#playing around with CIT packs again

[rad-roche]

having fun building. here's a cute little artist's studio with the yuushya resource pack/furniture mod

it's an architectural style i'm very, very unfamiliar with, so i followed this tutorial for the structure of the building and decorated the insides myself, so i can't take credit for the shell. but it's fun to follow along, so i might do a few more!

[7deadlycinderellas]

No more math and history, ch4

AO3 link

The three week long sessions at Camp Durrandon end with a day of no scheduled cabin activities.

The last full day brings first the camp wide games. Session three played capture the flag, session two hide and seek, and the first session of the summer always played zombie tag.

Zombie tag was the best one of course.

The zombie was selected. Brienne had approached Arya after dinner one night to see if she was interested. She beamed.

In the morning, right after breakfast she would go down to the drama barn where Sansa and the other drama leaders would do her up in her zombie makeup.

In the morning, after breakfast, all campers would be led to the flagpole. There, they would sit under a canopy and watch the original Night of the Living Dead and then Brienne would explain the rules.

While this was going on, Arya would sneak off to the drama barn, where Sansa and the other drama counselors would give her a suitable makeover.

“Want to come?” she asks Shireen at breakfast, “Every time Sansa does makeup on me she gets into a serious zone and I could use someone to talk to while she stares and hums and fusses.”

“Sure,” Shireen says, “I don’t like horror movies anyway.”

The drama barn has a tote full of stage makeup, in mostly half full tubs and tubes that are partially dry. Supplementing this is Sansa’s own carefully curated and packed stash from home.

“I can’t believe you brought all your makeup to camp,”

Sansa shushes her and goes to work. Off to the side, Shireen idly pokes around in the box by Sansa’s side. She pulls out a tube of pink gloss and applies some on her lips, glancing in the mirror while Arya is getting herself turned deadly pale.

“That looks nice on you,” Arya says, resisting the urge to sneeze at the smell of the powder Sansa’s using.

Shireen looks dubious and Arya chuckles.

“Just because I hate wearing makeup doesn’t mean I don’t think it can look nice on other people.”

Shireen shrugs, and puts the tube back.

“I’ve never worn it much. My mother would never allow it, and after going into care, it seemed silly to spend money on it.”

Sansa’s working on the gelatin-skin base for her head wound, so Arya starts telling Shireen the zombie tag rules.

“It’s the whole camp against me at first. I sneak around with a big bottle of red paint- tempera of course, jumping in the lake would wash it off- and if I catch you and spray you with it, you’re a zombie too. You report to the flagpole, get your own bottle of paint, and you start chasing the others too. Whoever we catch last, or who doesn’t get caught, wins.”

“Sounds fun I guess.”

“Arya was camp-wide champion two summers in a row,” Sansa says, “and back then the zombies could chase you into the lake.”

“That was how I won so often,” Arya admits with a grin while Sansa affixes the wound to her head with the spirit gum, “I would swim out to the rock in the middle and hide. No one else would swim well enough to catch me. Mum used to always say the gods had given me a blessing like in one of those old stories.”

Arya stills for a moment. It’s a strange thing to say so suddenly.

Shireen looks confused, and her next comments save them from any awkwardness, at least on the topic of Mrs Stark.

“I hate to ask this, but what gods are those?”

Arya blinks.

“What gods?” Sansa interrupts, preparing the stage blood to apply to the fake wound. “The Seven! Mother, Father, Warrior, Smith, Maiden, Crone, Stranger? This camp is run by the church of the seven!”

Arya glares at Sansa.

“You’re not from the north, “ she starts softly, trying not to let Shireen get defensive, “So I doubt you believe in the Old Gods. Were you just not raised religious?”

Shireen’s not looking at either of them, and her hands are squeezing her arms tightly just above the elbow.

“Have either of you ever heard of the Lord of Light?”

Sansa shakes her head, but Arya bites her lip.

“Isn’t that something some people in Essos believe in?”

Shireen squeezes her arms tighter, leaving little red marks in her skin.

“Most in Essos, but there are some in Westeros too. My mother always was a follower, and when I was little she converted my father too. It was all I ever knew, I don’t know anything about other religions. Eventually we got more and more involved with the church. Most of Dragonstone did. I’ve met a ton of Red priests and priestesses- one of them was Gendry’s foster mother for a year- but then later-”

Her voice is getting thin and high pitched. Despite Arya’s curiosity (especially at the mention of one of Gendry’s other foster parents) she cuts her off.

“It’s okay,” she insists, “You don’t have to tell us everything. We did only meet three weeks ago.”

Shireen calms back down, and Sansa finishes up her work. Arya stands, and prepares to go, obtain her paint bottles, and pick her perch.

Underneath a table at the mess hall is always a good possibility, but then fewer people might pass her. On a whim, she chooses behind the third boys cabin.

Brienne usually has everyone in a line and take off in slightly different directions, but often they stray towards the center of camp. And right on time, Arya hears two girls, maybe ten years old, walk out in front of the cabin.

She’s spent years perfecting her zombie groan. One of the girls turns and actually screams when she sees her, but she does nothing to stop the spray of paint.

“You are both part of my horde now,” Arya groans, “Return to the flagpole and obtain your tools.”

They grumble but follow her directions.

The campers have no weapons, no defense against her beside their speed and cleverness.

She catches Rickon surprisingly fast. He’s fast, but she knows his movements. She smears big handprints of paint along his front and back just to make a point.

Her most difficult catch is Lyanna, the youngest Mormont, the only one who’s still a camper. The girl is fast, and quiet, and good at hiding. But eventually Arya catches her by being quiet as a mouse and then running full speed at her directly from her side.

Her game is backgrounded with screeches and squeals as other newly minted zombies find their own victims.

After maybe an hour’s play, Arya hears the alarm Brienne sounds that announces they have their sole survivor. Every time a camper returned to the flagpole, their counselor would check off their name until only one was left. She counts off the ones she knows, trying to figure out who the winner is.

Sitting in the chair under the flagpole when Arya reaches the front, is pale, tiny, twelve year old Tommen Baratheon.

“I went to the mess hall,” he says, when Arya approaches him to give him a pair of high fives, “And I curled up under the breakfast bar. You didn’t even come past there, and no one else did either!”

Arya grins. Most obvious hiding places are now blocked off, the bathrooms, the cabins and the lake, but somehow the ones who hide always end up winning. One year, she remembers, one camper tried to run into the Mistwood, so now there’s a line of CITs guarding it.

Once her role is over, Arya heads on out to the lake. Gendry’s in the lifeguard stand even though there are no cabins swimming at this time, with everyone at lunch.

She winks over her shoulder at him before diving into the lake. She swims a bit, splashing herself with water to wash off all of the remaining paint. She could have gone and taken a regular shower, but this feels better during the hot weather.

Eventually, she climbs from the lake by where he sits, and shakes herself off. Gendry grins at her.

“Turn around?” he says, and she does.

“Paint free,” he declares her. His eyes linger on her, and Arya feels her cheeks become a bit warm, though she’s not wearing anything scandalous- even her bathing suit is skimpier than her t-shirt and shorts, and she’s even wearing a bra.

Gendry’s head is still cocked, maybe he just likes the way her clothes stick to her skin.

She offers him her crooked arm.

“Walk with me to lunch? We’re late but there still should be peanut butter at least.”

He takes her arm and her heart leaps.

Their linked arms earn Arya a wink from Ygritte and a knowing look from Meera when they sit at the table. Arya’s wet shorts squelch when she sits, but she’s mostly dry by the time she inhales her sandwich.

Sansa’s not at lunch because the afternoon means watching the drama barn’s first session show. Once trays are cleared and the unit counselors begin herding everyone towards the theater, Arya asks Gendry again.

“Sit with me during the show? We get the good seats in the back.”

The seats in the back are the best ones, as the ground before the barn starts slopes upward, so the back seats under the canopy can see over the heads of the campers in front.

Arya has seen so many productions of Alice in Wonderland over the years that she can follow almost without paying attention.

When the Queen of Hearts appears, Sansa in her heart-spangled dress over her camp shirt, she feels Gendry watching her.

“You get along with your sister so much better than you used to. Seems like we used to spend half of our summers short-sheeting her bed.”

“I know,” she admits, “We’ve always been so different, but when things started to happen...most of the things that divided us stopped seeming important. And it was so much easier to have each other’s backs.”

Sansa’s going a great job dominating the scene, bossy and loud. Twelve year old Arya had thought that was who she was, but she’d learned better.

When the show is finished, Arya squeezes his hand.

Dinner is quick, spaghetti tonight. Arya wipes the last bit of sauce from her face and asks.

“Do you have to go to the dance tonight?’

Gendry snorts.

“Thank Gods no. As a lifeguard, I am spared that particular indignity.”

He’d always hated the end of session dances, having been tall and broad even as a preteen, and feeling like a sore thumb on a dance floor. Arya’s a little disappointed, but doesn’t show it.

“I have to give a token appearance, I told Missandei I’d help her set up the new music system.  Maybe I’ll find you after?”

And with another over-the-shoulder grin, Arya takes off to change.

When she leaves the cabin to go up to the circle for the dance, she’s in her cleanest pair of jeans and a loose embroidered top.

The ground around the campfire has been cleared of it’s benches and chairs, and another set of canopies has gone up, hung with battery-operated paper lanterns. In the center, where the fire would usually be, Missandei has the table with the music set up. It had taken years, but the camp had finally upgraded from a CD boombox to a mp3 dock, but she wasn’t sure how to get it to work.

It ends up just being a matter of how to navigate the menu and turn on the shuffle mode, which Arya figures out easily enough, and Missandei thanks her.

“Are you still in uni?” Arya asks her.

She nods.

“Second year, I got into the international relations program.”

“Still want to be a diplomat?”

Missandei nods.

“I do like Westeros, but I miss Essos sometimes, and there was so much of it I never got to see at all.”

Arya nods, and once she gets the music going and the kids begin to shuffle in, takes her spot next to the punch bowl.

Arya didn’t particularly like dances. She liked dancing just fine, but something about making it into an event just turned it into a big mess of hormones and awkwardness with the added fun of having attention on you.

Camp dances have some advantages over school ones at least- no one knows you here, so you can be whoever you want. School dances are worse, Arya can’t remember the last time she even went to a school dance…

No, that’s a lie. She can remember perfectly.

Once the dance starts, she watches over the dancefloor, where most of the campers are giggling and keeping to their own sides, and she decides it’s a good enough time to leave.

She’s walking past the waterfront to return to the cabin, when she notices a figure at the end of the pier.

“Not a fan of dances, I imagine?” she asks Bran as she sits on the end of the dock beside him.

“I didn’t even like going to dances before,” he says, gesturing at his wheelchair, “Now I have an excuse besides ‘I hate them’.”

They sit quietly for a while before Arya remembers.

“Oh! I forgot to tell you. Ygritte and I were clearing out the hayloft the other day, and we found the adaptive saddle. The next time your cabin comes and rides you get to do something besides sit and watch.”

Bran turns away from her.

“I can’t mount by myself though,” he starts, thinking, “And I’m taller than you now, I don’t think you and Ygritte could get me on very easily.”

Arya’s heart sinks.

“We could try-”

“It’s okay, Arya,” Bran tells her, smiling, “I’m happy you tried so hard for me, but I don’t want to do the whole ‘you can do anything you want to’ schtick here at camp, I just want to have fun.”

Arya looks at her little brother, really looks at him. It hasn’t even been a year, but it seems like he’s become so wise in some ways.

“Are you?” Arya asks him, “Having fun? Not just here, but are you finally having fun again at home?”

Bran snorts.

“I do more sports now than I ever did before, even at home. I can get out of pretty much any activity I don’t feel like by saying I feel like I need to go to the nurse and I get to use the shower with the removable handle and pretty much everyone lets me go first.  Being here is the best I’ve felt since the doctor told me I didn’t have to shove a tube up my dick six times a day anymore.”

Arya punches him.

“Gross dude, go ahead and go to bed if you’re going to be like that.”

“Starting to question whether I should even try and stick myself in the middle of this conversation.”

Arya turns her head and hears Bran say, “Hi Gendry.” He sits down on her other side.

“Ignore him,” Arya insists, “He likes to get super graphic so people will stop talking to him.”

“You didn’t go to the dance?” Bran asks, ignoring his sister.

“No. Tom went though, and Lem’s snoring like a jackhammer, so I figure I’d come on and sit for a while before I try to sleep.”

Bran’s eyes slide between the two of them.

“I didn’t come out and sit in the middle of a make out spot did I?”

Arya punches him in the arm again, her cheeks only turning a little red.

“Bran, everyone knows the make out spot is that tree behind the stables.”

Bran rolls his eyes, but turns his wheels and heads back

“Not very many people go out back there anymore,” Gendry tells her once he’s gone.

Arya’s eyebrows fly up.

“No one goes to the kissing tree anymore?”

Gendry grins.

“Well I suppose it loses its appeal once you realize everyone knows about it and might well butt in on you while you’re fooling around.”

Arya frowns.

“Where do you go now?”

“Last summer sneaking back to the campfire circle was popular, but I doubt anyone will do that tonight with the dance still going. “

He pauses, and then stands. He extends Arya his hand, and she takes it.

“Follow me.”

The lifeguards cabin is out of line of the other cabins, because it’s supposed to still be within eyesight of the lake. Behind it, is the equipment shed, which is wide enough that there is a small patch of grass beside it, which cannot be easily seen from any of the usual paths.

Arya’s heart is thudding in her chest. They haven’t really talked about anything, but the very conversation is so thick with intention, and expectation.

When they reach the spot, Gendry turns and looks at her, almost shyly. Arya presses her back against the shed, head tilted up, smiling, butterflies in her stomach.

“Well then?” she says, smiling. She’s trying to hold herself openly while enjoying the butterflies.

It doesn’t take long, and then Gendry’s hands are on her shoulders and his lips are on hers. It’s sweeter than the first one, her eyes fall closed and she lets the warmth wash over her. When he pulls back slightly, she giggles against his lips.

“Can I tell you a secret?” he asks. Arya nods, before her stomach catches.

“Is this one of those secrets I’ll have to trade you for?”

Gendry shakes his head.

“Not unless you want to.”

“Then you can tell me whatever you like.”

He pulls away, and Arya resists the urge to whimper. He sits on the little patch of grass and after a moment, she sits beside him.

“Your first kiss was mine too.”

Arya blinks. That wasn’t what she was expecting.

“Really? Gods, you seemed so much older than me then.”

Gendry laughs ruefully.

“Being a foster kid, I moved so much I barely had time to make friends, much less spending any effort trying to impress girls. Then, when I moved in with Mr. Davos and his wife, I spent so much time keeping my marks up in school and working to save money that it didn’t leave much time to find a girlfriend. I’ve dated a bit, and i’ve kissed a handful of other girls since then, but I’ve never been serious about anyone.”

A shadow passes over his eyes, and Arya hates that they both have these that come over them.

“It was hard enough getting past what happened with…” he trails off.

Arya coughs and interrupts him. She lays back on the grass, head propped up on her arm.

“Is this your way of admitting that you’re a virgin?”

Gendry makes a face at her.

“I’m barely eighteen, it’s not like I’m forty, is it really that shocking?”

“Jon’s been going out with Ygritte since he was fourteen, and Robb always had a girl on his arm. But I’m pretty much in the same place you are. I’ve gone out a bit, but never met anyone I really liked.”

She sits back up, ignoring the push of her own shadow passing behind her eyes. It’s too nice of a night for this. She wraps her arms around his shoulders.

“But I don’t want to talk about anyone else.”

This next kiss is less sweet, more exploratory. After a moment, Arya runs her tongue along Gendry’s bottom lip, and his lips open to let her in eagerly.

The moon that night is full, hanging over them. All in all, Arya considers this a triumphant end to the first session.

[torchpearl]

!! hello everyone !!

greetings ! salutations ! שלאם, χαιρετε, salvete

i have, oh jeez, 6k followers on this account! so, i have decided to make a little About Me post, so maybe you can all get to know me a little better! :)

GENERAL THINGS:

name: calyn clare, i go by caly though !

age: 21! my birthday is march 2nd

pronouns: they/she, i am agender and have no true pronouns but i tend to present very femme so she/her is most people's first instinct and i don't mind it so that is okay too

sexuality: i don’t like to label myself because my sexuality is very fluid and i feel that defining it as anything specific would be limiting and inaccurate

other titbits: i am a senior in college, double-majoring in classical languages and creative writing! my family house is in maine but my college is in new york. i have 5 pet frogs and their names are bonk, plinko, ollo, bibap, and piphin, and i love them all very very much!

MINECRAFT THINGS:

DISCLAIMER: i haven't played minecraft in a long while, so this info is accurate as of ~1.5 years ago when i did play regularly

minecraft name: calynclare ! very original, i know,,

resource pack: mizuno 16 (of course), when on vanilla 1.13/14 with CIT and invisible item frame addons

shaders: sildur’s vibrant shaders (of course)

mods: when i play on 1.12, i use a whole slew of mods, including decocraft, dynamic trees, garden stuff, blockcraftery, mr crayfish’s furniture, pam’s harvestcraft, fairy lights, and the libraries that support these mods! additionally, i have been lately funking around with thaumcraft (rip my brain)

servers: i don’t go on many servers actually! it’s hard for me to adjust to new online communities, i guess, so sometimes i appear on servers only to disappear again a few days later, leaving behind a house or two for someone to adopt! but if you want to invite me to your server i will definitely check it out ! 💗

if you have questions or want to say hello, please feel free to pop into my DMs!

[missghouls]

How did you make your straw hat?

There’s a tutorial video for basic CIT stuff on my youtube channel, but since i didn’t describe how to do the hats, i’ll do that here :D

There’s a tool in blockbench that allows you to make a “player statue” (it’ll be under “filter > plugins > available” then choose “generate player statue”. Open up Filter again, and click on it). That’ll give you the basic size of a player’s head. You can delete the arms, legs, and chest since you only want the head as reference. 

Build your hat/horns/goggles/whatever around it. Then, go into the “Display tab” and click on the little tab that shows how things look on a player’s head. Situate it where you want it to be (you can angle it, make it bigger/smaller/etc here). You can go back into the “edit” tab and remove the head reference block so you can see what you’re doing. You might have to play with the sizes and angles to get it so skin stuff doesn’t poke through (that’s why the witch hats are so big). 

Then, when you go to make the .properties file, the top line needs to read: 

matchItems=minecraft:carved_pumpkin

From there, you fill out the rest of the .properties file as you would normally. 

In-game, pull out a carved pumpkin, and rename it to your hat, and then place it on your head! If you have the pumpkin blur, you can remove that easily (there’s a few tutorials out there that will show you how to do that too, or you can just copy/paste the “misc” folder inside the Ghoulcraft resource pack (it’ll be inside assets > minecraft > textures) and drop it in yours, inside the “textures” folder

[gossamermoth]

i started messing around with cit resource packs and im so excited to be playing mc again, it's been years!

[universal-disaster]

Max and Ruby

Chapter 1: Crawl Out Through the Fallout

Read on Ao3

$50,000 in school debt.

A bachelors degree.

A masters degree.

A future internship that people could only dream of.

What had these things gotten her? Max wondered that as she watched the shockwave of dust and radiation hurtle towards them at a 100 miles per hour and as the sun disappeared behind a sealed door above her. Darkness briefly consumed them and Max heard the gentle cry of a baby a few feet away. Quickly hushed by some cooing from their parents.When the lights came back on she had to squint a little as the grate lifted and followed the group ahead of her. The preparedness of the techies felt ...odd. She supposed their jobs had literally depended on this eventuality but it was different to go from a world where you laughed at your parents insistence you apply even if they can't to one where you’re cowering in a bunker.

Puffing up a little she tried to ignore the procession of couples. Squeezing past griefing people she also ignores the tight feeling that had all but taken over her chest. She barely even noticed the others around her as a doctor ushered her into a changing stall. She put the suit on, but put her CIT bomber over it. When the doctor opened his mouth to say something she just sniffled pathetically enough he shook his head gestured towards the decompression pods. Max narrowed her eyes at the tubes coming out the sides but decided to just go with the flow till the real orientation. When the window started to fog up Max realized she really needed to be more assertive.

When she woke again it was to a stiff chest and a stuck door. Coughing against the feeling in her chest Max was surprised to be caught by a pair of arms as she tumbled out the now opening pod. She continued to cough for a moment as someone shushed her in their shaking arms. When she finally regained control she looked up and found the father of the crying baby staring at her. He’d looked rather shaken up.

“I don’t think those were decompression pods.” she blurted in a raspy voice. Leaning back her companion ran a hand over his face and sniffled.

“Nah, I don’t think so…” he said and glanced over the only pod that was open...and not empty. Whoever in there wasn’t moving. Max looked from the pod back to whoever this was.

“It looks like ours we’re the only ones left down here.” He said quietly and Max sat there in the cold and the silence of the vault for a moment, looking around at all the pods, still full. Taking a deep breath she slowly got to her feet and meandered to the computer.

“My names Max.” She said simply and started looking through the logs.

“Nate-no. Ruby...you can call me Ruby.” She heard him get up as he said and she looked over her shoulder. Wondering why the dead body in the open was any better than the dead bodies in the room with them. Packed in like canned tuna. The jacket suddenly didn't feel like it was doing her any good as she shivered. Looking through the raw data Max was growing increasingly concerned.

“Well, Ruby, it looks like we were uh, put on ice. So to speak.” Max ignored the date, there was no way this experiment had lasted 200 years. Walking to the door she peered out into the hallway. “Where’s the staff?” she asked out loud as she ignored the sound of a pod closing and Ruby sidled up behind her.

“Not here, why would they let their science experiment go so haywire?” She could hear the bitterness under the surface. For the first time it occurred to Max that Ruby could have killed his wife and she took a nervous breath and looked over her shoulder.

“Hey, Ruby. I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but before we leave do you uh, want to tell me what happened to...” she finished by gesturing back and then realized, the baby was unaccounted for.

“Someone knew we were in here. Someone came down here and took Shaun from Nora. Someone shot Nora, and that someone is going to pay.” Ruby said, moving past her into the hallway and walking up to the door they’d entered the wing in. he smacked it and Max followed with one last glance back to the room of bodies. Only to look to their left and find another room. Everything was dark but the outlines of the pods was clear enough. As well as the fact that the room had been without sufficient power for some time. She squinted and adjusted her glasses when she saw a shadow shuffle to the right. Only to jump when Ruby grabbed her arm.

“We can’t stay here. They might be back. Called me the back-up so I don’t know what they might consider you.” He said heading for the door at the end of the hallway they’d entered through. It didn’t budge, the button just gave a few sad little beeps as Ruby smacked it and Max could feel his fingers bruising her arm through the sleeve. As Ruby sighed he finally clued in on her nervous energy.He stiffened and let go of her, not turning around. Instead leaning against the cool door as Max’s brows furrowed and she lowered her arm slowly. The silence only interrupted by the creak of metal and the pitter patter of water in pipes.

“We should go…” Max finally said, tugging on his sleeve, feeling every bit the lost child the act invoked. They walk in silence through the vault, their should-have-been safety. A terminal catched her eye in the kitchen as Ruby finds an empty duffel bag and fills it with the lonely stimpack and an old looking box of what she hopes is food. The entries are disheartening at best.

“Any good gossip?” Ruby asked, rifling through drawers and cupboards.

“Science Team and Security Team couldn't play nice after a few months in this tin can. They left after Vault Tec abandoned them. Considering how close we were to the drop I’m surprised they believed there was anyone left to come for them.” Max said with a sigh, as something popped out of the terminal. “Oh and they had Red Menace.” she added, picking up the cartridge and pocketing it with only a moment of hesitation.

“They’re clearly not gonna use it.” Ruby prompted as he put the bag over his shoulder and headed back for the door. A long hallway gave Max enough pause to stay behind Ruby as the man picked up a baton, flipping it expertly and flicking it out. “Looks like security left something for us.” Ruby said with a smile and Max looked past him.

“What...the fuck.” Max practically spat as a bug crawled down the wall. Ruby turned to look at her and then turned back to the bug. It looked like a roach, but no roach either of them had ever seen was quite that big. Or quite that angry looking. As it finally spotted them it hissed and charged. Max, surprised and afraid, gave a scream and jumped onto the bench as Ruby yelped before giving two good swings.

Max felt the crunch as much as she heard. “Radiation.” she said through heavy breaths as Ruby grimaced at the goop on his new stick. He turned to where she was clutching her jacket and staring at the pile of crunched roach. Ruby raised an eyebrow as invitation to continue. “The radiation must’ve cause a mutation in the roach. I wonder how long it took. God exterminating bills must be enormous.” She said stepping down and sliding along the wall.

Ruby just shook his head and handed her a second baton. She took it and the weight was oddly heavy in her arms. Her eyes lingered on the baton and Ruby turned for the door to power room with flashing arcs of lighting that lit the tunnel around them. “You think that's heavy, wait till we get you a gun.”

“You think I’ll need one?” Max asks without hesitation, bullets and guns are as foreign to her as her scholastic achievements were to her farming parents. Ruby’s eyes flick to her again and he gives her a look that reminds her of the body they left behind and one that wasn't there. She grips the baton with both hands and bites her lips nervously.

The skeleton they find at the other side of the room startled them both, Bleached white by exposure, there is no flesh and Max thinks of the dates in the terminal. “He’s been dead a while…More than a while.” Ruby says, almost startling Max. “I was a cop.” he says, The terminal data said he was a soldier. Max doesn't comment.

The ‘Overseers’ Office is empty except for a skeleton holding a pistol. There’s another one but Ruby pockets that one too. Probably safer than giving the woman who has clearly never held one access to a firearm. He lets her access the terminal that will open their escape. More skeletons, this time with pip boys. Ruby doesn’t hesitate to take one while Max stares at the poor scientist lying on the floor.

“You’re going to need that more than he will.” Ruby manages as he fiddles with his. She slips hers on after slowly pulling it off the rattlin bones with a grimace. When he’s still having trouble Max walks over and taps a few things on the screen. He smiles and Max pulls out the access cable on her ‘new’ pip-boy to open the door.

Ruby hops the metal gate and Max follows with not nearly as much grace. The gate opens and they both rush to the elevator smacking the up button with more force than necessary. “Any idea what’s up there?” He asked as they slowly ascended in darkness only kept at bay by the dull green glow of his pipboy and her light blue one. Apparently the previous owner had a thing for nuka quantum.

“More mutated animals, radiation, maybe a shower if we’re lucky.” Max says, hugging herself in the dark as the gears grinded in the background.

“There was a shower in the barracks, at least we have a source of water.” Not that either one of them ever wanted to go back down there if they could help it.

Any other conversation is cut short by light coming in through the now opening roof. The sunlight is brutal after their time in the dark and Max puts her hands over her glasses to shield her poor eyes and Ruby winces and squints in the light. “Holy shit.” He says, stepping forward off the platform first, looking at the ruined landscape around them. Civilization apparently has not had time to rebuild. The skyline is one of ruined buildings, the morning sun shining through clear holes in the buildings. Ruby’s eyes turn to Sanctuary Hills. “I used to live there…” he pauses and starts walking. “We should see if we can find someone.”

Max follows Ruby passed the skeletons at the gate, “I wonder what happened to the vault tec guy.” She hears him murmur as they pass over a reconstructed bridge. Someone was here, that gives Max a little hope. The street is ruined, some homes have caved in, others are shells. Every car is rusted through and Ruby pats one sitting in the street before a familiar voice makes him turn.

“Codsworth?” He asks and the robot nearly bursts into tears.

“Oh Master Nate thank god you’re here! Where’s Nora and Shaun?” Max listens to the exchange while sitting on the stoop of what she thinks used to be Ruby’s house. She can see the baby crib through the holes in the walls and she pulls her knees to her chest as Codsworth confirms its been over 200 years since they went into the vault. Strangely the panic doesn't come as she thinks it might have. Instead is the cold knowledge that everyone she loves, whether they survived the bombs dropping or not, is now dead. The air feels so warm in contrast she feels herself drifting off, she jolts when a hand sets on her shoulder.

“Come on, more bugs, I think they’re a safe enough target to start with.” Ruby says gently and she wants to throw the gun away, but that won’t solve anything, so she lets him explain how to load it, how to cock it, and hands it to her with the safety off. Her heart pounds as he gestures to the street, but the explanations seem to be helping him stay calm in a way, so she keeps going.

She can see a giant fly through the window, squeezing the trigger the first shot misses by the a mile, the fly at least hasn't noticed them so she fires two more times and sees the bug turn into a puff of goop. “Eww.” She says and Ruby tries not to think about how Max might react to human combatants.

He all but refuses to fire at anything himself, letting her take out the bugs one after the other. Her arms dont stop shaking, but she learns to steady her hand. He manages to scrounge together more ammo and he tells Codsworth they’re heading to Concord. Max chews on the grilled radroach with less compliant than he expected, merely making a face before chowing down. He cooks the rest of the bugs as snacks for the road. Although cook is a generous term when you’re just putting it over a fire.

“Should we be going anywhere at night?” she asks as they head over the bridge, Ruby doesn't really have an answer for her. Neither one of them has slept since that morning despite an obvious bone tiredness. But he still doesn't know just what kind of world is waiting for them, he’d like to think its kind. The truck stop, surprisingly, still has a light on. Max perks up a little. “Is that a dog?” she asks the air excitedly, as indeed, a beautiful german shepard walks over to her and Max wastes no time petting the thing. “Oh. no collar. Can we keep him?” she asks hugging him and Ruby makes a face.

“He could have fleas.” Ruby says even as he leans over to pet the dog. They both feel the ground shake and several rats burst from the ground. “What the fuck.” she says as the dog jumps in front of her growling and leaping at one of them. Max scrambles for her pistol and makes sure it's properly loaded before promptly unloading into the small crowd of rats that charge her on the ground. Ruby is mildly surprised when she doesn’t end up shooting him or the dog. Her eyes are big and her mouth is in the shape of an ‘O’.

“V.A.T.S.” she explains and he gives a low whistle.

“We got the fancy stuff didn’t we?” he says, looking down at his pip boy and Max gets up. “Let’s stay here for the night, I guess you were right.” He grumbles and heads inside the garage. Closing the door. He locks the other doors and Max tries not to point out the still very broken window. Thankfully he’d had the forethought to scavenge a couple sleeping bags. Max doesnt think twice about sliding into one. Dogmeat follows and curls against her, his little face poking out.

Ruby gives a snort and pulls out a lantern and lights it as the sun goes down, leaving it in the office with Max and the sleeping bags. “You’re not sleeping?” she asked and he stops at the door.

“Not yet, I’ll wake you up when I need a couple winks.“ Ruby said and Max didnt know how to argue. Dogmeat settled in next to Max as she scooted closer to the wall. Sleep came out of sheer exhaustion and not Max’s mind managing to quiet down for more than a few moments. It was still dark when Ruby shook her gently, the dog yawning and whining a little as he got up and stretched. Max adjusted her glasses and sat up as Ruby simply flopped onto his sleeping bag.

She assumed she was supposed to be keeping watch, so she pulled out her gun and laid it on the counter in front of her as her eyes adjusted to the dark. Dogmeat wandered around before coming back to settle at her feet, his ears showing just how alert he was despite how relaxed the rest of him appeared. Max sat there, staring into the darkness, too afraid to check her pip-boy and lose the little bit of night vision she had.

Dawn came and she had never been more relieved. Rubbing at her eyes she stood up and stretched. Ruby walked out of their little hideaway with the bag over his shoulder and chewing on something. He handed her the other half of the grilled radroach and Max took it without fuss. Food was better than no food. At least it should be high enough in protein. God knew where they were going to get any veggies.

Dogmeat barked and circled Ruby, who just laughed and tossed the dog some food. “Alright, time to hit the road. Concord was just around the corner last i checked.” He gestured to the smattering of houses up ahead. Max pulled the gun off the counter and wished she had some sort of holster to put it in. Clicking the safety on for now she followed Ruby down the ruined road.

They heard the shots well before they saw anyone. Max almost doubled back, but Ruby headed straight for it and she fumbled for her gun as they peered around the corner in time to see people in ragged looking armor shoot down a man with a laser rifle. Ruby saw Max go pale, but she didn't look away.

“Max. They need help Max.” He said gently and gestured ahead to the sandbags. “Stick to cover and just stick what you have to over it to fire. Here’s a stimpack, we’ve got a few now so I’m going to give you two. Do you know how to use it?” Ruby asked and Max nodded and clicked off the safety before she took off crouching behind the busy raiders. At least that's what they assumed the ragged looking people were.

Luck helped Max snag the first kill on a man hiding behind a car. A clean headshot that sent gore to the concrete. Somehow his friends didn't hear and Ruby took the mans place, finding another stimpack sticking out of his pocket. Ruby popped the next couple raiders with expert marksmanship and Max peered over the barrier as someone up above shouted. “We’re pinned down in here, please help.” Ruby rushed forward after dogmeat who shot through the door and Max followed suit, stopping only to pick up a few ammo boxes the dead raiders had dropped.

She entered and immediately gave a small shriek as a body hit the floor in front of her. Thankfully his friend was too busy shooting at a ducking Ruby to notice her and she took his head off with her pistol. “I think I’m going to be sick.” She said as Ruby tugged her down a side hall.

“You can be sick all you want once there aren’t anymore people shooting at us.” He shouted as they turned a corner and found a raider just as surprised at their appearance as they were at his. Max gave another shriek and kicked out at the guy as he reached for his gun and Ruby shot him as he fell down into a pit leading to a lighted terminal.

As Ruby headed up the stairs Max tugged on him. “Wait, I can-I can crack that.” she said, eyeing the fusion core. Which clearly had quite a bit of juice left for something left to rot for 200 years. Ruby glanced up the stairs but he’d only taken a step when he heard the familiar whirl of an unlocking terminal. Raising an eyebrow Max just tossed him the core, which he promptly shoved into his bag.

Thankfully there weren’t many raiders left in their path to the trapped people. Still, Max was out of breath by the time they opened the door. Max wasted no time in finding a chair to sit down in. Dogmeat curling at her feet and she set the pistol down with shaking hands.

Ruby approached the man in the hat who’d shouted for their help before. “Didn’t think Dusters were back in fashion.” he murmured as Preston adjusted his hat almost self-consciously. Introductions were made, and then Preston told Max and Ruby the full situation. As well as the one good thing they had going for them.

“I really like the idea of a mini-gun on our team.” Max said, standing up and reloading her pistol with slow careful motions, as if she was still afraid it was going to go off in her hands. Sturges ran a hand through his hair and she didn’t miss the once-over. Boys. Honestly. He seemed to be holding up the best of the people in the room though. If these were her prospects she was probably going to die alone.

The sound of the raiders got louder and thought occurred to Max that was probably going to be sooner rather than later.

A hand on her shoulder almost made Max jump, but she was somehow already too tired to react. “Time to go, this way.” Ruby took off to the other end of the room and pick-up a cheesy looking bobble-head that made Max shake hers a little. For a moment she felt like complaining about the fact that they were the only ones walking out there, but the reality was they all looked as bad as she felt.

Taking a deep breath she followed him to the roof and watched him put the fusion core in. “Alright, so you’re gonna hop in, and it's just like walking through molasses. But you’ll be as strong as an elephant.” He said tapping the back and letting it hang as open as her mouth was.

“You want me to get into that thing?” she asked, her voice going a higher octave than was perhaps necessary. Ruby reloaded his gun.

“You’ll be safer in there. I can aim without V.A.T.S. on so I need to be faster anyway. Besides, all the newbies say jumping off buildings was the best part of starting power armor training.” He explained as he slung the reloaded rifle over his shoulder and quickly reloaded the pistol for good measure. “I’ll wait until you’ve ripped off the mini-gun, and then I’ll run through the front door so do me a favor and mow down a couple so I can get to cover.” He said as she slowly stepped up into the armor. It closed around her and Max felt a weird sort of claustrophobia start to close in as well.

“Wait, uh, how do I shoot a minigun?” she asked, voice distorted by the power armor. Ruby smiled.

“Small bursts of fire, and when you run out of ammo beating them over the head with the thing should work just as well.” He explained just before she ripped the thing out of the downed vertibird.

“Okay then…” she said simply as he disappeared and a raider spotted her. He shouted something to his friends and Max fired. Her arms were vibrating with the force of the gun even through the suit and she nearly dropped it. Thankfully a small rain of bullets was all it took for the one guy on the opposing roof to drop.

Stepping slowly to the edge she was able to take out another two before they retreated back far enough she was going to have to jump. Max looked down at three floors below and would have taken a steadying breath if the weight of the armor set didn’t send her falling. Admittedly she screamed, she was getting very tired of screaming.

Thankfully she hit the ground feet first, cracking the pavement around her, and nearly colliding with the dead minuteman face first on the ground. Max wanted to puke and the only thing keeping the nausea at bay was the adrenaline keeping her heart pounding in her ears and the shaking of her arms as she lit up every raider she could see.

God she just wanted to go home.

[intergalactic-strut]

Don Airey Comprehensive Discography (WIP)

An attempt. Ongoing. (cit. I note that the discography on his site is not up to date and appears to derive from discogs.com) I will organise it differently and have separate posts for live appearances, and for a chronology. This tracks appearances ‘on record’ (performances in some capacity, not including arrangements/conducting - I will put the footage portions into a separate post once I get the information more organised) This excludes compilations/singles(which overlap with albums) I KNOW I missed stuff/Some dates could be a bit wonky. Hence WIP. Live only stints (i.e. ELO...) are not included.

1974

Cozy Powell’s Hammer - NaNaNa                                        “Lost Reel Masters” recording sessions

1976 Colosseum II – Strange New Flesh Babe Ruth – Kid’s Stuff

1977

Colosseum II – Electric Savage Colosseum II – War Dance

1978

Andrew Lloyd Webber – Variations (With Colosseum II) Gary Moore – Back On The Streets Black Sabbath – Never Say Die! Strife (UK band) – Back To Thunder Jim Rafferty - Don’t Talk Back

1979

Bernie Marsden ‎– And About Time Too Cozy Powell – Over The Top Rainbow – Down To Earth

*Thin Lizzy(Gorham, Lynott, Moore, Powell, Airey) - Old Grey Whistle Test appearance. Recorded Sarah with Lizzy with string synths - Huey Lewis’ harmonica version was used on the album.

1980

Blizzard of Ozz – Blizzard Of Ozz The Michael Schenker Group – The Michael Schenker Group

1981

Cozy Powell – Tilt Rainbow – Difficult To Cure Rainbow – Jealous Lover ‎ (EP) Bogdan - Who Do You Think You Are (Single)

1982

Gary Moore - Corridors of Power

John Mizarolli – Message From The 5th Stone

1983

Gary Moore - Dirty Fingers Ozzy Osbourne – Bark At The Moon Gary Moore – Rockin’ Every Night – Live In Japan Chris Thompson – Out of the night The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & Friends – Arrested (The Music Of The Police) Gary Moore – Live At The Marquee ‎(Recorded 1980)  Cozy Powell - Octopuss

1984

Plum And Youth –   Got You Babe Ozzy Osbourne - Bark at the Moon (VHS)

1985

Phenomena – Phenomena Gary Moore – Run For Cover Alaska – The Pack Rainbow – Finyl Vinyl

1986

Sinner - Comin' Out Fighting Zeno - Zeno

1987

Divlje Jagode – Wild Strawberries Glasgow – Zero Four One Whitesnake – Whitesnake Helix  – Wild In The Streets Fastway - Bad Bad Girls

1988

Gary Moore – After The War *Jethro Tull – 1987-88 on tour, appears on the 20 Years of Jethro Tull compilation Eddie Kidd - Lover for Life

Don Airey – K2 (Tales Of Triumph & Tragedy)

1989

Fastway - On Target Mona Liza Overdrive – Vive La Ka Bum Whitesnake – Slip Of The Tongue Crossbones – Crossbones

1990

Gary Moore – Still Got The Blues Tigertailz – Bezerk Perfect Crime - Blond On Blonde Gary Moore & Midnight Blues Band – An Evening Of The Blues ‎(VHS)                                                             Live At Montreux (1990)

Forcefield IV – Let The Wild Run Free Jagged Edge - You Don’t Love Me Bruce Dickinson - Tattoo’d Millionaire Judas Priest - Painkiller (on A Touch of Evil, but allegedly, other tracks exist)

1991

Various – All Stars (N.W.O.B.H.M.)

1992

Eddie Hardin – Wind In The Willows Brian May – Back To The Light UFO - High Stakes & Dangerous Men Cozy Powell – The Drums Are Back… Forcefield – Instrumentals Anthem - Domestic Booty Kaizoku - Kaizoku Bernie Marsden - The Friday Rock Show Sessions

1993

Katrina And The Waves – Edge Of The Land English Steel - Start ‘Em Young

1994

True Brits – She Won’t Rock True Brits – Vol. II – She’s In Danger True Brits – Vol. II – One Good Reason Leo Lyon’s Kick - Tough Trip Through Paradise Graham Bonnet - Here Comes The Night

1995

Paul Di’Anno Dennis Stratton - The Original Iron Men Katrina And The Waves - Turn Around

1996

Various - Twang! A Tribute to Hank Marvin & the Shadows Aciarium - The Heavy Metal Super Stars 

1997

Katrina And The Waves – Walk On Water *With whom Don won Eurovision ‘97, conducting, arranging, and playing on                   Love Shines A Light

Glenn Tipton – Baptizm Of Fire Quatermass II – Long Road

1998

The Snakes/Bernie Marsden & Micky Moody  Live In Europe The Snakes – Once Bitten… ‎ Martin Darvill and Friends - The Greatest Show on Earth Colin Blunstone - The Light Inside Olaf Lenk - Sunset Cruise

1999

Dario Mollo / Tony Martin – The Cage Millennium - Millenium

2000

Millenium – Hourglass Ten – Babylon Snakebites - A Tribute to Whitesnake Micky Moody - I Eat Them For Breakfast Olaf Lenk’s F.O.O.D - Fun Stuff

2001

Empire - Hypnotica The Company of Snakes – Here They Go Again Silver  – Silver ‎ Glitter - On Mario Fasciano - E-Thnic

2002

Empire – Trading Souls Tribute to Boston - Tribute to Boston The Company of Snakes - Burst the Bubble Metalium -- Hero Nation - Chapter 3

2003

Deep Purple – Bananas Uli Jon Roth – Metamorphosis of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Bernie Marsden – Big Boy Blue Silver - Intruder

2004

Living Loud – Living Loud Living Loud - Debut Live Concert 2004 Iommi With Glenn Hughes – The 1996 Dep Sessions (aka “Eighth Star”) Silver - Addiction Animals and Friends - Instinct

2005

Deep Purple – Rapture Of The Deep Anthem - No Smoke Without Fire Kimberley Rew - Essex Hideaway

2006

Gary Moore – Old New Ballads Blues Ian Gillan – Gillan’s Inn Tipton, Entwhistle, and Powell - Edge of the World Gwyn Ashton - Prohibition Glenn Tipton – Give Blood And Paint It Black Strawbs – A Taste Of Strawbs ‎(*Also toured with the Strawbs in 1993)

2007

Jorn  – The Gathering Deep Purple – Live At Montreux 2006:They All Came Down To Montreux Jorn – Unlocking The Past Mario Fasciano - Porta San Gennaro Napoli

2008

Don Airey - A Light In The Sky

MSG / Schenker-Barden – In The Midst Of Beauty ‎ Mick Moody & Friends - Live and Rocking! Judas Priest - Nostradamus Deep Purple – Around The World Live ‎ (DVD)

2009

Ozzy Osbourne – 1982 Speak Of The Devil Straight Up Taz Taylor Band – Straight Up Carl Sentance - Mind Doctor Various – Top Musicians Play Whitesnake

2010

Gary John Barden – Rock ‘N Roll My Soul

2011

Don Airey - All Out

Deep Purple (With Orchestra) – Live At Montreux 2011 Roger Glover And The Guilty Party – If Life Was Easy Saxon – Call To Arms Begger’s Bride - On a Trip to L.A. Michael Schenker - Temple of Rock Wishbone Ash - Elegant Stealth Persian Risk - Once A King Various - Help! For Japan

2013

Deep Purple – Now What?! ‎

Schubert -  In Rock Wolfpakk - Cry Wolf Forever Deep - Forever Deep

2014

Don Airey - Keyed Up

Hollywood Monsters - Big Trouble  Deep Purple - Live in Verona (DVD) Bernie Marsden - Shine Celebrating Jon Lord: The Rock Legend Persian Risk - Who Am I AraPacis - A Disturbing Awakening

2015

Rainbow - 1979 Long Island Rainbow - 1979 Denver Deep Purple - From the Setting Sun....(In Wacken) Deep Purple - To the Rising Sun... (In Tokyo)

2016

Rainbow - Live At the Monsters of Rock (Donington 1980)

2017

Deep Purple - Infinite Don Airey - Coming Home

2018

Don Airey - One of A Kind (May 25)

Michael Schenker Fest - Resurrection (March 2nd)

[francetaste]

Paris is such a treasure chest of marvels that one could spend a lifetime unpacking them and still not get to half of them. It’s why so many people who visit France never get out of the City of Light. But those folks are missing out on a completely different view of French life. To me, one needs both to understand and appreciate France.

Le Palais de Justice, on Île de la Cité, a few doors from the entrance to Sainte-Chapelle.

Since most people don’t have infinite vacation time, it’s necessary to prioritize and to be efficient, while still allowing for serendipity. A strict schedule is a bad idea! But so is running back and forth needlessly.

View from Sacre Coeur. Paris is vast.

What kind of traveler are you? Are you up for walking? How much walking? I am happy to walk for 10 hours straight but I’ve found that most of my travel companions over the years would prefer somewhat less than that. The more you walk, the more you need to know where you’re going so you don’t backtrack.

Notre Dame.

On the other hand, wandering aimlessly and enjoying the architecture, shop windows and passersby is a time-honored tradition in France, which invented a word just for that: flâner. Your schedule should include a bit of flânerie in each neighborhood; it’s how you’ll spy the perfect souvenir in a little boutique that will remind you for years of your trip: a scarf, a book, a bag, a dish, a picture. NOT an Eiffel Tower keychain or a Paris T-shirt (though, if you USE them, why not!). It’s when you’ll get the photos that capture the spirit of France—in the streets and not in a museum gallery.

Not judging. You do you.

Which images do you conjure up when you think of Paris? Which things do you absolutely have to see? Notre Dame? The Eiffel Tower? Sacre Coeur? Pont Neuf? The Louvre? Les Champs-Élysées? Are you interested in history? Architecture? Art? Fashion? Food? All of the above?

Jeanne d’Arc. The sort of thing one runs into in Paris, just there in the middle of a street.

Break it down again. History: which periods? Roman? Medieval? Renaissance? Art: what kind? Impressionist paintings? Modern? Sculpture? Street art? Decorative arts? As wonderful as the Louvre is, it’s a pain to get through security and deal with crowds (I saw the Mona Lisa once, kind of, in a terrifying mob of people, almost all of whom held cameras over their heads to snap photos. WHY? They can see photos, without strangers’ hands and cameras, on the Internet! Why do people take photos of art anyway? Go to the gift shop and buy the post card!). Either head for less-frequented galleries or go instead to one of the smaller museums specializing in whatever’s your jam. Le Musée de Cluny is all about the Middle Ages; Arénes de Lutèce are Roman ruins. Le Musée d’Orsay has Impressionists; le Musée Marmottan has Monet; the Picasso museum has Pablo; the Rodin museum has sculpture, including the Thinker; le Centre Pompidou has modern art. Paris has no shortage of museums. Some of the smaller ones are likely to be the most memorable, because you won’t be in a crush of people. Museums like Musée Nissim de Camondo (full of fine art and furniture), Musée Jacquemart-André (15th to 18th century art) and Musée Cernuschi (Asian art) are all in former mansions around Parc Monceau in the 8th arrondissement; the park also is a delight for people-watching.

Only you can say what interests you. Don’t feel pressured to see the Mona Lisa when what really trips your switch is Louis XVI furniture—instead head to the Louvre’s Richlieu wing, first floor, rooms 500-632 (the 600-rooms are in the Sully wing, but you will flow through to them), which disply European decorative arts—fabulous palace rooms full of antiques. Or go to the Musée Nissim de Camondo or take a day trip to Versailles.

If you really want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower or to the Louvre, buy your tickets in advance! This will save you a huge amount of time. In fact, in both cases, you have to select a time and date; otherwise you have to stand in line and hope there is still room. (The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays, as well as Jan. 1, May 1 and Dec. 25. In addition, some of the rooms are closed on different days, so look at the schedule to be sure that you can get into the collections you want.) Louvre tickets here; Eiffel Tower tickets here.

Plan your day by starting with the musts, because you might run out of time for everything on your list. Also, keep in mind the habits of other tourists: they sleep in a little, because they’re on vacation, after all. They have a leisurely breakfast at their hotel or in their rental. Then they mosey out to start sightseeing around 11. Some say, “oh, heck, it’s almost noon, no time for seeing big Sight X,” and they do some little thing before having lunch, hitting the tourist trail in force around 2 p.m. In other words, the worst time to do anything touristy is in the afternoon.

I would aim for seeing the Eiffel Tower at 9 p.m. It’s open until 11:45 p.m. Make sure to get there early because even with pre-purchased tickets you have to stand in line for airport-style security. The site says it takes 2.5 hours for a visit to the top because you have to change elevators and there are lines. But you are unlikely to be in line with a lot of families with small children; even most adults are going to be at dinner then—in fact, plan your meals accordingly. (If you have kids, I would skip going up and instead go to the top of the Tour Montparnasse or the top of the Arc de Triomphe, both of which give you views of the Eiffel Tower and of the city from up high, without the long waits.)

The Arc de Triomphe.

The view from the Arc de Triomphe. See what I mean?

And with zoom.

Similarly, at the Louvre, consider getting there first thing (it opens at 9 a.m.) or go on Wednesday or Friday night, when it’s open until 9:45 p.m. In fact, the museum’s own Web site advises this. They even have an app that shows how busy the museum is. This is key if what you’re dying to see are the Egyptian mummies, whose galleries typically are a miasma of sweating humanity and no matter how much your kid is into the topic it will be a disaster that is difficult to escape from—you just have to follow the flow. Another tip: unless the weather is great, enter via the Métro station to avoid standing in the long line to the Pyramid in the courtyard.

It’s hard to say which neighborhood you’ll be in at mealtime, so the best thing to do is to pick a restaurant as you would a bottle of wine. There are telltale signs of very good or very bad, which I elaborated on here.

The courtyard of Hotel des Grandes Ecoles.

I’ve stayed in many places in Paris, but my favorite hotel is Hotel des Grandes Ecoles in the 5th arrondissement. It is one of the few places in Paris where you are likely to wake up to the sound of birds singing, thanks to its lush interior courtyard (in fact, you might want to ask for a courtyard room when you reserve, although it’s on a very quiet street).

View from the hotel courtyard toward the street. Charming.

Place de la Contrescarpe, steps from the hotel and at the top of rue Mouffetard.

According to the Earful Tower podcast (go subscribe now if you’re a francophile!), the 5th is the best district for flâner, because you can wander from the Arènes de Lutece to the Pantheon to rue Mouffetard (that market street in the Amélie movie) to the Latin Quarter around the Sorbonne. It also has the Jardin des Plantes, the Grande Mosquée (excellent tea room; I used to frequent the hammam but hear it isn’t so great any more), the Institut du Monde Arabe (beautiful architecture, interesting exhibits on art, history and culture, and great views from the rooftop café) and, my favorite thing in Paris: open air (summer only) Argentine tango dancing on Friday and Saturday nights at the Jardin Tino Rossi, right next to the Seine.

The Pantheon. More than just the burial place of France’s most eminent personalities, the Pantheon’s central hall has Foucault’s pendulum, which demonstrated the Earth’s rotation. Science! Another theme to seek out in Paris!

The 1st is the place for fashion, with rue Saint-Honoré lined with boutiques. Hotel Costes is a hangout for the fashion crowd and has such wonderful service. I once had a six-hour lunch with a friend there—the waiter discreetly refilled the water carafe but never were we pressured in the least to wrap it up and leave. Coco Chanel’s original boutique, at 31 rue Cambon, is just off rue Saint-Honoré. The Palais Royal courtyard is rather hidden, but you’ll recognize the iconic striped columns. The Louvre also is in the first. So is the Hotel de Ville (city hall). And nearby is Pont Neuf, leading to île Saint-Louis, a charming place to explore and also home to the stained-glass wonder that is Sainte-Chapelle.

But then you aren’t far from Notre-Dame, on the adjacent island, Île de la Cité. It’s in the 4th, the Marais, packed with interesting shops and cafés. It’s also home to the Picasso museum, among many others. My other favorite secret place in Paris is the Marais Dance Center, hidden in one of the oldest courtyards of Paris at 41 rue du Temple and dating to around 1580. You can sit at the cafe in the courtyard and look up, “Rear Window” style, at ballet in one window, salsa in another, waltz in another…Walk down the boutique-lined rue des Francs Bourgeois to Place des Vosges, where you can sit (not on the grass) and watch very chic parents with their very chic children at the small playground, while a busker sings exquisite opera aided by the acoustics of the surrounding arcades.

Sacre-Coeur.

Montmartre is in the 18th, a bit farther from the center. From Sacre-Coeur you get great views, and the surrounding streets—except for Place du Tertre, which is unpleasantly touristy—are charming. At the tiny Square Suzanne Buisson, you might find locals in a game of pétanque; one day when I did, I watched a while, amused, and when I left they stopped playing and tipped their hats!

The Abbesses Métro entrance.

Montmartre is kind of off the path, and you’re likely to take the Métro (Line 12 to Abbesses or Line 2 to Anvers) and then possibly the funicular, which offers great views. You can combine it with some of the little museums near Parc Monceau, which is on Line 2 of the Métro. In fact, you could start at the Arch du Triomphe for day views, take the Métro to Monceau, then the Métro again to Anvers/Montmartre. That is, if you like views, museums and parks. But it also includes plenty of gawking in little streets around Montmartre.

The Eiffel Tower is in the 7th, along with some great museums—Rodin, d’Orsay, Maillol (one of those charming little ones). It’s also home to le Bon Marché, the oldest of the grands magasins, or department stores. However, they aren’t really close together. I would wander from Musée d’Orsay to the Musée Rodin and then over to the Bon Marché and maybe on to the Jardin du Luxembourg and its little pond where kids (some of them with gray hair) sail little boats, though it’s technically in the 6th. Then I’d go back separately to the Eiffel Tower after dark.

The Pantheon entrance. More is more.

This post has devolved into a lot of rambling. The point is to encourage you to pick your top destinations—YOURS, not some blogger’s! Or your friends’!—and to look at what else interests you nearby or on a convenient Métro line and to consider opening times and lines so you can make a plan for each day that’s both enjoyable and efficient.

Métro map here.

Questions? Your tips?

Place de la Concorde.

Paris Tips: Timing Is Everything Paris is such a treasure chest of marvels that one could spend a lifetime unpacking them and still not get to half of them.

[campmoe]

Session 1: Wednesday, June 28

MicMac Today we played duck, duck, goose!, musical towels, sang TONS of songs and went boating to see some turtles! We also played Gaga. Kylie helped Jacob put his shoes on and helped him color during arts and crafts! Don’t forget to bring a sweatshirt for chilly mornings and a water bottle. Chippewa We had a great day at arts and crafts. Everyone was great during our hike today. Kaelyn did a great job singing and she really enjoyed the hike we went on! Pawnee Pawnee played a super fun game of silly animals today. Brad had an awesome first day, welcome Brad! Don’t forget we have Family Night tomorrow! Seneca This morning we took a hike to Whist Pond and played hide and seek. We also had fun free swimming at the waterfront. Kody had a super good hiding spot, no one could find him! Remember that tomorrow is Family Night! Mohegan We had a nice long free swim today and then played spud and duck, duck, goose! Brady, Marley and Alex were helpful picking up trash at lunch time. Please do not forget to come wearing your swimsuit and pack the sunscreen and bug spray. Do not forget that tomorrow is Family Night! Seminole Today we started group time with a fellow unit, then we learned some new games and songs, and had a great time swimming and playing Marco/Polo. The campers all helped each other while teaching a different unit, a new game and song. Don't forget to drink plenty of water! Friday is Pirate Day, wear black and red! Cherokee Today during group time, we practiced our songs for Family Night! We also played a game of werewolf with the Seminole group. Today our entire group walked up from the waterfront together in record time, way to go Cherokee group! Reminder that Friday is Pirate Day, that means wear an outfit of Black and Red! CIT Today we went swimming and helped out with some of the smaller kids! We also learned how to give meaningful directions. Bocce Today in both electives, we reviewed the rules of the game and then we were able to play the game. Elective #4 showed great teamwork as a whole. The Elective #3 also showed great sportsmanship. Everyone in both groups were very supportive of each other! Arts & Crafts Today in Arts and Crafts, we did made rainbow picture frames. Denver and Dante from the Micmac group did an awesome job working together to complete Dante’s picture frame. Don’t forget that tomorrow is Family Night, how you all can come! Music We sang “Obwisana” during Elective #3 today and played Rumbu Ball with Elective 4! Austin did a great job keeping the beat and Julia did a good job playing and singing. Nature We went to Whist Pond today and played hide and seek to learn about camouflage techniques. Jonathan and Noah were hiding champions! Archery Today we went over the rules again and picked the groups. Tomorrow we are going to begin shooting! Thank you to our campers for being fantastic listeners when going over the rules. Thank you to Alyssa for being a great helper! Reminder that, campers can bring in games to play during times that other campers are shooting. Drama Today we played “Name Train” and made Drama rules. Alex did a great job acting today! Hand-Drumming Campers started learning “doumbek” technique and rhythm. Everybody did very well and learned quickly. We go through almost the whole rhythm in one class! Try to remember: “dum dum tek ka tek dum tek ka tek tek ka dum tek ka tek tek ka dum tek!” Coloring/Drawing Today we learned a bit about Andy Warhol and his style of coloring and art. Bold bright colors were used to create unique sunflowers. Everyone followed directions and did a great job incorporating color and their own personal touches to their flowers. Always bring a pencil and eraser, be prepared to free draw, not just color! Legos Today we build animals from around Connecticut, ranging from chipmunks to bears. Many campers did remarkable work Oliver created several animals and helped others with creating theirs. Cash was very talkative and willing to share his pieces

[you-andthebottlemen]

14 - Van’s POV

Request: “the lids go on tour to another country and Van meets a fan/girl and they hit off and Van ends up liking her. Then they go back home and he can't get the girl off his mind. Then one day they meet again by chance and now the girl lives in the same place as him and they finally get to be together”

Currently writing this at 4am, I’m a mess. Catfish have officially taken over my life. I am okay with this. 

*******

As usual, touring was fucking incredible. Every day the fans never ceased to amaze me; their love and faith in our band is just mental. It was always such an unreal feeling playing my songs in a completely different country. After hanging outside the tour bus signing CDs and taking photos with some kids, I was hungry and went looking for some lunch. The lids stayed back playing Fifa on the bus; something I’d usually never turn down. I wandered through the narrow streets and small arcades near the venue. There were all kinds of things, it was so cool. A shop for anything you wanted and a food place for any cuisine you could think of. I eventually stumbled across a small, warm looking cafe that had records lining the walls. Maybe I could get a sandwich and a nice hot brew.

I ordered and thanked the waitress, then left the counter and went to find a corner somewhere so I could maybe scribble in my notebook a little. But instead of finding an empty table I saw a girl crying. She had her elbows leaning on the table, head in her hands and was silently shaking.

“Hey, love, what’s the matter? You alright?” I asked gently, not able to bear the thought of her being alone like that.

She moved her hands away from her face, tears and mascara ran down her cheeks. Her eyes were all red and puffy looking but they were still beautiful. She quickly stopped crying, sniffed a bit and wiped her face in embarrassment.

“Yeah. All good. Sorry. Um, did you want to sit here?” She began to panic a bit and scramble to get her stuff together.

“No no, I just wanted to see if you were okay. Do you wanna sit with me for a bit?” I asked, placing my hand on her arm to stop her packing up her stuff.

She froze for a second and then nodded, sitting back down. She pulled on her shirt sleeves that were scrunched into her fists. I joined her and my food arrived. I ordered her a cup of tea as well and she looked crazy grateful. She sipped the tea in silence for a bit, not looking at me.

“Why were you crying?” I asked her and her eyebrows furrowed.

“Found out my Grandfather died a week ago, no one told me about it,” she said bluntly, trying not to cry again.

My heart sank for her.

“I’m so sorry...?” I didn’t know her name.

“Y/n,” she responded.

“I’m so fucking sorry y/n,” I reached out and squeezed her hand, she smiled a little at the small gesture.

She began telling me all about him and how much she loved him. It took a lot of willpower to not whip out my notebook and jot some her words down. It was clear she was smart and sensitive. She spoke fondly of her memories and of their closeness when she was growing up, she was alive with nostalgia. It was quite moving actually and reminded me of my own experience with death.

“You know when I was younger, my Gran died and it was Christmas time and no one told me until way after. They didn’t want to spoil Christmas for me.”

“Really?” She asked, looking shocked that someone else could relate to her.

“Yeah. It’s shitty but you can’t let it ruin your memories of them. And by the sound of it, you have some pretty fucking good ones, yeah?” I smiled and she nodded.

I finished my sandwich and checked the time on my phone; about the only thing it was good for. Fuck I had to get back for an interview.

“I’m so sorry y/n I have to run. But chin up okay? I promise you’ll be right.”

For some reason, I didn’t want to leave her. I wanted to stay in this dark little cafe and chat with her all day, pick her brain. But I stood up reluctantly and so did she, packing her bag.

“Thank you so much for the tea and for listening and for everything. You’re really kind Van, I’ll never forget it,” she gushed.

Don’t think I told her my name. I looked at her confused for a second.

“It’s my pleasure love,” I responded anyway.

“How do you know my name?” I couldn’t help asking.

“Um...” she looked down at her feet.

“I uh...know Catfish, one of my favourite bands actually...” she whispered, sounding afraid to tell me.

“No way! That’s so cool. Why didn’t you say so?” I replied, feeling a sense of pride.

“To be honest, who you were was the last thing on my mind,” she laughed, when she saw I didn’t think she was weird or something.

“Oh yeah, fair. Sorry, y/n. Are you coming to the show tonight? It’s the last one of this tour.”

“It sold out before I could save up for a ticket,” she replied.

“I’ll put you on the list. Be there early and come find me yeah?” I smiled and leant in to kiss her on the cheek.

I waved goodbye and rushed out the door back to the bus. She just stood there glowing; I was glad I could stop her tears.

.......

Y/n came to the show, she missed soundcheck but sat side stage for the gig. Every so often she’d have her phone out taking a video or something and I’d make sure to show off extra. I thrashed about and made all sorts of noises. At the end of Business, the crowd could tell I was having the time of my life; I started singing ‘Ignition’ before I even realised I was doing it. I loved to see y/n laugh and smile, it made me even more ecstatic to be on stage. When the gig was over, I stumbled back stage to wind down with a smoke; the lads and I were absolutely buzzing.  

Y/n just smiled and watched as I shouted and whistled, celebrating. Once we’d calmed down. We all sat around for a chat and some drinks. She sat with me on the couch and I had my arm resting around her shoulders. She had no trouble joining in with the craic; she fit right in.

“So, what did you really think of us? Did we live up to your expectations?” Bondy asked. He kept teasing her for being a fan.

“Well, to be honest...that singer’s a bit shit isn’t he?” She said, winking at me.

The boys howled and laughed and I sat there taking a flogging from everyone. She had a cheeky grin on her face; as she sipped her drink she locked eyes with me and they were full of mischief. I had a sudden urge to kiss her.

Once it all died down, we went back out to the bus. I ushered her inside quickly and ducked out to meet some fans. When I came back in, she was making cups of tea for everyone, handing them to us as we entered. What a doll.

“Why haven’t we had you here every night?” Larry asked her with a smile as he took a cuppa.

Everyone eventually broke off and did their own thing. Y/n and I were left alone in the lounge. She sat with her hands laced together in her lap, she seemed content. 

“Really was an amazing show Van. Thank you for this,” she said sincerely. 

“No, thank you. I’m glad you could come,” I smiled back at her.

We sat in a comfortable silence. I stood up and took her hands, pulling her up too. 

“We better get you home. Don’t you have work tomorrow or something?”

She nodded and headed for the door, glancing around the bus one last time.

“Oh hey, don’t forget your phone. You need to bell me when I get home, yeah?” I said, handing her phone that was still in my pocket from when I was pestering her earlier by taking photos on it of everyone.

She took the phone from me and turned it on, she grinned when she saw that I’d set her lock screen to a shitty selfie of us together that Bondy had ruined by sticking his bum in the background in all its glory. 

Y/n opened the door and a gust of cold wind blew in, she shivered violently and shut it again. Without a word, I grabbed one of my jackets from out back and wrapped it around her from behind. She turned slightly to look at me, I kept my hands on her shoulders where I’d pulled the jacket up. We made eye contact for far too long, the tension was obvious. Her hair fell messily around her face, her eyeliner had smudged under her bottom lash line and my jacket drowned her. But her eyes shone and glistened and I felt like I was glued to them. Fuck it.

I went for it. I grabbed her face softly and pulled her into me hard. Our lips crashed into each other and it was more than electric. It felt as if time had stood still and we were the only people on that damn tour bus. 

When she pulled away, she giggled quietly and I licked my lips with a smile. Neither of us said anything and we didn’t need to. I took her hand tightly in mine and lead her outside. We stumbled around the streets, stopping to kiss messily every now and then, leaning against lamp posts and laughing like mad. This girl felt like magic.

It was too late for a bus or taxi so I walked her all the way home.

..........

Leaving y/n that night was painful. I kissed her hard, she gripped my jacket tightly and we both wanted to fall through that door and make love, but we knew it would only hurt us later. We held each other and I kissed her forehead. She promised to call me. As I walked all those miles back to the bus through the night, her sad smile and shining eyes from behind her door frame replayed through my head like a broken record. 

I don’t know what happened, but she never called. All I had from that night was my memories. And for a while, that was enough. I thought of her fondly. After months had passed I began to forget about her, distracted with tours and life in the band. Yet every time I went home and just stopped to breathe, she popped into my mind. Soon, those memories became clouded with nostalgia and I wasn’t sure what was real or what I’d invented. I churned out song after song about the girl who lost her Grandad, the girl who showed me up to all my mates, the girl who kissed me like there was no tomorrow. 

None of the lads ever brought her up and I never let on how I felt. I let it fade away and soon forgot about her like she probably had forgotten about me. 

.........

London always astounded me with how claustrophobic and bustling it was. It was a massive city and there was a fuck load of people all the time. You’d lose your own mum in a crowd it was that busy at peak hour. 

After finishing up at a radio station, I ducked off for an interview at a pub which suited me just fine because I was starving. I sat down with the guy, quite a nice bloke actually. We talked album number 3 while I not so politely stuffed my face with potato mash and fish. After the interview was over I bought him a pint then he took off. I went to pay at the register, fiddling about with my wallet, trying to hurry and get the coins out. 

I shouldn’t have bothered because when I looked up, I dropped them all over the floor. There, behind the counter, stacking glasses was y/n. 

I blinked a few times, my jaw dropped.

“Y/n?” I asked in disbelief.

She turned around quickly and her eyes snapped wide open when she saw me.

“Van?” She echoed my tone.

Hearing her voice again suddenly made every feeling I thought I’d lost for her, come flooding back.

............

“Telling the lads I wasn’t going to play Fifa that day was the best decision of my life,” I told y/n, pulling the blankets up around us tightly. 

“Oh yeah, why’s that?” She asked, resting her head on my chest.

“Because I was hungry. I said no to Fifa and went off to find food. Then I went into that cafe and found you instead. If I’d said yes to Fifa, I’d never have met you would I?” I said, she grinned and kissed my nose.

Y/n had moved to London three months before I ran into her at the pub. We never talked about the reason she didn’t call or the year between our goodbye and our chance meeting. All that mattered was that we were together now. 

“Lucky I was a blubbering mess then too?” She said. I nodded and kissed her deep.

I had her neck in my hand and rubbed my thumb up and down on it soothingly after I pulled away. She cuddled into me more and I breathed a sigh of contentment. When home off tour, I stayed at y/n’s flat in London. She had a full-time job now and worked at the pub on weekends. She was always busy but always made time for me when I came home. She was supportive and caring; she still made tea for all the lads after any show she could make and took it upon herself to mother everyone which we all loved. She was still a massive Catfish fan. Bondy teased her all the time about her saying that 'her opinion of the lead singer must have gone up a bit'.  

I couldn’t believe how things had fallen into place. I’d ended up with the girl who felt like magic and it still felt too good to be true.

[kn1ghthawk]

I lost who made these questions.

1. A little-known talent of your SS? He speaks fluent chinese.

2. What trait does your SS like best about themselves? (Eyes, guitar skills, random prewar facts, etc) He feels he has an innovative mind to solve problems.

3. Bedroll on the side of the road, or wait until a settlement to rest? Bedroll in a secure structure, even if its a subway bathroom. As long as the door can close.

4. Is your SS good at keeping secrets? Yes

5. Your SS’s worst habit? Pack-ratting/hoarding

6. Does your SS wear light or heavy armour? Light armor and various pistols

7. What is your SS’s opinion on body modifications? The more the merrier, the body is a temple so decorate it.

8. Your prewar SS is given a full-ride scholarship to any college they could want to go to. Where do they go and what do they major in? CIT technical engineering, or west point officers school

9. What chore does your SS hate the most? Harvesting food, isnt that what the settlers are for? Put the food in the basket when it is ready!

10. Would your SS prefer to live in the Sanctuary Hills, Diamond City, or the on their own somewhere? The have their bunk and trophies in Sanctuary. But they keep their mission goods in red rocket under lock and key.

11. Is your SS a blanket hog? Super-Hog. His favorite thing to to is wrap up like a burrito, the soft pressure all around helps him sleep.

12. Would your SS play by the rules in a fight or take cheap shots? Cheap shots, kneecap always

13. Does your SS have a widow ’s peak? Yes, under their pompadour puff.

14. Happy birthday! What kind of present would your SS want prewar and postwar? Prewar, A berry pie over a cake and a trip to boston harbor. Postwar, A pile of scrap or raider pipe-guns.

15. Something that grosses your SS out? Not too much really makes him squik

16. Your SS crawls out of the cryopod! Where do they go first and what do they do? Fell down and cried for a good hour at Nora's feet.

17. Is there a real person that looks like your SS? Clive Owen

18. Something that makes your SS laugh without fail? Deacons impressions of other people.

19. Something that makes your SS cry without fail? Having to kill animals

20. A obscure/ridiculous fear your SS has? Clowns.

21. Does your SS have any type of disability, whether it be mental, physical, etc? Ever since the frost, his encurance is pittiful, like he can never get enough air.

22. Does your SS get frustrated by peoples postwar manners? Or lack there of… Yes, blind obedience and expected respect for station without earning it individually

23. What is your SS’s first memory? A snowed in morning with silver shroud on all day and hot cocoa

24. Your SS is setting up to take down some raider/supermutants/synths! What song is their anthem? Modern: Mike Oldfield, Nuclear Fallout-style: Artie Shaw, Nightmare

25. Does your SS have good or bad posture? Bad posture from hunkering over a table all day.

26. Most despicable thing your SS has ever done? Planting dozens of remote explosives all over the institute and killing hundreds of innocent scientists.

27. Does your SS a believe any of what the Children of Atom tell them? Wit a working knowledge of Fusion, he understands where they can be coming from and its parallels. But heaven and hell are today and tomorrow.

28. Someone does something against their morals in front of your SS. How do they handle it? Kneecap them with his pistol and then give them a stimpack to heal.

29. What is your SS’s favorite drink? Prewar and postwar!  Nuka cola Dark for both.

30. Does your SS prefer to sleep in a inside shelter or under the stars? Shelter.

31. Would your SS like you if they met you? Probably not.

32. Is your SS a nail biter? Yes.

33. What is your SS’s favorite prewar quote? The tree of liberty must now and again be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

34. Your SS’s favorite postwar clothing to wear? Silver shroud armor.

35. How does your SS react when they hear Raider gossip/stories? He stays hidden, listens to all the information, then kills the raiders with a few headshots.

36. Random Radstorm! How does your SS react? Pop a rad-away and keep on trucking

37. A strange talent of your SS? Well they can do this neat thing with their tongue that can curl someone else's toes.

38. What superpower would your SS want if they could have any?  Invisibility 39. Does your SS like/make puns? More of a gallows humor, but yes, puns a plenty.

40. Does your SS try to stay clean? Or do they embrace the wasteland? Clean, he knows the importance of appearance and sanitation.

41. Your SS wakes up with a cap wonder glued to their forehead. How do they react? Is that glue-OW!... Yes it is... Where is the turpentine?

42. Can your SS sleep if there’s any kind of light / noise? They like to sleep by the radio. One of the tripwire traps turns off the music so they can hear someone approaching by the sudden silence.

43. What kind of self-esteem does your SS have? He puts his needs in the background of the needs of others. He tries to keep a very practical assessment of his own skills and limitations.

44. A word that your SS can’t stand? 'Chinks' or any degradation of the Chinese

45. Does your SS keep good care of their weapons? Clean them everyday or just replace em with a shiner version every once in a while? His weapons he keeps immaculately functioning, he prefers revolvers over slide actions to keep them from jamming. The raiders tend to laugh when the settlements only have pipe-pistols, until the first volley of .50 rounds rip them apart.

46. Would the Commonwealth call your SS a good guy or a bad guy? What would they say they are? He likes to think they call him a good guy. He took great pains to hide his identity as the overboss while he was in Nukaworld.

47. Your SS’s most prized possession? Prewar and postwar! Prewar was a rabbits foot he used to keep clipped to whatever gun he was using for a mission, Postwar is a seemingly innocuous circuit, it was one of the chips from Curie's robot body.

48. What is your SS’s postwar happy place? Nuka-world, Now brought closer to its former glory by help of the mechanist repairing the rides.

[dorkylittleweirdo]

All the camp counselor asks.

:”D

1. How long have you been a counselor at the camp you’re at now?

this is my 2nd year ^-^

2. Did you go to camp as a kid? Did you go to the camp you work at as a kid?

yee, i was a camper at the same place lmao

3. Have you worked at other camps? Which did you like better?

i haven’t been a counselor/assistant at other camps but i’ve been to others. they’r not as fun

4. What is your least favorite kaper?

getting kayaks out of the giant ass shed

5. What is your favorite thing to do with your time off?

lmao what time off. uhhhh thursday of last sessions me and my friend/coworker go walk to get slushies/milkshakes

6. Do you stay in touch with your coworkers during the year?

some of them, ye

7. Favorite camp game?

we don’t really do games, we do lifeguard/first aid stuff. i like the classroom, we practice cpr and watch first aid videos and stuff

8. Favorite thing to lead at camp?

paddleboarding

9. What kind of camp do you work at (day or resident, mountains or plains, woods or not, YMCA or Scouts or whatever)?

it’s at a lake ^-^

10. Why did you become a counselor?

bc i wanted to give the other kids the experience i would’ve wanted at their age, like i want them to have as much fun as i did

11. Why did you come back for your 2nd (3rd, 4th, 5th, etc) summer?

bc it’s hell of a lot better and more rewarding than being a normal camper

12. Favorite theme day/week?

last week we do olympics or color wars or something, that’s fun

13. What’s one thing that’s always in your pack?

first aid kit, food, sunscreen

14. Were you a CIT (Counselor in Training) or a camp aide of some kind?

technically that’s what i am, but they consider the assistants as equal, we just get paid in volunteer hours and not money

15. What do you think is the most important skill for a counselor?

be understanding, bc not all the kids are the same. you don’t know what their lives are like outside of camp, you don’t know what problems/issues they might have, you don’t know their past. if you have a problem with them, don’t yell at them or embarrass them, pull them aside real quick and ask them what’s up (i usually say “i can’t help you or even try to if i don’t know what’s going on, but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to”)

16. What was your favorite unit (group of kids) at camp?

i like the 9-11 year olds best bc they’e super fun and easily entertained, but my 12-13 year olds are awesome too

17. What is your favorite camp song?

we don’t have one actually lmao. we usually just sing whatever songs are in

18. What’s the camp song that you sing because kids love it but you (and possibly the rest of the staff) all hate?

baaAAABY SHARK DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO (actually lowkey really love it bc Memories, i think it;s the other way around lmao)

19. What age group do you like work with the best?

9-11 year olds

20. Favorite camp tradition?

dumping a whole thing of ice water onto someone’s head then yelling “WELCOME TO (camp name)”

21. Tell a story of a late night adventure at camp.

oh god ok so we used to do beach campouts before that got Banned. i went around at like 10 with the other assistants/instructors to round up kids to play late night volleyball. i had a kid on my shoulders and it was so fun lmao

22. How do you de-stress?

i dOn’T

23. What is the most important thing you’ve learned as a counselor?

have more faith in myself. i know what i’m doing and the kids really do love me for who i am and what i do. as long as my supervisor thinks i’m doing good, then i don’t have to listen to another bitch ass assistant who thinks she’s better than me when she didn’t do shit all summer-

24. If you had to do it all over again, what would you change?

i’d be more confident with what i was doing to start with and not let that bitch get to me bc i’m Good At My Job unlike sOmE oF uS

25. How long do you see yourself working at camp? What do you see yourself doing there?

i mean i see myself working there for a long ass time if they hire me ^-^

[thegirlbeneaththesmile]

I’m proud of myself, for the first time ever I actually managed to keep a travel journal while I was away on vacation. A part of me has always wanted to be a travel blogger, or some sort of travel blogger, but I haven’t exactly gone a ton of places to do so, and definitely none that are very exotic. Nor do I travel more than once or twice a year... yeah, I would be a lousy travel blogger, but still, it would be fun. Anyways, point is, I figured I would share my travel experiences on here, just to be a little bit of a travel blogger myself. (I went to Atlantic City by the way, sorry to its residents, but I would not recommend travelling there)

Day 1: 1) The U.S. is as bad as home when it comes to summer road construction 2) All the feels. A portion of our route was the same route we took to NYC which made me really want to go back. Especially once I started seeing the signs for NYC 3) I have now seen 2 Ivy League schools: Columbia and Penn State. They’re both beautiful, but they aren’t Ryerson 4) It is in fact NOT always sunny in Philadelphia. It was actually quite cloudy when we drove through, but it’s a really pretty cit 5) Not going to lie, Atlantic City is kind of sketchy looking. Maybe it’ll just take some getting used to, but right now I’m not loving it 6) I’ve been resigned to sleeping on the pullout couch because of my cold. It’s not the most comfortable but I guess it’ll have to do 7) I look like a ghost. This sickness has made all the colour leave my body. What the heck?

Day 2:  I didn’t actually write about this day, I just wrote down an idea to consider pursuing and I’m not in the business of having that idea taken right out from under me, so moving on.

Day 3: TEEN WOLF TEEN WOLF TEEN WOLF So this is what it feels like to watch an episode of Teen Wolf live. Not going to lie, it was a bit of a lack lustre premiere, but damn, Dylan O’Brien in his FBI attire. A solid 10/10. Also Derek’s back, that’s a win. He’s wanted for mass murder, but still, Derek’s back. I’m going to miss this show. It’s ironic how it’s coming to an end as I’m starting the next chapter of my life. It’s almost like it’s signifying the end of an era. Now that’s sad.

Day 4: My God it is hot here. It’s probably the same kind of hot here that it is at home... when it’s not raining a ton that is. You’d think that there would be a bit of an ocean breeze while walking the boardwalk, but nope, it’s all just sweltering heat. Thank God for the pool and hot tub (ironic, I know). Correction: thank God for the pool and hot tub when they’re both not busy and filled with screaming kids.

Day 5: 1) Ryerson released the schedules! My schedule isn’t bad, the only downside is this really big chunk of time between my Friday classes, and the fact that my last class of the week is from 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. The poor sis had to sit with me for almost an hour while I tried to figure out how to change my lab times around. If all goes according to plan on Tuesday, I should have Mondays off and be done downtown by noonish on Fridays. Overall this is getting me more pumped for school to start. 2) Something happened down at the beach. Don’t know what exactly happened, but something happened. There were a bunch of ambulances, then helicopters and a boat scanning the water. I think they were looking for someone. I’m going to keep an ear out and see if I can figure out what happened. 3) Update on the cold: the cold is almost fully gone. Now just to clear my nose and get rid of this damn cough.

Day 6: 1) If I get melanoma it’ll be on my legs. My bad habit of not putting sunscreen on is being put to an end by the mother and sister. Unfortunately my legs are already a different shade than my torso which did have sunscreen on. Hopefully I just tanned though. Mum and the sis are already pink/burnt. Thank God that doesn’t usually happen to me. 2) Yeah, so I got a bit burnt. Whoops.

Day 7: 1) Wow we are in the sketchiest area of Atlantic CIty. Brigantine, Ventnoor (?) and Ocean City are so much nicer than where we’re staying. Brigantine beach patrol is also HOT to top it off. The sis and I turned some heads too which is always a compliment. 2) Suicide Squad isn’t bad. The character development was probably the best part in my opinion. I think I’ll stick to my Marvel movies though.

Day 8: According to my family, today is my birthday, or at least it is at Rainforest Cafe. I strongly dislike being sung to at restaurants. It’s quite embarrassing. Yes, the (typically) free dessert is nice, but please spare me the singing and clapping. Especially when there’s a cute bus boy working. If tonight’s dinner extravaganza is any indication, I will forever not know what to do while people sing happy birthday to me.

Day 9: Wasaga Boy texted me, which was really out of the blue. A lot of people have been texting me like that lately. It turned a rather uneventful day into something somewhat interesting. Otherwise I would simply be writing about how in a day’s course I’ve read 75% of my new book and how Dad and I watched Rogue One again. Man, there really isn’t a lot to say about Day 9.

Day 10: Okay, so we weren’t really in New Jersey today, but it’s close enough. Philly’s a lovely city, it kind of reminds me of Montreal with the mix of the old and the new. It’s very American though, considering so much of American history happened there, but when you’re driving down the old streets lined with townhouses you start to forget. It’s days like these that remind me how much of a city girl I am, and how that’s where I feel the most at ease. Or at least in the non-sketchy parts of town. I can’t wait to be downtown everyday come September.

Day 11: Today was a lazy day. It was raining and I really didn’t want to do anything. So I didn’t. I sat and finished writing the next episode in my TV series. Then I formatted it. And then I proof read it. I’m probably going to have to proof read it again before I start writing the next episode. Either way, I’m happy because it’s progress. I forgot (or at least temporarily forgot) how much I love writing, and this show practically writes itself. It feels good to have an actual show up my sleeve. Now just to finish writing this season.

Day 12: 1) Course Selection: ☑️ Ideal Schedule: ☑️ I survived the semi-annual Ryerson Hunger Games. It was stressful as all hell, but at least it’s done now. Plus it was good practice for all those mornings I’ll be waking up at 5:00 a.m. to make it to my 8:00 a.m. classes. This definitely makes it feel more real, like it’s actually happening now. 20 days from now frosh week will begin and I’ll officially be part of the Ramily. My excitement levels could not be higher; if only my sleep deprivation didn’t mask it. 2) Finally some cute boys.They’re probably younger than I am, but who cares, I’m just glad to know that they exist in my vacation universe. That, and I have a boy anyways. 3) Passengers is a really good movie. 10/10 would recommend. For such a limited cast it was so human too. I really enjoyed it. 4) Baths are kind of overrated. At least ones without bath bombs. They’re relaxing sure, but when you think about it, unless you showered first, you’re sitting in your own filth. Which is gross.

Day 13: Even though this building doesn’t have a floor 13. 1) So some idiot thought it was a good idea to clear the smoke from their kitchen out by leaving the door to their room open so it would escape into the hallway. At 7:20 a.m. setting off an alarm for the whole building. This annoying buzzing sound plus a recording saying that an emergency has been reported and to listen for further instructions. That went on for like 10 - 15 minutes before the “All Clear” message took over... for another 10 minutes. That was exactly how I wanted to wake up. Because waking up before 8:00 two days in a row is at the top of my list. 2) Well then, cute boys really do exist here, and this time there were actually two that are the right age for me. These two boys who we’re guessing are cousins are 19 which is good for me. It was so cute to watch them playing with some little boys and goofing around with them. They were definitely the kind of eye candy I want while lounging around the pool. And of course it was pretty nice to have them checking the sis and I out. It was a good day at the pool.

Day 14: The last day is always pretty bittersweet. Sweet, because it’s a day to enjoy and make the most of. Bitter, because it means packing up and heading back to the same old same old. Usually by the time the 2 weeks is over the condo and area feel like home (okay, Atlantic City does NOT feel like home, but the condo is home-like). It’s almost as if we could actually live our lives out of the condo if we decluttered and brought all our stuff out to meet us. Am I going to miss New Jersey? Probably not. Will I want to come back to Atlantic City? Definitely not. It was nice while it lasted: the sun, the hot tub, the pool; but I think I’m actually ready to go home. Maybe it’s the anticipation building up for university. Maybe it’s the fact that I miss my people back home. Whatever the reasoning, it’s been good, but it’s time.

Day 15: A.K.A. checkout day A.K.A. my birthday (my 18th to be exact) and what better way to spend it than in my favourite city? Not only did I get to relive bits and pieces of my NYC trip, but I got to play tour guide too and stay in one of those hotels that the main character in a film stays in when they go to the city. It’s been the best birthday yet, even if the sis picks fights, even if tomorrow is going to be a mad dash. 18, has been a great one.

Day 16: Today it’s the mad race against time as the Shawn Mendes concert looms in front of us. The only thing standing in our way is the 8 hour drive and the threat of traffic, construction, and getting stuck at the border. This definitely wasn’t our best plan but it makes for an interesting journey and a fun story. After all, not many people wake up in NYC to finish with a night out in TO. This should be fun.

P.S. If you made it all the way to the end, thank you for sitting through this, you’ve got my gratitude

P.P.S. we made it to the concert, time to spare and all

- 08/15/2017