitizers. We both went in and got one bottle each.

Two dogs from the neighbor came into our campsite this afternoon and left deposits. I had had enough!

I walked over and asked the lady to please keep their dogs on a leash. I was pleasant; said “Please” and “Thank You” but was firm. She said they run out when she opens the door. I asked that she not let them do that. Let’s see if my request holds.

5 May 2020 (Tue) – Since I have to sign for my medicine and UPS would be delivering it to the lodge, I sat outside all morning waiting for the truck to arrive. At noon, two jets screamed overhead twice. They were part of the Thunderbirds/Blue Angel Thank You tour they are doing around the country to show support for all the medical people who have worked so hard during this coronavirus pandemic. I don’t know why we only got two planes when they usually fly in a group of five.

Finally, at 1:00 pm, Paul drove to the local Mexican restaurant and picked up lunch for us. Since it was Cinco de Mayo, we celebrated with margaritas and burritos. While Paul was out, the UPS truck arrived. I got my medicine, Paul returned with the food, and everything was fine.

Our neighbor, whom we thought was leaving, is still here with his wife. I guess they just went through spring cleaning around his rig. They remain aloof and unfriendly.

4 May 2020 (Mon) – We went food shopping at Winn Dixie this morning. Besides the cashier, there were very few people wearing masks. Boy. I don’t know how people can work in those things all day long. It gets so hot and mine keeps sliding up into my eyes. I think my mask is too big for my face.

I called Memorial Sloan Kettering this afternoon and ordered a refill for my medication. They said they would overnight the refill to me.

3 May 2020 (Sun) – We tried walking a new route this afternoon. We crossed the road onto a small country road that parallels the main road as well as the train tracks. It has less traffic. We came to an intersection and turned right, intending to go to a park just up the road. Unfortunately, it is still closed. The entire walk was about half an hour. As long as our usual walk but not as intense. The hill had a more gentle slope that the hills into either the apartment complex or the Elks lodge.

2 May 2020 (Sat) – Our neighbor is still here. We thought sure that he would leave today but he hasn’t. His wife is still here with their 3 dogs. One dog keeps getting loose and running over to our area. It wants to play with Bonnie so badly. I feel sorry for it. I also feel angry at the couple that can’t seem to get their dog under control. This lodge is on a very busy road and if their dog chooses to run to the road instead of over to us, it will not survive the experience.

1 May 2020 (Fri) – We see that our camper’s wife is here. Maybe she came to help him pack up. He had a motorcycle which he took away in his work truck and did not bring back. We never saw him ride it so maybe it was borrowed from someone at work or he was just holding it for someone.

30 Apr 2020 (Thu) – We drove into town today to get pet food. While out, we stopped for lunch at McDonald’s then picked up bourbon and “43” at the liquor store.

The other camper parked here in the parking lot of the Elks Lodge is packing up. We’re guessing his work assignment is up and he is leaving tomorrow.

I paid bills this afternoon. I also have been working on gathering input for the Nomads chapter newsletter as well as still collecting pictures for a slideshow of our 2016 travels.

29 Apr 2020 (Wed) – Took two walks along our usual route. Got in 2 miles plus whatever else we put in while watching the cat play outside.

28 Apr 2020 (Tue) – The Exalted Ruler of the Lodge stopped by today. I was outside watching Sheba when a van pulled up to the dumpster and the guy got out to put garbage in the dumpster. I waved so that the man would know I was watching him. He got back in the van and drove over. It turned out he was the ER. He introduced himself and said he appreciated our offer to paint the lines in the parking lot but they already were working on having somebody do that. He did give Paul permission to take down some piping they had put up a couple of years ago for a fair. It took Paul all of a half hour to do that project.

I started my next video project by putting all our pictures from 2016 into a slide show. We have been to many places!

27 Apr 2020 (Mon) – Our big adventure to Piggly Wiggly was a disappointment. The store appears to be big but there selections were small and they carried a lot of unknown brands. We had to finish off our shopping list at Winn Dixie.

After dropping off the foodstuff at the RV, we went to the laundromat and got our clothes washed. And such was our big day in town.

26 Apr 2020 (Sun) – The lodge secretary was helping a member today. She saw me sitting outside in the camp chair and drove over to introduce herself. Her 90-year old mother was visiting from upstate New York when the virus hit so she is still here in a very extended visit.

Sheba certainly is enjoying all the time she gets outside. With us home all the time now, Bonnie and Sheba get lots of outdoor time.

25 Apr 2020 (Sat) – Still hunkered down. Noah called this morning to say thanks for his books. I bought him 3 books because Travis said he would like them. Apparently he had one of that type and just tore through it. He does love to read! The books are called “Everything You Want to Know About . . .” then there was “Math,” “English,” and “History.” I also bought books for Hudson and Lincoln. I also bought their parents ink and paper in order to be able to continue entertaining/home schooling the kids.

I am surprised by how cool the weather remains. I thought that Alabama was one of those hot southern states. It’s been in the high 40s, low 50s every morning. Doesn’t get up past the 70s. Although the sun burns hot on your skin. I guess it has to do with being closer to the equator.

24 Apr 2020 (Fri) – Nothing much going on. Noah, our grandson, has learned how to call us on FaceTime. He calls between 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. to talk about whatever he’s doing. He’s such a happy, upbeat personality. I love talking to him. He makes me laugh so much.

23 Apr 2020 (Thu) – Thunderstorms came in last night. There is so much rain here. There are flash flood warnings everywhere. Luckily, we are on high ground with no water bodies nearby so we don’t have to worry about that. I am surprised that with all the rain, there aren’t more puddles. They have an incredible drainage system in the area.

22 Apr 2020 (Wed) – We had rain a good part of the day. Hunkering down for rain tonight. Thunderstorms are on the way again. These storms seem to roll through about every 3 or 4 days.

21 Apr 2020 (Tue) – Nothing happening here. Took our daily walk. Talked with our son and his family. Noah has learned how to dial us up on FaceTime and calls when the urge grabs him. He is so funny. I thoroughly enjoy his calls.

20 Apr 2020 (Mon) – Another storm system came through yesterday. It rained for 20 hours. I usually enjoy thunderstorms. I like to watch the lightning flash in the sky and feel the rumbling of thunder in my bones. But these storms come with warnings of tornados and that scares me. Of all the weather systems that can happen, tornados scare me the most. I tried calling Malissa from the lodge but her phone kept saying the person “is not accepting calls at this time.” That was very unsettling. She is proving to be a very unreliable person. She said she would come down on Tuesday to cook a dinner but never showed. That was the second time she did that. And then not being available when a potential emergency was looming? Hmmmm. Fortunately, no tornados came our way.

We went into town today to get pet food at Pet Smart. Then we drove around looking for a Piggly Wiggly but wound up shopping at a Publix. They have traffic signs on the floor directing one way movement in the aisles. There was also a thick Plexiglas sheet between the cashier and customers. This is a new world. Next time we’ll shop at a Piggly Wiggly. The excitement of new adventures! We stopped at a Taco Casa for lunch. The food wasn’t bad but I think I like Taco Bell better.

The man from Wyoming left. I guess that when I told him someone from the lodge would be down to open up the building in the event of a tornado watch, he was scared off – either because he realized his free stay was over or he just didn’t want to endure a tornado.

There is a residential area behind us on the other side of bushes and fences. One of the neighbors had a party Saturday night. They barbecued food, played games, listened to music, and just plain had a great time with family and friends. People are really starting to defy stay-in-place orders. There were lots of cars on the road when we drove around today. Paul thought it was because it was later in the day (we usually go out first thing in the morning). Maybe.

19 Apr 2020 (Sun) – We watched the church service back home in Islip this morning. A very talented young man, Christian, played the trumpet. It was mesmerizing! I am glad they have been able to set up these digital services.

We were able to FaceTime with our son, Travis, and his family. Noah is just the happiest and most lively child. He always makes me giggle. Hudson wants to talk but gets embarrassed and doesn’t know what to say. He has to be drawn out and given prompting. What a difference between the two boy’s personalities. I am looking forward to discovering Lincoln.

Miranda sent a picture of Caiden with a missing tooth. He lost his first tooth. Unfortunately, he swallowed it while eating a PBJ sandwich. I remember swallowing a tooth while eating watermelon.

18 Apr 2020 (Sat) – I got a message from CVS in Valrico, Florida, yesterday saying that Paul’s prescription was ready for pickup. I called and arranged to transfer it to the CVS right by us here in Alabama. We got a text message an hour later saying his prescription was all set. We drove to the store and got his medications, then had lunch at Bojangles. Picked up our order at the drive thru and brought it home.

We haven’t seen anything of our new neighbor. He has a motorcycle rather than a car in tow and it’s been gone every day, all day. With everything closed, I wonder where he goes. His RV is in really bad condition. It is clear that he does not have a lot of money. We think he pulled in here and stayed longer than he said he was going to because it’s free (he was just looking for a place to pull over for the night). There is no one here to collect any money.

Paul’s sister, Joan, called today. We did Facetime with them. Joan & Peter are in the RV boondocking with her son’s family; Adam, Diane, and Devin (and the dogs). Adam gave us a 360 degree shot of the surrounding area. There are a few RVs parked out there in the desert. It is the epitome of social isolation.

Another weather system is headed this way tomorrow. It will start in the morning but the worst part won’t hit until the late afternoon/early evening. I hope Malissa is around to let us in the lodge. She has proven to be a less than reliable person.

17 Apr 2020 (Fri) – We went out early this morning to do laundry. Nobody in the laundromat was wearing a mask except us. I can’t figure this out. The folks in the post office were mad at me for not wearing a mask. The people in the grocery story were a mixed group – some wearing masks and some not. Nobody in the laundromat was wearing a mask. It is very confusing.

16 Apr 2020 (Thu) – We ran out of propane during the night so we went out to buy some. While we were out, we stopped at Wendy’s for lunch. Then we drove around the nearby town of Cottondale looking at homes around Canyon Lake. It really was in a small canyon with a very small lake. The homes were all very nice; built of light colored brick.

Another camper pulled in tonight. His license plates are from Wyoming but he says he is a full-timer who does work kamping around the country. He pulled a motorcycle out of his RV, which he uses to get around. I didn’t spot anybody else with him but he put two camp chairs out. Maybe it’s an invitation for someone to join him?

15 Apr 2020 (Wed) – CVS gets their shipments on Wednesday so we went out to get some hand sanitizer today. The first CVS had none so we drove down the road to a 24-hour store and they had some. I wanted to buy two bottles but everyone is limited to one bottle per person. So I bought one and then had Paul go in to buy one. So I got my two bottles.

We also went food shopping at Winn Dixie. About half the people in the store wore masks. We wore our masks for the first time. It is very uncomfortable and keeps pushing up into my eyes. Accordingly, I kept pulling my mask down. Isn’t the drawback to wearing masks that you touch it?

13 & 14 Apr 2020 (Mon & Tue) – Just hanging out around the campground.

12 Apr 2020 (Sun – EASTER) – There was no rain when we woke this morning. We left the bedroom slide pulled in but opened up the living room and kitchen. The animals – Sheba in particular – are distressed with the rooms are pulled in. I guess they don’t like change. We took a walk in the morning then hunkered down waiting for the storms hit in the afternoon.

At about 5:30 pm, the possibility of tornados was being reported on the weather channel. We called Malissa from the Elks Lodge and she came down to open up the building. She and her boyfriend, David, Paul and I along with Bonnie and Sheba all sat inside watching the weather channel for an hour. Finally, the weatherman indicated that tornadic activity was calming down as far as what was headed in our direction. We returned to the camper and Malissa and David went home. An hour later, Malissa called to say they were on the way back to the lodge because a tornado was on the ground. The news said nothing about it. We grabbed the animals and our go bag and ran to the lodge amid fire sirens going off and my phone beeping in with warnings to find shelter immediately. The sky opened up and it rained so hard, you couldn’t see the camper from the deck of the lodge. A tornado touched down about 13 miles north of us in a mobile home park (they always go for the trailers!). After two hours, the news (again) said there were no more tornados headed in our direction. With that, we said good night and returned to the trailer. It was an exciting night.

11 Apr 2020 (Sat) – We took our walk around the usual route twice today. For dinner, Paul ran out and picked up KFC. We are preparing for severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado tomorrow. Paul will pull in the slides tonight and park the truck under some trees to minimize hail damage.

10 Apr 2020 (Fri) – We drove to the post office first thing this morning. We arrived at 8:15 a.m. only to discover that they didn’t open until 9:00 a.m. We then took a quick trip to a nearby bank to get some money at the ATM. It is amazing how little we think of all the things we touch in a day. Now that we are so much more aware of infection, every little thing seems like a threat – doorknobs, countertops, desks, keypads, shopping bags, money, etc. It’s become a very scary world!

9 Apr 2020 (Thu) - It was another trip to the outside world today. We needed to send off an Easter package to the grandkids so it was a stop at the post office. That was an adventure in itself. There was a long line of people waiting to get in. It looked longer than it actually was because people were leaving 6 to 8 feet between them and the person in front of them. There were 9 people in front of us. The line moved very slowly and it was a half hour before we got to the desk. There was only one clerk working. She explained that one of the employees caught the virus so they shut the place down. All the meters and registers were off. She was working with something like a smart phone. Nothing could be metered. She could only accept flat rate items and she could not accept cash; payment by card only. I got to send off the two packages but was not able to mail off our taxes.

We stopped at CVS and Walgreens to see if they had any hand sanitizer. Neither did. There were some food trucks out so we stopped for lunch at a Mexican Taco truck. The food was terrible and they used the wrong kind of cheese. We won’t do that again! While out, we also stopped at an ABC Store – a state run liquor store. Actually, two stores. The first store only had one bottle of Red Stag and no 43. The owner called over to another store and found they had what we wanted so we drove there and bought another bottle of Red Stag and a bottle of 43.

At 6 p.m., we fired up the iPad and tuned into the Islip Methodist Church Maundy Thursday service. There was only the pastor, the organist, and our cousins – Lee and Donna – performing the service. It was communion so we poured some wine and broke off some bread and followed along with the service. It seemed weird to be reading the response while sitting in our living room.

8 Apr 2020 (Wed)

– We stayed in today. I counted the cars on one of the freight trains that go by every day. There were a hundred cars on it. It’s amazing that so many of those very heavy cars can be moved at one time.

7 Apr 2020 (Tue) – We ventured out today. First stop was at the laundromat to put the laundry in the wash. Next stop was at Winn Dixie where we picked up groceries. We went back to the trailer to put away the food. Then it was back to the laundromat to move the wash to the dryers. We then went to Chick-Fil-A for a late breakfast. Then it was back to the laundromat to collect our clothes. Paul brought in a wipe and wiped down the table we folded the clothes on. We put on gloves everywhere we went but we did not wear face coverings. Last night, President Trump asked the nation to voluntarily wear face masks to continue fighting the coronavirus. The number of infections are falling, thanks to the people who are complying with the CDC guidance to self-isolate (most states have imposed lockdowns and curfews), practice social distancing, and wash your hands. Over a million people have been infected worldwide with thousands of deaths. It is amazing how infectious this virus is. It is in 184 countries now. The world truly is a mobile place.

6 Apr 2020 (Mon) – UPS delivered my medicine from New York today. I put a sign on the mailbox telling the UPS driver to bring the package to us in the RV. Paul happened to be up on the roof when the driver pulled in and waved the guy over. He spent several minutes arguing with me about why he shouldn’t give me the package. It was addressed to the Elks, but my name was also on the envelope. He told me he was supposed to give it to the lodge, not us in back. If we need to have mail sent to us here, we should ask the lodge to assign us a lot number. After going back and forth, he finally gave me the package. When I said I was supposed to sign for it, he said they are not allowing anyone to touch the pad. He signed for me.

As I was sitting outside waiting for the UPS driver to arrive, someone from the lodge drove over to check on us. She said they were going to have wings and beer tomorrow. I told her we would have some, too. Weird. Aren’t they supposed to remain closed with the 24-hour curfew in place?

5 Apr 2020 (Sun) – We tuned in on Facebook and watched the church service back home in Islip. The picture was dark like they didn’t turn the lights on. Maybe they’re trying to save money.

3 Apr 2020 (Fri) – We opened the package my sister sent. It included mostly supplements I had ordered and sent to her because UPS won’t deliver to us here. She repacked my orders and sent them in one big box.

Paul took the fifth-wheel hitch off and worked on sanding it. He’ll repaint it and make it look all nice again. I worked on getting our taxes done.

2 Apr 2020 (Thu) – We drove to the UPS store to pick up a package my sister mailed to us. We placed it in the bed of the pick up to sit overnight. We will open it tomorrow.

Since we were out already, we stopped at Freddy’s for lunch. It was ok. After we got our food at the drive-up window, we parked and walked over to their outside tables to eat our meal. There was a sign on the table saying that their outside dining area was closed. We walked back and sat in the truck to eat.

After lunch, we drove to three different liquor stores looking for our favorite liquor. They were all small and had none of our choices in their selection. The bigger stores are the ABC Liquor Stores but they are all closed. We think they are state run. We will have to make do with the wine we can pick up in the supermarket until things open up again.

At 6 p.m. I called a nearby Mexican restaurant to order a meal for pick up. The website said that due to the volume of calls they get, they added a second number. They failed to say that second number was at another location. When Paul drove to the restaurant, they did not have our order. After he left, apparently that restaurant called their other site and found our call had gone there. We worked out the misunderstanding, replaced our order, and was able to pick it up. Besides the food, we got a half gallon of margaritas. A bottle of Jose Cuervo and a container of margarita mix were included in the order. It looks like we could probably get 8 glasses out of it!

1 Apr 2020 (Wed) – Just hung out today. Took two walks along our now familiar circle of across the parking lot of the lodge, across the parking lot of the strip mall next door, up the hill around the apartment complex, and back to the camper.

31 Mar 2020 (Tue) – We ventured out today wearing plastic gloves. Didn’t see many people with face masks. Went food shopping at Winn Dixie. They have designated 7 to 8 a.m. for seniors and 8 to 9 a.m. for first responders. There was no one at the door checking IDs so I guess anyone could go in if they want to. Then we drove to Pet Smart for pet food. Next door was The Fresh Market. We went in to get some fresh produce. On the way back, we stopped at a CVS. Everywhere we go, I look for hand sanitizer but we can’t find any – all sold out. I wound up buying a nasal saline wash. Each time we go out, we will use the nasal wash and gargle with salt water.

30 Mar 2020 (Mon) – It rained most of the day. We finally finished scanning all the photo albums into the computer. The trains riding by blow their whistles and fill me with longing to move on. We have been here now for 14 days. The governor of Alabama instituted a 24 hour curfew. Apparently, the 10 p.m. curfew didn’t work. Teenagers were hanging out at gas stations since the bars are closed. Someone got shot so now everyone is in lockdown. Crazy!

29 Mar 2020 (Sun) – Adventure abounds! I have just returned from two days in the hospital. What happened, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

We were hiking in the woods at Harris Lake in Tuscaloosa. We were about a mile in on the trail, stopped at a dam and sitting by the stream. I suddenly got very shaky, my vision dimmed, and I complained of a severe headache. Paul tells that I then lost my memory. I had no idea where we were, where we have been, or even that there is a virus ravaging the country.

We hiked back out of the woods (I don’t remember any of it), got in the truck, and drove to the nearest hospital. I “came to” during the ride in the truck where Paul was telling me I had an episode. He thought I had a stroke. First stop was at a VA hospital but they didn’t have an emergency room so we were directed to a civilian hospital down the road.

There was a person sitting at a desk outside the entrance to the emergency room dressed in a gown, cap, gloves, and mask. She put me in a wheelchair and brought me inside. Paul was not allowed to enter the hospital. After being checked in at the desk, I was wheeled into the emergency room. Almost all of the staff was gowned and wearing face masks. They drew blood and sent me for a chest x-ray and found nothing. The doctor wanted an MRI but they couldn’t get me scheduled until the next day so I agreed to be admitted for the night. Paul was still not allowed in the hospital so the staff advised him of what was happening.

The experience in the hospital was unsettling. First, I was placed in a room all by myself. The doors to all rooms on the floor were kept closed at all times. Only one staff person at a time was allowed in patient rooms and contact was kept to a minimum. I spent hours behind closed doors feeling like I had been forgotten about. I got an MRI of the brain and they took more blood. A doctor came by to say everything was normal and left to see when the neurologist was going to come by. Next thing I knew, a nurse came in and said I was being sent for an ultrasound of the carotid arteries. The nurse said I was also scheduled for an echo cardiogram but she didn’t know when it would happen. It turned out later that it would be the next day so I had to stay another night in the hospital.

At 6:00 a.m. this morning, they took me down for the cardiogram. A neurologist and his P.A. showed up later to say all the tests returned normal. There was nothing on the brain MRI, the EKG, the cardiogram, the x-ray, or the bloodwork to explain what happened. The good news was that there is nothing big that is wrong with me. It’s possible I suffered a TIA, which, as he explained it, is a kind of catch all diagnosis when they don’t really know what happened. He recommended that I follow up with a neurologist and a cardiologist after I get out of the hospital.

I was finally given the all clear and discharged at 2 p.m. Paul had to pull up to the entrance (all entrances were closed except one), check in with the security guard, call up to the room to tell me he was there, then wait for me to be brought out. I then had to call the nurse’s desk and ask for a transporter to take me downstairs. It took more than half an hour for someone to show up. Paul was entertained while he waited for me. A guy came out of the hospital to get some food from a truck parked outside. When he tried to go back into the hospital, the security guard refused to let him in. Yelling and shouting ensued. People showed up and the crowd grew as the guy tried to get back into the hospital. Apparently, he was a patient and kept yelling he was not going to stay. Finally, a supervisor came out and allowed the man in. A few minutes later, he exited the hospital with his belongings. They don’t fool around down here!

When I was wheeled out, I told Paul not to touch me. I had instructed him to spray the seat with Lysol before I sat down. When we got back to the trailer, I stripped naked standing outside in front of the stairs then went directly into the shower. While I scrubbed down, Paul washed my clothes and sprayed down my purse and shoes. I hope we got all the spores I might have brought back with me. Only time will tell. It is good to be home.

26 Mar 2020 (Thu) – There are some railroad tracks across the road from the lodge. Several freight trains roll by every day. I saw an Amtrak passenger train barrel through one day. I don’t know if they go by on a regular basis. I guess they do. I just don’t see them. I hear the train whistles and rumbles often.

There is a small strip mall with six shops next door. The only shop open is Subway. Next to that is a small child care center. It was closed when we first arrived but there were children in there today. I don’t know if they have reopened or if they are only watching children of health care workers. They were all little tykes, somewhere between 2 and 5.

Next to the child care center and up a small hill is an apartment complex. At least once a day, we walk past the shops and child care center, up the hill, and around the parking lot of the complex. I don’t think it amounts to more than a total of one mile but at least it’s a little bit of exercise.

The name of the child care center is Little Roll Tide Academy. There are a lot of businesses around here with the word “Tide” in them. Apparently, the U of Alabama has a team called Crimson Tide and the team chant is Roll Tide. I don’t get it but then again, I don’t live here or go to the games. I guess the locals find it reassuring.

25 Mar 2020 (Wed) – Paul read that Winn Dixie is restricting the first hour to shopping by senior citizens. He thought the time was 7 to 8 a.m. but when we got there, it turned out to be 8 to 9 a.m. So we drove down to a laundromat and threw the laundry in the machines. What a rip off! The machines were $4.50 each, but another $0.50 for hot water for the whites. Then the dryers were $0.25 for six minutes. I think it was the smallest load we’ve ever washed for the most money. One washer wound up sucking our money and we had to spend another $5.00. The attendant couldn’t do anything about it. She is not authorized to give refunds.

Between washing and drying, we went to Winn Dixie for groceries. There were a few seniors there when we went in - most of them wearing face masks. The shelves were, for the most part, well stocked. The cleaning aisle was half empty and the cashier was limiting purchases to either Lysol spray or Clorox wipes but not both. They had no hand sanitizer.

We also stopped in to Walgreens so I could get batteries for my hearing aid. They had no hand sanitizer either.

24 Mar 2020 (Tue) – It turns out the lilac tree is wisteria and it is growing all over the place. Looks so nice. It is tough to just sit here day in and day out. There is no sidewalk on the highway so we can’t take long walks. Even Bonnie is getting bored with walking circles around the parking lot. Paul looked up a nearby park but when we drove there, we found it closed. I went to Trip Advisor and found a county park then I called to be sure they were open and dogs were allowed. The answer was YES to both. We drove a half hour to Lake Lurleen State Park. It has 1,625 acres of hiking trails, camping, and water activities (but no boat rentals for now). We walked a trail. Bonnie lasted about 25 minutes then got too tired to go on (we were on a 4-mile loop trail). It was nice to get out in the woods and smell the pine and hear the birds.

On the way back, we stopped for lunch at Bojangles (a chicken place). We both had fried chicken and fries. The times, they are a-getting’ desperate!

23 Mar 2020 (Mon) – There is a beautiful lilac tree in the back of the parking lot next door. The trees are starting to bud. Spring is not affected by the virus. Luckily, neither are we. The statistics say that Alabama is the third lowest state to have the virus, so it is a good place to be. I pray for our friends and family every day. It is maddening not to be there to watch over them.

22 Mar 2020 (Sun) – Well, we finished up the Longmire series. Now we will start watching the videos we have been carrying around with us. Some are good; some not so good.

21 Mar 2020 (Sat) – We are binge watching the Longmire series. We bought the entire six seasons a few weeks ago and will now finish it off. Other than that, it’s watching the daily news briefings about the coronavirus on TV, walking the dog, and hanging out. Cabin fever is already starting to set in.

20 Mar 2020 (Fri) – We ventured out to shop today. First, we went to Vowells Fresh Market. The produce seemed old. Many of the shelves were empty, especially the cleaning supplies aisle. We both wore plastic gloves. The cashier did not have any gloves on. I thanked her for working during this crisis. She admitted she is very scared.

We then drove to the nearby grocery, The Fresh Market. It was more like the health food stores back home. It had a fresher, better stocked look to it. The produce was fresh and most of the shelves were full. There was a delightful deli section with salads. That cashier wasn’t wearing any gloves either. I guess they’re not as concerned here.

After shopping, we drove around the area to see what stores are around. There are quite a few. This is a built up area and it doesn’t look like we will have any problems shopping for what we need. I stopped in a GNC shop looking for zinc sulfate and nasal saline but they had neither. We also stopped at a CVS but they didn’t have any either. One of the clerks was wearing a mask and gloves. Made me feel a little more justified for our caution. Silly, isn’t it?

We have been watching the daily news briefings by the Coronavirus Task Force. Each day, more action is being taken to try to counter the spread of the virus. It is amazing how far and wide this thing has spread around the world. It will have to run its course. I initially thought it would go away when the warm weather arrived but it’s starting to look like that won’t happen. They’re predicting it will take 18 months to clear up. They also revealed that men have twice the mortality rate as women for those who have died. How depressing!

19 Mar 2020 (Thu) – It was a quiet day. I would have preferred to stay in the Army Corps of Engineers campground in Montgomery among the moss covered trees and the lazy river. It would have been more in commune with nature. Instead, we are camped in a parking lot at a closed lodge on a busy highway. At least there are several stores close by. On one side is a small strip mall with a Subway, an insurance company, a nail salon, and a child care center. On the other side is a larger mall with a grocery store called Vowells Fresh Market. Next to that is another supermarket called The Fresh Market. On the corner at the traffic light is a Walgreens and across the street is a Winn Dixie and a CVS. There are some eateries and other small businesses. Many of the small businesses have signs on the door that say they are closed until March 31. The news said Governor Cuomo in New York has directed ALL nonessential businesses to close for two weeks. That means Travis & Sam and Miranda & Kenny are out of work. Well, maybe not Kenny. He works at a beer distributor that also sells food. Maybe they will stay open. What a mess!

18 Mar 2020 (Wed) – We called the campground to see if we could extend our stay for two weeks only to be told the campground is closed. Everyone is being allowed to stay when they paid through to, but then must leave. No extensions. Since today was our check out date, we were literally kicked out.

We packed up and left Montgomery at 9:45 a.m. The drive was pleasant and uneventful. We arrived at the Elks Lodge in Tuscaloosa at 12:15 p.m. There are 9 campsites along the site of the lodge on the grass with full hookups. Unfortunately (or fortunately, however you look at it), there was a sign on the door that says the lodge is closed until further notice. This is in line with all the other notices that have been flooding my phone for days. Schools are closed, restaurants are only serving take out, colleges have switched to online classes, all federal and most state campgrounds are closed, and some states have called out the National Guard to help with the crisis. Today, the president invoked the Defense Production Act, an act of wartime activity. It authorizes him to have manufacturing ramp up to make required products to combat an enemy. In this case, the corona virus. It’s crazy!

17 Mar 2020 (Tue) – Took a quick foray out to get fuel in the truck. On the way back, we stopped at a fruit and vegetable stand to pick up a few things. The man staffing the small booth was very old with just a few teeth. He had a heavy southern accent and was hard to understand. I bought 2 oranges, 2 sweet potatoes, and a watermelon.

At the entrance to the road leading to the campground stands a Dollar General store. We stopped in there and found toilet paper on the shelf. We picked up a pack as well as a few other items then returned to the campground. Later, we cooked burgers and corn on the cob for dinner and sat by a delightful fire as the sun set. What a great campground this is! The lazy river drifts by, the trees are covered in Spanish moss, and there are lots of trees and few campers. We could spend the next month here.

16 Mar 2020 (Mon) – Johnny & Linda packed up and left this morning. It seems empty now. We are just sitting around listening to the birds and watching the lazy river drift by. I know we are safe from the craziness of the coronavirus panic going on elsewhere in the world, but it kind of feels surreal. Kind of like we are the survivors of an apocalyptic event. We are the only survivors and we have run away to a safe place to hide from the zombies. That’s what we get for watching all those science fiction movies for years.

15 Mar 2020 (Sun) – Linda made pancakes and sausage for breakfast. Then we went into Prattville for lunch at Hooters. Johnny has a hood of a race car (it’s really a plastic replica) where he has gone around to different Hooters and gotten the girls to sign it. So he brought the hood in and had the girls all sign it. They started out hesitant to do it but by the end of lunch, they were all enthusiastic and amused by his project. I didn’t care much for their food but the margarita was good.

Back at the campground, Linda again cooked the meal of the day. She prepared wild rice with chicken and corn on the cob. Our visit with them has been a lot of fun and we look forward to seeing them in New York this summer.

14 Mar 2020 (Sat) – Linda made tacos for lunch. I made steak, baked potatoes, and grilled asparagus for dinner. We are enjoying each other’s company so much. We just hung out around the campground today and delighted in God’s country.

13 Mar 2020 (Fri) – Linda made Cady Lake Hash for breakfast. It’s like our frittatas. You take whatever left-overs you have in the fridge and cook them up with eggs. It is very good.

After much discussion, we all decided to go to Alabama to camp out. It is one of the few states that has not reported a coronavirus infection. Johnny & Linda fell in behind us and we headed out to Gunter Hill Campground, an Army Corps of Engineers park. I don’t know if it is related to the virus hysteria or they were doing repairs, but the three rest areas we wanted to stop at were all closed. We finally pulled into a travel plaza to stretch out legs and walk the dogs.

We arrived at the campground around 1:30 p.m. We are both parked in the same site but it has two hookups. We have water and electric, with a dump station somewhere on the grounds. We are right on a river front. With the moss covered trees, the meandering waterway, and lots of room between campers, it feels like we are in another world. It is peaceful and remote.

At 3 p.m., Paul and I drove to the Maxwell-Gunter AFB nearby to get some groceries at the commissary. It was a surreal experience. All the shelves were half empty. There was no toilet paper, no tissues, no Vitamin C, and no hand sanitizer (I still don’t get the run on toilet paper). The line went across the front of the store, up the side aisle, and down the back side. We were on line for 45 minutes. And this was the commissary on a base with only military folks! I hate to imagine what WalMart or Publix looks like.

We enjoyed wine at our campsite last night, all talking and solving the problems of the world. Johnny & Linda will be here with us for three nights before heading back home. We wanted to stay a week but they only had five days available. It is a very nice campground.

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qvestchen · 6 years ago

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Lockscreen // Yuwin NCT : Chapter Four

Summary: There’s a thin line between reality and playacting, and Dong Sicheng tripped hard over it when he fell head over heels in love with Nakamoto Yuta.

Author: qvestchen

Status: Ongoing

Chapters: Home, Previous, Next.

Lockscreen // Yuwin NCT

Chapter 4: Oracle Haechan’s Ouija session

Recap:

The next day, Winwin was leaving early when he tip-toed to where Yuta’s phone was charging. It was just a harmless habit of his. To check his lockscreen now and then.

He frowned.

The lockscreen had changed. It was Winwin still but post-show, Limitless-era Winwin looking petulantly at the camera. Winwin remembered when Yuta had clicked this picture. He was looking ghastly. It had been after a show when Winwin had smudged his make-up angrily, irritated by his outfit and the monstrous belt and the botched up dance move.

He shoved the phone back, looking at Yuta’s sleeping form.

When he returned that evening, he made a point to discreetly show his lockscreen to Yuta. It was a picture of Yuta covered in mud from when the time he had fallen face first into a rainy muddle during a rare walk together.

Yuta laughed when he saw it. “You still have this? Isn’t this pre-debut? Wow, I look ugly. Taeyongie, look at this.”

Winwin huffed.

Winwin was glaring at Yuta and Taeyong who were clutching each other, laughing at Taeyong’s Japanese while fixing up some dinner.

“Jaehyun,” he said, “you haven’t taken Taeyong out for a date in quite a while, right?”

They were sitting on the couch in the living room, watching football.

Jaehyun smiled, his dimple deepening. “We went out yesterday. Why?” His tone was shrewd.

Winwin looked at Yuta and Taeyong again and nearly growled. “Your boyfriend has no sense of personal space.”

Jaehyun nudged him. “Quit being jealous. Taeyongie is being smothered by Yuta if I’m seeing clearly. Besides, I remember someone telling me jealousy is a dangerous thing.”

“How do you not get jealous?” Winwin groaned.

Jaehyun looked at Taeyong fondly. “I used to, before, but being in a relationship changes stuff, you know? Things are good.”

Winwin threw him a dirty look. “I have never felt so bad for being single.”

“Oi, Jaehyunnie, can you have a look at this?” Taeyong called him from the kitchen. “Yuta says it’s too spicy but then Yuta finds everything spicy.”

“Later, singleton,” Jaehyun said, laughing, as he strode to the kitchen.

“Okay, you guys, I see you’re leaving me out of your little cooking show. I’m going to call Jun and Hao and go get dinner with them.”

“Bye,” they chorused.

Haechan entered the room, hearing the exchange. “Aww, Winwin hyung, are the hyungs being mean again? Fear not, Haechannie is here. Let me read your future with my new Ouija board.”

Winwin was about to suggest a game instead because he didn’t want to be the first experiment of Haechan’s new Ouija board but suddenly he remembered why Haechan had an Ouija board in the first place. Jaehyun had bought it for him after Haechan had read his future from the Tarot cards. No one knew exactly what Haechan had told Jaehyun but within the span of a few hours, Jaehyun was dating Taeyong.

“Can it answer a question for me?” he whispered.

Haechan’s eyes glinted. “And so much more.” He set up the board on the coffee table and asked Winwin to sit across him. “But first, I need payment.”

Winwin made a move to get up. “Okay, I’m leaving.”

“No, no, sit, sit. Okay, since you’re my first customer, it’s nearly free for you. Just help me prank Mark one of these days.”

Winwin nodded dismissively.

“Alright.” Haechan put on a serene face and fished out a purple robe from somewhere. “Welcome to Oracle Haechan’s Ouija session. I’m calling on spirits—”

There was a burst of laughter from the general direction of the kitchen.

“—yes, yes, I hear some witches wailing in the background.”

The laughter died down quickly.

“Okay, it’s quieter now. I feel the presence of a spirit.” The table shook slightly. “Oh it’s a real strong spirit but my presence has calmed it down. Okay, child, ask your question,” Haechan said, eyes still closed.

Winwin began, “What does Y—?” He stopped himself as he realized that the three in the kitchen had stopped cooking and were listening intently. What does Yuta truly think of me? No, he couldn’t ask that. He had a cool image to uphold. So, he covered up quickly. “What does my future look like?”

Haechan opened his eyes but rolled them back so only the whites showed and melodramatically, he shook the table with his foot. “Spirit-nim is saying something. Please spell it out for us.” He leaned over the table and the pointer began to move quickly.

Winwin drew a breath and tried to read the letters that were being highlighted by the pointer. “What the—it’s going too fast. Is it even saying anything? Seems random roaming about to me.”

The pointer stopped moving and the table stopped shaking. Haechan gave him a loathsome look. “You’ve made the spirit upset by your disbelief.”

The audience in the kitchen moved back to their work.

Haechan whispered conspirationally. “But don’t worry, hyung, I got the message. I can read the pointer pretty fast.”

Winwin looked doubtful.

“The spirit talked about…”

Winwin didn’t want to appear interested but his head leaned closer to catch the words.

“The spirit said, ‘Dong Sicheng, your biggest competition is about to come’,” Haechan said in a hoarse voice. He coughed and spoke clearly after delivering this. “So, what did you think of my session?”

“You need to work on the whole table movement,” Winwin said.

Haechan nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Who do you think I should call for a session next?” He scratched his non-existent beard thoughtfully.

“Ask Yuta. He seems pretty free these days.”

The younger boy sighed. “He’s my favourite experiment but I’m pretty sure he’s the one who has hidden away my tarot cards.”

“You kept telling him a grimm was going to get him at breakfast every day. I won’t be surprised if he did hide them.”

Haechan laughed. “I was just kidding, practicing my Harry Potter impersonations.” He smiled wistfully. “Speaking of Yuta hyung, I heard from Renjun who heard from Ten hyung…when are you planning to tell Yuta hyung?”

Winwin spluttered. “Why does everyone keep pressuring me to tell Yuta? First Jaehyun and Ten and now you. How does it even matter? He’ll know when the rest of the boys know.”

“You’re joking, right? He’s going to be devastated when he finds out,” Haechan said.

“Why? I mean, sure, it’s going to take a little getting used to but it’s no big deal.” Winwin shrugged, looking at the floor.

“It’s no big deal? You’re moving dorms. Yuta hyung and you have been roommates since forever. Maybe you’re cold enough to not care about the change but he isn’t like that. He loves you.”

Winwin got up, angrily. “You’ve all got it so wrong. It’s the other way round.” He stomped his foot and walked out of the dorm.

Haechan picked up his phone guiltily and typed a message to Mark. “Remember when you said I shouldn’t interfere in other people’s relationships?”

CanadaBoy: Oh Haechan

Not again

Please tell me it’s not yuwin

DevilHimself: Bingo

Wait, how do you know its yuwin?

Do you know something I don’t?

Mark?

Mark!

Outside the dorm, Winwin took a walk to his favourite park. He sat on a bench and thought about what Haechan had said. Everyone, from the members to the fans, had classified him as some sort of ice prince and Yuta as a pining lover. He scoffed. They didn’t know how far from the truth they were. It was him who was in love with Yuta. He had no idea how it started. At first, he had been grateful to Yuta for immediately taking him under his wing. It was so wonderful to have this sweet, hard-working person take time out for him, help him in everything and by the time they became roommates, Winwin was already a goner.

At first, he had brushed his feelings somewhere deep inside. If he tried very hard, no one would ever know. There was training, fears of failure, a whole new world, and never-ending language problems; for a long while, his feelings were lost in translation. It was Ten and Jaehyun who found out first.

They were all having Doyoung’s birthday dinner in a restaurant and Winwin was talking to Ten and Jaehyun about how it was unfair that Ten was learning Korean so much faster when Winwin was the clever one.

“Who said you’re the clever one? What is your IQ?” Ten asked, laughing.

Jaehyun passed them the plate of barbecue meat. “It’s fruitless to fight about this. I have the highest IQ on our whole team.”

“What is your IQ, smartass?” Winwin asked in disbelief.

The other two were about to respond when they both stopped short. Winwin had, whilst talking, turned over the meat helpings from the plate, fishing for the good ones. This was pretty routine for him but what happened next caught their attention. He had placed the good pieces on Yuta’s plate wordlessly, almost subconsciously.

Ten turned to Jaehyun. “Did you—Did you see what I saw?”

Jaehyun nodded. “It’s definitely time for a washroom break.” He gave them a pointed look.

Winwin frowned and looked to his other side. What had the other two seen? Some gossip?

“Yes,” Ten lowered his voice, “he means secret meeting, fyi.”

Winwin rolled his eyes. “I know, Ten.”

“Just checking. You seem unwell.”

Winwin had no idea what Ten was talking about but the minute they reached the washroom his friends launched themselves at him.

“You like him!”

“You like Yuta hyung!”

Winwin had no idea why his face was heating up. He made a noise. “Pfft. I-I don’t. I mean, what are you two even saying? Let’s go back. I’m hungry.”

“Exactly!” Ten said, excitedly. “You were hungry and you gave your share to Yuta like it was nothing. You were groaning and crying about how you were going to devour everything the second it lands on the table. You don’t even share food with us when you’re hungry.”

“That’s because Yuta hyung is a lovely person unlike you two,” Winwin said, trying his best to squirm out of the situation.

“Oh so Yuta hyung is a lovely person now,” Jaehyun said, eyes twinkling. He turned to Ten. “He totally likes him.”

“When did I say that?”

Ten nodded. “When was the last time Winwin complimented anyone?”

Jaehyun hugged him. “Congratulations. We can all mope together about a 95 liner now.”

Ten cheered. “You’re now truly a part of the golden trio.”

Winwin tried to appear nonchalant still. He was never one to display his emotions openly. Besides, this was something he hadn’t confronted openly even himself. There were so many variables that he had to consider and then there was the question of Yuta himself. He wasn’t going to say anything if Yuta didn’t have any feelings for him. That would be so embarrassing, he thought. So, he squared up his shoulders and hugged his friends back.

“Wow, I have two busybodies for my best friends. Thank you for your concern but I’m hungry. Let’s go back and see if the others have left anything for us. C’mon, kids.”

Jaehyun and Ten exchanged speculative looks but followed him.

Winwin could hear them whispering.

“He totally likes him, right?” Ten said, in a low voice.

“There’s no doubt about it.”

“It was the food-sharing that did it.”

“He’s blushing now, look!”

He ignored their snickering and sat down, looking around for food.

Yuta exchanged their plates silently swapping Winwin’s empty one with his own, listening to Johnny talk animatedly.

“I—You needn’t—Yuta…” He looked at the food, simultaneously bursting with adoration for the man beside him but also acutely aware of his two best friends who were giggling and elbowing each other.

Ten had to ask, of course. “Yuta, what do you think of our Winwinie?”

Yuta turned and suddenly Winwin was totally under Yuta’s intense gaze as the latter studied his face seriously. Then, almost as if the moment had never happened, Yuta smiled at Ten. “He’s a lovely person, don’t you think?”

Maybe he had begun dancing while thinking about old times in his favourite park because the scenery swung around him when he realized his bearings once again. He breathed deeply and took another twirl easily, humming to his favourite dance routine music that always calmed him down.

A flash of silver against the night caught his attention and he stopped.

He could hear his heart thumping as the figure approached him.

“Sicheng-ah, is that you?” the familiar voice called out.

He answered back with a question. “Yuta?”

Yuta walked up to him. “Hey.”

Winwin’s mind was a fuzz. Yuta’s lockscreen change, Yuta and Taeyong in the kitchen, Haechan’s prophecy, the memory, his own feelings, disappointment, surprise and his lovesick heart which had warmed up at the sight of Yuta. “What are you doing here?”

Yuta frowned, biting his lip as he searched for answer. “I came to call you for dinner…?”

“You could have called me.” He wanted to kick himself. It was all coming out wrong.

“I did. You didn’t pick up.”

Winwin fished out his phone from his pocket and realized, sheepishly, that it was on silent. 10 missed calls. 2 from Taeyong, 2 from Jaehyun, 3 from Yuta and 1 from Haechan. “Sorry, I didn’t realize it was on silent.” It was past ten. They must have been so worried.

“It’s okay, let’s go,” Yuta said, smiling at him.

They fell in step together, walking home in silence. Winwin had no idea what Yuta was thinking but he hated how calm Yuta looked, how Yuta had smiled at him instead of shouting at him or just doing anything but this. Did Yuta care? How was he supposed to know if he never said anything? He looked at the distance between their hands. Mere centimetres. If he stretched his fingers, he could hold his hand. He wondered how it would feel. He hated how calmly Yuta was looking ahead, oblivious to all that was going through his head. Would Yuta pull away? He moved his fingers in the general direction tentatively.

“Winwin-ah, are you okay?” Yuta asked in a low voice.

If Winwin wanted he could just pretend to not have heard him but he did and the sudden question chased the distance between their hands to its original space. “Yes,” he answered, unsure as to what Yuta was referring to.

“I know I shouldn’t pry but take care of yourself. I know it’s getting busy these days but remember you’re important and you deserve rest too. If it gets too much, I’m here, okay? You can talk to me.” Yuta reached up to Winwin’s head and patted his hair softly.

Winwin shied away. “I’m not a kid anymore. You should stop worrying about me.”

Yuta drew back his hand, looking ahead once again. “I’m sorry. I know you don’t like it when people interfere in your business.”

Fuck, Winwin cursed mentally. “Yuta, I—I didn’t mean it that way. I just mean...I…I wish you didn’t think of me as a kid.”

Yuta looked at him and again, Winwin was reminded of how beautiful Yuta’s eyes were. It was as if he was falling into them, as if they were searching for something; he wanted answers too. Yuta must have understood something because he tilted his head to one side. “Winwin, I don’t think of you as a kid.”

They were at the dorm door now but Winwin mustered up all of his courage to ask first, “Then what do you think of me?”