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[skydivewhitefish]

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[imwatermeloness]

Trust me

Chapter 1 is out, go show it some love :)<3

Summary: 5 times Tony had to trust someone else to take care of Peter and one time he shouldn't have

Chapter summary: Tony and Peter go skydiving. Parker luck strikes and Peter pays the price.

Read it here!

__________

"I can't believe I let you rope me into this." Tony grumbles in the driver’s seat, fisting the steering wheel tightly in a white knuckled grip.

Peter rolls his eyes at the man and leans back in his own seat. “I thought you weren’t scared of anything.”

It had taken a lot of persuasion to get Tony to agree to skydiving with him, without Iron Man. With the suit there would have literally been no point to the activity. Peter had spent weeks talking the man into coming with him and only when he had accused Tony of being scared, had the man assented, though begrudgingly.

The billionaire fixes him with a glare. “I didn’t say that. I said I’m not scared of anything, except for Pepper and your aunt.”

"Then there’s no reason not to do this.” Peter countered with a self-satisfied grin.

The man scoffs. “Speak for yourself, guess who’s going to have his head torn off if I come back and tell them that I let you fall to your death cause I didn’t have the suit.”

“I’m not going to fall to my death, Mr. Stark.”

That makes Tony look oddly alarmed. “For that, I’m gonna need you to knock on wood, kid.”

There’s nothing in the car that’s made of wood, not even cardboard coffee cups or receipts. Tony keeps the car freakishly clean. So Peter knocks his hand on his head, eliciting a scolding look from the man. Tony doesn’t like when Peter plays down or mocks his own intellect, even if it's a joke. He makes a show of putting his hand back down. “I didn’t know you were superstitious. Didn't you say you don’t believe in magic?”

“I’m heavily relying on past statistics. You have a habit of getting into trouble right after promising me you’re not gonna get into trouble. I’m not risking it.”

Peter breathes out a laugh. “Oh come on, it'll be fun. It's supposed to give you the adrenaline rush of your life." He moves his hands in an arch to add drama.

Tony’s grip on the wheel tightens just a fraction. He glances at Peter briefly, an unreadable expression clouding his expression. "I get heart palpitations just from watching the footage from your suit. I'm good on adrenaline."

Peter huffs impatiently and turns nearly sideways in order to give Tony his full attention. The man looks like he’s about to tell him to sit back but Peter opens his mouth before the man does. "Don't be a grumpy Gus, please, just try to enjoy it, for me?" He only widens his eyes a little bit, but it does the trick.

Tony grumbles something incoherent under his breath that sounds a lot like ‘damn puppy dog eyes’ and blows out a breath. Then, “fine.”

----------

They’re in the plane and they're both attached to other people by harnesses that wrap around their upper bodies. Tony is going to jump first. He’s standing in the open doorway of the small plane, his back against the tandem instructor’s chest, looking wildly uncomfortable. Peter is not sure if it’s because of being so close to a complete stranger or the fact that he knows he’s going to be free falling through the sky in just a minute. Nevertheless, the man looks like he would rather be anywhere else right now. Mr. Stark turns around for the last time and locks eyes with the man Peter is strapped against. His eyes are steely and Peter is glad he’s not on the receiving end of that look.

“That’s my kid, you bring him down safe, capiche?” Peter’s cheeks heat up fiery red as he hears the man’s firm ‘yes, sir’. Tony nods once and looks back at Peter.

“You okay?”

Peter wants to roll his eyes again. Tony is such a mother hen. Deciding against it he simply smiles reassuringly and gives Tony a thumbs up. “Yup.” And it’s the truth. Sure, he’s nervous but it’s trumped by the adrenaline filled excitement that’s coursing through his veins now that it’s almost the time to jump. He honestly can’t wait.

Tony nods one more time and pats Peter’s shoulder. “Alright, kid. I’ll see you when you get down. Happy trails!”

And then they jump. Peter watches them float down until they’re merely a small dot against the large area of sand they’re supposed to land on. His heart is racing so hard that he can feel it in his ears.

“Ready, kid?” his flying instructor asks, walking them closer to the edge. Peter swallows down the bubbling anxiety and nods determinatedly, gripping the shoulder straps of his harness. “Yeah.” he says, “let’s do this.”

And suddenly they’re falling. It feels sort of like one of those amusement park attractions that drop down from really high up and make your stomach feel all wonky. it's exhilarating, insane, amazing, terrifying but so, so great. The oxygen is a lot thinner than down in the ground and for a second it's hard to breathe. His mouth is gaping like he’s seen fish do. He breaks out in startled laughter at the feeling that reverberates from the bottom of his stomach throughout his whole body.

It’s incredible.

Until they suddenly jerk violently and are flipped upside down, falling heads first towards the rapidly approaching ground. He hears the skydiving instructor yelp and it's only a half a second later that Peter registers a snap from somewhere in his lower leg, that is soon engulfed by absolute searing agony that emanates from his right ankle. It feels like someone is trying to rip his foot from the rest of his leg. He doesn't even realize that he has been screaming until he closes his mouth to grit his teeth together. His eyes fill with hot salt water and Peter can instantly tell from past experience that his ankle is definitely broken, there's no other possibility. He's felt this pain so many times.

They start spinning around wildly and Peter gets so disoriented that he is unable to tell up from down. He can't really see anything other than the chaotic blur of ground that he can make out occasionally and that they are nearing at an alarming speed.

The man behind him yells something at him but Peter can't concentrate on anything other than the unforgiving burning in his ankle. Peter looks up and what he sees makes his heart drop down to his stomach. The drogue chute has somehow inexplicably wrapped itself around his ankle. The sight of it makes the pain worsen tenfold and Peter bites his lip so he won't scream again. Oh man, what if this thing rips my foot clean off. It feels like it. Could he still be Spider-Man with only one foot? Tony could probably make him a really good prosthetic, with so many different features. He doesn't want a prosthetic, though. He wants to keep his leg and he doesn’t want to be an amputee. Oh God he doesn’t want to lose a limb because of something so stupid.

The rope squeezes his ankle so tight that Peter is half scared that it's cutting off the blood circulation to his foot. It feels worse than getting shot. Delirious from pain Peter thinks the rope might be caught on his shoe so he frantically kicks his sneaker off with his other foot, but it changes nothing. His ankle is still being strangled and no matter how much he flails his leg around, the rope won't budge.

Then finally his head clears enough to hear what the man is yelling in his ear.

"Kid! Kid, are you okay?"

Peter grunts, fighting to keep his voice level. "Y-yeah, yeah, it's just- my foot, it's-"

"Alright, you're okay.” The man sounds just as scared as Peter is although he is hiding it a lot better. “I'm gonna get us down! Just take a deep breath. I'll count to three and on three I'm going to pull the emergency chute. It's gonna get rocky but we'll be fine."

Peter pants because now the pain is on the point of being unbearable. He manages to nod shakily. "O-okay."

"Okay, one, two, THREE!"

It knocks the breath out of Peter's lungs. The abrupt stop in motion feels like getting hit by a car and he can already tell his whole torso is going to be bruised. He can't stop the yelp of pain that escapes through his lips when the movement jostles his leg violently. Deploying the emergency chute has flipped them back into the right position and now they’re floating down feet first.

Peter can't remember the rest of the way down. All he knows is the erratic race of his heart, the all consuming torment in his ankle and the strange numbness that he associates with shock. He thinks the tandem instructor might have talked to him but he can’t be sure. Once Peter's feet touch the ground his vision whites out and he almost faints when he feels the bones in his ankle creak. It suddenly strikes him that they could have very well died.

All the adrenaline drains out of him at once and he sags against the chest of the man behind him. Maybe he should faint. He wants to faint. He doesn't want to feel or think about the mess that is his leg. He can tell that it's bad, just from the feeling. Tears fill his eyes again and he tries to blink them back but then his lower lip starts trembling and he really wants May.

The man places a comforting hand on Peter's chest, rubbing it softly and shushes him quietly, all the while Peter trembles and shakes like a leaf. He's dazed and can't catch a single thought, his mind like a carousel, spinning out of control.

------------

Tony lands with the man and his legs feel like jello. That was… God awful. This is the last time he agrees to any of Peter’s insane ideas. The whole way down all he could think about was the chute malfunctioning or the harnesses malfunctioning or the tandem instructor having a heart attack or something. His mind went through every single worst-case-scenario where something went wrong and they fell down, only leaving two wet smears of red in their wake.

Nothing happened though, thank God, and they descended safely. Although, the sight that greets him raises his hackles right back up again. The people around him, even the ones helping him out of the harness are all mesmerized by something that is happening above them, in the air. He’s confused for a moment until his mind freezes on a thought. Peter. Heart pounding he leaps off the ground and gazes up. Sure enough, it’s Peter and his skydiving instructor.

Something is clearly wrong though, as they’re falling down in a completely wrong position, very different from what Tony and his instructor had done, plummeting towards the ground. The air hitches in Tony’s throat and his heart falls down to his stomach. His hand automatically slaps against his chest, and instead of connecting with the nano housing unit, his hand only meets fabric on top of the scarred surface of his chest.

“Fuck.” He had come without the nanoparticles. The realization clenches his heart in a terrifying grip. His kid… Oh god- he has to- oh God. Fuck, he shouldn’t have listened to the kid. He doesn’t know what to do. Frantically he looks around and settles his eyes on the nearest man, getting into his face.

“Hey! What the hell is going on?” He doesn’t care that his voice shakes, he doesn’t even care that everyone there can clearly see that he's scared out of his mind. The man only glances at him before turning his gaze back to the blue sky. It’s painfully obvious that the man is doing his best to act calm around the billionaire. It does nothing to ease the panic that’s clouding Tony’s brain. “I’m not sure, Mr. Stark. It looks like something might be wrong with the drogue chute.”

He frowns. “What, what does that mean?”

The man doesn’t answer his question but places a placating hand on his shoulder. Tony wants to push it off. “Hold on, sir.” The man says and leaves him to go talk to the man a few feet away from them.

“No, you hold on-” it falls on deaf ears when there’s a unified gasp from nearly everyone around him. He spins around to look back to the sky and heaves out a breath of relief. Peter and the man have deployed a parachute and are now approaching the ground in what Tony thinks looks like normal manner. He may have not done this before but even he knows that a parachute means not being in an acute danger of dying.

Or thought he knew, because suddenly the people around him go even more frantic than before and Tony’s heart skips another beat. He hears the word “ambulance” and his heart all but stops. “What…” he breathes when he sees one of the men lifting a phone to his ear. He spins around to find someone, anyone available to tell him what is happening but everyone’s busy discussing the situation with each other.

Tony finally runs out of patience.

“Hey!” he yells with the deepest, loudest voice he can manage and is satisfied when the employees of the place stop buzzing around like damn bees. “Somebody better tell me what the hell is going on before I sue this place six ways to Sunday and you ragtag gang of damn adrenaline junkies never see the inside of another plane ever again!”

The silence hangs heavy around them for a moment until the man Tony had jumped with steps forward. “They deployed the emergency chute. You can tell by the solid color.” he explains calmly, like talking to a frightened animal and points to Peter and the man where they’re floating down with a bright orange colored chute. “That means something’s wrong with the original parachute. Now, according to protocol we have to alert the emergency services and get an ambulance here, just to be sure.”

Tony doesn’t think he’s breathing. Emergency chute? An ambulance?

His arm tingles uncomfortably and in that moment he’s sure he’s actually going to go into a cardiac arrest. Tony hadn’t prepared for this. Yes, technically he knew that there was always the possibility of something going wrong, but statistics always applied to other people. The statistics were there to assure people that these mishaps only happened to a very, very small portion of people and that there was really nothing to fear.

“Right now they seem okay. Don’t worry, sir, Dave’s gonna get your boy down safe and sound.”

That is what bothers him the most. The kid could be dying for all he knows and he’s helpless to do anything. He has to trust his entire world in the hands of a ‘Dave’ he doesn’t even know. Tony hasn’t felt so utterly useless in a long time.

-------------

"Peter!"

Peter numbly lifts his head to see Mr. Stark sprinting towards him with what looks like at least ten people. His mind clears a bit more and he manages to calm himself down enough to uncoordinatedly pet at the vest that he is still strapped in.

Tony kneels in front of him placing his hands to Peter's cheeks, while a few of the people that came with the billionaire start working on detaching Peter from the man. The tears spill over without his consent.

"Oh my God, kid. Lordy, you almost gave me a heart attack."

In his state Peter can only mumble incoherently. "M-my, my foot-"

Tony glances down at Peter’s ankle and Peter can see him grimace when the man takes in the blood seeping through the fabric of the suit. "Alright, Jesus, we'll, uh, we'll get you all fixed up, okay. I already called Cho."

Behind him he can remotely feel the tandem instructor's body leaving his back and he very nearly slumps down but he hears Tony’s quiet ‘whoa’ and feels the man’s hands catch his shoulders, keeping him upright.

He hisses when he feels someone move his leg to assess the damage. He quickly looks away and settles his eyes on Tony again.

Peter moves his head in a shaky nod, blinking to get rid of the blur of tears in his eyes. Tony is looking at him with more fear in his deep dark irises than the last time Peter got stabbed, and it had been bad. He doesn’t like it when Tony looks at him like that. He doesn’t like it when Tony or May are so worried about him. The atmosphere suddenly feels too heavy and Peter needs to alleviate it somehow. He sniffs quietly, trying his best to form a believable smile. "Told you,” he mutters. “the adrenaline rush of your life."

So much is happening around them, but Peter can only focus on Tony and the stab of pain in his leg. Tony gapes at him like it’s the most ridiculous thing Peter has ever said. Very soon, though, he gets himself together and then gently brushes the wild ringlets of hair off of Peter's forehead.

Tony’s hand is warm against Peter’s chilled skin. "And I told you, little hooligan, that I've had enough adrenaline as it is."

Peter chuckles and smiles sheepishly, when the man lowers his hand to cup his cheek again.

"You scared the devil out of me, Pete,” Tony states suddenly and Peter’s stomach clenches in guilt. “I'm never letting you go skydiving again, at least not without my suit. And even then I need a year, at least, to recover from this."

Peter lowers his chin to hide the relieved expression on his face. After all, this had been his idea. "I think I'm okay with that."

The sound of tires on gravel breaks the moment and Peter looks up to see an ambulance approaching them. He almost groans in embarrassment. He doesn't want to get on the bus and he doesn't want people to make a big deal out of it. He nuzzles into Tony's hand and looks up through his lashes in hopes that Tony can read his mind.

He can apparently, but it doesn't get Peter what he wants. Tony only glares at him playfully and taps the side of Peter's head disapprovingly with the hand that rests against his cheek.

"You put those peepers away. The puppy dog eyes don't work when I'm scared for your life."

Tony points at his own hair where Peter can see hints of grey. "See this? This is your fault, now you face the consequences."

Peter smirks, assured now by the realization that things we’re most likely going to be okay. "It's my fault, that you're... old?"

Tony barks out a laugh and nudges Peter's shoulder. "You little shit! It's only broccoli for you for the next month."

"Jokes on you, I like broccoli."

"Yeah, cause you're a menace."

"Am not! You like me!"

"Don't know where you got that idea from."

"I'm your favorite intern."

"Intern? Doesn't ring a bell."

"What?" He laughs. "You know me!"

"Peter? Peter who? Never heard of him."

Peter cackles so loud his whole body shakes, not even caring that the action jolts his leg uncomfortably, and Tony joins him. They giggle like children until the ambulance reaches them and Tony wipes the remnants of tears off of Peter's cheeks.

"Alright,” his voice is almost a soft whisper. “let's get you to Cho." Then a smirk grazes his lips and he points at Peter.

"It's Peter, right?"

Peter shoves Tony's shoulder with a childlike giggle. "Stop."

Tony chuckles and places a hand on top of Peter's curls. He grins at him and adds softly. "You'll be okay." Peter smiles back at him, all bright eyed and trusting, just like he always is.

Tony will make sure of it.

A mischievous grin tugs at Peter’s lips again. "So,” he stretches the word. “who's gonna tell May?"

The smile on Tony's face falls.

"Shit."

[unexpected-possibilities]

Saudade: Ch 10&11 Meta

I was realizing I did a lot with the magic in the last two chapters of Saudade (Chapters 10 and 11(posted last night, link in my pinned post)) and haven’t been able to provide proper explanation of the development on it that I’m doing, or even what I take the magic of the ToA universe to be. To be honest, I still don’t fully understand my own stance on interpreting it, so this is partially to help me sort out things in my own mind.

I will preface this by saying: if you have not caught up on Saudade, this is spoilery towards the second half! Please, if you’re interested in this meta and the overall story, do some catch-up reading first and I promise you’ll enjoy and understand this tenfold. Everything potentially spoilery is under the cut, but for those of you who don’t follow the story, there is plenty of headcanoning the magic just in general that you can read if you’re interested.

So, here goes. There’s a lot we don’t know or get yet about the magic of the Tales of Arcadia Universe. From what it appears to be, there are various types of magic, magical practices, and energies in ToA. It would give me a severe headache to really delve into everything, so for the sake of my sanity, I’m sticking to what Wizards gave us.

It seems that in the fields of magic, there are, at the very least, three main designations.

1) Classic Magic that revolves around energy, runes, incantations, and the like -- Merlin and Douxie’s magic, in particular. It’s very all-encompassing and seems to be a practiced art, maybe one is born with some innate talent or skill as with any kind of magic, but much of the ability comes from learning it, practicing, so on.

2) Shadow Magic, revolving around the Shadow Realm and manipulation of shadows -- Morgana and Claire’s magic. Morgana does not seem relegated to only the use of Shadow Magic, which I would guess has to do with her being an apprentice of Merlin.

3) The natural magics -- this would be the magic that Vendel has, or what the hedgewizards have. A primal form of magic that often presents in the user in a way related to elements or natural forces. For example, the four general elements, but also more refined towards things such as Zoe’s lightning magic, plant-based, healing, and so on. I would think that the most common forms of hedgewizardy would be the four natural forms; fire, water, earth, air. They’re considered classics and fairly simple, so often these people don’t really search out specialized jobs for their fields, or if they do, it’s things where they can subtly use these skills. (i.e. a firefighter could be either a fire HW* or water HW, works either way. Maybe a skydiving instructor is an air HW who ensures things all go smoothly, a landscaper sneakily shifting the rocks in the ground to make it easier to dig, and so on). [HW will stand for hedgewizard/witch for my purposes here]

But as we jump more to specialized talents like tech wizardry, things get a little more complex. Now, a HW is more skilled in working with technology, maybe you have electricians who don’t have to worry about live wires or the Hex Tech workers who can manage to fix almost anything. But while their magic might stem from electricity-based magics, they can’t quite call down lightning or anything. Same with how a plant-magic person couldn’t manipulate rocks, even though it stems from earth magics. Healing magic might stem from water magic, but the mage has no ability to manipulate water. Basically, specific magic can and does develop from the basic fields.

But this doesn’t explain where Zoe’s lightning magic or, say, magic regarding the paranormal, sits. The paranormal magics sit outside this realm of natural magics, bordering Shadow magic, a sort of foot in both types kinda thing. It’s more of a learned and practiced skill than the natural magics, and it can be developed over time on top of preexisting talents. See: Tara, the fire HW who will be returning to the story as a medium. I will go back to this once it becomes relevant in Saudade.

Zoe, however, has actual lightning magic. I consider her magic to be very near, if not, the strongest, most powerful, and most dangerous of the natural magics. It is pure elemental magic in the highest form, derived from what makes up the worldly elements (states of matter(plasma, in this case)). In being such raw and primal magic, it’s incredibly sensitive to the user’s emotions and highly volatile. More than a few mages have been killed by their own magic in cases like this. And it’s not a magic that can be learned, either, you’re either born with it or receive it otherwise (see: Taking Flight, Zoe being struck by lightning as her magical origin story). There will be a whole post coming one day on purely Zoe and her magic because I love exploring it so much.

So what about Saudade, again?

Right, right, let’s go back quite a few steps. So, in the two most recent chapters of Saudade, I delve a lot into the idea of “magic is emotion.” And because magic is emotion, magical signatures and connections can be used to reflect on a magic-user’s emotions. Depending on the connection between two magic users, the strength of the bond and what can be understood of it varies.

Ever since Chapter 8, the whole confessions scene, Zoe and Douxie have been a lot more in touch with their own and each other’s emotions, both in a physical and emotional/magical sense. Now, it’s been a while since that, and they’re beginning to see just how much an extended bond like this can mean, no walls between them. It’s not telepathy or mind-reading, it’s more like reading someone’s body language, but on the level of magic, a bit more intimate than physical cues, though is still something either of them can shut off to the other.  Emotions, however, can most certainly be processed and understood through the connection via certain types of magical signatures produced, and hence is how Douxie detects Zoe’s emotions. In Chapter 11, Zoe feels all sorts of emotions from Douxie without even needing to cross into the territory of magical connection because there is physical contact, and they’ve dropped all boundaries for the time being, leaving each other perfectly exposed to any and all emotions, and each other’s magic.

Merlin strictly forbid any sort of relationship so long as Douxie is a wizard because of the consequences it could mean. I haven’t explored it much past the small scene in Taking Flight, but Merlin and a late of lover of his discovered the painful truths of emotions and magic, resulting in a death. Merlin doesn’t want this to come of Douxie, and tells him such. But with Merlin now passed, and a world that Douxie is no longer just getting by in, but rather living and mastering, things have changed. And on top of that, Zoe and Douxie’s connection is really unlike any other, even to Nari, who has been around since the beginnings of magic. And yes, Merlin also advised against even strong platonic relationships because those can totally count as strong emotions.

So Douxie and Zoe’s connection is the intersection of two extremely powerful magics in it’s own right, with lots of untapped potential to be discovered...as we see in Chapter 11, even what seems impossible just might be possible. But as with all things magic, it comes with a price and a fairly significant toll. There is much left for these characters to learn about themselves and their magic.

[misscrazyfangirl321]

OC-Tober Day 23: Revenge

OCs: Rebecca Renard, Amber (who still needs a last name...)

Fandom: Grimm

Pairings: Platonic Rebecca and Amber, bit of Sean/Rebecca at the end

Warnings: Some violence/whump. Also, this one got long.

@oc-growth-and-development

-

Amber’s stomach turns as she steps into the hospital room. Rebecca’s eyes are closed, but she can’t possibly be asleep; she’s covered in cuts and bruises, and she flinches every time she shifts. Most likely, it just hurts too much to open her eyes; one is terribly swollen, and the other has a jagged scratch across the lid.

Rebecca stiffens suddenly, turning her head toward Amber, and Amber clears her throat. 

“It’s me.”

Instantly, the tension leaves her body, and she nods to Amber, though she still doesn’t look at her. “Hey. I promise, it looks worse than it is. They gave me some-” A sharp inhale that belies every one of her words, even as she tries to finish. “Pain meds. I’m okay,” she adds, and Amber wants to laugh at how ridiculously Rebecca this is: to try to comfort everyone else, even when she can hardly move. 

“Who did this?” She asks, aiming for gentle and not quite hitting the mark.

Rebecca frowns. “It doesn’t matter-”

“Who?”

Silence, for so long that Amber wonders if Rebecca’s going to feign sleep. Finally, she replies, “A couple of Shakals. Didn’t… Recognize them.”

No matter; there aren’t that many Shakals on campus. Hardly known for their intellectual endeavors, after all. She’ll find them. “They know you’re a Grimm?”

Rebecca manages a weak nod. “Knew about me. Knew my...Rule. About killing.” 

Fury burns through Amber at the thought of these monsters hearing about a Grimm that wouldn’t kill, and turning that into an opportunity to-to what? Punish her? Send a message? Or were they just having a little afternoon fun? Was this their version of skydiving? Their way of getting a few cheap thrills, and-

A tear trickles down Rebecca’s cheek, and Amber swallows her rage. The ones who hurt her best friend will pay the price, but not right now. Right now, her job is to help.

“Hey.” She moves to Rebecca’s side, squeezing her arm, carefully avoiding any injuries. “It’s going to be okay. Doctors will get you all fixed up, and you’ll be good as new. Just try to get some rest, okay?”

Rebecca hums. “Think the meds are kicking in,” she murmurs. “Doesn’t hurt so bad now.” 

“Good.” 

They lapse into silence, and Amber takes the opportunity to study Rebecca. She’s not wincing when she moves, now; maybe the meds really are kicking in. And she really does look like she’s going to be fine, but she might have a scar or two. 

She waits until she hears soft snoring coming from the bed before she slips out of the room, making her way to the elevator. She stops short near the nurses’ station, blinking uncertainly. A young man in some kind of cop uniform stands, flashing his badge at the nurse. 

“Excuse me. I’m Officer Renard, with Medford P.D. Could you tell me where Rebecca Gold is?” 

The harried nurse consults her clipboard, frowns, and looks at another one. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what I did with my…” She trails off, and the officer shifts on his feet. 

Amber clears her throat. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop,” she announces, and both the nurse and the cop turn to her, “but I just left her room. 232,” she adds, and Officer Renard smiles.

“Thank you, Miss-?”

“Amber’s fine.” For a second, she considers walking back with him, but then she pauses, looking him over. He’s not quite her type-she’s always gone for the dorky kind above all-but he’s definitely Rebecca’s. And, well, her best friend really deserves a pick-me-up, after everything she’s been through. “She just got to sleep,” she adds instead, “so she may be a little out of it.” 

He frowns, obviously not thrilled with the idea of waking her up when she finally got to sleep (a point in his favor, then). “Can you tell me anything about what happened?” He asks, and she shrugs. 

“Couple of jerks beat her up. I don’t know who.” Not yet, anyway. “And everyone who knows Rebecca loves her, so it’s not like she has enemies.” Okay, that one might be stretching the truth just a little bit, but everyone who knows really knows Rebecca does love her. Besides, what is she going to do? Tell this random cop that Rebecca’s from a secret line of serial killers who hunt shapeshifters? 

Nah, she’s good. 

He nods, then glances back in the direction of the room. “I should go talk to her. See what she knows.” 

“Fair warning, she was kind of loopy when I talked to her, so stuff might not make sense.”

He thanks her, and they part ways, him heading toward Rebecca’s room, and her headed toward the parking lot. 

Time to find some Shakals. 

-

They’re not even trying to hide. It’s a couple of guys from the baseball team, chilling out by the field, laughing and shoving each other. Their knuckles are bruised and scabbed, and one has a distinct scratch along his cheek. (Apparently, Rebecca didn’t go down without a fight after all, she thinks with a smile.) 

She keeps to the shadows of the bleachers until she’s almost upon them, and they’re well within hearing range. 

“Pathetic!” One laughs, shoving the other. “The other Grimms should have her head.”

The other cracks up, as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard. “Nah, she’s not worth the effort.” 

Her rage is reborn, and she steps out of the shadows, looking them over. “Hey! You the guys who beat up the Grimm?”

They have the nerve to grin, and one even tosses a wink her way. “Yeah, baby. That’s us. What do you think?”

She glances around, just to make sure no one else is close, before woging. Not halfway, not the hidden woge, but the kind the world can see, just to make her point clear. It takes them a few seconds too long to realize she’s striking, and by then, it’s too late. The terror that flickers in their eyes is altogether satisfying, and she wants to laugh at their pitiful attempts to fight back. 

Every kick and punch lands, and soon, they’re flat on their backs, looking up at her helplessly. Good. 

“You felt safe going after her because you know she doesn’t kill Wesen. And that moral code is one that I greatly admire in her, but let me make it perfectly clear-” She takes a step toward them, and they both flinch. “I don’t share it. So you’re going to leave her alone, and tell all your little friends to do the same thing. And if you tell anyone else about her?” She grins, all teeth. “I’ll find you.”

With that, she leaves them alone to contemplate their life choices. She has a friend to check on.

(Officer Renard eventually identifies them. When he arrests them, Amber is there, and she gives them one final warning look: they won’t say anything. 

Evidently, they don’t, because Renard-Sean, as he insists she calls him-never finds out about Rebecca. But as soon as she’s out of the hospital, he takes her to dinner, and deep down, Amber knows that neither one of them is ever going to look back. 

She smiles.) 

[exploringtravellerstewardshipblr]

I would like to start my blog journey by sharing my most adventurous life time experience with you guys.

Firstly, I'd to narrate a short story to you guys. Once, I was reading a book on DMT, and I came across the phrase "measuring the vertigo of your own internal brain". The phrase simple implies that we have to find some standard or tool or some adventurous activity to measure the height or degree of fear emboided in our brain. The fear could of any kind, for instance, water, heights, etc. Basically, this phrase acted like a catalyst for me to go for SKYDIVING.

WAS IT WORTH??

I can assure you that after skydiving, your thoughts toward life would definitely change. I mean to say, just imagine jumping from 15000 ft, you will realise the vastness of planet earth. Your brain will process your thoughts in totally different way, and you would appreciate the beauty of nature in a manner that your soul will be hinged with spirituality.

Exposure to Vertigo

The sensation of falling starts crippling your brain as soon as you will be taken to board the 12 seater airplane. If you will be the first one to jump, then I can't imagine that sensation, but I can narrate you mine. Though, I was the last one ( I basically requested my mentor to take me in the end 😅) to jump.

After boarding the airplane, your instructor will check the harness again, will make sure that you are tied properly. The height of airplane becomes proportional to the growing fear inside your head. After reaching 15000 ft, divers start the process of jumping. When the guys who was in front of me jumped and when my instructor took me near the jumping area, I pushed myself back to avoid all that was going to happen. The moment I saw downwards, I got no time to think anything else because my instructor lifted me and made me jump in the heaven of cloud. The very moment the fear turned into unthinkable beauty. I was able to see the entire horizon. I was unbelievable.

Everything about Skydiving:

# Wear warm and comfortable clothes ( winters)

# Dont drink or take any kind of drug 12 hours before skydiving

# Take good sleep

The real struggle is to find the best place, and the best people:

In Australia, I reckon Newcastle is the best place to go for skydiving.

Skydive Australia are the best in the business. You can book your skydiving with them with photos in just AUD $499 ( with more than 100 photos). You can also opt for no photos or featured photos package pricing $248 and $449 respectively. On the top of these packages, if you are planning to go in a group of four, you will receive discounts. If you need further information on booking or pricing, please refer to their website.

Trust me this experience will dimnish your fears, and will take you mind and eyes to another horizon.

Please ask me anything if you need to know more about my skydiving experience!!!!!

Thank you for your time to read every bit in my post.

[melonkooky]

bts [hyung line] reaction - their crush is fearless

requested

genre: fluff

author’s note: this is sssssuuupppeeerrr long..... i just googled extreme outdoor activities but i included the ones you listed: skydiving, cliff jumping and roller coasters. also there are no gifs in this one. but enjoy!!!!

please do not copy my work. but please like and reblog it. thank you!!!!

masterlist

kim seokjin

you had only met seokjin recently and were already really close. you both were falling in love with each other. naturally, seokjin chose the dates and hangouts, since he was busy and couldn’t be in public too much. but you had an idea. “jin, i have a friend that can hook us up with something?”

“oh, that’s cool. what’s this thing?” he asked.

you grinned. “it’s a surprise...”

now, a week later, you sent seokjin the address of where you were at. he was excited to hangout with you again, and was ready to see what surprise you had in store. as he pulled into the parking lot of a building, his eyes caught a sign near the entrance. ‘40% of skydiving ticket prices’. the color drained form his face and his hand slowly grasped his car keys, ready to start his car and flee. but he couldn’t do that to you, not when he was in love with you. when seokjin walked into the building, you were talking to who he would guess to be the friend you mentioned. he joined you. “hey, y/n.”

“oh, jin.” you smiled and you evidently looked eager, very, very excited. “you ready?”

jin cleared his throat, laughing a little. “you didn’t tell me we were going to be skydiving.”

“yeah, that’s what a surprise is.” you laughed. “oh come on, would you have driven all the way here if i told you, ‘hey, seokjin, we’re going to be skydiving this weekend?’”

seokjin shook his head. “is there a chance i could just watch you jump out of a plane?”

“nope.”

“...this friendship is over.”

“don’t be like that. this is literally a once in a lifetime thing. please, for me?”

seokjin pursed his lips while he tried to avoid your eyes, but he found you cute when you pouted. he sighed, “okay, let’s do this.”

...seokjin screamed the whole time. he ended up confessing to you because he really believed he was going to die, and you got a recording of this experience. you were planning on showing the members that even when jin was skydiving, he looked his absolute best.

min yoongi

yoongi knew you were a little different when he first met you. you were extremely outgoing when he was more of an introvert. but that didn’t stop his heart from being captured by you. he was planning on confessing to you, but he couldn’t figure out how or when. conveniently, you told him to meet you by a bride. he thought that this was a good chance to confess his love, even if it meant ruining his pride. but when he arrived, he saw a whole team of people, a few wearing vests and helmets. you greeted yoongi, “you made it.”

“i did. what’s going on here?”

“i thought that we could both try something new together.”

“you know i don’t like to try new things too much.”

“i know, but it’s something we would be doing together.”

“don’t tell me...” he mumbled, hearing screaming as a couple jumped off the bridge.

you winced a bit before nodding your head. “it’s bungee jumping.”

“y/n-”

“please, i don’t want to do this alone.”

yoongi sighed. “it can’t be that hard.”

so you and him got suited up for the jump. he was already pale but he was a little too silent. he just stared at whatever was in front of him, seeming to regret everything he’s ever done. you were excited. “you want to hold my hand?”

yoongi has never moved so fast. he grasped your hand. judging from the clamminess and tight squeeze of yoongi’s hand, you could tell he was nervous. but soon enough, you forced him to jump. both your and him screamed as you flew down. you two bouncing together before things finally began to level out. after you guys got down and everything was removed, you noticed how much of a mess he was. “i’m never doing that again. i pick the place next time.”

you grinned, clearly in love with this boy.

jung hoseok

jung hoseok was kinda of a scaredy cat. hoseok knew you loved trying new things, especially if they were a bit risky. though he would prefer not to even know all the things you’ve tried, hoseok loved to hear all the stories you’d tell him, about the things you have tried and what ones scared you or ones you’d do again. he was honestly a little surprised that you hadn’t been in a hot air balloon. even he had been in one. he had to be in a hot air balloon for the young forever photoshoot.  hoseok was scared on that thing, but much to his liking, it didn’t go very high. he told you this so then you began to tease him. “it wasn’t even a few feet off the ground and you got scared.”

“at least i didn’t show it.”

“yeah, because you were taking pictures for the album.”

“it wasn’t that bad.”

you smirked. “yeah? then let’s go, get on an air balloon and fly away.”

hoseok glared at you. “fine. at least i have experience.”

days later, you and hoseok stood a few feet from the basket of a hot air balloon. you were excited. but you were eager to see hoseok’s reaction as he claimed that because he once was in a hot air balloon, it wouldn’t be so scary the second time. but you knew him well. hoseok, on the other hand, felt confident and he was determined to prove to you that he wasn’t as much as a scaredy cat as you claimed, you were his crush after all. eventually, after going through all the safety instructions and all that, the guide allowed you and hoseok inside, stepping in after. minutes later, the basket wiggled as it began to lift off the ground. you grabbed the side to stabilize yourself. hoseok did too, but he seemed to be shaking. even if he wanted to prove to you he wasn’t scared, you were worried that he was pushing himself too far. “hoseok-”

“i’m fine. it’s just a little bouncy at first.”

surprising him, you grabbed his hand in order to comfort him. he was definitely scared and he wasn’t even bothering to hide it from you. but with you holding his hand and being next to him, you made feel less anxious. you smiled, seeing him not as scared as before.

kim namjoon

you had called namjoon, asking if he was free. namjoon was most definitely free. he liked you so he always tried to make sure he had free time for you. “yeah, i’m free. what’s up, y/n?”

“i was thinking we go out later. it’s such a nice day and i thought, why waste it?”

“it is nice. what did you have in mind?”

“well, maybe it’s best if i don’t tell you.”

namjoon’s eyes widened. “why won’t you tell me? is it not a walk?”

“no, and if i tell you then you wouldn’t want to join me. then i would be lonely.”

namjoon debated whether going to staying in the comfort of his home. he didn’t know what you were planning, and he was kinda curious. but he was also a bit scared because he knew you well. you weren’t the typical girl who enjoyed walks or coffee dates or staying home and reading. no, you were the type that was outgoing and liked to do risky things. like just last week, you went scuba diving and then you went bungee jumping. you were fearless and that was a quality he admired about you. so he decided to go, and you told him to bring his bathing suit.

when he met up with you, which happened to be at the ocean, he caught on as to what you wanted to do. you were already in a nice bikini, which namjoon had to stop himself from staring. you were stunning. “parasailing?” he asked.

you nodded. “i’ve only done it once and it was a lot of fun. i wanted my second time to be special, with you.” 

namjoon’s heart skipped a bit. he blushed a bit. “you’ll be next to me, right?”

“absolutely.”

you two got strapped in with life jackets on. namjoon was nervous but you were there next to him, not scared at all. he smiled to himself as he looked at how excited he was. and when the experience began, he actually enjoyed it, being in the air, flying above the clear-blue ocean water. it was an unforgettable experience, and he had it with you.

[morningstar1399]

INTRODUCING . . .

A N D R E A S  P E N D E R

NAME: Andreas Niels Pender

NICKNAME(S): Andreas, Andy, Pender, Pen, Penny, Niels

AGE: 35 years

SEXUALITY: Pansexual

OCCUPATION: Restaurant owner

PERSONALITY: laid-back, fun-loving, live-in-the-moment, humanitarian, egalitarian, courteous, adventurous, honest, generous, open-minded, good, kind, loving, polite, good sense of humor, hopeless romantic, optimistic, bit of a dreamer, go-with-the-flow, modest, charitable, flirts more with humor than with charm, generally a happy person, slow to anger, easier to sadden, can get emotional, loves to talk with people, has an intense dislike for being in a hospital, has suffered from depression for a while and will sometimes have bad days

NOTES:

is from Holland, The Netherlands, but went to university in the United States

is Jewish

everyone says he has tried everything at least once

he’s been skydiving and ziplining in 20 different places, attempted to climb Everest, has tried going vegan and vegetarian (ended up missing meat and cheese too much, “and yogurt”), can sail and ride motorcycles/Vespas/mopeds/etc and horses, has been to every continent, has backpacked across Europe, Asia, and the Americas on six separate occasions, has seen volcanoes, has been rock climbing, rappelled down cliffs and castle walls, and so much more

his zest for life and doing adventurous things comes from several near-death experiences in his youth

he was struck by lightning when he was 12, which nearly killed him; however, he ended up making a full recovery despite bearing scars from it (down his left arm, chest and back, and down to his left knee

he was involved in a car accident when he was 16; his friend was the driver, who owed the wrong people a lot of money, and got the two of them shot; he has a scar on his back from trying to run and getting shot in the back; the surgery required to remove the bullet from between two vertebrae nearly paralyzed him, but they succeeded in removing the bullet with no further injury to him

these brushes with death and serious impairment have given him a pretty big zest for life…but unlike what it would seem, this “zest” didn’t come right away

when he and [muse a] broke up, he was devastated; it was clearly his fault, and it sent him spiraling into a deep depression

however, he ended up doing most of his traveling after someone remarked that he’d faced death twice and won twice and attempting killing himself would be such a massive blow to Death’s ego that he may just refuse to let him die; after experiencing some amazing things, he continued his traveling, learning all about world cultures and such

when he came back to the States, he managed to get himself a scholarship to go to culinary school, and ended up winning a competition and got to open up his own restaurant

owns and operates The Everyday Man, a casual restaurant with good food at decent prices

he makes sure what he gets as far as food goes is as cruelty-free as possible, meaning free range or cage-free, locally-grown/sourced, etc; if he can get a deal on organic products, he gets them

he often cooks or plays host when he comes into the restaurant

every month there’s a tiny feature of a country he’s visited with a handful of dishes that he learned how to make while in those countries; sometimes when a dish from that menu is incredibly popular it will go on the International board and will always be available; if that country is repeated, that dish will be available at a reduced price

is fluent in Dutch, English, Hebrew, French, German, Spanish, and Italian, and can get by in Yiddish, Gaelic, Hindi, Arabic, Farsi, Japanese, Mandarin, Thai, and Portuguese, and has minimal knowledge/understanding of Tibetan, Nepali, Bangladeshi, Tamil, Swedish, and Danish

has a boating license and his own sailboat, De Ontkerkt (The Uncorked, playing off the idea of a ship in a bottle)

despite the success of his restaurant, he lives rather modestly though he has a rather nice place, and instead puts the money either back into his restaurant, into charities, or into vacations and travel

he’s had a few partners since [muse a], but only one was really serious

they’d been together for two years and had gotten engaged when his fiancée, an American named Nadine Nery (fc: Hana Soukupova), ended up in a massive skiing accident while they were on vacation in Switzerland and died

wears a lot of tucked-in button-up shirts with the top few buttons undone, jeans, and either loafers or boat shoes, but might throw a blazer over them, or add long necklaces and rings, or switch up the shirt for a graphic tee with either a band, movie, TV show, or charity on it; if he ever wears suits, they’re more business casual (the jacket and pants aren’t the same color)

loves photography, and takes pretty decent photos

the walls of his restaurant have photos he took while abroad

loves the outdoors

loves to do adventurous outdoor activities like skiing, hiking, sailing, surfing, etc.

is a proficient doodler, but give him proper paper and ask him to draw and he can’t do it to save his life; loves doodling with ink (any kind of pens or markers)

FACECLAIM: Marius Hordijk

|| PLOT ||

created as muse b for the following plot created by @merryrps :

“give me a plot with two established adults. (older muses… i love them.) our muses dated in college, but muse a ended the relationship because they were super smart and ready for success in life, whereas muse b was kind of a deadbeat & immature and had no direction in life. fast forward x amount of years. muse b’s coworker/friend says they have the perfect match for them and sets them up on a blind date. you guessed it - yes. it’s muse a. now, the tables have reversed and muse b is successful (maybe like a restaurant owner) and muse a just got out of a relationship, lost their job, etc. awkward.”

TAG(S): @badidearoleplays 

Edits by me, @morningstar1399 

SIDEBLOG: @andreas-pender 

[ M: This is just an introduction to his character. I will likely add more to this as time goes. ]

TAGS: #about: andreas , #musings: andreas , #aesthetic: andreas , #style: andreas , #face: andreas , #rp: andreas , #playlist: andreas , #ship: andreas x stella , #ship: standreas , #starters: andreas , #relationships: andreas , 

[neuxue]

Wheel of Time liveblogging: The Gathering Storm ch 21

All in all a mixed bag of a chapter, in which Perrin reaches some decisions and Faile remembers, I still dislike Rolan, and Borderland sayings are A Problem for me

Chapter 21: Embers and Ash

Last weekend, I went to my favourite bookstore and bought an actual, physical, hardcover book for the first time in years. That book was The Book Of Dust Volume One: La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. The first book of the companion series to His Dark Materials, the final book of which I queued for (and then promptly devoured) at a different bookstore, seventeen long years ago. Some of you may know the extent to which my love for this series is deep and abiding; the rest of you need only know that it was my Hogwarts letter and my magic wardrobe and my invitation to the world of magic and fantasy and wonder all rolled into one, and my love for it is deep and abiding.

I was never, until around this time last year, sure that we would ever be getting The Book of Dust. (In honesty, there have been times where I was unsure whether I wanted it; I’ve always been a bit skeptical of post-facto additions to canon). But now suddenly it’s here¸and I have it in my hand, and after a week of it taunting me from the bookshelf I finally have a few hours in which I can sit down and get some reading done.

Why am I telling you this story? So you will understand the LEVEL OF COMMITMENT I AM MAKING when I say that I have decided I’m not allowed to read La Belle Sauvage until I get at least through chapter 22 of The Gathering Storm. Which means I may never get to read La Belle Sauvage, because Chapter 22 is the one you all keep telling me will kill me.

But THIS IS MY PROMISE, AND I WILL KEEP TO IT, BY MY HOPE OF SALVATION AND REBIRTH.

So here we are. Chapter 21: Embers and Ash. And I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t point out that that’s a lovely chapter title. I’m not usually one for ranking favourites of things because usually I fail miserably, but once I’ve finished the series I might have to go through and rank all the chapter titles in order of awesome.

Perrin opened his eyes and found himself hanging in the air.

Oh great, we’ve moved beyond even cliffs and garden walls. Levelling up and NOT IN A GOOD WAY. LEVEL DOWN. ABORT. ABORT.

He felt a spike of terror, floundering in the sky.

I’d say ‘at least his survival instinct is intact’ but the past…oh…ten books or so have proved that to be utterly false.

(I say this as someone whose frequent activities include rock-climbing and flying trapeze, and whose recent google searches include ‘bungee jumping near London’ and ‘skydiving prices London’ so it’s possible I’m a hypocrite).

He waved his arms reflexively, as if to swim

Yeah I know swimming is my first instinct when suspended in midair as well, Perrin. Seriously, what the fuck? Also the more I think about it, the more hilarious this whole image is to me. Someone skilled at art and/or gif-making, please make some kind of visual representation of Perrin doggy-paddling in midair. In his pyjamas.

Well what do you know, we’re in the wolf dream. And after Perrin’s last chapter I’m optimistic that maybe he’ll finally commit to it properly. He’s danced on the edge of learning to use Tel’aran’rhiod since TDR and it’s about time for him to enroll in an actual crash course.

Pun only somewhat intended.

He took a deep breath, then closed his eyes and imagined himself jumping.

It’s okay, everybody falls the first time.

Nope, not Perrin. Perrin wins the Matrix Tel’aran’rhiod and sticks his landing perfectly.

This time, those dark storm clouds remained. They boiled, spun, and shot lines of lightning between different thunderheads.

The true difference between Sanderson and Jordan: Sanderson capitalises everything and Jordan pluralises ‘lightning’.

But the storm is not transient, not even here in Tel’aran’rhiod.

Actually, the interesting thing is that it’s not transient in Tel’aran’rhiod, where most things are, but it is mercurial and unpredictable in the real world. Those black and silver clouds from the prologue that hovered in the distance, then appeared instantaneously overhead, then vanished again…it’s a perfect reversal of how things are supposed to be. A storm whose reflection in the World of Dreams shows its gravity and permanence, while in the real world it is terrifying in part for its caprice. But even in the real world, it is not fading or vanishing or blowing over easily. The storm is gathering and everything is darkening and lightning hovers on the horizon, as it does here as a now-permanent feature in the skies of dreams.

It comes, Hopper agreed. If Shadowkiller falls to the storm, all will sleep forever.

If he falls to the storm. “I am the storm.” It’s not so much a question of whether Rand will be hit by the storm when it breaks as it is a question of whether he will be consumed by it, inside and out. “There is a rage in him fit to burn the world, and he holds it by a hair.” There is so little holding him back now, and so much power and anger within him. Master of the lightnings, rider on the storm. I’ve always linked Rand to the wind from the beginning of each book, for some reason (well, I know why I’ve made the link in my head; whether it was intended by Jordan is a different question but I’m inclined to think so), but now even that wind has become a tempest, and this time there was something wrong with the wind, and there is a storm gathering and Rand stands at the centre of it, and walks a razor’s edge between commanding it and being consumed by it, destroyed from the inside.

Perrin’s confused. It’s okay, Perrin. When you get home from dreamworld, just google ‘pathetic fallacy’ and also maybe ‘fisher king’ and things will start to make sense.

Or just when in doubt apocalypse.

Two legs, Young Bull? Two legs are slow!

Excuse you, ~legs are required for jumping, dancing, strolling along on those…what’s that word again? streets……~

“I have to keep control, Hopper,” he said. “When I let the wolf take control…well, I do dangerous things.”

Ah yes, this again.

Although, having said that, this actually isn’t a trope I get tired of, for the most part. This question of control, and the fear of losing it balanced against the knowledge of or desire for the power that such a surrender could bring; the fear of what lies beneath the surface, of what hides beneath who you want to be and curls itself around who you are; the navigation of lines and boundaries and balance.

Perrin wants control, but what he needs is something closer to balance, and understanding. And the desire for control, and the almost instinctive reaching for it feels more like a kind of denial. There is something within him that he fears, something within him that clashes with who he wants to be or thinks he needs to be, and so instead of allowing himself to explore and understand it, he suppresses it, denies that part of himself, and calls this control. And it feels like control, on the surface. But it isn’t; true control can’t be gained by simply suppressing. It comes more from knowing and accepting and understanding, from the ability to balance.

It’s not unlike Nynaeve and her block. She was, on some level, afraid of the power she had, and so she shut it away from herself, so that she could only access it when anger eroded those barriers. She could only access it when she ‘lost control’. But it wasn’t until she learned to surrender and accept that she was able to learn true control. To embrace the Power as a part of herself, and guide it as she willed.

That’s the difference, it seems to me. You can suppress something, and refuse to look at it, and hold it at bay with as much willpower as you can muster, and if you’re lucky it might not break through the barriers you’ve built and wreak havoc. (It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, in that way. If ‘losing control’ means letting this thing run rampant, unable to do anything to guide it or mitigate it because you’ve spent all your time and energy trying to push it away, then losing control is indeed something to fear). Or, you can do the much more difficult thing, and look it in the eyes and know what it is and learn how to use it, or how to accept it as a part of yourself, which is a very different (but arguably more effective) kind of control. It’s a control that comes from balance, rather than its absence.

But that’s what I see as Perrin’s issue. He’s always been afraid of losing control to the wolf, and because of that fear he’s never allowed himself to actually explore the wolf aspect of himself. So he doesn’t fully understand it, and yet he can’t rid himself of it, so he ends up in this ongoing situation where he tries to hold it at bay but invariably can’t do that permanently, which leads to these moments of ‘losing control’, which only serves to exacerbate the fear, which…oh hey there vicious circle.

Hopper, meanwhile, is attempting to convey either ‘please find some chill’ or ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about’ with a single expression.

There were wonderful things about what had happened to him since leaving the Two Rivers.

But he couldn’t continue to lose control. He had to find a balance.

Yeah, pretty much. Well done for articulating that to yourself, Perrin. And I think finding that balance will go a long way towards solving the issue of control. But we shall see.

Throwing away the axe had made a difference. The axe and the hammer were different weapons –one could be used only for killing, while the other gave him a choice.

I think I liked this better when it was just implied, rather than stated outright. There have been a few times, now, where I’ve felt this way in this book. I think in part it’s a Sanderson thing, because it feels very like how he handles some of this in his own books. Only there, it’s consistent with the overall storytelling method, and characters, and modes of characterisation, so I don’t particularly mind it. My personal preference is for things to be left a bit more open, and for authors to leave more to the reader, but I think in his own works Sanderson is certainly able to leave enough unsaid that the things he does explain clearly – usually pertaining more to characters’ states of mind or personal journeys and conflicts – don’t feel like clumsy storytelling, at least to me. It works, because it’s how he writes. The thing is, it’s not quite how Jordan writes. Jordan does give the reader a fair amount of explanation sometimes, but through slightly different methods – most of which are informative but slightly less direct. So in that context, statements like this, that just hand the situation to you, feel…clunky. Like they were pulled unaltered from an outline, or else like Sanderson felt clarification was needed, but relied – understandably – on his own methods to do so.

But this is also one of the things I actually expected of the authorial transition, just from having read Sanderson’s books. It’s one of the ways in which he and Jordan are very different as writers, and it’s definitely something that was on my mind as I started reading TGS. Which means there could absolutely be an element of confirmation bias at play here, but it also means I’m not overly surprised and therefore not all that disappointed by it at the end of the day.

“But I need to know this place, Hopper. I need to learn how to use it, control it.”

Men, Hopper thought, Sending the smells of dismissiveness and anger. Control. Always control.

Hopper definitely has a point there. I suppose it makes sense, given that each of us is the only constant in our own lives, and even that is up for debate, as I’m not sure anyone is truly immutable. So from that perspective the need for control makes sense, because especially if everything else is changing, it seems only natural to desire some kind of anchor. Maybe you have to be able either to trust in yourself or trust in your surroundings, and if we can’t have one we seek to impose the other. Maybe I’m just talking out my arse. But hey, that’s the whole point of this, isn’t it?

Perrin does his usual trick of pulling himself here too strongly because Perrin has no chill, Hopper tells him to leave and maybe find some chill, Perrin gets kicked out of dreamschool. Damn it, I was hoping for a little more progress but I suppose the very fact that Perrin’s actively trying to learn is a good start. Still, KIND OF UP AGAINST A DEADLINE HERE.

Oh man can I tell you how glad I am to see Faile out of that fucking Malden storyline?

Though there was that odd edge to his eyes. Not a dangerous edge, just  a sorrowful one. He had grown haunted while they were apart. She could understand that. She had a few ghosts of her own. One could not expect everything to remain the same, and she could tell that he still loved her – loved her fiercely. That was enough, and so she didn’t worry on it further.

And Perrin for his part seems able to see that Faile does have some ghosts of her own, and also accepts it. Malden was a shitshow but at least we’re getting some character growth and maturity out of it. Not that you can’t get those through other ways, but look, at this point, I’ll take what I can salvage from that whole…deal.

One of the things I genuinely like about how Perrin and Faile are handling the aftermath is that they both truly seem to understand. They understand that the other has been through some shit, and that they’ve been hurt in ways that may not be immediately obvious, and even that there are some things they don’t understand. But neither blames the other for that. Perrin doesn’t blame Faile for whatever happened in Malden and for whatever she had to do, even though he has no idea what exactly that might be. He may assume the worst – whatever the worst is, in his mind – but he makes it very clear that he isn’t holding that against her. And Faile, for her part, understands that Perrin has also probably dealt with some things that she doesn’t know the details of, but where that once may have incited insecurity or jealousy, now it’s just…part of the way things are, and she loves him and knows he loves her and that’s enough.

“I didn’t sleep with Berelain,” he said, voice gruff. “No matter what the rumours say.”

Dear, sweet, blunt Perrin. “I know you didn’t,” she said consolingly.

Honesty! Communication! Conversations in which characters just get straight to the point and state something clearly! Relationships that include a stronger and stronger element of trust!

You know, maybe it’s not actually all that suprising that, given this is the Wheel of Time (and Absolutely No Communication), it took a two-month slavery interlude, four books, and a battle to achieve something like that.

Snark aside, it is genuinely nice to see.

“Perrin, haven’t I explained this? A husband needs to know his wife is jealous, otherwise he won’t realise how much she cares for him. you guard that which you find the most precious. Honestly, if you keep making me spell things out like this, then I won’t have any secrets left!”

That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever to me and I’m not sure how much sense it makes to Perrin, but the important thing here is that she’s explaining her thought process and behaviour rather than assuming he will know what she’s doing and why. They both seem to have come a long way in that regard – mostly, I think, by realising that the other person just doesn’t know. They’re more aware of the fact that they’re coming from two very different places and sets of expectations and cultural norms and perceptive filters, and where that was once a source of tension and unintentional hurt on both sides, they’re now making an effort to be more honest and open and understanding, and to trust that, at the end of the day, they love each other.

It was as if she hadn’t quite understood what it was to be a lady until Malden. Oh, she’d had her share of victories. Cha Faile, the people of the Two Rivers, Alliandre and Perrin’s camp members. She’d put her training to use, helping Perrin learn to be a leader. All of this had been important, had required her to use what her mother and father had trained her to be. 

But Malden had opened her eyes. […] She had been humiliated, beaten, and nearly killed. And that had given her a true understanding of what it was to be a liege lady.

I have two problems with this. The first, and lesser, is that it feels like Sanderson again explaining a little bit too much – telling rather than showing. A little annoying, but I can deal with it; I think what irks me about it is more that it’s trying to paint Faile’s section of the Malden storyline as necessary and All About Her Character Development rather than…Damsel in Distress who is blocked at every turn from doing anything at all to rescue herself, is forced to rely on a man who may or may not ask a price for that safety, and in the end is rescued by the man who is placed at the centre of this storyline because we all know that the best way to hurt a male character is to kidnap, rape, or kill his female love interest. It’s not about her; it’s about him. At least have the decency to own up to it.

(The fact that Perrin as a character chooses to reject this notion, and acknowledges that Faile suffered and her pain is her own and he has no right to usurp it or hold her responsible for his own suffering by extension is a huge credit to him and to the way he’s written, and I appreciate it to almost an absurd extent, but it doesn’t solve the rest of the problem).

This brings me to the second thing about this that bothers me: She had been humiliated, beaten, and nearly killed. And that had given her a true understanding if what it was to be a liege lady.

Discovering strength in times of adversity is a trope for a reason, and that’s not what I have a problem with, because I think there’s a great deal of truth to it, and it can make for some excellent stories. No, my issue lies more in the specific kinds of adversity typically given to female characters, as well as the fact that this once again feels almost like retconning Faile’s storyline for the past few books to make it seem more palatable and more necessary and less All About Perrin.

Why is it that female characters must so often discover their strength only when they are humiliated and degraded, while male characters get to at least bear their pain with dignity as their arcs unfold?

I should clarify that this is an issue I see more in the genre as a whole than in Wheel of Time specifically. This series is definitely better than some at providing equal-opportunities Pain And Suffering For Everyone. The (male) protagonist is locked in a box and beaten (though even then, the humiliation aspect is far more subdued; the focus is agony), one of the (male) secondary protagonists is raped and humiliated for an extended period of time, and a (female) major character faces daily beatings with her head held high and is forging a remade Tower around her in the process.

But.

There’s still an imbalance there, if you stack it all on the scales. And without the rest of the genre exacerbating the issue, this might not be as much of a problem. Unfortunately, though, it’s one of those things that has become frustrating for all the times it’s occurred elsewhere, so now every time it shows up it’s just nails on the damn chalkboard.

Perrin learns leadership by having it thrust upon him in times of emergency. Lives are lost and he holds himself to blame, but he isn’t torn down before he’s allowed to grow. Faile, meanwhile, apparently doesn’t truly learn leadership until she’s enslaved.

Rand is captured and beaten. Egwene is captured and spanked. There’s a difference, much as I still love Egwene’s current storyline.

And then you get the genre as a whole, where the easiest way to generate a tragic backstory for a female character is to rape her. The easiest way to generate a tragic backstory for a male character? Hurt his wife and children. Hang on a second. (Oh, and then there’s the part where said male character is justified in having a vengeance-driven plotline, while the female character who is herself violated is usually punished in some way by the narrative for wanting that, and instead has to learn to love, or to forgive and move on).

Plus there’s the fact that male characters tend to have a much more diverse range of tragic backstories –and sometimes they don’t have a tragic backstory at all. They’ll face challenges and difficulties, but a male hero can make it through a story without degradation, without being actually knocked down himself. Whereas if a female character is written that way, the most common criticisms are that she’s ‘unrealistic’ or ‘too powerful’ or ‘hasn’t earned her ending’. Check out what people have to say about Rey, who is probably the best recent example I can think of of a heroine who gets to just be a hero.

Where are the female heroes who dedicate their lives to vengeance and justice for the ones who murdered their husbands? Where are the female heroes who are unjustly exiled and become noble stoic wandering badasses? Where are the female chosen ones for whom the weight of prophecy and saving the world is pain enough? Where are the female Aragorns, the female Jon Snows, the female Asriels, the female Han Solos? There are entire archetypes that are virtually nonexistent for female characters.

It gets tiring to only see certain roles ever given to male characters (and derided when someone tries to give them to a woman), and it gets tiring to see female characters robbed of agency and dignity in order to progress, while male characters get to hold on to a great deal more of these attributes. Wheel of Time is a lot better than some – in large part due simply to the fact that there are so many women – but it’s not exempt.

All of which is to say, the notion that Faile only discovered what it truly means to be a liege lady while she is enslaved and humiliated and slapped by the narrative every time she tries to reclaim some semblance of agency is…irritating.

Being a noblewoman meant going first. It meant being beaten so others were not. It meant sacrificing, risking death, to protect those who depended upon you.

Okay…and what part of that requires slavery and constant threat of sexual assault and routine humiliation and dependence on a man to rescue and protect you?

Remind me why she can’t learn these same things by braving Trollocs and Whitecloaks to go recruit an army that she leads back to the Two Rivers? Or by co-leading her and Perrin’s people as they take on the twin threats of Masema and the Shaido? Or maybe by being the one to secure that tenuous alliance with the Seanchan, at great risk? Or any number of other options that don’t involve being tied up naked on a table. For instance.

“I don’t care what happened to you,” he said.

She sighed. No, not asleep. “What happened to me?” she asked with confusion.

He opened his eyes, staring up at the tent. “The Shaido, the man who was with you when I saved you. Whatever he did…whatever you did to survive. It’s all right.”

This is the part I like. This absolute understanding that whatever happened and whatever she did, it’s not for him to judge or claim or even ask her about. And he goes out of his way to make that point – not because he wants an explanation or because some part of him is holding it against her, but because he wants to make it clear to her that his silence isn’t in any way a condemnation. It’s okay; it’s not about him; he understands. I am absurdly grateful that this is included – multiple times – in this aftermath, especially because so much else about the whole thing frustrates me.

When the gai’shain women had started to be in danger, the Brotherless had chosen and protected those they could.

Those they wanted to have sex with, you mean.

They hadn’t asked anything for their efforts.

Bullshit.

Well…that wasn’t true. They had asked for much, but had demanded nothing.

If only it were that simple.

It bothers me, this massive oversimplification that’s apparently supposed to make us think it’s all okay. He didn’t outright demand anything, so it’s all fine.

But coercion’s a lot more complicated than that, and this explanation entirely fails to recognise the huge power differential in the situation. Did Rolan force her? No. Did he allow her to believe – without saying or doing anything to reassure her to the contrary – that her continued protection could well depend on his continued interest in her? Absolutely. Faile thinks at various points of how to balance maintaining his interest, of what she might have to do, of what it might come to.

And that is fucked up. “Hey, I can keep you from being raped by these other guys, but only while I think I have a chance of sleeping with you myself.” And even if he would have continued to protect her anyway, he doesn’t tell her that. So while the constant threat of rape may have decreased for her, there’s absolutely still an implicit threat hanging over her head that he does ABSOLUTELY FUCK-ALL TO MITIGATE.

He didn’t demand anything, so it’s fine. He just kept her in a situation where at any moment he could have demanded whatever he wanted and she’d have been hard-pressed to say no, because that might mean foregoing his protection. He let her live with that hanging over her head, this sense that at any moment it could escalate beyond her control and there would be nothing she could do about it. Accede to him or take her luck with the rest. At that point, it may be a ‘yes’ but it sure as hell isn’t freely given consent.

If you feel like your safety depends on someone’s sexual interest in you, it doesn’t really matter whether they’ve made demands or requests. And I hate, hate, the way this reduces it to a simplistic black-and-white ‘he didn’t rape her so everything is fine’.

I may have mentioned I’m not a fan of Rolan.

She had never so much as kissed Rolan, but she had used his desire for her as an advantage. And she suspected that he’d known what she was doing.

Wait, really? We’re really doing this? She was a slave and reliant on his protection, and he continued to pursue her despite her refusing him, but we’re going the temptress/seductress route here? Because it wasn’t his fault,it was really her, she was using her wily feminine wiles and he couldn’t possibly be held responsible for his actions in the face of wily feminine wiles and so really she was the one taking advantage of him, the poor guy. Power imbalance? Slavery? Coercion and a sense of entirely conditional safety? Nah, she led him on and used him and he was powerless to resist her. Of course. So really he’s the victim here.

Fuck that whole narrative and the horse it rode in on with an unlubricated chainsaw.

Of course he knew what she was doing, because he created the entire damn situation in which she felt as if she needed to do it, and still did absolutely nothing to give her any indication to the contrary.

[Perrin] had changed during these two months, perhaps as much as she had. That was good. In the Borderlands, her people had a saying: “Only the Dark One stays the same.” Men grew and progressed; the Shadow just remained as it was.

This, I like. The Wheel of Time turns…and ending that, ending change, is just another kind of annihilation that masquerades as eternity.

Also, character development! Self awareness!

“Has anyone discovered what happened to Masema?”

‘I don’t know; has anyone discovered what happened to that knife I…misplaced? Seen it anywhere? Shame, I liked that knife.’

“Blasted colours…I don’t want to watch you sleeping, Rand.”

I don’t know, I’d be grateful Rand is getting any sleep at all, really. Also, just talk to Mat. You could be getting a much more awkward display. Take what you can get.

“What happened to your hand? Light-blinded fool, take better care of yourself…You’re all we have…”

Ah, this is…there’s something almost achingly soft and gentle about this, about the unfiltered moment here where Perrin’s barely even aware of what he’s saying but this is what he says. Where you see Rand’s pain not even through another’s eyes, but a step removed from that, and it serves as a lovely sad reminder of how very human Rand is.

And it’s striking, because when you actually see Rand in the story, either through his own eyes or someone else’s, that’s…not really how he comes across at this point. Especially to other characters, but even to the reader his pain has become something of a constant, a part of the status quo. And his humanity is slipping. He can’t let himself feel any of this, and those immediately around him can’t see it, and so you just…don’t. It takes a moment like this to evoke the memory of the Rand from the beginning, of the boy who was Perrin’s friend, of the fact that all their hopes rest on this young man who has been pushed far too far, beyond all reasonable endurance, who is coming apart and yet can’t let go. He’s all they have, but there’s a fondness that comes through here, a gentleness, that says not ‘saviour’ but ‘friend’.

Faile’s off on some midnight errand; what else is new.

Chiad smiled back. “He did not expect that one of the men he killed would turn out to be the one to whom Bain was gai’shain. I do not think Gaul is happy to have both of us serving him.”

I do not think I’m happy to have both of them serving Gaul. How come he gets to carry his spear to the Last Battle but they don’t? Why do we have to resolve this love triangle by making both fighting women put aside their spears to serve the man? I mean, this is not the hill I’m going to die on, but…sigh.

Faile unwrapped the bundle. The contents weren’t anything extraordinary. A small handkerchief of yellow silk. A belt of worked leather which had a pattern of bird feathers pressed into its sides. A black veil. And a thin leather band with a stone tied at the centre.

Ah. That’s what Faile’s midnight errand is. They’re holding a funeral.

“Four people are dead,” Faile said, mouth suddenly dry. She spoke formally, for that was the best way to keep the emotion from her voice. “They protected us, even cared for us. Though they were the enemy, we mourn them. Remember, though, that they were Aiel. For an Aiel, there are far worse ends than death in combat.”

I…this is lovely and on one hand I absolutely understand why it’s here, but on the other hand I’m really, really not here for the redemption of Rolan. Or rather, for the narrative insistence that there was nothing that needed redeeming. I do not come to mourn Rolan, I come to bury him.

Faile had distracted Rolan at just the right moment, making him hesitate. He’d done so out of concern for her, but that pause had allowed Perrin to kill him.

Had Faile done so intentionally? She still didn’t know. So much had been going through her mind, so many emotions at seeing Perrin. She’d cried out, and…she could not decide if she’d been trying to distract Rolan to let him die by Perrin’s hand.

This part works for me, far better than much of the rest of the scene so far. Faile replaying the scene over and over in her head, still not sure of her own motives in that single instant where there was no time to think, only to react. Knowing that this resulted in Rolan’s death, and just trying to work through it. It’s not even a mourning so much as a processing, and it feels raw and honest and it’s one of those questions she’ll probably never have an answer to.

And here, I find that it doesn’t matter so much that I personally cheered when Rolan was killed, because this is entirely about Faile. It’s not about who exactly Rolan was, or whether he’s someone we should like or feel sorry for; it’s just about…those split-seconds in which everything changes and someone is dead and there’s blood on her hands, and friend or enemy he was known to her, and she’s human. There was nothing else that could have been done […] But that made it more tragic. Faile steeled herself to keep her eyes from tearing up like Lacile’s. She hadn’t loved Rolan, and she was glad that Perrin was the one who had survived the conflict. But Rolan had been an honourable man, and she felt…dirtied, somehow, that his death had been her fault.

…No. Sorry, this is where the scene has lost me again. Rolan is not what I would call an honourable man, for all the reasons I’ve gone into at length above. And this notion that Faile feels dirty, feels like she is at fault…it makes me sad, actually. Because we see her feeling shame or guilt, and we see this polished version of him in retrospect that paints him as honourable and his death as a tragedy, and so once again it’s as if the whole thing has been flipped on its head to make him the victim. When there’s never really an honest examination of what he did. I’m not trying to say he deserved to die for it, necessarily, but the lens through which this whole thing has been shown treats him as virtually blameless, and leaves Faile with this feeling of guilt and shame and sorrow. We don’t need more of that. We’re already far too proficient at seeing the Rolans of the world as paragons of honour and pitying them their suffering at the hands of women they’ve wronged.

This shouldn’t have had to be. But it was. Her father had often spoken of situations like this, when you had to kill people you liked just because you met them on the wrong side of the battlefield.

I may have mentioned this one or two hundred times, but I will eat this particular trope up with a spoon. Enemies-by-circumstance, betrayal-by-necessity, enemies-to-friends, friends-to-enemies, the whole notion of ‘the wrong side of the battlefield’. Love it.

But that’s not what this feels like to me. I can’t see Rolan in that light; I don’t see him as one who was a friend, but as one who was simply a different kind of threat. I can’t put him in that tragic role because I hate him for the choices he made and the things he did to Faile, for the position he put her in.

And this whole concept – when you had to kill people you liked just because you met them on the wrong side of the battlefield – could be show so much more powerfully through so many other characters. You have Tylee and Perrin, who have already laid the foundations for this, if one were so inclined. You have Mat and Tuon and “You are not my enemy, but your Empire is.” You have Gawyn, who has fought and killed men he liked and respected, and whose choices have torn him apart. Hell, you have that lovely scene with Ituralde and General Turan. The Seanchan as a whole are a ready-made device to set up all kinds of these small tragedies, if you want to use them. You have a Black Tower of divided loyalties, and no doubt plenty of Soldiers and Dedicated whose chosen ‘side’ is little more than an accident of circumstance. There’s not exactly a shortage of options here, and the fact that this is the one highlighted is…odd to me, and weirdly disappointing.

If she had to go back and do it again, she would take the very same actions. She wouldn’t be able to risk Perrin. Rolan had to die.

But the world seemed a sadder place to her for the necessity of it.

Once again, I am wholeheartedly on board with the overall sentiment being conveyed here, in the abstract, but I so strongly disagree with the way it’s applied in the specific.

Maeric’s death felt like a tragedy. Singing, the Moshaine Shaido ran to dance their deaths felt like a tragedy. The existence of the Brotherless feels like a tragedy. Even the deterioration of the Shaido, and the loss of their identity as Aiel, and the way it has slowly destroyed them from the inside, feels like a tragedy.

If you want to play with the tragedy of circumstance and inevitability and situations in which there are no good choices, in the context of the Aiel, you already have the Rhuidean sequence and everything that follows on from it. You have the Shaido as the continuation – yet another change, from what they once were to something unrecognisable, while all the while fighting to hold to that core of I am Aiel! You have the Aiel leaving the Three-Fold Land and not knowing if they will return; you have their questions of identity and what comes next; you have those who cannot accept the knowledge of who they were and so instead must betray who they are, by breaking bonds of clan or society. You have the deaths of so many Shaido at Dumai’s Wells, in a battle that definitely makes the world seem a sadder place for the necessity of it. You have all of this; you don’t need to glorify a sexual predator.

“Dead by our hand,” Faile said, “or simply dead from battle, these four showed us honour. As the Aiel would say, we have great toh to them. I don’t’ think it can be repaid.”

You. Owe. Them. Nothing.

That’s the whole damn point. That’s where the whole coercion aspect comes in; in creating a sense of guilt for not repaying, in creating a feeling of obligation or necessity or debt, the coin of which is made very clear even if it is not demanded.

“But we can remember them. The Brotherless and one Maiden showed us kindness when they didn’t need to. They kept their honour when others had abandoned it. If there is a redemption to be found for them, and for us, this will be it.”

This whole scene, just taken as itself and without everything that’s attached to it, is beautifully done, and strikes such a lovely tone.

I just can’t appreciate it because I so fundamentally hate so much of the message it buys into and conveys, and it frustrates me that there’s absolutely no acknowledgement of that.

“Kinhuin had only just started looking out for me,” Alliandre said. “I know what he wished for, but he never demanded it. […] Even if I turned him down, he would have helped us.”

That last bit would go some way towards making this a little bit better if I had any faith at all that it was true. And we didn’t see much of Kinhuin, so maybe he really was a decent guy. But what we did see, of Rolan, did not…really match that. He didn’t say he wouldn’t help Faile if she turned him down, but he sure as hell did not say he would, and he made his interest in her and his…courting…of her so much a part and parcel of his protection of her that it would absolutely have been a risk to trust that he’d continue to protect her anyway.

Also there’s the fact that he didn’t stop asking her and pressuring her even when she did say no, which is bad enough when there isn’t the whole slavery issue thrown into the mix, but as it was she had no way to get away from him and he showed that ‘no’ didn’t mean a whole lot to him.

So in conclusion, nice try but I’m not really buying it. At least, not as a blanket statement for all of them.

“Maretha hated what the other Shaido did,” Arrela said. “But she stayed with them for her clan. She died for that loyalty. There are worse things to die for.”

That, there, is much closer to what I do actually find sad about the Shaido and the whole situation of those caught up in this. That’s the tragedy. Just…remove the part where Rolan and the others kept asking for sex and this whole thing would be SO MUCH BETTER. Agh.

The past was a field of embers and ash, an old Saldaean proverb said, the remnants of the fire that was the present.

That is beautiful.

And maybe it’s only a Saldaean proverb, rather than a Borderland one, but it reminds me so strongly of:

“Burning your future? It will sorrow a great many, I think, when you die in the Blight.”

“Burning my past,” [Lan] said, rising. “Burning memories. A nation. The Golden Crane will fly no more.”

[…]

“You said you burned your past. Let the past have its ashes.”

So…there’s that. I’m not sure I even have a point to make here except that this scene in New Spring destroyed me and that thought from Faile brought it immediately to mind and I’m fine, everything’s fine, this is completely 100% okay, I have no problems at all being reminded of Lan burning his past and not believing he has any right to a future because his life is tied to that fire.

(The past is a field of embers and ash, but the Golden Crane flies for Tarmon Gai’don).

Anyway. Back to Perrin.

He stared up in the darkness, trying to make sense of Hopper and the wolf dream. The more he thought about it, the more determined he grew.He would march to the Last Battle – and when he did, he wanted to be able to control the wolf inside of him. […] He had some decisions to make. They wouldn’t be easy, but he’d make them.

And so Perrin at last is taking his final steps on the road that will lead him to the finale. He isn’t lost anymore; he still has decisions to make and things to learn, but he knows now what those are. He knows what he needs to do and he’s not running from it anymore, or pushing it away. He’ll face what comes and he’ll face it on his feet.

He was going to have to let Faile ride into danger, perhaps risk her again.

Yes. And given the storyline of the past few books, that’s…an impressive realisation for him to come to. Not an easy one for him to accept, but once again, at least he knows it now. Besides, those are her choices to make.

The decision to face his  problems brought him a measure of peace

Yes. That’s the real closure of this previous arc, here. The decision to finally face, head-on, what comes next. To acknowledge what that will require from him. Now he can move forward.

Next (TGS ch 22) Previous (TGS ch 20)

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

The Friendship List by Susan Mallery

 Two childhood friends

One a widow the other a single parent

Both have baggage they need to deal with

Why?

They need to move on with their lives and truly live!

A catalyst is needed but will it be enough?

Are they ready and willing to change?

And, if willing, will they be able to do what is necessary?

 What I liked:

* The friendship between Unity and Ellen

* The eventual personal growth of both women

* The fact that both women were able to earn a good living in spite of everything

* Dagmar – Unity’s wise older friend with good sense and years of experience

* The teens…sometimes they seemed more mature than the adults

* Thaddeus: a good man that deserved the best – a great book boyfriend

* Keith: a coach, father, and overall good man though a bit neurotic about keeping his daughter safe

* That there was a happy ending for all

 What I didn’t like:

* More a quibble than a dislike-  I had a bit of difficulty believing that two 34-year-old women would behave as Unity and Ellen did…they seemed, in some ways, to have been stunted in their teens although their backstories indicated why this might have happened

* Wondering what happened to Luka – missed him in the epilogue

 Did I enjoy this book? For the most part

Would I read more books by this author? Yes

 Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC – This is my honest review.

 3-4 Stars

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Already a worldwide success in mass market and trade paperback formats, Susan Mallery’s newest hardcover is an emotional, witty, and heartfelt story about two best friends who are determined to help one another shake things up and live life to the fullest...only to discover that possibilities are everywhere--especially in the most unexpected of places.

 Ellen and Unity have been best friends basically since birth, but they couldn’t be more different. Unity married her childhood sweetheart just after high school and became an Army wife, moving from base to base…until her husband's shocking death in the line of duty leaves her a widow. Grief-stricken, it’s time for Unity to come back home to Ellen—the only person she can trust to help her rebuild her life. But Ellen has troubles of her own. Boys never seemed to notice Ellen…until one got her pregnant in high school and disappeared. Her son is now 17 and she’s wondering what to do with herself now that he’s heading off to college and he's literally her entire world.

 But now that Ellen and Unity are reunited, they’re done with their stale lives. It’s time to shake things up and start living again, knowing that they'll always have one another to lean on. So they create a list of challenges they have to accomplish--everything from getting a tattoo to skydiving to staying out all night. And whoever completes the most challenges is the winner. But with new adventures and love just around the corner, there’s no such thing as losing…

  EXCERPT

Chapter One

 “I should have married money,” Ellen Fox said glumly. “That would have solved all my problems.”

 Unity Leandre, her best friend, practically since birth, raised her eyebrows. “Because that was an option so many times and you kept saying no?”

 “It could have been. Maybe. If I’d ever, you know, met a rich guy I liked and wanted to marry.”

 “Wouldn’t having him want to marry you be an equally important part of the equation?”

 Ellen groaned. “This is not a good time for logic. This is a good time for sympathy. Or giving me a winning lottery ticket. We’ve been friends for years and you’ve never once given me a winning lottery ticket.”

 Unity picked up her coffee and smiled. “True, but I did give you my pony rides when we celebrated our eighth birthdays.”

 A point she would have to concede, Ellen thought. With their birthdays so close together, they’d often had shared parties. The summer they’d turned eight, Unity’s mom had arranged for pony rides at a nearby farm. Unity had enjoyed herself, but Ellen had fallen in love with scruffy Mr. Peepers, the crabby old pony who carried them around the paddock. At Ellen’s declaration of affection for the pony, Unity had handed over the rest of her ride tickets, content to watch Ellen on Mr. Peepers’s wide back.

 “You were wonderful about the pony rides,” Ellen said earnestly, “And I love that you were so generous. But right now I really need a small fortune. Nothing overwhelming. Just a tasteful million or so. In return, I’ll give back the rides on Mr. Peepers.”

 Unity reached across the kitchen table and touched Ellen’s arm. “He really wants to go to UCLA?”

 Ellen nodded, afraid if she spoke, she would whimper. After sucking in a breath, she managed to say, “He does. Even with a partial scholarship, the price is going to kill me.” She braced herself for the ugly reality. “Out-of-state costs, including room and board, are about sixty-four thousand dollars.” Ellen felt her heart skip a beat and not out of excitement. “A year. A year! I don’t even bring home that much after taxes. Who has that kind of money? It might as well be a million dollars.”

 Unity nodded. “Okay, now marrying money makes sense.”

 “I don’t have a lot of options.” Ellen pressed her hand to her chest and told herself she wasn’t having a heart attack. “You know I’d do anything for Coop and I’ll figure this out, but those numbers are terrifying. I have to start buying lottery scratchers and get a second job.” She looked at Unity. “How much do you think they make at Starbucks? I could work nights.”

 Unity, five inches taller, with long straight blond hair, grabbed her hands. “Last month it was University of Oklahoma and the month before that, he wanted to go to Notre Dame. Cooper has changed his mind a dozen times. Wait until you go look at colleges this summer and he figures out what he really wants, then see who offers the best financial aid before you panic.” Her mouth curved up in a smile. “No offense, Ellen, but I’ve tasted your coffee. You shouldn’t be working anywhere near a Starbucks.”

 “Very funny.” Ellen squeezed her hands. “You’re right. He’s barely seventeen. He won’t be a senior until September. I have time. And I’m saving money every month.”

 It was how she’d been raised, she thought. To be practical, to take responsibility. If only her parents had thought to mention marrying for money.

 “After our road trip, he may decide he wants to go to the University of Washington after all, and that would solve all my problems.”

 Not just the money ones, but the loneliness ones, she thought wistfully. Because after eighteen years of them being a team, her nearly grown-up baby boy was going to leave her.

 “Stop,” Unity said. “You’re getting sad. I can see it.”

 “I hate that you know me so well.”

 “No, you don’t.”

 Ellen sighed. “No, I don’t, but you’re annoying.”

 “You’re more annoying.”

 They smiled at each other.

 Unity stood, all five feet ten of her, and stretched. “I have to get going. You have young minds to mold and I have a backed-up kitchen sink to deal with, followed by a gate repair and something with a vacuum. The message wasn’t clear.” She looked at Ellen. “You going to be okay?”

 Ellen nodded. “I’m fine. You’re right. Coop will change his mind fifteen more times. I’ll wait until it’s a sure thing, then have my breakdown.”

 “See. You always have a plan.”

 They walked to the front door. Ellen’s mind slid back to the ridiculous cost of college.

 “Any of those old people you help have money?” she asked. “For the right price, I could be a trophy wife.”

 Unity shook her head. “You’re thirty-four. The average resident of Silver Pines is in his seventies.”

 “Marrying money would still solve all my problems.”

 Unity hugged her, hanging on tight for an extra second. “You’re a freak.”

 “I’m a momma bear with a cub.”

 “Your cub is six foot three. It’s time to stop worrying.”

 “That will never happen.”

 “Which is why I love you. Talk later.”

 Ellen smiled. “Have a good one. Avoid spiders.”

 “Always.”

 When Unity had driven away, Ellen returned to the kitchen where she quickly loaded the dishwasher, then packed her lunch. Cooper had left before six. He was doing some end-of-school-year fitness challenge. Something about running and Ellen wasn’t sure what. To be honest, when he went on about his workouts, it was really hard not to tune him out. Especially when she had things like tuition to worry about.

 “Not anymore today,” she said out loud. She would worry again in the morning. Unity was right—Cooper was going to keep changing his mind. Their road trip to look at colleges was only a few weeks away. After that they would narrow the list and he would start to apply. Only then would she know the final number and have to figure out how to pay for it.

 Until then she had plenty to keep her busy. She was giving pop quizzes in both fourth and sixth periods and she wanted to update her year-end tests for her two algebra classes. She needed to buy groceries and put gas in the car and go by the library to get all her summer reading on the reserve list.

 As she finished her morning routine and drove to the high school where she taught, Ellen thought about Cooper and the college issue. While she was afraid she couldn’t afford the tuition, she had to admit it was a great problem to have. Seventeen years ago, she’d been a terrified teenager, about to be a single mom, with nothing between her and living on the streets except incredibly disappointed and angry parents who had been determined to make her see the error of her ways.

 Through hard work and determination, she’d managed to pull herself together���raise Cooper, go to college, get a good job, buy a duplex and save money for her kid’s education. Yay her.

 But it sure would have been a lot easier if she’d simply married someone with money.

 *

 “How is it possible to get a C- in Spanish?” Coach Keith Kinne asked, not bothering to keep his voice down. “Half the population in town speaks Spanish. Hell, your sister’s husband is Hispanic.” He glared at the strapping football player standing in front of him. “Luka, you’re an idiot.”

 Luka hung his head. “Yes, Coach.”

 “Don’t ‘yes, Coach’ me. You knew this was happening—you’ve known for weeks. And did you ask for help? Did you tell me?”

 “No, Coach.”

 Keith thought about strangling the kid but he wasn’t sure he could physically wrap his hands around the teen’s thick neck. He swore silently, knowing they were where they were and now he had to fix things—like he always did with his students.

 “You know the rules,” he pointed out. “To play on any varsity team you have to get a C+ or better in every class. Did you think the rules didn’t apply to you?”

 Luka, nearly six-five and two hundred and fifty pounds, slumped even more. “I thought I was doing okay.”

 “Really? So you’d been getting better grades on your tests?”

 “Not exactly.” He raised his head, his expression miserable. “I thought I could pull up my grade at the last minute.”

 “How did that plan work out?”

 “No bueno.”

 Keith glared at him. “You think this is funny?”

 “No, Coach.”

 Keith shook his head. “You know there’s not a Spanish summer school class. That means we’re going to have to find an alternative.”

 Despite his dark skin, Luka went pale. “Coach, don’t send me away.”

 “No one gets sent away.” Sometimes athletes went to other districts that had a different summer curriculum. They stayed with families and focused on their studies.

 “I need to stay with my family. My mom understands me.”

 “It would be better for all of us if she understood Spanish.” Keith glared at the kid. “I’ll arrange for an online class. You’ll get a tutor. You will report to me twice a week, bringing me updates until you pass the class.” He sharpened his gaze. “With an A.”

 Luka took a step back. “Coach, no! An A? I can’t.”

 “Not with that attitude.”

 “But, Coach.”

 “You knew the rules and you broke them. You could have come to me for help early on. You know I’m always here for any of my students, but did you think about that or did you decide you were fine on your own?”

 “I decided I was fine on my own,” Luka mumbled.

 “Exactly. And deciding on your own is not how teams work. You go it alone and you fail.”

 Tears filled Luka’s eyes. “Yes, Coach.”

 Keith pointed to the door. Luka shuffled out. Keith sank into his chair. He’d been hard on the kid, but he needed to get the message across. Grades mattered. He was willing to help whenever he could, but he had to be told what was going on. He had a feeling Luka thought because he was a star athlete he was going to get special treatment. Maybe somewhere else, but not here. Forcing Luka to get an A sent a message to everyone who wanted to play varsity sports.

 He’d barely turned to his computer when one of the freshman boys stuck his head in the office. “Coach Kinne! Coach Kinne! There’s a girl crying in the weight room.”

 Keith silently groaned as he got up and jogged to the weight room, hoping he was about to deal with something simple like a broken arm or a concussion. He knew what to do for those kinds of things. Anything that was more emotional, honest to God, terrified him.

 He walked into the weight room and found a group of guys huddled together. A petite, dark-haired girl he didn’t know sat on a bench at the far end, her hands covering her face, her sobs audible in the uneasy silence.

 He looked at the guys. “She hurt?”

 They shifted their weight and shook their heads. Damn. So it wasn’t physical. Why didn’t things ever go his way?

 “Any of you responsible for whatever it is?” he asked.

 More shaken heads with a couple of guys ducking out.

 Keith pointed to the door so the rest of them left, then returned his attention to the crying girl. She was small and looked young. Maybe fifteen. Not one of his daughter’s friends or a school athlete—he knew all of them.

 He approached the teen, trying to look friendly rather than menacing, then sat on a nearby bench.

 “Hey,” he said softly. “I’m Coach Kinne.”

 She sniffed. Her eyes were red, her skin pale. “I know who you are.”

 “What’s going on?” Don’t be pregnant, don’t be pregnant, he chanted silently.

 More tears spilled over. “I’m pregnant. The father is Dylan, only he says he’s not, and I can’t tell my m-mom because she’ll be so mad and he said he l-loved me.”

 And just like that Keith watched his Monday fall directly into the crapper.

 *

 Keith left work exactly at three fifteen. He would be returning to his office to finish up paperwork, supervise a couple of workouts and review final grades for athletes hovering on the edge of academic problems. But first, he had pressing personal business.

 He drove the two short miles to his house, walked inside and headed directly for his seventeen-year-old daughter’s room.

 Lissa looked up from her laptop when he entered, her smile fading as she figured out he was in a mood. Despite the attitude, she was a beauty. Long dark hair, big brown eyes. Dammit all to hell—why couldn’t he have an ugly daughter who no guy would look at twice?

 “Hi, Dad,” she said, sounding wary. “What’s up?”

 “Spot check.”

 She rolled her eyes. “Seriously? There is something wrong with you. I heard what happened at school today. I’m not dumb enough to date a guy like Dylan who would tell a tree stump he loved it if it would have sex with him. I’m not sleeping with anyone and I’m not pregnant. I told you—I’m not ready to have sex, as in I’m still a virgin. You’re obsessed. Would you feel better if I wore a chastity belt?”

 “Yes, but you won’t. I’ve asked.”

 “Da-ad. Why are you like this? Pregnancy isn’t the worst thing that could happen. I could be sick and dying. Wouldn’t that be terrible?”

 “You can’t win this argument with logic. I’m irrational. I accept that. But I’m also the parent, so you have to deal with me being irrational.”

 He pointed to her bathroom. She sighed the long-suffering sigh of those cursed with impossible fathers and got up. He followed her to the doorway and watched as she pulled the small plastic container out of the bathroom drawer and opened it.

 Relief eased the tension in his body. Pills were missing. The right number of pills.

 “You are a nightmare father,” his daughter said, shoving the pills back in the drawer. “I can’t wait until I’m eighteen and I can get the shot instead of having to take birth control pills. Then you’ll only bug me every few months.”

 “I can’t wait, either.”

 “It’s not like I even have a boyfriend.”

 “You could be talking to someone online.”

 Her annoyance faded as she smiled at him. “Dad, only one of us in this house does the online dating thing and it’s not me.”

 “I don’t online date.”

 “Fine. You pick up women online, then go off and have sex with them for the weekend. It’s gross. You should fall in love with someone you’re not embarrassed to bring home to meet me.”

 “I’m not embarrassed. I just don’t want complications.”

 “But you do want to have sex. It’s yucky.”

 “Then why are we talking about it?” He pulled her close and hugged her, then kissed the top of her head. “Sorry, Lissa. I can’t help worrying about you.”

 She looked up at him. “Dad, I’m taking my pills every day, not that it matters because I’m not having sex. I’m not. I’ve barely kissed a guy. Having you as my father makes it really difficult to date. Guys don’t want to mess with you and risk being beat up.”

 “Good.”

 She smiled even as she hit him in the arm. “You’re repressing my emotional growth.”

 “Just don’t get pregnant.”

 “You need to find a more positive message. How about ‘be your best self?’”

 “That, too. Gotta go.”

 “I’m having dinner with Jessie tonight. Remember?”

 “No problem. Be home by ten.”

 He got back in his truck but before starting the engine, he quickly texted Ellen. I need a couple of beers and a friendly ear. You around tonight?

 The response came quickly. Only if you bring fried chicken. I have beer and ice cream.

 You’re on. See you at six.

Excerpted from The Friendship List by Susan Mallery, Copyright © 2020 by Susan Mallery, Inc.. Published by HQN.

The Friendship List : A Novel

Susan Mallery

On Sale Date: August 4, 2020

9781335136961, 1335136967

Hardcover

$26.99 USD, $33.50 CAD

Fiction / Romance / Contemporary

384 pages

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

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Indie Bound

Kindle

Nook

Google Play

Apple Books

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Bookshop.org

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations," and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.

 Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She's passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the two Ragdoll cats and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.

 SOCIAL LINKS:

Twitter: @susanmallery

Facebook: @susanmallery

Instagram: @susanmallery

Author website: https://www.susanmallery.com/

Q&A with Susan Mallery

Q: Where did the inspiration for The Friendship List’s plot come from?

A: The inspiration for The Friendship List came from a reader—but I don’t think it’s exactly the story the reader was asking for. A couple years ago, a reader suggested I write a story about empty nesters, a couple whose children had grown up and were moving out. I considered the idea, but it didn’t immediately sing for me.

Then, while washing dishes—which is when I often get ideas—I thought to myself, “What if it isn’t a couple, but a single mom? And what if she had her baby really young, like in high school? She would be in her midthirties when her kid went to college. What would that be like?”

That’s the spark that led to Ellen, a single mom who had her son when she was a senior in high school. Since then, she has put his needs first, always, to the point where she hasn’t dated really at all in her adult life. When her son was little, she worked her butt off to raise him and go to college to become a math teacher.

The story starts as Ellen overhears her son telling a friend he can’t go away to college because his mom doesn’t have a life without him. They’re a team, and she needs him. Ellen is horrified that she’s holding him back, and she knows she has to do something drastic to convince him that it’s safe for him to follow his dreams.

Unity, Ellen’s best friend for as long as they both can remember, is a young widow, still mourning the death of her husband three years ago. She’s stuck in her grief, and reluctant to change that because getting over her grief might mean really letting go of the love of her life forever. But for Ellen’s sake, Unity comes up with the friendship list—a series of challenges designed to shake up their lives.

One way or another, this will be a summer that will change them forever. The Friendship List is a celebration of friendship. I know authors aren’t supposed to have favorite books, but I have to admit, this is one of my favorite things that I’ve ever written—certainly the funniest. Every day, I couldn’t wait to get to my desk, excited to write that day’s fun scene. It was pure joy from page 1 to The End, and I hope you’ll love it, too.

Q: Who is your favorite character in this novel and why?

A: I love both of the friends, but Ellen probably squeaks out a narrow win over Unity simply because her journey was so much fun. Think about it—she had her kid when she was seventeen years old, and from that moment on, her life revolved around him so she missed out on the things most people experience in their twenties. Dating, parties, bar-hopping. She was home studying and taking care of her kid.

And in fact, he’s the impetus for her to change, as well, because she  sees  that what’s best for him now is for her to let go, to get a life of her own. When she realizes all that she’s been missing, she dives in with her whole heart and body, with such enthusiasm that she had me laughing every day. Suddenly she wants to try everything all at once. Love, love, love, love her.

Q: Of the challenges in the book, which was the most fun to write about? Why?

A: Oh, that’s a tough one! I don’t know if I want to tell you my favorite-favorite because it might be too much of a spoiler. So instead, I’ll tell you one of my other favorites, which is more of a teaser than a spoiler. 😊 One of Ellen’s challenges is to wear clothes that fit, instead of her normal habit of wearing clothes that are at least three sizes too large for her. Baggy is her comfort zone. The first time she wears an outfit that shows the shape of her body, her pal Keith can’t help looking at her in a whole new way. Here’s a clip:

He stared at her in confusion. Something was different with Ellen, he thought, trying to figure out what it was.

He cataloged her appearance. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, just like always. She had on makeup maybe, which was a surprise, but made her eyes looked bluer than usual. As for what she was wearing, it was just some shirt thing and pants that stopped just below her knee. Nothing out of the ordinary except—

He swore silently. The clothes fit. For once they weren’t swirling around her, the extra fabric concealing every part of her body. He could see the shape of her waist and her hips, the outline of her thighs. And breasts. Ellen had breasts!

He realized he was staring and forced his gaze away. Of course she had breasts. Women had breasts. Ellen’s were no big deal. Only he’d never noticed them before and he didn’t want to see them now.

Q: What is your idea of a good personal challenge for yourself?

A: The challenges in The Friendship List are meant to push the women out of their comfort zone and be a little intimidating for them, so my personal challenge will have to do the same. Hmm… Oh! How about a plunging V neckline? Cleavage makes me really self-conscious, but I admire women who can proudly show off their curves.

I’m nervous just thinking about it!

Q: Do your characters tell you their stories a bit at a time or all at once? Do they ever pull you in unexpected directions changing up the plot you originally planned?

A: Yes, yes, and yes. It depends on the story. Very rarely, a story will come to me fully formed. Daughters of the Bride was like that. A gift book. That almost never happens. Usually, I get a spark of an idea. I write up some notes, then set it aside. If I’m still thinking about it, I know it has potential. I get a lot of ideas that never go anywhere. They might make fine stories for someone else, but if they’re not tugging at me, I let them go.

I’m on the extreme-plotter end of the plotter/pantser spectrum. (For those who don’t know, a plotter is a writer who plots the story in advance. A pantser is a writer who flies by the seat of her pants, without knowing where the story is going.) I generally work out story problems during my plotting process, which makes me feel free to relax and sink into the story while I’m writing.

When I get into the flow of a book, the characters do take over and sometimes they do surprise me. When they take me in a direction I didn’t expect, I have to step back to look at the big picture to adjust. I never try to force a character to do something that doesn’t feel right for him or her. Every decision must be motivated.

In The Friendship List, Unity threw me for a loop early on. I knew she was still in love with her late husband, but until I wrote a particular scene, I didn’t realize just how broken she still was. I did have to make some very serious adjustments to her road to a happy ending. And in the end, as I brought her out of that darkness, I cried. So satisfying!

Q: Do you have pets? How do the animals you have now or have had in the past influence writing animals into your stories?

A: Yes, I have three pets. Two ragdoll cats, siblings Alex and Lucy, and a miniature poodle named Kelli. I love animals of all kinds. I’m a big supporter of Seattle Humane and the amazing work they do for animals in and around Seattle.

Animals play a big role in my books. When they have a part in the story, they are genuine characters because I believe, like humans, each animal has its own unique quirks and personality traits. The book I’m working on right now will be the first book in my new series, Wishing Tree—Christmas romances—and there are two dogs in the book who I adore. Bella is a Great Dane who loves to play dress-up in cute canine ensembles, and who is intimidated by a dachshund named Burt. The first Wishing Tree romance will be out in 2021.

Q: Is there a genre of books that you have not written yet but might contemplate writing in the future? What might that be?

A: I recently toyed with the idea of writing a thriller. I even did quite a bit of research on Bitcoin, which was going to be a big subplot. I decided against the thriller, but research is never wasted—one of the characters in The Friendship List became a Bitcoin millionaire, and then a regular-money millionaire. Plus, I'm kind of proud of myself—it took me two weeks of research to be able to understand crypto-currency, but I'm now I'm at least cocktail-party level literate. 😊

Q: What was the first book you sold/published and how did you celebrate when you received the acceptance letter from the publisher?

A: The first book I sold was a historical romance called Frontier Flame. A few months after that, I sold a book to (then Silhouette) Special Edition. Both books came out the same month, so the first time I was published was with two books. It was very heady! Of course, before that and after that I had many story ideas rejected. Even now, although infrequently, one of my ideas can be rejected. It happened recently. Still stings, but not as badly.

I celebrated my first sale by calling all of my writer friends and squealing over the phone, and then by going out for a nice dinner with my husband.

Q: What do you love to do when not writing?

A: I love hanging out with my friends—and I miss that right now because of the coronavirus. Friendship is one of the most fundamental relationships in a woman’s life. You might argue “in a man’s life, too,” but from what I’ve observed, most men don’t have the same visceral need for community that women do. My husband once told me, “You’re all I need.” Which is sweet and romantic and probably true. I love him dearly, more than any other human being on the planet, but I need friends, too. My friends are the family I chose, and I nurture those relationships in every way I can.

[lieutenantcaseys-blog1]

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Many different events take place during the Matariki Festival. If you want adventure, you can do it in Queenstown. Test your limits and see how far you can go. Whether skydiving or paragliding is entirely up to you. Water sports such as jet skiing or canoeing are also possible there. In your case, we would have checked the dampers and, if necessary, had them replaced (the repair would have taken a maximum of 1 hour). We ask all direct customers for feedback and to date over 1,000 out of 1,100 completed surveys have given a “very good” to “good”. We also have to check these results against Qualmark (so they are not manipulated). I can only advise against your secret tip turning circles. Our 2 Berth Campervan had its best times long behind.

How far is it from Australia to New Zealand?

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To apply for the Working Holiday Visa for New Zealand online you need a passport that is at least valid for the entire duration of the trip is valid. A valid credit card to pay for the visa (fees are currently NZ $ 245, equivalent to approximately € 150).

Drive left! New Zealand is one of the 75 countries with left-hand traffic. A vacation trip with a rented motorhome through New Zealand will be an unforgettable experience. Who was not enraptured by the Shire - a backdrop that sprang from this fantasy! New Zealand is home to this wonderful country.

If you have a little more time, Wellington is the perfect starting point to explore the North Island.

Cultural highlights, a vibrant nightlife and a wonderful nature in the near future Surroundings.

Campers can only receive this award if they meet the following requirements.

Who was not enraptured by the Shire - scenery that sprang from this fantasy!

MotorHome Republic offers the largest selection of vehicles as the company works with more than 50 different suppliers. What campsites are there in Australia and New Zealand? Where can campers stay for free? Read what you should know about camping down under. A 24-hour emergency service provides help on the go. Good long-term and early booking offers often enable a low rental price. (Maui and Britz only take one card deduction) When booking back, the worst course will be charged, so that considerable costs will arise again. That's how it happened to us. In a parking lot our camper was damaged by a PW, the taillights were gone !. Hawke's Bay and the Central Volcanic Plateau can be reached from the capital as well as from Auckland. On the west coast is Taranaki Peninsula, whose center is the impressive volcano Mount Tarawera. Another popular destination for nomadic motorhome tourists. Use the most flexible and comfortable way to travel the country - with a motorhome from bestCAMPER. When traveling through New Zealand in a motorhome you will simply feel the freedom. You can find complete tranquility in the Bay of Islands section. Exceptional nature and the northernmost point can be found at Ninety Mile Beach and Cape Reinga.

From there you can also enjoy the romantic sunset during a picnic. You can reach the viewpoint by car or after a short hike. A unique flora and fauna awaits you when you rent a camper. In New Zealand, the cute bird kiwi with a pointed beak is a national symbol.

[travelonlinetips-blog]

New Post has been published on https://travelonlinetips.com/4-awesomely-adventurous-ways-to-see-newport-rhode-island-2/

4 Awesomely Adventurous Ways to See Newport, Rhode Island

Even more than Providence, Newport is Rhode Island’s most iconic destination. But, that means it’s easy for visitors to fall into the tired trap of walking the same well-worn tourist attractions as everyone else. Break free, dear vagabonds!

Here are four far more interesting and adventurous ways to experience Newport, Rhode Island …

Adventurous Things to Do in Newport, Rhode Island (RI)

#1: Parasailing with Island Style Parasail (Summer season)

I’ve long had a fascination with seeing new destinations from the highest vantage point possible. Skyscrapers, helicopter rides, tall bridges — whatever. So, parasailing has always seemed like one of the best ways to experience Newport. It took a little prodding to convince Kelsey to go tandem with me. But, she’s committed to trying one new experience every year that scares her. So — up we went with Island Style Parasail.

To our surprise, the company is the only parasailing provider in all of Newport. No matter though because Kevin and Andrew (the company’s founder and ride facilitator, respectively) probably wouldn’t have any competition anyway. They’re two guys from Hawaii who seriously love what they do, and I’m convinced they could get a boat full of people excited about watching seaweed float around Newport Harbor.

If you’re going to do it, you might as well do it all the way!

Our tandem ride with them was even more awesome then we expected! They offer three experience “tiers” depending on how high you want to go: a 600-foot line, 800-foot line, and 1,000-foot line. But, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it all the way. So, we opted for the “top floor” 1,000-foot experience which allowed us to sail roughly 500 feet over the bay. That’s higher than the support structures of the Newport Bridge!

The views are, not surprisingly, fantastic. From the height of a 50-story building, we could practically see the entire state plus some of Massachusetts and Connecticut to boot. Once you get to the top, it’s pure bliss. It’s quiet, relaxing, exhilarating and just plain beautiful.

Island Style Parasail only operates during the short summer season, and slots fill up fast. Trips leave every 90 minutes between 9 am and 6 pm daily. 1,000-foot flights are $99 per person (plus gratuity if you’re a good person), but you can score a $20 discount on the first and last flight of every day.

#2: Rail Biking with Rail Explorers (May 12 through November)

Rail biking near Newport, Rhode Island with Rail Explorers

This one isn’t technically in Newport. But, Rhode Island is so damn small, it sort of doesn’t matter, so long as you get close enough …

Rail Biking is all the rage right now. To be fair, this isn’t an “awesomely adventurous” experience in the sense that it’s a seat-of-your-pants thrill ride. But, Rhode Island’s own rail biking experience with Rail Explorers is a new and interesting way to see some lesser-visited parts of the state. If you’re unfamiliar, rail biking recalls the days of 19th-century rail workers who relied on pedal-powered vehicles to travel long distances of track. The latest incarnation is sleeker, lighter, more reliable … and a helluva lot more fun. Go it alone, with someone you (mostly) like, or bring a total of four passengers on the company’s “Cadillac” edition Quad Explorer.

The two Rhode Island tours track distinctly different sections of Aquidneck Island and beautiful Narragansett Bay:

‘The Northern Ramble’: a six-mile exploration of the historic railroad between Portsmouth and the Sakonnet River. One way tour with shuttle bus.

‘The Southern Circuit’: a six-mile round trip tour (3 miles out, 3 miles back). Bring a drink or a snack to enjoy during a 30-minute break at Bayside Station, an exclusive waterfront picnic area, before riding back to the station.

#3: Tour the Newport Mansions by Helicopter (Year-round)

The Newport Mansions Seen from a Newport Helicopter Tour

Newport’s mansions are some of the most famous “summer homes” in the country. A proper tour of the Breakers is practically required for first-time visitors, and it does provide plenty of historical perspective on the city’s history. But, the surrounding Ocean Drive is wrought with tourists, particularly during the summer.

Newport Helicopter Tour Flying Over a Sailboats in Newport, Rhode Island

If you’re looking to sidestep the throngs of out-of-towners and take an exclusive mansion tour, you need to rise above the crowds — literally. The best way to do that? A proper helicopter tour with the aptly named Newport Helicopter Tours.

The company offers a variety of options from the entry-level 12-minute tour for just USD $75 per person. But, if you’re willing to splurge, the 20-minute Sunset Island Tour is the way to go. The views are ridiculous. Or, if you’re feeling especially adventurous, take an Intro/Demo Flight where you can play helicopter pilot for almost a half-hour.

It’s worth noting the company even offers discounted helicopter tour / rail biking combo packages. So, if you’re considering both, you can save quite a bit with just one booking.

#4: Skydive Newport (Year-round, weather dependent)

Tandem Skydive with Skydive Newport in Rhode Island

Of course, if parasailing and helicopter flights aren’t disco enough for you, skydiving is the only way to fly. Skydive Newport has been launching jumps out of South County since 1999. The company specializes in tandem skydiving, so they’re an obvious choice for first-timers.

All-in rates start just north of USD $200 (with a discount for cash customers), plus a tip for your instructor. But … can you really put a price tag on sheer, unforgettable terror as you plummet to the earth at more than 100 miles per hour with a stranger strapped to your back?

What are your favorite things to do in Newport? Share with us in the comments below!

The post 4 Awesomely Adventurous Ways to See Newport, Rhode Island appeared first on Vagabondish.

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[musingsofashortperson]

.003 // We Mean Business

My bucket list consists mainly of items related to experiences. At the top of the list are skydiving, bungee jumping, and free diving through a waterfall. What follows next is - getting a free upgrade to business or first class.

Yes, it does seem ridiculous. But one must not discount the joy of getting a free upgrade to a flight class that costs up to 3 times more than flying in economy. One must not disregard the thrill of what it means to live the life of the wealthy, even if just for an 8-hour flight, to breathe in the same air as those whose pay grade far exceeds your own, whose money must be stored in a private bank because that’s just how much money they have.

I had the privilege of being upgraded for the first time in my life when we were flying back to Singapore from Heathrow Airport in late 2016. We had already considered ourselves extremely lucky for having snagged premium economy tickets on British Airways for just S$2,450, a mere S$200 more than the economy ticket prices at the time. It was still on the pricey side, but we knew sitting in economy for a 12-hour flight would grant us PTSD, so we had to do our spines and butts a service. My parents, being in their 60s, greatly appreciated the steal.

We were headed to the check-in counters at Heathrow, the airport serving as a stopover for our flight from Reykjavik, Iceland. I handed my boarding ticket and passport over to the kind lady behind the counter, and a smile graced her features as she said, “You’ve been upgraded to business class.” I could only gape. Like a goldfish. I must’ve looked incredibly stupid and not at all deserving of a business class seat. But she continued smiling anyway, and the words I heard flying out of my mouth were, “How did that even happen?”

“I don’t know,” she bemused, “when these things happen, you just take it.”

And took it I did. I so did.

We embraced the kiasu-ness embedded in our Singaporean DNA and walked as swiftly as our fatigued legs would allow us to the business and first class lounge. We whipped out our boarding tickets and showed them to the staff fronting the reception, as if to say, “These are our golden tickets to the chocolate factory, let us in.”

The lounge was indeed the chocolate factory to my Charlie and the Hogwarts to my Harry. There was food, tons of it, and it was for free, a fact that made me realize why the wealthy would pay such big sums of money just to feel like royalty. The spread was wide and well-balanced, with greens for the health conscious and pasta for the indulgent. Given the fact that we were in England, the bread was abundant; croissants, breadsticks, baguettes, you name it. As we embraced our meal in the dining area, we could see a vast seating section that overlooked the runways of Terminal 5. This section was covered in luxury armchairs upholstered with premium leather. Private showers and restrooms were located further inside, offering the weary traveller much needed privacy and quiet.

I’ve only ever wanted short layovers to minimize my discomfort of waiting for flights, but I wanted this particular one to last forever. Our first layover (inbound to Iceland) had us struggling to find comfort in the ever-crowded transit hall. Starbucks held an anaconda of a queue and the chairs may as well have been made of bricks. Noises filled my every sense as I failed miserably to get some shut-eye. The business lounge carried magic with it that ferried away my bad memories of all that previous discomfort and disturbance. It was a magical time in that lounge, for we knew it could very well be our first and final opportunity.

The time for us to board our flight came all too soon, but at the very least it signified that we were about to embark on the second part of our business class experience. No longer did we need to hold any envy in the waiting area as the speakers rang out, “This is a boarding call for all of our First Class and Business Class passengers,” for we were one of them. We stood in the short queue, giddy with joy and excitement, amazed at our incredible luck. “Be cool, be cool,” I muttered silently to myself as the attendants checked my pass and said in a well-rehearsed statement, “Enjoy your flight, Ms Lee.”

When service attendants address you by your last name, you begin to marvel at your own value as a customer.

As I stepped foot onto the plane and the presence of the business class seats came into view, I could only marvel at one thing. “Oh my God, we get a bed.” Well, not a bed bed, but a seat that can transform into a flat one. All you had to do was press some silver buttons by the control panel to make it happen. There were even instructions by the side storage compartments for the uninformed much like ourselves.

“Hi, Ms Lee, would you like some champagne?” Oh, hell yeah. Free champagne? This was shaping up to be the best flight experience ever and we weren’t even close to taking off just yet.

Having priority boarding for premium passengers makes total sense because there is just so much about your seat that you need to absorb - like the bottom drawer to the left for storing shoes; the wide HD screen set a good distance away so you can enjoy your in-flight entertainment with ease; the wideness of the seat that meant short people like me could sit with their legs criss-crossed; the ample storage compartments. Everything.

As boarding continued, we were handed dinner menus. I can barely remember the delicacies offered, but I remember steak because that is what I ordered when the flight attendant came by, bent down, and spoke in earnest as he asked, “And what would you be having for dinner, Ms Lee?”

Once again, your value as a customer. A rich customer.

Dinner was delicious. I was in the company of the BFG and allowed myself a second cup of alcohol - Irish Baileys. The liquor came in a tiny bottle much like the ones you get in those airport gift packs, and despite its tiny size, I had extreme difficulty getting it open and had to ask for help. Definitely not one of my shining moments.

Ah, classic Chandler.

Back to the food. The dessert purified my soul and the appetizers cleared my pores. As I neared the end of my meal, the food coma began to creep in. By the end of the movie, I was feeling incredibly sleepy, and I kid you not, I was more excited about sleeping on a flat bed on a plane than sleeping itself. The lights had already been dimmed by this point, and despite my anticipation, I was still afraid of disturbing the other passengers in my attempt to navigate around the complexities of this seat transformation. With as much stealth as I could, I turned on the reading light and pulled out the instructions. It was like reading a flight manual. I re-read the instructions thrice over. Once I was certain I had it all locked down, I began to move.

“So this shifts down, that comes out, and this pushes in.”

I had successfully created a bed.

-

By the time I woke up, it was time for breakfast. I had had the best 3-hour sleep on a plane ever and was about to be greeted with the spoils of a hearty English breakfast. There was a choice of porridge on the menu, but I was not about to be a typical Chinese that needs rice all the time. The rest of the flight went by swiftly and smoothly, and soon enough, the cabin rang with the announcement that the pilot was about to begin the descent.

We left the plane feeling like we had conquered one of air travels most impossible feats. We had heard the news, read the stories, and seen the photos of a select few people before us who also, had had the privilege of enjoying a flight upgrade. Evidence was abounding that a flight upgrade could happen to anyone at any time, but who were we, a humble family of three from Singapore, to expect, or even anticipate, that something so special could happen to us as well?

I’ll tell you though. It’s one thing to fly business class. It’s another thing to have a magazine cover of Donald Trump staring down at you as you lounge in your business class seat while sipping on champagne.

He wouldn’t stop staring. I know I’m not white.

[pamdent]

Charlottesville Golf Course Homes | Market Report for November 2018

Looking for an amazing place to call home?

If you have been dreaming of living in a community that’s both tranquil and beautiful, then you’ve got to see the Charlottesville golf course homes.

Charlottesville is an independent city in the commonwealth of Virginia. Living here means getting to enjoy one of the most scenic areas of Virginia, with the Blue Ridge Mountains, plenty of outdoor activities, and lots of culture.

You’ll find plenty of fun things to do in Charlottesville. This mid-sized college town is known for its vineyards and breweries. In fact, there are more than 20 vineyards and lots of wine-tasting activities. The city is also home to may craft- and microbreweries. The Brew Ridge Trail is Charlottesville’s original self-guided tour which features six of the nation’s best craft breweries.

The city has been consistently recognized as one of the best places to live for more than a decade. Charlottesville is also known for its rich cultural, natural, and artistic history showcased in a selection of first-rate museums, galleries, and shops.

Along the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlottesville also offers exciting outdoor adventures such as hiking, biking, paddling, camping, skydiving,high ropes courses, and hot air ballooning. The Shenandoah National Park offers more than 100 miles of the Appalachian Trail.

If you love golf and want to live near the course, Charlottesville offers a lot of options.

With a temperate climate and breathtaking mountain views, Charlottesville is considered one of the best spots for golfing.

The area is surrounded by several golf courses like the Stoney Creek Golf Course in the southwest, Keswick and Glenmore in the east, the Old Trail Golf Course in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Crozet and west of Charlottesville.

If you are an avid golfer, you will have no problem finding a place to play. The golf courses in the area offer plenty of variety, different kinds of challenges, scenery, and topography.

There are so many wonderful advantages to living in a Charlottesville golf course home — high property values, quality school districts, community amenities, and golf at your fingertips. In addition, you don’t have to worry about the bustling noise of roads and the city. Here you can enjoy the utmost tranquil life in an excellent and picturesque neighborhood. Indeed, living on a golf course is living the dream!

Market Report for November 2018

There are currently 139 Charlottesville golf course homes for sale. The prices range from $199,000 to $15,500,000. Living spaces vary from 660 to 12,728 square feet.

Golf Course Homes for Sale in Charlottesville VA

Glenmore – 47 active listings, $424,500-$1,849,000

Old Trail – 40 active listings, $199,000-$1,199,000

Farmington – 5 active listings, $1,485,000-$15,500,000

Spring Creek – 35 active listings, $299,900-$565,000

Keswick Estate – 2 active listings, $1,650,000 & $2,650,000

Stoney Creek – 10 active listings, $315,000-$1,495,000

0- Short Sale

0- Bank-Owned/REO Property

The median listing price of these homes is $535,000.

Click here for the current list of golf course homes for sale in Charlottesville.

Start living in your very own Charlottesville golf course home today. Call me, Pam Dent, at 434-960-0161. With my extensive knowledge of the Charlottesville area and the real estate market, I guarantee you a great and stress-free home buying experience!

​In case you can not view this video here, please click the link below to view ​Charlottesville Golf Course Homes | Market Report for November 2018 on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV481emcz7I.

[spicynbachili2]

Indian couple who died in Yosemite took risks for photos – Orange County Register

By JOCELYN GECKER and PAUL ELIAS

SAN FRANCISCO — She was a self-described “adrenaline junkie,” and he took “wow-worthy images” of the couple posing on the fringe of cliffs and leaping from planes that appeared on social media and a journey weblog that attracted 1000’s of followers.

In a single put up on the Grand Canyon this spring, 30-year-old Meenakshi Moorthy even warned daredevils who attempt to snap selfies from harmful heights: “Do you know that wind gusts could be FATAL???” The caption accompanies a photograph of Moorthy sitting on the sting of the canyon’s North Rim.

The couple’s newest journey turned out to be their final. Moorthy and her husband, Vishnu Viswanath, 29, who had been Indian expats dwelling in California, fell to their deaths in Yosemite Nationwide Park final week whereas taking a selfie, the person’s brother mentioned Tuesday.

They arrange their tripod close to a ledge at a scenic overlook within the California park, Viswanath’s brother, Jishnu Viswanath, informed The Related Press. Guests noticed the digicam the following morning and alerted park rangers, who “used high-powered binoculars to search out them and used helicopters to airlift the our bodies,” he mentioned.

Rangers discovered their our bodies about 800 ft (245 meters) beneath Taft Level, the place guests can stroll to the sting of a vertigo-inducing granite ledge that provides spectacular views of the Yosemite Valley beneath.

Their thrill-seeking social media posts foreshadow the couple’s hyperlink to the rising drawback of selfie deaths.

A examine revealed this month within the Journal of Household Medication and Main Care mentioned 259 folks had died taking selfies between October 2011 and November 2017.

The report, primarily based on findings from researchers in India who scoured worldwide media stories, mentioned the primary causes of selfie deaths had been drowning, often involving folks being washed away by waves or falling from a ship, adopted by folks killed whereas posing in entrance of a transferring prepare, deaths involving falls from excessive locations or whereas taking footage with harmful animals.

Greater than 10 folks have died at Yosemite this yr, some from pure causes and others from falls, park spokesman Scott Gediman mentioned.

Moorthy and Viswanath had been born in India and had lived in america for a number of years, most not too long ago within the San Francisco Bay Space. Cisco India mentioned Viswanath was a software program engineer on the firm’s San Jose, California, headquarters in Silicon Valley.

They graduated in 2010 from the Faculty of Engineering, Chengannur, within the Alapuzha district of India’s Kerala state, considered one of their professors, Nisha Kuruvilla, informed AP. She mentioned Moorthy and Viswanath had been each good college students who had been keen on touring and had married at a Hindu temple in Kerala in southern India 4 years in the past.

Moorthy described her and her husband as “journey obsessed” on their weblog, “Holidays & Fortunately Ever Afters,” which was taken down Tuesday. It was full of images of the couple in entrance of snowy peaks and on romantic journeys throughout Europe, the place they took selfies from a gondola in Venice, on the Leaning Tower of Pisa and on the Vatican.

Moorthy wished to work full time as a journey blogger, her brother-in-law mentioned. She described herself within the weblog as a “quirky free spirit” and “an ardent adrenaline junkie — curler coasters and skydiving doesn’t scare me.”

She posed on the fringe of the Grand Canyon sporting a Surprise Girl costume, writing, “Plenty of us together with yours really is a fan of daredevilry makes an attempt of standing on the fringe of cliffs — and skyscrapers. However do you know that wind gust could be FATAL??? Is our life simply price one photograph?”

Her husband’s Fb cowl photograph reveals the couple smiling, with arms round one another standing at a Grand Canyon precipice. “Dwelling life on the sting,” he wrote.

In a put up from July 2017, the couple celebrated their marriage ceremony anniversary by skydiving in Santa Barbara, California. Moorthy posted a video on Instagram that reveals her in a T-shirt saying, “Gimme Hazard,” and flashing a thumbs-up as she jumps from the airplane.

“I imagine I can flyyy. I imagine i can contact the skyyy,” she wrote within the put up. “Aaaand contact the sky I did from an effin’ 18000 ft because of the unconditional love-ninja in my life, Vishnu, who actually took this yr’s anniversary shock a notch ‘larger’ than final yr’s sizzling air ballooning journey, by gifting this adrenaline junkie with one of many highest tandem skydives on this planet!”

She additionally blogged about melancholy. In a put up from April, Moorthy apologized to readers for going silent and “disappearing for greater than a yr.”

“Between battling the tightening tentacles of melancholy and blustering within the tempest of transferring insanity, I’m afraid social media is taking a again seat??” she wrote.

The couple’s footage indicated they preferred to pose in scenic spots at sundown, which was the final time they had been seen alive.

In an eerie coincidence, one other couple who hiked to Taft Level captured footage of Moorthy previous to her fall, saying she seems within the background of two of their selfies.

Sean Matteson mentioned Moorthy stood out from the gang having fun with sundown on the overlook as a result of her hair was dyed shiny pink. He mentioned she made him just a little nervous as a result of she was near the sting.

“She was very near the sting, however it appeared like she was having fun with herself,” mentioned Matteson of Oakland, California. “She gave me the willies. There aren’t any railings. I used to be not about to get that near the sting. However she appeared comfy. She didn’t look like she was in misery or something.”

The journey recommendation web site MyYosemitePark.com posted a photograph of Taft Level as an example its “unhealthy selfies” checklist, warning vacationers: “Don’t pose on high of an enormous granite drop-off.” It added, “It could solely take a unfastened rock or unhealthy footing to plummet.”

Yosemite spokeswoman Jamie Richards mentioned officers had been investigating the deaths, which may take a number of days.

In India, after a rash of selfie-related deaths, the Tourism Ministry in April requested state authorities officers to safeguard vacationers by putting in indicators in areas the place accidents had occurred declaring them “no-selfie zones.”

Related Press writers Ashok Sharma and Chonchui Ngashangva contributed to this report from New Delhi.

  from SpicyNBAChili.com https://www.spicynbachili.com/indian-couple-who-died-in-yosemite-took-risks-for-photos-orange-county-register/

[fishdavidson]

Dream Journal 2017-02-05: So Awesome, Guys. So Awesome.

Have you ever had a dream that was simultaneously so vivid and cool that you were legitimately disappointed that you had to wake up? Not only did that happen last night, but it happened twice. In a break from tradition, I’ve got TWO dreams to tell you!

Making More Firefly

The sci-fi series Firefly holds a special place in my heart. It was canceled before its time, and I didn’t get a chance to watch it when it was on the air. Since its cancellation, the series has lived on in a movie, ongoing comics, and potentially a videogame. And somehow a man with my dubious qualifications was selected to help with rebooting the series.

This is the kind of honor nerds will kill people for, and not only that, but the creative director of the reboot was none other than ol’ Captain Browncoat himself: Nathan Fillion. The dream took place almost entirely in one room, with me and Nathan and a few other random writers brainstorming ideas to create what I guess would be called a “pitch document” for what sort of story the series would tell. We’re working at the most fundamental level of the story and fleshing out details of the ship and crew.

In fact, our first assignment was to create a name for the ship and some of the crew. We would be doing the idea generation, while Nathan would be providing feedback on the stuff we came up with. Not to brag guys (okay, I’m totally going to brag), but I ended up getting more of my ideas into the pitch document than anybody else. Here’s a list of all my ideas that got final approval:

The ship would be called The Neon Dandy, and it was a relatively small craft that was made for maneuvering in atmo with a small amount of cargo. It was about 2/3 the size of Serenity and it had two main weapons: a light machine gun thing, and a powerful beam weapon that could only be fired if all the power in the ship was diverted to the canon. On top of that, the beam could only be fired once every 10 minutes or so.

Alice McDonald, captain of The Neon Dandy. She always does the right thing, even if it’s not in her best interest. Unfortunately, that’s part of the reason her crew is perpetually on a shoestring budget.

Torvald. He’s Norwegian and nobody knows if Torvald is his first or his last name.

Emerson Pilgrim. He looks like Jack Black with a neckbeard, and he’s an alcoholic accountant on the run who booked passage on The Neon Dandy. He’s got some dirt on a prominent company, and that company is doing everything they can to make sure Emerson doesn’t talk.

We took a break in our meeting here, which was great because I was chugging water like a fish during the roundtable and that made me need to pee like a metaphor that involves spraying a lot of liquid. Unfortunately the real-life urge to pee took precedence and woke me up.

The one good thing that came from waking up is that my creations aren’t owned by Fox, so I can totally use them in one of my own stories. THIS IS GONNA BE SO FUN!

Jumpin’ Out Of A Plane... FOR AMERICA!

We need to unpack a little bit of backstory before getting to the main event. There was a convenient little infodump at the beginning of the dream that told me there was a new political meme making the rounds on the internet. Instead of planking or doing the Ice Bucket Challenge, people would be photographed while skydiving.

Except this was also a state-sponsored propaganda effort. Various militaries around the world would allow civilians to jump out of military planes. And in the images, the plane would be always be prominently featured. It was like a Cold War show of force, where nations had an excuse to deploy a lot of military hardware for “peaceful” reasons.

Most people on the internet just saw silly pictures of skydivers, but the people who took a closer look noticed that this influx of skydiving memes were coming primarily from North Korea and Iran. As you might imagine, this realization didn’t sit very well with the top brass in the land of obese eagles (that’s a jab at the USA, guys.). So the various branches of the US armed services started making skydiving memes of their own.

Somehow I managed to get on one of these missions. I got on a plane near my local airport, went up many thousands of feet, and hopped out of the plane with a photographer in tow. HOLY CRAP, GUYS, THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!

I felt weightless as I hurtled toward the ground. The wind is whipping past me, and I’ve got a stupid grin on my face. Obligatory spinning and aerial gymnastics ensue, and that’s when I realize that I was carrying a bunch of change in my pockets before I jumped. My weightless state is causing coins to leak out of my pockets, hit a wall of air and rocket upward (upward relative to me due to the difference in terminal velocities, because dream me apparently understands physics).

There was maybe about $3 worth of change in my pocket, and I let it all out. Watching it fly through the air around me was worth the price of admission. I started laughing because I was having so much fun. This would definitely be on my life’s highlight reel.

But now I was nearing the end of my journey and it was time to pull the ripcord. --FWIP!-- The parachute unfurls and yanks me into a safe speed of descent. Now that I’ve slowed down, I can really take in the view from up here. My hometown looks like it’s made of ants. It’s peaceful up here.

Now the ground is getting close and I need to control my descent to land in an open space. For me, it looks like the easiest place will be an empty field near my church. The ground is really close now; better brace for impact!

I hit the ground harder than I expected. I tumble and get a face full of soft earth. No matter, though, because I’m having the time of my life. Even though I know my wife will refuse, I run over to her and try to convince her to go skydiving with me.

But then the ripcord to reality gets pulled and I snap back into reality. If skydiving is anything like what happened in the dream, this is something I’ve gotta do! BUCKET LIST, AHOY!

-------------

Image of Captain Malcom Reynolds taken from this place where you can buy his jacket.