#Fun how elie resembles the sun

[itsangrynar]

Don't you dare forget the sun, love

[revisionaryhistory]

Three Days ~82

~*~Emma~*~

I awoke to see Sebastian laying on his side, leaning onto his elbow, with his head propped up on his hand. Diffuse sunlight filled the room and clearly showed me his face. He didn’t look sleepy. His face was relaxed with the slightest smile. Who knows how long he'd been watching me sleep. That thought made me smile.

He jerked his head up a little, "Tell me what you're thinking."

"I like seeing you when I wake up and knowing you'll be the last person I see before I fall asleep. And I'm excited about everything in between."

"The Louvre, dinner on the Seine, cabaret. Fun day."

I shook my head with a frown, "No, not what we're doing. I'm excited to spend the day with you." Sebastian closed his eyes, smiled a little wider, and took a few breaths. I knew what he was doing. He was taking in my words, feeling them, believing them. Before he opened his eyes, I moved closer to kiss him. "Je t'aime."

"I know that one." His fingers ran through my hair, smoothing the morning disarray. "In how many languages can you tell me you love me?"

I gasped and held my mouth open, "Just three, but now I have a goal."

"Crazy girlfriend."

I rolled on top of him, "Just about you." I did exactly what you’re supposed to do when you're naked in bed laying on top of a naked man.

I tickled him.

Our tickle fight lasted until we were laughing so hard it was hard to breathe. That and when Sebastian pinned my hands to the bed. "Je veux te faire l 'amour." He kissed me and pressed his erection closer between my legs. "I have a good memory too."

I don't know how it gets better than this. Waking up in Paris, with a gorgeous man watching me sleep, making love, then sitting on the terrace in big fluffy robes having coffee and croissants.

The guide at The Louvre was knowledgeable but a little stuffy. We spent much of the tour hanging back with another couple laughing inappropriately. The museum was incredible and we stayed around after the tour to revisit areas and check out some places not included. Sebastian liked items where I was mesmerized by the vibrant colors of the paintings. Lunch today would become our go-to. Pick up something near to and find a spot to sit in the park. Food and people watching was always a good time.

We headed back to the hotel to fool around before dressing for dinner. On the boat, we were seated by the window. We headed to the upper deck with a glass of wine for sunset. Last night's sunset view was unforgettable for many reasons. Tonight's was more beautiful with the lights of the city and bridges. It was romantic in a more refined way. Last night was casual clothes sneaking kisses in the dark. Tonight was dressed up, high heels, and elegant stemware. Kisses weren't as sneaky in the wide open space. The food was delicious. We started with duck foie gras and Scottish salmon. My main was scallops with sweet potato risotto and seaweed cream. Sebastian promised to save me from the seaweed if it triggered me. He went for a filet of beef, pea pudding, and veal gravy. The aroma from the fresh bread with the cheese course was mouth watering. Sebastian enjoyed my excitement and took more pictures of me eating cheese than anything else except drinking wine. For dessert, we decided one decadent and one fresh. A white chocolate raspberry lychee sphere and lemon basil tart. I nearly had to stab Sebastian with a fork for hogging all the sphere. The return trip was dark. Only the lights of the city and running lights illuminated to boat.

The night included a visit to a cabaret. That the Moulin Rouge was more touristy led us to the Crazy Horse. Still famous, but not the most sought after. We'd been told the Moulin Rouge was over the top and Crazy Horse more subtle. That may be true, but one important detail was left out. The dancers at the Crazy Horse were often naked. Sexy dance numbers, visual effects, and vibrant light shows. At times the lights were the only clothes. Darkness was used strategically as was glow in the dark body paint. What I noticed was all the women were in Louboutin, which lead me to believe the lingerie was expensive as well. There was a part with a very good looking man stripping. It was more funny than sexy. The combination of erotic dance and risqué humor kept both of us entertained

We talked about our favorite parts on the ride back to the hotel. Sebastian opened the door, letting me walk by into the hotel, "Is it wrong that I asked where the lingerie was from?"

"I wondered, but didn't think to ask. I loved the black bodysuit with all the straps."

"So did I."

Imagine my shocked face. You'd have to imagine because I wasn’t making that face. I waited until we were in the room to ask, "Did you find out where this shop is?"

He pulled his phone out and went to maps. A slow smile formed, "About two blocks. Across from Dior."

I folded my legs under me and sat on the couch. "Fun."

He sat next to me. He was fiddling with the bottom hem of his shirt. He was nervous. "Are you running up a crazy credit card bill to amuse me?"

What a sweety. My recent shopping habits didn’t match my teacher salary. I guess we were going to have this conversation. "My grandfather has it set up where his stock dividends are split between the grandchildren. It's paid out quarterly and there's no way to know how much, so I've never factored it into my budget. It goes into a savings account. I have a rule that it's only for fun. I took Angie and Eli with me to Hawaii. After a horrible start to the year, Malory and I went to Key West." I grimaced, "I don't remember much of that trip. And if I want to go shopping I can. I do appreciate your concern." I leaned over and kissed him. "There is a trust fund, but I can't touch that until I'm thirty. That's partly why it was important to go off on my own. I grew up with money, so when Jimmy said I couldn't take care of myself I needed to prove it to myself, even though I know it wasn’t completely on my own."

Sebastian interrupted, "Don't diminish what you’ve done. You started over in a new place where you knew no one or even where to grocery shop. You've got a Master's and accepted into a Doctoral program. Anyone who thinks you can't take care of yourself is wrong."

This fierce defense was very attractive. Money can be embarrassing. I realize I'm privileged, and I try not to behave like a trust fund baby. I would never go shopping as I had with anyone but Angie. I know it was a splurge.

“I just wanted to check.” I wanted to ask what if I had been, but he kept going, and I didn’t feel the need to stop him. “Back to the fun stuff. Is it bad form to buy you a gift that's really for me?"

"For my birthday or Christmas, yes. Otherwise, no. I'm not sure that sexy lingerie that gets you hard isn't as much a benefit to me as it is you."

"You realize you in sweatpants and a t-shirt gets me hard. You in a bathrobe. You in a potato sack."

"I wonder who that says more about?" We laughed and I laid across him, counting on him to support me. "It does make us both lucky."

"Oh, don't I know it."

We spent the next day touring Versailles Palace. We jumped off the tour to explore as soon as we hit the outskirts of the city. When we were out of interesting places we jumped on the metro until we saw something new to explore. Dinner was at this Ping Pong cafe. The food was delicious and fortified us for the play to come. I am just as competitive playing ping pong with my boyfriend as I am on a volleyball court. There was a lot of trash talking. What made it more fun was how truly awful we both were. Neither was sure of the rules so we argued over and made them up as we went. In the end, I lost due to a combination of unsuccessful attempts at cheating and Sebastian being slightly less awful than me. Our overly dramatic antics did amuse nearby patrons and when Sebastian was recognized he was gracious in conversation and signing autographs. We made it to the Pont Alexandre III bridge just as the sun set. It was ornate and a beautiful end to the day.

Next up was a day of museums and checking out wherever in between. We met up with a guide in the afternoon for a walking tour of Art Nouveauarchitecture. On our way back to the hotel we passed by the lingerie shop. A quick discussion later we decided not to go in. It would ruin some of the fun if the other knew what we bought. I also decided I needed to find some sexy underwear for him. I checked; he'd wear them. Dinner was my responsibility tonight. I found a rooftop restaurant with a great wine list and an even better view.

Tuesday, the day before the fashion shows, was the day I was looking most forward to. It was an early start and long trip to Mont Saint Michel. Claire had hired us a car and we napped most of the trip. The town is a tidal island and when the tide comes in it covers the causeway, only cutting off access for about an hour, but still. We parked at the tourism office and took off our shoes for the half mile walk over the mudflats. It didn’t look like a dangerous trek, but apparently, quicksand was real here.

We weren't far into our walk when Sebastian asked, "Is this Hogwarts?"

Our guide laughed, "No, but yes. The movie was not filmed here but as you will see much of the architecture is similar and the street does resemble Diagon Alley."

Sebastian looked at me, "Did you know?"

I shook my head, "I love gothic architecture and castles. Versailles was incredible, but this is a hundred times better. Stonework, stained glass, the high pointed arches." I grabbed onto his arm, bouncing on my toes. "I'm so excited. This is surreal." I held my hand out toward the Abbey. "Look at this, I mean, look at this."

He was smiling at me, "Should take you home to Romania. Lots of castles."

"Don't tease me." I let go of him and walk to stand in a small puddle. The water was cool and the sand squished between my toes. I felt like I was in the bubble from my favorite guided meditation. I put my arms out with my shoes dangling off my fingers and twirled. I stopped facing Sebastian. He had his phone out, pointed at me. "What are you taking pictures of?"

"You." He laughed, "With a castle island thingy in the background."

I heard the guide say, "Your mademoiselle is much more beautiful than the background."

Sebastian nodded, "That she is."

I walked back to them and reached for his hand. He handed his phone to our guide to take a couple of pictures before we headed on.

I was in absolute heaven. Even more so when I saw Sebastian as in awe as I was with the narrow cobblestone streets and stairways that appeared out of nowhere. Our guide had stories and let us lead, only giving direction if we were missing something. He took the lead when we approached the Abbey and guided us through spaces as tiny as closets and large as cathedrals. The arches along the walkway did look like a scene off the bridge in Hogwarts.

Our guide left us at the end of the Abbey tour and after lunch, we walked the ramparts and worked our way around looking at everything and nothing. Talking and laughing.

It wasn’t long into the ride back that I realized my thighs were aching. "What is it with Paris and stairs?"

"There's a fuck ton of them." Sebastian smirked and leaned in to kiss the side of my neck. "I will be happy to massage your thighs when we get back."

"Stretch them out?"

"Definitely."

We both retreated into our phones for a while. Neither had paid attention to them since we got here. The return trip was good for nudging each other to show a picture we took. I texted my chosen family and sent pictures. Sebastian was doing the same thing. He showed me responses on his group chat.

Charles ~ You took her to Paris? Chace ~ You can't take a woman to Paris for a first vacation Will ~ Go big or go home Toby ~ That's it. I need to meet her. Charles ~ Find a date and take the last bedroom in the villa. Toby ~ Chace, wanna go to an island with me? Chace ~ Do I have to put out? Toby ~ What do you think? Will ~ Who has the lube? Chace ~ I bet there's some in Paris.

I'd lowered my phone while I read his. Sebastian pointed to my screen, "What is that?"

"It's that app we made the list on the train."

"You need to send me the list."

"I can do better than that. Can I have your phone?" He handed it over and I went into the app store, installed, and signed into the app under my user name. "Now you can see, edit, add." I kept typing while he looked around. There was more than a sexual to do list. I was currently adding to a notebook called "Moments".

"Can I add to this?" Sebastian was in the same notebook.

"Sure." I bit my lip, "I had a thought. You can say it's stupid or you don't want to."

He put his hand on my leg, "What?"

"I was thinking since we're going to be apart for a while, we could write to each other. Not like texts talking about our day. I'd write things I want you to remember or know. When I'm missing you, I could write a couple of sentences to you or go read what you've written to me. Not any expectation of how often. Just a place for sweet things, sexy things."

I'd gotten the idea while thinking about distance and time zones and insecurity. Perusing old texts is good, but a one-stop place for just love notes is better.

"I love it." He brought me to him and met me for a kiss. "Is this for me or you?"

I had no problem with him knowing I was planning for our time apart. "You saw my love notes from high school. I love them. Texts get lost in a hundred other texts. We can even copy texts over. Pictures. You keep a gratitude journal. This is similar."

"Did you make that up?"

I shrugged, "I doubt it." I showed him how to navigate and create new notebooks. Our first notebook was "Sex To Do" We'd done that together. The one I’d been in, "Moments”, was short form memories. "Holding hands for nine hours with food and conversation.", "Waking in Paris to see you watching me sleep”, "Me showing you architecture", "You showing me artifacts".

Sebastian immediately knew something he wanted to add, I showed him how to create space between limes so he could insert his words. He was going to write in burgundy and me in navy blue. He created a notebook for longer things. He liked to write and wanted a place for more words.

I waited until he’d gotten down a thought before showing him what I'd been most excited for. "Things for Sebastian." I’d already started.

· Te iubesc, Sebasti-an

· I was so lucky to find a lost boy in a grocery store

· You always make me feel cherished and safe

"This one is for battling insecurities. You can read my words and know what you mean to me. You've said you struggle with distance, insecurity, feeling emotionally cut off. I thought this might help keep a connection."

"You've made a security journal."

I thought a moment, "I guess. We've hit a couple of bumps and worked through them. I hoped this may help keep it away over distance."

I watched him switch notebooks and read what I'd written. "Anything I write shows up for you?"

"Yes, once the app refreshes.”

Sebastian looked over with the softest smile I'd ever seen on him. "I love you." The softest kiss followed. "I tell you I'm looking for the perfect moment to kiss you and you create it. I tell you I have confidence issues and you tell me everyone hears that voice. I have a panic attack and you push me to take care of myself. I lay out my anxieties, overthinking, insecurity, and history of shutting women out and you don’t even blink. Now you come up with this way to stay connected with old-fashioned love notes." He bobbed his head back and forth. "More or less." He kissed me. "You want me to feel safe and loved."

I took a deep breath, "Partly." I was telling him my plan to battle his stuff so it was only fair I let him in on mine.

He looked at me questioningly.

"I've never been away from some I love for six weeks. I'm going to miss you and it's going to be hard. This is for me too." I am not going to cry.

His hand went under my hair to my neck, "Are you about to cry?"

"I'm trying not to, but the chance of tears Friday about noon is one hundred percent."

I let him pull me close enough to kiss, "I better get busy." He retreated to his side of the seat, stretching out a leg over my lap, and turning where I couldn't see what he was typing on his phone.

"You realize the whole point is I can see what you write."

"Don't refresh yet. I don't think we should tell each other when we add stuff."

I nodded my agreement.

He stuck his tongue out the corner of his mouth like he was thinking. He typed a bit then looked over, "If I miss you in the middle of the night, I can write you and it will be there when you wake up. I don’t know which I’m looking more forward to. Writing or reading.”

I didn’t either.

[kaplanwrites]

02.6 Michael

Part1. Meeting.

For the last 40 hours Tim’s going only on caffeine and taurine from energetics, empty cans of which piles in trash bins +and that probably will go to the chapter where Kon calls Dick to take over the meeting because Tim sleeps exhausted after rehearsing his major defend+

He probably should sleep, but he just defended his minor, and he’s unable to move anywhere himself. He doesn’t want to try to resemble a human being right now, to be a responsible parent to his - beloved, but much too noisy - toddler, to check the fridge for milk and cupboards for cookies. Everyone coax him, so he tumbles down the street to the local bar which is surprisingly more fancy that any bar placed near campus ought to be, and crumples down at the nearest table, bracketed by fellow red-eyed caffeine-overdosed pre-grads and TAs.

After a couple of drinks (Irish coffee, don’t hold on whiskey, double sugar), he spots that one guy at the bar. The guy… he looks exactly like him; the buzz-cut, and wide shoulders, hair black in a yellowish light. He sits at a barstool, shapely legs clad in too-tight bootcuts, and sips on something creamy - is that a milkshake? He turns head to ask the barman something, and as light catches on a thick rim of glasses, so does Tim’s breath. He probably makes some sort of sound, because girls notice his attention, and one of them - Trish, probably - heard that The Guy’s name was Mike, and Mark, who actually lives at the campus, says that they heard that The Guy’s dishes out to cover his tuition.

And Tim’s wouldn’t do that just to relax, but then Mike turns to stand up, and his eyes glint blue, and he even has a slight curl in hair, and Tim _wants_.

It is convenient, really,  no strings attached as they say,  and nothing would happen if he’ll be covert,  and if Tim is capable of anything - it’s stealth.

So after Mike leaves to the bathroom, Tim drops his contact card on his barstool and makes sure to lock eyes, to flash trademarked Wayne’s smile at Mark, when he returns.

***

Part2. Sex.

Mike calls, and they meet at the hotel and they kiss, and Tim stops and starts to backpedal because “he shouldn't be here, he has kid, and Mike - it's Michael, actually, - probably has STD’s, and they argue a bit, and then laugh, because Michael is indignant and Tim’s nervous, and Michael make monthly checkups, and anyways his clients are improbable to carry something, and Tim wonders why he would do it, and Michael wonders why TIM would do it, he’s gorgeous and rich can probably pick up anybody anywhere.

Tim says that people on campus know Mike’s occupation, but no one knows his clients and that what Tim needs.

They kiss some more and gropes each other a little until Tim’s phone goes off, and he needs to go. He pays the whole, and for the room.

***

Second time they’re in a fancier hotel, with decent-sized bed, and it’s midday and Tim wants to watch him strip, and to touch himself, and they fumble on bed, Michael naked, and Tim fully clothed, and Tim fucks him from behind until both of them sated and spent, and kisses Michael shoulders before leaving cash on the table and leaving the room.

Michael’s eyes are actually hazel, but it doesn’t matter.

***

Michael offers to rub his back, or to get a long bath together,  when on a fourth or fifth time Tim actually chooses hotel near city center, fancy and with spacious bathroom - because Tim’s always dressed in at least one layer, and stiff and rigid underneath and Michael  begins to suspect some kind of disfigure under clothes.

They talk, well, Michael talk at Tim as Tim sucks him off while spreading him with fingers, that it will be okay to show anything he hides under clothes, that it will be good to let go, and suddenly Tim gets up with an obscene pop, and Michael’s eyes want to cross, but he soldiers on and holds Tim’s intense gaze as he begins to undress.

And then Michael just stares at the scars that appear with each discarded garment, pale skin crisscrossed with long gashes and peppered with barely visible burn marks, and Tim says it’s sort of fun to have father and two older brothers addicted to extreme, and then he chuckles when Michael's eyes slips to the puckered bullet-hole, and says that that’s the price for charity in Gotham.

And then Michael is too preoccupied with remembering watching on tv a shooting of a  philanthropist teenager,  who then spent two years on crutches,  with the thought of ‘how couldn’t I figured earlier that dark gotham and gorgeous was anyone but a Wayne’, and then he’s too busy getting properly fucked.

***

Tim’s careful not to meet Michael after visible injuries, but he makes sure to visit him every other week. He has ready stories about mountain bikes and rock climbing.

Afterward, he feels more focused, and he lashes out at people (at Kon) less, and, besides, he actually enjoys Michael’s presence.

***

Part3. Wrong name.

He holds a Wayne Tech Gala, and he gives a ticket to Kon, as a truce. He thinks, maybe Kon chooses to go with him.

Kon brings someone; she’s not even a name, she is blond and beautiful, like Cassie, and she is starry eyes, and happy to be here just because it’s luxurious - unlike Cassie.

Tim drowns his bourbon and prays that Ted will manage their little devil for one night. Kon doesn’t even have the decency to look smug, he just shakes hands, and smiles, and visibly relaxes when his plus-one leaves to gossip; and Tim isn't even jealous or disappointed, he’s just angry.

That night he makes Michael fuck him, and maybe he’s moaning the wrong name all the way through.

***

One morning Tim’s in the shower, and Michael’s barely awake, and there are Wayne tech blueprints scattered on the table, and those designs are awesome, and Michael cannot keep his eyes off them until Tim’s out of the shower. And:

‘I'm sorry, the designs of that power source, it’s beautiful, even more than I’ve anticipated’ - ‘You know what those are?’ - ‘You kidding me? I’m in electrical engineering, that’s all we talked about at campus after last ‘expo’’

They speak geek, and Tim tentatively proposes to get him an internship in the WayneTech. They visit once together, and Michael is absolutely enamored with the lead engineer, Cecil Walters.

At the first day of the internship, Michael comes up to him and asks him out to a date later, when he will be able to afford to take Cecil to a decent place. Everybody in the lab is scandalized, except for Tim (who is amused) and Cecil (who think it’s hilarious). Worse: Michael’s absolutely serious.

***

One time Michael comes with bruises in interesting places. Couple others he refuses to come at all. Tim sees him at the campus, with a split lip and marks on throat.

Tim makes Michael’s handsy client disappear, and Michael doesn’t ask questions about his dean sudden retirement.

***

Part 4. Truce.

They speak, mostly after sex, and Michael says that he’s going to lose this job. Tim frowns on this phrasing but keeps silent. Michael keeps explaining, that he was doing it to get through college, and it was nice and easy money and that once he’s finished, he wouldn’t need that anymore, especially with WT internship. And anyway he already got rid of most of his clientele, but Tim was always welcome to call, and is still, but only, like, a booty call. For free. Because Michael liked Tim’s dick that much, and also was somewhat addicted to this hotel’s jacuzzis’

‘So it’s not about Dr. Walters?’ Tim asks, after.

Michael looks up incredulously from where he’s pulling his socks on.

‘Huh, nah, it’s not about him yet. When I’ll finally get my hands on that genius of a man, no jacuzzi in the world would be able to separate us’

Tim shakes his head and actually laughs.

***

Tim calls him the next afternoon, and it’s unusual. Michael checks if he forgot something at the hotel, or in the car, but Tim’s frighteningly careful with that. They meet in the half-empty bar, and Tim says, that he wouldn’t be able to keep Michael’s company during long nights anymore.

Michael turns his smile away to the window, and Tim again astonished of the striking resemblance - the rounded jaw, thick neck - Michael’s bathed in the evening sun, haloed curly hair, and eyelashes golden in the slanted beams.

‘Tell me it’s not about you’re turned off by the free sex,’ he sips contentedly his latte, ‘And about your blind guy’.

Tim’s brow pitches, and then he pushes to put a smile on, cold and fake. ‘Why do you think he’s blind?’

‘One should be positively blind not to see a guy that hot under one’s nose. He’s that second dad to your kid, isn't he?’

Tim remembers a photo in his wallet, with two of them, Eli and Kon, and nods. ‘Yeah… and he... He basically forbade me to keep seeing you.’ He chuckles, the smile genuine now. ‘He actually caught me red-handed yesterday’.

‘Huh,’ Michael shakes his head. He wasn’t sure how those relationships worked; he was sure that Tim was too busy for anything between his kid and his job, and his mad brothers and this thing Michael and Tim has. Had. But apparently, Tim also managed to nurse this crush on the other dad - presumably the straight one. ‘So, did he got jealous?’

Tim nods, then shakes head ‘it’s not like that, it’s…’ He shrugs.

‘...complicated.’ Michael finished for him, taking cliche from his mouth. ‘Well he better be good for you in bed, or I will need to step up again, and you know, I was going to get serious with our department head.’ Michael huff's, pretending to be exasperated. Tim chuckles again, now mostly for the joke’s sake.

‘Tim, you know I would know that you’re not having any, we’re going to work in the same place in two months’

‘I’ll be fine, geez. And it will be Mr. Wayne two months from now, so you better get used to it’

Michael rolls his eyes and finishes his coffee in one gulp then hops from the barstool, leaves a tenner on a bar for their coffees. They shake hands, half-awkwardly, then Michael half-hugs Tim.

‘See you later, Mr. Wayne. And Good fuck.’

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Notes and Quotes from ‘Art of Trollhunters’ book

Jim’s nose was almost SUPER beaky.

Confirmation putting Gunmar’s eye in the Amulet was indeed what gave Jim a helmet.

One of the concepts for Jim’s helmet looks like the helmet Claire got.

Messy-haired Claire without hair clips.

Claire was almost a redhead.

Toby was almost wearing a puffy-sleeved blue winter coat all the time - in California, poor kid! The setting might be why the design was cut.

I like the crystal-y design for Toby’s armour where a plate on the back pops off (don’t worry, there’s more armour underneath it!) and becomes a shield.

Draal’s design started out as concept art for Changeling!Steve. THAT explains the parallels between Steve and Draal, both visual (blue palette, yellow hair/yellowish horns, top-heavy ‘buff’ silhouette) and narrative (introduced as a bully character, sees Jim as a rival after the opening episodes, later becomes ally to brunet kid a third of his size, has a thing for super-tall girls who can kick his ass). Considering what happened to Draal I’m honestly a little worried about Steve’s chances to survive the TOA trilogy.

Useful references for how Draal’s prosthetic arm is put together!

Some of the concept art for Gunmar’s horn design looks like the design they ultimately went with for Usurna’s horns.

Ron Perlman, voice of Bular, says Gunmar has “been imprisoned for four hundred years”.

The temple where Angor Rot was imprisoned was in Ranthambore, India.

Guillermo del Toro was clear from early days that Blinky’s “dark, evil brother” should be named ‘Dick’ - ‘Dictatious’ came from the writers’ room.

Usurna’s purple crest is actually a crown, not part of her horns? Which “mimics her natural, glowing carvings.”

Rodrigo Blaas, executive producer and voice of the gnomes: “I always thought that the Gnome voice came from mixing two very weird things: a flamenco singer and baby talk.”

Eli in a striped shirt actually resembles some of the concept art for Jim.

I’m going to keep calling the Nyalagroth a Nyarlagroth, because that’s what it sounds like when the characters SAY it, and I’ve already got the tag, and it’s previously been written as Nyarlagroth in other books (and I know I complain about the novels a lot but they ARE a useful source for “how to spell this character’s name” when your TV keeps dimming or changing the screen when you try to pause the credits).

The book mentions Nana ‘protecting her Toby-Pie and his Trollhunting secret’, which makes me wonder [a] if she secretly knew for longer than we thought she did, and [b] if this foreshadows another scene of that, besides the one of her bludgeoning Detective Scott unconscious.

Vendel describes Stalklings as “one of the only species of troll impervious to the effects on sunlight” (emphasis mine), but the book describes them as “the only trolls that can venture into sunlight” (again, emphasis mine), so I guess this one is up to fanfic writers to decide for themselves.

Morgana’s palette deliberately invokes the sun, on the artists’ part, probably to emphasize how dangerous she is to the trolls.

I kind of like the designs where Merlin has a ponytail but that might be more because I like cloaks and capes. His armour is “rooted in technology”? The Amulet implies that he’s an inventor ...

I was initially surprised at the quote describing Morgana as “the series’ first female villain”, but then I remembered she was introduced (via flashback to when Angor got his soul) before Usurna was, and a whole season before Usurna was revealed to be a villain.

Those little tray-carrying bar trolls do not, now that I can get a good look at one, look as much like Not Enrique as I’d previously assumed. The bar trolls have longer fingers and differently structured legs and feet. I had noticed the horn and eye differences but thought that could be ‘age’ or ‘side effect of Not Enrique being made into a Changeling’.

Not only did Nomura used to have four arms, but Bagdwella did too?!

Concept art for Jim’s house looks like it’s from when they were still working with the original novel, where he lived with his paranoid dad and his mom was the one to walk out.

There’s a horn sharpening stall somewhere in Trollmarket! Or at least a concept design for one.

I like the two-headed troll with the linked nose rings.

In the Troll Pub concept pages there’s a troll dressed like Elvis and carrying a guitar.

Art director Alfonso Blaas is married to a geologist and she found a ton of useful reference images whenever they needed new minerals for characters or locations.

Okay, the Quagawump swamps supposedly are underground, which does not explain the trees. I’m probably going to stick with my theory that they go underwater and burrow into the mud during the daytime.

Neat concept sketches for Gunmar’s fight with Orlagk as portrayed on Killahead Bridge.

Interesting lore about how the Darklands fit into troll history.

There’s a bigger version of that picture of Bular sitting on Gunmar’s throne in the Darklands but no information provided. I’m guessing it’s from an early concept stage. Maybe Bular was going to have a fantasy sequence about becoming the next Gumm-Gumm king, or a bad dream of being trapped in the Darklands with the rest of them and unable to orchestrate their escape.

Very useful reference images for Jim’s shield and glaives!

Note to self, dig up trollish alphabet an look up what it says on the handle of the Shadow Staff. (If it’s trollish.)

The Staff of Avalon - and, by extension, Merlin’s tomb - are in the Ardennes Mountains. The emerald mounted at the top of the staff is supposed to spin.

Good refs for everybody’s weapons, really. Angor’s knife’s hilt is yet another thing shaped like a face. Nomura’s khopesh are referred to as ‘scythe swords’, perhaps because the person writing that blurb doesn’t know the word ‘khopesh’.

It finally occurs to me to wonder, how and why was that crank key that operates a mechanism in the Darklands lying around Blinky’s library for Kanjigar to give to Claire? Are those cranks part of common-but-outdated troll tech, like skeleton keys?

A Fetch is supposedly “the size of an average dinner plate” - I believe that’s about a foot in diameter.

Ah, good, there’s a key to trollish runes on page 186. The Shadow Staff inscription reads “skath”, probably connecting to it being called the “Skathe-Hrun” or however that’s spelled, I’m pretty sure I missed an umlaut. The runes on the little flaps that open on the back of the Amulet of Daylight to let the Trollhunter put in different power stones, however, still don’t seem to match up with trollish runes, no matter what angle I look at them from - at first I’d thought Merlin just wrote his name in a circle there because one of them kind of looks like an ‘M’ and his name is six letters long.

The Gyre is described as “part rollercoaster and part hamster wheel.”

The little doodle of Dictatious over the title for the ‘Afterword by Mark Hamill’ is precious.

It amuses Mark Hamill that he gets typecast as villains when he does voice acting - “How do you get typecast in animation?” - and he has a lot of fun with those parts.

I was supposed to be asleep twenty minutes ago so I’m going to go do that now.

[nozomijoestar]

Pt. 1 of my LL! x TMA crossover is finally here. Crossposted on my FF.net!

TWs: Gore, warfare, being buried alive, body horror

---------

With the world plunged into the apocalypse of never-ending fear thanks to The Eye and The Archivist, two stories intertwine. Statements of Nozomi Tojo later the entity called The One Alone- pre and post mortem of humanity. Recorded direct from subject.

------

“The Lonely is the most insidious of the powers. It doesn’t need to tell you lies. It waits for the lies you tell yourself.”

There is a wind that rides amidst the expanse bare of clouds that dares to call itself a sky still. It rolls ever onwards like a wave beneath the ever shifting Eyes; the Eyes with presence to match the same that crowns a panopticon. The tower it calls home stands higher than anything conceivable by Man. Though she has tried escape she knows there is nowhere on this barren land it cannot be seen. The gaze of the Beholder sees those who suffer in sacrifice below; it too sees the servants, the avatars, of its fellow Entities revel in a Hell once thought promised to one devotee or another now open for all. She is reminded of the amusement parks she yearned to step foot in as a child until it made her sick.

She is reminded it sees always through her disembodied form. It knows where none other should know; ever thirsty for the forbidden and beyond boundaries The Eye (The Beholder, The Ceaseless Watcher, It Knows You, names are irrelevant in its pursuits. They are attempts to describe an aspect of what people called impossible.) sips her essence with precision a mosquito could envy. The fog that is and is not her whenever she molds it to a human shape whips about in fury. It is tainting her loneliness. It wants to dip its finger in her blissful isolation just as it has every other monstrosity made manifest.

Her Entity is a kind being, an understanding one that divides the Who from They into an intimacy; one so singular and gentle to allow those within it to banish all others. She can still remember the first time grasping it brought her to tears. Both it and she cannot escape what it is to be known. Not now in the presence of that damned thing which exists to play voyeur. She looks down.

The trench that scars the earth and stretches beyond the horizon marks the domain The Slaughter calls a feeding ground. Even as high as she is the stench of cordite, gunpowder, gore, and all that tears apart wafts into her. Within the trench figures once store clerks, families, businessmen, teachers, students, children, fire enough bullets and shells to massacre what was once Tokyo. Each cracks sharper than thunder while the rat-a-tat-tat from infinite machine guns never stops. In between the gun nests slump people lost within war that is not satisfied with surface destruction and swallows the mind. They are worse than those casualties who scream, in their silence.

On the fetid breeze bagpipes in a mockery of ‘Scotland the Brave’ wail enough to vibrate No Man’s Land. She can spy the tanks advancing ever forwards peppered by shrapnel; flayed bodies can vaguely be made out strapped to their armor. The edges of her fog wiggle in place of a shudder. Neither now nor in her meaningless days as feed, as human, had butchery in any form brought anything from her but nausea. From that barren hell a bulky creature towered over its victims; it made way for her as their eyes locked.

She knows this monster well no matter how tiny the ribs spiked out its chest appear at this distance. It stamped its clawed bloody foot and snarled. Its teeth glistened red in a multitude of fangs arranged row after row like a shark mouth. The pointed shoulder blades protruding out its back drip viscera; she knows it has fed. Feeding is all it can do now; she knows it laments the conveniences a human form had after all. That like her it loathes having the terror it creates tainted under The Eye’s ruling gaze. Its face comprised of exposed wounds for flesh and two smaller faces twisted in pain on its neck, glares at her unflinching. Its black and orange pupiled eyes are beady as if carved from revulsion, from hate. Around them no soldiers aim and the tools of war bend paths to avoid harm. The monster shouts in a growl that booms over the din of murder.

“Forsaken! Have you come to strut and brag again you little shit? Making fun of me showing up like that are you?-“

The Slaughter avatar’s insults fell on empty air; she glided onward without a destination. Suddenly several stones passed through her leaving holes that reformed instantly. Not a glance did she spare back; U’ral-whatever-her-name-was could shout her distain till her throat bled. The One Alone would not stoop as weak as her to hold reservations about their paradise.

On this ride no one would get off.

She stopped above a circle of candy colored lights that formed the outline of a carousel. A few meters around its dim shine run shadowed shapes. Shape is the best word she has to describe those frantic wretches who pile atop each other; their fingers peel faces reused again and again among their number. They long to no more ask themselves Who Am I? but know beneath the ache they will never be whole.

They could have counted her among them, once. Almost.

Though reason reminded her it’d been months those days, the idea there’d been a time before, was impossible. Had she always been what she’d embraced or had her human shell been her true home? Some days before the opening of the Door she was ashamed to still ponder it.  Not in this world however; here she at last knew her peace. The edges of her form swirled outward. She continued to watch. The Stranger’s victims continued their frenzy as another face was for the taking. Cries of triumph clashed with envious screams not unlike the battle-shouts of one brought under Slaughter.

If she squinted she made out the current victor. The teenage girl bolts across the fairgrounds in a random direction; her red-orange hair waved in its ragged bob cut like a dancing flame. Where once she had pale skin and…had they been yellow eyes? The One Alone saw her now a shambling thing that slapped its prize atop a carmine skull. Something in her puzzled to think she remembered the girl’s face, and yet nothing of her name. Nothing of what their connection had been in another life.

Not a fiber of her cared to linger longer; yet as she made to leave one final sight stopped her. This time the name and everything with it returned. Kotori busied herself on a cross-stitch of skin and sinew when she saw The One Alone above. Did she too remember? Did she know who they both once were? Even if she did The One Alone couldn’t bring herself to care. It would be unnecessary and in a way always had been. She had never existed. Kotori’s eyes gave her a look filled with the briefest solidarity, before the indifference reclaimed her. The blessings of The Stranger have created fissures along her skin; it ceased to be skin so much as it resembled a potato weak enough to tug, in its fragility.

Not for the last time she feels the deep, deep truth twist her at the chance that in another world, she joined in the stitching. Disgust shook her fog at the idea of companionship looming before her. A semblance of sympathy even if in the imagination; avatars do not trust. Not each other. The smartest ones, her, saw trust for the waiting betrayal it was. For the lie it had been since the moment she was born.

She flies beyond the circus of the damned toward a thundering in the distance.  At the passing over a spot of darkness that stretches miles, she swallows the urge to stare. It is a black void so absolute it cannot cast shadows; nor can any bottom to its depth be found as though you’ve entered the essence of nothingness. Eli was there. She felt the knowledge wash over her like rain. Eli was there, transformed into something that drowned her victims into obscurity.  This was a comforting thought; their domains weren’t too unalike.

It’s enough to almost make her wish Eli had joined The Lonely. She smothers it before it can bloom further. The Dark chooses its chosen and there is nothing she can do. She is alone, as she was meant to be. Ahead the thundering slams into her ears snapping her from ruminating. Niko appeared no bigger than a dot from this high. The shovel she pointed above her head reflected the Eyes that’d replaced the sun on its blade. Above her a pink man with shriveled skin stuffed into his suit smiled. It was knowing and unbothered; he stared down as calm as if he were choosing a sandwich. Simon Fairchild.

Of course The Vast would entertain a challenge from The Buried. The space around him appeared more than air; his very presence distorts that not bound to earth. His true distance away is impossible to gauge, he is both forever distant yet under only sky, a neighbor. She watches his wisplike white hair flap in the breeze. His calm slides into amusement. Niko’s curses and yells have grown louder now. She stops at what serves best for not too close; she observes.  

None of it is productive. Niko, poor desperate, witless Niko still clung to a blanket stitched from emotions. If she was an annoyance in the old world, now she was insufferable. She remained a prisoner as she’d always been. She’d been a prisoner of her desires, slave to her circumstance, yet another decimal point on a statistic. Yes The One Alone remembers those days before they’d embraced their natures; however faint the memories Niko had been a worm inching for the sky, for escape. Anything was better than bills and so many mouths to feed with so few helping hands. She notices the pockmark of holes littering the ground around Niko’s feet.

There are at least a hundred here. A hundred other worms that’d cherished denial at the crushing that finally bound them physically. They would never know the suffocation of an illusion of control as Niko does. They will smell rancid air and gargle on sod in those depths; they will wonder why them. There will be no answer; no release for their attempts at freedom. It is not the freeing isolation she has accepted. You weren’t even allowed to enjoy it; you couldn’t if you didn’t embrace it. She hears the curses grow louder followed by an earth splitting crack.  

Indeed the ground dents under Niko’s tap against it. A chorus of screams ring as one at another tear in the soil. The worms that’d never lived neither as humans nor now were rattled within their prisons. Simon answered the challenge and so their game at which Fear dominated the other began another wasteful chapter. Though it wasn’t her domain she felt a faint pulse spinning in the bottomless emptiness of the Falling Titan. If Simon knew she saw into his world he didn’t show it.

Honoka was there among his captives, falling, and falling. Falling with a soundless scream against the whipping winds; she was begging like the rest for a splat, for some grounded, definite end. Silly fool, nothing in this world had an end anymore. Once Honoka had been marked by The Vast; had she accepted it Simon might’ve welcomed another for his kind. The One Alone laughed in a sound near breathless and let her fog curl. Avatars serving the same master; they’d have torn each other apart.

One remained the superior number; alone the greatest of words.

Niko’s voice calls after her as she fades from view.

“…Nozomi! Always watching like a creep huh?”

The name reaches her faster than an arrow and pierces the impenetrable within her. It nests in what remains to be called her soul. It was a poison, a gate however small to expose the person long dead within her. To call out to what had been defined by failure, naivety, and longing.

The One Alone shudders as fog might. She makes her own way until silence embraces her tight.

[caffeinated-mendes]

Failed Mission - Peter Parker & OC - Chapter 2

masterlist

previous work

previous chapter

synopsis:  Eliza Brooks, an eighteen-year-old Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and friend to Tony Stark is given a mission after Tony’s death: Attend Midtown Tech and keep an eye on Peter Parker. With the use of her mysterious powers, Eliza had never slipped up on her assignment. That is until Peter’s life is in danger, and she has to save him. The cost of her exposing her identity could very nearly mean the end of her mission, and the ending of her chance to become an Avenger.

word count: 2.1 k (4.6 in total)

a/n:  Hi everyone! Here's the second chapter to this little novella. Reblogs, likes, and comments are always appreciated <3 Hope you enjoy!

warnings: none

*if you prefer, you can read this on my ao3 instead of here

On his way to lunch, Peter caught a pale-faced Eliza talking to MJ. She looked sick, and MJ stroked her back, giving the blonde a hug before making her way down the other hall. Peter watched MJ leave, feeling his heart pound in his chest before walking up to Eliza. Her face had no color; even her eyes were not as vibrant as before. Without glowing, they were an icy, striking blue. Now they seemed like pale blue paint, baked from a blazing sun. “You alright?” Peter said, his voice a little squeaky. He played with his backpack strap. 

Eliza cleared her throat, “Uh, yeah. Stomach ache.”

Peter nodded, and they made their way to the cafeteria, ignoring looks from most people. Eliza wasn’t popular, but she definitely was not as lame as Peter considered himself. Their classmates weren’t used to seeing Peter without Ned, alone, a girl. Eliza had great style too, which she couldn’t be made fun of for. She left her hair to cascade down her back, an effortless beauty. Her style somewhat resembled a skater’s style, combined with jewelry.  The dark palette of her clothing left for earrings and necklaces to make great statements.

Eliza tugged on the sleeves of her black sweater, “I’m going to Pepper’s tonight for dinner. Happy’s gonna be there. You could come with me, and we could ask Happy if I could stay.”

Peter proceeded to grab food onto his lunch tray, following Eliza down the line, “Yeah. But you don’t think it’d be weird if I just showed up without being invited to your dinner?”

“What’s the problem? Happy likes you, and so do the Starks,” It felt strange to hear that coming out of Eli’s mouth when she only referred to two people, “I mean, my aunt did it. She visited me on my fourth birthday, barely called and then showed up when I was thirteen to hang out with me and my parents for a night.” Eliza didn’t seem to take that seriously, and meant it as a joke, which left Peter to laugh an uncomfortable feeling off.

This also made him think about Eliza’s home. She wasn’t from New York, and she was living by herself, probably somewhere paid for by SHIELD. But where were her parents? From the sound of it, her other family members didn’t seem to be around. Peter didn’t ask, because he knew how it felt to get asked about your parents. He’d wait for her to tell him. Maybe they were just divorced, or Eliza didn’t live with them, for all he knew. 

By the time the two of them reached their lunch table, a little more color returned to Eliza’s cheeks. “Okay, so here’s the plan,” Eliza stated, turning her head to see if anyone was listening, “I’ll ring the doorbell. Happy will answer, most likely, and at that point I’ll pull you next to me, and Happy will have no choice but to bring you inside too.”

Peter nodded from across the table, and at this point, MJ and Ned came to sit next to them. Peter could feel his heart racing as MJ took a seat next to Eliza. Ned placed his phone on the table, showing Peter a picture as he sat down. It was a Lego Star Wars set, one Peter had never seen before. “Seven thousand pieces, collectors edition. You in?” Eliza and MJ narrowed their eyes at the same time. It creeped Peter out.

He laughed nervously, looking back and forth between the girls and Ned, “Not tonight.” Then he whispered to Ned, “But on the weekend for sure.” Ned nodded, and Eliza giggled.

“Man, you two are such nerds.” Eliza began to bite into an apple.

“More of losers,” MJ took a book out of her bag, “I remind them pretty much every day.”

Eliza nodded her head, “Justified.” Her smile made Peter feel a lot better than he had a moment ago, when she looked like she was going to be sick.

The sun had begun to set, giving the lake a orange glow, but the pretty view didn’t settle Peter’s stomach. He finally had someone he could talk to about being a superhero, and now Fury would take her away if they failed tonight.

Peter hid on the edge of the Stark’s porch while Eliza rang the doorbell. She looked fine, until a voice echoed from inside the lakehouse, “Pepper, there are two people at the front door,” Friday’s voice made the hairs on Peter’s neck stand on edge, “One, female, aged eighteen. Running facial recognition… Eliza Brooks. Another, male, aged sixteen. Running facial recognition… Peter Parker.” 

“Well, that blew our cover. Get up and come over here, Peter.” Eliza groaned, and shuffled her boots. She looked nice, Peter thought, with black combat boots, a black skirt and a long-sleeved, green top. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, which made Peter notice faint scars on her neck, like claw marks, just not as big. As if they were scratched into her skin. Human nails.

The door opened, and Happy stood, dumbfounded as he looked between Eliza and Peter. “Um, what happened here?” Happy asked, “You shouldn’t know her.” Happy looked at Peter.

“Happy, um, I failed. But I brought Peter here, because I don’t want to go back to Chicago,” Eliza wrung her hands, and looked up at him, “Please help me figure something out.” Peter watched the interaction as if he wasn’t there, and Happy’s eyes glazed over. With one glance at Peter, he opened the door. Peter thought maybe there was something back in Chicago that Eliza didn’t want to return to. Her voice made it seem that way.

“Hey, Happy.” Peter felt like curling into his jacket and hiding.

Happy lifted his eyebrows, and said blankly,“Pete.” The two of them walked inside, and Peter could hear a pounding on the floors of the house.

“Eli!” Before he could comprehend what happened, Eliza scooped up a ball of red, gold, and pink into her arms, which elicited a giggle from Morgan, as he now recognized her. Peter had only met her a few times, but every time he saw her, it felt like a piece of Tony was with him. 

Eliza’s blonde ponytail swished behind her as she lifted the Iron Man mask from Morgan’s head. “What are you doing wearing this? You know how your Mom doesn’t like you playing in the shed!”

Morgan’s happy face was adorned with messy brown hair, “I know. Don’t tell her!” Morgan put a finger to her lips, giggling in Eli’s arms. Happy closed the door, as Pepper walked through into the living room, where they all stood awkwardly.

“Oh, um, hi Peter. I didn’t know you were coming.” Pepper’s eyes widened in realization, “How did you know Eliza?”

“It’s my fault, Pepper. I dragged him here. It’s a long story.” 

“Great to see you, Ma’am.” Peter didn’t know what else to say.

Pepper nodded, “Let me get an extra plate.” And stepped back into the kitchen, unsurprised. It seemed like not much could shock Pepper these days. Eliza put Morgan down, who ran into the kitchen, pink tutu and all.

Peter watched as Eliza placed the Iron Man mask on the coffee table of the living room, and Happy led the two of them to the kitchen, where a chicken dinner sat on the table. “So Eliza, could you explain to us what happened?” Happy sat down at the table, and Peter took a seat opposite of him. Eliza shuffled next to Peter, and looked down at her plate, then back up again.

“Everything was going fine yesterday, and I gave you your report. After I went into the city to watch Peter, I followed him inside a bank, where he stopped a bank heist-”

“And this is where you shot the two men? And caused the police to arrive after you left?” Happy interjected.

Peter saw Eliza look around the room to see if Morgan was there. She wasn’t in sight. “Yes. Both in the leg. I did it because they were ready to knock Peter out. I didn’t know why, out of all places, he’d get beaten in a bank by some regular thieves.”

Peter looked at Eli, “Ouch. That was mean.”

“Sorry.” Eliza continued, “But I had to protect him any way I could, like Tony asked.” Pepper hadn’t said a word until now, but she took her seat at the head of the table with a sigh.

Peter added to Eliza’s story, “The only way I knew she was there was because I could sense her, and I grabbed her arm.”

“Sense her?” Pepper asked.

“I have a fifth sense, but it doesn’t really matter. I think something about Eliza’s presence made it messed up, like all I could feel was her. It was sort of like shock waves.” Eliza’s face paled at this, like how she did after their history class today. Peter wondered if he said something wrong. Happy had a similar look on his face. 

Eli cleared her throat, “Yeah. So he grabbed my arm, and then my eyes apparently started to glow. That’s what Peter said.”

Peter added again, “It only happened one time before. I don’t think anyone else noticed, but she walked into my math class. I take senior level math, so Eliza was in it too.”

“Okay, get to the point.” Happy folded his hands on the table. Peter wondered why Happy didn’t care about Eliza’s eyes. It was almost like he already knew, or had experienced it before.

“Okay. So I figured out who she was because of her eyes, and now we’re here because Eli doesn’t want to leave, and I don’t want her to either.” Peter felt a little nervous after saying the last part of that. 

Happy groaned, “Okay. I can talk to Fury-”

“No, I will.” Pepper interjected, as she began to put chicken on Peter’s plate, “Tony set up Eliza’s mission, so I can make Fury help her keep it, or give another. I know that this could jeopardize her chance to become a SHIELD Agent, or Avenger, considering your powers.”

“How?” Peter and Eliza asked in unison.

“Well, I can make threats too, you know. I own Stark Industries, until Morgan is old enough and takes over,” Pepper moved to Eliza’s plate. The dark kitchen, lit only by one light above the table made her seem menacing, “All I need to say if Fury doesn’t let up is that I can make sure SHIELD never gets to use another iron suit again.” Pepper didn’t smile once, and just spoke as if it was a fact.

Peter’s eyes widened, “Wow, that’s-”

“Badass.” Eliza finished. 

“Morgan! Come in the kitchen, it’s time for dinner.” She turned her gaze back to the three of them, and grinned.

After dinner, Pepper paced in the hallway next to the staircase for what seemed like hours to Peter. Eliza’s knee bounced up and down, while the two of them sat on the couch, doing a puzzle with Morgan. “Peter, are you an Avenger?” Morgan asked from across the coffee table. It was completely dark outside, but Aunt May knew that Peter wouldn’t be back until late.

“Yeah, I guess,” Peter replied.

“Good. Because I am too.” Morgan continued with her puzzle, trying desperately to push a piece into one that wasn’t its match.

 Eliza laughed. “Am I one, too? I know you run the Avengers, Morgan.”

“Of course, Eli! You are probably the number one Avenger.”

“Hey!” Peter felt slightly offended.

Morgan shrugged, “Sorry, Peter.”

Pepper and Happy walked into the living room, and nodded towards the kitchen, away from Morgan. The four of them stood by the doorway, and Pepper stated, “Fury said you can stay, on one condition. You have to prove to him you can complete a mission successfully.”

Eliza quirked her eyebrows. “And what’s the mission?”

“This weekend, you two have to go to SHIELD HQ and you’ll get on a plane. You’re going to Portugal, and there’s a group of people you need to spy on that are a threat to SHIELD. Fury said that he would explain more of the details when you get there. If you succeed, you can stay in New York, finish school, and resume your training. Fury said no more, except that, if you fail, you’re going back home, and you’ve lost your chance at becoming an Agent.”

[vaxreed]

Convin, 21 🤗

Thanks for the ask!!! Love you mon!!! Hope youlike this!

Convin + Best Friends Sibling

Tw: mentions of abuse, underage drinking.

Send me a prompt if you’re okay with being patient++++

Gavin had met Richard at the park when they werenothing but children scraping their knees on the pavement and playing in thedirt. Home life wasn’t the best and the park was the only safe place he couldtake refuge in. It also helped that it was in public and his family would neverrisk appearance to let out their anger and frustration. It was his favoriteplace in the world. The swings were his spot. Everyone knew that. He made sureeveryone knew that.

So, when he went to go sit in his swingand found some polished up kid sitting there instead he saw red. Feelings andbeing able to handle them was something he wasn’t good at. If someone was angeryou find the closest person and you let them know how angry you were. It’s howthings were done at home.

“Hey! Get off my swing!” tiny fistsballed at his side, face red with anger. The other boy had blue eyes thatpeered into his very soul, eyes that seemed much too old for his soft face.Gavin was thrown off by the lack of reaction.

“Didn’t you hear me?! Get off!” hegets closer hand wrapping around the chain of the swing.

“What’s wrong with the swing next tome?” He tilts his head to the side.

“That isn’t my swing!” Nothing everbelonged to him, it was Eli’s first and his leftovers were given to him. Thiswas the one thing he had ownership over. Tears threatened to spill from theanger of everything accumulating.

“Can I still swing next to you if Imove?” the boy asks. No one ever wants to swing with him, especially whenhe tries to fight them. They mostly run away when they see him. Not that hegives them much reason to stay. He’s not nice or fun.  

“Why would you want to?”

“I still want to swing, and I don’t haveany friends. You seem angry but mostly sad. Like me.”

Gavin didn’t know what to say just stared at himas the boy moved swings. Suddenly, the swing doesn’t seem so important.

“What’s your name?” he asks.

“G-Gavin.” finding it difficult tospeak.

“Call me, Nines.”

[mobile readers, beware keep reading line]

It started from there. Years later they wouldstill be best friends. He found out later on that Nines was a foster kid thatwas spending time with a decent enough family. Nines was one of the lucky fewwho was adopted and at 13 would be moving into his new family’s house.

Gavin spent a lot of time at their house afterthat. Amanda seemed nice enough, Nines seemed indifferent towards her mostlygrateful to have space of his own and Amanda’s house had plenty of room.

Amanda had adopted another boy years earlier whoeerily resembled Nines. Someone 4 years older than they were. Her perfectlittle heir she groomed herself and would no doubt do the same with Nines. Shewas smart and needed a backup plan in case he failed, which is why Nines washere.

It was creepy how identical they looked; Ninesdidn’t see the similarities. He didn’t see him around at first. Always in classor tutoring. He and Nines were just hanging out in his new room. It hadeverything he could ever want and more books than he could possibly read butwas still expected to.

They were talking about the new Power Rangersepisode that had come out and brought out of the conversation by a faint knockon the door. They turned and Gavin was instantly smitten by the visitor. Warmbrown eyes that he found himself lost in, cute moles that contrasted his paleskin and nicely kept hair.

Nines had met Connor before, but they never hadmuch to say to one another. Nines was soft spoken, while Connor was alreadytrained to have nice small talk that Nines wasn’t receptive to.

“I don’t speak bullshit.” when heasked how he liked his room. He was smart enough not to speak like that infront of Amanda, but Gavin was so proud of his best friend.

“What?” is all Nines said to the olderteen in the doorway, hostility practically oozing off him.

“Amanda wanted me to check how you’redoing, do you need anything?” a smile brighter than the sun, and Gavin wasmelting. Connor’s eyes fell on him and Gavin’s face felt hot.

“Oh, I’m sorry! You’re with a guest. Isthis a friend of yours? Hello, I’m Connor, I suppose I’m Richard’s newsibling.”

Nines’ frowned at this Gavin couldn’t take hiseyes off him. Nines told him everything was fine and he if could kindly getback to speaking with his best friend. Connor left with a smile and a wave, hispolite smile turning sad when he went out of sight.

“Holy shit your new brother is hot.”Gavin finally said after he finished gaping.

“He’s not my brother, we just happened tolive in the same house.”

They dropped it and went back to discussing thevillain for this episode.

More years would pass, both at the tender age of18 they continued to hang out as much as possible. Nines got into a prestigiousuniversity where Amanda just happens to teach at. It wasn’t far, but Nineswould be busy with his studies afterwards and wouldn’t have much time to spendwith him. Gavin would also be furthering his education at the local communitycollege and the police academy after that. This was a year away and werespending as much time as they could together.

They went to a party together thrown by Gavin’sclose friend Tina a farewell party for those who are going out of state forcollege and celebrating the end of the school year.

Nines wasn’t one for parties but still wentbecause Gavin liked going. The drinks were free and so was the fun. One drinkturns into two and he loses count after the 5th. He struggles to get to thebathroom sitting next to Nines in the hall. Nines has had a few too many aswell and is rambling on about the intricacies of glow in the dark stickers andhow they are the foundation of America.

He remembers someone shaking him awake and peersinto warm eyes the same color as the whiskey that burned down his throatearlier. He struggles to keep his vision right.

“Connor?”

Nines flicks his eyes up, his face lookingconcerned.

“Connor? What’s wrong?” the years having cooleddown his relationship with someone he now considered his older brother.

“Amanda is coming home tomorrow morning,her meeting was cancelled, and she cannot see you in this state, Richard.”

Nines is in more control of his body than Gavinis and has no problem lifting himself off the floor. Shit how much did he haveto drink? He struggled to stand.

“You lightweight.” Nines huffed athim.

He felt something swoop under his legs and hisstomach dropped as he was lifted into the air bridal style.

“I’ve got you, Gavin.” his wordshoneyed and so sincere. Gavin was thankful for his flushed cheeks his head restingagainst his chest. He felt so warm, so soft. He felt at peace in his arms. Hiseyes cracked open and sees the back of the passenger seat of Connor’s car. Thensees his hands grabbing fistfuls of grass as he vomits directly onto the frontlawn. When he is done, he is scooped back up and returned to the car until theyreturned to the large house.

He is guided to the bathroom although he knowsthis house like the back of his hand. He’s here so often, it might as well behome. His family didn’t give a shit where he was, and they were probablythankful he wasn’t there to bother them.

Nines was like a brother to him. He has toremember that when talking about Connor, his feelings for him were more thanthe disdain he showed in front of Nines as an act of solidarity.

The late-night conversations they have in thekitchen are something he treasures just as fondly as the time he spends withNines.

“You must be very close friends withRichard if he lets you come and go into his space as you please.” Connortells him while they share a pint of ice cream, passing it back and forth.

“Nines may seem like a bastard, but onceyou get to know him, well, he’s still a bastard.”

They both let out a small laugh.

“But I couldn’t ask for a better friend. He’simportant to me. My best friend.” he confessed.

A sad smile tugged on Connor’s face. Connor alwayslooked a little sad, it was always lurking behind his eyes. He’s met Amanda andhas heard Nines talk to him about how much pressure she puts on him to succeed.All the classes and extracurriculars that will put him on the path to take overher legacy when she’s gone. He wonders how it must have been for Connor allalone.   

“I wish I knew what to do. He hates me andI don’t know why. I know the word brother bothers him, but…. I’ve alwayswanted a brother. Someone who knows what it’s like to have your future alreadydecided for you. I don’t want to compete with him. I want to get to knowhim.”

Gavin was silent for a moment, not knowing whatto say. He knows he’s heard Nines vent about Connor. He thinks he’s too nice,spineless. That he will learn from his mistakes and be superior when it comesto who Amanda favors. Nines doesn’t care about the praise he just wants to bethe best.

“I’ll say this. Stop trying so hard. Henotices it. Act like you don’t even know him it’ll drive him up the wall. Hewants competition, give him a good show. Nothing cutthroat, but enough to piquehis interest. He’s kinda of a weird guy, but he’ll have your back when you earnit the right way.”

Connor seemed like he was mentally taking notesand had some time to process the information. The smile that came from thegratitude left Gavin flustered.

“Thank you for listening. I know it isn’tyour business but you’re easy to talk to when you’re not with him.” knowing heacts a bit cold when Nines is around.

Gavin huffs. "Don’t tell Nines I saidanything nice about him or I’ll never hear the end of it.” Connorchuckles. The truth is that while he wanted to stop seeing Connor so sad, hewanted Nines to have an older brother who actually gave a shit about him. Heand Eli weren’t exactly close. He saw Nines more than he did Eli and it wasbetter this way. Having someone look after him would be good for both of them. 

“My lips are sealed.” he promised.

Now here he was 2 years after that conversation,face in the toilet as he’s spilling his guts while Connor’s rubs his back.Nines waiting with a glass of water and a worried expression on his face whilehe waits for his friend to finish.  

He can’t hear much aside from his own purgingbut between his breaks he makes out a few sentences.

“Don’t lead him on. You hurt him and Iwon’t hesitate to get rid of you for good.”

Connor’s response is cut off by Gavin’s puking.He is put to bed and wakes up with the worst hangover ever. Connor has goneback to his dorm by the next morning.

After Nines goes to college and is living at thedorm, Gavin doesn’t come around much. Not that he can, training to be a policeofficer is hard work and he’s surprised he has time for anything. The yearspass and he only has lunch with Nines once a month and the occasional text.Things are nice, he remembers growing up with him fondly and wishes him well asthey live their own lives. His thoughts always go back to Connor and their late-nightconversations. He wonders what would happen if he were to see him at this age.Was his young infatuation clouded by nostalgia? He didn’t know.

Nines invites him to the Holiday dinner. They’venever actually celebrated but having some photos for their social media wouldmake it all the better for them. Gavin hasn’t stepped foot in their house inyears and feels a certain tangle in his stomach as he stands at the front door,bottle of wine in hand as he waits for someone to answer.

The door opens and he is met with those kindbrown eyes that swallow him whole. A genuine smile as he is spotted.

“Gavin! Nines told me you would be havingdinner with us. Come in.” he steps aside to let Gavin in. Gavin’s alwayshad scars on him, just the result of growing up the way he did, but the onestretched across the bridge of his nose was new and suddenly felt an itch ofinsecurity as he noticed no scars on Connor’s flawless skin.  

Connor walked and talked with him. He’s muchmore energetic than he was before, he seems happy and Gavin likes seeing himthis way. Being away from this place and Amanda’s hold works wonders it seems.

“Richard is running late and Amanda went topick up the food, so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me entertaining you fornow.” Connor confesses in an apologetic tone.

“Guess I have to leave, huh?” he jokesand the corners of Connor’s eyes crinkle as he laughs.

They walk into the kitchen, as they did allthose years ago, it felt familiar. They caught up about what they’ve been upto. Gavin’s time at the academy and his first year as detective. Connor and histeaching position at another university away from Amanda and his work with anonprofit that works with foster youth.

They ended up sitting on the counter inches apartsharing a pint of gelato Amanda had meant for dessert.  

“Can I ask you something, Gavin?”

“It’s gonna cost ya.” he replies.

“Will another bite of this gelatosuffice?”

Gavin pretends to think it over.

“Sure, what’s up?” as he snatches thepint back taking the payment into his mouth.

“I enjoy your company. I’ve enjoyed yourcompany for many years now. Ever since you took the time to tell me how toconnect with Nines. I have found a true friend in him and it wouldn’t have beenpossible without you. But…I figured our age difference was inappropriate topursue anything romantic but now that we’re older. I was wondering if—”

Gavin cuts his rambling off with a stickystrawberry flavored kiss. It’s sloppy and poorly timed but it’s perfect. Connorkisses him back with fervor running a hand through Gavin’s thick locks of darkhair. All the tension and feelings that have built up over the years come outas a noise that rips out of Gavin’s throat. They part after a few moments.

“You were takin’ too long to get to thepoint. Figured I save us a few months.” pressing their foreheads together,Connor chuckles.

“You were always one to go headfirstwithout thinking.”

“You think enough for the both of us. Plus,I’ve been wanting to do that for a while too.”

“Why wait any longer?” before Connorpulls him into another kiss. Gavin wraps his arms around his neck and pulls himcloser. It begins to snow outside.

 ++++

Bonus/Scrapped Scene:

Tw: Drug use

Gavin brought the lighter close to the joint inhis hand lighting the end and sucking in as much smoke as he could. This wastheir second one rolled, and Nines was already sprawled on the couch inside hisroom. This would be the last time they could do this before they needed to getclean for their respective futures.

“Where are my cookies?” Gavin asked,slowly tasting the words in his mouth.

Nines languidly rose his hand in the air anddidn’t say anything.

“Nines!” Gavin said louder and Ninesshot up from the bed.

“They’re downstairs.” he says while hestands and leaves without a word. Nines was always weird when high. Gavin satthere staring at the ceiling as smoke filled the room. Amanda was away at aconference and Connor was already doing his own thing in life, he visits everyonce in a while, mostly when Amanda requests his presence.

He blinks slowly, on the cusp of sleep as helets the drug take him. Nines hasn’t been back in a while. He hears the dooropen but thinks nothing of it.

An hour later and a box of cookies and chipsgone the two are placed in front of the T.V playing video games and doing anawful job of winning.

The beep of a car locking brought them both oftheir drug induced hazes. Nines set the controller down and walked through thesmoky room to peer out the window.

“Shit.” he muttered out.

“Is it Amanda?”

“Might as well be. It’s Connor and he’s asnitch.” Nines went to turn on the fan and open the window as he spritzes theroom with Febreze, desperately trying to hide all evidence of all theiractivities.

Gavin rushes to find the eyedrops Nines kept inhis desk drawer for situations just like these. The moments pass so slowly thepanic was dulled by the drugs. He’s never met Connor. Only seen photos andheard Nines talk about him. They looked alike, nothing special. He lived indorms at the university he attended which didn’t make sense since it was only30 minutes away, but Nines told him that he would do the same next year. Thismassive house would be empty.

He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and theyhad done all they could. They went back to playing until a faint knock came atthe door.

“Richard.” a firm voice, a bit higher thanNines, came through the other side of the door.

“I’m busy.” Nines tried to stall for as long aspossible while the small fan did it’s best to propel the smoke out of the room.

“Richard, open the door.” no doubt he couldsmell what was going on in here.

“You’re breaking up. I’ll call you back later.”Nines continued to try to get Connor to leave. Gavin tried to hide his snickersby bringing a hand over his mouth. Nines hits him on the shoulder mouthing himto shut up.

Connor made no attempt to leave. Nines gave inand unlocked the door and flung it open immediately going back to his game.Connor stepped into the room his nose wrinkling at the smell.

Gavin didn’t bother taking his eyes off the gameuntil they lost and then they were drawn to Connor.

His eyes widened at the sight of him. He was slendererthan Nines was with perfectly styled hair and moles that peppered his flawlessskin. His cheeks flushed as he took in the sight of his disappointed frown andstraight poster. The two brothers started arguing about something, but Gavinwas content with just watching the way Connor’s lips curves and his narrow hipsswung.

The man spoke with his perfectly manicured handsexpressing his frustration with Nines’ behavior. His rolled-up sleeves accentedhis strong forearms and loosened tie exposed his throat. Eventually, he leftwhen there was nothing else left to be said.

Nines’ attention went back to him and looked athim in worry as he noticed the blank and open mouth expression on his face.

“Are you okay? Are you having a bad trip?”

“Holy shit, Nines. Why didn’t you warn me thatyour brother was hot I just stood there lookin’ like a dumbass!”

“Granted, you always look like that.” and it wasGavin’s turn to hit Nines.

[patricksartreview]

Virtual Sketch Book 1

1. Jan 11, 2022Jan 11 at 11:20am

Introduction: Hi my name is Patrick, one little known fact about me is I like spicy food.

Art Work: Ibrahim Mahama 2015 Post No Bill. Jute sacks; dimensions variable, at Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University.

First Impression: It looks like a draped piece of artwork made from reclaimed sacks or bags made from burlap. It is like a brown tarp being hung or draped from a wall and resembles a artwork from Africa.

Facts:

1. In the artists home country of Ghana in the civic spaces he would construct large drape works made from reclaimed jute sacks and off cuts of fabric from the trade markets in Ghana.

2. This is Mahamas first major work in a museum in the United States.

3. Most of his artwork is made from discarded items from his homeland in Ghana.

4. The jute sacks that are used in his artwork come from cocoa sacks and coal sacks.

5. Mahama also used Jute sacks to create flags and even reconstructed the United Nations flag from reclaimed sacks too.

The way I viewed the art before I knew anything about it definitely changed, at first it just looked like a bunch of old reused jute sacks put together into a drape, but after learning more about it, this piece of art shows what Ghana is. This artwork shows the history of Ghana while also now that I view it differently is a pleasing piece of art to look at, I like it's almost crude style. Now when I view the art I can notice all the sacks the artist purchased from the markets in Ghana, it looks like a cultural piece of art, and I can see the influence that Ghana had in the artwork. This artwork is interesting to look at because it is made from so many resources each part of it is unique when I look at it.

2.  

This is a picture that I painted back in my art class when I was in high school, I just repainted a photo of a field in Italy that had a little house on it. I used oil paint to create this and a picture to help me go off of and follow, which included details like the trees in the back, the house, the lavender, and the sun dried grass. This artwork is used as decoration for my parents house, also it is nice to look at because this is one of my first paintings I made. I do think it is beautiful because I created it, this painting was one that really stood out because it is the first time I actually took care when painting and also learned about how to paint too, It also represents the type of artwork I like which is art that shows nature and its beauty.

3. When I look at art I look at all the details it has, I am 21 years old, the gender I am aligned with is male, I am from Sarasota Florida, I am caucasian, I am not a member of a organized group, I work at my fathers business, what makes me uniquely me is being me and learning about the natural world. What I do for fun is I like to play the drums, read, open geodes, polish rocks, and grow sunflowers.

4. 

[junker-town]

TITLELESS: 16 NBA championship contenders who weren’t good enough

The cold, hard reality of the NBA Playoffs is that only one team can be champion. These 16 teams weren’t quite good enough.

The cold, hard reality of the NBA Playoffs is that only one team can be champion. That means that countless great and memorable teams have suffered the unfortunate fate of running into an opponent that’s just a bit better. Meet the 16 teams of the Not Good Enough Division.

APRIL 13: 16 teams that flamed out early in the playoffs APRIL 14: 16 “Overachievers” COMING THURSDAY: 16 teams who were robbed or had their era cut short

16. 1996-97 Atlanta Hawks

ERA: Dikembe’s Hawks

RECORD: 56-26

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to Chicago Bulls (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Dikembe Mutombo

COACH: Lenny Wilkins

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Mookie Blaylock, Steve Smith, Christian Laettner, Tyrone Corbin, Alan Henderson, Eldridge Recasner, Henry James, Jon Barry

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

Once upon a time, the Atlanta Hawks were a free-agent destination. At least they were for Dikembe Mutombo, a young, shot-blocking center who wore out his welcome in Denver. Mutombo seemed headed to Phoenix in a three-team sign-and-trade that would’ve sent Charles Barkley to Houston, but the deal fell apart when Mutombo asked the Suns for more money. Detroit initially jumped to the front of the line, but Atlanta ended up winning the war with a seven-year, $70 million contract offer.

The money was the biggest factor in Mutombo’s decision, but Atlanta also won Mutombo over by promising a bigger offensive role and rewarding close friend Steve Smith with a fat new contract of his own. “I’m much happier, but poorer,” team president Stan Kasten ominously said after retaining Smith. “He was really hard on us, that’s all I’m going to say.”

Atlanta got better the next season, improving by 10 wins and even taking a game off the mighty Bulls in the second round. That was the high-water mark of this era, though. Chicago won that series in five, and the Hawks slowly faded after a fast start to the 1997-98 season.

15. 1984-85 Denver Nuggets

ERA: Doug Moe’s run-and-gun fun bunch

RECORD: 52-30

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +2.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Alex English

COACH: Doug Moe

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Fat Lever, Calvin Natt, T.R. Dunn, Wayne Cooper, Dan Issel, Bill Hanzlik, Elston Turner, Mike Evans

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1987-88

The Denver Nuggets of the 1980s were the prototype for the Seven Seconds Or Less Suns and other up-tempo marvels of the modern era. In many ways, coach Doug Moe was a precursor to Mike D’Antoni. He created a revolutionary whiplash pass-and-move style of play and then left the details for the players to figure out. While other coaches diagrammed intricate set plays and poured over what passed for game film those days, Moe often cancelled practice and never really studied his opponents.

The Nuggets lit up the scoreboard because nobody could get a read on them, but also gave up a ton of points and thus weren’t taken seriously. Not that it bothered Moe too much. This quote from a 1988 Sports Illustrated profile sounds a lot like something D’Antoni would shout to the rooftops years later:

”Most of my career, we’ve been first in offense and last in defense,” Moe says. “But what people don’t realize is that total scores have nothing to do with defense or offense, just the pace of the game. It’s the dumbest statistic ever, totally wacko, and yet everyone uses the total scores as an indication of the kind of defense you play. I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but as long as people go by that stat, I know there’s someone out there dumber than I am.”

Adjusting raw stats to account for pace … what a concept!

The 1984-85 team was Moe’s best of the bunch, though it also was the one that looked most traditional. Before the season, Denver traded Kiki Vandeweghe, a 29-point-per-game scorer who couldn’t guard a chair, to Portland for a king’s ransom that included big man Calvin Natt, point guard Fat Lever, shot-blocking center Wayne Cooper, and multiple draft picks. All three thrived while rounding out the roster around star Alex English.

Denver reached the conference finals and had a real shot to beat the mighty Los Angeles Lakers. They blew LA off the court in Game 2 to tie the series, with English dropping 40 on a stunned Forum crowd.

After losing Game 3 at home, Denver came out hot in Game 4, with English scoring 26 first-half points. Disaster struck in the second half when English re-aggravated a thumb injury that kept him out the rest of the series. Denver rallied from eight down in the fourth quarter without English, but lost Game 4 when the Lakers got seven zillion offensive rebounds before a game-winning James Worthy putback with 20 seconds left.

“That has to rank with one of the most courageous performances I’ve ever seen,” said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, never a man to resort to hyperbole, in a TV interview.

Without English, Denver had no chance in Game 5. Too bad. That was a fun team.

14. 1982-83 San Antonio Spurs

ERA: The Iceman

RECORD: 53-29

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +3.6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): George Gervin

COACH: Stan Albeck

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Artis Gilmore, Mike Mitchell, Gene Banks, Johnny Moore, Mike Dunleavy, Bill Willoughby

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1978-79

George Gervin, the skinny, slick wing who brought the finger roll into our lives, had two real chances to win a title.

The first was in 1979. Led by Gervin and high-scoring running mate Larry Kenon, the high-octane, loosey-goosey Spurs ran circles around the aging Washington Bullets to take a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. (Why were the Spurs in the East then? :shruggie:) They blew the next two games, but zipped ahead in Game 7 on the road, with Gervin lighting up the scoreboard for 34 points in three quarter. They led by 10 in the fourth and six with two minutes left, but fell apart down the stretch. Gervin didn’t score or even get a shot late, and was bullied inside by Greg Ballard on the other end. Meanwhile, Washington’s Bobby Dandridge took over down the stretch and eventually won the game with a baseline turnaround over three Spurs.

Gervin’s second real chance came in 1982-83, with a team that barely resembled the one that was forged in the wide-open ABA. The Spurs replaced coach Doug Moe with Stan Albeck, who believed San Antonio needed to slow the game down and build a smash-mouth team exclusively around Gervin. Kenon made way for Mike Mitchell, a former all-star in Cleveland who rediscovered his game with the Spurs. After the Lakers swept them in 1982, San Antonio made a bold move for Artis Gilmore, a big-name center to match up with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. San Antonio won four of five against LA in the regular season, but a pissed-off Abdul-Jabbar raised his game to another level and destroyed Gilmore in LA’s six-game West Finals victory.

Which to choose? The 1979 team got closer, but the 1983 team had more top-end talent and was more equipped to succeed in the playoffs. They just happened to run into a buzzsaw in Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers.

13. 1971-72 Chicago Bulls

ERA: Dick Motta’s Bulls

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +9.3

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in second round to Los Angeles Lakers (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): Bob Love

COACH: Dick Motta

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Chet Walker, Jerry Sloan, Norm Van Lier, Bob Weiss, Tom Boerwinkle, Clifford Ray

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1970-71, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75

The Bulls were to the 70s what the Bucks were to the 1980s: a well-rounded ensemble cast that always put itself in the mix, was one piece short of taking down the best teams of their era.

In Chicago’s case, that piece was a center. Jerry Sloan and Norm Van Lier were pit bull defensive guards, and the combination of Chet Walker and Bob Love were nearly unstoppable at the forward spots. But Chicago kept getting beat by the great big men of their era, losing three times to Wilt Chamberlain’s Lakers and once to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s Bucks. Tom Boerwinkle and Clifford Ray got more out of their talent than they should have, but they were dramatically overmatched against the best of their era.

Chicago came closer to the Finals in 1971, 1973, and 1975, when they lost in the seventh game of the conference finals. The 1972-73 team actually held a seven-point lead over the Lakers with less than three minutes left of Game 7 before fumbling it away. But the 1971-72 club had the best point differential of the bunch and destroyed everyone not named Los Angeles or Milwaukee. Unfortunately, they had to face the 69-win Lakers in the playoffs, which ended in a sweep.

12. 2008-09 Denver Nuggets

ERA: Melo’s Nuggets

RECORD: 54-28

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +3.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Carmelo Anthony

COACH: George Karl

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Chauncey Billups, Nene, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Anthony Carter, Linas Kleiza, Chris Andersen, Dahntay Jones

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

The early-season acquisition of Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson turned these undisciplined Nuggets into a tough unit that actually played up to expectations. Billups gave George Karl much-needed leadership and enabled Carmelo Anthony to focus on what he did best: score. If only they could complete an inbounds pass in the closing seconds of tight West Finals games against the Lakers. My God.

How hard could it be?

11. 1996-97 Houston Rockets

ERA: The old “Superteam”

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +4.5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Utah Jazz (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, Clyde Drexler

COACH: Rudy Tomjanovich

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Mario Elie, Matt Maloney, Kevin Willis, Eddie Johnson, Sedale Threatt, Brent Price

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

This was the original Superteam, at least in the inorganic, player-empowered way we now associate with the term.

Following a rough year in Phoenix, Charles Barkley threatened to retire if the Suns didn’t trade him to a contender. Houston obliged, giving up a package centered around Sam Cassell and Robert Horry, two key members of their back-to-back title teams in 1994 and 1995. “I’m excited because I called the shots,” Barkley said when the trade was reported. “When push comes to shove, I think you have to stand up to the system.” These kinds of trades are common now, but they weren’t back then.

The move left the Rockets as an old, shallow team, with Barkley joining fellow graybeards Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. Houston patched together enough of a supporting cast to reach the conference finals, but fell to a John Stockton buzzer beater in Game 6.

They then succumbed to injury the next couple seasons, with the bottom falling out after an ill-fated deal for Scottie Pippen during the lockout season.

If you ask Horry, the deal for Barkley was the moment the Rockets’ dynasty died. From a 2015 Huffington Post interview:

“It’s one of the things that me and Sam Cassell talk about all the time. If they would have made the changes and bring in Kevin Willis and Eddie Johnson to that team adding to me and Sam, that’s all we needed. Now they bring in Barkley, a guy who doesn’t like to practice and a guy that doesn’t work hard — it’s documented by Jordan. Now you would’ve added us to that mix with two vets; we would have had a great team. But, no, they think, ‘Oh, we’re going to bring in Charles,’ and, hell, you just realize Charles didn’t win anything in Phoenix — he didn’t win in Philly. And sometimes great players don’t make a great team better.”

Horry’s right that Barkley’s fit was awkward, but he’s dramatically overrating a pre-trade Rockets team that was already showing its age after the Sonics swept them out of the 1996 playoffs. Were the 72-win Bulls really gonna be scared of that Rockets team, plus two 34+-year-old aging vets? At least adding Barkley gave the Rockets a chance.

10. 1975-76 Denver Nuggets

ERA: David Thompson’s Nuggets

RECORD: 60-24

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in ABA Finals to New Jersey Nets (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): David Thompson

COACH: Larry Brown

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, Ralph Simpson, Chuck Williams, Byron Beck, Gus Gerard, Claude Terry, Jim Bradley

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1974-75, 1976-77, 1977-78

The lone ABA representative on this list might have been disrespected in the rankings. As the ABA fell apart around them, the Nuggets turned into a powerhouse. In 1974-75, young coach Larry Brown led Denver to 65 wins before they were overwhelmed by George McGinnis’ one-man show in Indiana. That team then added David Thompson, a breathtaking rookie from NC State whose grace and high-flying aerial assaults mimicked a young Michael Jordan a decade later. (Jordan idolized Thompson, which is why he asked Thompson to present him at his Hall of Fame induction.)

But the Nuggets were again defeated by a one-man band, falling to Julius Erving and the Nets in the ABA’s last Finals series. Denver led by 22 points in the second half of Game 6 before falling apart to lose the crown.

Thompson and the Nuggets’ NBA careers were decidedly less memorable. Thompson dealt with injuries and a cocaine addiction that nearly wrecked his life. (He is thankfully sober today.) His relationship with Brown soured, with Brown chafing by Thompson’s $800,000-a-year new contract before calling it quits midway through the 1978-79 season. (Larry Brown folding early? Why I never.) The Nuggets have occasionally thrived in the NBA, but have never reached their ABA heights.

9. 1996-97 Miami Heat

ERA: Riley and Zo

RECORD: 61-21

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Alonzo Mourning

COACH: Pat Riley

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Tim Hardaway, Jamal Mashburn, Dan Majerle, P.J. Brown, Voshon Leonard, Isaac Austin, Keith Askins, Kurt Thomas, John Crotty

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00

Four of the five legitimate Heat teams of the ugly-but-effective Pat Riley-Alonzo Mourning era lost as favorites in the playoffs. Three of those losses were to the Knicks, while the fourth was a thorough evisceration by Baron Davis’ Charlotte Hornets. This was the fifth of those five, and they may have lost to the Knicks too if not for the league’s controversial rule about leaving the bench during a fight. You remember this, don’t you?

I remembered the fight, but I forgot the politicking by both teams thereafter. I forgot P.J. Brown saying he doesn’t believe “all that choir boy image stuff” with the Knicks. I forgot Charlie Ward claiming he was just “boxing out like I usually do on free throws” even though the Knicks were down 15 with less than two minutes remaining. I hadn’t seen Pat Riley’s firm insistence that the fight only got “out of hand” because the Knicks players left the bench. (Riley’s annunciation on “com-BAT-ants” was especially well executed.) I very much enjoyed Jeff Van Gundy’s withering sarcasm at the thought of the NBA allowing “6’11 guys picking on six-foot guys.” (Think of the children!)

But Tim Hardaway is the one who really stole the show. Look at his wink-winking to the camera while saying, “it’ll be very interesting to see what [NBA rules czar] Rod Thorn does.” It was not subtle.

It worked, though. Thorn tossed Brown for the rest of the series, but made five Knicks — Ward, Allan Houston, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and Larry Johnson — serve one-game suspensions. The first three missed Miami’s Game 6 victory at MSG, while the latter two sat out as Miami closed out the series in seven. The Heat ended up losing in five to the Bulls in the next round.

8. 2003-04 Minnesota Timberwolves

ERA: KG and Flip

RECORD: 58-24

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.4

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Los Angeles Lakers (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Kevin Garnett

COACH: Flip Saunders

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Latrell Sprewell, Sam Cassell, Wally Szczerbiak, Ervin Johnson, Trenton Hassell, Fred Hoiberg, Michael Olowokandi, Mark Madsen

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: None

The one and only credible Timberwolves team in the Kevin Garnett era rose and fell in a flash. Dogged by first-round exits carrying a limited supporting cast, Garnett went to owner Glen Taylor and asked for more help. He did his part by signing a new contract below the max, and Taylor’s embattled general manager Kevin McHale did his by acquiring Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell. Both veterans came with high salaries and as distressed assets, having worn out their welcomes in Milwaukee and New York.

After a slow start, the team gelled beautifully, racing to the top of the Western Conference. They survived a formidable Kings team in the second round, then split the first two games with the vaunted Lakers in the conference Finals. But their Game 2 victory was tarnished by a debilitating Cassell injury, which turned out to be a torn hip that rendered him useless the rest of the series. With Cassell and backup Troy Hudson both out, Minnesota had to use third-stringer Darrick Martin, with Garnett of all people supplying additional playmaking. “I knew for a fact that if I was healthy, we would have won a championship,” Cassell said in 2014.

Minnesota lost that series in six, and then all hell broke loose. Sprewell and Cassell asked for contract extensions, but didn’t get them. (This is where Sprewell’s famous “feed my family” quote was born.) Hudson and Wally Szczerbiak, both former starters displaced by Sprewell and Cassell the previous season, wanted their jobs back. As a horrendous follow-up season came to a close, Taylor called the trades for Cassell and Sprewell “a failed experiment” and “financial-wise, a poor decision on our part.” Ten months ago, they were the missing pieces in the best Timberwolves team of all time. Now, they were a failed experiment? The about-face was remarkable.

Sprewell left in free agency and never played again, while Cassell was included along with a first-round pick in a disastrous sign-and-trade with the Clippers for the right to give Marko Jaric a six-year, $37 million contract. Two years later, the Timberwolves traded Garnett to the Celtics. Now that’s how you destroy a contender.

7. 1997-98 Indiana Pacers

ERA: Reggie!

RECORD: 59-23

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.1

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Reggie Miller

COACH: Larry Bird

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Rik Smits, Mark Jackson, Dale David, Antonio Davis, Chris Mullin, Jalen Rose, Derrick McKey, Travis Best

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1993-94, 1994-95, 1998-99, 1999-00

This was the best Pacers team of the Reggie Miller era, though others may have advanced further in the playoffs (2000), suffered more disappointing defeats (1999), or produced more iconic moments (1994, 1995).

The 1997-98 club was rock solid, having replaced taskmaster coach Larry Brown with the more laid-back Larry Bird. They were deep, with young Jalen Rose emerging as a dynamic bench player to complement the veteran core of Miller, Mark Jackson, Rik Smits, Chris Mullin, and the Davises. If only they could have snagged a defensive rebound or two in that Game 7 defeat to the Bulls.

6. 1985-86 Milwaukee Bucks

ERA: Don Nelson’s Bucks

RECORD: 57-25

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +9

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in East Finals to Boston Celtics (4-0)

KEY STAR(S): Sidney Moncrief

COACH: Don Nelson

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Terry Cummings, Paul Pressey, Ricky Pierce, Alton Lister, Craig Hodges, Randy Breuer

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87

Any of the wonderful-yet-forgotten Bucks teams from the 1980s would be a strong entry in this tournament. You could make a great case for the 1980-81, which relied on an in-prime Marques Johnson, an emerging Sidney Moncrief, and an aging-but-still-effective Bob Lanier in the middle. They won 60 games despite enduring several injuries, but fell to the 76ers in the second round by the slimmest of margins. Game 7, played in front of a sparse Philadelphia crowd, featured 19 ties, 11 lead changes, and one furious Bucks’ rally from 16 points down that fell just short.

But the 1985-86 Bucks get the nod because they did the one thing no other Bucks team could during the decade: beat the 76ers. It took a missed jumper by Julius Erving in the closing seconds of Game 7, but it happened. One point on the right side in 1986 vs. one point on the wrong side in 1981 was the difference.

Just getting past Philly took everything out of Milwaukee. Moncrief, who always seemed to have nagging health issues, was nursing a painful foot injury that kept him out of Game 6 against the 76ers. Young co-star Terry Cummings, acquired in a masterful trade with the Clippers for Johnson before the 1984-85 season, was fighting through a dislocated finger. Ricky Pierce, the Bucks’ fabulous sixth man, played through a sprained ankle. They might have been drawing dead against the fantastic 1985-86 Celtics even at full strength, but we never really got to find out.

5. 1963-64 San Francisco Warriors

ERA: Young Wilt

RECORD: 48-32

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +5.1

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Boston Celtics (4-1)

KEY STAR(S): Wilt Chamberlain

COACH: Alex Hannum

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Guy Rodgers, Al Attles, Wayne Hightower, Gary Phillips, Nate Thurmond

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1959-60, 1961-62

Fair or not, Young Wilt Chamberlain had a reputation for being a selfish coach-killer that only cared about his own stats. That got taken to its logical extreme in 1961-62, when Chamberlain averaged 50 points a game for a Philadelphia Warriors team that catered to his every move.

After those Warriors fell narrowly to Bill Russell’s Celtics in the East Finals, they moved across the country to San Francisco and saw Chamberlain mope his way through a 31-49 season that alienated his new fans. “He felt like someone who bought a Rolls-Royce only to discover that the horn didn’t work,” read one Sports Illustrated article.

In came Alex Hannum, a no-nonsense, 6’7 former championship coach who was there to stand up to Chamberlain. The two men got into a screaming match early in the season, but Chamberlain responded by playing more team ball and empowering the rest of the Warriors players. They lost in five games to Boston in the Finals, but the Hannum-Chamberlain partnership seemed poised for the long haul.

Instead, the Warriors fell apart the next season. Chamberlain was nowhere near himself after a preseason bout with pancreatitis, and eccentric new owner Frankie Mieuli traded him to the 76ers to avoid paying out a massive salary. Hannum left the next season and later reunited with Chamberlain to win the 1967 title as 76ers coach.

4. 1961-62 Los Angeles Lakers

ERA: Elgin and Mr. Clutch

RECORD: 54-26

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +2.2

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Boston Celtics (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): Elgin Baylor, Jerry West

COACH: Fred Schaus

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Dick Barnett, Frank Selvy, Rudy LaRusso, Jim Krebs, Hod Rod Hundley, Ray Felix, Tom Hawkins

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1962-63, 1964-65, 1965-66, 1967-68

It’s a real shame Elgin Baylor never won a championship. His Lakers always ran into the same brick wall that was Bill Russell’s Celtics, and always seemed to fall short in the same way. He and Jerry West were always spectacular, but the Celtics always had more depth and cohesion.

Baylor came closest in 1962, and damn did he come close amid remarkable circumstances. He was called up to the Army Reserve during the season — because he was stationed in Washington, he could only travel back to play in weekend Lakers games. His service was finished by the time the playoffs rolled around, making LA a much more dangerous team than its record indicated.

Led by Baylor and West, the Lakers split the first three games and 47:55 with the Celtics. With five seconds left in Game 7, the Lakers inbounded the ball to Hot Rod Hundley. Legendary Celtics point guard Bob Cousy inexplicably gazed at the ball, leaving Frank Selvy wiiiide open from 12 feet away. But Selvy missed, and Boston eventually survived in overtime when Cousy dribbled out the clock.

Seriously, what was Cousy doing???

Dogged by injuries, Baylor was never quite the same player thereafter. He retired early in the 1971-72 season as a shell of his former self. Months later, those Lakers won the title.

3. 1992-93 Phoenix Suns

ERA: Barkley’s Suns

RECORD: 62-20

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +6.7

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Charles Barkley

COACH: Paul Westphal

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Kevin Johnson, Dan Majerle, Richard Dumas, Tom Chambers, Danny Ainge, Mark West, Oliver Miller, Frank Johnson

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 1993-94, 1994-95

These Suns are remembered for their star power, high-octane offense, and memorable duel with the Bulls in the 1993 Finals. They swung a huge trade for Charles Barkley and ran away with the West. Barkley won MVP, scowling and shouting his message from the rooftops whenever he could find a microphone. The Barkley-Michael Jordan Finals duel occurred at arguably the peak of NBA interest in this country.

As fun as they were, though, they’ve become a bit overrated over the years. Their point differential was about the same as the previous two Suns teams without Barkley, and their defense was porous for a title favorite. Barkley and holdover Kevin Johnson co-exited, but never developed great on-court chemistry thanks in part to Johnson’s injuries. They lost the first two games of their first-round series against a dogshit Lakers team before rallying to win in five. Their West Finals victory over Seattle could’ve gone either way. Key reserve Cedric Ceballos missed the tail end of their playoff run.

I’m just saying they might be over-ranked.

2. 2017-18 Houston Rockets

ERA: James Harden’s Moreyball

RECORD: 65-17

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8.5

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in West Finals to Golden State Warriors (4-3)

KEY STAR(S): James Harden, Chris Paul (injured Games 6-7)

COACH: Mike D’Antoni

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Trevor Ariza, Eric Gordon, Clint Capela, P.J. Tucker, Ryan Anderson, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Gerald Green, Nene

OTHER SEASONS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 2014-15, 2016-17, 2018-19

Fortified by the offseason acquisition of Chris Paul, the Rockets dominated the regular season behind a switch-everything defense and a deadly isolation attack spearheaded by James Harden.

Everything they did was to match up against the Warriors, a team nobody else dared to challenge. They took a 3-2 lead in their conference finals series, but lost Paul due to injury late in Game 5. Somehow, they led both Games 6 and 7 by double-digits at halftime. But Golden State flipped the switch and the Rockets faded, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 missed threes at a time.

1. 1996-97 Utah Jazz

ERA: Stockton and The Mailman

RECORD: 64-18

POINT DIFFERENTIAL: +8.8

PLAYOFF RESULT: Lost in NBA Finals to Chicago Bulls (4-2)

KEY STAR(S): Karl Malone, John Stockton

COACH: Jerry Sloan

OTHER KEY PLAYERS: Jeff Hornacek, Byron Russell, Greg Ostertag, Antoine Carr, Chris Morris, Shandon Anderson, Adam Keefe, Greg Foster

OTHERS CONSIDERED FROM THIS ERA: 8987-88, 1989-90, 1991-92, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1997-98, 1998-99

Twenty-three years later, the subhead on Jackie MacMullen’s “Inside the NBA” piece for the March 17, 1997, issue of Sports Illustrated sticks out like a sore thumb. “[Karl] Malone is playing like an MVP,” it read. “Not that anyone has noticed.”

Whether the piece changed the narrative or simply reflected something deeper beneath the surface, it had a major effect. Two months later, Malone edged out Michael Jordan in the voting to win the NBA’s preeminent regular-season prize.

The Bulls seethed, which proved to be bad news for Malone when he finally reached his first NBA Finals. As he stepped to the line in the closing seconds of a tied Game 1, Scottie Pippen whispered the now-iconic words: “The Mailman don’t deliver on Sundays.” Malone missed both, opening the door for Jordan to hit a game-winning jumper at the buzzer.

That set the stage for a Finals in which Malone played below par and the Jazz lost in six games despite often being on the doorstep of victory. Their Game 5 loss has been memorialized as Jordan’s “Flu Game” moment, and they gave up a game-winning jumper to Steve Kerr in Game 6 before throwing the ball away at the buzzer.

Too bad, because these Jazz were a dominant force. They zipped through the West playoffs, schooling the young Lakers in five and outlasting the superteam Rockets of Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, and Charles Barkley in the West Finals. In any other season, they would have been champions.

[beingronit]

It has been a month since I have moved to Melbourne. It is beautiful cosmopolitan city with an unpredictable weather. It is the melting pot of world cuisines. The city has multiple hidden lanes where numerous restaurants offering different variety of gourmet romance to my insatiable palate. One can choose to soak up sun at the St. Kilda beach on an weekend, haunt the shopping outlets and mall in the CBD during the weekdays, have delicious brunches or dinner in the hardware lane or enjoy a sunset the South Wharf or splurge at the DFO outlet or walk along the Yarra trail. The Yarra river flows through the CBD (Central Business District). This city reminds me of London. I am still exploring Melbourne and the scenic spots in the state of Victoria. I will soon be writing a ‘Must Explore’ blog post on Melbourne. This post is about my long weekend trip to Frazer Island located in the Queensland, ‘The Sunshine State’.

Frazer Island is a unique destination in Australia. the largest sand island in the world and the only place on the planet where rainforest grows on sand! The island stretches over 120 km. It also has perched lakes – lakes formed when depressions in dunes fill permanently with rainwater.

The state highway (only 4×4 drive), the airplane runway is the beach. Yes, you have read it correct, “The Beach”. If you do not believe me, please check out the YouTube video links below:

Flight Path: https://youtu.be/1OBusppKD-I

4-wheel drive Path: https://youtu.be/GkyiTDNQ7w0

How to get there?

One can choose to get to the island via Rainbow Beach or Hervey Bay. The island can be accessed by 4-wheel drive (4WD) only. To access via rainbow beach, an international traveller need to arrive in Brisbane, like we did. However, one can also choose to travel by charter flights to the island. But where is the fun in that? Locals prefer self-drive. But for international travellers I would recommend taking the guided tour. There are one day, 2 days or 3 days trip options. We took the 2-day trip option from the Sun Rover Tours and I am extremely satisfied with their service. Thanks to our tour Guide Mr. Jai Black, we had amazing fun. He was knowledgeable, humorous and a 4WD enthusiast.

We flew to Brisbane from Melbourne on Friday Morning, let’s call it day 1. In Australia, domestic flights are reasonable. There are 2 economic airlines – Tiger and Jetstart. We took Tiger Airways for both trips and we are their happy customers. Punctual and spacious seats (my height: 179 cm).

Day 1:

We stayed at Hotel Jen. Considering their economical pricing, they offer a lot of luxury amenities. Both my travel/life partner and I love exploring any destination by foot. So, we both deposited our back packs at the hotel and ventured out to walk by the Brisbane River Loop Path. I am actually amazed when we crossed an artificially created beach in the middle of the city. We also happened to be in the city on a day before the Police Remembrance day, so we could see Fighter Jet flying low over the river. But we missed the fireworks.

Must do in Brisbane in a day:

Watching sunset from Mount Coot-Tha view point

2. Walk/ cycle along the River Loop path and

3. A quiet walk by the Story Bridge in the night

Day 2:

We left for Frazer Island at 0700 hrs in our landcruiser without group. There is a refreshment stop in every hour on our way to Inskip point in Rainbow beach. From Inskip point we took the barge cross the sea to reach Frazer Island.

Inskip point at Rainbow beach

4-wheel Drive on the beach

The Barge

Our Abode in Dilli Village

We were staying at the Dilli Village. Once reaching there, we dropped off our luggage and left for central station and lake McKenzie. Post our return, we had dinner and then headed out for a late-night beach walk.

Central Station: We got to see the rare King Fern, only found in this island.

Central Station

King Fern

Scribbly Gum

These zigzag tracks are tunnels made by the larvae of the Scribbly Gum Moth on the bark and tell a story of the insect’s life cycle.

Lake McKenzie: Pure white sands meets clear blue freshwater.

Lake McKenzie

Day 3:

Before checking out from our camp, we watched the sunrise…

Lake Wabby: It is 45 min hike from the beach. So, it is highly recommended that you do it in the first hour of the day to avoid exertion from the heat. (Carry 1 litre water bottle). I liked Lake Wabby more.

Lake Wabby

Panaromic View of Lake Wabby

On our way to the lake, I saw impressions of wild life on two tree trunks resembling a lion and a baby deer. Let me know if you can see too.

Impression of a Lion

Impression of a baby deer

The hike path through the rain forest:

Eli Creek: This is a fun creek where you can walk the knee depth cold and clean creek

Eli Creek

Eli Creek

Eli Creek

Eli Creek

SS Maheno Shipwreck: Its history was not very fascinating to me.

P.S. we saw dolphin and dingo along the beach of Frazer island hop-off point.

Dolphin Sighting

    A chilling Dingo

Thanks for an awesome group, we have super fun!

Posing with our 4 wheel drive! 

  2-day camping adventure in Frazer Island It has been a month since I have moved to Melbourne. It is beautiful cosmopolitan city with an unpredictable weather.

[magic-and-moonlit-wings]

Hi, I've decided to have Bagheera, albeit reluctantly, to sabotage Mowgli near the end of the race, and she gets angry at him and runs off, upset, with Bagheera heartbroken and regretful for want he just did. That, and it feels more emotionally resonant, as well as sad. Also, how do you feel about Troll!Jim and what would you do to rewrite Jim's choice, Merlin, as well as season 3 as a whole? Finally, are there any films you hate, but everyone loves? - The Sapphire One.

It sounds like that plot arc is coming together well for you.

+=+  

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I hated the movie, but despite it’s popularity I did not care for Rocky Horror Picture Show. It felt like the plot lost coherency about twenty minutes in. That may be intentional and part of the appeal for the target audience?

+=+

Okay, take a bathroom break, get some water and a snack, and make yourself comfortable. This could take a while.

Making Jim a troll was a frustrating narrative decision for many reasons.

One, as many before me have pointed out, it undermined the ongoing theme of how Jim not being a troll means he has connections, abilities, and thought processes that previous Trollhunters didn’t, which gives him a strategic advantage because Bular, Angor, and Gunmar were all used to fighting troll Trollhunters.

Two, making Jim strong enough to beat Gunmar in single combat went against the show’s ongoing narrative about the importance of teamwork. I was expecting Gunmar’s defeat to be a team effort, probably culminating in Gunmar trying to attack one of the Trollhunting team in front of him while Jim struck from behind and/or above (aided by a shadow portal or the Warhammer’s flight ability) to land the killing blow.

Three, characters are supposed to develop over the course of a show if it doesn’t have a floating timeline with an implied reset button between episodes. Jim ends the series in much the same position as he began it, having been freshly altered by Merlin into what the wizard has decided the world needs.

His friends and family on the other side of the bathroom door begging Jim not to go into the potion also strongly mirrors them begging him not to go through Killahead Bridge alone in the Season 1 finale - I think somebody spliced together those scenes and overlayed angsty music, actually, but I don’t recall who or have a link to the video - which means he made basically the same mistake again after supposedly learning better.

Four, there are practical concerns when shapeshifting. Jim has no experience physically being a troll.

The heightened senses of sight, hearing, and smell could cause over-stimulation.

The reduced sense of touch (“I didn’t feel a thing!” Jim declares after getting knocked across the yard and through a fence by AAARRRGGHH) could cause dissociation.

Jim’s new height and the new length and weight of his limbs could cause clumsiness, and not being used to his faster reflexes could result in over-compensating for any movement and exaggerate the clumsiness.

Radically shapeshifting right before a massive battle and having maybe a day to train in his new form could just as easily have reverted Jim back to a beginner’s skill level. (Also the loss of a finger on his dominant hand could affect dexterity.)

Five, Merlin treated Jim terribly when manipulating him into using the potion. I read a fic where Merlin strongly urges Jim to become half-troll without beating him unconscious and tying him to a chair first, and Jim does go through with it, and it’s still upsetting but it feels so much more like Jim made the decision instead of a child being browbeaten by an authority figure until they give in. (Chapter 5 of Forget your perfect offering, by Hagar - that wasn’t why it’s point five, I’m listing these in the order I think of them, but it’s a fun coincidence.)

Six, as I have commented on before, Jim transforms one episode before the finale. That kind of last-second power-up feels like a cop-out where the writers couldn’t actually figure out how to let the protagonists win and so had to shove in some deus ex machina to make it work.

The audience got 49 episodes of human!Jim, cheering him on and wanting to see his victory, and then 3 episodes of troll!Jim, seen under circumstances which mostly emphasized how different he was from human!Jim (in order to show how much he sacrificed), and so it basically felt like a new character showed up and was given the grand finale that the former protagonist was supposed to get. If Jim had transformed midway through the season, it would have been less jarring.

Seven, which ties strongly into point six; radical alterations to the visual design of a character in a predominantly visual medium such as a cartoon create the impression of introducing a new character if we don’t have time to see parallels between the new and old version. There is a physical resemblance between Jim’s troll and human forms, sure, but …

Jim also starts acting differently post-transformation. He’s more confident (playfully kissing Claire during their sparring match) and gets angry more easily (which, to be fair, might be circumstantial). This could be natural character evolution, but it’s a pretty steep jump, emphasizing the impression of troll!Jim and human!Jim as separate characters.

For me, the fact that the Shadow Staff couldn’t recognize him after the transformation even though Claire still feels an emotional bond with Jim is the most damning evidence that the writers essentially killed the human Trollhunter off to replace him with a troll one.

Eight, connecting with point four, I wouldn’t have expected the writers to tackle this in any case even if the characters acknowledged the possibility, but there was a possibility of regression. What if the potion turned Jim into a sixteen-year-old troll instead of an adolescent one? There would functionally be no Trollhunter for years until Jim grew up again or died, since the Amulet is linked to one bearer until death.

Nine, what if the Amulet had considered Jim ‘dead’ and called a new Trollhunter? Was that why Jim had to bring it with him while transforming, so it would still be able to recognize him? Perhaps worse, what if it didn’t consider Jim dead and so didn’t call a new Trollhunter, but still didn’t acknowledge troll!Jim as the Trollhunter?

I guess points four, eight and nine are basically the same point - there were a lot of ways it could have gone wrong which the characters weren’t given time to consider.

Compromised immune system because Jim has no prior exposure to troll diseases in a form where he could actually catch them; the chance of Jim ‘bridging the gap’ and letting trolls and humans get each other sick; Jim not knowing he’s vulnerable to sunlight and not happening to be in the shade when the sun came up; the interspecies half-and-half organs not being compatible with themselves and Jim dying of organ failure within hours of transforming; Jim and the Amulet having to ‘relearn’ each other like he’s a newly-called Trollhunter again …

Ten, we never get to see Jim out of armour after he transforms, creating the impression he can’t take it off. (Supposedly he can and he’s just stressed, but still.) Even in his two-second cameo in the second season of 3Below, he’s wearing the Eclipse armour. 

Why is he still wearing Eclipse? Gunmar is dead. Jim doesn’t need the Triumbric stones anymore. As far as character alteration in animation goes, palette swaps are like the cheapest one. There is no reason for him not to revert to Daylight … unless he can’t, because the armour won’t shut down, or the Amulet won’t let him summon the other version.

I suppose he could just be saying “for the doom of Gunmar” out of habit, or because he doesn’t want to say “for the glory of Merlin” anymore.

All that said, now that troll!Jim has been established, I do not think the writers should change him back to human!Jim unless he gets the ability to switch back and forth between both forms.

Undoing Jim’s transformation permanently and entirely would feel like the writers shrugged and said, “we’ve written ourselves into a corner and aren’t sure how to get out of it so we’re just bypassing the whole issue.”

Just like killing off the entire Janus Order (as far as we know) by the end of Season 2, so that, when the Familiars were rescued in Season 3 and any Changelings who weren’t in troll form already would all be forced back into troll form at once, the show didn’t have to either explore the repercussions of Changelings being exposed to the world, or explain how they somehow avoided being exposed to the world despite having no forewarning to hide from humans in that moment.

Or having Jim know Angor’s backstory, despite never learning it, even though he would presumably have had feelings and reactions regarding that knowledge.

Or newly-weaponless Claire, whose politician mother would be able to quickly alert the city about any supernatural threats, being the one to go with injured Jim to protect the trolls en route to New Jersey and find the hypothetical Heartstone out there, while Toby, who still has his Warhammer and has canonically been described as having an ‘almost troll-like’ knowledge of minerals, stayed behind in Arcadia, so that Toby could be in the main cast of 3Below Season 2, even though Claire and Eli were seen at play rehearsals together in Trollhunters Season 1 and so it would’ve made just as much sense for Eli to go to Claire about extraterrestrial presence in Arcadia if she had been the one to stay, and we could’ve had a fun scene of Claire asking for a serrator to replace her destroyed staff.

If I were to rewrite Jim’s choice, with full creative freedom, he would not have gone through with using the potion. If I were contractually obligated to have him choose to transform, he would have consulted his teammates on the issue before going through with it, and they would have agreed that the potential improvement of their odds against Gunmar was worth the risk if Jim was willing to take it (basically “I don’t like it but I won’t stop you”) - possibly Jim and Merlin would keep from the rest of the team the detail about the transformation being permanent.

I’m going to wait and see what Tales of Arcadia ultimately does with Merlin’s character before determining how I would rewrite him. If he’s going to be a villain, he’s fine as is, though I might adjust some of the other characters’ reactions to him. If he’s supposed to be a hero, he needs tweaking.

[The things I’ve said before about how I’d rewrite Season 3] remain true.