#i took a bunch of them doing very generic island living shit but that's boring

[apricote]

#simblr #ts4 #ts4 gameplay #tjolc #tjol challenge #sim spice #sims spice #f: vickers #vickers: 1 #s: adelia #s: sammy #q #yes these are the only pictures of their honey moon #i took a bunch of them doing very generic island living shit but that's boring #so you get this instead #where they do the dirty on the beach #because i just reinstalled wicked whims #👀

[huntsman-ash]

RWBY LiveThoughts: V8E7

Since I finally have time for it today, lets make sure Im all caught up for the hiatus. 

Before we get fully started, an idea; Its not a war crime if they’re Grimm. Then its just self defense. So break out the napalm, the cluster bombs, the chemical weapons, the fun stuff. Make em regret it, yeah?

And we start off...on a farm. Looks like my moms old farm in South Dakota. Even on Remnant, hay is best used in bales.

Waiiiit. Thats the place the Whale set down isnt it. I see a Sayber running. Ah, and the Atlas military! Surely, the vanguard of a massive force to hold the line! Also Im glad to see a close up of the helmet for once, I want to make my own. Also, the gloves, and the rifle itself. Not sure why it doesnt have a stock, seems kind of silly...

And airships too, so they got some fire support...whats that wall behind them though?

Also it TOOK US 8 FUCKING SEASONS to get a close up of these FUCKING Weapons. 8. FUCKING. SEASONS. Okay maybe more like 5 cause they didnt first appear till 3 or so but come on. Im so picking this shit apart later. 

Pfft, bros got some nerves going on. Come on man, its just some Grimm, you’ll be FINE.

Atlas field harvesters resemble Halo’s JOTUN Farming equipment. As wel as our own. No surprise there.

Alright, bunch of Saybers, not seeing much of a threat here.

Hey, Paladins! Damn, they...look way different than I remember them to be. 

I wont lie, I dont like the Paladin design. Way to much visual noise, I cant tell where anything IS. 

Also that is the most 2D grass I have sever seen in my fucking life. What the hell are they growing here...

Huh, the whale has two sets of teeth. Wait, its just there? And its wpewing out Grimm. So...why isnt the air force firing on it? 

Yeah its not moving, its just raising its head and slamming down and vomiting out more Grimm. Im not sure what the issue is here, just...seal the mouth. 

Oh, huh. Apathys. Let me guess, RTs gonna try and tell us depression is going to kill most of Atlas. Oh for fuck sake. IM NOT IMPRESSED RT. IM REALLY NOT. IM MORE FUCKING ANNOYED THAN ANYTHING

Okay so...I see what this is. Its farm land outside of atlas proper and there’s an additional wall behind them, plus the power lines I guess? Seems like a viable place to make a stand. 

...thats it. Please tell me this is just a single detachment of the Atlas military because there is less firepower here than a NATIONAL GUARD UNIT ASSIGNED TO ONE CITY

Im fairly certain there are more people assigned to ONE UNIT attached to JBLM then I amm seeing here. 

Not to mention this is an OPEN FIELD the Grimm have to run through. This is a literall fucking TURKEY SHOOT. Running across an open field anywhere is a ticket to DYING.

Just ask the poor fucks on D-day.

Also uh...why is everyone in line formation? What is this, fuckin’ 18009s combat Napoleon style?

And did the distance suddenly change, I feel like the whale suddenly got a hell of a lot closer.

Just...I dont get this. This makes no sense. Did Ironwood learn how to deploy forces from a fairy tale book? This is legitimately some fuckin Lord of the Rings shit here.

RIP that one specific trooper hit by that Behemoth though. Dont worry friend, the thing walked next to a Paladin. Its getting its eye blasted out

And cut back to Ironwood. Doing...fuck if I know what.

Staring angrily it seems.

“Dammit, my tactical deployment by line formation and parade ground tactics isnt holding back the Grimm, curses!”

Well MAYBE IF YOUD THOUGHT TO INVEST IN SOME FUCKING AIR SUPPORT...Seriously.

I know people have told me why this is. I understand myself why this is. But it really just...does...not...jibe with me. At all. 

Okay so more details; first, apparently Atlas has a subway. Makes sense, its a big island. Inter-system transits probably a given. Second; Was that Mantis Squad Omega? Some kind of unit maybe...interesting.

 Also I love how this guy just questions Ironwood. Like, bro, if the General says do it, do it.

Hold the fuck up, why is everyone outside? It looks like fuckin’ Cali during our lockdowns...what ever happened to martial law huh?

Also “underground subway stations”. Yes, thats...kind of what a subway IS. I guess maybe they have overhead ones like New York does. Mass transit be weird like that.

I mean HELL the signs on it are almost identical to the ones in NYC too! Even with the colored circles and train cnumbers. 

According to the sign here they’re at Pickens Square Station. 

Oh boy. Ironwood just fed these poor bastards into a meat grinder. Anyone here ever played the Metro game series, or read the books?

Remember the Dark Ones? The Nosallias? Yeah. Tight corridors and monsters only work out well for angry vodka fueled Russians.

Didnt see it very well but I THINK those Mantas had some kind of wing gun. Either thats new, a separate armament setting, or RT forgot what ind of weapons they gave their ships AGAIN.

Cant get the shields back up, yeah, no shit, they DETACHED ONE OF THE FUCKING PILOTS YOU IDIOTS.

Also hah, they arrested Yang, Ren and Jaune. Not surprised.

Beta squads apperently been hitting the whale. ‘Bombs, missiles, we cant make a dent, sir.” ...while Im not surprised by this, I also hear shades of the opening of Halo 2s level Metropolis. “Where’s the rest of your platoon?” “Wasted, sarge. Blew right through us. Rockets, fifty cals, didnt do nothing.”

Honestly they could have SHOWED THAT too. Them just saying it feels like a cop out to me. Take that as you will. But if you want us to see the things hard to kill, show it. 

Not that I figure Atlas’s rockets are much more than Dust in a propellent tank. Not exactly a Hellfire or TOW.

Nice to see proper military talk for...a moment anyway.

Or what I figure RT figures is proper.

Oh so now the whales moving. Okay...huh.

Jaunes commentary is the same as mine. Though I guess the size seems to shift depending.

Ohhh. Its MANTA. As in the gunships. Alright, sure that works. And this guys making a good call. If you cant hit the big one go after the smaller. Of which there seems to be a HELL of a lot. Actually holy fuck that Grimm spew is across like...ahlf the fucking island right now. Time to fuckin torch and burn people.

Ahhhhhh and they get to the proper idea.  If you cant punch it from the outside, hit it from the inside.

I knew a crew...three madmen, names of Keegan, Lahni and Mac. The Hivebusters. Something tells me a Venom bomb would do the trick...if it can rip apart Swarm creatures as big as a Snatcher or a Swarmak and reduce them to green slime, I think it’ll work on Grimm. 

Something tells me RT isnt gonna give em a bomb though. Too obvious.

NEVER MIND. “Science team is putting together a bomb.”

Also I LOVE how Winter’s pupils expand and retract in fear as she realizes what Ironwoods asking her to do.

Awww now shes getting the shakes too.

Salem directing this shit like shes some kind of orchestra leader. I mean it FITS but...I dunno.

Ah so the command deck is directly behind the whale’s glowing nose. Basically inside where the spermacetiy organ would be in a real sperm whale.

What the fuck is Emerald doing there?

Sneaking I guess. Huh. Why’s she sneaking around the whale. Also, huh. guess seeers can get fooled by Emeralds semblance.  Is HE STILL BEATING UP ON OSCAR? Jeez dude. Take a breather.

Honestly if this was TRUE I would be okay with it. Replace the Huntsman with, I dont know, a massively overequipped military for each Kingdom, let them run rampant...stomp the Grimm out or push them back to nonexistence...everyone lives happily ever after

Lets be real here, the idea of the academies? Really really fucking dumb. Its cute. Fairy tale like.

But if theres one thing this show has taught me its that fairy tales SUCK. Reality...tends to be worse.

Ah theres one of those torture hooks they mentioned a few episodes back. Nice of the whale to have a specific interrigation room.

And at last we get some information on how Salem works. Alright so...what happens if you seperate the parts then? Sink one in the ocean, launch one into space.

Sounds like Oz/Oscars telling the fans what we’ve been saying forever, Companion Book be damned; Salem wants to die.

These mind games bore me. Its cute, but I dont like it cause I cant follow that shit. Give me a straight up fight any day, fuck this sublty backroom fuckery

No lies from them both here honestly.

Medical supplies in Atlas seem almost the same as here on earth interestngly. Also, soup. Or...coffee, tea?

Blake with the obvious here. But I mean thats not really saying much cause...well. Not hard to outfight the Atlas military it seems like.  (Long suffering sigh)

Im gonna make a seperate post about my frustrations with that and leave it there. But dont expect me to stop fully complaining about it because everyones gotta have something to bitch about with this show, and I’ll be DAMNED if I start joining the BB whiners.

Good question, Ruby. Might be that YOUR NOT LIVING IN A FAIRY TALE

I’d like to see these people dying in Mantle. I refuse to believe that there isnt SOMEONE in the nation that once brought Remnant to its heel that wont stand and fight. Unless Im wrong about that too...

May backstory? May backstory. Yeah.  Not amazingly complicated but it works. Cant tell if shes Henry though...or was. 

Dramatic lightning flash

Cute you think that Ruby. Theres sides. Always are.

Further proof honestly.

Hazels look of though is amusing. Cant tell if he doesnt believe Oscar, or if his tiny peabrain is runing full bore to think this through.

Coordination between farm boy and professor.

Oh. OHHHH. Plants the seed of doubt in Hazels tiny mind, he uses the last question for himself, sees the truth... Clever, Oscar. Clever.

Hazel peabrain go THUNK

Ah so Mercs going off to Vacuo. Guess that means everyone else is going there next too. Eat that, random Discord person, I called it.

Course, CFVYs there so...maybe we get to see Yats beat up on him.

Oh hi Tyrian. Do you just...randomly roam the halls of the whale waiting to DRAMATICALLY REVEAL YOURSELF and give violent expositon? Im very much okay with that.

Also I love how he just...accepts this. Totally fucking bonkers, totally down with it. 

Oh shit, Tyrian and Mercury going to Vacuo? Damn thats gonna be INTERESTING. I guess Tyrian’ll fit in well enough honestly.

Flying Beringal literally out of the roof. 

I remember back when this season first started and I said those weird bone platforms looked like VTOL launch bays. Guess what? They are.

Merc and Em emotion blah blah DONT CAAARRREEE

Jaune thinking tactically for ONCE IN HIS FUCKING LIFE. An I mean military tactical of course.

Also I like how the Aces say they dont let emotions cloud their shit WHEN THEYVE BEEN DOING THAT THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME.

This ENTIRE PLANET is emotionally run. Thats why the Grimm are such an issue! Makes small note to make Remnant Adeptus Mechanicus cult

Seriously though...

I wont lie though, Hare isnt wrong. Wonder what happened to that Tortuga guy. Tyrian, is my guess. Love how Ren interrupts the moment they almost mention Clovers name.

Expendable, yes. Replacable, no. You should have a talk with squadron leader Grey from Star Wars Squadrons Ren

ANNNNDDD SEMBLANCE EVOLUTION. Or the edibles just kicked in.

This is cool and all but its really fucking dumb and hamfisted. Explain all you want. Mention emotions all you want.

The Aces are fucking huntsmen. HUNTSMEN. FUCKING. SUCK. They always have. Its a dumb idea. Yes, lets stop the hordes of monsters invading this world BY SENDING IN SINGLE OPERATIVES WITH FUCKING MELEE WEAPONS

I’ll make this clear to you, Ren, right here and now. If you faced a REAL elites, you wouldnt have stood a chance. Nor would RWBY. Their bodies would have been three-shot from 20 meters out with a breach and clear and stacked against the wall like cords of wood, one final shot to the dome to make dead sure they were down. None of this stupid flipping and acrobatic crap, none of this clashing weapons and Dust and semblances...no. 

You’d be dead before you knew they were there and they would move on. You’d just be another body to the pile, one more faceless corpse to add to their kill count. A meatgrinder in human form. 

Professionals. Dont. Lose. AND THE ACES ARE NOT PROFESSIONALS!

Because thats not what RWBYs about, never has been.  And that is what annoys me slightly. That and the fact I cant distangle what I know of other universes and our own from RWBY’s. Its hard to hold a universe on its own when everything they make points towards it being like ours, but they change it when they see fit. 

I feel like thats bad writing.

Hehehe. Winter touched Elms boob.

Glad to know that Winters got her priorities right. Course, that bomb probably aint gonna do shit cause its Dust based.

...again, hoping its a chemical weapon...

Wait, the Atlas forces from earlier are STILL FIGHTING? Damn, these Grimm must suck if they couldnt wipe them out in that little time...

Also I cant tell if its getting dark cause of the storm or if its the dawn of the next day.  Or did...they shift time around? I lost track. I SWORE the sun was setting the last time we saw everything.

Also return of the shitty 3D grass...

Marrows gonna defect.

Awww poor Winters got emotions. HEY MAYBE DONT SEND A MENSTRATING WOMAN OUT ON A FIELD OP, ATLAS!

So according to May there’s still front lines. Cool. 

AYYY ITS KLIEN! HES BACK

Oh, I guess hes a doctor too. Oh he MAD.

Ayyy Whitleys being USEFUL for fucking once in his shitty life.

Shes gonna hug him isnt she.

CALLED IT. For fuck sake...whatever. Cute. But whatever.

Oh annnnddd now Grimmquake?

No. It stopped...Bolide?

No. PENNY.

Annnnddd shes leaking coolant. And sparking. And dead.

RIP Penny.

The concept art of the beached whale looks so fucking silly. Seriously, just...detach the whole section there. Drop the fucking thing. 

Oh well.

And thats it for almost two months! Be prepared for me to BULLSHIT MY WAY THROUGH ALL OF IT and continue on with my military fanwank because THATS HOW IM SURVIVING 2020!

#rwby #rwby spoilers #rwby v8 #spoilers

[annabethisterrified]

Book Review: THE TYRANT’S TOMB by Rick Riordan (The Trials of Apollo #4)

“Today, one way or another, the fate of New Rome would be decided.”

THERE ARE NO SPOILERS UNTIL YOU GO BELOW THE CUT!

Reeling from the loss of Jason Grace and the mounting danger of his mission to stop the evil emperors ascendance, Apollo (aka Lester) and Meg arrive disheveled and devastated in New Rome...with a coffin in tow. Getting into Camp Jupiter is tricky enough, and once Apollo and Meg get caught up to speed on the chaos that’s been wreaked in the Bay Area, they realize that the impending battle will be the culmination of everything they’ve been fighting for. Reyna, Frank, and Hazel’s leadership roles put them to the ultimate test as they scramble to prepare for their final stand against Caligula and Commodus. Together, Apollo, Meg, and the inhabitants of New Rome must mourn who they’ve already lost while simultaneously gearing up for the inevitable confrontation that will seal the fate of their home once and for all. 

The penultimate installment of The Trials of Apollo picks up on the heels of The Burning Maze’s tragic conclusion. Through Apollo’s perspective, the reality of what went down in the third book continues to weigh heavily upon the whole cast, but most of their focus is forced forward to an incredibly dangerous confrontation slated for the Blood Moon. Loose ends from the Heroes of Olympus series are tied neatly yet surprisingly, and the continued evolution of Apollo and Meg’s bond shines as the book’s true, gleaming heart. Apollo’s own recognition of his past failings, his father’s abusiveness, and the reality of what his humanity has taught him all come to a head, setting up what’s sure to be an impactful fifth and final book-- not just for Apollo’s journey, but as a capstone for what the whole saga’s implications about what it means to be a hero, and to be a human. 

The Tyrant’s Tomb is consistently entertaining and heartfelt, but the final third of the story proves to be the most deftly-crafted and meaningful. Though not as heavy as its previous installment, this fourth book gives plenty of focus on some lovely development from our main protagonist, priming the series for its finale next fall.

If you click below, there will be spoilers. 

Hello? Okay. You promise you’re good for spoilers...?

All right, just because of who I am as a person I guess, I’ve broken this down into like ten sections. Ooof. Generally, I will say that I was super pleased with how this story went. My only disappointment was that I’d hoped for more of a prolonged or “on-screen” unpacking of the effects of Jason’s death on the Camp Jupiter kids, specifically Reyna. However, I get that that’s kind of hard to do through Apollo’s perspective. I wasn’t totally sold on the idea that he sang a song haha, but I’m glad that Jason’s loss wasn’t just addressed at the beginning and then “moved on” from. It was threaded throughout, showing that grief is not something that you can check off a list. This is something that will always stay with these characters, and alter how they live and feel about things. It ebbs and flows. In addition, I think there could’ve been just a bit more action in the first half of the story, but it was never boring or aimless. And the concluding battle was expertly written and soooooo amazing omfg. Still reeling.

Anyway, let’s go.

FRANKLY, I HAVE NOTHING BUT LOVE

I’m so happy we got the chance to see Frank leading Camp Jupiter as praetor! He did such a good job, but also acknowledged that this is still a new role he’s transitioning into. I was so pleasantly surprised at how he managed to be both authoritative and gentle, and it was gut-wrenching to know that he intended to take Caligula down with him. When I imagined the fallout of Jason’s death, I always pictured Reyna being the one to tear down the emperors in revenge, which was why I was so affected by Frank’s commitment to honoring his friend. Not only did he order Jason’s designs to be built in like thirty hours, but he was so ready to avenge Jason that he was fully prepared to die. 

What. An. Arc. I LOVE HIM. I’m glad he’s finally free of his burden, and that he gets to keep doing an epic job as praetor (though hopefully during more future peaceful times). Camp Jupiter’s lucky to have him. 

SHINE ON HAZEL

Words can’t express how infatuated I was with Hazel in this book. She’s always been one of my favorites, but she really shone in this story. She was already so strong and developed at the end of Heroes of Olympus, but this book still brought her out better and smarter than she was before. She cannot be stopped. Hazel’s determination and grit make her formidable, and she definitely proved to be Rome’s greatest asset throughout the entire story. 

I think it’s great that she gets to step up and take on Jason and Reyna’s former role of praetor...alongside Frank, too! I didn’t expect her to react with anger towards Jason once she found out about his death, but it hit me hard. She initially took Jason’s death to be a reflection of the Seven’s failings as a team. Hazel loved how powerful the bond between them all was, and when Jason took on the burden of TBM’s prophecy alone without confiding in anyone, I can totally see why she felt like that was a betrayal. UGH hit me hard.

REYNA REYNA REYNA!

Reyna is just objectively an amazing character. I’m so so so glad we got to revisit her in this story, and loved where she ended up going. Starting this book, I had literally no idea how she would be handled. She’s always been the quintessential strong leader, which is awesome, but I’m glad we got to unpack the implications behind her very...layered...existence. Leaving Puerto Rico in a traumatic situation, going straight to Circe’s Island, escaping as a pirate, carving out her path in New Rome, getting roped into the Titan then Giant War? Damn. She’s been through a lot, and none of it of her own free will.

Like I mentioned earlier, I wish we’d learned more of how she dealt with Jason’s death. They were obviously really close growing up, and though it was clear she was devastated and things were referenced “off-screen”, I still kind of wish we’d gotten a bit more. Regardless, I liked that the focus of her presence in this book was about HERSELF and nobody else. 

And hello!!!!! She has a red truck!!!! and goes out hiking with her greyhounds??? makes me so glad. 

And yeah-- that ending, huh? I know it got mixed reactions. Personally, it felt pretty natural to me. I’m so glad she stayed in touch with Thalia after the events of HoO, and knowing that they’ll be on eternal adventures with a bunch of other wonderful girls....happy sigh. Reyna’s right-- this is kind of a much-needed vacation by joining Artemis’s team. No matter how long or short she stays with them, it’s important that she’s able to reclaim her destiny and figure out what and who she’d like to be. 

APOLLO & MEG

These two!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit. Their bond was so well handled and I loved seeing how it developed in this installment. They can communicate on an instinctual level-- they can call each other out, and recognize the abusive patterns both of their fathers have over them. They have so much in common, but also have so much to teach one another. I loved that they were both able to tell each other “I love you” and ughhhh yes the sibling dynamic is so epic. (Also, the whole Reyna and Meg ganging up on Apollo about Koronis bit was hysterical.) (And the “I thought you loved me?” “I’m multitasking.”) 

WHERE TO NEXT?

Just because I haven’t said this yet, but HOLY MOLY I adored Lavinia. Oh my god. She was amazing-- hilarious, presumptuous, go-getter, kind...what a star!!! What a joy to read!

Anyway, now it’s onto the fifth and final installment...THE TOWER OF NERO. I’m so happy that we’re going back to where this story started (in both Hidden Oracle and The Lightning Thief)....New York! And it sounds like also a potential field trip to Delphi, Greece? I’m down!

I’m assuming we’ll be able to tag up with Annabeth, since she’s the only main-player we haven’t yet revisited in ToA. And probably also Percy, Nico, Will, Austin, Kayla, etc. at Camp Half Blood. 

There’s a lot of ways this could all go down, but I think this book set up a heart-wrenching conclusion. I’m looking forward to Apollo and especially Meg standing up to their fathers and claiming their own lives. I’m not even sure if Apollo will want to be returned to godhood by the time his trials are up. We delved into some really interesting threads in this book-- he mentioned several times that he’d only ever felt comfortable and “at home” when he was human. What will that mean for his final trial? 

In either case, this book was fabulous and I’m so glad we got a chance to learn more about Camp Jupiter and New Rome...and I feel like a lot got resolved, so it felt like a satisfying way to say goodbye to the California crew. I doubt they’ll be in the last book, so it was bittersweet but fitting to leave them as we did!

Now, we wait. One last time! Thanks for reading this if you made it all the way down, haha!

#review #tyrant's tomb #the trials of apollo #rick riordan #toa spoilers

[themadlostgirl]

Not Dead Yet (Part 84)

*This is a little number I like to call: condensing events for the purpose of pushing this story forward so we can finally get to the motherflipping end chapter! For real tho next chapter is last one. Let’s do this!*

Pairing: Reader x Peter Pan

Warnings: language

We burned Devin’s body. I didn’t have the emotional energy to bury anyone else. Neither did the boys. Placing his body in the bonfire was easier and I feel like it was what he would prefer.

Days went by. After losing Peter and killing Devin I stayed away from camp. I didn’t want to be around anyone. I needed to process this entire shit week. I stayed in the cavern underneath Peter’s Thinking Tree mainly. One day I got curious and went to Skull Rock. The giant golden hourglass was still there. It didn’t glow with magic anymore and the never-ending flow of sand was piled in the bottom.

This was Peter’s life. It wasn’t right. He was so much more than a pile of dirt in a glorified time keeper. I focused on all my anger and all my sadness and punched it straight through that stupid hourglass. It burst into shards. Maybe one day I’ll be able to erase this entire rock from the island.

I kept my mourning down to a week. I can’t spend my entire life mourning, though I feel like a part of me always will. Who knows. Maybe one day I’ll finally bite the big one and I’ll find Peter in the Underworld. We’ll take over and become the king and queen of hell.

As the boys went about getting used to the island without Peter around I was trying to get the handle of my new powers. It seemed every little thing I did somehow affected the island in some way. I did a lot of tests making clouds roll in and out and changing the temperature. It was easy to do physical things like make the wind blow but the one time I tried to conjure my dagger into my hand from my sheath I only managed to stab it through my hand. Trying to heal it after that didn’t go well either.

How does Peter do that?

Or did…

Stop thinking about it. I’m only going to make myself sadder. Let’s try to get rid of Skull Rock again.

~~~

It was hard to keep time in the Underworld. You would have thought Peter was used to not telling the days apart after spending centuries on Neverland. There though it didn’t matter cause he was spending everyday having fun. Here though...there was nothing to do but bum around the town.

Peter spent most days walking through the forest. Being surrounded by trees and not being able to see the bloody red sky made it easier to pretend he was home. Devin’s sudden appearance not too long ago only made it more so.

He had been worried when he saw one of his former Lost Boys show up in the Underworld not twenty four hours after Peter’s death. He thought that the transfer with Y/N hadn’t held and that Neverland had plunged into the ocean and killed everyone. It was a relief when Devin told him that Y/N had killed him.

That sounded bad.

He was a martyr for a good cause. To kill everyone in Storybrooke. What better cause was there?

Not that it actually worked because there was no one from that town in the Underworld now. His Lost Girl gave it a good effort though.

He knew it was selfish to think but part of Peter hoped that she would come down here. He waited twenty eight years to get her back now he was incapable of waiting any longer. He wanted to see her again. To hold her in his arms, kiss her...talk to her.

Peter pulled out the drawing of Y/N again.

“Pretty girl,” the voice behind Peter made him jump. It took a talented person to sneak up on him and even more so to startle him.

The man behind Peter was tall with fiery red hair and a boring face. “She yours?”

“What’s it to you?” Peter folded the drawing again but the man snatched it out of his hands before he could tuck it away. “Give that back!”

“Oh, I know this one. Her name is Y/N, isn’t it?” He inspected the picture closer, “The many times I felt her soul start to enter this domain but never did. Multiple near death experiences make people like you and her such teases. I was starting to worry that I’d never see you down here.”

Peter tore the picture out of the man’s hands and made sure it wasn’t damaged. “Who the hell are you? How do you know about Y/N?”

“Well as the god of death I know a lot about who sends me more souls and even more about those that vigorously avoid my realm.”

“You’re the god of the Underworld?” Peter scanned him from head to toe. “Have something against looking god-like?”

“We appear as we are most comfortable. Some of us prefer to be distinguished by age and a fine pressed suit. Others seem to be content as a whiny teenager in dirt smelling rags.”

“Was there a point to this or did you just want to insult me?” Peter snapped.

“I’m here to offer you a deal, Peter Pan. You are probably one of the longest living beings in the realms. Even more so than the Dark One. I know you have considerable skills and I would like to put them to use. Best to keep the mind sharp while waiting for lost love.”

“Put them to use, how?”

“A little this, a little that. General causing mayhem and other odds and ends. Interested?”

“What’s in it for me?”

“I can give you comfort here.” The god wrapped an arm around his shoulders but there was nothing kind about it, “A nice little place to call your own and my seal of protection. You’ve brought a lot of angry souls here while you were alive. It’s only a matter of time till they find out you’re here.”

“I can take care of myself.” Peter shoved him off.

“Okay, okay, I see where you’re coming from. You can but also consider this, up until the very moment of your death you were supposed to be wallowing in eternal agony as a bunch of particles in the River of Souls. That little lovey dovey kiss from your girl gave you an out but it can’t stop me from dumping your carcass in the river now. Thoughts?”

“Threatening me...I’d say I’d kill you but I guess that’d be a moot point.” Peter scoffed. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

“Come to my office, we’ll talk more there. I already know exactly where I’m gonna set you up too. There is the nicest pawn shop on main street that would be perfect for you.” The god continued to talk his ear off as they walked down the street.

At least it was something to do.

~~~

It took over a year but I had finally truly mastered my new powers. I could bend everything on the island to my will, blink in and out throughout the island, heal myself, conjure fireballs and other cool stuff. I was still working on wiping out Skull Rock. It had been such a permanent fixture in the realm it was proving stubborn to get rid of. Reminds me of someone…

Living without Peter was still hard. I kept waking up expecting him to be right by my side. He never was though. Was this what he went through when I was missing? Day after day of misery and emptiness?

Neverland is my home but without any Peter it wasn’t the same. It was like the heart of the island was missing. Waiting for it’s real leader to come back and breathe life into it again.

Things had been going well despite how empty I felt. The boys were great fun, Felix was a good second in command, and Candace was still a wonderful pet. I didn’t hang out with Tigerlily as much anymore but sometimes I’d come across her while taking a walk and we’d catch up. She was the only person I felt like I could talk to about Peter. Everyone else didn’t want to focus on sad things long enough to have any real conversations about him.

I only visited Wendy once. She looked older and seemed a lot happier. Her brothers didn’t like the sight of me but considering how well I got along with their sister I got a pass. I hope Wendy is doing okay. I don’t think I’ll be able to muster the courage to visit her again. I don’t want to see her grow old and die. I want to remember her as the nervous yet energetic girl I rescued from the waves all those years ago.

I brought the pipes to my lips and blew a soft note. An old song from a time I can’t even remember anymore drifting up from the depths of my subconscious and floating out through the air. I think Peter and I danced to it once…

~~~

Peter had to admit. Being in Hades’ employ had its perks.

He got pretty much anything he wanted in reason. The one time he asked the god for anything major Peter had to make a deal. He’d trade in his usual Neverland jungle attire for a fitted suit like Hades wore. It was awkward at first but Peter had to admit it looked rather nice.

It made him think back to a time when he dressed up to sneak into a wedding reception with Y/N. They drank and danced and kissed and it felt like the world couldn’t touch them. He wished he could go back to that night. He’d never let the dance end if he could.

As used to the new additions to the Underworld Peter was it turned out he could still find some surprises. Like Hades telling Peter that one Captain Killian Jones had up and died. Peter got hopeful thinking Y/N had finally done the pirate in. No such luck.

His arrival was fortunate because the desperate residents of Storybrooke banded together to bring him back to the world of the living. Too bad it was impossible. Trust him, Peter tried. He tried again and again to find a way back to the living. They never worked out.

Then before Peter could wreak his havoc on him and the foolish heroes that ventured to the Underworld they were just as quickly gone without a trace and took Hook with them. How was it that someone so undeserving could cheat death?

Oh boohoo! The Saviour’s pirate that she’s only known for maybe four years died? Peter had been with Y/N for decades. Decades! If anyone deserved to be reunited with who they loved it sure as hell wasn’t that crusty pirate.

If Hook could get out though then maybe there was still hope Peter could too. He’d mention it to Hades when he was in a better mood.

~~~

Hook can say that he had sincerely wished to never have to return to Neverland. Not that it was his choice this time around. An increasingly absurd number of circumstances and wrong turns and here he was with no way out. What was even worse? He was tied to a pole about to be burned at the stake.

“Stop!” a voice hushed the hooting Lost Boys. “I leave for one day and you all turn into brainless baboons? What’s going on here?”

Hook’s heart dropped into his stomach as a figure parted the boys. She stared at him with a wicked knowing smirk. “Oh my. Well isn’t this a treat? An old seadog washed ashore.” the boys lowered their weapons as their leader stepped toward the pirate, “Hello Hook.”

“Hello Y/N.” he muttered.

“We have got to stop meeting like this. You tied up, me wanting to kill you, such unfortunate circumstances.”

“I agree. So how’s about you cut me loose, love, for old times sake.”

She let out a small chuckle, “There’s that strange sense of humor of yours. You’re not going anywhere just yet.” The playful smile dropped from her face as she turned back to the Lost Boys. “I want whomever was leading this idiot circus in front of me right now.” she barked at the boys.

No one came forward immediately. “I said,” the sky crackled with lightning, “Now!”

The boy that tied him up stumbled forward and dropped to one knee in front of Y/N. “Get up Verne, you embarrass yourself.” The boy quickly stood back up. “You started this?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s one of the people that killed Pan! Surely you must want--”

Slap! “What I want is to be respected. Yet, with my absence you plan a burning without my permission nor my inclusion. For this act of idiocy you can spend a couple nights in the cages.”

“But Y/N I was only doing what I thought you would--”

“And for arguing with me it is now a week. Now go to your cage or it shall be a month. Understood?” The boy dropped his gaze and shuffled into the jungle.

“What about Tigerlily?” one of the boys shouted. “She was helping the pirate!”

“Tigerlily,” Y/N sighed, “Is this true?”

“I needed to. To help the Saviour! Otherwise I would never have betrayed you, you know that.”

“I know but it hurts to think that one of my closest friends would do this to me.” Y/N started cutting away the ropes binding the former fairy.

“She needs help to win the final battle! The realms are in danger!”

“The saviour is the reason Peter is dead. Why would I ever want to help her?”

“Y/N, please, don’t harm the lass.” Hook said.

“I would never hurt her. I brought her here to protect her.” Y/N turned back toward Hook, “But you hold no such affection. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t burn you alive right now.”

“Because you’re incomplete.” he whispered so the words only reached her ears, “You may be the new ruthless leader of these boys and this island but it isn’t enough. No amount of treasure, adventure, followers, magic, or rum can fill that empty void. The one he left.”

She curled her lip up at him. With one swift motion she pulled the dagger off her belt and lashed at him. Hook closed his eyes expecting pain but was surprised to feel the ropes tying him loosen. He looked down as the ropes dropped to the ground.

Y/N sheathed her dagger once more. “Let’s take a walk captain. No tricks. No escape attempts. Just a walk between the two of us.”

“As the lady wishes.” Hook stepped down from his perch and followed Y/N into the jungle. The Lost Boys watched them disappear in confusion. Surely they must think that their leader was taking the pirate to be killed somewhere else. The idea wouldn’t surprise him one bit.

They trudged through the jungle in silence. What was she waiting for?

They stopped in front of a massive tree. Pan’s old Thinking Tree if he was correct. Y/N knelt to the ground in front of it. At first he didn’t realize what she was doing until he saw the stone marking the head of a grave.

“I try to forget.” Y/N murmured to the grave, “I leave, I play the pipes, I look for amnesia in the bottom of a bottle but no matter what I find myself right back here everyday. I come back here and think of how I could have changed things. How I could have saved him but failed. All those times he saved me and it was finally my turn and I couldn’t do it.”

“If you want me to feel sorry for what happened I won’t.”

“I don’t expect anything. You’re a hero now. It’s what you people do.”

“Why’d you bring me here?”

“You hear many stories when you travel as much as I. I heard you came back from the dead.” Oh no. He could tell where this was going and it was nowhere good, “That your hero buddies traveled to the Underworld to bring you back.”

“They did. But if you think that you can bring him back then you should know it’s not possible.”

“I know. I’m not naive enough to think I can just travel to the Underworld and pull someone back into life. That’s not the point I was getting to.” she took in a deep breath, “I wanted to know, was he there?”

“Aye, he was.” Hook answered. He never saw the demon boy himself but he knew he was there.

“Did he say anything?”

Hook was torn between telling her that he never said a word to the demon or giving her the closure she so obviously craved. In the end the latter won out. Hook knelt next to her. “In between his attempts to make it back to the land of the living he did tell me something. That if ever I found myself sailing these waters again for any reason to tell you that he wished you happiness in your life.”

“Thank you,” she muttered, “It’s a blatant lie but thank you.”

“Alright, I never actually spoke to him. I just thought it was something you may have wanted to hear.”

“Trying to butter me up?”

“Of course. How else would I make it off this island alive?”

“I don’t want you here. I don’t want you dead. I just want you gone.” she whistled to the sky and a dark shadow swooped down. “She’ll take you home. Stay there and never show your face here again or I will kill you myself. Is that understood?”

“Transparently.”

“Good. Now get the hell off my island.”

Hook didn’t feel like testing his luck by questioning why she was letting him leave and took the shadow’s outstretched hand. Soon he was far above the trees and the spot where Y/N sat in front of a grave was a pinprick in his vision. Despite all the hell she had put him through he couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the lonely Lost Girl.

(First) (Previous) (Next)

#slowburn #ouat peter pan #peter pan ouat #ouat #peter pan imagine #neverland #peter pan x reader

[nbnezumi]

25-30 w ALL ur dnd charas plus Marshall

im gonna limit it to the ones that have been posted on here because 5x3 is 15 and LONG and also some of them just arent that developed. under a cut because, again, long

25. Favorite animal?

azgen- Oh You Know 🐀

cléon- birds in general, but particularly big colorful ones

marshall- cows because he just thinks theyre neat

26. Expansion of civilization or the preservation of nature?

azgen- they just want things to stay balanced overall, like expanding is fine if its not hurting anything

cléon- definitely preservation of nature, she grew up surrounded by nature and values it for both its necessity to her work back home and because it was here first dont be rude

marshall- expansion of civilization kind of by necessity, like its not safe for most people outside of the domes so in order to have everyone live somewhere safe they need to push outwards

27. They’re at a tavern. They bump into a big burly angry drunk with a combative attitude. What happens?

azgen- 💪💪🐀 but only if the other person actually physically starts the fight

cléon- apologizes and offers to buy them a drink/share her snack to settle things down

marshall- since he bumped into the other person he would say sorry and try to continue whatever he was doing, but if they tried to start something he would say lets take this outside and then after walking out the front door he would just keep walking and leave and go home

28. What do they do between quests?

azgen- azgens been running a fairly successful business for about a century and is not gonna let a little jail time and a move get in the way of that. its pretty much just for fun/hobbies at this point though because adventuring makes a lot of $$$ (that we left on that goblin island because i dont know how factories work but they should be compensated for their work! i hope theyre doing ok...)

cléon- shes entirely out of her depth and is doing the adventure equivalent of nodding and saying yeah when you didnt hear the other person, so shes gonna spend a good while meeting everyone and exploring. she likes to draw maps so she probably draws one of the core/surrounding area

marshall- even before switching to office work it was pretty similar, like monster hunting and desk jobs are stressful in their own rights so a lot of it is stuff that relaxes him... read a book, work on a jigsaw puzzle, play with the gerbils... but also because too much of that is boring he definitely took the car outside and did some things of questionable legality 

29. Biggest positive and negative influences on their life and development?

azgen- positive, well both kids were troublemakers but they had a very patient mentor who put up with a lot of their shit until they figured out that actually sometimes learning is cool and actually got down to it. another positive i actually would count is getting arrested because otherwise theyd still be in that hermit hut and i think meeting a bunch of new friends and getting a big ol prophecy is a better direction for life. negative, since there were two of them and they basically did all the same stuff they ended up dividing up/prioritizing things differently which after they werent together anymore left azgen not being able to read common/swim/cook well/etc... also the Chicken Incident which scared both of them so much they still cant face a chicken in the flesh. this cant be used as a weakness against each other just based on the fact that one of them would have to get close enough to one to move it/put it in a trap/confirm its a chicken. and of course the whole gun thing is also a big negative.

cléon- positive, she has a very caring and supporting family! especially her older sister who took her on trips when she was younger and helped her get into music, and her mom who raised her to be polite but take no shit. learning to play an instrument also was a positive because it gave her a good creative outlet which shed been needing for a while. negative, she lived kind of in the middle of nowhere as a young kid and didnt really have perspective or exposure to much, and shes had a lot of responsibility re: her younger sisters handed down after her older sister moved to the city which she didnt really have a chance to get away from unless shes working.

marshall-i dont have a lot of his deeper backstory official yet because i know were supposed to do the shared history bits and ive been planning to get those and then work from there + my skeleton to get the big picture? i get stepping on toes anxiety about storywriting too though so this is partially that sorry. i do figure though that monster hunting as a profession would be a general negative just since its pretty dangerous and doing that as a paid job for a company like with a schedule would be more stressful/less flexible than just doing it freelance. positive, since hes got a less fatal job at the moment hes had a good amount of me time and has got himself right, as much as one can when they live in a dome and probably will go back to hunting monsters in the future. he might have to leave the gerbils with his cousin so he calls her twice a month to make sure she remembers how to take care of them, and also to watch movies. that counts as positive because they have a good time and im running out of things to say!

30. Would they smooch a ghost? 

azgen- they have to meet the same standards as any other person but the fact that theyre a ghost wouldnt get in the way

cléon- shed have to understand how someone can exist as a ghost and just how dead they actually are but she would be 

marshall- it might be a little weirder than bigfoot but yes you know it

#ghostie answers #dnd3d #idnd #mmotw #azgen #cléon #marshall #lesbian-warlock #asks

[keywestlou]

BORING NEWS TODAY

News today boring. Never thought I would say or write the statement.

I went through my usual news items to select topics for today’s blog. Nothing turned me on. Much news, all dull. I suspect it is because Trump is not dominating the news with his extravagant wild claims and thoughts.

Ergo, I do not want to bore you either. As a result today’s blog will have Day 12 of Greece the First Time and only a couple of items I thought might interest you.

Super Bowl! A big evening ahead.

I have learned in life that a good deed is generally repaid at some point. Even though the person performing the deed expects nothing in return.

Back in the late 1980s, I was Chairman of the Syracuse University Law school Board of Visitors. As such, I was in a position to extend many favors. And I did. The favors generally parents asking me to help get their children into law school or the University itself.

I was successful in each instance. Interestingly out of all I assisted in gaining admittance, only one did not make it. He flunked out.

There were a few instances where I did not know the parents. Whether I knew them or not, I would not offer assistance till I met with a student, reviewed his grades, etc.

I never met the parents of one student I now share with you.

The individual who handled my firm’s pension plan was a Utican and personal friend. He was big time in the pension field. For example, he represented the entire Buffalo Bills with regard to their pension plans.

He visited with me and asked if I could help in the following fashion. The Buffalo Bill’s Vice-President of Marketing had a younger brother who wanted to become an attorney. His college grades were very much on the low side. He also had a drug problem problem at one time.

I helped his brother. I think I talked with the older brother two times on the telephone.

The young man was admitted to Syracuse. Got through. Today is a partner in a major Buffalo law firm.

Beginning with the first Super Bowl game following my obtaining admittance for his brother, the Vice-President sent me two tickets every year to that year’s Super Bowl game. I don’t recall if Buffalo ever played in one.

Every year forever it seemed. The best seats!

My son and I used them every year. My recollection we attended 2 of the Supper Bowl games in New Orleans.

I assume my son now receives the tickets.

His thank you went a step further.

My oldest grandchild Sara graduated from college. She was interested in a marketing position. A request was made to the Vice-President who without an extra breath said don’t worry.

Sara immediately went to work for the Buffalo Bills in Marketing upon graduation. This was some time in the  early 1990s. She is still there.

One good deed deserves another is apparently true.

In glancing through today’s news, I only came up with one item I thought interesting. Concerns sex and coronavirus.

The police recently raided a sex orgy commonly known as a swingers property in the Town of Collegian outside Paris. I label the event a sex orgy because that it is how the newspaper article identified the event.

The party was in a warehouse. Eighty one adults of all ages involved.

All 81 were arrested.

A problem arose as to what the charge should be. A sex arrest apparently was considered too heavy.

Coronavirus was and still is a major problem in France. Curfew the evening of the party was 9 pm. The raid was at 11 pm. Each of the 81 was charged with violation of curfew. Each fined 135 euros.

I suspect many at the event were persons of prominence. Nine were lawmakers from other countries.

France is not alone in breaking curfew in such fashion. Belgium, also. In fact, Belgium has a reputation in Europe for sex parties which the French call “partouges.” Belgium apparently is the country to visit for a sex party.

A small party. Only 52. A birthday party.

The party was held in a town 2 minutes from the French border. The party house was located next to a COVID clinic.

I know nothing useless about the event. Who was present, charges if any, etc.

Brussels recently had a party also. This one limited to the male sex. Twenty five involved.

I know nothing about the arrests, charges, disposition of the cases, etc.

One thing the media did carry however is that one of the participants was an MEP member. Hungary’s Jozel Szajer. He was caught bare ass going out a back window. He resigned his official position a few days later bcause of “ill health.”

Coronavirus comes into play. I assume swingers do not wear masks and do social distance. Virus infections have to be off the wall.

Thus far, France has had 3.3 million cases of coronavirus. From that number, 78,000 have died.

Belgium has Europe’s worst COVID-19 infection rate. Note the use of the term “rate.” Additional information showed Belgium to have 720,000 cases with 21,000 dead.

I label these sex orgies/swinging parties pure insanity. These are the days when coronavirus is easily acquired. How can these people not consider the danger involved.

Recall when AIDS came upon the scene. Social sex suffered an immediate death.

I am certain the Super Bowl parties last night and tonight following the game in New Orleans will violate all protective rules. New Orleans a great party town at Super Bowl time. Remember, I was there twice.

Huge clubs. People dancing shoulder to shoulder. Bodies pressed  together at huge bars while people drank. Even the bathrooms a danger zone. Men and women facilitates meant nothing. Both sexes will fill the facilities together. Drugs will be rampant.

Louisiana’s numbers a month from now will be interesting. There has to be a significant rise in numbers of those infected. As will the communities from which persons came when their residents return home.

No one seems to care.

DAY 12…..Greece the First Time

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Key West Lou

I took a walk yesterday morning. Not sure why. I really did not need the exercise. With all the steps and hills here, I am exercising constantly.

I guess I was in the mood to explore.

I went to the donkey trail. The one I spoke about yesterday. Five hundred plus steps. Side of a mountain. This time I went close.

It stunk! Big time! Of donkey urine and shit! Who would want to ride a donkey surrounded by such a stench!

As I arrived at the start, I saw a bunch of women walking up the donkey path. Beside the donkey excretions, the path is loaded with all size rocks and dirt. Not the best place from my perspective to exercise.

As soon as they reached the top, the ladies turned around and started back down.

One of them did not. I went over to speak with her. What are you ladies doing? Turns out they exercise there every morning. They walk up and down the donkey path. How many times? Till we get tired! What about the stink? We try to stay ahead of it. Why do you do it? It is 2,000 feet up and 2,000 feet down. To keep thin. But you all look thin. Oh no, she said. Look at my belly. I eat too much and have to do this.

Female vanity!

As I was walking back to my cave accommodation along the road, a small car drove up fast. Parked on the side with the ass end of the vehicle butting out into a narrow heavily traveled road. The windows were closed. The driver got out and walked away. He obviously was looking for someone. Three or four minutes later he returned. With a wife or girl friend. Saw them come around the corner of a building. They got into the car and drove off. Sitting in the back in a car seat was a baby less than one year old.

I rented a car. Finally. Wanted to see more of the island.

A Fiat. Small. Clutch/shift. I learned on one so no problem.

I was off to Red Beach. To see the topless and totally bare women!

Santorini is a strange place to rent a car. The gas tank is empty when you pick the car up. The nearest gas station miles away. The rental place puts two liters of gasoline into the car. From two used water bottles. Then tells me it will get me to the gas station…..sometimes it is closed…..you may have a problem.

What the hell!

Off I went. As I drove, I thought what a thief. People return rented cars with gas left in the tank. He must be siphoning it out and reselling it to gas stations. After first filling some empty water bottles, of course.

I made it to the gas station. It was open.

Greek gas stations still pump your gas. They should for what it costs!

You buy by the euro. Big shot me asked for 30 euro. Gasoline is $12 American money a gallon here. Thirty euro got me 3 1/2 gallons. Not even a half a tank.

Gasoline is gold!

I will never complain in the US again about the price of gasoline. $4 a gallon would be considered a bargain, a steal, here.

My goal was Red Beach. The place for nudity.

I got lost of course. Finally found it by just driving roads that seemed to go in the direction I thought the beach was. A one half hour drive took me an hour and a half. Don’t say I should have looked at the signs. Good luck! The signs were all in Greek.

I did not mind. I got to see other parts of the island. No other part compares to Oia, I learned. Oia is heaven, not Santorini itself.

The roads suck. Driving an experience. Very narrow two lane roads. Curves frequently. Sharp curves. None gradual as in the US. The curves come up and are just there. Some very tight turns. Like the curve in a hairpin. Buses dominate. They drive 2 feet over into your lane. There is no parking on the roads. People park on the roads anyhow. Tightens the road up a bit.

All I could think of was Greece is a country that built the cave dwelling I am living in, Acropolis and the Parthenon. Why couldn’t it build better roads?

I finally ended up at Red Beach. When I stopped the car, I knew it had to be Red Beach. I was at the end of the island. The only place else I could drive was into the sea.

I had a little difficulty locating Red Beach itself. Had to walk up a relatively small mountain. Over a dirt rocky path. When I thought the water was feet away, it was not. I had merely reached the top of the knoll. As I looked down, I could see Red Beach about a quarter of a mile away.

Red Beach so called because it is lava created. A high black lava mountain surrounds it on three sides. A black beach. Black water. From the volcano eruption 3,500 years ago. Why called Red then? Because there are spottings of red on the mountain wall, beaches and in the water. Where it came from, what it is, I never found out.

My concern was how to get to the beach. Then I saw it. A narrow three foot path running around the center of the lava mountain. About mid way up. No wall. The lava mountain on one side of you and a sharp fall the other. Not for me. I opted to leave, never got to Red Beach itself. Never saw bare breasted or bare assed women. I did not care. My personal safety overcame my perversions. I am getting old.

I spent the balance of the afternoon sitting under an umbrella by the pool. Overlooking the Aegean Sea. The view spectacular.

In Key West, visitors are constantly told to walk down any street. Never know what will be found. A Seven Fish. Michael’s Restaurant. a coffee house. a corner store with great Cuban toast, a cute art gallery. Whatever.

I got off the beaten path last night. Walked down a side street. Actually an alley. I saw a bit of light in the distance. A bar, a restaurant? Down the alley I went. There it was. The Argonaut Restaurant. A taverna. Small.

A locals place. They all stared at this obvious tourist as I walked in.

A great place! The best food! Made a ton of new friends!

The tables were small carpenter work horses. A thick 4 inch slab of wood on top. Seats were small barrels with a pad to sit on.

I had a delicious sausage. Several meats. More about the sausage I cannot tell you. Fried potatoes and a salad. Stuffed wine leaves to start. Two gins. For desert that Greek specialty. I forget the name. Baklava, I think. A flaky cake buried in honey. Topped by a double espresso. The whole bill was 19 euros. About $24 American money.

I shall return!

I walked the marble walkway behind the cave apartments on the way home. The path runs on top of the caves. Great stores and restaurants along the way. It was 11 in the evening. My walk about 1/2 mile. I saw a total of 7 people.

There is no night life in Oia. At least not that I have discovered.

I spoke this morning with Nikos. Where were the people? A bad year so far, he said. People are not traveling. The economy once again. The euro problem.

Key West three years ago. But not as bad.

Another example of the poor economy. Having decided to leave Red Beach, I was thirsty. I saw a bar near where my car was parked. I walked over. What appeared to be the proprietor was seated on the porch. Water? No water. Soda. No soda. Beer? No beer. Gin? No gin. So the conversation went. I looked at him as if to say….Come on, this is a bar. He looked at me as if he could read my mind and said…..No business, out of business. He had owned and operated the place for 32 years. He had to recently close. The euro problem. No business.

I seem to make friends easily on this trip. I have a few coffee buddies. I stop by a small coffee place a couple of times a day to chat with them. We have arrived. We can understand each other. Though neither speaks the other’s language.

Santorini and the Greek Isles are mere dots on the map. Of no significant size. Perhaps of no significance. Its inhabitants simple folk. Have been here their whole lives as their ancestors before them. They do not know life as we do.

I had sensed that people here did not understand what a blog was. Even when explained, it was Greek to them. Christina the beauty parlor owner, Nikos the cave hotel owner. They smile and look at you blankly when you speak of blogs. The same reaction with my espresso drinking friends.

Most people here work to eat. What they earn goes for food and a roof over their heads. They know nothing of pensions. They will work till the day they die.

Different.

Enjoy your day!

BORING NEWS TODAY was originally published on Key West Lou

[sickdaysofficial]

Water

Sickdays 3, Day 5: Water

Fandom: My (@lickstynine’s) OCs

Characters: Kit, Violet, and friends

“Nina, if you ask me to play cards again, I’ll shove the whole deck straight up your arse.” Violet snapped.

Kit snickered into his book, watching the confrontation out of the corner of his eye.

Nina whined. “But I’m booooored.”

“It’s not even a long flight, dude. Take a nap. Watch a movie. Just chill.” Leander chimed in.

“No, I wanna playyyy…”

“Fine! You want to play cards? Here!” Violet thrust her tablet into Nina’s hands. “Play solitaire, download a poker app, I don’t care. Just leave me alone.” With that, Violet put her headphones back in and went back to ignoring her friends.

Nina seemed quite pleased now that she had the tablet, and was content to occupy herself with Angry Birds like it was still 2011. On her other side, Isabella was sound asleep. Leander and Kit were sitting across the aisle, occupying themselves quietly like decent functional adults.

After a while, the fasten your seatbelt sign lit up, and Nina started bouncing with excitement. The second they landed, she hopped up eagerly, waiting for her friends to exit the plane with her. They gathered their luggage and strolled out of the airport, Violet leading the group towards the taxi waiting for them.

Nina chattered inanely with her now-awake sister while Violet and Leander debated the odds of a fight between a t-rex-sized goose and a goose-sized t-rex. Kit was still absorbed in his book, trying to finish his chapter before they reached the port. He slipped a bookmark into the novel as the taxi drew to a halt.

“This is so exciting!” Nina chirped. “I’ve never been to a private island before.”

“If I recall correctly, they’re full of parental neglect and sunburn.” Kit replied.

Nina pouted. “Don’t be such a sourpuss, Ruby! This is gonna be fun!”

Kit eyed the tiny sailboat they were about to take to the island. “Yeah. Fun. That’s the word.” Sarcasm dripped from his words, and his heels dragged against the ground as Violet dragged him onto the boat.

Leander glanced around the boat before choosing a seat to plop down in. Nina and Isabella sat with him; Violet grabbed a seat nearby, wanting to continue her debate with Leander, and Kit sat next to her with a dramatic sigh.

“Relax, it’s really not that far.” She gave his hair a playful tousle. “Don’t stress yourself out.”

“It’s not stress, Vi. It’s intense seasickness.” He grumbled, fixing his hair and shifting in his seat.

Violet huffed, giving him a light-hearted shove. “You just need to relax, hold out a little longer. You’ll find your sea legs if you just have a little more patience.”

“No. No, I won’t. We have this conversation every time, and every time, I’m sick and miserable. I don’t have sea legs. I’m a sea paraplegic.”

Rolling her eyes, Violet mussed his hair again. “If you say so. I think you just like to complain all the time.”

Kit muttered something under his breath, sighing and leaning back in his chair. He tried to ignore the swaying sensation beneath him, and the hot, sticky air clinging to his skin. The longer he sat there, the more he felt like he was slowly melting into the chair - before long, he’d just be a puddle of pasty goo with a pile of red hair floating in it.

The rocking of the boat and the smell of salt triggered recollections of a childhood trip to the same island; Kit recalled being horribly sick, and being snapped at by his father for complaining about it. He had managed to get a spectacular sunburn on the same vacation. Ah, memories…

After what felt like hours, Kit finally peeled himself out of his chair, stretching his legs and wiping the sweat off his brow. “Ugh, how much longer is it to the island?”

“Dude, it’s only been ten minutes.” Leander laughed.

Kit groaned. “Ah, fuck me…”

“Maybe later. I don’t have condoms on me.” Leander winked dramatically at the red-haired boy, and the girls laughed at his gay-ass display.

Kit sighed and rolled his eyes, attempting to distract himself by restarting the t-rex and goose debate. “Look, Lea, I appreciate that t-rexes have very sharp teeth, but a goose that big could just fucking step on the little lizard. Besides, geese are horrifying at their current size.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying!” Violet chimed in.

“He’s got claws, too, though…” Leander countered. He had a lot of faith in his goose-sized dinosaur.

“Claws don’t matter when you’re getting crushed.” Kit argued, “That’s like saying a cat could beat a cow. Who cares if the cat is clawing and biting, that cow is going to curb-stomp it into next week.”

“I told you! I fucking told you!” Violet was perhaps a bit too smug about having gotten Kit on her side.

Leander sighed. “Okay. Okay. Fine. New one. Lion-sized turtle or like ten turtle-sized lions?”

“…shit, that’s hard.” Violet furrowed her brow. “The tiny pack of lions could go after the turtle’s fleshy bits, but what if the turtle hid in its shell?”

“How slow would a turtle like that be?” Kit asked.

“I dunno, like… really slow?” Leander replied.

Kit sighed. “You… you need to think this through more. I can’t debate with you if you don’t know the specifics of your giant turtle anatomy.”

“You guys are so weird…” Nina laughed. “Why would you want a turtle that big?”

“We don’t want one,” Leander explained, “we want to figure out if it would win in a fight against ten small lions.”

Nina blinked in confusion. “Why?”

“Because we’re bored.” Violet replied.

“…weird.” Nina went back to playing Angry Birds on Violet’s tablet.

Before long, Leander and Violet had taken the debate on to dozens of other animals. Kit had been chiming in less and less as they progressed, even though the conversation interested him. He was having trouble focusing enough to argue, and after a while, he got up again to stretch his legs and hopefully clear his head. The humidity was still horrendous, and every breath of soggy, salty air made his sinuses ache and his stomach turn. He sighed, brushing his hair out of his sweat-drenched face and leaning against the edge of the boat as he waited for the island to come into view.

“Hey, Ruby!” Leander called over to the moping redhead. “What do you think? Giant jellyfish, or a bunch of tiny sharks?”

Kit blinked, taking a moment to think before finally asking, “How venomous is the jellyfish?”

“Er… I dunno.”

“Dammit, Leander. I told you, you need to put more thought into these for the arguments to have any value.” Kit shook his head disapprovingly. He had been the head of his debate team back in high school, and he put a lot of detail into his arguments, even the stupid ones.

Leander rolled his eyes. “You take this shit too seriously, man.”

Kit shrugged, busy focusing hopefully on a growing green dot in the distance. “Yeah, probably.” He leaned against the edge of the boat, taking slow breaths and trying to ignore the churning of his stomach. Even when he closed his eyes, his head continued to spin, and he slowly sank down until he was sitting on the deck, leaning against the side of the boat.

“You doing okay over there?” Violet raised an eyebrow in Kit’s direction.

“Yeah, I… I think I’ll live.” Kit wrapped his arms around himself, hoping the turmoil in his gut would calm down once they reached land. In his head, he knew it usually took awhile for his seasickness to settle, but he was hoping nature might be a little less cruel than usual today.

“Just don’t puke all over the boat. Do that shit in the water or something.” Isabella’s tone was sharp and unsympathetic.

“As you wish, your majesty…” Kit huffed, his tone scathingly sarcastic. Though he could normally take a good bit of flack from his friends, he certainly didn’t feel up to being harassed right now, and Isabella was fully aware of that. She just didn’t care. Kit scowled at the back of Isabella’s head as she turned to go back to talking to the others. He didn’t even really care if she liked him, but it was annoying how far out of her way she would go just to be a bitch to him.

As the conversation started to fizzle out, the tiny green speck had grown to a significant mass on the horizon, and the others were now drawing towards the bow of the boat to get a glimpse of the island as they approached.

“Whoa…” Nina marveled, “Look at all the plants and stuff… It looks like a movie or something…”

“I bet they’ve filmed movies here.” Leander mused, “I swear I’ve seen that palm tree in about a thousand flicks…” He jokingly gestured to a very generic-looking palm now visible on the shore of the island.

Nina giggled and leaned against him as they watched the sandy edge of the island draw closer. Before long, the boat stopped against a small dock and the group climbed off, eager to explore. Kit was the last to depart, slowly dragging himself and his suitcase out of the boat. He was unsteady on his feet, and his face was completely devoid of colour. Leander grabbed Kit’s bag since it looked pretty close to being dropped.

“You doing okay, man? You look rough…”

Kit shook his head, shuffling slowly towards the beach with the others. “No, I feel awful… I think I might be sick…”

Violet sighed, putting an arm around his shoulders for support. “You’ll be alright. Just try and breathe.”

He shook his head, clamping one hand over his mouth while the other clutched at his stomach. “No, I’m definitely going to throw up.”

“Shite, alright, ah… Away from the bags.” Violet carefully steered him away from the group a bit, knowing vomit wouldn’t do any damage to an empty stretch of sand.

Kit’s shoulders lurched with a painful heave and he quickly pulled his hand away from his mouth. A thin stream of bile dripped from his lips, soaking the pale sand. Violet sighed quietly and patted his back. She honestly didn’t want to deal with this right now, but what was she going to do, toss Kit in the ocean and leave?

Another slightly thicker wave of puke added to the puddle on the ground and Kit groaned in discomfort, his arms tightening around his stomach. His legs buckled beneath him and Violet barely managed to catch him before he fell.

“Whoa, careful, there…” She gently lowered him down to his knees, rather than letting him fall face-first into a puddle of his own vomit. Now much more concerned, she gently gathered his hair back, fastening it in a quick messy bun to get it out of his way.

Kit coughed and spit into the sand, taking a few ragged breaths before he doubled over heaving again. Only a few more mouthfuls of sour vomit came up, but he continued to retch for a while after that, his whole abdomen convulsing painfully. When he finally finished, he was trembling with exhaustion and his stomach muscles were aching. A surprisingly attentive and worried-looking Violet helped him to his feet.

“Come on, you should lie down. You need some rest after all that…”

The sun was beaming down on Kit through his bedroom window in the beach house. He slowly sat up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. His body felt drained and achy after last night; his mouth was dry and his stomach was growling. Swinging his legs off the bed, he stood up and looked around. It had been years since he’d spent the summer here, but the house looked the same as ever. He could almost hear his father yelling at his second wife downstairs. He shook his head to clear it, sighing and heading downstairs.

“Ayy! Look who’s finally up!” Leander was sitting at the kitchen table, chowing down on a pile of pancakes.

“Morning, Ruby!” Nina hopped up to give him a big hug. He, of course, hugged her back.

“Good morning, Nina.” Kit gave her a quick squeeze before turning to look at the kitchen counter. “Did you lot leave me any food?”

Violet shook her head. “Nope. You get to starve.”

Kit chuckled and rolled his eyes. “And after I brought you all to my beach house! How rude!”

Isabella jerked her thumb towards the fridge. “There’s more pancake batter. You can make yourself some.” Despite having cooked for everyone else, she had no intent of offering to make Kit breakfast.

“Thanks, Isa.” Kit smiled even though he knew it wouldn’t be reciprocated, walking over to the fridge to pull out the batter. He had to dig through about thirty cabinets and nine drawers to find a pan and spatula, but he eventually got started cooking. He was no master chef, but pancakes were easy as hell to make, and before long, he had piled up a stack of delicious fluffy discs.

“There’s fruit and whipped cream to go on top.” Nina offered, gesturing to the cutting board on the counter, where freshly sliced strawberries, mangoes, and bananas sat in neat little piles.

Kit looked over at the cutting board, noticing the single knife sitting next to it. “Did you cut them all with the same knife?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Because I’m allergic to strawberries, which I’ve told you about a thousand times.” Kit sighed and rolled his eyes, digging around in the cabinets until he found syrup to put on the pancakes instead.

“Right! Damn… I forgot…” Nina frowned.

“It’s not like I remind you every time you make something, and then you bring strawberries anyway. Oh wait. It is.” Kit huffed, sitting down at the table with a pile of syrupy pancakes.

“I’m sorry! I forgot! I really did!”

Kit sighed, “It’s alright. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” He knew Nina had memory issues, so he tried not to hold it against her. He was actually angry with Isabella, who never forgot  anything, but couldn’t ever be bothered to tell Nina not to bring strawberries. He considered confronting Isabella about it, but he didn’t want to start shit right now. Not when he still had a week on an island and a close-quarters plane ride to spend with her. Instead, he just ate his pancakes, asking after a moment, “So what do you lot plan to do today?”

“Probably explore the island, since we’ve never seen it.” Leander replied, “Do you want to come with?”

“I’d rather stay here. The sun and I don’t get along too well.” Kit could vividly recall many painful sunburns from running around the island as a child, and he wasn’t eager to repeat the experience. “I’ll relax here, finish my book.”

“You’re so boooring, Ruby! Come have fun for once.” Nina whined.

“Maybe if the weather is a bit kinder tomorrow. I’ll come out if it’s cloudy. Is that fair?” He offered.

Nina nodded. “Okay! I hope the clouds come out tomorrow.”

“Me, too. Now, go have fun.” Kit waved his friends off with a smile before going over to the refrigerator. He grabbed a lime and a few bottles of liqour, assembling a pitcher of margaritas, which he carried out to the balcony with his novel. He settled into a cushy recliner in the shade, gazing out over the tropical landscape past the balcony.

A cold drink, a good book, and a nice view. This was a vacation. Perhaps his views were a bit skewed, though, as he didn’t considering traveling and vacationing the same thing. Traveling was for exploring, vacation for relaxing. He’d spent plenty of time as of late traveling, and he needed a vacation to just rest and unwind. He was lucky to have the time and finances to waste on travels and vacations. This was the first full week off his friends had had all year, and Violet was only home from her studies for the summer. Kit was spoiled, and well aware of it, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

The sun was fading behind the trees, leaving long shadows and a bright orange glow as the adventure crew returned back to the beach house. They were tired and hungry, but in good spirits and chatting jovially. The front door swung open and Nina called out, “Ruby, we’re back!”

“Oh, good. I was starting to think you’d been killed by malevolent island spirits.” Kit walked out of the kitchen to greet them. He smelled like tequila and garlic butter; he’d been drinking all day, and had just finished roasting a chicken. “I’ve made dinner. Sit yourselves at the table, and I’ll have food out in a moment.”

“Thank god, I’m fucking starved!” Leander hurried to the dining room, Nina and Isabella following closely.

Violet stayed behind to speak with Kit. “Are you doing alright today? You were feeling pretty rough last night.”

“I’m fine, Vi. Nothing a good night’s sleep and a lot of margaritas can’t fix. Want a drink?” He asked.

She shook her head. “I’ll pass. The others might, though.”

“Noted. Join them at the table, you must be starved. You’ve been out running around all day.” Kit walked back into the kitchen to grab the food, and Violet joined their friends in the dining room

“Roasted chicken and potatoes, and margaritas if you want them. It’s not restaurant quality, but I promise I’ve not poisoned you.” Kit sat at the end of the table, waiting for the others to serve themselves before grabbing his own food.

The group quickly dug into their dinners, quite hungry after a long day of exploring. After a minute, Leander set down his fork to start a conversation. “We were thinking of going night swimming after dinner. You down, Ruby?”

Kit laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t swim”

“Don’t or can’t?” Leander challenged.

“Both.” Kit replied. He’d nearly drowned as a young child, and that had pretty much put him off from ever wanting to swim again.

“It’s never too late to learn.” Leander countered. “Swimming isn’t hard, and besides, if we go out at night, you won’t get sunburned.”

“Yeah! You should come with us! I’ll teach you to swim!” Nina offered.

Kit paused to think, taking another sip of his margarita. He was getting bored of just sitting in the house alone while the others had fun. “You know what, fuck it. Let’s do it.” He probably would have been more hesitant sober, but he hadn’t been sober since about eleven that morning.

Nina grinned. “Yay! We’re gonna go night swimming!”

“That we are.” Kit nodded. “Finish your dinner first.” He finished off his own food before adding, “Lord, I’m not entirely sure I own a swimsuit.”

“I’ve probably got one you can borrow.” Leander offered. He was taller than Kit, but thin enough that there wasn’t too much of a discrepancy in their waist sizes.

“I suppose that’s it then. Let’s get changed.” Kit cleared the plates from the table before following Leander upstairs.

The moon reflected on the water, a rippling disc of white in a sea of deep inky blue. Kit sighed nervously as he followed his friends down to the beach. He hadn’t been in water deeper than a bathtub since he was a child, and even drunk, he was fairly anxious.

Nina hurried over to him, her braids tucked into a swim cap. “Don’t worry, Ruby. I’ll stay right by you until you get used to it!” She gave Kit a hug and a big smile before gently tugging on his hand to lead him into the water.

Kit took a deep breath, keeping a tight grip on Nina’s hand as he followed her. He expected the waves to be icy as they lapped at his toes, but to his surprise, the water was pleasantly warm. Not being frozen helped him to relax a bit more, and he walked out to about chest height, shivering a bit as the water brushed his bare chest. In the pale glow of the moon, he looked ethereal and ghostly, whereas Nina almost disappeared into the shadows, save for the whites of her eyes and her bright smile.

“See?” She chirped, “This isn’t so bad!”

“You didn’t even melt!” Leander chimed in, earning a chuckle from Violet and Isabella.

“Shut up.” Kit huffed, waving a hand at them dismissively.

Nina giggled. “Ignore them. Come on, a little deeper. You’ll have to paddle, but you’ll get the hang of it.”

Kit nodded slowly, taking a shaky breath before venturing into deeper water. Only his nose and eyes peered out of the depths now, and he flailed his hands experimentally for a minute before figuring out how to properly paddle.

“There you go!” Nina smiled proudly. “Now you can at least keep your head above water.”

“Y… yeah.” Kit smiled a little, seeming reassured.

“Come on, try a breast stroke. It really isn’t too hard.”

After an hour or so of Nina demonstrating and Kit awkwardly flailing through the water, Kit had a solid enough grasp of basic swimming to be comfortable wandering up and down the coast with his friends. They swam around to the far side of the island, where they’d found a neat-looking cove earlier in the day.

Nina took it upon herself to gather as many seashells as she could find. Meanwhile, Leander and Violet were trying to recruit Kit and Isabella respectively for a battle-of-the-sexes chicken fight. It took a bit of begging and goading, but eventually Kit climbed atop Leander’s shoulders and Isabella onto Violet’s, and the battle began.

The game lasted a while, as Kit and Leander tended to be faster and better at dodging, but the girls were on a very aggressive offense. They eventually called it when Isabella yanked Kit by his hair, pushing him off into the water with a more-than-playful shove. The red-haired boy popped out of the water, sputtering and gasping.

“You bitch! That’s not fair!”

Isabella shrugged. “I knocked you off, didn’t I?”

Kit huffed indignantly. “Like a bitch. Let’s play something else.”

“Like what?” Leander asked.

“I have a beachball up on the shore.” Violet offered, climbing out of the water to go get it.

They ended up smacking around the big plastic globe for a while before getting bored again. At that point, the twins ventured off to look for more shells while Leander and Violet floated around and bickered about more fictional animal fights. Kit followed the two of them for a while before starting to zone out, and before he knew it, he had drifted a ways out into the water.

Trying not to stress, he stopped floating on his back to see if his feet could reach the bottom. They didn’t. Now a little more anxious, he scanned the beach, spotting his friends a ways off to his right. He attempted to paddle back towards the cove, but to his alarm, felt something stronger than the typical resistance of water pulling him in the opposite direction. Now he was straight up panicking.

Flailing and gasping and kicking as hard as he could, Kit struggled to swim back towards the shore; however, it felt like the cold, slimy hands of Neptune himself had grabbed him by the balls to drag him to his doom. As much as he was fighting and paddling, he wasn’t even close to being a strong enough swimmer to go against a riptide. It didn’t help that he was absolutely freaking the hell out, shaking and starting to hyperventilate. In barely ninety seconds, he managed to wear himself out, no longer having the energy to keep his flailing, panicky ass afloat. He could feel himself sinking and being sucked out further into increasingly colder water, while the voice in his head shifted from scared to morbid.

This is it. This is how I die. This is the end of me.

He could no longer hold his breath, and a gush of cold water forced its way into his lungs.

Fuck, that burns. I knew I shouldn’t have gone swimming. Has anyone even noticed I’m gone? Of course not. They don’t give a shit about me. Isabella will probably throw a party when they find my drowned body.

His thoughts started to blur a bit more as he felt himself sinking downwards into the cold, inky depths.

At least it’s quiet down here… the cool water feels amost nice… it’s actually kind of peaceful…

Meanwhile, only moments after Kit had drifted away from Violet and Leander, the blond boy looked around, frowning in confusion.

“Where the hell is Ruby?”

Violet opened her eyes, going from floating to standing in the water in about half a second. She looked all around her.

“Shit. I don’t know. Maybe he went with the girls?”

“I’ll go check.” Leander made his way back up to the shore, and he cursed loudly when he found the twins sorting seashells alone. “Fuck. Goddamn. Bloody fucking hell. VIOLET!!!” Leander was now running across the beach yelling and panicking. “He’s not there. He’s not over there. He’s not fucking there!”

Violet smacked Leander in the shoulder. “Calm down. You freaking out isn’t going to help. Come on, follow me into the water. Help me look for him.”

The lanky blond nodded and took a deep breath, paddling out into the waves with her. He finally noticed a speck of motion in his peripheral, and turned to see a flailing red and white mass slowly drifting out to sea.

“Oi! Violet! Over there!”

The dark-haired girl looked over in the same direction, shocked to see how far away Kit was. “How in the bloody fuck did he get that far out?”

“Maybe ask questions after we go get him?” Leander suggested.

“Right! Go get the girls, tell them what’s going on. I’ll get him.”

“Are you sure you can handle it alo -”

“Go!” Violet kicked off in pursuit of her friend, hoping Leander would follow her instructions and head back to shore.

Being a remarkably strong swimmer, it didn’t take Violet long to reach the sinking Kit. She dove into the strong current and surfaced with his limp body in her arms. Knowing no one shy of Superman could swim against a riptide, she kept her grip on Kit while working to paddle them out of the current, parallel to the shore.

Once the tugging force of a very pissy Poseidon was no longer dragging them further out to sea, Violet hurried to shore, the unconscious red-haired boy held tightly in her arms. By the time she got there, Leander, Nina, and Isabella were standing on shore waiting for them. It looked like Nina had been crying, and Leander was pacing nervously. Isabella was just standing there looking bored.

“Well don’t just stand there like a bunch of lemons! Fucking help me. Someone get towels, call a doctor, just do something useful why fucking don’t you!”

Violet barked at her friends as she laid Kit out on the sand. Taking a deep shaky breath, she knelt over him, grateful that she had worked as a lifeguard for many summers. She started with two breaths before placing her hands firmly over his chest. After a second of anxious hesitation, she started compressions, wincing a little as she heard his ribs crack. Even though Violet knew it had to happen, she still felt a deep pang of guilt as she continued to pump his chest. Nina returned while Violet was doing compressions, tearfully offering a pile of towels. Isabella was close in tow, still just observing and disinterested.

Violet gave a terse, “Thanks, Nina,” leaning back down to administer two more breaths before going back to compressions. She went through the cycle of breaths and compressions about three more times before Kit spit out a mouthful of water and started coughing weakly. “Oh, thank god…” she muttered quietly, sighing in relief.

Kit was still coughing and sputtering, bringing up more water and trembling like a leaf. Violet slowly and carefully helped him sit up, leaning him forward so he wouldn’t choke on the water. Between coughs and shaky breaths, he was mumbling nervously. “S…so deep… really c-cold… agh, my chest…” Kit grimaced and put a hand to his torso as a bad cough made his cracked ribs painfully obvious.

“Shh…” Violet slowly rubbed a hand up and down his back. “Just relax. Try to breathe. You’re okay now. Leander went to call a doctor. We’ve got towels. We’ll take you back to the beach house, dry you off, see what the doctor says to do. Okay?”

The shivering, miserable redhead nodded, coughing again and mumbling, “M’kay… feel… feel kinda sick…”

Violet sighed, supporting him as gently as she could while making sure he didn’t fall. “Go ahead. You’ll be okay.”

A deep painful cough cause Kit to pitch forward, turning into a retch as he brought up a mouthful of bile and seawater. Another heave brought up most of his dinner and a good bit of tequila, and one more wave of sick splattered onto the sand before his stomach settled down. He sank back against Violet with a groan. “Christ, I feel like I’m dying…”

“Don’t you dare die on me now.” Violet scooped him up, wrapping him in several towels and heading back towards the beach house.

“Wasn’t on the agenda…” Kit mumbled, burying his face in her shoulder.

For more, or to tell me I suck, go check out @lickstynine.

#tw drowning #is that a tw? #idk putting it to be safe #tw vomit #emeto #drowning #seasickness #july 27 2017 #day 5: water #sickdays 3.0 #submission

[roodiaries]

Tropical Thunder

The Journey North

I'm not talking of a Game of Thrones journey north, where the bitter cold whips one's bones to the brittle core as they pass beyond The Wall and into the icy depths of the unforgiving wildling realms. No. A nice gentle tropical journey north towards the equator, where beaches and tourists are plentiful, the palm trees nestled along an expansive Pacific coastline and the state of relaxation knows no bounds as yet another shrimp is procured from the figurative barbie. Stereotypes aside, the East Coast is fun, but a little too popular and similar at times. You have to make it your own, with good travel mates and a random journey.

Fresh from my incredible holiday in Vanuatu, I left Sydney with Yusuke on 11 September, excited to jump in the Nissan and plough northwards. I had to be in Cairns (2400km away) in 9 days for my new job. We didn't bother messing about too much in New South Wales, as we'd both spent a lot of time here and seen all we wanted to see. We Byron Bayed for a night, and enjoyed the tremendous views on offer there, before a short jump over the Queensland border to Brisbane, where we spent two nights and almost got towed.

The real journey into the unknown began after this, along with an epic 14-hour driving day where we ended up talking to a local woman about the effects of the recent cyclone in Rockhampton (which lies on the Tropic of Capricorn) and eventually reached Airlie Beach. Its electric atmosphere was unfortunately wasted on us tired travellers, as all we wanted to do was go to bed and shovel food down without the pressure and distraction of hostel kitchen chit-chat. Of course, we were awoken by an Aussie guy screaming – “I'll fucken' cut ye open, yer cunt!” – to a guy who had boldly told him to quieten down. Next day was the legendary Whitsunday Islands trip. All prior knowledge about this archipelago and national park had conjured up images of a calm sandy paradise, but we were in for a huge surprise as it turned out to be the ferry ride from hell and one of the roughest sea journeys I've ever experienced. I'm never sure whether I'm just being overly affected by things (scientifically known as OABT Syndrome), but it was bumpy as. Whitehaven Beach was a real treat, however.

It was more driving, driving in our car, north past the dispersing Great Dividing Range and glinty inland sunsets, through forests and fields, over sugar cane train tracks and past vast banana plantations. Townsville & Magnetic Island was the highlight of the trip for me. Mostly because the hostel was good quality – a good balance between social and quiet – and we met spirited Dutch Oz-newbie Jenny, who joined us for the sunset hike up Castle Rock, a towering and majestic hill over Townsville. The Maggie Island daytrip involved joining forces with Jenny's friend Lizzy, renting a mini open-top 4x4, a hot hike past wild koalas to WWII fortifications (I think I bored the others with any over-zealous talk of wartime history), one incredible sunset at West Point, a shy echidna and two brown tree snakes.

Cairns

Named after Irishman & Governor of Queensland, William Wellington Cairns, and unpronounceable without adopting an Aussie accent, this modest city of 140,000 inhabitants is a surprisingly pumping tourist mega-hotspot. Go more than 200m from the ocean and everything basically becomes shit (e.g. classic highways lined with industrial outlets and nothingy commercial suburbs), but the heart of the city is the marina and downtown area. Despite a smaller size, it has a nightlife to compete with most other Australian cities and a huge mix of nationalities. Steamy nights at Salt House, Pier Bar, The Reef Casino, Three Wolves and even The Woolshed will stay with me for a long time. The gorgeous green hills provide a tropical backdrop, and the Trinity Inlet is a beautiful spot to the south, while the beachside suburbs to the north – Trinity Beach, Kewarra, Palm Cove to name just three – are incredibly chilled out and enjoyable. Fishing with fun work-mates Max, Tun & Rankin on a boat trip up the river was a real privilege; as well as trips to Shangri-La's North Bar overlooking the marina with ex-Pullmanites and great friends Caitlin & Davide; the work-mate pool party at Caitlin & Max's house with poker and Cards Against Humanity was yet another reminder that this is not a normal life for an Englishman.

Nothing makes you feel more like you're in the tropics than the pungent smell of bat shit outside the Cairns Library, where hundreds of them gather before fleeing and feeding across the night sky. They are the animal that most represent Cairns for me, along with the ominous curlew, a gangly and awkward flightless bird that drifts in a ghostly way by night. I discovered the city by bicycle and was able to experience the city in all its hot, heavy, pungent glory.

The Winkworth Way

I moved in to 45 Winkworth Street in the western suburbs, paying $135 per week for a single room with a double-bed and air-conditioning. It was by far the best accommodation I've had in Australia. I loved the house for its airy openness and traditional Queenslander ambience, but mostly because of the fantastic people I lived with. I don't say this often, because I generally seem to end up in accommodation that's less than ideal. We were all travellers in the house, and all worked a lot so often wouldn't see each other for days at a time. But that made it all the more special when we did meet and hang out. There was Yukie, a Japanese lady from downstairs who dropped her keys in a bush when she fell down the stairs drunk one time; Ander from the Basque Country, who enjoys parties, bed bugs and violently offering biscuits as well as taking me on some excellent and fun day-trips; Leonie whose surname and town of origin (Ter Stege and Enschede respectively) Ander and I always enjoyed repeating back to her in a Dutch accent for immature amusement, who works too much but has a heart of gold; Tim, an Austin Powersy German dive instructor and goon connoisseur as well as a valued source of Stephen Colbert episodes; and Kacie from Texas, who is a rock of a friend and proves the Trump-American stereotypes wrong with a kind, fair outlook on life, and loves Australia if only it weren't for the cockroaches constantly falling on her head.

Even Andrew, the landlord, was pretty cool. Except for the occasions when he simply could not stop swearing in anger for minutes at a time, over some trivial thing that's happened with the roof or his phone. “Oh no. You baaastard!”

Pullmania

Working took up the bulk of my time. 39% of my waking hours over three months in Cairns were spent in the Pullman Cairns International Hotel. I actually calculated it. I had transferred up here from Sydney to fill the same role (a Food & Beverage Attendant, in Banquets), so technically should have known what I was doing. However, a few factors made PCI more challenging than PSHP: the climate was hotter, the furniture heavier, and many of the events much bigger and more challenging. It was a hectic & sweaty 3 months, and below I've chosen some events to paint a picture:

Friday 22 September: my first shift. I found my way through the labyrinthine back-of-house corridors in time for briefing, simultaneously meeting my manager, Karen, and the staff working tonight (most of the banquets team). In addition, we had lots of staff from Coco's (the restaurant in the lobby) and Staffing Solutions (a hospitality agency). I was behind the main bar with Italian sage Davide for a 400-pax cocktail reception, meaning canapés and free drinks for a bunch of lairy let-loose corporate types. Since it was the pool-deck, we couldn't serve glass bottles, so had to pour every single beer into a plastic cup. The queue was infinite, with murmurs of disapproval when not getting served immediately, and over the fact they had to drink beer out of plastic glasses. The struggle was very real and lasted for hours: one guy simply sighed, while another shook his head and laughed in disgust at my occasionally over-foamy beers. An arrogant racktastic blonde kept appearing at the bar, clicking her fingers and demanding to be served her rum & Coke (she knew it was my first day and that I would be a soft touch). I really felt shell-shocked when the event finally ended, and then overwhelmed with fatigue and frustration for the next few hours when we had to replace all of the furniture and polish all of the glasses we'd used tonight, which took us until 2am. 10-hour physical shift, no breaks. I soon realised this was not unusual.

Tiffany & Gareth: The Unhappy Bride. The grand ballroom was used to host the wedding reception of Tiffany and Gareth, an aboriginal couple who had married earlier today. Most of the guests were indigenous, too, and I always enjoyed doing events with aboriginal people, since I had seldom met any during my time in the South-East. However, Tiffany decided she wanted to ruin her own day by complaining about everything and causing problems in a truly bogan manner. Why didn't everyone have champagne for the toast!? This wasn't what I asked for on the buffet! Why are people getting too many free drinks!? Why did I get married!? The banquets team was on edge, and people snapped at each other, while our trooper of a supervisor, Shontelle, bore the brunt of the complaints (she had met with Tiffany several times before the event, and none of the things she was complaining about had ever been mentioned). She wanted a Fairytale Wedding, but wasn't the fairytale bride.

Melbourne Cup Day: I hadn't slept well the night before, and my body and mind weren't ready for a rare daytime shift. Some of the richest people in Cairns came to the hotel to mingle with fellow poshos over lunch, look fancy and watch the Melbourne Cup horse race on big TV screens. I was put in the fenced-off VIP section with my Team Leader, Harumi. All we had to do was pour drinks for them, or fetch beers from the bar, then clear their plates when they were finished with their buffet lunch. But things went wrong early on when I opened a bottle of champagne and the cork literally flew up to hit the ceiling, bouncing off it and landing in someone's lap on the other side of the ballroom. I could have melted with embarrassment, but played it off as the fault of the bottle (“she was a fizzy one!”) to the gawkingly judgemental woman I was serving. Luckily, neither the General Manager of the hotel, my F&B Manager nor the Banquets Manager had noticed, but I still felt traumatised and on-edge for the rest of the day. I over-compensated by being especially servile and smiley, and somehow managed to gain a $10 tip for my efforts. It was a horrible shift and I felt very alone. Some staff, like Tun, were supportive, patient and helpful, some were less understanding, while others simply didn't care. I hate the pressure not to mess up in these kind of VIP environments, constantly being on display and concentrating hard not to bump into stuff, drop things or spill drinks (difficult for me). And to look busy, even if you're inconveniencing the customer by reaching over unnecessarily to grab that one extra glass. It made me question whether the job was for me. But is this my career? Hell no. I decided to try meditation to relieve stress, which was reaching unhealthy levels during some shifts, like this one. It would have been nice to have some kind of feedback on your work, and to be told you had done well, or how to improve in certain areas. But that didn't seem to happen much here.

Other stories:

The Scotland Rugby League team & the hype of the Rugby League World Cup being in town: we served them dinner and lunch. I was surprised that almost all of them were actually from the Midlands and northern England!

When we had four Christmas parties on four floors at the same time: I did the one on the pool-deck with Abi, serving 30 insurance workers drinks and dinner and watching them get merry and sloshed and chant our names!

The high-school graduation events at the end of November, with synchronised student dances, numerous presentations, and thankfully no alcohol

Some huge alternate drop dinners with some hot & heavy plate carrying, and equally strenuous plate-clearing

Moving stacks of chairs across the road to the Pullman Reef Casino with Rankin, and them constantly toppling on the uneven kerb onto the zebra crossing!

Three consecutive evening shifts in October where I was transferred to Novotel Oasis Cairns Resort with Tun, Aimee and Caitlin for one work conference's dinner events. It was a lot of fun, and nice to work in a smaller, more personal hotel

The Cairns experience is now at an end, but I will never forget those 3 months I spent in Far North Tropical Queensland, and the friends I made there. I am now in Darwin about to begin a road trip down the West Coast, so I will be writing about that as my final blog in Australia.

Thank you for reading,

Oliver

#Cairns #FNQ #Winkworth #PCI #OhNo! #Bats #Curlews #Cycling #Sweaty #SteepLearningCurve #HospitalityShenanigans