#you can gather stuff to build a camp then a village then a city

[theskyexists]

Really wanna work on my multiplayer game idea again.... Hmmrrm.

#you start in the world as a weak creature with a soul shard and you gotta bury that to create a respawn point #if you bury it with others' youre in a guild together #you can gather stuff to build a camp then a village then a city #which will attract villagers who are basically lore versions of automating crafting tasks #crafting is not fast and never becomes faster for yourself #the villagers have names and needs #they leave if their needs are not met depending on loyalty also #they die and have kids #meanwhile - you and your guild are able to build the city by raiding into the shadowworld filled with ghosts of great settlements #there is a whole system of laws and privileges and hierarchy #that members can adjust - from authoritarian to democratic #only this level of people can build...etc. #to create a bureaucracy #but then how can you destroy a tyrant? or a tyrannical empire? #grab them soul shards and shatter them #also when a settlement falls - how is this determined? - heart got destroyed and all soul shards returned to their owners - and the heart is #not reestablished within a day - the settlement becomes a dungeon in shadowlands #with bosses that reflect players whos soul shard were shattered #my stuff #personal #anywayyy you build huge guild cities together! :)))

[wlwsims4]

Back at it again with this whole challenge stuff.

This Challenge is half “Survive this”, half Legacy, and based around the various stages the main group in the TV Show “The Walking Dead” went through. You don’t need to have watched it to play this challenge, but many requirements will feel arbitrary if you haven’t. Since these aren’t really, uh, generations, I will refer to the individual parts of this challenge as “Stages” Packs required: Outdoor Retreat, Seasons, Eco Lifestyle, Get Together, City Living, Discover University, Get to Work

The Setup:

- You will need either Triplis’ “Kids Quit School” mod ot MCCC to make quitting school possible. - Create your founder and any number of other survivors in CAS, Two of these additional survivors need to be children. - Use your own physical dice or find an online dice roller, you will need that!

General Rules:

- It’s the Apocalypse, so buy mode is heavily restricted. You can’t just go to Ikea and buy  new couch! You will need to use the fabrication and handiness skills to make furniture! Some Random Events and generational rules may allow you to get stuff otherwise

- You may only cook with ingredients you have! If you play this after the release of Cottage Living, use the Lot Challenge!

- You will always play off the grid!

- The monetary cost of crafting is considered “materials”. You can "barter” for materials by using the selling table from City Living, or sell furniture and stuff you scavenged, thus “dismantling” it and salvaging it.

- Any children you have aside from the two you create in CAS automatically suffer a -2 penalty to all rolls they perform, on account of being children. 

- Randomized townies you encounter are generally considered zombies. (or WaLkErS of you don’t wanna use the evil Z word). If they engage you in conversation, consider it an attack and roll a d20, adding 1 for every two levels of fitness the Sim in question has. Below a 15, they get injured in the scuffle and are out of comission for the rest of the day. Below a 10, they get infected and die

- Pregnant and elderly Sims cannot perform any chores or other survival tasks and suffer the same -2 penalty as children!

- Every ingame week, roll on the random events table!

- Play with normal lifespan!

Stage 1: The Atlanta Survivors Camp You just survived the Apocalypse’s initial outbreak and you are settling with a small group outside a large city. However, calamity soon threatens your little sanctuary.

- Move your household anywhere with freerealestate, then take a vacation on the campground lot in Granite Falls.  - Set your money to 5k and start your grind. When you can no longer extend your vacation, your camp gets overrun and you are forced to flee. Roll Fitness checks for each member of your group and disable/kill accordingly. - If your founder dies in this, appoint a new one from the surviving sims

Stage 2: Hershel’s Farm After getting out of the overrun camp and having a little happening at the CDC, you are back on the road and lose one of your two kids in a run-in with a horde. Worse, even, your other kid gets shot and is badly injured! Thankfully, you are offered help by a small family on a nearby farm.

- Kill of one of your two CAS-created kids. Sorry, Sophia! - The other CAS-created kid is now injured for the rest of thi stage and can’t help you out or build skills. - Move your sims to one of the lots south of the Chalet in Windernburg (Or Henford on Bagley if Cottage Living is out!)  and build a little farmhouse big enough to accommodate four sims, with a small vegetable garden and 2 power generating and 3 water generating items. -Create four Sims that “own” the farm and help you out. One of them has to be an elder! - Two weeks into this stage, the farm will, unfortunately, get overrun and also set on fire. Do your fitness rolls for everyone and run for your life.

Stage 3: The Prison Again, you are on the run, but there’s a little shimmer of light at the end of the tunnel - an abandoned prison! Now, you just need to like... reclaim it.

- Build a Prison, or download one from the gallery! - Cheat one of your sim pregnant, if you don’t have a pregnancy yet. - Reclaim the prison! Make Fitness rolls for each level + the outside. - After your pregnant Sim gives birth, kill her. Sorry, Lori! - Create a rival 8-sim household and put your sims in a club, and their rivals in one too. Have  “fight (other club)” as one of the activities, then have them visit you and... start... a gathering... ;)

Stage 4 The Prison 2, Electric Boogaloo You defeated Woodbury! ... or did you? Well, you don’t really have time to deal with it right now, because there is a deadly strain of influenza wrecking your community. 

- Start placing ads for roommates. Those are the former Woodbury people you took in! - Every Time someone gets one of the GTW illnesses, roll your d20. Below a 10, they die to the sickness. Kill them, and roll fitness for one of your household sims, since the dead turn into walkers! - Three weeks into this stage, your friend, the Governor of Woodbury, comes back with a fresh new group he roped into his nonsense. Roll Fitness checks and book it. (also kill the Governor. RIP in pieces)

Stage 5: Terminus From bad to worse, you’re on the run again, and split up this time. Divided we fall, huh? Good thing there’s this totally not ominous set of markers leading you to a place called Terminus. I’m sure nothing bad will happen there.

- Split your Household and surviving roommates and pop them all into different empty lots. Play a week with each of them (aging off here, this is meant to happen simultaneously!) and roll on the random events table until you have eight sims left in total. Hope you weren’t attached to any of them. - Put them back into the same household again, and create yet another rival club to beat up. That rival club is Terminus. Surprise, the group with the name meaning “Death” was bad! - Switch to your Terminus household and “invite” your sims over, then lock them in the basement, true sims style. Go downstairs and start a club gathering. Keep an eye on them, every time someone loses a fight, kill them. Do this until you have either 5 good guys left or all of Terminus is dead.

Stage 6: Alexandria and The other blokes You got away from the humanitarians and were invited into the community of Alexandria. Thing are finally looking up again!

- Move to a 50x50 lot and build a little “village” with gardens, energy production and everything you might need. - Create two more 8-sim-households on similar situations and create clubs for them, with the activity to be friendly with yours! These two households will be Hilltop and The Kingdom. - Make one of the Evergreen Harbor Community Spaces a marketplace and frequent it! - Stay in this stage for four weeks!

Stage 7: The Saviour War Things just couldn’t stay okay, could they? You ticked off a horrible cult-of-personality-type organization called the Saviours, who now start their reign of terror against you.

- Create another household and club meant to be mean to you, Hilltop and the kingdom. Make their Leader a magnificent bastard and give that one plot armor. Narrative Immunity! - Host a little multi-club gathering and roll a d8 twice. Look at your own household portrait lineup and kill two of your sims whose portrait position corresponds to your rolls. - Take your strongest fighter, aka the highst fitness stat, aka Daryl Dixon and put them into their own household, to take them out of the equation for a while. They’re the Saviours’ prisoner now! - Congrats, you have been promoted to vassal state. The Saviours demand five of every crop you produce. Don’t hav enough to feed your people? Sucks to be you! - Stay in this stage for 4 weeks, then bring back your poor fighter, and kill off half of the Saviours, add the rest to your household and Kingdom & Hilltop. Their Leader must survive! Keep them in your basement from now on and visit them regularly to gloat.

Stage 8: The Whisperer War Finally, some stability. Oh, whats that? New enemy faction, and this one of even worse? Fantastic.

- Cease communication and trade with Hilltop & Kingdom for two weeks, Then hold a big party! - ...during said party,  kill 12 total sims from each faction. - Create a new rival faction called the Whisperers. Make their two leaders, Alpha & Beta, level 10 in fitness. - Hold weekly brawls with the whisperers. Kill every fight loser, but replenish the Whisperers losses. There’s no end to their forces! - Give Alpha a daughter and take her in after your first clash with them. - When you resume trade, roll a D20 every time you travel away from your lot. Below a 10, your travel party gets attacked by the Whisperers! Roll Fitness checks for every Siim traveling. - Remember the Saviour leader? Yeah, they’re doing better. Have them befried one of your household’s children, and gradually integrate them into your community. - After an additional 4 weeks of this, send your redeemed Saviour leader over to the Whisperers and befriend them. They’re a spy now! - Survive another week, then ply s the Whisperers and attack Hilltop! Move the survivors into your main household. - After this attack, your spy strikes and kills Alpha. Put them back into your household, then gear up for a big fight! - Cheat “Roughhousing ecouraged” in your NAPs, then gather all surviving characters along with the Whisperers and fight!

Did you survive this? Well, until season 11 comes out, that’s as far as we go. You can continue playing with the Random Events and general ruleset!

RANDOM EVENTS:

D20: 1.  There’s a drought. Sell all your stored water and reset your money back down 2. Zombie Attack! Roll Fitness and kill accoridngly! 3. Electric whoopsie-doopsie. Sell your stored electricty and set your money bck down 4. Roving bandits! The next time travel, all your traveling sims lose their inventory contents! If they had none, kill one of them! 5. Baby Boom! Get one fo your Sims pregnant 6. Other Survivors! Roll a d4 and add the resulting nuber of sims to your household! 7. Tragic accident! Kill a random sim 8. Extra Ammo! Every Sim gets a +1 to their next fitness roll! 9. Thunderstorm! Your Sims may not leave their lot for this week! 10: Supply thief! select a random sim and hoard food for this week. At the end of the week they get found out nd either killed or exiled! 11. Breach! Your wall has a breach! Reduce your funds by 150 to fix it. If you don’t have that much, kill a random sim in the resulting zombie incusrsion! 12. Illness! There’s a flareup of the deadly flu from the prison! Play with this Stage’s rules (regarding the illness) for this week! 13: Re-roll! 14. Sabotage! Your fabricator and woodworking table cannot be used this week! 15. Zombie Attack! Roll Fitness and kill accordingly! 16. Lost Child! You find a random child, adopt one! (cheat the money for the adoption) 17: Feast! Your Sims make the poorly informed decision to par-tay! Delete all the stored crops you have. 18. Horde! It’s too dangerous to leave the fortifications right now! Suspend all travel this week. 19. Foraging! Cheat yourself enough money and buy a seasonal seed packet that corresponds to this season! 20. Re-Roll!

#my post #ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #simblr #sims 4 challenge #sims 4 challenge rules #the walking dead #twd #sims 4 zombie #sims 4 walking dead #sims 4 twd challenge #my challenges

[untapanimedraw]

Anime of the Decade 2018

Oh boy, we’re getting close to current day. So much anime, where to start? How about the beginning of the year? Lets get started!

Winter:

Darling in the FranXX - Oh man, what a way for Trigger to drop the ball. For what was set up to be such an interesting show with a cool premise and a variety of characters, they just had to go and pull a typical Trigger ending with SPACE! There’s a lot to like about this show and it gave us an iconic best girl in Zero Two, but the ending is just so lackluster and disappointing that it really casts a sad pall over the whole show. 

Skilled Teaser Takagi-san - I have never seen such a heartwarming, wholesome, calm, low-stakes, enjoyable show like this ever. It’s a just budding romance between a couple middle school kids where all the flirting is cloaked behind Takagi-san’s teasing and Nishikata’s naïveté . Truly a show worth watching. 

Yuru Camp - Speaking of chill shows, this was definitely the laid-back (pun intended) show of the season. This is a very nice slice of life show about a bunch of cute girls camping in the winter. Lots of yuri undertones and a fun cast make this a really fun show to watch. Also season 2 in 2020!

After the Rain - A romance show that’s all about to very different and lost people who come together and find romance, but not in each other. They use their connection to find what love means to them, and it’s a fully underrated and sweet show. The art style is really nice and unique and the sound design is A+. 

A Place Further Than the Universe - And here we have my AOTS and a very strong contender for AOTY. The story plot is really just a group of girls go to Antarctica, but like in almost all things: it’s not the destination, it’s the journey. And that goes doubly so for this show where it’s fully character driven, and the four main girls are all different enough and unique in their own ways that there’s a lot comedy and growth and maturity. So fucking good. 

Ms. Koizumi-san Loves Ramen Noodles - I’m including this for 2 reasons. Number 1, like always, cute anime girls. And Number 2, you get a fairly decent education in styles of ramen. If you like ramen and anime girls, watch this show. I learned there are so many types of ramen in different regions and really just whatever the chefs want to create to make something unique. 

Spring:

Last Period - This is an action/magic/fantasy show that’s not really any of that. It is, but it’s really more of a full on comedy parody of gatcha-games and the related tropes. It’s a really fun comedy with excellent ED and OP songs. 

Megalo Box - Hot damn, how do we in the year 2018 get a show that’s straight out of the 80′s and still look and sound like the best of the year? Absolutely unique and excellent in all regards. It’s my AOTS for sure. 

Comic Girls - This is a show all about finding confidence in what you want to do. Lot of cute girls, fun comedic situations, and just a nice feel-good show. 

Golden Kamuy - Ever been vaguely interested in Japanese history? No not samurais and stuff, but like late 19th and early 20th century Japanese history and some of the indigenous peoples who kinda got pushed out. It’s a story about war, the Ainu people, and a legitimate Gold Rush! Fantastic show that got a second season and I’m holding out hope for a third. 

Hinamatsuri - Definitely the comedy of the season for me, though in the end it almost ended up more heartwarming and adorable than full on comedy. 

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online - Ever wanted to explore the ideas and games of SAO without the main characters holding the story back? This is the show for you. It’s a legitimately good SAO show without any of the drawbacks and baggage the main story carries with it. 

Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku - One of the most relate-able and honest adult romance stories I’ve even seen. This isn’t some shitty high school rom-com that spends the whole 12 episodes building up to a confession that may or may not turn into anything. This takes care of all that in the first 2 episodes and then spends the rest of its time exploring the ins and outs of an actual relationship. All while both work together and have their own otaku hobbies. 

Summer:

Attack on Titan S3 - The political navigating begins! This aired in 2 parts with a couple seasons between them so I guess it’s technically 2 seasons though not. And part 2 is rightly hailed as the best of AOT so far, but this part 1 has one of the best action scenes I’ve ever witnessed. The Levi chase scene is so fucking good. 

Overlord S3 - There is a whole lot of interesting story that happens in this season and a lot of good, but it almost all gets brought down by some absolutely terrible CGI in the last couple episodes. 

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord - That a stupidly trashy show. I fucking love it. 

Grand Blue - Grand Blue is a diving show! That is like 90% college shenanigains and drinking. It’s also quite funny and has some fantastic faces. 

Asobi Asobase - I’m a big fan of comedies, and somehow this one seems to top everything I’ve seen. The scenarios, the voice acting, the art, the timing, the OP and ED... literally everything about this show is cranked to 11 in order to provide the best comedy experience around. AOTS. 

Fall:

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime - This is a super fun isekai show that is done well. No there’s not an overpowered, black-haired, generic MC; in fact the MC isn’t even human, he’s a slime! Who just so happens to befriend an elder dragon and use the unique slime characteristics to kinda become stupidly overpowered. He just wants to chill and have some fun and ends up building a nation of monster-kin while he’s at it. Lots of comedy, lots of fun, enough well-animated action to keep you entertained, and a lot of heart for this little slime and his family that he builds. 

Sword Art Online: Alicization - More SAO! This is supposed to actually be good though... and I have to agree! 

Goblin Slayer - Goblins are a menace, but they’re not flashy so most of the adventurers just ignore them. However the titular Goblin Slayer knows better, when they gather en masse they are a force to be reckoned with and can even wipe out whole cities not to mention any little villages along the way. He will not stand for that and has specialized in goblin hunting. Are there goblins to kill? He’ll do it. Souka. 

Bunny Girl Senpai - The romance/mystery story that took the anime community by storm. The movie that came out later was a heartwrencher too. So good. 

Run With The Wind - Here we get to my AOTS and strong contender for AOTY. I never thought that an anime about a bunch of boys working towards running a relay marathon would be one of my favorite shows of the entire year, but here we are. It just has so much heart and soul that’s it just ends up being a greater than the sum of it’s parts situation. 

Alright, so we have A Place Further than the Universe, Megalo Box, Asobi Asobase, and Run With the Wind. Like with every year so far, the AOTY comes down to personal preference and this year goes to Run With the Wind. 

#anime #anime of the year #anime of the decade #a place further than the universe #megalo box #asobi asobase #run with the wind

[constanzemachiavelli]

The Mercenary Band

Tanef was sitting calmly at the base of the tower keep, sharpening her swords with a whetstone she had found in the weapon's storage in the keep. Her breathing was sharp with signs of pain, due to her chest being hit by a war hammer. Somehow she and her other 4 companions had survived the siege and the assault, now resting and recovering from wounds, aside from Shirra, who was sent as a messenger to get reinforcements and save them from the siege. She, with Loth, their cleric, helped Thurn and especially Horn to heal, as they had taken most of the beating in the fight. There were 3 fresh graves outside the fort, for those 3 unfortunate companions that had fallen in the assault.

“You should rest too, Tanef,” Shirra had come down to see the elf.

Tanef kept sharpening her blade “I want to go to the town and shake those councilmen by their collars. How dare they condemn us to death!” She threw the stone away in anger, but then almost collapsed due to her injured chest.

“You are in no shape to take the 3 day journey south. Rest!” Shirra insisted and patted Tanef on her shoulder.

“Someone needs to repair the gate or stay on watch” Tanef resisted.

“Me and Loth can take care of it, don't you worry!”

“Fine” Tanef gave in and walked upstairs and layed down to rest.

After a few hours Tanef rose up again and went out in the courtyard once more, seeing Thurn woken  up from his rest and standing around, balancing himself on a walking stick.Tanef walked over to him.

“Your leg is hurt?” she asked

“And you can't breathe normally” he answered

“What do you suggest as our next course of action?” Tanef asked.

“I personally do not want to deal with the so called council anymore, the already double corssed us already during the siege, I do not wish to be betrayed once more by those corrupted asses!” he proclaimed.

Tanef shifted around and thought for a second: “You are right, we should avoid dealing with them, as they have already proved to be untrustworthy, but we are under a contract for the next 3 months, we cannot break it or else we might be declared triaitors. I suggest we go back to the town and get our reward for the task. If we want to survive in this dimension we must live by its rules.”

Thurn growled “Sure, do the bare minimum, I'm fine with that.”

They both stood by in silence for a while, until Thurn whispered “This isn't my home anymore.”

Tanef hugged Thurn over his back and reassuringly said “It's fine, don't worry about it. We can make a new home, that is if you want to.”

He growled again and stabbed the ground with the stick strongly and went inside once more. Tanef stood for a while, thinking about how to help Thurn with accepting that his home dimension is all but gone. After that she walked off to inspect the walls and defences, unable to do so before due to the siege.

After a few hours of slwoly surveying the surrondings, Tanef went back to the fortress, to its tower keep, and saw everyone already gathered together. Tanef joined them and started to talk.

“How is the gate doing?” she asked to Shirra

“One side is useless, but the other is still standing, we'll need a new gate if we want to keep the fort for ourselves. I'm also concerned about the food stocks, we only have enough for a few days left, we'll have to travel to a village or the town soon to get the supplies we require.” Shirra said.

“We need more drink!” Horhrug said.

“Alright, we'll sort that out soon, but first we have to get to the town and get our reward for holding the fort. We can gather the supplies along the way.” Tanef told everyone.

“Who will stay behind and guard the fort, though?” Shirra asked. “Do you plan to recruit from the villages?”

“That is an option, yes, but it might take a bit too long to make sure its properly defended, so I propose that only I will go, while the rest of you stay behind and protect the fort.” Tanef answered.

“Wouldn't that make us vulnerable without you? We'll be 2 people less in case of another siege!” Loth said worryingly. “You are also hurt, don't you need some help with you?”

“We need to take our chances regardless, we will starve to death before we can leave the fort, and who know what those spineless bastards might do if we dont come in timely fashion, the lives sacrificed here would have been spent for nothing!” Tanef said

“Whatever you say, captain...”” Shirra said.

“So it's been decided, tomorrow morning I depart for Amelgalia.” tanef said, stood up and headed out.

“Where are you going?” asked Thurn

“I need some fresh air, that's all.” Tanef answered.

Next morning she went out before the sun was up.

She loved the night's sky the most, as it had the most going on. It had stars, moons and other objects she just couldn't find a name for. And sometimes something shot past or appeared for a few moments. The day sky she also adored, the fluffy forms of the clouds and the sun itself. She still hadn't seen a sun setting or rising, and she forgot to do so again this morning, too enchanted by the shifting tones of the sky as the morning came. Living almost all of her life underground had stolen her the joys of what a sky is.

But she also had to keep to her goal, getting to Amelgalia. She made sure to pack everything she needed, that is, food and a few essential things like flint and steel for firemaking and bandages, in case she got hurt. As well as her contract with the city, which she brought in case of needing a proof of her employment.

The trip to Amelgalia lasts one and a half days and she passed a village on her way there, before the night set. She decided to not push herself and find a place to camp for the night. The season seemed to be summer, as far as the subterranian upbringing told her, so she didn't see a reason to bring a tent or anything.

She decided to sleep on the trees, a pretty good hiding place in case of some bandits, and a perfect place to observe the stars from. Unfortunately she missed the sunset, again, so she made herself content with another night of star gazing, as she had done every evening so far. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

She woke up coughing, her chest hurting unbearably. She had overexhausted herself yesterday and now will have to go slower, maybe only reaching the city in the evening.

The sun was well up when she woke up, so she sighed in regret that she couldn't see the sunrise again, but onwards regardless, clutching her chest and resting on the road side to rest for a few moments.

Suddenly, she heard a noise that resembled a horse stamping the ground. She lookd to her left and safe a cart being pulled by a horse. She stood up and waved her arm towards th cart and waited for it to come closer. Soon, it came and stopped, its driver speaking down towards Tanef.

“Where do you want to go, stranger?” he asked.

“Amelgalia” Tanef responded.

“What business you got there?”

“I'm an adventurer and im heading to receive my reward from the council.”

The man scanned her body. “You do look like the sort. Are you by chance one of those mercenaries that occupy that fort up in the north?”

Tanef cackled. “I'm too young to throw my life away in such endavours.”

“How old are you then?” the man asked.

“Just 170 years old, not that much.”

The man looked with wide open eyes. “Alright then. Uh... do you require a ride to the city?”

“Of course” Tanef answered

She climbed in the cart and sat down, and the man cracked his whip and they rode onwards.

“So on what kind of adventure were you then? You don't really look like from here.” the man asked.

“Oh I come from far away lands, you could say not from this world, even. I was sent on far, far away quest by the council after an artefact, fought many monsters, got lost a few times and had to find my way back, you know, the usual adventuring stuff.” she told.

“From another world, eh? You are either a big liar, story teller or both.” the man replied.

“What if I am? I've told many lies to my comrades back when I still had any. I've told them stories that never took place, lied that I am some sort of... plane hopper, that I have seen the sky for hundreds of years, forced to hide my fascination with it in case I am found out to be a liar. Some nights I dream about... I mean dreamt about how much easier it would to slice their throats and find my way in the world by myself, without them stalling me.” Tanef said, coughing at the end.

The man dropped silent but then chuckled. “I didn't understand a single word from you, girl. You must have lived no more than 25 sumers, full of dreams and ambitions. Wait till you reach my age, then you will find a value in setting down, with friends... and maybe a partner. Did you run away from your home? No, you are dressed like some bandit, so maybe you are one! Maybe I should throw you out my cart, you filth. Better keep your mouth shut or you will get worse treatment than this!” The man spat out his words in anger.

“I'm sorry, I must have had something deep inside me that I needed to get out. I hope I didn't scare you too much” the man apologized after a small while.

Tanef remained silent and just looked at the surroundings while sitting in the empty cart.

After a few hours, the two reached a large fortified city, Amelgalia. Its walls were around 10 metres high and had several towers on them, protecting the insides of the city. There were some buildings outside the walls, though, mostly merchant booths and warehouses that wouldn't fit inside the city. The horse stopped and the old man spoke to Tanef.

“Well, this is it. We need to part now as I have business outside the walls. I wish you well on whatever you need to do here.” the man said.

“Thanks” Tanef muttered.

“Wait!” The man said as soon as Tanef started walking away. “What's your name?”

“Tanef.”

“Glad to meet you, Tanef. I am Kristoff!”

Tanef waved her arm as a goodbye and walked inside the city.

#fantasy #writing

[bignookling]

100 days to acnh challenge - 1 to 74

found this challenge and decided it would be a great way to pass the time until the release date, and a good way to get people to know me a lil better too c’: i feel so powerful starting at this point, there are so few days left to wait! 

1. Do you prefer making up a new name for your villager, or using your own name? i never, ever used my own name... i always felt like this would be boring, and i kinda want to give myself the opportunity to create a new “character” based on the events that happen to them in the game... (my first character in wild world was named Scarlet :^)) 2. Do you use the first map you’re given, or do you reset for layouts? i am bige resetter with bige plans all jokes aside i am way too indecisive and spent way too much time on this, i would even check people’s dream towns prior to resetting to gather ideas and fresh input on this. though usually, each time i remade my town i had a specific kind of map in mind? most of all, i like having a secluded nice little corner to put my house (being able to move your house in nh is a game changer honestly!) grass type and colors of buildings also matter. residents not so much because, hey, i can also reset for that later! (i am terrible) 3. Do you use the face you’re given, or do you wait for guides and choose your favourite? similarly, i use a guide. i think the only times i didn’t was my first times in wild world where i didn’t really have access to a fast internet connection :’^) (guess what i am also indecisive about this! my most used are the classic arched villager eyes, the almond shaped ones and the shiny anime ones THEY ARE TOO CUTE) 4. Favourite town/island name?/Have you a name picked out for your town/island? I WON’T SAY YET... i have multiple options for now and idk what to do... but my nl town is named Suzuran, and i really like this name :] 5. Will you be sharing with friends/family, or is your island going to be all your own? probably gonna be my own! my mother used to have a character in my wild world town though :) 6. What’s a new feature you’re excited about? ALL but mostly the terraforming/switching everything up options!! for...reasons mentioned above... also the weeds. i never really got to dupe clovers or stuff like that so i am very pumped 7. Favourite fruit? buttfruit peaches probably... i also love perfect oranges and perfect pears because they’re like golden... i like gold like perfect fruits in general hehe i also love the new fruits in new leaf! 8. Least favourite fruit? apples are a bit tacky to me but i still love them i am sad i cannot really make a lot of fruit trees work in my minimally colored nl towns... some people do it so well though and i am TRYING 9.  Favourite area? (Beach, campground, shopping district etc, from any entry in the series.) THIS IS HARD I DON’T HAVE A LOT OF MEMORIES i have fond memories of the beach in wild world just because of some people’s really pretty hacked towns. like they added a whole “manor” (big player house) in front of it and that was the bomb. i also loved the cliffs in city folk and am so glad they are back... 10. Where do you like to like to put your house? Do you like that level of customization, or do you prefer to have some things decided, like in older entries? as i said i like secluded, remote areas for the house, and i also loved to put it near the cliff in city folk! (you better be fully awake if you step out)  the beach is a neat option too. but in nl my favorite was next to a waterfall! 11.  Favourite grass pattern? triangles! when i was a kid it was my least fav and i always avoided it though... then i visited a friend’s cf town and was like “wait this is MORE LIKE REAL GRASS” and i had an awakening...  12. Least favourite grass pattern? circles are a bit... odd for grass i think 13. Favourite villager/s? purrl was my absolute queen when i played wild world and still is. i love cats in general... and deer. and coco. coco is so my aesthetic and goals for a town feeling if you know what i mean, i adore her. doyoing 14. Least favourite villager/s? i am basic and like cute things so the least cute and mostly most tacky, bright colored ones... i am sorry...i still care about all your villagers 15. Did you like doing Tom Nook’s chores, or did you find those to be a pain? generally speaking i like them when i first play the game because they are immersive and kinda introduce you to the main concepts of the game? (the city in city folk, being mayor in nl etc) but with side characters and resetting they get a bit repetitive and frustrating upping your reputation to be able to work as a mayor in nl also is a pain 16. Favourite NPC/s? label is my queen and wife. i love her sisters too, and tom nook... BLANCA too i adored her when i played wild world and couldn’t get to see her in my town and was so hyped for her nl event laughs, and joan and daisy mae... i’m probably forgetting some faves I LOVE EVERYONE wait KAPPN has cute dialogue too!  17. Least favourite NPC/s? is there one? i don’t know? i’m gonna go check a list of npcs now ... i am back and honestly I DON’T KNOW 18. Do you use paths? Are you excited about the new path tool? i don’t use paths in my town because they are a mess to set up and i love the natural look anyway, but some people do it so well! i love the ones with natural colors and the little details.  the new path tool looks so convenient, but i don’t know if i like the textures! i’ll probably use it sparsely because i also wanna keep that wild look to my town 19. Favourite feature from an older entry?  the lights on the villagers’ houses in wild world is what came to mind first, hahah 20. What was your first Animal Crossing game? WILD WORLD!! i played it so much and for so long 21. Favourite activity (fishing, bug catching, fossil hunting, other)? bug catching (ca-ching) is my fave out of this list, i also love visiting dream towns and playing with friends in general! 22. Least favourite activity? diving is so slow... 23. Favourite bug? the huge butterflies you see in summer (i was AMAZED when i first saw them), the fireflies (SAME, the first time i saw some was in someone else’s town in city folk as we crossed a bridge and it was just magical, laughs), and the big shiny beetles... it’s not just for the monies, i promise 24. Least favourite bug? either the small butterflies that you see everywhere when you’re trying to catch something neat for the bug-off, or the tarentulas/scorpios because i NEVER MANAGED TO CATCH THEM 25. A quarter of the way there! How’s the wait? actually there’s barely a month remaining as we speak, so pretty fine! i still have to pick my character and town names, and to be honest i am mostly worried i’ll start procrastinating like crazy once the game is out. coughs. at least i’ll draw ac characters? 26.  Favourite fish? i love coelacanths because i am a big nerd, also the sharks and the cute colorful fishes 27.  Least favourite fish? just all the most common ones probably? sea bass isn’t the only one... 28.  Favourite fossil?  what are these questions. uh, i loved putting the small squares ones in my room in wild world...especially ammonites 29.  Least favourite fossil? the ones that bring less cash money? i only care about fossils when they’re displayed in the museum tbh. and there i just love them all 30. Favourite furniture series? the ranch series looked way better in wild world and i am mourning now i love alpine, rococo and modern wood the most! the green one looks cool recolored too! i like combining different series the most, too 31. Least favourite furniture series? anything bright and tacky (except maybe the lovely that’s still fairly cute?)  32. Favourite soundtrack? (Gamecube, DS/Wii, etc) i can’t remember but i get huge pangs of nostalgia if i listen to the wild world/city folk one 33. Least favourite soundtrack? i DON’T KNOW... maybe nl was a bit less whismical? 34. Favourite wallpaper? alpine, chic, exquisite, classic, [...] anything that looks warm and natural and makes for a comfortable house!  35. Do you have a nice memory of the games/community etc you’d like to share? when i was a young teen, i idolized someone in the wild world community because her town was honestly incredibly pretty? so much thought has been put into it and it was just a dream. it made me want to invest more time and planning into my own towns and that’s how i got really, really hooked on the game, i think 36. Least favourite wallpaper? anything really colorful and tacky again... 37.  Favourite carpet? the wood ones, mostly! 39. Favourite furniture item? i love the oven thing from pocket camp... and the rocking chair... and the fireplace... 40. Will you be buying a Switch for Animal Crossing, or do you already have one? i have preordered the animal crossing one... i live for this (i am so glad i waited though honestly) 41. Least favourite furniture item? the huge tacky things or things that just look odd in a house perhaps... wait but i still like to see them and some people use them so well. why would i hate on furniture i wonder 42. Favourite flower? jacob’s ladders and white flowers in general. i adore the look of the ones in nh, holy sh- 43. Least favourite flower? pretty much anything that’s yellow. just never goes with my town plans... the roses especially are so bright i’m 44. Favourite hybrid? i miss the colors of the ones in ww/cf so much... so so much but in general i like anything that’s purple, black or blue i think :> 45. Least favourite hybrid? hmmmm the orange ones from new leaf i think? in the previous games they were so rich and warm though... 46. Favourite shirt? the canary shirt, maybe? though i mostly use qr codes, ahaha some of these outfits are still super cute... 47. Favourite dress? anything pocket camp tends to be good, also this one forever in my heart. i adore the flowery sleeveless dresses too! 48. Favourite accessory? bandages, heart shades, leaf, and tortoise specs! 49. Favourite hat/helmet? celeste’s ribbon, hibiscus hairpin, and that tiny straw hat 51. Favourite shop? i always adored able sisters, and leif’s little gardening shack :> 52. Do you collect amiibo cards/figures? Would you like to see them used in the new game? we know they are compatible now, but i don’t have any! maybe i should buy some? 53. Fishing Tourney or Bug-Off? bug-off is quicker and funnier >:] also i remember i ALWAYS WON in cf while playing with friends... fight me... 54. Do you like making your own clothing patterns? there are so many nice ones already that my slots are always full, so i don’t bother... i remember making a two-toned shirt that i wanted irl when i got new leaf, but that’s pretty much all 55. Did you streetpass with many other ACNL players, or is it a feature you didn’t get much use of? I ALMOST NEVER DID...

56. Favourite villager species? CATS... also, deer. basic basic 57. Least favourite villager species? mice and monkeys have the least cute designs i think...? also hamsters idk. i don’t know i like villagers don’t make me choose 58. Favourite nickname from a villager? 59. Least favourite nickname from a villager? I NEVER LET THEM NICKNAME ME... i am sorry to all the aminals 60. Do you try to collect everything in the game, or just try to get your favourite bits and pieces? in wild world i tried to fill my catalog, but now i only get what i need or what i know my friends might need 61. Favourite villager personality? i always had a thing for the snooty and cranky ones! the uchis are cool now too 62. Least favourite villager personality? the jocks are boring to me and they tend to have my least fav designs. when i like one i keep them though because it is so rare...wheeps 63. Do you “plot reset” for villager house placement, or do you let them move in wherever they want? i only really started doing that with the welcome amiibo update that apparently makes it easier, else i just waited for the annoying ones to move... (and time travelled a lot) 64. Are you excited to wear any of the new accessories (like the bags etc shown in the E3 trailer)? i will COLLECT THOSE and COLOR COORDINATE 65. What season are you most looking forward to seeing in New Horizons? 66. What’s your favourite season? i think summer, i want to hear the cicadas and see the fireflies again, and i also want to see how the rain and wind look like! i remember seeing really pretty storms in nl during summer too ♥ 67. Least favourite season? winter gets slow after a while? i still love it though 68. Which game’s events/holidays do you like the most? 69. Which game’s events/holidays do you like least? i don’t remember ‘-’ honestly i feel like i liked them all for different reasons? wild world felt more “involved” in the community, REMEMBER THE GARDENING CONTESTS! and city folk gave you better rewards and was a fun minigame for the day.  70. Do you have another nice AC related memory you’d like to share (in-game, of the community, etc)? i had a vivid dream that your character could DIE in animal crossing once (i predicted new horizons yes) 71. Do you prefer the “live” versions of K.K. Slider’s Songs, or the airchecks? i tend to prefer the airchecks but the concerts are Special, no matter if it’s with friends or alone 72. An NPC you’d like to see more of? mmmnnh blanca always. i love her spirit 73. An NPC you’d like to see less of? really unpopular opinion probably but i wouldn’t miss reese and cyrus too much if they aren’t as present in nh 74. If you could have any piece of AC merchandise, which would it be? the plushies are so good... i’d like like... a fauna one... idk WHEW I’M DONE... i’ll be posting the rest of it daily now! 

#100 days to nh #.txt

[etaeternum]

Resolution

Bond of the Grey (Dragon Age Fanfic)

Ch 4

A flashback on the pain of Caoilainn’s infertility. The healing couple sets some rules.  TW: Depression, infertility, referenced cheating. 

9:35 Dragon

The third year, toward the end of their holiday at the cabin, they walked to Redcliffe Village to gather supplies for their trip back to Denerim. Merchants gawked at the royal couple’s candidness each time they came for supplies. The pair wandered the town with relaxed conversation until Caoilainn stopped in her tracks in the busy commotion in the village.

Alistair noticed she was not at his side from a few paces ahead. Brows furrowed with concern, he swiveled to see her staring. Following her eyes, he spotted a common woman holding hands with a small child as they walked through the crowd. Conversing with the little one, the mother pointed to something in the distance and looked back to her daughter with a wide smile. Alistair’s gaze followed where the woman pointed. A short distance away, a man who must have been the girl’s father bent to his knees and opened his arms. The little girl waddled to him. He scooped her up and lifted her into the air before bringing his giggling daughter in for a hug. The mother, still smiling, walked to them; she was expecting another child.

“Oh. I just remembered I probably left the lantern lit... and the front door wide open,” Alistair mumbled, painfully aware of the sensitive topic of their infertility highlighted by this happy family's sentimental moment. What had once been a distant hope for a miracle pregnancy had sharpened to stabbing hopelessness over the years. He knew it sank into her gut each time she witnessed a mother and child, even worse, an elated family. “Come on, my love. Let's get back.” Alistair put his arm around Caoilainn’s shoulder and ushered her to walk a different direction.

Caoilainn gave a blank nod, her eyes reddening, tears pooling as she turned away. She shielded her eyes with a free hand as they walked, hiding her tearful reaction. With no clear way to console her, apart from offering guidance, Alistair walked Caoilainn in silence back to the cabin. Grief-stricken mood swings often incited emotional distance. Alistair still didn't know how to handle them; his usual method of giving her space wasn’t an option.

The two entered the cabin. An unexpected change of pace, Caoilainn spoke. With a heavy sigh, her head lowered and shook before facing Alistair. “I don’t want to go back,” Caoilainn declared as the door clicked shut behind Alistair.

His head tilted to one side. He made careful choice of his words, “I’m sorry, my love but we have to go back. We can’t stay here.”

Her gaze met his, brows furrowed, pleading and angry. Stubborn by nature, Caoilainn's stance stood strong. “Alistair, I’m tired of it and I don’t want to do it anymore. It’s like I’m at my mother’s salons all the time.” She rolled her eyes. Elbows bent, her hands spread with her aggravated speech. A probing gaze searched for his understanding as her words fell. “I hate entertaining noble women and I’m certain they judge me for not giving you a child. And you know I want to, Alistair, more than anything. But I can’t.” Caoilainn’s final statement released with a tired sigh, “I’d rather be in armor.”

He snorted, a slight chuckle of agreement. “Oh, I know it. You and me both. I hate meetings with advisors, signing scrolls, sitting through court,” he walked to her and put his gentle hands on her shoulders. “But I need you, my love. The gorgeous, smart, strong Queen that you are. I need your help with all this King stuff.”

Alistair valued his wife's return to Denerim three years ago. If he ignored what he knew of her relationship with her Lieutenant, Caoilainn's presence gave him support and her experience as Warden Commander made for good counsel. The choice to enjoy her return and trust its permanence abated any urge to confront the issue.

Caoilainn took an intense turn to meet his gaze with a creased brow and set jaw. “Then let me come to your advisory meetings. I can add my thoughts in court. It would save time from you asking for my advice later when you need it.”

“Well,” his gaze wandered and his eyebrows gathered as the word trailed off. “It’s really more of a man’s game. You know what I mean? No girls allowed, so to speak. I know it’s stupid, but I can’t change the rules.”

The excuse lacked validity. Women held roles and had voice in his court though few. Representatives from varying regions of Ferelden primarily consisted of men. Alistair's aversion to Caoilainn’s proposition sprang from insecurity.

Disgusted, her mouth slacked, lip curled; she blinked in disbelief. Exaggerated and annoyed annunciation coated each word. “But you can. You’re the King, Alistair. You make the rules.” She shirked her shoulders away from his hands.

Cheeks reddened, Alistair shrugged and his palm rubbed his neck. “That’s true, I suppose but I don’t know if everyone else is ready for that. I’m sorry, my love. I’d rather not rock the boat too much just yet. I’m still fairly new to this King business.” He avoided her suggestion.

That same year Caoilainn returned to Vigil’s Keep.

Days passed. Alistair’s disdain became annoyance with longing; churning the strange amalgam of love and resentment, anger and pining with neither a catalyst nor relief in sight.

The size of the collective forces required the fleet to march north through the Emerald Graves, reaching the low-lying Dales. Plains of open field skirted the forested land east until the frigid climate of the Emprise. Wider ground permitted the armies to march freely, less encumbered by the wooded environment. Grass and sparse trees spread through the large valley. Formations of rocks protruded from the earth, breaking up the uneven grasslands. Abandoned buildings showed remnants of complicated history, and occupied military bases needing repair scattered between boulders.

Alistair’s frustration came and went in waves as he stood away from the bustling camp unpacking for the evening. Instead, he observed the land ahead. Typical, he noted. She's given up. It often seemed habitual for Caoilainn to practice evasion of situations where she didn't have control. Reminded of her predictability, Alistair evaluated her absence as true to her pattern. Though he wasn’t surprised, the realization hurt.  

“Alistair?” A tentative and careful voice rang from behind; she stated simply his name. He closed his eyes. With a deep breath, he allowed Caoilainn’s voice to resonate and soothe stressed nerves, unable to deny he had missed the sound.

He replied without facing her. “Come join me to revel in the wondrous sight of the Orlesian countryside.” His sarcastic sing-song voice played at the deteriorating environment. Caoilainn’s quiet steps brought her to his side; Alistair pointed. “See, on this side is a crumbling Orlesian building. But over here is a collapsed military base because of civil war- Orlesians love civil war, you know.” He took in an excessive gasp, “And if you look far enough in the distance, you can even make out decayed elven architecture. Isn’t it lovely? We should come back here on holiday.”

“I’ll pass,” she gave a relaxed giggle, amused with Alistair’s review of the landscape. Relieved to receive his humor after spending days hesitating to approach him again. His playfulness made uplifting distraction from her fatigue. “I’d rather the cabin.”

She referred to the cabin outside of Redcliffe Village: the peaceful resting place purchased the first time she returned from Vigil’s Keep. After each Summerday the royal couple hid for a month in the mountains, away from the city. The visits ceased when Caoilainn fled back to the Wardens.

“I sold it,” Alistair replied without moving, his tone cold and indifferent. “The second year you were gone, I couldn’t reach you. I wouldn’t use it and I didn’t want the reminder of the good times we had there.”

“They weren’t all good times,” Caoilainn’s sad murmur echoed his aloofness. Her fond memories of the cabin had been sullied by Alistair’s timidity when she confronted him about changing policies.

Their last conversation at the cabin, not one of his finest moments, had replayed until his stomach turned. Nauseated and ashamed of his cowardice, regret singed his ego, now prodded by her murmur. “I’m sorry,” Alistair snapped an authentic but irritated apology.

“I’m sorry I ran away,” she mirrored his remorse with her own.

Amends hesitated; silence burdened with the unsaid. Side by side, the pair stood looking out on the horizon as dusk fell. Tacit reconciliation teetered on a cusp.

Emotion broke through Alistair’s tone. Sadness and regret sounded from the surface and underneath it, fear. “I don’t know what to do,” he explained. “Whether you cheat on me, or you run, or you die-” The last word stung. Alistair’s head made a quick turn as the impact hit. He inhaled. “How do I know you’re not just going to leave?” Like everyone does. Pain filled his incredulous question.

A teary gaze up from Alistair’s side, Caoilainn wiped her eyes. “I’m here and I'm not going anywhere. I’m committed, Alistair. I’ll do my best not to die anytime soon, but in the meantime I want to be with you. What do you need from me to prove that?”

“Rules,” his even tone gave a quick reply. Head turned to pierce her stare, he bit his lip for a moment then replied, jaw firm. “I need rules we agree on.”

Brows furrowed, unclear of his demand, she asked for clarification, “What sort of rules?”

“No one else,” he answered with his first rule. “It’s our marriage, not to be shared with anyone. No matter the distance between us, and no matter the time before we see each other again.”

“Of course,” she gave a hurried nod, “that’s a given.”

“Well, I figured I would make it clear, in case you had any other plans.”

Caoilainn sighed at his admonishment. “Alistair,” she groaned.

“I’m not done, my love,” he said, his sharp tone lifting as his mood softened. “Rule two: be honest with me. I want no more secrets.” Caoilainn’s silent nod gave him a signal to continue. “Rule three: Don’t make your decisions based on me. I don’t want your counsel if you’ll resent me for it. Don’t come back to Denerim to make me happy.”

“Thank you,” she cooed. Unhealthy elements of their relationship often arose from ill-considered efforts to satisfy the other. Caoilainn smiled; her tense shoulders eased.  

“Uh-huh,” he took her gratitude and gave a meager grin. “But that one’s for my sake as much as yours. Rule four: do not undermine me. I am the King of Ferelden, Caoilann and I need your respect.”

“My fealty stands, Alistair,” her hand covered her chest as she bowed her head. “No undermining. Do you have any other rules?”

“At the moment, just one. Tell me what you want from me. Please, if you’re missing something, if you need something, I need to know.”

“Those rules are fair,” she agreed. Her head lowered as she sought words. “I’ll need my own.”

“All right. State your terms, my Queen.” He lifted his arms, palms out. “Remember to go easy on me.”

Caoilainn gave a playful roll of her eyes. “One,” she lifted her finger to exemplify the word. “I need my independence. I’m not just your lovely Queen. No more spies and I want my own work. Most importantly, I want to be recognized for it.”

“Oh, woman,” Alistair snorted and rubbed his chin. “I said go easy on me. Damn, you drive a hard deal.” Caoilainn’s brows lifted, waiting for his confirmation. “We’ll make it work, my love.”

“Two: Don’t appease me. Don’t hold your frustration, anger or sadness and take it out on me ten years later.”

“Got it. Must bottle feelings for less than ten years,” he bobbed his head in agreement, a playful grin highlighting his jest.

“Alistair,” she groaned, failing her attempt to withhold a chuckle. “I’m not kidding.”

“No appeasing,” he confirmed. “Check. It’s a real shame though. I’m definitely the best appeaser I know.”

“Three: I won't make your decisions for you. I’m your wife, not your mother.”

“Ouch!” Alistair laughed and cupped his hand over his heart.

“I mean it,” she assured, her expression showing her severity. “Four: I stay Commander until we find a cure.” Alistair’s eyes squinted, humor lost. “Or until the Inquisition no longer needs us, then I’ll come back to Denerim. But I still want to make time for the search.” He gave a solemn nod and waited for her final rule. Caoilainn’s eyes widened, her face pleading, palms lifted. “Nate is my friend. I swear to you, nothing will happen between us, but he’ll need me if he takes over as Commander. Five: I keep communication with Nathaniel when I return to the city.”

The wisdom Caoilainn gained as Commander occurred when she undertook rebuilding the order on her own. Alistair's duties as King kept him from joining. She stayed embittered by his abandonment, neglecting her anger around the topic until she confessed her pain at Skyhold.

Frowning, Alistair gave a decisive shake of his head. “I can’t have that,” he replied. “I don’t trust him, Caoilainn and that would challenge the trust I need to rebuild with you.”

“It’s not that simple. There’s so much to leading the order, communications with Weisshaupt, the other divisions. I can’t just leave him to figure it out like I had to,” she reasoned, desperate to explain the complicated nature of taking over as Warden Commander.

“No,” Alistair reiterated, predicting her rationalization. “You can find someone else to command or he can communicate with me, the King if he needs help.”

“Alistair,” she made a curt statement of his name as if he might hear the harshness of this requirement. Unmoving, Alistair peered down at Caoilainn, set in his decision. With a deep breath in, Caoilainn centered herself, calming her nerves and worry surrounding her potential successor. She gave a patient nod. Her future with Alistair dependent on this priority made the choice simple.  “I understand.”

Resolution discovered, conversation assuaged years of bitterness and guilt. Mutual observance of reaction found amity. The two faced each other, Caoilainn in her Warden gambeson, Alistair in his leather brigandine; the Inquisition camp nearly set for the evening on one side and the open field of the Exalted Plains spread on the other.

“The rules can change.” Alistair broke their respectful silence. His hands found their way back to her shoulders. “But we need to talk should they be changed, expanded, or added to.”

“I appreciate that,” Caoilainn replied and held his gaze. Eyes locked, intense in agreement. Her excited heart fluttered with gratitude as relief washed over. The looming fear she might lose him vanished, bringing appreciative tears in place. “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he replied. Effortless words, unneeded, understood by both, and spoken out of familiarity.

Rules set, hearts lifted, and hope renewed, both given an opportunity for redemption. Alistair’s anger now distant with her assurance and commitment; Caoilainn’s blind trust affirmed by his ardent love.

Alistair stepped in. Bodies pressed, a hand moved from her shoulder to her neck, his thumb pressed against her cheek. The other hand found her waist. Foreheads touched, thankful for reunion, absorbing hard earned connection. Alistair’s head lowered; earnest lips found hers, sealing their agreement with a kiss.

In unspoken congruity, the pair walked from the camp. Extending the harmony of this unifying outcome, savoring the moment in ardor. Like-minded steps carried them through the plains as darkness fell. The two walked in reverence. Stars shined from the clear sky, illuminating their path. Unhurried conversation allowed time to wander; flirtatious subtleties mixed through their dialogue more as the hour drew late. The Inquisition camp drifted from sight.

Concordant, the couple stopped as if reaching their intended destination. A tree marked the location. Its drooping limbs and base composed of many wide segments was unlike the barren branches of timber in the rest of the plains.

Caoilainn turned to face him. “We made it,” she whispered, distinguishing their wordless communication of intention. A few steps backward brought her under the tree’s protective arms.

“We did,” Alistair echoed, following her steps until they were both under the branches’ haven.

Steady steps, Caoilainn’s back bumped the tree and Alistair closed the space, pinning her so the thick trunk stood between them and the Inquisition camp. A small whimper released, Caoilainn’s hand grabbed the cord linking his spaulder. She pulled him in for a kiss. Engaged, the pair locked mouths. Alistair’s hand returned to the base of her scalp and their tongues separated lips, twirling in celebration of reunion.

Long seconds stretched by, love rekindling to fire until Alistair broke away. Caoilainn’s moan resonated as her neck tilted. Revealing sensitive skin begging to be bitten or throttled in a primal nature.

“I have another rule,” he mumbled, nuzzling his nose against the tender skin of her neck before leaving a gentle kiss.

Caoilainn emitted a soft ‘mmm,’ lost in anticipation for him to inflict brief anguish to stimulate pleasure.

“Rule six: no more pain. I’m not hurting you, Caoilainn. Even if you like it,” he murmured into her ear. The curve of his grin tickled.

Her hum turned to a whine; a disappointed groan unhappy with this information. She lifted her head, returning his gaze; displeased brows furrowed, lip protruded in a subtle pout. Something she discovered in her time away from Alistair, Caoilainn's penchant for masochism, built on a foundation of trust in whoever delivered the sensations, offered a reliable escape from life's pressures.

His wrinkled forehead reconnected with hers. “There’s already been enough pain between us.” Light earnest explained details of the rule, “But I reserve the right to grab that magnificent ass, and I might take an occasional nibble here and there, but no pain. If you want to get hurt, go practice in the training yard.”

She gazed up from under thick lashes and inhaled; her face relaxed, and she agreed. “Yes, my King.”

Alistair blinked, cherishing her reply, and allowing its essence to sink in. The authentic tone delivered three words and promised her total commitment, confidence, and faith in him as her protector; he grinned. “Rule seven: keep doing that. I like it when you do that.”

Caoilainn smirked and crooned another “yes, my King.” She tilted her head back against the tree, waiting for his next step.

Both hands found her waist, a half step back permitted momentum along with her compliance. In a quick motion, he turned her around to face the tree. A kiss on her clothed back coerced her head to turn to glance over her shoulder. She watched as he admired her form from behind. A hand cupped a muscular cheek of her rear.

“Rule eight: trust me,” he growled.

Caoilainn's body quivered, grateful adoration coursed through her veins. Extolling Alistair's direction, his certainty permitted her concerns to leave, replaced instead with freedom to savor their connectedness.

He squeezed her cheek harder, rougher with a satisfied grunt. In reply she moaned, frustrated with her limitations caused by clothing.

Alistair's head wandered to the other side of her neck, lips brushing skin, hot breath against her ear. “Rule nine: tell me if you don't like something I’m doing.”

“I like this, my King,” she whimpered, fleeting tension fled. Gooseflesh spread down her neck, tingling down her arms to her hands. She steadied herself on the tree.

“Rule ten: tell me what you want,” he ordered between kisses on her shoulders.

A giggling moan sounded, tempted by his affection, but amused at his last rule. “That was rule five.” Tactful teeth found her ear and nipped lightly on the cartilage. Her giggle lowered into a blissful sigh. “My King,” she added.

“Mm-hmm,” he sang. “You’re paying attention. That one is so important I said it twice. So, my love, what do you want?”

Decorum forgotten, responsibilities to the Wardens fled from her mind. Love brimmed, overflowing from every pore. Smiling lips buzzed pleasurably and Caoilainn whispered, “I want you, my King.”  

#mother of griffons pt 2 #bond of the grey #mother of griffons #dragon age fanfic #chapter 4 #king alistair #queen cousland #alistair x cousland #abandonment #relationship issues #established relationship #referenced cheating #infertility

[feliicityrampant]

here’s the first part of a mchanzo fantasy/witch au. it’s ~2800 words. i have a lot of ideas about it so i hope i finish it. it’s not edited much tho. consider it an interest inquiry?

(untitled as of now)

“Do you believe in true love?” Old Mina says, her stout figure blocking out the sun.

Jesse is ten years old, crouched in the bed of her garden with dirt trapped deep under his finger nails. Everyone in the village says Old Mina is a nasty hag who can’t be trusted. Jesse doesn’t understand why he’s being punished this way, why he’s been sent up to weed her garden over a little fist fight.

The adults don’t think the kids in the village hear the stuff they say about Old Mina. They think they’re all scared of her just because she’s mean. But Jesse’s not stupid and neither are the others and they all know. Old Mina is powerful. She’s the strongest witch in the valley, even stronger than the coven leader. Worse than that, though, she’s selfish, and she likes to play games. Nobody wants to be unlucky enough to catch her attention.

So Jesse squints up at Old Mina, her features barely visible when she’s back-lit so heavily by the lowering sun, and he does his best to squash the urge to run. He’s not a coward. And, even if he was, he wouldn’t want her smelling his fear.

“Of course I don’t,” Jesse says mulishly. “That’s girl stuff.” He reaches up and pulls his hat snugger on his head, seeking comfort in the familiar feel of the rough leather.

Old Mina laughs. “Let me see that hand of yours, boy,” she says, and snatches it quick as lightning off the brim of his hat.

She hunches even further, her long nails digging into his palm as she examines it roughly. Jesse is thankful he’s been out working in the sun for the last hour. It’s a convenient excuse for the sweat gathering under her critical gaze. He doesn’t dare move, even to wipe his brow or ease his aching knees.

“You should believe in true love,” Old Mina concludes after what seems like forever. She drops his hand and smiles nastily down at him. “Yours is going to kill you.”

Jesse goes home trembling that evening. When his mother asks him what’s wrong he just shakes his head and goes to bed without dinner. He sleeps fitfully that night and his dreams are disturbed.

It’s a long time before Jesse works up the nerve to talk to Old Mina, not just about what she said, but about other things as well. He’s twelve when he’s brave enough and really has the desire. But by that time, he’s been banished, exiled from the valley, and it’s already too late.

--

Jesse has stopped for a drink in a small nothing of a town out in the foothills of the Black Tip Mountains when he hears about the Shimada.

The mountains are half a day’s journey south and the nearest town on the other side is another day’s journey from the highest part of the pass. It’d be easier and faster with a horse or a mule, but beasts don’t like him much. So he’s having a drink and contemplating his options, staring out through the bar windows at the peaks, dark like ink stains against the blue afternoon sky. He’ll stay in town the night, he thinks, and take off in the morning. Make it through the worst of the trip tomorrow and camp out at the bottom of the pass on the other side. The weather’s been good so far, but at this time of April it’s hard to know what’s coming unless you’ve Seen it.

“…heard about Paulina,” Jesse overhears, mostly by mistake. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“We weren’t very close, but I appreciate it,” another voice says. “I’m just glad we found her in the end. It would’ve been worse for my aunt and uncle, the not knowing.”

“She went missing up on the pass, right?” the first voice asks. “That’s difficult terrain to search. How was she found, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Jesse slides his eyes away from the window and tracks the conversation to its source – two middle aged men at a table in the corner. Their hands are calloused and their clothes are rough. His best guess is that they work at one of the mills along the river. Lumber is the town’s primary economy.

“One of the Shimada found her,” one of them is saying. “Seems like there was a block on the pass and she tried to bushwhack around it. She got lost off the path and there was a mudslide. It carried her halfway down the Prince, into the shadow of the King.”

The three mountains that make up the Black Tips are the Black Prince, the Black King, and the Black Queen. The Prince is the smallest and the only one safe enough to traverse for most of the year. But there’s always bad luck. The man’s companion hums, sympathetic.

“Still,” Paulina’s cousin continues, “the Shimada said she didn’t suffer much. She probably died within the first few moments of the mudslide.” He pauses to take a drink. “He didn’t charge. It was good of him.”

Jesse turns back to his own drink. He should probably reevaluate his plans to cross the pass, anyway, if there’s been mudslides and blocked roads. Normally that would annoy him, but it seems like there are things of interest out here in the middle of nowhere after all. He catches the attention of the bartender who’s wiping down the counter not far from Jesse and motions him over.

“The Shimada,” he says, “they a coven?”

“A coven?” the bartender repeats. “Not really. There’s only the two of them and they don’t have ancestral roots. They’re witches though, and they Keep like a coven does.”

“Hm,” Jesse says, and scratches at his stubble.

Covens are land-bound. It’s important for them to stay as families, tied to the earth where they’ve spilled ritual blood for generations. It’s part of why Jesse’s banishment hurt so much. He’s heard here and there of covens who weren’t land-bound – even been part of one for a short time – but they tend to be migratory, binding to other things, like rivers, or otherwise just going where and doing as they please. It’s weird to hear of one without ancestral roots doing something like Keeping.

Covens that live in or near towns and villages have a bond with the people who live there because those people in turn have a bond with the land. They Keep them, do magic for them, heal their sick and tend their crops, usually in exchange for payment of some kind. Jesse’s coven had been modest and the village it Kept even more so. They worked for food and livestock for the most part. But there were covens in cities and mining towns who were wealthy beyond description.

“Where can I find them?” Jesse asks.

The bartender eyes him a little doubtfully but nods his head toward the river. “Upstream about ten miles or so,” he says. “They have a place right on the river. It’s probably not worth your time, though. Plenty of folks like you have come through here in the past looking for them but they turn ‘em all away. Don’t like big magic, or so I’ve heard.”

Folks like me? Jesse thinks. Big magic?

“Well I won’t bother them none,” Jesse says with a smile, the kind that makes most people trust him, never mind his rough appearances. “I’m just curious, ‘sall.”

Unless they’re as good at tracking as that little conversation has led him to believe. But he keeps that thought to himself.

Jesse cracks his back as he stands and grabs his hat off the counter. He places it on his head, tips it gratefully to the bartender, and leaves a bit more than he owes next to his empty glass.

--

The Shimada residence is certainly upstream about ten miles or so, emphasis on the “or so”, but there’s no clear path and the forest grows thicker and thicker the further from town he gets. He tries to imagine the townspeople making this trip for anything less than a dire emergency but finds it difficult. (Then again, it sounds like they make a habit of crossing the pass, so maybe they’re hardier than they seem.) By the time Jesse emerges out of the woods into the clearing where the small house sits, the sun is getting low and the golden light of dusk is spilling through the trees in intervals, like shards of warm glass.

The building itself is sturdy and old fashioned, with a woven grass roof and dark cedar paneled walls. The whole building is raised slightly, surrounded by an open porch, and the door – made of paper and that same cedar – appears to slide open. Jesse steps up onto the porch and puzzles at the door slightly before deciding to rap lightly on the wood frame. The door jostles a little but the sound isn’t very loud.

When no response comes, Jesse carefully slides his head into the entrance hall. “Excuse me,” he calls. “Is anyone home?”

For a moment, there’s nothing, and then a door slides open down the hall and a man steps out. He’s tall and dark skinned, with no hair and a series of nine dots on his forehead. He’s wearing a yukata and it’s only because the sleeves are rolled and tied up past his elbows that Jesse can tell that he’s not a human at all. There, barely noticeable, are the thin seams along the joints that indicate that this is a construct.

Jesse blinks, caught off guard. It’s been a long time since he’s seen an animated construct in working condition, let alone one in the shape of a human. They’re difficult to make and almost universally disliked. It’s off putting to see one, especially out here, and especially with folks who claim not to like “big magic.”

“Hello,” the construct says. “Forgive me for not coming sooner – we just sat down to dinner.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean to intrude,” Jesse says, eyeing the construct a bit at his phrasing. Constructs can’t eat. “I can come back another time.”

“Ah,” the construct says. “That won’t be necessary. Have you eaten? There’s plenty of food.”

“That’s mighty kind of you,” Jesse grins, not bothering to try to conceal his growling stomach. “Food sounds great. You folks are hard to find.”

He kicks off his shoes in the concrete entrance hall and steps up onto the straw mats of the main hallway. He feels a bit self-conscious – his socks have holes in them and he’s been travelling in them for a long time. They’re probably not much of a step up from his shoes.

The construct leads him back down the hallway to the open doorway and gestures for Jesse to enter. It’s a large, airy room, with more sliding doors that have been pushed open to reveal the porch and, beyond it, the river, which it seems like the house juts out over by a little bit. In the center of the room is a low table surrounded by cushions. Two men are sitting there, eating what looks like a hot pot of some kind.

The man on the left is lounging back, looking at Jesse with open curiosity. He has bright green hair and an open expression – though Jesse knows better than most that looks can be deceiving. He’s wearing a yukata nearly as blindingly bright as his hair, blue and covered in green foliage, hanging open at the chest and thighs probably a bit further than propriety dictates, though Jesse doesn’t have enough familiarity with the garment to say one way or the other. His only point of comparison is the construct and the man on the right.

The man on the right is distinctly more subdued. He sits upright with his legs crossed and a look of displeasure on his face. His black hair is held up in a tight ponytail and his dark yukata is immaculate. Only one thing sets him apart as extraordinary – two coils of bright blue that encircled his neck.

At first Jesse thinks they’re tattoos of some kind, but then they begin to shift, slithering silently across the man’s skin with a kind of languid grace. Two heads appear out of the man’s yukata and begin hissing quietly in his ear. Snakes, Jesse realizes. Familiars, by the looks of them. The man glances at them for a moment, and then back at Jesse. His expression of displeasure does not change.

Although Jesse had eagerly followed the construct at the promise of food, he now again feels as though he’s intruding, and can’t bring himself to sit down at the small table and join what is clearly a modest family dinner. He instead removes his hat and presses it over his heart.

“My apologies for coming at such a late hour,” he says. “Jesse McCree, at your service.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the man on the left says with a grin. “Visitors are always welcome when there’s nothing happening. I can’t even eat when I’m bored.”

The man on the right snorts in an inelegant way apropos to his appearances and the construct hums as though it wants to voice an opinion. Which is impossible. Constructs don’t have opinions.

“I’m Genji,” the man on the left continues, ignoring them. “This is my brother Hanzo. And this is Zenyatta.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, McCree,” the construct, Zenyatta, says.

“Jesse’s fine,” Jesse says. “And the pleasure is mine.”

“Sit down, sit down,” Genji says, patting a free cushion. “Where are you from, Jesse?”

“Uh, here and there,” Jesse says, sinking down onto the cushion as directed. His knees and back ache a bit at sitting on the floor like this. He doesn’t see how the two men who look to be about his age can manage it so casually. Particularly Hanzo, who has a distinguished swath of grey behind his ears. “I’m more interested in y’all, if I’m being honest. Haven’t heard of a coven Keeping without ancestral roots before.”

“That’s none of your business,” Hanzo says peevishly. He sets down his bowl and chopsticks with a click and focuses a glare on Jesse. “If you intend to interrupt our supper, Mr. McCree, you could at least do us the favor of being forthright. What do you want?”

Jesse definitely feels like he can’t eat now, no matter how hungry he is, but the construct – Zenyatta, he reminds himself – has already knelt across from him and is passing him a bowl filled with broth and noodles and mushrooms and beef.

“Don’t be such a buzzkill, Hanzo,” Genji whines. “Can’t you see something interesting when it’s sitting in front of you? How’d you lose your eye, Jesse?”

Jesse reaches up to touch his eyepatch, startled at having it so directly called out. He’s saved the discomfort of having to answer, however.

“Genji,” Zenyatta admonishes in a sharp tone.

“Oops,” Genji says, looking cowed. “Sorry. But it is interesting.”

“Nothing good ever came of interesting,” Hanzo says. “Mr. McCree, please don’t waste my time.”

“It’s just Jesse, if you don’t mind,” Jesse says, although it’s painfully clear that Hanzo does, in fact, mind. “But I heard in town that y’all were good at finding people and I was hoping you could help me track down a comrade of mine.”

“Is she pretty?” Genji asks.

Jesse laughs. “He’s, uh, old, and kind of scruffy, and…doesn’t really want to be found. I’ve been looking for him for about a year now. Heard he might be down near the coast but that’s all I know and it’s just a rumor.”

“That’s far,” Genji says, but his eyes slide over to Hanzo almost at once.

Hanzo can do it, Jesse thinks with a jolt of sudden hope. It’s just a matter of whether or not he wants to.

“I really would appreciate any kind of help y’all can give me,” Jesse appeals. “He’s something like a father to me, y’see, and he’s not exactly. He’s sick. He needs me and he won’t admit it.”

Hanzo sighs and looks out at the river. One of his snakes raises its head and begins hissing again.

“What’s his name?” Hanzo asks.

“Gabriel Reyes.”

If the name means anything to them, they don’t show it.

Hanzo considers a little more. The snakes hiss a little more. It’s eerie. Jesse wishes he could understand what they’re saying.

“What will you pay me?” Hanzo asks.

“Well I don’t have much…”

“That much is obvious.”

“…but we can do an exchange, if you like,” Jesse finishes, unperturbed. “I’m no good at scrying or anything, but I’m a witch in my own right.”

“Oh?” Genji says, leaning forward. “What can you do?”

Jesse eyes them warily and drums his fingers nervously against his thigh. He can feel Hanzo’s eyes burning into the side of his face. He clears his throat.

“I can talk to the dead.”

#me earlier today: i can't write anymore #me also today: *a million world building ideas surge into my brain all at once* #mchanzo

[shirlleycoyle]

The Most Critical Fight Against Trump’s Border Wall You’ve Never Heard Of

“We’ve been here thousands of years,” said Isidro Leal, a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, or Esto’k Gna, as he surveyed the Rio Grande River atop a high bank fortified over the years by piles of concrete and rebar. From this rise, it is more than 70 miles downstream to the Gulf of Mexico, but double or triple that distance if you follow the wild meanderings of the river itself.

It is in these accordion-like bends and folds of the water’s course that the Esto’k Gna, whose ancestral homelands straddle both sides of the river, identify innumerable sacred sites. “A lot of our artifacts are there,” said Leal, “and old village sites.”

Only a few hundred yards to the north is Yalui Village, a resistance camp set up by the Esto’k Gna at the historic Eli Jackson Cemetery. Esto’k Gna tribal members are buried here, as are the descendents of freed slaves, white abolitionists, and veterans of multiple wars. And long before that, “this spot in particular was always a burial ground for us, always sacred land,” Leal said.

An old irrigation pump sits idle beside the winding Rio Grande less than a mile from Yalui Village.

Yet by siting 25 miles of border wall on top of the river levee abutting the cemetery, the government threatened to “completely destroy” Eli Jackson, said Ramiro Ramirez, a descendant of the cemetery’s original founders. It would also destroy another cemetery and chapel a short walk up the road.

After a few years of dormancy, wall construction is reviving with a privately funded wall near Mission, Texas and a new federal contract for 3 miles of new wall at Rio Grande City.

While the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2020 recently exempted certain natural areas and “historic cemeteries” from wall construction for another fiscal year, Indigenous sites remain threatened in Texas. To “ensure the expeditious construction” of the wall in the Rio Grande Valley, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last fall waived dozens of federal laws, including the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

In opposition, the Esto’k Gna tribe has joined forces with the Ramirezes and other local landowners, reviving ancestral villages along the length of the Rio Grande. Part resistance camps and part decolonial education sites, these villages stand squarely in the pathway of President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall expansion.

'People came and raided us, invaded us. Occupied us. And now we're learning to take all of that back'

Unlike Standing Rock or Wet’suwet’en, the names of Yalui Village, Lehai Village, Mariposa Village, and Camp Toyahvale are largely unknown. And yet these villages are some of the most critical resistance work undertaken in response to the manifold crises converging on South Texas—the border wall, to be sure, but also the fracking, flaring, mining, and pipelining accelerating climate change, and the criminalization of largely Indigenous Central American asylum-seekers and the theft and internment of their children.

“This is the head of the snake,” Carrizo/Comecrudo tribal chairman Juan Mancias said of the region. “Everything is coming this way. If we don't cut the head of the snake off and just continue to break its back every once in a while, it'll heal itself.”

In the shadow of the wall

The Esto’k Gna started setting up villages along the Texas/Mexico border in 2016, amid the thick of the resistance at Standing Rock and during the season of Trump’s election. Starting with a base camp just south of San Antonio called Somi Se’k, the tribe established Camp Toyahvale in far West Texas, where intensive fracking had caused sacred springs to run dry. Cotoname Village followed in 2017 on the Gulf Coast to resist the siting of liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure on Esto’k Gna fishing grounds.

Camp rules at Yalui Village, where roughly 50 tribal members and allies gathered last summer.

In 2019, three more camps were established along the proposed route for the wall: Mariposa Village on the grounds of the National Butterfly Center, Yalui Village at Eli Jackson Cemetery, and Lehai Village on land adjacent to the privately funded border wall. Others are planned to protect sacred peyote gardens and fight planned LNG pipelines and export terminals in Brownsville.

While the Esto’k Gna maintains the land at all camps year-round, the number of villagers varies. At Yalui, presently in watch-and-wait mode, at least one person is always there tending sacred fire, though the camp can fill on weekends and for specific actions to include dozens of villagers.

Yalui (meaning “butterfly” in Hokom) Village has attracted the most attention for its location at Eli Jackson Cemetery, where the tribe has maintained a constant presence since January 2019. This cemetery is of ancestral significance not only to the Esto’k Gna but to multiple traditions of liberation and resistance. Established by a white former slaveholder from Alabama who married an emancipated slave, the chapel and two family cemeteries were founded after Nathaniel Jackson, Matilda Hicks, and 11 other freed slaves fled Alabama’s Fugitive Slave Act in the 1850s. “Most people were going North,” says Ramiro Ramirez, great-great-grandson of Nathaniel, who founded Eli Jackson Cemetery. “They decided to come South,” where slavery was illegal in Mexico.

Jackson Ranch Chapel, the oldest Protestant church in the Rio Grande Valley, is threatened by border wall construction.

After arriving in the Rio Grande Valley, however, the group decided not to cross into Mexico, deterred by the prospect of language barriers and that country’s Catholic majority. Instead, they purchased land and in 1874 established the Jackson Ranch Chapel, the first (and now oldest) Protestant church in the Rio Grande Valley. Eventually the area became, according to Ramirez’s wife Melinda, “a really mixed-race community” and ultimately a stop on the Underground Railroad. “There was a cotton trade that would come down,” Melinda explained. “Who was driving the wagons? The slaves. And so they knew exactly how to get through the monte (brush country) and the rattlesnakes and no water, and that was the trail.”

For the Esto’k Gna, the villages resist not only the wall, but the official narrative about Native people in Texas—which too often is that there aren’t any. “People don’t think there’s Natives in Texas,” said Mancias. “That it’s only the federally recognized tribes that need to be dealt with.”

These erasures of Native presence in Texas are rooted in centuries of massacres and missionization at the hands of the Spanish. Starting in the early 16th century, missionaries enslaved Native people for purposes of building Texas’s numerous colonial missions, including those celebrated today in San Antonio as UN World Heritage sites. But the missions also initiated a more insidious form of genocide. As Native people entered the missions, conversion to Catholicism and Spanish names and language fractured tribal identities, hiding original peoples in plain sight.

“It created a rift among our people, because of the missions,” Mancias said.

Juan Mancias, chair of the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe in Texas.

Today the Esto’k Gna tribe has 1,600 enrolled members and another 2,000 registered, with many more throughout South Texas as descendants. But “if you talk to present day people,” Mancias said, “a lot of them don't even recognize the fact that they're Native anymore.”

If the threat posed by the border wall to Texas Natives has received far less attention than elsewhere, it’s because “a lot of the tribes (here) have been disenfranchised,” said Leal. “A lot of us didn’t sign treaties, for obvious reasons. Just went into hiding or eventually just sort of disbanded out of the need to survive. Carrizo/Comecrudo is one of them.”

But although the Esto’k Gna lacks either federal or state recognition, this can be an advantage. As Mancias observed, the lure of contracts has led some federally recognized tribes in Texas, such as the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo in El Paso, to bid on contracts to build the border wall. “We’re more sovereign right now,” said Mancias. “We got nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Eventually, Mancias hopes the villages can be developed into centers for decolonial education, even building a university with an Indigenous curriculum. “We’ll teach math, reading, writing and stuff, but at the same time, we want to talk about colonization… that we’re on the verge of destroying the only planet that can hold our life forms. And talk about that kind of science, rather than the science they want to proclaim about controlling the petroleum and pushing their racism on us.”

These are villages

Both the Esto’k Gna and the Ramirez family at Eli Jackson Cemetery are watching to see what develops next. Last March, the legal firm Earthjustice filed suit against the federal government on behalf of six plaintiffs affected by the government’s plans, including the Ramirezes and the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas. Currently in federal court, the suit alleges that Trump’s attempt to divert funds to the border wall without Congressional authorization, on the pretext of a national emergency, is unconstitutional.

Melinda and Ramiro Roberto Ramirez, owners of historic cemeteries and a chapel in the path of the border wall.

In the meantime, the Ramirezes won a small concession after two lobbying trips to D.C. that resulted in all “historic cemeteries” being exempted from wall construction. So, Melinda, said, “we’re safe for a year.”

After that, Simmons said, “We gotta go through it all over again in September, when they’re ready to submit the new budget.”

Meanwhile, an anti-migrant group operating as We Build the Wall has started construction on a crowdfunded border wall nearby, right next to the National Butterfly Center. “So we’re still occupying out there,” Simmons said. “We’re still watching and monitoring everything out there. And we’re making sure that things don’t happen because they think we all went home and we’re not paying attention.”

Isidro Leal overlooking the Rio Grande.

For many at Yalui Village, the issue is deeper than the wall’s route and the wall; it’s the border itself. “The idea of borders is a colonizer idea,” said Leal. “That's something that came from Spain. For us that wasn't really a thing. We mostly traveled wherever we wanted.”

For that reason, the Esto’k Gna is forming alliances with the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona, another binational, borderlands tribe 1,200 miles upriver who recently decried the wall’s blasting of burial sites at a Washington, D.C. hearing. The Tohono O’odham is “fighting (the wall) really strong,” said Mancias. “We’re working on setting up a coalition of tribes along the Rio Grande.”

Above all, Mancias wants people to recognize “that there’s camps here. There are villages. This is where the creator put us at this time, to protect that. And we were overcome, we were raided, completely. People came and raided us, invaded us. Occupied us. And now we’re learning to take all of that back. And say, ‘Hey, you gotta grow up. There’s an injustice and you have been a part of it.’ Especially in Texas.”

Marisol Cortez is a writer, scholar, and organizer around a variety of environmental justice issues in her home community of San Antonio, Texas.

Greg Harman is a San Antonio-based environmental organizer. Follow him on Twitter.

Both are co-editors of the online journal Deceleration.news.

Have a story for Tipping Point? Email [email protected]

The Most Critical Fight Against Trump’s Border Wall You’ve Never Heard Of syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

[azvolrien]

The Hawk Steppes - Chapter One

I was originally going to wait until I’d actually finished this story before I started posting it... Then I decided ‘fuck it I’m starting now’. So here begins another tale of the continent of Stranatir, in which Wygar’s long-time friends Calburn and Rhona finally get some well-deserved time in the spotlight and we learn a little more about the often-mentioned but never-seen Hawk Steppes and their people.

~~~

           Calburn stared out of the window and drummed his fingers on the sill, watching the scenery pass by.

           “This feels weird,” he announced.

           Rhona did not look up from her book, but she lifted her chin slightly to show she was listening.

           “I mean, it’s never really been just two of us before, has it? It’s always been either all of us on our own, or all three of us together. You and me and Wygar. Never just you and me, or me and Wy, or you and Wy.”  

           Rhona turned the page. “He’s got a newborn baby and a convalescent wife to look after,” she said. “He can’t exactly go halfway across the Empire at the drop of a hat these days.”

           “S’pose, yeah. Still.”

           “Just think, though,” said Rhona, smiling. “You’ll have the chance to show off all by yourself without worrying about any flashy warmage work upstaging you.”

           Calburn sat up a little straighter. “Ooh…”

           “I thought that’d cheer you up. Besides, think of all the exciting new infrastructure we’re going to see.”

           Calburn looked away from the window. “Y’know, I still can’t always tell when you’re kidding or not.”

           “Oh, come on. You were dying to see an iron ox in action and you know it.”

           Calburn grinned sheepishly, and turned back to the window. “Yeah, I was. Think they’ll let me have a closer look at the next supply stop?”

           Rhona shrugged. “You never know. How much of your paraphernalia did you bring?”

           He patted the broad belt that lay coiled on the seat beside him. “All the usual stuff,” he said. “What’ll fit in here, plus a coupla flasks – the little one and the big collapsible one. All set for whatever they’ve got me doing out there.”

           Rhona closed her book and set it aside. “What all do you keep in that thing?” she asked, nodding towards the belt. “You’ve hardly been without it since the day we became journeymen.”

           “Have a look.”

           She hefted it over to the seat beside her. It was heavier than it looked; the belt itself was thick, sturdy leather, even without considering the various satchels and pouches attached to it. At the front, tooled loops supported a trio of glass vials, each one filled with a different coloured powder. Rhona vaguely recognised them as ingredients for spell-fluid, the viscous green liquid in which constructs grew, but could not have explained in any more detail. The biggest satchels, stitched in place on either hip, contained tools: pliers, screwdrivers, a set of spanners, a small hacksaw, and three hammers all sat in their own compartments within the satchels. A smaller pouch contained a sewing kit, though not for mending clothes: the thread within was a fine, smooth fibre, almost like horsehair but more elastic and with a peculiarly fleshy texture to it. Another pouch at the back held a syringe and a small device for sterilising it.

           Finally, Rhona unclipped a drawstring bag twice the size of a clenched fist from the front of the belt and weighed it in her hand, before tipping some of the contents out into her other palm.

           “…Marbles? You carry a bag of marbles around with you?”

           “Those marbles are of great sentimental importance,” said Calburn primly.

           “Fair enough… They look expensive, though! These are solid stone!”

           “Leftover black granite from when they were building the Harbinger Gate,” said Calburn, grinning. “They sold loads of offcuts as souvenirs – my aunt got me those. She worked on the construction.”

           Rhona plonked the marbles back into their bag one by one. “I will never understand you.”

           “Nor I you,” said Calburn amiably. “Poking around with people’s insides when there are constructs to be made?” He shook his head.

           Rhona coughed and glanced out of the window. “Yeah. Well. So, how far d’you think it’ll be until the next supply stop?”

           Calburn just shrugged and settled back in his seat, taking a book from the rucksack beside him. “Dunno. All sorts of little towns have sprung up along these new railpaths, just like they did when the canals were built. With any luck, we’ll stop overnight and won’t have to sleep in here again.”

           “Too right – you snore like a sawmill.”          

           “I did offer you earplugs.”

           “I can never sleep with earplugs in.”

           Calburn just gave her a pointed look at that and opened his book.

           The train of carriages rattled onwards, the clatter of the wheels constantly underlain by the steady thud-thud of the iron ox’s footsteps. The Eastern Lakes passed them by, and the cultivated fields and pastures of the Great Plain fell behind. The train slowed as the railpath curved to bypass the city of Lagara, the last major outpost of the Imperial heartlands, but did not stop. As the sun sank lower in the sky, the settlements grew smaller and further between, until there was nothing to see but the vast grassland of the Hawk Steppes. Only when the sun had vanished altogether did the train squeal and sway to a halt.

           Calburn did not immediately notice.

           “…and the heroine’s a great character, the action and everythin’, that’s great, but this villain’s just incompetent! I mean, what kind of rank amateur needs to fuel his war-constructs with human souls? It’s not just evil, it’s inefficient!”

           “Calburn.”

           “And, I mean, all right, the whole ‘soul’ thing’s a matter for priests an’ philosophers an’ all that, but you’d think logically that an adult soul would give you more energy than a kid, wouldn’t you?”

           “Calburn. We’ve stopped.”

           “Huh? Oh.” Calburn stowed the book in his rucksack and got awkwardly to his feet. “Oof. Been sitting down too long. Supply stop?”

           “I think so.” Rhona slid the window open and leant out for a look. “Not sure if it’s an overnighter or not.”

           “Probably will be.” Calburn braced his hands against the small of his back, grunting as his shoulders gave a small pop. “They’ll need to let the iron ox cool down for a while – it’s like with Vrand; big constructs make a lot of heat, and I doubt this thing cools down as easy as Vrand does.” To emphasise his point, he tapped his knuckles against the fist-sized summoning stone hidden beneath his tunic.

           “You’re the expert there,” said Rhona, squinting into the dark at a large sign reading, both in letters and in symbols, ‘NO WEAPONS’. “But if it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll ask the drivers just in case. I don’t want to get stuck here – wherever ‘here’ is.”

           ‘Here’ was the settlement of Horse Rock, bigger than just a trading post but too small to really be considered a village. It consisted of a small warehouse, a natural well, a temple to some local horse-god, two houses and an inn, which showed signs of several large and recent extensions. A few tents were pitched further from the rails, gathered around an engraved boulder; some people with the facial tattoos of Steppe tribesfolk watched for a while as travellers disembarked from the train, before returning to their camp.

           Calburn tied his belt, swung his rucksack onto his back, and followed Rhona off the train. At only four carriages long, each one containing three cabins, it was barely a third as long as some of the trains Kiraan had begun using in the heartlands, carrying goods and passengers between the Imperial City and other hubs of trade; accordingly, while those trains were often hauled by whole teams of iron oxen, only one stood in harness at Horse Rock.

           It was quite impressive enough all by itself. While Rhona went to bother the drivers, Calburn could only cover his mouth and stand back in admiration. In shape, it was something like his riding construct Mostol, with powerful shoulders, four stocky limbs, and horns curving upwards from the sides of its head, more like a bison than an ox, but the similarity ended there. Each limb was armed with three blunt claws instead of hooves, set wide apart for a stronger base, and it stood taller than an icefield mammoth: from the cabin on its back, the drivers could have looked comfortably into the windows on the top floor of the inn. Steam wafted gently from vents set into its back behind the cabin, and the metal creaked as the construct gradually cooled.

           “Isn’t it beautiful?” breathed Calburn as Rhona returned.

           “If you say so,” she said doubtfully. “It’s a bit mechanical for my tastes – I prefer grown constructs like Tyren or Mostol.”

           “Oh, but that’s the beauty of it!” said Calburn, gesturing wildly with both arms. “It is a grown construct! Well, sort of – it’s kind of a fusion of growth and building, know what I mean? The Emperor himself funded the research, saying Kiraan had enough – more than enough – war-constructs and it was time for some better transport constructs instead! And some of the best Constructists in Kiraan got together, and – well, you know how almost all constructs in the Empire are built, right? Stormhaven and the Sea Loch Country’s about all where grown constructs are more common, and Stormhaven Constructists definitely grow the best constructs.”

           “They’re the most modest, too.”

           “I’m allowed to brag, I grew a dragon. So anyway, these Kiraani Constructists came to the College to study how we grow our constructs, went home, and started putting everything together, you know? But using a different formula for spell-fluid – higher metal content. So they built the skeletons for the iron oxen the usual way, then put the metal skeletons into these purpose-built sort of flask-rooms, and let the rest of it grow around them. But with the extra metal in the spell-fluid, what they got was this!” He pointed emphatically at the foreleg nearest them. “It’s like muscle, it acts like muscle, but it’s almost a steel cable! But they knew all that metal would heat up fast, so they used the space inside the ribcage for a water tank; the water pulls the heat from the metal – there are sort of fins or prongs sticking out into the tank, gives it a bigger surface area – then the heat can escape as steam! Isn’t that clever?”

           “I stopped listening at ‘spell-fluid’,” admitted Rhona.

           Calburn rolled his eyes and gave her shoulder an affectionate thump, not noticing her flinch. “Hey!” he shouted up to the driver still perched on the iron ox’s shoulders. “How fast does it go?”

           The driver finished refilling the water tank and clambered down to the ground. “Harnessed or unharnessed?” she asked, pulling off her gloves. “Hauling the train, her top speed’s about sixty miles an hour. With just her, she can get up to a hundred.”

           Calburn gave an impressed whistle. “That’s quite something. My main riding construct can hardly manage thirty – though he goes like a battering ram, you know? Not much to brag about acceleration-wise, but there’s not much that’ll stop him once he gets up to speed.”

           “Yeah, Longstride here’s the same,” said the driver, patting the great construct’s foreleg. “We need to slow down carefully when we’re coming up to a stop, and make sure we signal the brake van in time. Else all the carriages would crash into each other, and Siraki knows there’d be complaints about that! You work with constructs yourself, then?”

           “Work with? I make them!” He held out a hand. “Master Calburn Sayer, Stormhaven College, School of Constructs.”

           “Athi zeHadres,” she replied, shaking it. “Imperial Railpaths.”

           “Nobility?” said Rhona, raising her eyebrows. “You’re a long way from the Imperial City.”

           “We’re a minor house, and I’m a long way down the succession ladder,” said Athi with a shrug and a smile. “We can’t all lounge around sipping wine.”

           “I admit, that’s about my mental image of what Imperial nobility does,” said Rhona. “We’re here for work – the Ironstone Mine has hired us to try and sort some things there. Rhona Carnwennan, by the way.”

           Athi nodded and glanced between her and Calburn. “Are you two a, uh…”

           “A couple?” Rhona shook her head. “Nah, just old friends. He’s got a girlfriend back home, and I’ve sworn off romance.”

           “One of them chaste sisterhood deals? You see all sorts travelling the Empire.”

           “No, just personal reasons.”

           Calburn frowned and opened his mouth, but Athi kept talking before he could say anything. “We’ll be parked here until about nine in the morning,” she said. “You’ll want to get yourselves some space in there,” she nodded towards the inn, “unless you fancy begging a tent off the tribesfolk.”

           With a room booked up amongst the eaves, there was still time for a stroll around the sights of Horse Rock, such as they were. The boulder, admittedly, was quite impressive in its own way; it was about six feet tall and still mostly natural in shape, but carved silhouettes of horses daubed in red paint galloped in rows encircling almost every inch of its surface.

           “Well,” said Rhona into the stillness, “I can see why they called this place Horse Rock.”

           “Yeah, it’s pretty distinctive, isn’t it?” said Calburn. “I wonder how old it is? The carving doesn’t look too weathered, but the paint’s a bit faded.”

           “Couldn’t say,” said Rhona. “Though I suppose a historian would know.” She reached out and rubbed her thumb against one of the carved horses. A little of the red pigment came away on her skin. “It’s a pretty hard rock, though. The carvings could stand up for thousands of years out here.” She brushed the paint off on her trousers and folded her arms, frowning. “Thing is,” she continued, “you don’t really picture stonework when you think of Hawk Steppes art, do you? Even today, they’re mostly nomads. You think of things like… weaving, and leatherwork, and…”

           From somewhere out in the dark came a sudden crack of splintering wood, and a horse shrieked in agony.

           “…Horses,” finished Rhona, before both she and Calburn broke into a sprint towards the source of the noise.

           Whatever had caused it was long gone by the time they got there; all that remained was a faint thunder of hooves somewhere out in the night, and an empty livestock pen with an enormous gap in the fence. A dozen tribesfolk had gathered at the scene, half of them debating in their own language – probably about what to do with the pen – and the other half trying to get close to the injured horse thrashing on the ground. One foreleg looked badly broken.

           “Do something,” Calburn whispered from behind his hands.

           Rhona shoved forwards through the gathering crowd. “Let me past! I’m a healer, I can help!”

           It took a while to get the horse to lie still enough, but afterwards it was a simple bone-setting. Rhona stood up and dusted her hands off as the confused animal lurched back to its feet. The horse’s owner turned to her as another tribesman led the horse away to another pen with the rest of the band’s mounts.

           “Thank you,” he said, folding his hands over his heart and bowing his head. “She’s a fine mare, and I’d hoped to get a lot of foals from her yet; I didn’t want to have to put her down.”

           “It’s no problem,” said Rhona. “I’ve mostly trained to heal humans, but I grew up around horses back in Stormhaven. I know how they fit together.”

           Calburn edged up after her and scuffed his toe across a cloven hoofprint in the dust. “What happened here?” he asked.

           The tribesman spat on the ground. “Charek,” he said bitterly.

           “Charek?” asked Rhona.

           “Filthy reivers!” he snarled. “Worse than thuru! They won’t herd, they won’t trade – they just steal!” He waved a hand towards the broken pen. “Thirty head of cattle, vanished into the night because they’re too damned lazy to breed them and too damned greedy to buy them!” He took a deep breath to compose himself. “And they’re getting bolder,” he said, more calmly. “Even a year ago, they’d never have raided a camp this near Horse Rock. Gods alone know what’ll happen if they try anything at Khan’s Kurgan, especially right now…” He shook his head.

           “Is something happening there?” asked Calburn.  

           The man stared at him. “Well, yes,” he said. “The Great Khan is there. Half the bands on the steppes will be there. Maybe more than half!”

           “Well, I’m afraid we’ll have to give the festival a miss,” said Rhona. “We’re going to be too busy for the next few weeks.”

           “Yeah,” said Calburn sadly. “Khan’s Kurgan is a bit of a distance from the Ironstone Mine.”

           “We weren’t originally planning to go, but I suppose we’ll need to meet up with some others after this,” said the tribesman, gesturing towards the livestock pen. “Who knows, maybe we’ll see you there after all.”

           By the time the iron ox got moving again in the morning, a couple of hours after first light, the tribesfolk had long since broken camp and headed out into the grasslands, leaving no sign of their presence but a few circles of ash and a dispersing cloud of dust.

           “So that was Horse Rock,” said Calburn, settling back into his seat as Longstride’s footsteps began to echo back along the train.

           “Yes, quite the metropolis,” said Rhona, taking her book from her satchel again. “Next stop, hopefully, Ironstone Mine.”

           The carriages gradually emptied out as the train rattled onwards, shedding passengers at each brief stop until finally Calburn and Rhona were the only ones left. Close to sunset, another dust cloud rose into the sky up ahead, this one far too high to simply be stirred up by the hooves of livestock. Rhona put her book away and, keeping her glasses in place with one hand, leant out of the window for a better look. The iron ox was moving fast without the extra weight of so many passengers, and the dust cloud swiftly moved closer. Soon they could make out the distant clanking of metal and grating of stone above the thud of the construct’s feet.

           At long last, just as the sun touched the horizon, the train came to a standstill at the edge of what was almost a small town at the foot of a towering headframe.

           “I wonder how far down it goes?” wondered Rhona as they both gazed up at the huge pulley-wheels, the metal spokes reflecting red in the sunset.

           “I suppose we’ll find out,” said Calburn. “So what now? Do we just hang around here, or… Oh, hello.”

           A middle-aged woman with broad shoulders, dark olive skin and short sandy-brown hair hurried across the platform towards them.

           “You the wizards?” she asked, tucking a pair of heavy work gloves into her belt.

           “That we are,” said Calburn, shaking her hand. “Calburn Sayer.”

           “The Constructist, yeah? Then you’d be the healer?”

           “With a capital H,” said Rhona, also shaking the offered hand after a moment’s hesitation. “Rhona. Rhona Carnwennan.”

           “Marissa Kedran, mine overseer. We don’t get many Stormhaveners out here,” she said, stepping down off the platform and waving for them to follow her. “Not like there aren’t wizards nearer by than half the continent away – but everyone says if you want the best mage-work done, you have to write to the Stormhaven College.” She paused, and added, “’Course, they don’t always say it happily, but they do say it. You two’ll have a lot of work to get through, because the mine’ll be running at way less than full capacity until you’re done.” She opened a door stencilled with the word ‘OFFICE’ and waved them both inside, where she sat down at a cluttered desk. “First – Healer.”

           “Rhona.”

           “Whatever. I’m told you’re good with lungs.” Kedran propped her elbows on the desk and steepled her fingers. “Dust lung. A lot of the miners suffer from it. You need to fix the ones who have it, as far as you can, and stop the ones who don’t from getting it. That’s what you’re here for.”

           “Understood,” said Rhona.

           Kedran nodded and turned to Calburn. “And you. Pit ponies.”

           Calburn leant in slightly. “Pit ponies?”

           “That’s what I said.”

           “But – d’you – d’you not have pit ponies?”

           Kedran glanced at Rhona and very, very slightly raised her eyebrows. Rhona gave the tiniest shrug in response. “Yes, we have pit ponies,” said Kedran, in the tone one might use to explain a difficult concept to a small child. “We also have a culture of horse-loving warriors for landlords, and they aren’t terribly pleased that we have pit ponies.” She pointed out of the window, across the rails and out over the grassland, to an encampment of around twenty sizeable tents. “That band has been hanging around for a couple of months now. One of their kids comes over every few days to keep an eye on us. Politics being what they are…” She held both hands out in a helpless shrug.

           “Oh, right. Gotcha.” Calburn cracked his knuckles. “You want me to whip up some diggers as well, or just cart-haulers?”

           Kedran glanced up at the ceiling, working her jaw from side to side. “Replacing the pit ponies has priority,” she said, “but once that’s done, sure, I wouldn’t say no to some diggers.”

           “You want ’em built or grown?” asked Calburn.

           “Grown,” said Kedran with a firm nod. “Less weight for the hoists.”

           “Good, that works.”

           “Right,” said Rhona, placing her hands on her hips. “I’ll need a surgery. He’ll need a workshop. And then… I think we can get started.”

~~~

One of the things I enjoy writing about this setting is that it isn’t just a straightforward Mediaeval-type fantasy; they’ve actually got something of an industrial revolution going on. It just so happens to be an industrial revolution based on magic rather than steam, and so things aren’t developing along quite the same routes that they did in our world.

Portals are the fastest method of long-distance transport, but they’re expensive, aren’t always reliable, and can’t stay open for longer than more than a few carts’ worth of goods at a time, so people have still been investing in less... space-bending infrastructure as well. Although I’ll admit that the iron ox’s heat sink was just so I could keep a little of the classic steam train aesthetic.

#az writes stories

[travelingtheusa]

UTAH

26 May 2019 (Sun) - I apologize.  We have been so busy with the caravan that I have not had a chance to write anything in this blog.  The caravan will be over on June 11.  Things should return to normal then.

 We have been rafting on the Colorado River, driven a UTV through the desert, and hiked/driven some of the most incredible landscape imaginable.  This has been an incredible experience.

 20 May 2019 (Mon) – We pulled up stakes and left Torrey at 9 a.m. with four rigs in our group.  One member of the caravan, Hank & Brenda, had to dive further south to Freightliner to get their rig repaired.  They’ve been having problems with power trying to go uphill.  Hank changed the fuel filter but it didn’t help.  Hope they can find the problem quickly and they can get back with us.

     Another member of the caravan, Shirley, broke down just after leaving the campground.  Our tail gunner, Jon, and another rig driven by Jim & Lida stopped to help.  Group four and five were combined and sent on. Shirley had her 19’ class B RV towed to a repair shop.  

 19 May 2019 (Sun) – We did the laundry this morning.  We went to one building but it was locked (reserved for housekeeping – they wash the linens for the cabins).  We went to the second building which had two washers and two dryers stacked one on top of the other.  Both washers had laundry in them.  As we started to leave, Steve (a fellow SMART member) came up and moved his clothes to the dryers.  We loaded our clothes in the two washers and when we put in the coins, one machine broke down.  We had to unload that washer and just let the one washer go.  When we came back, we moved the wash to the dryer and put the second batch of clothes in the washer.  It took longer to do the wash than usual.  Ugh.

     At noon, we drove down the road to the general store.  We couldn’t find most of what we wanted so we just got travel tissues and post cards for the grandsons.  Then we went to the Wild Rabbit Café for lunch.  They had a very limited menu – two sandwiches or a salad. We both got BLTs.

     It was back to the campground and finishing up with the caravan materials.  At 5:00 p.m. we had a potluck dinner.  Paul managed to hang a tarp over one of the open doorways to cut down on the wind. Jon brought over his propane fireplace, which added a nice warmth to the pavilion.  The food was, as usual, good and plentiful.  At 6:30 p.m. we had our travel meeting.  The weather turned nasty and cold.  Some kind of cold weather system blew in.  Brrrrr.

 18 May 2019 (Sat) – At 9:00 a.m. we pulled out of the campground with 8 cars following; 19 of us looking forward to a great day of exploration. The temperatures were warmer than yesterday and most of the clouds were gone.  With John Denver songs playing on the stereo, we led the group down Route 12, America’s Byway.  The scenery was very lush.  As we moved into higher elevations, forests of pine and aspen lined the roadway. Soon, whole sides of the mountain were filled with quaking aspen waiting to explode into their springtime bloom. We stopped at several overlooks to admire the grandeur spread before us.

     When we reached the end of Route 12, one couple turned back and four stopped to tour the Anasazi Village Museum.  Four of us turned left onto the Burr Trail.  John Denver done, we slipped in a CD of music of the American Southwest. The sound of screaming eagles and howling coyotes joined in with flutes and drums.  We drove along the two lane road, admiring the ever changing scenery before us.  The variety of colors and shapes was incredible.  After about two hours of driving, we pulled onto a turn out that overlooked the Black Canyon and had lunch.  For half an hour, we gazed out over the land below and were filled with awe at the Creator’s handiwork.

     Lunch all done, we continued on the Burr Trail.  That’s where things got really interesting.  A little after turning heading out, the pavement ended and we were driving on a dirt road.  A little further on, we came upon a series of switchbacks with deep downgrades.  It was an adrenaline pumping ride!  We turned off Burr Trail on to Notom Trail and the road soon found pavement again. The entire ride was about five hours long.  

     At 5:00 p.m. we all drove to the Capitol Reef Inn & Café. There was some confusion and the group wound up arriving too early and ordering things that were different than the pre-ordered food.  Most of the food was good and the service was excellent.

 17 May 2019 (Fri) – We packed up and left Bryce Canyon City at 9:00 a.m.  We led four other rigs on a 110-mile route to Torrey.  The scenery was absolutely beautiful!  We had free range cows wandering in the road, there was a skunk walking on the side of the road in the bushes, cows grazing in wide open grasslands, and hawks flying overhead.  The weather was cold when we started out and got colder.  Eventually, we had sleet and snow in small spurts.  The wind was really cold.

     When we arrived at the campground, I went in the office to pay the bill.  The clerk gave me campground maps to hand out to everyone and informed me that ten sites were 50-amp and eleven were 30-amp.  That is bad news in the camping world.  You always want 50-amp.  I waited until Jon got in and then we went in to talk to the manager about the situation. I couldn’t believe she didn’t see any difference between 30-amp and 50-amp sites except if you needed to use air conditioners.  Ugh.

     The group tried to have social hour at 4:00 p.m. but the weather was cold and the wind was blowing so we all retreated to our rigs.  I hope tomorrow is nice for our ride on Route 12.

 16 May 2019 (Thu) – Paul and I drove part of the route for tomorrow’s move just to ensure everyone would be able to negotiate it alright. There were two herds of cows wandering on the roadway and a creek was very full and touching the roadway.  If we get rain tonight, the road may be flooded when we try to drive it.  Otherwise the drive was pleasant.  We stopped in Panguitch and looked at the boyhood home of Butch Cassidy.  It was just a log cabin with a storyboard outside. Not much to see.  We had lunch at the Cowboy Café.  Their roasted red pepper soup and cole slaw were so good that we bought more to take home.

      We had social hour at 4:00 p.m. and travel meeting following.  The wind was blowing fiercely and the temperatures have dropped dramatically.  We have a freeze warning for tonight.  Also, it rained heavily for an hour.  Paul will have to get up early and drive tomorrow’s route to make sure the road is open. Otherwise, we will have to use an alternate route.

     After the meeting, we went to dinner at Ruby’s Inn Restaurant with Rick & Brenda and Hank & Brenda.  The food and company were good.

 15 May 2019 (Wed) – The National Park Service provided a special bus for us to take a tour of Bryce Canyon.  The bus arrived at 10:00 a.m. and we took a three hour tour.  The driver drove all the way to the end of the 17-mile loop then stopped at various overlooks on the way back.  He was a retired vet and provided an entertaining and informative ride.

     At 7:00 p.m. we went to a cowboy dinner show at Ebenezer’s Barn & Grill.  There was food and music and lots of clapping and singing.  We had a very good time.

 14 May 2019 (Tue) – We moved from Zion to Bryce Canyon City today. We packed up and left at 9 a.m. with four rigs following behind us.  The ride was easy and we arrived around noon.  The campground is very nice.  We are in a new part where the campsites are very roomy and each has a large grassy plot. The interior roads are nicely graded.

     Bryce Canyon City is an interesting town.  It is owned entirely by the family of the original founder. The entrance to the National Park is just a block away.

13 May 2019 (Mon) – We got up at 4:30 a.m., fed the animals, and packed up for a sunrise hike to Zion Canyon Overlook.  We met Rick & Brenda at 5:30 a.m. and they drove us up the route through the Mount Carmel Tunnel.  We climbed up the trail

     We had a potluck dinner and travel meeting today.  The food was so plentiful.  It was a delightful day.  The cell phone serve and wifi in this area sucks!  Whenever I try to send a message, I get an error message saying the message could not be sent.  The jet pack can’t connect to the internet.  I have been unable to connect to Tumblr or to post anything on Facebook. I don’t know what it’s so bad. It’s hard to try to download anything or to make calls.  I can’t wait to get out of this area.

 12 May 2019 (Sun-Mother’s Day) – Jan & Nancy gave all the ladies a red rose this morning.  We all drove into Zion National Park today.  Some hiked trails and others drove scenic routes.  We rode with Rick & Brenda into the park.  We left the car at the visitor’s center and caught the shuttle to stop 6 where we hiked to The Grotto.  Then we hiked to the lower Emerald Pools.  The upper Emerald Pools and Kayenta Trail were closed due to recent flooding.

     I checked in at 12:15 and got tickets for everyone.  At 12:45 p.m. everyone gathered at the foot of the stairs to the Red Rock Grill.  I turned in the tickets to the head waiter and we were all seated on the second floor. The restaurant served a taco salad bar. The choices were plentiful.

     Afterward, we returned to the campground and worked on caravan stuff.

 11 May 2019 (Sat) – We left Boulder City, NV, at 8:00 a.m. and drove 170 miles to Zion Canyon.  We are staying in Zion River RV Resort in Virgin, UT.  It is a very nice campground with pool, spacy sites, grass at each site, concrete pads, picnic tables, fire pits, wifi (poor), and asphalt roadways.

    We had group 4 follow their GPS rather than the prescribed route and they wound up driving through Las Vegas.  Sadly, they missed a very scenic route through Lake Mead National Recreation Area.  Everyone was finally arrived by 3:00 p.m.

[pathfuckery]

WBJ Day 5! Civilization and Architecture

Alrighty! So today we’re moving on to some cultural stuff, which should be super fun! 

Orcish tribes

The tribes all have cultural uniqueness to them, but the ways in which they gather and interact, and the types of structures that they live in are largely the same. The tribes often break off into subtribes, groups of 200-500 people with close association. These groups live together, hunt together, and manage their lands together. Children are raised not by mother and father, but by the tribe as a whole, and as we’ll talk more about tomorrow with gender and sexuality, monogamy and the strict division into familial units is a foreign concept. Certainly, just as in any society, there are people that each orc clings to more than the others, but the concept of a marriage and strict devotion to one other is unthinkable. In orcish society, you are essentially married to the subtribe, and the tribe as a whole. 

The orcs live in and build a variety of structure, but they don’t follow strict city planning Velor does. They Radawa prefer mobile home units. Tents allow them to pack up their entire camps and move on from place to place, hunting, visiting their vast farms, and conducting raids. Home villages are often made of thatch and some wood, but are few and far between. The other tribes, having access to more natural shelters, use more stationary structures. The Totone have carved out the buttes of the south, picking up the works of previous generations and tribes, and large cities exists inside these large rock formations, and such the subtribes that gather here are even larger than normal. The To’vakt have done similar with the mountains in the north and south of their territories, and are able to retreat to large caves, dug out and expanded over time, in times of bad weather or defensive fighting. 

Necrophiladelphia

Necrophiladelphia is similar to the To’vakt, as they are their ancestors. The city has been dug out by tireless workers, starting as simple above-ground structures disguising the entrances into a large underground world, both cavernous halls and small passages, and countless room and antechambers, all in an interconnected society. The citizens here have adapted more to a stationary living place even more than the To’vakt, and as such, more care to surroundings, decor, and appearance is given.

Velor

Velor is the exact opposite of the orcish tribes. While community and and the tribe are valued in the orcish tribes, individuality is king in Velor for the most part, and the social structure reflects that. Cities are meticulously planned and districted off, laws are codified and extensively explained, down to minor details, and communities develop not from birth, but from choice of association and interests. Higher education is important in Velor, and numerous institutions of learning, both magical and non-magical, have sprung up. 

Architecture still holds remnants of Haishinese roots, such as the raised structures, interlocking wooden construction, and simple design, but sliding doors are giving way to doors that can be more securely shut, and windows are changing as glass becomes more common and easier to manufacture. There is also a trend of minimalist design that has been sweeping in the past 30 years. 

#I sadly don't have time for your challenge today audrey #but I'm defintiely thinking about it #so thanks for the prompt!

[arcticdementor]

Most of the stuff I need to do I can get the right tools and materials. But where that fails, I’ll have enough knowledge and understanding (by now) to contrive.

It’s not different for mental tools. In my oh so cherished fantasy of sending my mind back in time to when I was 20, note the deal would be “I get to take the skills I’ve acquired with me.” Why? Because at this point — and providing life stops interrupting every five minutes — I can write saleable books while tired, while sick, possibly while dead. I have internalized a bunch of mental tools on “how you do this.” When I was 20 I had more time, arguably was more methodical in proofreading, and had more enthusiasm and energy, but I lacked the tools. And what I produced took more effort and often showed thumb marks and badly mitered joints.

For some things, like the fact I’m stuck working in a language that was not my first or second, there is no remedy. I just must be that much better at using it, much closer to understanding how the thing works, so I can do consciously what would otherwise be subconscious.

So.

Recently one of my young friends came to me with an astonishing story. One of his young friends had no idea who the combatants were in the Civil War. No, she didn’t know what civil war meant. She thought it was just a name. You know like it was an exceptionally polite war.

We are now in the fourth generation from whom the tools of building civilization, or even of maintaining it have been withheld. Yes, four, and I’m the middle one.

Most of my adult life has been learning things that someone should have taught me but didn’t for whatever reason.

…

In the same way, I’ve spent most of my adult life learning history, grammar, natural science and the basics of things that I supposedly learned the advanced form for with my degree, but without anyone ever teaching me the fundamentals.

Kind of like part of my degree is the study of literature but until I read Dwight Swain Techniques of the Selling Writer I’d never realized that books are composed of conflict and reaction units. (No, not physical conflict, though heck, you could sell that.) Instead I tried to fit them into the structure of plays and wondered why it wasn’t working.

Because no one had ever taught me the basics. I mean, I knew how to do a lot of advanced things, even as a beginning writer. I just had no clue how to do the basic things. And it showed.

For four generations our culture and education has been in the hands of an unholy hybrid of Marxism and Rousseau’s Romanticism. (The two are related in that both believe that natural man left to his own devices creates paradise.)

I can understand how those scarred by the long war of the 20th century would decide that they were going to ditch all the evil bad things in civilization and let the children grow up “naturally” so they would be sweet and innocent angels. (Spit.) I understand but I don’t forgive. If they thought what they saw in the war was the result of Western Civilization, they’d never studied other civilizations or for that matter hid in a playground and watched the children be “natural.”

Then the cascade started. People who only half learned could only half teach. On top of which the doubts instilled in them about the purpose of civilization made them teach less than half. And the next generation knew less. And then less.

More than once, as an inquisitive student, I’d go to my teacher and ask why something worked the way it did or didn’t work the way they said, only to be given a glib explanation I knew was wrong. I must have been 11 the first time I realized the teacher had no more clue than I did. (This was a good thing. It set me on a path of researching and investigating on my own.)

By the time my kids were in school it had become more so, partly because to justify themselves, and abate the feeling they were incompetent, people derived entire theories on why they shouldn’t learn the basics, learning the basics was bad, and you could be so much better by learning naturally.

…

Part of the unlearning are people who never learned enough to realize what works and what doesn’t trying to do things in ways that only work for a very few highly gifted individuals. That’s how we got whole word, new math, total immersion, whateverthehelltheyretryingnow all of which involved “less work for teachers” and the vague hope that unschooled children, or children who learned ‘naturally’ were just somehow ‘better.’

Kind of like what would happen if I decided my digit dyslexic, half-baked way with wood meant my making, say, a table that was lopsided and wobbly made the table better and more authentic.

The problem is that in lieu of teaching our kids history or civics, what works and what doesn’t, we let people so ignorant of how the world works that they don’t realize they’re teaching the kids the just-so story of classes and oppression which was never true like that anywhere, and the religion of “social justice” instead of the real mechanisms of history. Because they know no facts, and can’t reason, they pat themselves on the back and say they’re teaching the kids not things, but “how to think.” Except they’re not. What they’re teaching the kids is how NOT to think. They teach them that thinking “wrong” is a crime worse than murder, and therefore they can’t risk reasoning, because it might lead them to dissent from the group. And dissent from the group is the most terrible of crimes. (To be fair, this is an effect of mass-industrial-public-schooling.)

Their inability to teach, now forces them to declare the most basic tools of civilization racist and somehow oppressive. Because this is an excuse not to teach math or English. Which they can’t do because they never learned, and they’re not willing to do the work.

If you’re not alarmed by this, you might be a Marxist or a Rousseauan who believes that by unlearning everything, we will be like angels.

You might also be an idiot, who never had to deal with infants or toddlers, or in fact ignorant and half-savage people.

Honestly, I believe this is at the bottom of their sanctification of the Homeless, because by eschewing civilized life (not really, but that’s how it looks to the left. In fact the homeless are kind of like rats. Domesticated and destructive of the society upon which they feed) and destroying their reason with drugs, they are somehow superior to us, who are bound by civilization. This is why they want to inflict the homeless on every large city, creating danger and filthy conditions for people who live and work there. “Afflicting the comfortable” is supposed to make them change their ways and… I don’t know? Become homeless? As if there were some great happiness in that.

…

This is going implode. And by this, I mean this shell of civilization and knowledge, and ability that surrounds us and protects us. Already, anyone in highly technical fields is being actively hindered from doing their jobs by “administrators” which is to say maleducated people who know only how to make rules about how others should do things. And since they know nothing real, those rules are often counterproductive.

Heck, even in my field — not highly technical, but specialized — editors and publishers seem convinced their job is to “teach” the public, instead of sell to the public. Partly because they have no clue HOW to sell to the public, and are in the fourth generation that lacks basic skills to do so. (Like being able to read for pleasure.) They have therefore laid down rules that make it harder to produce and publish enjoyable works.

But it’s everywhere. And in research? The time frame and conditions of the research often makes the results flawed or irreproducible.

Oh, and of course, hiring people by skin color or sexual orientation makes bridges fall.

Even teaching — My kids had two or three good teachers who had escaped somehow — is made impossible by rules and regulations that have nothing to do with teaching or learning. (So those good teachers left to work the private sector.) As for parenting– In most states the law forces you to be an helicopter parent. I lived in fear of my kids being called in when they took their walks half a mile away to buy hotdogs at six. Even though at six I’d ranged all over the village all day, and come dragging in for dinner at sunset.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well. And doing it well requires tools. Mental tools. Sure, you can do it upside down and sideways, with tools you found, but you still need to have tools.

In what comes after — and I’m suspecting/hoping it’s been somewhat postponed by the unlocking most places. People are so busy traveling and gathering they haven’t paid attention to politics. But it will come. The Junta will do something so egregious it will intrude on everyone’s notice — after the implosion/explosion that waits us, we need the tools to build.

Our kids certainly don’t have them.

Absent the tools they’ll default to “not fully civilized but trying” human method of governance, and really, I’m way too old to live under the divine right of kings.

…

Go back to the basics of civilization and acquire the tools. They won’t work very well, because acquired late, but it’s better than nothing. (Later, either after we move, or in a month or so, after house is ready to stage and we camp somewhere for a few months, in an apartment or something, I intend to re-learn Latin and Greek, which I taught myself poorly and late. At that time, we’ll set up a room where other people can come and walk along. We need that. A sort of free form academia, where some teach and some learn. I will, yes, in a month or two, set up to teach writing. Yes, I will charge, and I’m sorry. It is just what it is. One way or another, we’re going to need it. I’ll try not to do more than once or twice a month, or it eats the writing.)

It’s time to get the tools. To learn to do things. Whether those things are how to make clothes, or how to speak a foreign language, they might not save you much money or they might be totally impractical.

But you’ll be learning how to learn. Learning how to claw back a little bit of civilization, and basic knowledge. And then you should pass it on. By every way you can. Lest night fall forever.

Because 2000 years of civilization are a terrible thing to waste.

#sarah a hoyt

[kozzax]

My Ideal Minecraft Update

So I know I don't necessarily have any legs to stand on here. As a complete disclaimer I don't play very much Minecraft, mostly because of the work I need to get done on a regular basis and all the other media I take in. But I do play far more often than I do any other game, and I have thought a lot about this concept.

My ideal Minecraft update is another end update. Explanation of why and details of a couple things I'd like to see under the cut because it's... a lot.

I know the End got an update in 1.9. The update where end cities and elytra and shulker boxes got added. It was an incredibly influential update and I'm not at all saying that it wasn't good. What I am saying is that it doesn't feel.... right.

Look at the End as it was before 1.9. It was a single island, where you fought the final boss of the game, using blocks and colors exclusive to the area. It took place in the void. It was a really cool area and provided at least some sense of accomplishment when you got there, just because of how unique the area was and how distinct it was from the rest of Minecraft. But the original End was never meant to be. Expanded. Not really.

The thing about Minecraft-- and you can see this a lot with the recent updates, too --is that everywhere you go feels new and unique and interesting. There's a reason people love exploring the overworld. Finding really cool terrain is fun. Encountering structures and discovering villages and gathering far-out materials that you'll never use just to say you went there is fun. That's a huge part of what makes Minecraft... Minecraft.

When the Nether update came, that fun expanded into the Nether as well. No longer do you go to the Nether just to get fortress materials and quartz, or just to get between areas in the overworld; now you go to the Nether to explore and discover new biomes and interesting terrain. There are piglins to trade with and hoglins to run from and endermen to find. There are ruined nether portals to hunt down and light, and just overall its more interesting there. No longer is it a fiery hellscape of nothingness; now it's a fiery hellscape of life and adventure and excitement.

The update Aquatic did the same thing with the oceans; taking an area that generally most players hated dealing with and turning them into something genuinely fun to interact with and rewarding to visit. And the Caves and Cliffs update is doing the same thing with cave exploration.

The End just.... doesn't have that. The End is boring, and bland, and despite the fact that many players visit it on a fairly regular basis to get shulker boxes and end rods and elytra it's not very good for... anything else.

What upsets me the most about this is that. The End is called the End. It's meant to be an endgame location. But rather than building off of what the rest of Minecraft feels like and creating this rich environment with cool terrain and interesting blocks and fun concepts, it's just kind of... an endless wasteland, with some chorus fruit and end cities here and there.

It's just... a little underwhelming. You beat the game and your reward is exploring a barren wasteland for hours at a time to find what amounts to one new kind of lighting some extra storage and the ability to fly provided you make a ton of rockets. Sure, the rewards are nice, but getting to them is tedious and boring and it goes against the rest of Minecraft's exploration philosophy entirely.

On top of that, it kind of feels. Isolating?

Okay so hear me out here. Minecraft is a sandbox game. There are tons of different playstyles that people use, right, and its up to the player how they choose to use what they're given. But there are... generally five or so camps of people playing the game. Keep in mind this is an incredibly loose and generic breakdown, let me just. Make my point.

The five general groups of Minecraft players are, from my knowledge, like so:

-The builders [focus on building and creating structures]

-The redstoners [focus on understanding redstone and doing cool stuff with it]

-The domestic players [focus on manual farming and collecting pets]

-The explorers [focus on exploring their Minecraft world and never really settling down]

-The PVPers [focus on. PVP and combat]

Obviously there's some overlap in these-- for example, lots of builders also do exploration to get blocks, and lots of "domestic" players make structures to house their domestic actions, but these are the general breakdowns I've seen.

The End, the endgame of the game, the area after beating the dragon, should in theory provide fairly substantial rewards to all players. It's the "final area" of the game. It's treachorous and dangerous and demands a lot of attention and power to traverse. Not all players are going to visit the End, but considering that it's literally called the End, it should provide rewards for any player who does; not just one type of player.

So who does it reward, then?

Primarily, the explorers. Shulker boxes and elytra lend themselves well to exploring around and collecting odd bits and bobs, like explorers typically do. You could argue that this also applies to builders.

But even then, neither of these rewards really come from the End itself.

Explorers don't get new awesome terrain to explore. They just get materials to go back to the regular game and explore farther; rather than being given any kind of reason to explore the endgame area.

Builders don't get any particularly good new blocks, except perhaps end rods as lighting. Endstone and purpur are widely considered to be generally decent at best for builds, and while shulker boxes are nice, the effect they have can be matched with a lot of chests anyways, so it's not a huge benefit.

The redstoners get nothing out of the End, to my knowledge. Shulker boxes are not a huge endgame level reward for them [see: last paragraph]. I'm not a redstoner, to be fair, but I don't believe there are any redstone materials or new redstone abilities unlocked by visiting the End.

Domestic players get... a new kind of plant, I suppose, and shulker boxes. But once again we run into the same problems as with builders and redstoners.

PVPers get nothing at all, except I guess some nice loot out of the chests in end cities? But even then, that's loot that could be made fairly easily on their own, and I know many PVPers have more specific enchantments they want on their items in more specific orders anyways.

Even if all of the above wasn't true, it still stands that the End dimension doesn't feel like Minecraft. Sure, it's got the blocky nature, but it's a barren wasteland that all looks the same. It goes against every Minecraft exploration philosophy I know.

At the very least, I'd want to see an update where biomes get added to the End. Bring life to this area. Keep the current rewards in place, just make it more interesting to find them. Perhaps there's an area of the End with caves in it, or an area where the islands extend downwards as large pillars in the void. Perhaps there's some purple grass added, similar to how the nylium works in the Nether! Maybe there are some new types of trees that generate! Some kind of biome that's focused around one Large piece of vegetation, like a worldtree of sorts, or maybe something that looks like its hanging from the sky! Keep it within the same color scheme, but add more. Add variation. Make it special.

I'm neither a redstoner or a PVPer so I don't know what rewards would look like for them, but I can confidently say that i'm a builder when I play and just expanding on the yellow and purple would do so much. There's only like, four or five purple blocks in minecraft. Imagine if the End unlocked a whole new color to build with and provided a trove of new purple blocks, with added yellow blocks here and there.

Explorers already get the biggest reward from the End, since the current End rewards are suited to that playstyle the most. But making it fun for them to reach those rewards by providing biomes that stand out from those in the overworld and the Nether would, once again, feel like a reward.

I'm also not necessarily a domestic player, but there are considerations for them too: Add more vegetation in the End, vegetation based on the chorus fruit mostly with some edits here and there. Add a new End-based friendly mob. Provide something vaguely similar to piglin trading so farm-based players have incentive to go to the End.

As it stands, the End just feels... unfinished. And I just really want to see an update where it gets.... finished, I guess. Thanks for hearing me out.

#minecraft #long post #im so sorry if im stepping on any toes #tldr the end feels unfinished and my ideal minecraft update would be finishing it #i think about this. a lot. #and my friends get to hear about it a lot too #i just think the end should feel more like... the End. #more grandiose than just a barren wasteland #that's just my two cents #sorry again!! if im stepping on any toes!!

[kylewritesaboutthings]

Riot Fest 2016 - Day 2

Insanity, by Einstein’s definition, is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.  While this may or may not be a true attribution, it is a fair statement and the most accurate to how I approach any music festival. For those of you keeping track of my writing (see: my review of the Shaky Knees festival in May), you will know that my experience is a predictable one as shittily illustrated by the graph below.

Day 1 is a fury of alcohol, high fives, and shenanigans that usually peaks around 1:30am when I’m taking shot after shot before the bar closes because god forbid I want to feel like a real human being the next morning  or make the first batch of bands I want to see. And Riot Fest was no exception. Considering that I spent the previous day drinking crotch smuggled whiskey and drinking to easycore jams all night long, Saturday was set up to be a slow start. And that it was. Shooting well past the 12:30 and 1 o’clock start times of both Plague Vendor and Canadian darlings Fucked Up, we arrived to Douglas Park in time for two things: a press happy hour in which I could not bring myself to drink more than a single sip of beer and to lay in the grass and listen to hometown crooners, the Smoking Popes.

If you have never listed to the Popes picture the dadest punk band to ever happen. Like white, short sleeve button up shirts and cargo shorts. Wikipedia lists their influences as “crooners like Tony Bennett and Frank Sinantra”. They have been around since 1991 and while I am sure they were not actually dads back then, they have been dads the whole time. But please do not take this as any kind of slight on the band or their music…I’m merely setting the scene to say that they are the perfect band to listen to whilst sitting in a grassy field on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Always a solid live band, I highly recommend them for anyone looking to take a breather in between a full day of festival sets or, alternatively, those arriving late and hungover and looking to ease their way back into the real world. 

After cleansing my musical palate on the smooth tunes of the Smoking Popes, I was ready for the bitter sweet taste of Motion City Soundtracks large format farewell show. While they were set to play their officially official farewell the next night at the world famous Metro, I was not one of the luckily 1100 to get a ticket to that sad boy/girl fest. For me and the thousands gathered around the roots stage, the hour would be our goodbye to a band that was our introduction to a lot of the music we listen to day in and day out. In the wake of their decision to call it quits, Noisey published an article articulating just that…that Motion City dug their niche as an often underappreciated gateway band that really did much more than they were ever recognized for at the time.

It was with this mindset that I watched the Twin Cities catchiest export work their way through 60 minutes of perfect hooks, witty lyrics, and constant crowd singalongs. I kick myself for the years of “oh, I’ll see them next time they’re in town” and “yeah, I’ll get around to listening to the new album”. They only took a few short pauses in between songs to thank the audience and collect themselves, as singer/guitarist Justine Pierre was never one for the extravagant…just an earnest band trying to play as best and as much as possible in their given time.  Motion City was a truly special band and incredibly fun to watch live. I’ll especially miss the onstage energy and antics of keyboard player Jesse Johnson. RIP the days of keyboard stands. 

The end of their set, appropriately closed with “The Future Freaks Me Out”, left me a little sadder than I expected to be. But reprieve was in sight as The Hives were slated to start shortly after on the nearby rock stage. If you have written the The Hives off as ‘one of those bands that was popular when it was super popular to call your band The Somethings’ you are foolish and have done yourself a disservice. Garage rock at its rockiest, these Sweedes know how to perform at a level last seen in the 1970’s heyday of rock itself. Lead singer Howlin’ Pele Almqvist (I KNOW RIGHT? HOWLIN?!) is the closest we’ll get to seeing Mick Jagger strutting his stuff across the stage without the assistance of a walker or other mobility device. The ultimate showman, he knows how to work a crowd. Bouncing around all over the stage, climbing the side trusses, inciting cheers from “ladies, gentlemen, and everyone else” there was never a dull moment. Introducing the band at the start of the set, he let the crowd know that The Hives are here and we all had two wishes left. 

As a band, their stage presence can only be matched by the likes of Gwar…though obviously in a more subtle fashion than giant, mutoid, murderous space demons. The Hives take the black and white motif to an extreme that would make a 50’s diner jealous. Each member of the band donning a split black and white suit, playing black and white instruments (to include drumming with one black and one white stick), and having their stage techs dressed as one black and one white ninja while handing off freshly tuned guitars and adjusting drum kits before, during, and after the show. They are a monochromatic whirlwind of rock and roll fury and an absolute blast to watch live. As they do not play the states very often, with their last US performance coming in 2013, you should take every opportunity to see their show. Learn the lessons taught by Motion City Soundtrack.

With some time to kill before Brand New was set to make everyone sad again, our little band of hungover heroes sauntered over to the food vendor row in hopes of snacks and salvation. While browsing the selection of fried and un-fried items alike, I began to notice a sign posted to each vendor booth. These sheets were announcements that there was to be no meat cooked, served, or sold during Morrissey’s 2 hour set that evening. He has famously bared venues from even having meat in the building during his solo performance, so I’m not terribly surprised by this move. However, I do think that it is a complete and utter crock of shit. These are the same forced down the throat, boarder line fascist mentality of the fringe religious groups and other general nut jobs that hold a ‘holier than thou’ ideal to their beliefs. This move hurts every small business that spent massive amounts of money on vending space at the fest, for the will of one moody performer. While I agree that there needs to be more vegan friendly options at events like Riot Fest, this was not the way to go about it. But Morrissey has never been known for being a reasonable person, que sera sera.

Luckily it was about this time that I stumbled upon a stand serving plates of pierogis complete with sour cream and apple sauce. If anything can put out the fires of indignation in my soul, it is a belly full of doughy Polish delight. Making our way back towards Brand New I could feel life coming back to my liver. Knowing full well that press happy hour started just after the beginning of their set, we camped out on the right side of the riot stage in anticipation of the metaphorical dinner bell for all of us writers. If there is anything that can bring together a group of literary minded people: it is the promise of free booze. Of course we immediately found our other friends from For the Love of Punk and Punktastic waiting around for the same thing.

Brand New kicked off their set with a jolt, heading right into the familiar bass into to fan favorite “Sic Transit Gloria”. Hot damn! Jesse Lacy and company are known for their temperamental nature, especially in festival settings. Maybe this is growing up? As they rolled through the next two songs, also from Deja Entendu, were in shock. What is this? Where are the Daisy songs scattered in the set to break up the rhythm? Following up this run of hits with the acoustic “Mix Tape”, Jesse actually broke out a smile when getting to the line “and I’m sick of your tattoos and the way you always criticize the Smiths, and Morrissey”. I’m sure playing on the same stage that Morrissey would walk onto just an hour later (note: it would be two hours later because Morrissey is a fucking dick and was late to his headlining set) made his sad heart warm for just a moment. But the moment was fleeting as the set closed out with tracks from The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me and Daisy. During this time I sang my way back and forth from the press tent, shuttling free tallboys to my general admission friends and getting ready for the rest of the evening, which was to be the annual Pop Punk Pizza Party for my business, Soothsayer Hot Sauce.

After Brand New closed out, we started our stroll to the car as I wound through my mental checklist for the evening. Last year, in a fit of nerves, I threw up in a Walgreens parking lot before getting to the venue. This year I was doing much better, some jitters were called down through my Chief Sauce Operator/Right Hand Woman Rachel and the help of my good buddies Steph, Jim, and Travis. But I believe someone else has covered that show, so I’ll let you get the juicy details from them. To preview: amazing sets from Turnspit, Nervous Passenger, Devon Kay and the Solutions, and our secret guest…Bad Cop/Bad Cop! We ate close to 50 pizzas, drank enough malort to kill a small village, and named a dog.  Ya know, usual punk shit.

[queen-of-evil-fanfic]

20

    Minerva stepped through the great stone doors and before her saw an idyllic view to rival her kingdom’s greatest monuments.  A wide basin stretched for miles, surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs carved with an architecture similar to the gate enclosing the area.  Green grass spread from her feet until it met a lush forest and a brilliant blue lake, all totally contained in its private paradise.  Structures of stone - visibly ancient even from afar, but wholly undamaged - stood in clusters on the far end of the enclosure near the lake’s edge, forming a sort of village.  Tents, obviously newly-built, and similar to the ones found closer to Hyrule Kingdom, spread between the buildings and the nearest hewn cliff face.

    The bulblins rushed forward into this place like children returning home for dinner.  They moved as a mob, swarming Minerva and Hattori and prodding them both forward along with the horde.

    Hattori scanned their surroundings, enthralled by the architecture.  He paused long enough to examine an obelisk marking the road the bulblins followed to their camps, running his hand along the engravings.

    “I had no idea something like this was out here,” he said aloud, more to himself than to Minerva.  “This stuff may have been built by the ancient Lokomo…”  He frowned.  “And it’s been taken by demons.”

    Minerva clasped his arm.  “Worry not.  It belongs to Hyrule now.”  She stretched her arm to gesture over the distant village.  “We can grant our subjects one ruin to call their home.”

    “You’re right.”  The rito hummed quietly.  “Perhaps we could call for an archaeologist.”

    Minerva laughed lightly.  “If it pleases you.  Come on,” she beckoned to him, “our subjects grow impatient.”

    The bulblins and Hyruleans finally arrived at the village within the basin, marking the end of their days-long march.  The ancient stone buildings formed something of a city square within the swathe of encircled tents, and this was where the bulblins led Minerva and Hattori.

    Their arrival had been noticed, as there were people gathered in the square - not bulblins, nor bats, nor humans.  A gang of tall lizardlike humanoids stood in orderly fashion awaiting the bulblins’ approach.

    “Geozards, too?” Hattori muttered.

    “Hm,” was Minerva’s only reply.

    When they finally arrived, one of the geozards stepped forward, this one sporting a taller headfin than the others.  It spoke to one of the bulblins at the head of the pack in some harsh language, gesturing in the direction of the Hyruleans occasionally.

    Minerva couldn’t tell what they were saying, aside from the obvious fact that the lizardlike creature was angered by her presence.  She hated the fact that she could not understand them.  She knew half a dozen languages from around the known world, but whatever language these demons spoke amongst themselves in their own home was not one of them.  It was infuriating.

    Finally, the geozard turned to Minerva, brushing aside the comparatively tiny bulblins it was speaking to.  It stormed through the horde to face Minerva directly and spoke, this time in broken Hylian.

    “You killed Gaius,” it said through scaly yellow lips and rows of razor teeth.  Its voice was raspy and high-pitched, like it wasn’t quite used to breathing air.  It stood almost as tall as the darknut in question, the fin atop its head making up the remainder.  Shiny green and yellow scales lined its body, left uncovered but for the thin cloth pants it and its companions wore.

    “A human is too weak,” it continued, drawing a vicious-looking sword from its side and pointing it toward Minerva.  “Prove it.”

    Minerva brandished her scepter.  “Hattori, stand back.  That is an order.  And signal Anton, too.”

    The rito stepped aside wordlessly, and the bulblins surrounding them cleared away without being commanded.  They understood what was about to occur.

    “My name is Minerva.  I am the Queen of Hyrule, and your new ruler.  If you wish to tell me your name before you die, do so.”

    The geozard did not speak, but moved to lunge forward.

    Before it could take a second step, Minerva flicked her wrist.  The air grew heavy.  Pressure reverberated through the air as the geozard was pushed to the ground, unable to move even a finger.  Magical power surged through the Astral Scepter as Minerva held it, generating an inescapable force that totally incapacitated the demon.  The Scepter’s power worked exactly as she imagined and commanded, as though she herself was born to wield the device.

    “Is that it!?” she barked, keeping the Scepter trained on the geozard.  The coolness of the haft grew even colder in her hand as she poured her magic into it, and yet it didn’t bother her as she knew a freezing temperature should.

    The geozard groaned, unable to make any further utterances, let alone fight back.

    Minerva raised the Scepter.  The overwhelming force vanished.  She put her boot on the geozard’s sword hand, keeping it pinned.  “Serve me,” she said to it.  “Become the subjects of the Queen of Hyrule.  Tell this to your kin.”

    The geozard slowly pushed itself to its knees, looking up at Minerva with what could only be fear in its glowing red eyes.  It nodded.

    Minerva looked around her.  Bulblins, Hyruleans, and lesser geozards alike looked on in awe.  She lifted her Scepter to the sky and shouted: “Are there any more who would challenge the Queen?  Any more who would meet my wrath, that I may earn their loyalty?”

    There was no response.  No more demons approached.  The remaining geozards didn’t move, even to help their leader stand.

    “Good,” Minerva said.  “Then we have work to do.”

#legend of zelda #fanfic #queen of evil

[eliseecacace-blog]

Euro tour and more

So this is going to be a long blog update - probably my longest of the year as I have so so much to write! So recently i went on the long awaited Euro tour which I have been counting down the days for ever since I left ski camp! Everyday I wrote a journal entry of what I had been up too, which has come in very handy when writing this blog update as the last three weeks have been so full on and busy that its hard to keep track of what happened when! Sooo without much more, heres the account of Euro tour - the best month of my life.

So at the start of May I woke up suuper early with my bags already packed and headed to the bus stop where I caught the bus to the train station in my town. It was on the train I met up with some of my friends Pedro, Ale and Ivana, then later on Olivia, Gui, Manuela and Sequoia. We took two trains together to Linz haupt bahnhoff  and it was there we met up with everyone else! It was so good too see everyone again and meet all the oldies I hadn’t already met yet plus the Bosnian and Croatian exchange students who would be joining us for the trip! It was cool to everybody again after being apart for so long and the train station was absolutely buzzing with 100+ bags, blazers and suitcases and 80+ exchange students all gathering in a frenzy of hugs and happiness! After all the meets and greets, we then loaded the trailer with all our gear and boarded the huge double decker bus that would become our main home and transport for the next few weeks. We traveled through Germany before hitting France and I was super shocked to see how quickly the language and culture changed just from crossing one river (the border). It also made me  realise actually how much German I could understand and speak, going from a country where I could say and understand enough to get by in everyday life, to a country where I didn’t even know how to say thank you.

Strasbourg

Our first stop was Strasbourg! We arrived in our hotel in the afternoon, unpacked our rooms and had a few hours to explore the city before heading to the restaurant for dinner and then roaming the city under the streetlights in the dark for a few hours afterwards, trying not to get lost before curfew. The next day we had a great traditional french breakfast of croissants, apple sauce, french bread and pancakes before heading to the bus stop and then being taken on a tour in the bus through the city of Strasbourg. I could have sworn this city was something straight out of Harry Potter as every church, street or building we passed looked like Hogwarts or Diagon Alley. After the tour we had 7 hours free time to explore the city! This was spent going in the Notre Dame cathedral -  Strasbourgs oldest (and prettiest) cathedral, eating escargott (snails), playing frisbee in the town square and almost breaking a shop window, exploring the city and just being typical tourists. That night we went out to the restaurant for abend essen then were given some extra free time after dinner to explore the city even further at night. We got lost for about an hour that night trying to find the right hotel but nevertheless it was fun trying to navigate our way home, especially as we were all without internet and google maps which made it even more interesting. How we eventually found our way back I’ll never know.

Lyon

Stop two took us to Lyon, another beautiful city in France! Compared to Strasbourg, Lyon was more of a modern city with huge skyscrapers and buildings. Here we got the whole afternoon as free time to do whatever we wanted so I spent it with my friend Roni trying to figure out ways to get to the top of the skyscrapers for a view of the city, and exploring all the shops. We didn’t manage to get to the top of any of the buildings as we got kicked out before we even got to the second storey but it was fun trying. Lyon is a huge city though with so many people! Then with me being blonde, we walked back to the hotel as I thought dinner was at 6 (turns out it was at 7) so with an hour to spare we asked the hotel receptionist what she reccomended we do, which lead us to the trainstation in search of the zoo! French trains are super different to the Austrian system so we had to stop and ask a few locals where to go but eventually we ended up on the other side of the city and at a super beautiful park type place with lots of foreign plants, ponds, trees, greenhouses and a beautiful field full of deer! There was music playing and lots of young locals hanging out in hammocks, walking ropes they had tied between two trees, yodelling and all this other cool hippie stuff which created such an amazing atmosphere. We spent about 20 minutes there before realising we were going to be late for dinner so with 10 minutes to spare, we sprinted back to the trainstation (only having to stop and ask for directions like twice), working the subway system and then running back to the hotel - still managing to be about 15 minutes late (oops). We had free time to explore the city in the dark and there were lots of cute little outdoor marque restaurants and bar type things all lit up along the river bank with music playing which was super pretty!

Avignon

Next stop was Avignon! Its a really old city with a pretty famous bridge and lots of old castle ruins and walls which were made out of cobble and brick. It looked super ancient and had me in awe with its huge amount of history. We arrived in Avignon in the morning and it was pouring down with rain! But that didn’t stop us all from hiking up lots of steps and along a wall to a cute church ontop of a hill, and then walking to a lookout point which overlooked the whole city. On one side you could see the river, bridge and countryside and on the other side you could see the city and churches. We were all soaking wet by the time we got to this lookout point but that didn’t dampen our spirits and we proceeded to walk into the city and get some famous french crepes which are just as good as they say - if not better! The weather improved as the day did as next I went exploring with some friends around the ruins and through the town which is made up of lots of cute little alleyways and shops tucked away in random corners. There was a huge carrousel in the middle of the french markets which made the whole place feel like something out of a story book! That night after dinner we came back to the same market place for some late night ice cream which just completed my day!

Eze Village - Monaco - Cavi di Lavagna

This day was probably my favourite of Euro tour! In the morning we headed off to the first stop - Eze Village! To start the morning there we were taken on a tour around a local perfume making shop! It was super interesting being shown all the different ways they make perfume and all the different ingredients you can put in the perfume - all made from locally grown flowers and herbs as the climate and landscape of Eze village is perfect for growing flowers. All the girls were also shocked to find out that Leonardo DiCaprio buys his perfume from this shop which made it even more exciting. The whole place also smelt really good as you can imagine! After this we got about an hour of free time which I spent with Roni and Dylan walking up through the mountain shops and markets to an amazing view point and trust me it nearly brought me to tears it was so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything quite like it before! So if you are reading this and you are thinking of taking a holiday in the future, trust me when I say that this is the place to go! It is worth every penny and is guaranteed not to disappoint!! It was truly what I imagined heaven looked like. Their ice creams taste like heaven as well. Many MANY photos later, we set back on the road to our next destination - Monaco! It was cool to find out that Monaco is actually its own little country and a very cool one indeed! It was clear as we arrived that you had to be extremely rich to live there, and was obvious who the tourists were and who the locals were. Monaco had a huge harbour, docked with fancy ships (it costs around $60,000 PER NIGHT to keep your ship there) and then lots of huge fancy buildings and houses. The highlight of my time in Monaco was hands down swimming in the sea for the first time since I left New Zealand. The water surprisingly wasn’t too cold and we all spent a few hours just soaking up the salt water. The crunchy beach hair was certainly welcomed! Although Monaco’s beach was a lot different from the familiar Ohope beach, and the sand was replaced with rocks and stones, I loved it! The water was so clear and there were also alot of scenic viewpoints where alot more photos were taken! The next stop after Monaco was the cute beach side city of Cavi di Lavagna where we could see the ocean from our hotel bedroom! We had dinner straight after we arrived then went out to the beach in the dark afterwards where we found a cool rock path that took us into the ocean. That night we all hung out in our hotel rooms and put facemasks on the boys which was really entertaining and funny for us but probably not so fun for them!

Cinque Terre

A 2 hour bus ride past Cavi di Lavagna lead us too the beautiful Cinque Terre! The weather was miserable in the morning with rain threats and high winds making the boat that was supposed to take us over to one of the islands unable to operate. So instead all 82 of us boarded the train which took us to a cute town with colourful houses, a pretty church and 360 degree views! It was from this town that we began a hike that lasted around 2 1/2 hours. This hike almost sent me into cardiac arrest with the majority of it being uphill and me not having done any proper exercise for about 5 months was not ready. But the struggle to breathe was worth it in the end as the views were to die for and the destination of the hike was something I’d only ever seen on the internet and was super incredible! The weather made a dramatic turn and the sun came out and the clouds all disappeared! The island we arrived on was called Vernazza and our first stop of course was the ice cream shop where we all went back for seconds - and then bought Pizza. Our excuse was that we were just trying to make the most of the Italian culture. After this we walked around the town before setting base on the rocks next to the ocean to relax. With too much excitement and a quick spontaneous decision, three of us decided to jump in the water fully clothed which gave us a few weird glances from the locals sitting on the rocks by us but it was definitely heaps of fun! The water was a lot colder than Monaco so we swam out to a buoy to keep warm and ended up just chilling there for a while before swimming back, drying off and meeting up with the others. This day was the most fun i’d had in a long time (actually thats a lie as everyday has been a lot of fun - but this day was still extremely good) and I have never laughed so much with a group of people in my life! Another Pizza and Ice cream later it was time to take the bus to our next stop - Jesolo.

Jesolo

The place we stayed in Jesolo was the best by far! Each hotel room was double storey and had an ocean view - and the ocean was absolutely incredible! Pure white sand, crystal clear waters and warm temperatures set everyone in a buzzing mood! We all rushed through dinner before running outside to the beach for a sunset swim! If I told myself this time last year that I would be swimming in the sea in Italy at sunset with people i only met 4 months ago who have now become my best friends, I would have never believed it! It was the most incredible feeling and a lot of memories were made! After the sun set and it began to get cold we all walked back to the hotel, taking half the sand on the beach with us. 

Pisa - Lucca - Rome

Seeing the leaning tower of Pisa was something I’ve always dreamed of, but actually standing before it and looking at it in real life and not just through a screen was so much better than I could have ever imagined! Of course - Pisa was a huge tourist spot with so many people taking the typical Pisa photo. And because there are so many people that come through this city every day - the ice cream was super expensive... but that didn’t stop me. We spent a while there just soaking it all in and gazing in awe at our surroundings as I don’t think anybody could quite believe we were actually there. After a sad goodbye and a few final photos- we headed to Lucca- Tuscany! Lucca is a rather old city with lots of history and pretty buildings. All the buildings are pretty close together with one main square in the middle containing a huge church. The weather was really good which made exploring the city so enjoyable. That evening we headed to Rome where we would be spending the next three nights.

 Okay so Rome. Holy moly where do i even begin. Rome is absolutely incredible! We arrived at night time and didn’t have any time to look around as it was super late so we went straight to the restaurant with all of our suitcases piled outside before heading back to the hotel and getting some much needed sleep. The first day we spent in Rome we all had a morning tour around the city. We took the train from the side of the city where our hotel was to the centre. I was blown away walking out of the train station and seeing the colosseum straight away! The tour lasted about two hours and was super interesting. It took us round the old colonies and view points overlooking the city. At one point me and a few friends spent a little too much time taking photos and staring at the views that we ended up loosing the tour group. Luckily about 10 minutes later we caught up with a few people and were told it was free time so we spent the rest of the day walking around the city. I spent the day with my friend Olivia where we decided not to look at our map for the whole day to “let the fun find us” - which it certainly did! At the start we thought it would be a recipe for disaster as one huge city and two little foreign girls without a map or skills to communicate with anybody could go really wrong but we took our chances and turns out we were actually pretty pro at guessing where to go! We ended up in a different country! Our adventure took us across the bridge and into Vatican city which turns out to be its own country and the smallest country in the world. So now i can say I have been to the top two smallest countries in the world - Vatican city and Monaco. This adventure was incredible and we found the best pizza restaurant (sorry if this blog post is just me talking about ice cream and pizza but if you’ve ever tried Italian pizza and ice cream then you’ll understand!) We also found a cute little square full of markets which was really cute and the very type of thing I love! And then... I found a friend from New Zealand on exchange in Germany at the moment who is on his euro tour as well. I spent four days in LA with him in January, so I was super excited about being re united! It was great catching up with him again and hearing the familiar kiwi accent! So three of us spent the rest of the day together roaming rome (haha) before saying goodbye then heading back to the hotel (i’m not gonna lie - we used the map for this). After dinner we were allowed out again to see rome in the dark. None of us really knew where we were going so a group of us stuck together and ended up in a pretty park where we saw fireflies! Us Australasians were tripping out as we had never seen them before and they looked super cool flying around in the dark, like little shooting stars. We headed back for late night ice cream before bed. 

The next day we started the morning with all of the exchange students heading into the Vatican church which was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. You literally could have fit about 7321940 football stadiums, 657 olympic swimming pools and 14 zoo’s inside this one church it was so huge. Everything inside from the ceiling to the floor was so intricate and detailed the whole time I was just wondering how the heck someone could have created something so magical. Its one of those places everyone just needs to go and see for themselves as no words can describe a place like that. Then Liv and I set out on part 2 of our adventure around Rome. This time we didn’t choose to disregard the map - we lost it instead so we had no choice but to just guess where we were going. But it turned out to be another successful day as we ended up finding Trevi Fountain, another primo pizza place, a 5D dinosaur movie, some funky sunglasses and a church with a free tour in English and a dead body inside it. I threw a few coins into Trevi fountain which legend says it means that you have to come back again one day - I obviously wouldn’t mind that! Overall this day was amazing and full of so many pretty sites, adventures and lots of laughs, good food and memories! If anyone ever goes to Rome and needs two pro tour guides and navigators then give us a call and we will be happy to help :) 

Montepulciano - Florence

After leaving Rome ( sad face ) we stopped off for about 5 hours in a place called Montepulciano which was super cool as it was where a few scenes in the movie Twilight were filmed (for those of you who have seen Twilight - New Moon - it was the scene where Edward went to the voultory ). This little town was so cute and did actually look like it was a village run by vampires. It has stunning views of the countryside which I sat and stared at for about an hour. Being from the country back home I do actually kind of miss green fields and paddocks. Then we got pizza for lunch (surprise?) and explored a bit more before heading off to Florence. We arrived in Florence quite late in the night so we had dinner straight away and spent a short time exploring in the city afterwards before realising we all had no clue where we were going and then calling it a night and going back to the hotel. We then packed the bus super early in the morning before walking to the edge of the city of Florence for a tour. Our tour guide was super lit. She was a 70ish year old woman who was super funny - calling us “her darlings” and swearing way too much. She was definitely the best tour guide of our trip. We saw the famous statue of David and the most beautiful church I have ever seen in my whole life with intricate details, patterns and colours all over the outside of the church as well as the inside. Florence is a city full of old statues and beautiful tall churches. Another place I would love to come back to again one day. The only thing I didn’t like about Florence was that one ice cream cost around $12. 

Florence - Jesolo 

Leaving Florence mid afternoon and heading to Jesolo - we stopped at a really pretty view point overlooking the whole city which was super stunning. Once arriving in Jesolo, much to our happiness we found out that our hotel was a five minute walk from the beach which meant that straight after dinner we were all running down to the water for a night swim. Music playing, people dancing and swimming and playing soccer, the night was filled with so many laughs and good times. 

Venice

We took a day trip to Venice which was a day I will remember for the rest of my life! In the morning we took a 45 minute boat ride to the town. If you have read a lot of books then nothing is ever as great as you imagine. But Venice is. Venice is better. Its one of those places where no words or photographs can truly do it justice. The atmosphere, the scenery, everything about it just something you cant capture through a screen or a book. Its a place that everybody really needs to see for themselves because nothing can ever portray how incredible it really is. I spent the day there with my good pals Santi, Roni and Olivia where we took a Gondola ride through the canals of Venice. I found it super funny that all the Gondoliers were dressed in black and white stripes (it almost looked comical) and one boat even had a dog on the front of it! We then wandered round and found a navy ship museum which was incredible! There were so many boats that were suuuuuper old and some used to belong to Kings and princes and carried them from one side of the river to the other. I really enjoyed looking around and reading all the history behind the boats it was very interesting. We then met up with a few other exchange students in the main square in Venice and had a further look around before buying ice cream and heading to the water front. All along the waters edge theres boats and market stalls and outdoor cafes and musicians. Its truly an incredible place and one that I can tick off the bucket list (as well as the twenty billion other things I managed to tick off while on Euro tour.) After heading back and having dinner and another night of swimming and hanging out at the beach we went to bed to get some rest before our next stop - Verona!

Verona

Verona is such a strange place and not at all what i had in mind! Its a super beautiful city with a huge mix of modern and ancient architecture. One minute you’re walking through an alley of old brick buildings dating back to Shakespeare period and the next you’re in the middle of a street of 21st century shops. We had a tour of Verona in the morning where we went and saw Romeo and Juliet’s house including Juliet’s balcony which was super fascinating. You have to walk through an arch bridge thing to get to the balcony which is re painted every 6 months as lots of people sign their names on the walls and write messages to Juliet which I think is beautiful but some people consider it vandalism. After our free time exploring the city it was late so we headed back to the hotel in Jesolo which was like a 2 hour bus ride. Our last night in Jesolo obviously called for more night time swims and time on the beach. 

Triest - Slovenia - Croatia (Zagreb)

After loading the bus again and leaving Jesolo, we headed to Triest! We stopped at this really pretty castle type place on the waters edge that used to once be a castle but now its a museum. We had a look around inside then all bought ice cream and sat outside admiring the view and soaking up the sunshine. Was a super stunning day and our last stop in Italy before we moved on. We had a beautiful drive, crossing the boarder into Slovenia where we had lunch and drove through heaps of stunning scenery. Then we crossed another boarder into Croatia where we would be spending the next 2 nights! Croatia was absolutely amazing! The first night we arrived, my room mates and I came up with the bright idea to do the Ouija board which wasn’t actually a bright idea as we all turned super paranoid after hearing creepy noises and all were to scared to go back into the room. 

The next day was amazing! In the morning we all walked to a beautiful church we looked around in for a while (it had another dead body in it!) before we were allowed to do what we wanted for the rest of the day. The weather was super boiling and so the first thing we did was went and bought drinks. Then we spend the morning walking through the city and being typical tourists. In the afternoon we came across this epic escape room place where my friends Hannah, Olivia. Lily, Carly and I all were eager to give it a go! It turned out to be a lot better than I imagined. It was pretty much a game that lasted for an hour and you are given a story line at the start that is related to the city and history of Zagreb but there is a mystery behind the story that you need to solve. You are then locked in a series of rooms and you need to search for clues and solve mysteries in order to escape before the time runs out. This was so much fun that when we came out the woman gave us a discount on the second escape room which we obviously couldn’t refuse and was worth being late to dinner for and so 2 hours of my time in Croatia was spent locked in a room - which was well worth it! :D That night after dinner was the Oldie awards which were super entertaining (thanks Jim and Amaris) but also super sad as it means that the oldies will soon be leaving! We then spent the time after that signing journals and flags. 

Slovenia - Vienna

The next morning was sad saying goodbye to our fellow Croatian exchange students we had all become so close with throughout the 2 1/2 weeks we were lucky enough to spend together. Then with 15 spare seats on the bus, we all headed off back home to Austria, stopping in Slovenia for a bit! Arriving in Vienna it was good being back in a German speaking country where we were actually able to speak and understand the language but it was also sad knowing that it was soon all coming to an end. We arrived in our hotel in Vienna and then had the whole afternoon free where a few friends and I caught the train to the other side of the city and ended up at a theme park! This was so so epic and Roni and I went on some insane rollercoasters and a ride that went 90meters up in the air over looking the whole city before plummeting back to earth. After running back to the hotel for dinner because we lost track of time, we were then let loose again afterwards so a whole group of us went back to the theme park at night time which was insane! Best night ever! All of us stayed out till late going on way too may rides and all feeling so dizzy by the time we had to take the train back home. It was worth it. 

The next day we spent practicing our performances and songs for the District Conference. It was actually pretty fun all singing and dancing together but after a while it got tiring and I think all anybody wanted to do was sleep. 

District conference was a blast! It was held in Baden - about an hour and a bit drive from Vienna. Everyone got dressed up into nice clothes and their blazers and we all hopped on the bus ready to represent our countries in front of the Rotary of Baden. The conference started out as a kind of procession with us all walking in waving our countries flags! I was proud to be representing New Zealand. We then stood on the stage for a solid two hours singing and listening to people talk and at the end we got a huge applause and were taken on a tour around Baden before heading to a nice restaurant for dinner. After dinner the Oldies were presented with their completion certificates which was an emotional time for everyone as we have all become so close and its so sad knowing that they are going to leave soon. 

The next day was even worse, everyone filled with tears and sadness as we all said goodbye to each other - some of us for the last time - and headed to the train station together. My train was one of the last ones to leave so about a group of 12 of us were all there until mid afternoon chilling in the train station all crying and sleeping and listening to music and going for Mcdonalds runs. The train ride home was sad, each stop dropping off someone else until there were only about 5 of us left and it was my turn to get off the train and head home with Ale and Pedro. It was a sad time saying goodbye to euro tour and everyone else. 

I found that probably the hardest part of my exchange so far. And it will probably remain the hardest part of my exchange until the time comes when I have to leave this country myself and say goodbye to this year for good. Words cant describe the emotions I’ve gone through within the last few weeks, all the happiness and joy to all the bad things as well. I fully believe this has changed me as a person and taught me to appreciate every little tiny thing in life as every moment is like gold. Never in my life have I felt time going so fast, not just on Euro tour but my whole exchange. Its coming up 5 months since I left my home for this crazy adventure and yet it still feels like just yesterday I arrived. Its insane how close you can become with a group of people in such little time and how quickly strangers have become a family to me. I know this sounds really cheesy but its honestly such an insane thing to go through and if you’re an exchange student you’ll understand what I’m going on about. Saying goodbye is always going to be hard. Leaving my family and friends back home was hard but its even worse saying goodbye to a group of people you know you may never see again - especially all together in the same place. Ive shared such a huge and amazing part of my life with all the exchange students of Austria, Croatia and Bosnia 2017 and they will forever be in my heart and memories for the rest of my life! I’ve learned so much from this exchange so far, about the world and about myself, and I will continue on this adventure of a life time. I am so grateful for everything I have around me and I look forward to the future and all the great times ahead but I’ll never ever forget the past and all the incredible things I’ve been through.