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#this game is beautiful and i've already did the journey like 5 times
askew-d · 1 month
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Can I ask your top 10 fav fics ever (from any fandom, if you don't mind)?
Also, just curious, is there a story behind your name "askew-d "?
hello, there! sorry for the long wait, i forgot to check my notifs :( i will do better next time. thank you for this question! i feel like i’ve waited ages for someone to ask me exactly that, lol. i could talk about well-written fanfics forever!! can i give you a hug? because this is wonderful, really.
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let’s go for it! my range of fanfiction that i enjoy vary, but one thing remains: i will adore your fic, no matter the fandom, if it’s written with passion and if it contains good, poetic introspection. i love poetry. for me, if there’s melancholic tropes of any kind i’m into it. immortal character and reincarnation? give me now. supernatural elements or slice of life with doomed narrative? i’ll ignore sleep to read it. angst with happy ending? my endgame, for sure.
however, i also adore silly, comedic, cute pieces of domestic life or otherwise. i had a hard time choosing from my bookmarks for this, and i also reviewed some of my favorites, it was fun. before we continue, here are some of the tags that i don’t dive into for whatever reason: porn without plot (it personally just doesn’t interest me at all), non-con, gore, a/b/o dynamics, soulmates au. sorry if you were hoping for it! i’ll try classify them into an order of what i like most.
1. jellyfish, by mystery twin, for the haikyuu!! fandom — i read this when i was finishing high school and coincidentally the story talks about finishing high school! i have a personal attachment that makes me reread it every year. it’s some sort of tradition at this point. not to mention i love kagehina dearly.
2. teen project to change the world, by animeloverhomura, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — respectfully speaking, i would find this author and give them a big hug. their writing is spetacular! if you've never seen this one and you're into mdzs, know it's a story where the characters get to see every event from the novel and donghua, even the dead characters. they watch wei wuxian journey, can you believe it? so goddamn entertaining. promptly waiting for the next update!
3. a hundred or so hellos, by iwillstillopenthewindow, for the haikyuu!! fandom — remember i said i love melancholic stories? well, this one broke me so hard, i had to mention how i hold it with tenderness (we love things that breaks us, dont we?). this fandom manages to write the cutest, most unhinged things sometimes. even it's an anime about sports. i always get amazed by it.
4. no certainty of doors between us, by betts, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — certainly the most silly little fanfic i've ever seen, it's hilariously sweet. i want everyone to read this masterpiece because, seriously, whoever did this deserves only the best. so, so, cute. it had to be in my top 10!
5. their kindred encounters, by fireflavoredwhiskey, for the untamed rpf fandom (bjyx) — you know those kinds of shows, books, any piece of media, that tears up apart? well, this one was it for me. it's a very famous one that deserves all praise, certainly well-written and enjoyable to the core, with doses of angst, romance and beauty overall.
6. as the clouds part and clear, we finally meet again, by 12262325, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — aaaaa, i was truly torn between putting this in the third or fourth place, but i ended up putting it here. come on, i love an age difference kind of story, especially for wangxian, and this one was perfectly done. sweet and funny. the development? the yearning?? outstanding!! i read this many times already, i'll never get tired.
7. pursuit, by emleewrites, for the haikyuu!! fandom — mystery, romance, lawsuits, poker games, adventure, slice of life, AMAZING depictions and so, so goddamn well-written? that's what you're looking for in any fanfiction. the author dedicated herself entirely for this story, and, like i said, i love stories that are written with passion, you can see it pouring through every paragraph. besides, highly entertaining. i'm not very into long fics, but once i started it off, i couldn't stop. that's how addicting it is.
8. linger by the door (i’ve always been yours), by piecrust, for the mo dao zu shi fandom — epistolary?? have i mentioned how i love it?? some of the phrases in this are gold, in my bookmarks you can check some of them (i ought to make a list of my favorite fic quotes, btw, i will sure do it). through each letter i could comprehend more of wei wuxian's feelings and his internal conflict. i love feeling this connected to a character.
9. all the world is ours to take, by khrys, for the fugou keiji fandom — i have more than one favorite fanfiction for this couple. you know these kinds of developing relationship where the transition from (maybe enemies too) friends to lovers happens so smoothly that it feels like they've been soulmates first and foremost at the end? i don't even know how to explain. i just love how, when they finally are together, it's like they've been together for years. and they just... made it official? i like it. i love my mr. kambe haru.
10. he won’t tell you that he loves you, by hellshandbasket, for the house m.d fandom — i found this to be the most fitting, perfect story for this specific couple. they deserved more stories like this, but we dont see it anymore. i would hightlight the feelings realization in this one, that is so fucking real? haha in any case, it's a fanfic that i enjoyed a great deal.
that's it, i guess! i wanted to add link click fanfics also, however i barely started reading fanfictions from its fandom, i'm drowning in it lately but it's just a start. perhaps very sooon!
oh, i’m gonna finish explaining about the name! in my native language, i’ve heard someone tell me before that ‘life’s a little askew, nothing’s ever perfect’, and that quote remained in every biography of any english website i ever went to. then in literature class someday i had to write about historical women and came across this one named anne askew (i wanted to write about the mostly barely-spoken women). it was the second time i saw this word. i didn’t think of it as a proper name before, but then i had to create a nickname for my ao3 profile and thought, humn, why not just ‘askew’? the quote has been engraved in my heart anyway, so i went for it. we’re all flawed and askew. so, yeah, it just… fit? the ‘d’ here on tumblr it’s only because my surname has a ‘de morais’ in it. i also liked that it resembled ‘alaska’, the john green character i was kinda of obsessed with back in my teenager grunge phase. i don’t like these kinds of books anymore, but i guess some details stay with you. do you think it’s weird? never thought of changing.
thanks for this outstanding ask, it certainly entertained me. and hope you have a nice sleep today, big hugs coming your way! 🤍
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study-with-aura · 29 days
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Sunday, March 31, 2024
I am posting this on Monday since yesterday was a holiday here. Easter went very well, and even though the sunrise service at the park was very early, I truly enjoyed it. We still had a regular church service afterwards for Easter Sunday, plus our Bible Study group, so it was a packed Sunday morning with church family and friends.
My mom and our other troop leader thought about canceling the meeting yesterday for Girl Scouts, but none of us wanted to cancel because we're starting on our Citizen Science journey badge, which will take several weeks to complete. Plus, we wanted to still get together and share candy because what else do you do with sweet treats? You share them with friends! So we worked on some activities while eating candy. It was fun. We also did a prayer for Easter Sunday as a group. All of us in the troop identify as Christian or we wouldn't have done it. Our parents are very respectful towards other religions and religious practices unlike some of the other homeschool families in our area unfortunately. It makes me sad, and I don't associate with those families much because of it. I think we can learn so much from other cultures and religious practices and Jesus taught love, so shouldn't we show that to those who may be different from us and respect their beliefs just as we expect our own beliefs to be respected. This was a tangent, and I apologize, but I also blog for myself like a diary, not only for any readers that might find my posts.
But it also makes me think of this current book that I'm reading. It was on my reading list already, but I chose to read it now because of it taking place during WWII and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The amount of hatred in this book towards the Japanese, even when they are American citizens, is horrifying. I guess nothing should horrify me anymore after seeing a genocide taking place in my own lifetime, but it does. It makes my heart hurt. And now I'm getting ready to study the Holocaust in World History, although I've read about it before, this time is more in depth since I'm in HS now, but even watching the docuseries that I'm watching to supplement my learning and understanding. It makes me emotional to see actual photos and videos of some of what took place. Maybe I'm too sensitive, but I don't think so. I think everyone should be responding in a similar way. They should be disgusted and horrified that things like this happened so recently and are still happening in the present.
I need to get back to studying. The world is such a terrifying place, that I'm grateful I can still see the beauty in it at all.
Tasks Completed:
Duolingo - Studied for 15 minutes (Spanish, French, Chinese) + completed daily quests
Piano - Practiced for three hours in one hour split sessions
Reading - Read pages 158-239 of Beneath the Wide Silk Sky by Emily Inouye Huey
Streaming - Watched Hitler’s Circle of Evil episode 5
Chores - Put the dishes away
Activities of the Day:
Personal Bible Study (Genesis 1)
Sunrise Service
Church
Bible Study
Girl Scout Meeting
30 minutes gaming
Journal/Mindfulness
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windvexer · 1 year
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I saw your post about reading Tarot in regards to what to do if someone is aggressive towards your interpretations- and it was insanely inspiring and beautiful. I was wondering if you could post a small guide on how to read tarot. I want to get better at it, but I have a horrible memory and don’t know what to do. You seem like a safe person to ask because of your daring-ness and openness. I would be incredibly interested in your opinions & thoughts on how to get started again, and what might work for someone like me, who’s only ever used the basic interpretations in books, etc to read my cards. I have strayed away from Tarot recently because it doesn’t feel like the answers I’m receiving from these basic interpretations is enough- it doesn’t satiate the hunger and I even question if it truly applies to me. It feels muddy. I feel like I’m not expanding my knowledge each time I try.
we are in reference to this post
Good morning! Thank you for your kind words.
I too have felt tarot becoming muddy for me. It is a cycle I go through perhaps about once every two years. Most recently, my muddiness inspired this project which more or less carried me through to clear waters.
But I started working on that almost two years ago. I've got a new project in the works now.
If you'd like further reading material, try this ask which has my helpful links corralled.
I think it would be fun to write more about tarot, but I was supposed to start writing a new book yesterday and now I'm already behind on that. Plus a sponsored post I'm lagging on finishing, too. Some day, perhaps?
There are too many things you could try. Each of us needs different things.
There are tarot-based things you can try, like studying the Fool's Journey, or reading books like Mystical Origins of the Tarot by Paul Huson, to expand the frameworks in your mind within which you operate.
There are magical things you can try, like initiating under the powers of the Moon or a deity related to divinatory power, creating talismans that open Sight, casting spells to bring necessary knowledge to your doorstep, and so on.
There are experimental things you can try, like cross-pollinating with playing card reading systems, writing OC lore for the suits or major arcana to give you a new way to connect with them, or trying to invent single-player games which use a tarot deck.
There are many things you could do. Did you know about reading with a restricted deck? Reading that primarily takes into account the elements of the cards? Reading that pays a lot of attention to which direction the characters in the card are facing?
I never got along with most pre-made spreads. I find them to be stilted and lacking. Early on I started mapping my spreads to the four elements and cardinal directions. Then I figured out you can put cards in the cross-quarters that represent north-east, south-east, etc. This can go on forever. You can lay cards out in a massive spiral that fractals out from the four cardinal points.
I was not good at doing small spreads for several years. I still do not prefer them. Are you only trying 3-card draws or small spreads? Try huge ones. 12 cards. 20 cards. Leave spreads open for hours or days as you contemplate them. Place them out, look at each card once, say the first thing you think of, deliver your summary at the end, and put the cards away.
There are many things you can try. Think about what you are doing now and do the opposite. Do you shuffle, draw 5 cards in a line, and look up meanings in the book? Instead, spread the cards out and pick which ones you want to use. Place them in a geometric shape. Do not look at the book.
Give yourself symbol sets to work with. "Intuitive reading" is such a chore. Instead of staring at a card waiting for something to come, seed your imagination. Do you like fairy tales? Well, now each card is a scene or character from fairy tales. Maybe you prefer Marvel movies instead. Or, Percy Jackson. Now each card is something from Percy Jackson.
Some people can't read for themselves. So, read for characters from movies or books. Read for historical figures. Read with signifiers and without. Draw with a question in mind, or not. Practice telling the future or telling the past.
I could go on. There are too many things to try.
Try anything other than what you are doing now.
But if I may recommend: get it out of your head that each reading needs to be a complete rendition, like a song fully rehearsed. Put it in your mind that you've got to spend a while practicing notes and chords, and maybe some musical theory. Let yourself have fun with the composite parts of reading, without worrying too much about the end result.
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secretfantasyspace · 4 years
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Journey’s end
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Lestat de Lioncourt - A playlist
So, guess who made a Lestat Playlist (like there aren't enough already) and decided to sit down for 4-6 hours to find some excerpt corresponding with each song? Featuring 80s and 90s music (clearly showing my age...) as well as many european songs and showtunes. Enjoy!
1. Cathedrals – Ramin Karimloo (Original by Jump, Little Children)
In the cathedrals of New York and Rome There is a feeling that you should just go home And spend the lifetime finding out just where that is
And that was not a good year for me. I was wandering aimlessly. I was sick of things. I was furious with myself that the „beauty“ of life wasn't sustaining me, wasn't making my loneliness bearable.
I wanted to join them. Always do want to join them and never do. „Go home,“ he whispered. - Prince Lestat
(I actually feel like there are quotes that would correspond to this song in every one of the books and indeed have not yet found any other song that captures the general spirit of The Vampire Chronicles as perfectly.)
2. Edge of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks
Well, I went today Maybe I will go again tomorrow Yeah yeah, well, the music there Well, it was hauntingly familiar Well, I see you doing what I try to do for me With the words from a poet and a voice from a choir And a melody, and nothing else mattered
He sat next to me, hugging me and asking me why I was crying, and though I couldn't tell him, I could see that he was overwhelmed that his music had produced this effect. There was no sarcasm or bitterness in him now. I think he carried me home that night. And the next morning I was standing in the crooked stone street in front of his father's shop, tossing pebbles up at his window. When he stuck his head out, I said: „Do you want to come down and go on with our conversation?“ - The Vampire Lestat
3. I ain't scared of lightning – Tom McRae
No I ain't scared of lightning And thunder never killed I was born in a summer storm and I live there still
I wasn't part of the world that cringed at such things. And with a smile, I realized that I was of that dark ilk that makes others cringe. Slowly and with great pleasure, I laughed.
And the labor that brought it forth was rapture such as I have never known. - The Vampire Lestat
4. Junge Roemer – Falco (Young Romans – Full Translation)
Don't ask for new old values See white light, see only feeling The night is ours till morning We play every game Don't ever let this journey end The doing comes only from the being Only from dimensions, that Are worth illusions and sensations Give me more, give me more, give me more...
... and again she laughed. „Ah, but we are splendid devils, aren't we?“ „Hunters of the Savage Garden,“ I said. „Then let's go into Paris,“ she said. - The Vampire Lestat
5. Running up that hill – Candy Says (Original by Kate Bush
If I only could, I'd make a deal with God, And I'd get him to swap our places, Be running up that road, Be running up that hill, Be running up that building,
„Not even with Nicolas?“ „No, god, no!“ I looked at her. She nodded slightly as if she approved of this answer. „Why not with Nicolas?“ she asked. I wanted this to stop. „Because he's young,“ I said, „and he has life before him.“ - The Vampire Lestat
6. Florence – Notre Dame de Paris (Full Translation)
The little things always triumph over the large And literature will kill architecture The school books will kill the cathedrals The Bible will kill the Church, and man will kill God This will kill that
„I never lived in it. I push against the glass. But how do I get in?“ „I can't tell you that,“ I said. „You have to study this age,“ Gabrielle interrupted. Her voice was calm but commanding. He looked towards her as she spoke. „You have to understand the age,“ she continued, „through its literature and its music and its art. You have come up out of the earth, as you yourself put it. Now live in the world.“ No answer from him. Flash of Nicki's ravaged flat with all its books on the floor. Western civilization in heaps. - The Vampire Lestat
7. Go your own way – Fleetwood Mac
Loving you isn't the right thing to do How can I ever change things that I feel
If I could maybe I'd give you my world How can I when you won't take it from me
You can go your own way You can call it another lonely day
„Keep your promise,“ she said. And quite suddenly I knew this was our last moment. I knew it and I could do nothing to change it. „Gabrielle!“ I whispered. But she was already gone. - The Vampire Lestat
8. Désenchantée – Olympe (Original by Myléne Farmer - Full Translation)
If death is a mystery Life isn't exactly tender If heaven has a hell Then heaven can still wait for me Tell me how to handle this headwind Nothing makes sense anymore, nothing's fine
Laughter. That insane music. That din, that dissonance, that never ending shrill articulation of the meaninglessness... Am I awake? Am I asleep? I am sure of one thing. I am a monster. And because I lie in torment in the earth, certain human beings move on through the narrow pass of life unmolested. - The Vampire Lestat
9. A kind of magic – Queen
The bell that rings inside your mind Is challenging the doors of time It's a kind of magic The waiting seems eternity The day will dawn of sanity
And quite completely I understood that it was looking for me, this sound, it was seeking me out.
Blood like light itself, liquid fire.
It seemed beneath the roar of the flow he spoke. He said again: „Drink, my young one, my wounded one.“ I felt his heart swell, his body undulate, and we were sealed against each other. I think I heard myself say: „Marius.“ And he answered: „Yes.“ - The Vampire Lestat
10. La quête – Bruno Pelletier (French version of „The Impossible Dream“ from Man of La Mancha)
To try when your arms are too weary To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest To follow that star Ooh, no matter how hopeless No matter how far
I would remain in New Orleans if New Orleans could only manage to remain. Whatever I suffered should be lessened in this lawless place, whatever I craved should give me more pleasure once I had it in my grasp. And there were moments on that first night in this fetid little paradise when I prayed that in spite of all my secret power, I was somehow kin to every mortal man. - The Vampire Lestat
11. Wicked Game – Chris Isaak
What a wicked game you play, to make me feel this way What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you
Yet Louis gained a hold over me far more powerful than Nicolas had ever had. Even in his cruelest moments, Louis touched the tenderness in me, seducing me with his staggering dependence, his infatuation with my every gesture and every spoken word. - The Vampire Lestat
12. Do I disappoint you – Rufus Wainwright
Do I disappoint you, in just being human? And not one of the elements that you can light your cigar on Why does it always have to be fire? Why does it always have to be brimstone?
„And suppose the vampire who made you knew nothing, and the vampire before him knew nothing, and so it goes back and back, nothing proceeding from nothing, until there is nothing! And we must live with the knowledge that there is no knowledge!“ „Yes!“ he cried out suddenly, his hands out, his voice tinged with something other than anger.
And then I sensed it. He was afraid. Lestat afraid. - Interview with the Vampire
13. Ordinary World – Duran Duran
What has happened to it all? Crazy, some'd say Where is the life that I recognize? Gone away
But I won't cry for yesterday There's an ordinary world Somehow I have to find And as I try to make my way To the ordinary world I will learn to survive
I do not remember when it became the twentieth century, only that everything was uglier and darker, and the beauty I'd known in the old eighteenth-century days seemed more than ever some kind of fanciful idea. - The Vampire Lestat
14. I'm still standing – Taron Egerton (Original by Elton John)
And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use And did you think this fool could never win? Well look at me, I'm coming back again
But after the third night up, I was roaring around New Orleans on a big black Harley-Davidson motorcycle making plenty of noise myself. […] I was the vampire Lestat again. I was back in action. New Orleans was once again my hunting ground. - The Vampire Lestat
15. Catch my fall – Billy Idol
I have the time so I will sing, yeah I'm just a boy but I will win, yeah Lost song of lovers, fellow travelers, yeah Leave me sad and hollow out of words
It could happen to you so think for yourself If I should stumble, catch my fall, yeah
I've survived, obviously. I wouldn't be talking to you if I hadn't. And the cosmic dust has finally settled; and the small rift in the world's fabric of rational beliefs has been mended, or at least closed. I'm a little sadder for all of it, and a little meaner and a little more conscientious as well. - The Queen of the Damned
16. I want it all – Queen
I'm a man with a one track mind So much to do in one lifetime (people do you hear me) Not a man for compromise and where's and why's and living lies So I'm living it all, yes I'm living it all And I'm giving it all, and I'm giving it all
It is not enough any longer that my little rock band be successful. We must create a fame that will carry my name and my voice to the remotest parts of the world. - The Vampire Lestat
17. Let me entertain you – Robbie Williams
Hell is gone and heaven's here There's nothing left for you to fear Shake your arse come over here Now scream
I'm a burning effigy Of everything I used to be You're my rock of empathy, my dear
So come on let me entertain you
"I AM THE VAMPIRE LESTAT!" I shouted at the top of my lungs as I stepped way back from the microphone, and the sound was almost visible as it arched over the length of the oval theater, and the voice of the crowd rose even higher, louder, as if to devour the ringing sound. - The Vampire Lestat
18. La bien qui fait mal – Mozart l'Opera Rock (Full translation)
I can feel a violent urge I feel like I'm sliding towards the ground If I don't find out where this plague is coming from I adore having it under my skin Bewitched by mad ideas Suddenly all my cravings take off The desire becomes my prison Until I loose my mind
Yet I was in her arms in this chilling darkness, in the familiar scent of winter, and her blood was mine again, and it was enslaving me. When she drew away, I felt agony. - The Queen of the Damned
19. Tainted Love – Soft Cell
And you think love is to pray But I'm sorry I don't pray that way Once I ran to you Now I'll run from you This tainted love you've given I give you all a boy could give you Take my tears and that's not living, oh
„What do you think I am that I am so easily swayed? I was born a Queen. I have always ruled; even from the shrine I ruled." Her eyes were glazed suddenly. I heard the voices, a dull hum rising. "I ruled if only in legend; if only in the minds of those who came to me and paid me tribute. Princes who played music for me; who brought me offerings and prayers. What do you want of me now? That for you, I renounce my throne, my destiny!" What answer could I make? - The Queen of the Damned
20. Dancing in the Dark – Ruth Moody (Original by Bruce Springsteen)
They say you gotta stay hungry Hey baby, I'm just about starvin' tonight I'm dyin' for some action I'm sick of sittin' 'round here tryin' to write this book I need a love reaction Come on now, baby, gimme just one look
"I want you to put the book aside and come join us," he said. "You've been locked in here for over a month." "I go out now and then," I said. I liked looking at him, at the neon blue of his eyes.
"Do you love me now?" I asked. He smiled; oh, it was excruciating to see his face soften and brighten simultaneously when he smiled. "Yes," he said. "Want to go on a little adventure?" My heart was thudding suddenly. It would be so grand if- "Want to break the new rules?" "What in the world do you mean?" he whispered. - The Queen of the Damned
21. I want you – Savage Garden
Oh, I want you, I don't know if I need you But oh, I would die to find out
"You don't think you'll be back?" he asked. "I think you will, whether I call or not." Another little surprise. A little stab of humiliation. I smiled at him in spite of myself. He was a very interesting man. "You silver-tongued British bastard," I said. "How dare you say that to me with such condescension? Maybe I should kill you right now."
I thought of David Talbot's face, and that moment when he'd challenged me. Well, maybe he was right. I'd be back. Who said I couldn't come back and talk to him if I wanted to? - The Queen of the Damned
22. Lay your hands on me – Bon Jovi
I'm a fighter, I'm a poet, I'm a preacher I've been to school, oh baby, I've been the teacher If you show me how to get up off the ground I can show you how to fly and never ever come back down
I sat down on the bed beside him. And then I bent down and kissed his face again gently, as I had in New Orleans, liking the feel of his roughly shaven beard, just as I liked that sort of thing when I was really Lestat and I would soon have that strong masculine blood inside. I moved closer to him, when suddenly he grasped my hand, and I felt him gently push me away. „Why, David?“ I asked him. He didn't answer. He lifted his right hand and brushed my hair back out of my eyes. „I don't know,“ he whispered. „I can't. I simply can't.“ - The Tale of the Body Thief
23. 20th Century Boy – Placebo (Original by T-Rex)
I move like a cat, charge like a ram Sting like a bee, babe, I wanna be your man, hey!
He drew back with a speed that astonished me, cleaving to the wall. „Don't do this, Lestat.“ „Don't fight me, old friend. You waste your effort. You have a long night of discovery ahead.“ - The Tale of the Body Thief
24. Way down we go – KALEO
Oh, Father tell me, do we get what we deserve? Whoa, we get what we deserve And way down we go
„In chains, to my friend and my scribe, I dictated these words. Come with me. Just listen to me. Don't leave me alone.“ - Memnoch the Devil
25. Personal Jesus – Depeche Mode
Reach out, touch faith
"Don't tell me," Gabrielle said slurringly, "that it's a matter of faith." She sneered and shook her head. "You come like doubting Thomas to thrust your bloody fangs in the very wound." "Oh, stop, please, I beg you," I whispered. I put up my hands. "Let me try, and let him hurt me, and then be satisfied, and turn away." - The Vampire Armand
26. Papillon – Editors
Darling Just don't put down your guns yet If there really was a God here He'd have raised a hand by now Now darling You're born, get old, then die here Well that's quite enough for me We'll find our own way home somehow
"And if I spill my blood down into this coffin now," Lestat asked her, "what do you think will come back? Do you think it will be our Louis that will rise in these burnt rags? What if it's not, chérie, what if it's some wounded revenant that we must destroy?" "Choose life, Lestat," she said. - Merrick
27. Sunday Light – Choir Boy
Why, why, why, are you silent on the ride home? I'd love to see the temple with you Heavenly and bright, golden angel twisted scathing You were one of us, one of us, one of us, you were one of us
"Then come, Little Brother, take me to where you want to talk," he said, and I felt the soft squeeze of his fingers on my arm. "Why are you so kind to me?" I asked him. "You're used to people being paid to do it, aren't you?" he asked. - Blackwood Farm
28. Für mich solls rote Rosen regnen – Hildegard Knef (It should rain red roses for me - Full translation)
It should rain red roses for me All wonders should encounter me The world should rearrange itself And keep its worries to itself
I want to be a saint. I want to save souls by the millions. I want to do good far and wide. I want to fight evil! I want my life-sized statue in every church. I'm talking six feet tall, blond hair, blue eyes- Wait a second. Do you know who I am? - Blood Canticle
29. Constant Craving – K. D. Lang
Even through the darkest phase Be it thick or thin Always someone marches brave Here beneath my skin And constant craving Has always been
I was hunting, thirsting though I didn't need to drink, at the mercy of the craving, the deep agonizing lust for heated pumping human blood. - Prince Lestat
30. Kalte Sterne – Jan Ammann (Cold Stars from the musical Ludwig² - Full translation)
Get up, ride home, on your horse, through your land Across the morning with your reins trailing behind you Build a castle like a dream, build it with mighty hands And it shall be named „future“
Build a castle like a dream Up from the ashes and close to the heavens Build a castle like a dream And realise the future as king
If we wanted to survive, if we wanted to inherit the millenia […] then we had to meet the future with respect as well as courage and count fear and selfishness to be small things. - Prince Lestat and the realms of Atlantis
31. C'est une belle journée – Mylene Farmer (Full translation)
I'm going to bed To bite eternity With my mouth wide open It's a beautiful day
And I felt the cold numbing shell of alienation and despair which had imprisoned me all of my life among the Undead – I felt that shell cracked, broken, and dissolved utterly into infinitesimal fragments. - Blood Communion
32. Princes of the Universe – Queen
Fly the moon and reach for the stars With my sword and head held high Got to pass the test first time, yeah I know that people talk about me, I hear it every day But I can prove them wrong 'cause I'm right first time
„I know that you meant full well to bring Rhoshamandes down, of course you did. But you had no way of knowing that you could. And no one would have predicted that you could. And with the willingness to die, you gave yourself over into his hands... and you disarmed him and destroyed him.“ – Blood Communion
And finally, because I can, a bonus track:
33. Primadonna – MARINA
And I'm sad to the core, core, core Every day is a chore, chore, chore When you give, I want more, more, more I wanna be adored
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lilibetbombshell · 3 years
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"There's a strength to be found in hatred. There's a courage forged only in rage."
This is only one of many, many great lines from Jay Kristoff's "Empire of the Vampire" that are simply begging to be pulled out and quoted on social media, tattooed on bodies, and printed on merchandise for all the world to see. And you know what? I'm not even mad about it, because this book deserves it. This book deserves a fandom. This book deserves fans, and that's why I'm so glad it's already planned out to be a saga, because it'd be a shame to let all this potential go to waste with a single book and nothing else to show for it.
As most readers of genre fiction, I've grown wary of vampire fiction. So, needless to say, I approached this book with caution. Almost with trepidation, I'd say. But I was more than pleasantly surprised: I was sucked right the hell in.
It's not that "Empire of the Vampire" is totally original. That'd be an absurd thing to expect from any vampire novel. Because, let's face it, there's a reason why we've all become wary of vampire novels! But it seems Kristoff is self-aware enough to know better than to condescend to his readers and act like he's coming from an entirely original place here. Several vampire and non-vampire related (but still fantasy-related) allusions, impressions, references, and what I like to call "the feel of" are definitely present here. As a reader (and of course I cannot tell you if this is what Kristoff intended), these are the various influences that came to mind as I was reading: "Interview with a Vampire", Trinity Blood (the anime), Blood + (the anime), Game of Throne (the TV show), D&D, "In the Name of the Wind", an episode of NCIS I can't remember the name of (and I just KNOW this is probably me because I'm weird), and a few more I forgot to take notes about.
There are rich descriptions of each character meant to play a major part, and they are a motley crew rich with diversity and with varying degrees of foul mouths. My favorite character in probably the whole book is Seraph Talon, who not only has the foulest mouth out of any of the characters, but also has the most original insults I've ever seen written on the page. I'm not even going to quote a single damn one because you all deserve a chance to discover them for the first time yourselves. But I'm pretty sure I laughed, snorted, or snickered at each and every one.
The written depictions of the scenery and the journey(s) that Gabriel is embarking upon in this book are so well-written that it's almost as if you could slip them write into a screenplay without much effort. You could adapt this into an anime, animated series, TV show, or movie without much issue at all. I just thank goodness Kristoff was clear on the diversity of the characters when he wrote the book so there would be no confusion if it were ever to BE adapted!
Some of the language is simply beautiful as it flows, but here's where I run into what kept this book from being a 5-star book: the issue of memory. Memory doesn't work in a linear and clear fashion like this book depicts. The thing is, telling someone your own history deliberately and automatically makes you an unreliable narrator. That means we can't trust our protagonist, Gabriel, for shit. And I think, again, Kristoff isn't trying to be condescending here: I think he fully expects us readers to not trust Gabriel's story in its entirety. And it's a smart move, when this book is the first in a series. You have to leave them wanting more, right? We have questions we want answered, right?
One of the things I love best about this book are the ILLUSTRATIONS! Bon Orthwick did the interior illustrations for this book, and they are utterly gorgeous. They are definitely true to Orthwick's usual style, but they also seem to have a bit of an Art Nouveau-meets-Renaissance feel to them... as if Alphonse Mucha had tried to put a little Botticelli in his paintings. They are so beautiful I feel like people will be begging to have prints made big enough to put up on their walls (and that's totally deserved!).
I already can't wait for the next book, because I need to KNOW THINGS.
I'd like to thank St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to give this book a fair and honest review, and Jay Kristoff for writing such a spectacular book!
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lunavadash-creates · 3 years
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Woah Babe! I am in awe seeing your Altair in Sims! How is it even possible? Did you create him with the help of some skins? His clothes are not that bad! I have seen worse. Have you made Amara too? I don’t remember when I played Sim last time! I got a new computer so I can finally do anything on it. I thought about buying Sims 4, because of their latest expansion pack. Like.. Imagine having a cow! But in the end I bought The Witcher games, because I have never played them and I enjoyed the books and soundtracks. To be honest, The Witcher soundtracks are my favorite amongst other game soundtracks and if you didn’t pay attention to music I can recommend you many fantastic songs!
My first thought at your story was.. You were attacked by what?! It took me a few moments to process how it was even possible. Think of it bears are not popular “animal mascots” if I can put it like that. But then it made me extremely sad. Bear on a chain leash. I know the story is exciting on its own but the thought that people are this cruel to animals makes me want to cry. I understand your aversion tho. It must have been a really scary experience, especially because you were a kid then!
Bulgaria! I have never been there, but I would love to. They are known for their rose cosmetics and I love its scent! How many times have you been there already? What makes you love this country this much?
Turkey is beautiful! I have been there and it was an incredible experience! If I had the opportunity I would go back there without a second thought, so if you ever have the opportunity to visit this country - GO! Egypt? Maybe it’s because I had really high expectations, but it disappointed me a lot. It’s dirty, people are pushy. But the coral reef is worth seeing! For sharing adventures I can say that I almost had a heart attack and collision with a sea turtle!
As for my travel plans - I have a lot! I don’t know if I could ever make it to some places tho! I would love to see Japan too! Since I remember I've wanted to go to Takarazuka theatre! For sure I would love to go back to Iceland. And I will go back, even if it were my last and only one journey. I am in love with this country with all my heart! And I am hyping over it as much as over my dog lol. I love hot weather, even when it is extreme for most people. But if I have to choose, I would choose to see the Arctic and Scandinavia. To see northern lights. To see milky way once again. And maybe go to Labrador Peninsula and find labradorite stone of my own! And Costa Rica just to go to Territorio de Zaguates and adopt all the dogs. Eh, some dreams have to remain just dreams.
Is there something particular you want to see in countries you would like to visit one day?
As for spicy food - I admire such skill! I guess you like spicy food and spicy content <winks>
Heavens, I can’t believe I respond to all messages! Sorry for divide our conversation into so many threads!
🔪
I'm glad you like him! Yes, I have like 20GB of CC for sims 3. Skins, eyes, make-up, sliders, clothes, objects. I spend a long time on him, especially that HIS FACE. THERE IS NO PIC OF HIS FACE AS A WHOLE. So I used to picture of the Altair figure I found. Honestly, If they made Altair in modern graphic he would be the sexiest of them all. I used to have Amara too but I don't have a picture ;; But if you want I can make one for you! And I have a cow in sims3! And it gives chocolate milk! ANd in all honesty. I won't but sims 4 because... I'm waiting for sims 5 >.<
The Witcher series is really great tho I haven't played Witcher 3 yet. YET.
As for bear yeah, it was not too nice. Anyway. Yes, I love Bulgaria, I was there twice but I could go there anytime I love that place. Idk maybe it's the weather, the people, the food, the sea, maybe everything. It's just so amazing. I love it so much more than for example the Canary Islands. People there was rude ;;
OMG SEA TURTLE?! Amazing! Tbh I don't really want to go to Egypt anymore. I used to want to go but I'm a bit afraid. But turkey! I think ill go there next year! Also funny thing. When I was in Albania I caught a sea turtle. I was like 14 I think and there was a turtle so I just... grabbed it. Took a photo, make people gasp and then let it go. I hope he's still alive and well ;; KNifeeeeyyyy. I love your plans and gods you are so amazing. I honestly wish you will visit all those places and one day tell me about them! I think that except Japan I also would love to see the northern lights and the milky ways. It sounds so nice when you're talking about it. I would be more than happy to see it with my own eyes. Also maybe you want to visit bunny island in japan? It's called Okunoshima. Yes, I love spicy in my life :D I want to see rabbit island in Japan, the cherry tree alley, the key-hole graves and the museum. I want to see the famous things in china. Like the army and the Chinese wall also I want to see Chinese and Japanese festivals. I want to see Petersburg and Moscow in Russia, the ruins of Masyaf castle, the Pyramids... there are a lot of places, you know? Or ruins of the shrine of Quetzalcoatl. The world is such a fascinating place I want to see all creations of the great, ancient civilisations ;w; And I want to do to Budapest again! And the famous water part in Slovakia! Hbu Knifey? tell me more?
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himetoryu · 5 years
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Favorite Female Anime Characters, Part 1
It's inevitable to fall in love with certain characters especially when we can relate to their feelings and what they're going through or we just admire them for their kindness, strength, beauty, etc. Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing myself in those I watch and I just can't help it. I'm into anime ever since young (if I'm not mistaken I started watching when I was five) and I still recall everything like it only happened yesterday.
And for today's special post I'm gonna share with you these ladies who brought much impact to my life (in the order of when I watched them). Enjoy your read!
1. The Priestess
InuYasha: Higurashi Kagome
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Kagome is one of those kind-hearted characters you'll ever encounter. Whenever she's compared with Kikyou especially about their archery skills, priestess powers and InuYasha I can feel so much her pain. I remember clearly her scene on the well with him admitting that she can't compare with Kikyou because she's not dead, but at the same time saying "my heart is my heart (kokoro wa watashi no kokoro)". It must be hard accepting you're someone's reincarnation and if that's the case, telling everyone you're still a different person. But Kagome endured and continued her journey to fight alongside InuYasha even though during that time he wants to protect Kikyou, too (two-timer hmp). In the end she was able to fulfill her task of destroying the jewel of the four souls (shikon no tama).
As a 15-year old it must be hard for her as well to fight demons in the feudal era and go back to modern day Tokyo to fulfill her duties as a daughter and a high school student but in the end still managed everything and even graduated! So you see, she's not only kind and strong but also eager to finish her studies haha!
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2. The Karate Champion
Detective Conan / Case Closed: Mouri Ran
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What I admire so much about Ran is her patience for Shinichi. You see, she's always wondering where and what he is doing even though he's only under her nose. And on those moments she and Shinichi are together but he has to leave because the antidote to APTX-4869 wore off, she's always left hanging. Remember when they were in the Beika Hotel? Ran cried and even covered her ears because she's tired already of his excuses. But of course we all know Shinichi is only doing that to protect her. I'm just curious though on how and when she'll be able to fully discover his secret hehe (a lot of times Ran made suspicions but our boy is just clever).
Ran is faithful and trusts Shinichi so much. Normally when we don't hear from someone for a long time we just give up on them and forget them. But in her case the love just grows stronger. We can learn from her how to not give up on the one you really love.
Ran is also a supportive friend, we can see that clearly to Sonoko and Kazuha. And she's positive about her parents, doing her best to set them up believing that someday they'll be together. Lastly, Ran is a karate champion but she's humble. She knows that being strong is to protect and help people and she has saved Conan, Haibara and the Detective Boys a lot of times. She's everything!
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3. The Flame-Haired Fiery-Eyed Hunter
Shakugan no Shana: Shana
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I can't say much about Shana but the reason I included her on the list was because I remember back in high school I was obsessing over her because of her red eyes and hair (favorite color hahaha)! And she is a tsundere so it felt like I was watching myself! She's also a sword wielder (I have a thing on that and if given the chance I want to learn) and it also hypes me every time she turns from being a cute melon bread eater to a serious flame haze! Who wouldn't fall in love with these burning eyes and hair?!
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4. The Celestial Mage
Fairy Tail: Lucy Heartfilia
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I know a lot of fans call her useless and it really makes me sad because many don't understand that Lucy is a work-in-progress. Born from a rich family wanting the attention of her father after her mother died, meeting Natsu and being introduced to her dream guild, seeing her friends being tortured by a dark guild because her father wants her back, and bravely forgoing her luxurious life and choosing the path of being a wizard, she has been through a lot. Lucy may not come off strong like Erza and Mira Jane but we should realize that strength is not only measured in combat. Lucy is actually smart and loves to read books and don't that make someone interesting?
Lucy may not be the strongest but she's getting better and I'm convinced it's because Natsu supports and believes in her so much. Also she values everyone in the guild, even her celestial spirits, to the point that she won't give up even if beaten to death (remember what Minerva did on Grand Magic Games). Fans call her weak because she wasn't able to fight back but on the other side, she risked her life for her friends and if it's not courage for you then I don't know what is.
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5. The Gangster Teacher
Gokusen: Yamaguchi Kumiko / Yankumi
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Tentenenen! Tenten! Hahaha!
One of those few that I've read the manga, watched the anime and the live action because I got hyped! I've seen this back in high school but didn't finish and thought I should finally spend some time on it last year and it didn't disappoint!
So why do I love Yankumi? Because she's a silent killer until everyone found out that she's from a yakuza family lol and that always catches my attention. Also she's an understanding teacher who is always there for her students. She has been ignored and rejected a lot of times but she didn't give up. She was focused on making her students graduate on time and did everything to win their trust on finding again school a fun place to be and making memories with their classmates. It's the reason she has changed other teachers' perspectives, too, and made an impact on everyone around her.
It may be old but you should give it a try, though I highly recommend the manga and the live action because Yukie Nakama is cool (and also, don't forget your tissues).
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So that's it everyone! Do we have the same favorite female characters? Share them with me, too, and I hope you enjoyed my special post for today!
04.28.2019
ctto
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susannaprouse · 5 years
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Eleven - Baños
The breakfast at our nicer hotel was great, mainly because they had three different types of cereal! And I love cereal. I'm also a little sick of scrambled eggs which is what you get at every hostel. So I had three (teeny weeny) bowls of cereal and fruit while Mike had eggs, fruit and bread again!
After breakfast we started our journey to Baños. We had a couple of options to get there from Latacunga. We could either get a bus to Ambato, take a taxi across town to another terminal and get another bus for another to Baños. Or (we had heard) you could get a short taxi ride to this huge roundabout on the Pan-American highway just outside of town, hang around there and get a bus straight to Baños. The second option seemed less hassle and cheaper so after discussing it with the guy at the hotel we decided to risk it and go with that.
The taxi driver seemed to know where we wanted to be dropped and as we got out we saw a make shift wooden bench structure that could only have been a bus stop. We waited there while bus after bus stopped going to Ambato, Latacunga and Riobamba. None of them seemed to be going Baños. But, after waiting for about 20 minutes a bus declaring Baños on the front in big bold letters turned up. The Ecuadorians around us started running toward it but as we had our big packs we kind of walked quickly. We shoved our bags in the bottom of the bus and got on. We soon realised why the other people were running, there was only one seat left! Mike, being a brilliant husband, let me sit in it. This was a blessing and curse as I did have a seat but the man next to me refused to move to let me in so I tried to slide in without landing on top of him. Instead I slid onto the floor and could barely get up. This was all happening while the bus was moving and Mike was laughing.
Mike stood for about 10 minutes while the bus hurtled down the road. Eventually people got off and we could sit next to each other for the rest of the two hours to Baños, watching an awful film with Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler in Spanish that everyone around us found HILARIOUS. It was quite fun to practise our Spanish and try to work out what was being said.
We eventually arrived in Baños and found our hostel quickly. Every place I've been booking on the notes section I've said it's our honeymoon hoping for an upgrade in one of the nicer hotels. No one had mentioned it so far so I'd kind of forgotten but when we entered our little private hostel room there were towels folded up as swans with roses and a sunflower making a heart. Cheesy but amazing!!! The woman who let us in read 'Congratulations on your marriage' from her phone which she had obviously translated and been practising. I already loved this hostel.
After organising to get some washing done with the hostel we went out for a walk. Baños is definitely geared towards tourists and is like the Ecuadorian version of the New Zealand resort, Queenstown. It's full of adventure activities and so people come here to white water raft, go canyoning and zip line. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it as I was expecting to see a lot of Western teenagers on their gap year. When we arrived we realised we hardly saw any foreigners. It seems Baños is a bit like Blackpool and the town was full of Ecuadorians on their holidays. It made me feel a little better. They even have their own version of Blackpool rock, a taffy-like stuff they make on their stalls, repeatedly stretching it and coiling it like rope.
We wandered to the town's main and most beautiful attraction, a huge waterfall cascading down a cliff. I can't say how odd it was seeing this in the middle of a town, even in New Zealand we didn't see anything like this! The other strange thing is Ecuadorians think the waterfall and the thermal waters in the town (more on that in later posts) are blessed by the Virgin Mary and so have healing properties. And so by the waterfall is a carving of the Virgin Mary.
After admiring the waterfall we walked to the Central Market to find some lunch. We walked around a couple of times feeling overwhelmed with all the stalls and women shouting at us to come to theirs. We eventually just sat down at one that had people sat there but not too many that it was crowded. We both ordered an Ecuadorian delicacy, llapingachos, which is a plate full of avocado, fried mashed potato with cheese, chorizo sausage things and a fried egg. It was absolutely delicious, but we could almost feel it clogging up the arteries!
As it was our wedding anniversary the day after we decided to treat ourselves in the afternoon and walked to a spa. Spas and thermal pools are the other things Baños is all about. On our way we stopped to look in a another church. We didn't see any hell paintings but did see some disaster paintings, showing people drowning, falling and on fire - lovely.
The spa was much nicer than I had expected, embarrassingly we'd forgotten to bring our card so after choosing to buy the entrance to the spa, a eucalyptus steam bath and massages we were $5 short in cash. Luckily the lady let us through anyway. We were shown where to get changed and immediately told to come to have the steam bath.
This was no ordinary sauna. We were taken to a row of big wooden boxes looking out on the amazing mountain scenery. We each sat inside the wooden box and shown a handle to turn the steam on and off. The man then closed up the box so only our heads were sticking out. It was so weird. But also so nice! My chin was resting on the towel on the box and I could smell the eucalyptus so I started to completely relax. After about 15 minutes of the steam the man opened up the box and proceeded to throw ice cold water on is. Not so relaxing. And the process continued, 15 minutes of steam box, and then different forms of ice cold water - sitting in a little bath of cold water while we poured it on ourselves, a whole bucket over our heads while we were standing and finally being hosed down like we were in prison.
All in all I loved it!! I felt so refreshed after! Next up we had our massages, we had them together which was nice and typically romantic. They were regular massages but I was impressed that at the beginning they asked if we wanted it light, medium or strong as I hate a light massage, it just feels like being tickled.
After the massage we spent a couple of hours in the pool area, reading on the sunbeds with the amazing view and going in the hot tub.
We wanted to walk back before it got dark so we got changed and were about to leave. But before we did we were given half a pineapple each to eat, a great ending! Considering we only paid $55 for everything it was amazing!
For dinner that night we chose to go to a fusion restaurant, Asian and Ecuadorian. While we waited for our food we noticed they had some games so had a quick game of Ludo before it came out. We had some gyozas to start, then I had vegetable noodles and Mike had Thai noodles. They were delicious!!!
Feeling tired we headed back to the hostel to watch 'When They See Us' on Netflix which is hard to watch but I'd definitely recommend.
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ishaneesblog-blog · 5 years
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Chapter 1:
I have never been a touristy kind of a person by heart. I like travelling to places but then I don’t always enjoy visiting all the “tourist destinations” or “site-seeing spots” in that place. What I have always liked and wished for is to arrive at an unknown place and just feel its vibes. Of course I’d like to see the things that make the place popular but not like carry a checklist and go ticking off the places as I go around seeing them. Even while I am here in Kolkata, born and brought up, many people I meet at work place who have come from places outside Kolkata and ask me what are the places to see here. Needless to say, I am almost always at a fix because to me Kolkata is a feeling. One needs to roam around its dingy roads of the North, see the old dilapidated mansions that still stand tall to tell their myriad stories, sit by the mighty Ganges and hear its heavily silted water ripple to the pull of the oar of the “majhi”, walk down Lake area and see how love still plays around in nature amidst all the rush of our fast paced work lives.
Now, having said that, its but obvious that I like my own company, and sometimes even more than that of anyone else, to see and feel the places around. Instagram and other social media references have churned that need in me a little more and this time I decided to be a solo traveller, for the first time. Not only was I quite intrigued by this concept which is apparently new and also fast taking on among Indians, I needed a change. I needed to introspect. I needed to indulge myself totally without the prejudices of tastes and preferences of a travel partner.
Pondicherry has been just the kind of place I always wished to travel to, solo. So this time, without much thought, I got my tickets booked and here I was, a woman in her early thirties, ticking off the first from her bucket list, “My solo travel to Pondicherry”.
Chapter 2:
Planning for the trip was more hectic than any other trips i had gone to till date. Primarily because this time i needed to convince my parents , because c’mon...a married Bengali woman going on a solo trip!! Who does that unless you are not on good terms with your husband or plain psychotic. There is nothing that can be in between. And here, its not a child’s game of balancing on the edges of the railway tracks but rather, between them. Nonetheless, this war was won. And they finally realised all’s good between me and the husband and me and my brain (or, may be not!).
The day had arrived. And i realised super excitement about the trip made me book early morning flight. This essentially meant i had to leave at around 2 in the morning! Given the sloth bear that i am, that means SOMETHING! Anyway, what’s done is done and can’t be undone. I had my connecting flight from Hyderabad. On reaching Hyderabad, the Spice Jet staff at the check-in counter greeted me with a broad smile and morning pleasantries and then told me flight to Pondicherry might get delayed, if not cancelled. Now that was like an atom bomb dropped unto my dreams of my solo trip! (That’s being a little too dramatic...but who cares...i was really kind of shattered by the news. It was like the whole universe was conspiring with my parents against my travel!!) Cyclone gaja had hit the Tamil Nadu coast and effects were there in Pondicherry as well. But that was a week ago. And i was expecting it to clear away during my travel time. So with bated breath i waited for flight announcements for a good two hours. And lo and behold, my flight was not cancelled or delayed. And right at the moment i remembered “kehte hain agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaho, toh puri kainat use tumse milane ki koshish mein lag jati hai”. Clichéd , yes, i know, right?
Flight to Pondicherry was by a Bombardier Q400 aircraft, another of my firsts apart from my first solo trip. From the outside, it kind of gave me the feeling of my private Jet. Though not true too its entirety, i did have one private corner in the craft though. The seat next to me was vacant.
After the journey of one and a half hour, i was greeted by a brightly sunlit Pondicherry and i was pretty surprised at the thought that even a couple of hours ago my flight was about to get cancelled due to bad weather. Of course, i am not complaining but yes, surprises need to be penned.
My hotel was just a few minutes’ walk away from the famed Promenade, the Rock Beach of Pondicherry. So i just dropped my baggage in there and hopped out to see the beach. Yes, here you really can’t hit the beach as it’s all rocky. Since, beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, you just need to walk along the promenade or sit on one of the rocks along the beach to behold the beauty. Or maybe relax with a cup of warm or cold coffee with the sea breeze playing with your hair in the beach side cafe Le Cafe. I decided to do all of this now. I walked up to Le Cafe. Ordered my favourite Iced Latte and sat there savouring every bit of the “beach-mode” that i had switched on for myself.
It was late afternoon and still had not had my lunch. But all my senses seemed to be saying they will be satiated only by seeing the city as i have always wanted to. So with the sun still bright in the sky and a skip of joy in my toes i started walking down the roads. I kept walking through almost every alley of the White Town. It’s the place that i had always wanted to be, and realised it more strongly when i was actually roaming round the streets. It was like alcohol to my mind, which wished i lost my way it its world of Technicolor. Every corner round the streets had something pretty to show. Pretty walls, beautiful doors, flower laden roads and a beautiful city beach.... hello my first day in Pondicherry!!
Chapter 3:
Pondicherry is not just about prettiness though. It's about finding peace within and without yourself. It's let's hold yourself back from the race against time that we all run in our otherwise busy lives. It is sometimes necessary to let time just pass by you while you sit there watching the wonderful things that exist around you, or maybe delve a little inside yourself and bring out the long lost person that you are. So I did,  that is, when I reached the Aurobindo Ashram. It's simplicity and the quietude does that to you. You don't need to be a believer in God. I am not. But this place will make you feel your spirits,  make you one with your soul. It makes you believe in spirituality.
Chapter 4:
I have never been an early morning person. So I have never done what most people do while vacationing at a beach... Watch sunrise.  No matter how much I philosophise seeing the sun at dusky beach, I will just not be friends with the rising sun. This time was no different. I slept till 8 in the morning. Got up and got dressed to go for breakfast at Cafe des Arts, not because they serve lip smacking food, but I was really fascinated by the pictures of its wall that I had been seeing on my Instagram wall. But fate had written a different story for me today. The moment I stepped out of my hotel I saw a an auto, hopped into it to take me to Auroville, the experimental township founded by The Mother, Mirra Alfassa. My auto started with a vroom and auto-wala bhaiya understood I am tourist. So he started asking me what are the places I have already visited and what are the ones I would like to visit. Serenity Beach was on my mind and also along the way (that is what he told me). So, when this was supposed to be a laid back day at some French cafe, it actually turned out to be a trip to Auroville first, and then a trip to Auroville via Serenity Beach. Talk about detours in life or unplanned life!
Serenity Beach serves true to its name. It's unlike the Rock Beach and one can swim here. But since I was actually out for breakfast today and not for swimming, I was a total misfit here, strolling around in my long skirt, I chose to spend around half an hour and then headed towards Auroville, an experimental township that believes in ecofriendly living. The main attraction of Auroville is the Matri Mandir, which is at the focal point of the vast span of the dry evergreen forest that the Auroville preserves. While the walk upto the Matri Mandir was tiresome, once I reached there I realised probably this is why we need to walk upto it... There it was, the magnificent golden dome to remind us no matter how big our troubles are, they are all but fleeting foes we have. What stays is peace, stability and tranquility. To me, the Matri Mandir was symbolic of these three basics of life.
Chapter 5:
Today I decide to do what I had left on the way yesterday... Breakfast! But I changed the venue today. I take a long walk to Artika's Cafe. A cafe with an old schoolish decor where even the menu card was a handwritten on an old handmade paper. I found this very interesting and it got me hooked onto this place while I sat under an old tree in the courtyard with my book and Artika's Coco (a coconut drink punched with ginger, mint and honey) to accompany me. Breakfast time elapsed and now I decided to walk back to my hotel, freshen up and then.... Oh wait! I'll decide later... For the time being I need my afternoon siesta coz when in the French Town (of India) do as the neighbours of France do! 😁
Chapter 6:
My remaining time in Pondicherry was spent walking upto Goubert Avenue and then along the Rock Beach, or maybe lazing off with a cup of coffee, or just walking around the city trying to learn the French names of the roads I pass through, or may be lunch on the Pondi-famed firewood pizzas, and then maybe sip into one of the best lemon teas I've ever had, from a road side shack... In simpler terms, I was soaking in as much of Pondicherry as I could before I came back to Kolkata and life starts getting squeezed out,  so that when it does I get some flavours of Pondicherry to recharge me and get me going.
Pondicherry has given me what I had come looking for. I needed to feel its vibes and hear the roaring waves to set the calm in me. So here's signing off but not putting a full stop to what I take back from here, coz while not all experiences can be put down in black and white, my Pondicherry memories will stay with me for a time period that's called forever.......
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hydine · 7 years
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THAT'S IT! I'VE COME UP WITH A NEW THEORY!
(Another part of my insanity about the ending, going more along with the canon ending of the game, starting past the sentence in CAPSLOCK after next paragraph. Keep the typos, I'm on my phone again and it's 1am and I have to get up for work in less than 5 hours.) I already posted a crazy theory about the ending where Ardyn was wiped from existence, and it changed the timeline where Ardyn doesn't exist. We start at point zero, the boys still go about their adventures, but Noct can reclaim his throne without sacrificing himself, because there's no Ardyn to defeat. So after they "kill" Ifrit, Insomnia is saved, Noct can bring back the light minus the blood price and everyone lives happily ever after. BUT WE ALL KNOW THIS IS UNLIKELY A CANONICAL ENDING. If I'm thinking canonical, Noct really sacrificed himself and died. But then - here starts my new, more likely to be canonical theory - NOCT ASCENDED TO GODHOOD. I mean part of the game was big on Noct reclaiming his throne, ascend from Prince to King, but we know how that ended. The 6 (5 actually) Gods chose Noct as the King of light who would sacrifice himself to save the world. (And with Ifrit dead, one place is vacant lol). What of they accepted him as one of their own, after all he had done to save the world? Also he did defeat the Gods to gain their power, so he is more powerful than the 6, he commands them. I'm thinking with everything he has done, he is /above/ the 6 Gods, the most powerful beings of Eos. Hence Noct must have ascended to Godhood (or even beyond that). Then there's the song Somnus,where the first line says "God sleeps", which could tie to the last scene we see of Noct and Luna, where they "have their final rest" (aka "sleep"). Then there's the floatsy Crystal particles everywhere, where else do we see them? When we can summon a God in battle (or utilize the ring, don't remember for sure). So what if, just WHAT IF, Noct (and possibly Luna too) is a God now? Let's assume. The throne room is still destroyed, but decorated. And Gentiana can walk among mortals and make herself "invisible" if she wants to (remember she photobombs you regularly). Which possibly means, there is a "in between", not really here, but also not really in the beyond. SO. The Chocobros didn't die, a part of them went with Noct into the beyond, because there's a saying that a part of you always goes with the ones you love, that's why we see them with Noct in the beyond when he fights Ardyn. The Chocobros didn't die and held a memorial for Noct in the throne room. Which is possibly why we see only Noct's name, not Luna's, as you'd expect from a wedding ceremony. The throne room also was still destroyed in the last scene, because the throne room was the real one and Noct was there but no one (at least no normal person) could see him, because he was in the aforementioned "in between" (remember the floatsy crystals?), where Gentiana photobombs you. (The picture Noct last took with him as a keepsake and the scene where he holds it and shows it to Luna could also be a hint of Noct being "in between"?) Noct was basically summoned to the throne room by his memorial. And that actually is a beautiful thing, because His journey was tiring, but he doesn't necessarily have to rest forever. If willing, he can walk among the mortals, just like Gentiana. He can still show up from time to time and have a chat with his brothers. He can photobomb Prompto anytime. Noct ascended not only to be king, but to be a God above the 6. He doesn't follow rules anymore, he makes them. (Big thanks to @plunata for encouraging me to slap yet another of my FFXV theories on Tumblr. You go, girl, luv ya)
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