#desert island top 5 break-ups

[whenthegoldrays]

ELLY'S TOP TEN K-DRAMAS (with songs to match!)

10. Would You Like A Cup of Coffee? (2021)

Centers around Kang Go-bi and the regulars of 2Dae Coffee. Coziest show ever.

Song for this drama: Slow Down

9. Our Beloved Summer (2022)

Former high school/college sweethearts Ung and Yeon-su are brought back together by work five years after breaking up. My favorite OST!

Song for this drama: skinny dipping

8. The Matchmakers (2023)

A royal decree to marry off old maidens forces uptight prince Gyeongwoonjae and professional matchmaker Soon Deok to join forces. Prettiest show you've ever seen.

Song for this drama: Caught In A Blue

7. Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022)

Woo Young-Woo navigates her career, life changes, and love as a rookie at Hanbada Law Firm and a woman on the autism spectrum. Young-Woo is a darling, and her boy is the greenest flag ever.

Song for this drama: pov

6. Familiar Wife (2018)

A married couple who have fallen out of love get to see each other in a new light after the husband, Ju-hyeok, goes back in time and changes their history. You've never rooted this hard for such an infuriating man.

Song for this drama: No One Knows

5. Castaway Diva (2023)

After 15 years stranded on a desert island, Seo Mok-ha pursues her dream of becoming a singer while searching for the boy who helped her escape her abusive father. Despite the horrors, this show will make you believe there is good in the world.

Song for this drama: Sweet Chamomile

4. Hometown Cha Cha Cha (2021)

Yoon Hye-jin moves to a seaside town to open a dental clinic and finds the home she always wanted amidst its colorful residents. So funny and the male lead is basically the perfect man.

Song for this drama: Apple Pie

3. Crash Landing On You (2019-2020)

After a freak accident lands her in North Korea, Yoon Se-ri must rely on the soldier who saved her life in order to survive, stay hidden, and get back to South Korea. Rips you apart in the best possible way.

Song for this drama: If I Never Knew You

2. Live Up To Your Name (2017)

Renowned acupuncturist Heo Im falls 400 years through time, where his life and fate intertwine with cardiac surgeon Choi Yeon Kyung. Beautiful, unmatched chemistry.

Song for this drama: epiphany

1. Twinkling Watermelon (2023)

Ha Eun Gyeol is mysteriously sent back in time, where he meets his parents as teenagers and discovers he didn't know as much about them as he thought he did. Peak family feels, peak soft couple, and peak enemies to lovers.

Song for this drama: Long Live

[13uswntimagines]

The One Where Lindsey *Actually* Accidentally Breaks the internet (Lindsey x Medic!R)

Remember a million years ago where we wrote the fic about lindsey accidentally breaking the internet? 

Well, there was a cliffhanger there. Kind of. And @literaryhedgehog​ and I saw each other for the first time in forever this week, started going through all of our favorite fics that we had written and realized we had to continue this one. 

So without further ado- the fic that no one asked for:

2022 had been a very stressful year thus far. Not the disaster that was 2021 or the complete implosion of time that was 2020, but stressful. Enough that you were incredibly glad to have the opportunity for a break. 

Between everyone’s ACL’s suddenly deciding to rip and players kneeing each other for funzies you had your hands full. 

And Lindsey. Well Lindsey had found success reclaiming France, which just so happened to be nine time zones away from you in Portland. So you were very thankful to get one week of her pure, undivided attention on some deserted European island. Plus she looked absolutely amazing in the little blue bikini she had chosen (and you may or may not have been caught… admiring… her anatomy one too many times. You were a medic. It was PURELY professional curiosity.)

“I think you can rent little catamarans down by the beach, if you wanted to spend the day doing that, instead of just sitting by the pool,” She said putting another layer of sunscreen on her nose. “Or we could go paddleboarding, or on a hike up to see the view from the top of the hill.” 

You rolled your eyes at her. “You athletes always want to do something… athletic. What’s wrong with just sitting by the pool and admiring the view? You already made me do a sunrise hike with you for like the last 3 days?”

Lindsey raised her eyebrow at you. “Because the only view you’re admiring is me.” 

You shrugged, turning the page of the book you were reading. “It’s a good view.”

One of the hotel’s servers came over with a tray of drinks to offer you both. You eyed his silver tray, “Do you have any extra shots to add to those painkillers?”

Lindsey saved him from having to respond, calling out as she dropped her sunscreen back into her bag and rifled through it, “You can't get drunk if we’re going to go sailing.”

“But I'm on vacation,” You whined indignantly, uncaring of how much like a child it made you sound. With half your players out with injury, you figured you deserved to let loose a little bit. 

“If you get sloshed, trip over one of the lines and fall off the boat and die, you won't have a vacation,” Lindsey said, rolling her eyes. Honestly, with how little alcohol you usually had during the year – since you were always on call for team injuries – you didn’t need the extra shots in your drinks. You practically got tipsy just from smelling your first pina colada this trip.  “Plus, you’re the one with all of the medical training here. All I could do to help you is put some triple antibiotic on it and call it a day,” 

“You’re no fun,” You pouted. Lindsey rolled her eyes at you, but kissed your pout away nonetheless. 

“Oh, I’m lots of fun,” She smirked, passing her phone to the waiter and signaling for him to take a picture. “Get your ass up and take a picture with me, so we can remember how amazing our vacation was.” 

The waiter caught her phone easily as she yanked you from your very comfortable caban chair. You playfully tried to protest, forcing her to pull you in front of her with a laugh. She draped her left arm over your shoulder in a teasing restraint, with a hand splayed across your chest. You smiled at her and put a quick kiss under her ear before leaning back into her and smiling forward as the waiter cleared his throat.

“Now smile,” He said, holding out the phone in front of him. 

You rolled your eyes at the request, suddenly feeling like a 5 year old at a family get together, but Lindsey pinched your side, earning an actual giggle light, airy and filled with total elation from you. You heard the camera click in time with Lindsey’s low chuckle in your ear, forever cementing the moment in time. 

“Should we edit them later before posting?” Lindsey asked, after thanking the waiter and taking her phone back. 

You peeked over her shoulder, glancing at the photos. You looked so happy, and she looked happy too. “Do what you want with them. I don’t mind either way.” 

“So definitely post them to make Sonny, Rose and Sammi jealous?” She sent you her signature eyebrow quirk. 

“Absolutely! Here,” you took the phone and opened the instagram app, quickly typing out a caption. Just enjoying the sun, drinks, and beautiful company. Wish you could be here {at}saucysonnet, {at}RoseyPosey, and {at}sammybananas :D. Lindsey shared your grin and hit the post button, before tossing her phone back in her bag.

 You reached out to take her hand, pulling her into an embrace. “Now, I could be wrong, but I believe you said something about a boat?”

“A catamaran,” She clarified, smiling fondly at you. You were more into books than the outdoors, but you tried for her. “It's a kind of boat with two hulls, so they’re more balanced and harder to tip over.” 

“Whatever,” You grumbled dramatically, rolling your eyes as she smirked at you pretending to be in a bad mood. “Do you still want to do the thing that I have to be sober for? Because if you don’t I can definitely find room for you on my exam schedule.” 

“You always have room for me on your exam schedule,” Lindsey huffed. “And yes. I’d like to go sailing. There's a super cool reef not too far from here I thought we could explore.”

“I’ll drop our bags in the hotel room and grab the snorkels. See you in the lobby in five?” You asked, gesturing towards her purse and your backpack. No need to get the phones and valuables wet.

“Thanks, babe.”

****

You looked up when you came back to the hotel room a few hours later, trying to spot whatever bee was the source of the incessant buzzing that had greeted you the second you opened the door. 

It was loud, and annoying and a total buzz kill on your reward for taking on the unforgiving seas. Lindsey’s hand had been making its way to locations not fit for the public eye, but it had paused in its migration at the sounds coming from inside your room. You were all for saving the bees, but if this one didn’t find its way out of your room you were going to find a flyswatter. 

“Just ignore it,” you said, scanning the room. It didn’t seem to be in the vicinity of the bed, which was where you had been going anyway. 

“But I’m allergic,” Lindsey said, looking pointedly at you as she stood in the doorway, unmoving.

“But, not all of them have stingers,” you pointed out. Only female bees could sting. “And most people only get an allergic reaction to honeybees. Other bee venom just causes local swelling.”

“And you’re willing to take that chance with me, the love of your life?”

“Well,” You started, puffing out your cheeks as you contemplated the decision. Surely there was only a very small chance that you would get stung right? You blew out your breath. “I guess not.”

“Just a guess?”

“...No.” 

“Very convincing.” 

The buzzing started again, drawing your eyes towards your bags. You dove for them. The faster you could get the bee, the faster you could move on to… better activities. 

“Ah ha, it’s not a bee. It's just our phones,” You cheered, holding up the offending devices like they were world cup trophees. You turned them on silent and tossed them back into your bags. “Totally worth ignoring.”

She simply raised an eyebrow at you, entirely unimpressed. 

“Oh come on,” you whined, sighing and taking out her phone. You handed it to her and grabbed your own, muttering under your breath about how it better be a life or death situation preventing you from getting laid by your… Oh no. You scrolled through the team groupchat, which was now at about 1000 missed messages and climbing. Lindsey was listening to her own phone, wincing at the volume of the voicemail she was presumably listening to. You thought you heard Sonnett’s dulcet tones, yelling something about a ring in the picture.

“Did we accidentlly murder someone and forget to tell the team?” 

“No,”Lindsey mumbled, scrolling through the messages. “It’s much worse. We forgot to tell them that we’re engaged.” 

“Were,” You corrected without really thinking about it, already beginning to type out your reply. “We were engaged.” You hit send, and turned your phone back on silent before tossing it back in your bag. Linsey looked at you blankly as suddenly her phone started buzzing so violently in her hand that she dropped it. 

“Really? That’s how you decided to tell them we eloped?” She asked, exasperated, but – based on the twitching of her lips – also highly amused. 

You shrugged. “You outed us over livestream in an argument with Sonnett. It just seemed fitting. Plus now they can't do anything about it for at least another ten days, unless they want to fly here.”

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” she said, reaching down to pick up her phone and rejecting Sonnett’s facetime request before turning her phone off and setting it on the bureau. 

“Well I might have mixed up Naxos with Nassau when I was explaining our trip to Kelley.” You said nonchalantly, holding out your arms to her as you sat down on the bed. She smiled slyly, coming and sitting sideways in your lap to look at you. 

“Is that why you were saying something about wanting to be like Jack Sparrow for the week?” 

“Maybe,” you agreed. “I can say a terrible line here about how pirates know something about stealing booty.”  And really you were looking for a little inspiration. Lindsey snorted.“Now I think you were complaining about an ache somewhere from all that hard work you did on the boat? Did you want me to take a look?”

“Aye, aye captain.”

[mvshortcut]

Ranking every time the Ten Men get taken down by how cringe fail they are (Part 1)

With 1 being "not too lame, actually" and 10 being "oh my god I have to put the book down and walk away for my own health." This post will include scenes from Books 2 and 3; I'll put the Riddle of Ages stuff in another post.

"But Milk, why on earth are you doing this" well you see I hate the Ten Men (<3) and I love to talk so this works out perfectly. Listen To My Opinions, Boy. Let's get started, shall we?

Book 2: The Perilous Journey

See Garrotte is like the Reynie Muldoon of the Ten Men in that he's so fantastically average (this is a joke don't come for me y'all I love Reynie). This is just a very Average way to get knocked out tbh. And honestly, I've gotta cut Garrotte some slack here. When you think you're on a deserted island, you don't really expect some scarecrow-looking ninja to materialize out of the darkness, hijack your tank boat, and knock you out. 2/10

Crawlings. Oh, darling Crawlings. I'm making the rule now that Crawlings can't score below a 3. He has a base level of cringe fail-ness simply by being Crawlings.

Out of all of the times Crawlings gets knocked out, this is honestly the least embarrassing. None of them really know Milligan's capabilities yet, so this sleight of hand is completely unexpected. Although the "As ugly as you?" exchange occurs immediately after Crawlings wakes up from this one (and that scene in and of itself is embarrassing.) 5/10

Now Sharpe and Crawlings get knocked out (again) later in TPJ but that happens offscreen, so without further ado, let's move onto:

Book 3: The Prisoner's Dilemma

Starting this one off strong with another Crawlings MomentTM. I know he doesn't get knocked out here but I literally could not in good conscience leave it out. Peak cringe fail. Local murderous henchman loses to a four year old with sharp teeth, more at 11. 7/10

I'm gonna be honest at least 70% of this post is gonna be Crawlings. But that isn't my fault now is it?

This is just. Peak Looney Tunes shenanigans. I'm surprised he didn't leave a cartoony indent of his limbs outstretched in the wall. The "humiliating yelp" adds ambiance to the whole scene. 8/10

and another one! honestly this is more impressive on Milligan's part (truly he is insane) and once again, I'm gonna give Crawlings some pity points because who expects their opponent to straight-up grab the electrified wires? The image of his eyebrow all bristly and shocked is very comical and undignified though. 5/10

Back to dear Garrotte. once again painfully average. I desperately need to know if Milligan actually hit him over the head with a ukulele. 2/10

Sharpe coming in strong with possibly the most embarrassing knockout yet. It wasn't enough to be taken down by a boomerang, of all things. He's gotta do these popping-up-and-down shenanigans before a twelve-year-old finally tricks him into knocking himself out with his own handkerchief. I imagine he looks like one of those inflatable dancing tube man things outside the car wash just flopping back and forth. 9/10

When I tell you I literally cheer ever time I read this part. It's what he deserves. "But, honestly, would you fare any better against a bird of prey, Milk?" yes. absolutely. Madge would sense my cool and swag vibes and would not attack me. McCracken simply did not pass the vibe check. SAD. 8/10

Y'know I wish this part wasn't phrased so comically because I burst out laughing ever time I read it even though it's such a tense and upsetting moment. This is SO embarrassing for McCracken though. Imagine at long last winning a tumultuous rooftop battle and it looks like things are FINALLY starting to go your way. only for your opponent to fling himself off a four story building directly on top of you and break all your bones. oof. there's no coming back from that one chief. once again he gets pity points because Milligan is absolutely insane and no one could have seen that coming. 8/10

And, for the grand finale, a guest appearance from Hertz! I would say we're switching things up with a little vehicular manslaughter here, but it isn't Number Two's fault that Hertz ran into her fake ambulance, now is it? It was quite a Choice for him to think he could win a fight against two vehicles, let alone vehicles driven by Rhonda Kazembe and Number Two. "He was terribly annoyed" yea I bet he was. Hertz darling what were you thinking. 6/10

part 2 here!

[squishmittenficfan]

Thanks so much for the tag, @lilolilyr! This is a really interesting one 😀

I just wish I knew how to do the fancy little title links to everything I’m talking about…

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

A tiny amount in comparison to many, but I’m proud of my 32 works! Considering I’ve had a couple of huge gaps in writing and posting, I’m happy I even got past thirty!

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

233,653

93.7k in 2018

91.2k in 2019

0 in 2020 Yup, one of those writing gaps was massive!

23.2k in 2021

22.5k in 2022

2834 in 2023 I had to drag those words out as @lilolilyr knows too well, with all my whinging!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Berena. I can’t imagine finding the voice inside my head for any other 🤷🏻‍♀️

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Fight For - 968

You gotta rub me the right way! - 625

Murder on the streets of Holby - 611

Running Away (together) - 470

There’s The Rub - 233

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Absolutely yes. When my stupid brain wanted nothing to do with fic in 2020, one of the things I felt bad about was all the unanswered comments. I like to acknowledge anyone who has taken the time to not only read what I’ve written, but also been kind enough to comment. I know it gets said a lot, but even an emoji left on a chapter or one shot genuinely makes my day! I used to get horribly hung up on comments and kudos, and would get a bit upset if something I posted didn’t get much attention. After my break in posting I became far more chilled about it. I primarily write things that I want to read, so as long as I’m happy with a fic, that’s all that matters. Comments and kudos are just icing on the AO3 cake.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don’t do unresolved angst! The closest I’ve come is ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow’ because it was for Berena Appreciation Week 2018, and the prompt was angst. It was my take on Serena, in Nairobi, receiving the call from Hanssen, asking her to return to Holby. In my mind, we knew it didn’t spell the end of her relationship with Bernie, so the sad and mildly angsty ending didn’t count.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Everything? 😆

Seriously though, probably ‘Running Away (together)’ because it ended up being the start of the series that saw Serena and Bernie getting married and properly settling down together.

8. Do you get hate on fic?

I think I had one fic get a couple of 💩 comments, but that was when there was a period where there was a contingent of Serena haters who just had to make themselves known. If I recall correctly, I basically replied telling them to fuck off (in the hope they’d used a legit email address and would see my responses!) then deleted the comments…

9. Do you write smut?

I have done. I find it very, very difficult though, and essentially used my first venture into smut as a template for the second and third. It does NOT come easily (ahem!)

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nope. Again, I can’t imagine feeling like I could ‘hear’ any other characters well enough.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I’m aware of. I can’t imagine anything I’ve written would be a big enough target for anyone to bother.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

Berena, obvs!

I’m also reading a LOT of Rizzles these days.

Way, way back in the mists of time, I read a lot of Bad Girls. Also some Willow/Tara and 7/Janeway.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t?

My desert island fic - ‘Bernie Wolfe-Born Survivor’ I desperately want it written, but can’t imagine my brain cooperating, sadly. It would need to be a multi-chapter, and I struggled hard enough to squeeze 2834 words out of my brain this year!

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, I think. My ladies do love to talk! Quite a few people also seem to comment on the humour in my fics, so that as well I guess.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Smut.

Plus just writing anything at all these days. 😕

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

Erm… as in including lines in a different language to the main body of the story? It can be frustrating, but if you’re on AO3 and using Chrome (yes, yes I know!) you can just highlight the text and get it translated easily enough. Not so much on FFnet of course…

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Posted - Berena are my one and only, my OTP…

However, I did dip my toe, many years ago, into trying to write a Bad Girls fic. I didn’t get far at all before it stalled. It only took me nearly twenty years to try again!

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I honestly like everything I’ve written. I wouldn’t have posted it otherwise!

I think I’m most proud of good old Dead Ed (aka Murder on the streets of Holby) though. As well as being my longest, it also has the most complex storyline and took a fair amount of planning out. From someone who very much winged most things up until that point, it was a bit daunting. Plus the worry that people might find the reveal of the murderer disappointing was a bit stressful, I must admit!

Blanks to copy:

1. How many works do you have on ao3? 2. What’s your total ao3 word count? 3. What fandoms do you write for? 4. What are your top five fics by kudos? 5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? 6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? 7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? 8. Do you get hate on fic? 9. Do you write smut? 10. Do you write crossovers? 11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? 12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? 14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? 15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but probably won’t? 16. What are your writing strengths? 17. What are your writing weaknesses? 18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? 19. First fandom you wrote for? 20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I’m not going to tag anyone, but I do recommend anyone who writes and has the time, to do it… it’s fun looking at the stats and thinking about all things fic related!

Thanks again for the tag, @lilolilyr, I really did enjoy this 😁

[wolfnight2012]

I know it’s not the interpretation generally accepted by the fandom (or is it? I swear I’ve seen several meta posts say Stede was in Barbados several weeks) but I’m certain Stede was at most 4.5 to 5 days on the island (counting from the night he last sees Edward, to the afternoon he finds his crew marooned)

We know Ed arrives on the Revenge at the break of dawn, and Stede arrives home later in the morning.

We don’t see what their return is like on the first day. We quickly jump to the next day. I’m certain it’s the very next day both because of Stede’s bed-hogging (we see he’s back to curling up on his side of the bed the night Mary tries to kill him-- it took him 1 or 2 nights to readjust his sleeping habits), and his comments about still not having his land-legs & having forgotten how much he liked his bed.

This was his first night/sleep back home.

During breakfast he starts telling his kids about his adventures and showing them his beloved treasure, the petrified orange. It makes sense that this is their first real breakfast after the commotion of his return the previous day.

That same day he meets Doug & is seen wandering his house alone, noting he’s been painted out of the family portrait, dining alone, then finally seeing Mary & Doug going at it.

All this happens on day 2 of his return.

We immediately jump to day 3. 

Here Stede confronts Mary about Doug, she defends her right to the happiness she’s found, and let’s him know her showing is that night. 

She leaves to get everything ready. He goes to the tavern, gets drunk, crashes her show, and Mary tries to kill him that same night. 

Since Stede’s never been one to half-ass shenanigans, everything to do with the fuckery happens on day 4

He tells Mary his plan, they go to Evelyn, prepare the blood, the bloodied clothes for the decoy body, and execute the fuckery.

I want to say he leaves that very evening, it looks like a sunset to me, but w/e, it could also be a sunrise. 

Which means either Stede left Barbados the evening of his 4th day back & finds his crew the afternoon of his 5th day.

Or he left the morning of his 5th day back & found his crew that same afternoon.

Either way, Stede was gone for 5 days TOPS.

Meanwhile, Ed’s days don’t entirely match Stedes’ the way they are shown in the episode.

It seems Ed spends 2 days in his room. He calls Lucius on the 3th day, feels better after their talk & decides to share his song with the crew, feels well enough to pick up around the cabin, gets sent on a downward spiral by Izzy’s words/threat, and decides to put on the front of “the Kraken” that night (shoves Lucius overboards/gives himself a make-over/feeds Izzy his toe)

He tells Izzy to come find him right after feeding him his toe because they have “work to do”. That means disposing of Stede’s things started that very night.

They finished on the morning of the 4th day, the crew gets marooned, and they sail off.

Stede finds the crew on day 5. 

(though it’s also possible [if slightly less likely] that Ed spent 3 days in his room, the talk with Lucius--deciding to become the Kraken happened on day 4, the crew was marooned early on in the 5th morning and Stede found them late that same afternoon.

Like, I do not put it past Buttons to resort to cannibalism after spending 5 or so hours on a deserted island At All. He was willing to resort to cannibalism on a large, inhabited island, with a ship full of food, in less time than that)

If Izzy had just kept his mouth shut one more day, Stede would have arrived the afternoon after the talent show, with Ed in a better headspace. He’d probably have been able to apologize & they would have talked it through & gone from there.

If everything happened the same, except with Ed spending 3 days in the blanket fort & Stede had arrived just after Ed decided to go all “Kraken” on the crew, I think his appearance would have taken the wind right out of Ed’s sails & (because of the vulnerability/whirl-wind of fragile emotions Ed would have been going through) they’d have made out on the deck right then & there. Then probably talked it through the following day.

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

1, 12, 18 with freya my friend freya

FREYAAAAA lets see....

1. How did you choose their name?

back when i was first filling up the cast for ccs i was looping around the vhs viewngz series while drawing and shit and since freya of r.tvs is like. a frequent person present in those i was hearing the name freya a lot. has a really nice sound to it so i decided to steal it for her hah

she also goes by the name victoria which is fully and wholly a reference to classic character victoria page from metropolis pt2 classic album. this is also because i was listening to that a lot like. about a year into her existing as a character and i was like ahh shes the prog metal lady. she can get a stupid little reference to that

12. Has your character committed any crimes (per their universe’s laws)? If not, which crime would your character most likely commit?

HMM probably some like. very petty generic form of piracy but honestly not even sure how much of a 'crime' that is by the 22nd century. otherwise probably just like. yeah stole a soda from a corner store once as a kid. nothing too serious

18. If your character were trapped on a deserted island, what three things would they want to have with them? Which person would they absolutely hate to be trapped there with? Which person would they enjoy being trapped there with?

GOD EXTREMELY FUNNY QUESTION. the train is already more or less that but with less of a survival angle to it. hmmm shed probably just respond to that kind of question with like. some meta break bullshit like "oh id want a boat that cannot ever be sunken or damaged. i want a genie that can teleport me home. aaaand an ipod shuffle"

honestly would not be too pleased having to hang out with Most people. contrarily her tierlist for like. people shed want to get stuck on an island with is like. top 1 to 5 in order. lacey (love wins) -> olzhas (clairvoyance is exploitable) -> somsak (would lead to "a really funny death") -> dalisay ("they're nice") -> isel (would lead to "a pretty funny death")

[badlydrawnmanic]

You got any Sonic or Shadow headcannons?

oh i have some, sure! with sonic it's mostly what order events happened in and how he grew up but shadow has more of what you'd expect from a headcanon

off the top of my head...

sonic

sonic was directly given to chuck by aleena rather than going through a secondary no-name family before meeting him. he lived on christmas island under chuck's care until he was about 5 or 6 years old

since he was raised by chuck, he knows more about mechanical things than you'd think, sort of absorbing that information by watching his uncle do stuff for friends and family. that's how he knew to work the tornado since chuck would bring him along when he went to help do repairs on paulie's plane

chuck made (and continues to make) his special shoes since commercially available ones just won't cut it. it's more so an issue of durability than anything else, but they connect to the ground surprisingly well for being more or less completely flat on the bottom (do you know how much it sucks to get a rock wedged in any cracks in the sole when you're going a million miles an hour?)

unfortunately at that 5 or 6 year mark, eggman attacked and stole chuck, but sonic ran away, so he was pretty much alone from that point. somehow he ended up on south island all by himself, and sonic 1 takes place when he's around 10 years old

because he lived alone on an island with a bunch of small animals for a good period of his childhood, sonic more or less understands what they're saying when they chatter at him when almost no one else does, thinking it's just noise. he'll have full conversations with birds and squirrels and stuff like it's no big deal

since he goes around rescuing animals all the time (and animals don't have as much of a reason as people do to stay in one spot), there isn't really a place he can go where the critters haven't heard of him. talk about him travels amongst them and he's friendly with most critters because of it

the same goes for talk about eggman, but that just results in squirrels purposefully messing up his wires and birds swooping at him in frustration when he least expects it. you can imagine that he isn't really that much of an outdoorsy person because of it

sonic is very good at mimicking other peoples' voices, and his changes in voice actors over the years are reflected in-universe. all of his friends think he's fucking with them because he'll just switch up what he sounds like on a whim. imagine that one scene from peter pan where peter is messing with smee in the cave and that's pretty much it. none of his friends know what his real voice is, but their bets are split between the jaleel white voice or the roger one

that being said, any objectively bad impressions he does are either because he's making fun of them in the process and saying they sound dumb or he can't reach that tone within his vocal range. he mostly does the purposefully bad impressions with eggman, knuckles, and shadow, the latter when they're being cartoonishly grumpy and he feels like poking bears

sonic can and will sleep nearly anywhere with little to no difficulty. he's really good at finding little safe places in objectively dangerous areas where he or tails (mostly tails) can catch a break

he has a little cabin in the woods somewhere near knothole, but no one except him and tails know where it is. he keeps all the stuff from his adventures there and goes there when he needs a break

he's surprisingly well-read and owns quite a lot of books. he doesn't have a lot of time to read as of late, but he still enjoys it

if he had to choose between extremes, he'd prefer hot places like deserts or volcanic areas over ice caves or the arctic, even if he is surprisingly resistant to the cold. the most he'll really do if he's chilly is put on a scarf

if we're going into specifics on what species he is, he's a vague mix between european, northern white-breasted, long-eared, and four-toed hedgehogs. his dad's half of the family is mostly mutts, but aleena is specifically a european hedgehog

sonic's favorite holiday is christmas! he's mostly in it for the family and friends aspect of it, and his folks have a big get-together at the end of the year for it. he invites pretty much everyone he knows that he's even a little bit friendly with (his parents are 100% cool with it and think it makes the whole thing better) and it's always really fun. his favorite thing to do is mess around when everyone's gathered up for a big family photo. he's always doing some kind of silly pose or making a face

shadow

shadow didn't just come out of whatever tube he was grown in at the age he is now. he was baby sized, but aged at an accelerated rate until the point we see him at now over the course of about 5 years before it slowed down dramatically

that being said, he does age, it's just on a time scale that isn't easy to see. if you took a picture of him in 200 years and compared it to him now, you'd be able to see the difference, but he doesn't know. he hasn't been alive long enough to actually see or feel any significant change outside of any injuries he may have acquired

while he's very resistant to damage and pain, he's still alive, and there's a (highly accelerated) healing process involved. while he recovers from most things without a scratch, more heinous injuries have the potential to scar over and leave lasting marks

him, rouge, and omega all share a pretty nice apartment in empire city where they live together. he's a very simple guy who couldn't care less about what's in the space outside of necessities so rouge chooses and arranges most of the furniture

shadow had to be convinced to put anything other than a bed and dresser in his room because he didn't feel it was necessary. he's not the pristine white aperture science kind of minimalist but like... he's certainly a minimalist

he refuses to wear shoes in his or other peoples' living spaces. take your shoes off at the door or he'll just stare at you accusingly the whole time you're there. same thing if you don't use a coaster

he uses lavender scented hair (quill?) products. maria really liked that smell so it reminds him of her and brings him comfort. that and it's just a relaxing smell. he honestly likes floral scents in general but that's his absolute favorite

he's surprisingly good with children and enjoys their company, despite what you would think about him. he's incredibly tolerant of loud noises and is very good at regulating his voice and stress responses. if he wasn't repurposed into a biological super weapon, he would have likely filled a similar role as a support animal for maria in addition to helping them find a way to cure whatever disease was making her so weak

some hobbies of his include gardening and cooking. i don't really have much else to say about that lol

he's prone to making deadpan jokes that none of his friends can tell are jokes, either that or he'll be unnecessarily abrasive or say something completely out of pocket and play it completely straight to get a rise out of people. he thinks it's funny even if the others are all worriedly looking at each other wondering if he's being serious or not

he does eat unprocessed coffee beans though. he wasn't lying about that during the twitter takeover

unlike sonic, he prefers the cold. he isn't very well-suited to extreme heat, be it from ambient sources or sun exposure. he's actually prone to heat exhaustion due to how he is biologically in addition to the environment he was raised in. you don't need heat resistance in a space station, but you certainly need to be able to deal with the cold radiating off the metal separating you from the empty vacuum of space

once again going into specifics: while most of his dna comes from a european hedgehog and a significant amount came from the black arms, he has some weird stuff in there as a remnant from the biolizard experiments that contribute to his healing factor and other quirks of his. if you look hard enough at the sequence you could probably find some leftover salamander dna somewhere

he doesn't really have a favorite holiday (he isn't the most festive person), but i've seen jewish people interpret him and the robotnik family as jewish and it all seems very wholesome

of course, sonic still invites him to his family's big christmas parties. he does come (even if he feels a little out of place) and is very readily accepted by sonic's parents and relatives. while he isn't super into it, he appreciates being included and likes to help prepare any food that still needs to be made. you can see him genuinely smiling in the background of some of the family photos

[schumigrace]

your top 5 on your tier list are stuck on a deserted island. what do you think the scenes are like at the end of day 1?

Oh god...what a mess that would be

I'm gonna play into the clichés of each of their personalities to make it the most fun for me...

Lewis is vibing tbh, he needs the break so he's not exactly rushing to help. he's having offline time. he's fashioning up a makeshift surfboard and dragging mick along with him

Fernando probably manages to find a deck chair somewhere, is also doing the absolute bare minimum but every time he does do something he's getting jense and seb to come over so he can show off what he did. everyone is irritated because he keeps wielding branches like a katana

Mick bless him is being dragged around by lewis mainly, but he's trying to get back to help seb with whatever he's working on rn. he's joking around trying to make everyone laugh at him because he has a praise kink, and he's not actually that funny but everyone appreciates it anyway because he's so damn cute when he's being a dork

Seb is trying his hardest to be the practical one, but gets distracted everytime one of the others does something to get his attention. He's found some great firewood..but oh look lewis has taken his shirt off, should probably go make sure he's, uh, not burning... There's some material over here perfect for a raft but ... oh jense you're so funny. come over here and tell me more... lets lay these stones out to spell S.O.S...no fernando, you don't have the power of anime on your side, now be quiet before I bite you what do you mean that's what you were aiming for

Jenson has spent the whole day trying to keep the spirits up and it worked for the most part, but now fernando especially is sick of him and is making it everyone's problem... lets just say tension is high

[twwpress]

Creator Spotlight #22: jazzjo

Welcome back to the TWW Author Spotlight! For every spotlight, we’ll ask each featured author the same ten questions (as well as questions you submitted on Twitter!). This week we’re excited to be chatting with jazzjo (on AO3 - @sameschtick on twitter)!

1) What are your top 5 desert island fics by other authors?

baby it’s cold outside by crossingdelancey It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s cj’s gay meg ryan winter, what more could you want.

may these memories break our fall by claudiasjeancregg A real gateway fic to cj/toby/andy that captures the internal lives of all three characters so well; I could (and do) read it over and over.

Red, White, and Boo by fleurfemme Scream meets West Wing meets great ensemble writing. Incredible.

departures and arrivals by rearviewmirror Atlas plays with distance and time and liminal space to pack so much yearning into this piece.

we thought love was something we weren’t meant to find by darlingdarling I love pieces that take a little moment in canon and expand on the potential and this one just knocks it out of the park. 

 2) Do you have a favorite character to write? Favorite ship(s) to write? Are there characters or ships you'd like to write more of? 

My crutch character is C.J. by a long shot (who’s surprised) – the interiority of her as a character in how she’s portrayed is just so fascinating to me. My favourite character to write is probably either Andy or Charlie. Both of them get witty repartee in canon but there’s so much not said that I do love taking my authorial liberties.

Favourite ship is cj/andy hands down. I think I’ve populated half the tag (the math works out – 29/55) because I’m incorrigible about them. This extends to permutations within the cj/andy/toby triangle, which is a sandbox I love to play in.

I’d like to explore writing more about Charlie, Donna, and Joey. I’ve done a bit of all three (finally caved and wrote something Charlie-centric recently) but they’re still more challenging to properly capture. 

 3) Tell us about your writing process (setup/location? Night or day? Snacks/beverages? Computer/phone/notebook? Music or silence? Anything else you want to share is welcome!) 

My (somewhat messy) rolling desk. Night (by necessity, because work). Emotional support water bottle or seltzer or a hot drink. Laptop, though I used to primarily write in a notebook. Music either completely accelerates or impedes the process, it’s really a toss up. I love writing with it, and take a lot of inspiration from it, but I sometimes get too distracted by it and have to turn it off.

I used to write longer things, back before I started working full-time. I only started writing for TWW in the last half-year and have gravitated to shorter chapters and one-shots because I like writing a full chapter in one sitting and I have less time. Even so, this lil baby can fit so much angst into it. 

 4) What writing advice do you have for others who may be reading this? 

Write what you want to read. If something comes naturally, lean in. Catch passing thoughts and phrases in a small notebook or on your phone. Make a habit of writing. There’s always time to write – five minutes on the train, ten minutes before you sleep – but don’t let it take over your rest time. 

 5) From where do you usually draw your inspiration? (Other forms of media, music, tropes, etc?) 

I love pulling and expanding on the tiniest moments in canon, or I’ll get a single line of a song so under my skin it turns into something on the page. I love intertextuality and my best work tends to happen between mediums.

I tend to draw on things I know well, so you’ll see recurrent themes and references like classical music, theater, Jewish life, and literature sprinkled throughout my writing.

6) What is the fic you've written that you're most proud of and why? 

This is cheating, but I couldn’t pick between two.

turning in place is probably the best developed of anything i’ve written for TWW. It digs into Toby as a character in ways I didn’t really think I could do, and it really was me trying to find a way I could stomach the shuttle leak arc. It plays with time, it plays with religion, it plays with guilt and family and dwelling too much or too little or just enough on things, and if that isn’t Toby Ziegler. I think form, character, and content collided in a way I have been trying to get to again in this fic, and I still don’t know how I did it.

In one-shot land, enumerated powers comes to mind. It came completely out the left field, but I loved writing Evelyn Baker Lang as a character and imagining (aka spreadsheet planning) a workable backstory for her that bled through the whole fic. 

 7) What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd read 1000 of? What's the fic trope/concept/AU you'd write 1000 of?

Romcom tropes kill me in the best way every time. Writing-wise, I love writing looks into post-canon and filling in the blanks within canon. 

 8) Is there anything you'd like to try writing-wise that you haven't yet? 

A true ensemble fic. I came close in too wise to woo peaceably but not quite. 

 9) What's your go-to Starbucks/coffee shop/other drink order? 

I tend to go for black coffee out of my aeropress, sometimes slightly sweetened, and I love all manners of tea, but both of those tend to be drinks I make myself. My one vice is bubble tea, and I’ll almost always get unsweetened oolong tea with taro pearls, without the ice in it if I can help it. 

 10) Do you have any current projects you'd like to promote or anything upcoming you'd like to tell us about?

I’m working on an Andy/Toby fic inspired by The Last Five Years – we see Andy in reverse and Toby in chronological order – called compel me to ask you for more. 

Submitted questions:

From @JessBakesCakes: Do you have a headcanon about one of your fics that didn’t make it to the story for one reason or another? If so, what is it?

The continuation to watching the skies (the charlie-centric fic I mentioned earlier where Charlie is COS to POTUS, which is Andy) that I clipped and set aside to focus more on Charlie’s road back to the White House has C.J. eventually running for Congress in Andy’s second term because the spin boys make a whole case for it, even though she still feels a bit like an outsider to Hill politics. I almost always think of C.J. – like Leo – as the person behind the curtain, but I think one of the ways she might step into a campaign of her own is if someone she really trusted made a case for why it would help the constituents for her to run in place of a shitty incumbent. 

 From @S4MWILS0N: favorite: season, ep, one liner, character duo (romantic), character duo (platonic), plot arc, hc for pre post and during canon? craziest au you’ve ever considered? snippet/idea that never became anything? fave trope to read or write? moment that made u fall in love w the show?

Favourite…

Season: Three

Episode: The Supremes or Hartsfield’s Landing

One-Liner: “There is literally no one in the world that I don’t hate right now.” 

Character Duo (Romantic): CJ/Andy

Character Duo (Platonic): CJ & Josh (early seasons) CJ & Charlie (later seasons)

Plot Arc: debate prep (also that we only saw the original campaign after we were already invested)

HC for Pre-Canon: CJ and Andy were grad school roommates. When Toby first introduces the two when he starts dating Andy they don’t tell him, and just let how similar they can be freak him out. He doesn’t find out for way longer than you think. 

HC for Post-Canon: Charlie sets out on his own for a bit. Donna finishes school and goes back into politics. CJ never goes to California – she goes to Ohio to take care of her father, then back to the East Coast. 

HC for During Canon: CJ has a personal relationship with each of the Bartlet girls – she’s the older sister Liz never got to have; she’s a model for living a full life while queer to Ellie; Zoey is a little skeptical at first but she ends up closest to CJ because CJ always Shows Up for her, no matter what, and holds her father back from being too embarrassing. 

Craziest AU: rockstar AU my white whale

Snippet that never became anything: I have a whole folder titled “ideas i may never write / finish”. I will refrain from naming names out of hope that something will eventually exit that folder.

Moment that made me fall in love with the show: when I realised everyone talks as fast as I do

Thank you so much to jazzjo! And thank you to everyone who asked questions. This is our last creator spotlight for now - we may pick it up again if there’s interest in the future! We really appreciate every one who signed up to be featured and who asked questions for making this such a fun experience! As always you can reach us at weeklypressbriefing@gmail.com, through tumblr messages, or on Twitter!

xx, What’s next?

[stitchandani]

So what would you guys say are your favorite episodes of The Series?

ArtistIssues

My favorites are:

Spooky - Probably some of the best animation in the show is in this episode, plus they nail the Halloween-spooky-fun vibe, it’s fun to see the nervous-scared side of Stitch’s personality, and Spooky’s whole function is so genius! And almost everything Pleakley says in this episode makes me laugh.

Splodyhead - I’ve always loved this episode. I love Splodyhead, too. I particularly like episodes where characters who hate each other are forced to work together on a desert island. That’s a trope I’m here for!

Poxy - I love Poxy. When I was a kid I used to ride around the neighborhood on a scooter pretending to be him and his slick little germ self.

627 - This episode was so so cool when I was a kid. I love 627’s black claws and how all-out they went designing him. Plus, again, an episode where we’re shown how unstoppable Stitch always is, until he isn’t anymore, is such a cool break from the norm.

Bonnie & Clyde - I adore the different musical score in this episode, and I love Bonnie & Clyde’s dynamic together and the fact that they can speak English, but they’re rotten little alien life form stinkers. And I love Pleakley in this episode, too. I could just rate every episode based on Pleakley moments. But then I’d have to add Holio to this list which is already too long!

Doverstar will chime in, too! Doverstar:

Angel - It's my #1 favorite episode of the show, for sure. It hits all the nostalgic notes for me. Angel is my favorite experiment, and though the animation in this episode is terrible, I'm a huge fan of Angel's color palette in it and the idea behind the episode. The fact that love is what turns Angel from bad to good - and that it's Stitch who names Angel and changes her, instead of Lilo, which was the norm - love that. Plus it's cool there's an experiment in the 600's series that exists whose primary function is literally the opposite of the goal of the series.

Remmy - I like this one because of the emotional plot, and the fact that it focuses on Lilo and her mind and the lasting affects of her parents' death on the family. Any particularly deep Lilo-centric episode is a standout in my book! As a kid, the heavily-decorated "door" in Lilo's dream, which she says always has "bad things" on the other side of it, was super creepy and interesting to me. I remember thinking even at that age that the scene of her parents' actual crash would be behind that door, or maybe their gravestones, or maybe just a flashback of the night they didn't come home. I both did and did not want to see that. But no, instead it was Lilo's hula school and disarmingly-kind classmates, which is also interesting! All in all, it's my second favorite because of the slightly-deeper-than-usual subject matter. 627 - This one is purely nostalgia-based for me. The 627 episode was one of the all-time coolest to us growing up, like Arti said! Lots of her reasons for listing this one are the same as mine. Always cool to see Stitch come to terms with the fact that though he's pretty cool, he's not always the best at everything. And extra wonderful to hear Lilo say something like "So what if you're not king of the block anymore? You're still king of my block." So. Good. So sweet. Love that. Shoe - Shoe is one of my top 5 favorite experiments. I like the plot in this episode and the animation in it too! I like Pleakley's comedy beats, and the idea of turning the old ship into a B&B was genius for a show about aliens living on Kauai. Perfect. But Shoe's lil emotional journey makes me very happy. His sole purpose is for the gain of other people, and he's at least intelligent enough to understand that people only seem to value him for what he can do for them, and then finding out Lilo specifically likes him even when he's bad luck? 10/10. One of those times where part of the episode isn't just catching the cousin or showcasing the shenanigans its abilities get the cast into, but showing how the experiment goes from bad to good and why. Dupe - Because Dupe's design delights me, because the writing in this episode is fantastic, because the idea of a slumber party at Lilo's house with the experiments instead of four bratty human girls who'd ruin all the fun anyway is awesome, and because in the end, Lilo gets another reminder that even if she wants lots of friends, having one like Stitch at her side is more than good enough. Retro - I always wanted this one to air often on TV growing up, specifically because it was later in the show and therefore rarer to see rerunning. I thought Retro's ability was so cool, and I was especially interested in the little glimpses of Nani's life before becoming sole caretaker of Lilo. Plus the setting of a cruise ship is always fun! Swapper - Lilo gets a human friend Lilo gets a human friend Lilo gets a human friend LILO GETS A HUMAN FRIEND- Snooty - Victoria gets an experiment of her own, Snooty is precious and Halloween-y, more looks at Victoria/Lilo's friendship, Pleakley driving is hilarious, and the ending gets me every time. Amnesio - Gantu? An excellent friend for Lilo? Latent protective affection for the cute little Earthling? It's more likely than you think- Bad Stitch - I like this one because it has some of my favorite Lilo/Stitch moments. It also seems to have unused material from the original movie? Maybe? I don't know, but Chris Sanders seems like the kind of guy who would suggest more of Lilo training Stitch like a "puppy" and squirting him with the stupid water bottle. I especially love the ending, where Lilo tells Stitch she knows he's good, even if he breaks things. And how Stitch wants to behave because Lilo asks him to, and she loves him, and that's why he wants to behave. Love that. The Asteroid - Jumba recognizing that Earth is his home and that the Pelekais are his family waters my crops and clears my skin. And I love watching the whole Ohana work together on a planet-saving space trip.

[seabreeze2022]

2023 Bahama Cruise, Part 1. March 5.

We left on the top of the tide, day break Saturday March 5. Spent a peaceful day behind Tavernier Key. Woke up at 0330 and were under way by 0400 Sunday morning. Nancy was up on deck with the spot light looking for crawfish trap buoys. Overcast skies prevented the mostly full moon from helping us see. Once we were clear of the reef and possible buoys we turned for South Riding Rock, Bahamas.

About an hour off shore the sun finally rose. Crossing the Gulf Stream was about as calm as could be expected. We just motored the whole way with little to no wind. When there was a touch of wind, of course it was directly on the nose.

Nancy was getting an early nap in case we decided to sail late into the night. You can see how smooth the Gulf Stream was, very few white caps. During the first half of the crossing we had up to 35 degrees of crab into the Gulf Stream just to maintain course.

I got my nap in also, still wearing Life Jacket, sailing harness and gloves. In case I have to respond on deck on a moments notice.

As we closed on to the Bahama side of the Gulf Stream where the current is the weakest, we had to change course and speed to dodge a freighter. All together there were three freighters coming from two opposite directions that we were weaving through. So when you change the geometry avoiding one freighter, you change the geometry of the other two as well. But there was enough clearance we were still good on the other two freighters. Eleven hours after crossing the Florida Reef we crossed on to the Bahama bank. It was actually glass calm by that point.

Standing guard next to our compass is a statue of “The Saint of the Sacred Heart”. We found that on the beach at Long Key State Park, Florida Keys a year earlier. There was a nearby deserted Cuban refugee boat on the beach. We figured it had safely overseen the Cubans crossing the Gulf Stream. As we safely crossed the “Stream” this time, I realized this was the 4 th time this statue has safely crossed. It crossed with us both ways last year, now once this year, plus with the Cubans.

South Riding Rock is not much to see. Just amazed at the early sailors, who did not have the luxury of Global Positioning and detailed charts.

We only saw glassy smooth seas for two days last year while in the Bahamas. First day this year and we are seeing the bottom crystal clear in 25 feet of water. Above are where the local Bahamians catch Crawfish. They are know as “casitas”. Usually they are 4 ft. x 8 ft. pieces of corrugated metal weighted down by concrete blocks. Each diver may keep track of 500 to 2,000 of these.

Chugging along at 5.5 to 6 kts. Running at 2,000 rpm for 72 miles. We crossed onto the Bahama bank around 1615 and planned on anchoring around sunset. Plan was to anchor the next day after an easy 50 mile day crossing to the east side of the “Bank”. Winds were forecast to pick up the next night, while we would be anchored on the bank. We had each gotten a nap in during the day, so we decided to press through the next 50 miles.

Around 1700 as Nancy was down below making a Curry Chicken and rice dinner. An exhausted little bird landed on the boat. We were 25 miles from the nearest land with only an hour of daylight left. There is very little fresh water available on these islands. Had we not been there, I am sure he would have shortly flamed out and ditched in the ocean.

How many times have birds landed on top of our boat without us knowing? Just taking enough of a break to continue on. A boat in the same area last year, had an owl land on their boat.

After it flitted around the cockpit a little bit. It seemed to settle down for the night. Then all of a sudden it flitted to the edge of the cockpit and slid out of sight onto the deck. Nancy looked for it just before dark and did not find it on deck.

We assumed it had flown off into the sunset, and wished the little fellow well!

After a great dinner we took turns on watch as the other person slept in the cockpit. We traveled 132 miles total the first day, anchoring around 0130 in the morning.

We anchored in 15 feet of water on the “Bank” one mile off the route coming through North West Channel. Two other sailboats had pulled off the route, short of where we like to anchor. Multiple motorboats, sailboats and a Island Freighter were all buzzing through North West Channel at 0100 in the morning. Busy place in the middle of the night. This is a natural coke point for boats crossing the “Bank”.

BIRD UPDATE: While Nancy was at the helm for the anchoring. I went forward to the anchor locker and opened it up. With my headlight on bright white, I retrieved the anchor snubbing lines, stood up to run the anchor chain out by the windless. As the chain started to rattle up out of the locker. Something jumped up, then fell back on the pile of chain. Somehow the little bird had found its way into the chain locker and ridden 25 miles further east than we had last seen it on deck. The bird was in total shock now, due to the headlight and chain being jerked out of the locker. I was able to scoop it up and put it back in the cockpit for the night. We quickly anchored and went to bed.

Waking up before sunrise, I started thinking about the bird and how to give it some fresh water for its journey.

Nancy woke up and went into the cockpit after sunrise to check on the little guy. He was already gone. At least it had a good nights rest before flying off. We were now either 25 miles closer or further away from his destination. Not sure if we helped him or not.

BIRD UPDATE #2: Even though Nancy thought she had looked all around the cockpit and could not find the bird. I found the little bird a while later, after I started moving more gear around. Unfortunately, it was dead. It died peacefully, at least it had not faltered and drown at sea.

With only 24 miles to Morgans Bluff for us to clear into the Bahamas, we had a leisurely start to the day. Calm winds and glassy smooth water. We turned on the new water maker and it worked great. Even though our 22 gallon aft tank was only half empty. This was clean water and the water maker needs to be run once a week. So it took 2 hours to fill up. But it was very quite and the solar panel was able to keep up with the electrical draw e en this early in the day with low sun angles.

North West channel can get very rough when winds funnel the large waves off of the “Tongue of the Ocean” (TOTO) into this funnel shaped area, that goes from thousands of feet deep to 20 feet. Today the current was flowing off of the “Bank” into TOTO. Winds were only a foot in TOTO but with these two conflicting forces the waves were steep for a half mile. Kind of a mini “Rage”. The photo above is Nancy doing so reading as we followed the reef line south to Andros. Winds were calm again and smooth seas. During deep water crossings we bring in our solar light that stays on the bow while we are anchored. I just happened to find it sticks down nicely into the top of the windless. So here it is getting charged for the next nights operation.

Our anchorage on Monday afternoon 1530, Morgans Bluff, Andros.

This blog is long enough, so I will end it here.

SV Sea Breeze, Morgans Bluff, Andros, Bahama.

[davidhuzyk]

Survivor Season Rankings

Worth Playing For 1) 28: Cagayan Such an explosive cast! Consistent throughout with great pre-merge and post-merge. While the winner may have been overpowered with idols there was still some strategy/manipulation to be done to end up in Final Tribal, I respect the gameplay. Lots of memorable, historical players & moments, my personal favourite season

2) 37: David’s vs Goliath’s The best season to introduce someone to Survivor with! It has a great, diverse cast with many legendary players & moments. Almost every modern advantage pays out in a big way. The theme works fairly well, overall it’s very fun 3) 16: Micronesia Fans vs Favorites Some of, if not the biggest moments in Survivor history! Erik & the idol, the little “Ozzlets”, the f’ing stick!! A slower pre-merge with a bit of a lackluster Fans cast, but the Favorites more than make up for it post-merge.  4) 18: Tocantins One of my favourite original casts in one of my favourite locations! The Brazilian desert is beautiful and makes for a unique landscape. We see the origin of characters like Coach & Tyson, and also one of my favourite duos of all-time in Stephen & JT. Plus the birth of simmotion! 5) 15: China Another great season for the same reasons as above. Amazing casting with Courtney, James, Todd, Amanda, Peih-Gee, etc. and some breathtaking landscapes & temples. Great winner, the big moment with the double idol boot.... DAMN!! 6) 7: Pearl Islands The best original era season in my opinion. The theme is very strong throughout the season, very much paying off in the first episode with the unique  “marooning” and Rupert pretty much being a pirate. A great cast, some fun twists, and a moment that the Smithsonian used to encapsulate all of reality TV!

7) 20: Heroes vs Villains The ultimate battle of good vs evil, what more needs to be said? A massive returning cast with some of the fiercest competition, it gave us our first two time winner. I do find I prefer most players on their other seasons however, letting this one slip a bit lower in the rankings, but overall still a top tier season 8) 33: Millennials vs Gen X  Our first season on the current Fijian beaches, and it never feels fresher! A great cast with a good theme, containing strong emotional moments throughout. The “Did you do that!?” - “Yeah. I did it” moment may be my favourite vote out reaction of all time. 

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My Life Is Fine 9) 32: Kaoh Rong At the time of the live airing I remember this season leaving a dirty taste in my mouth with the sour bullies in Jason & Scott, as well as the “robbed goddess Aubry”, but in revisiting this season I found a lot more peaks than valleys. I came to gain a better appreciation for the winner as well, and it may have the most bonkers reunion special. Drew Carey, Mark the Chicken... Sia?! 10) 6: Amazon While the theme of men vs women may have played a bit hornier at the time, I still think it made for some interesting commentary and moments on the show. The location feels more intense, even when the tribe isn’t burning themselves to the ground haha. Also the birth of one of my favourite characters in Rob C! 11) 10: Palau Some may say the boot order on this season is very lackluster, but it does bring us the only time a single tribe is whittled down to one player. I also find there are entertaining moments throughout both the pre & post-merge. The theme works surprisingly well with sharks & army, it gives us a rootable winner, and a record breaking challenge! 12) 25: Philippines  While we do need to ignore the *redacted* of it all, we get another great mostly original cast with a very unique, historical, and rootable winner. We also get one of the best “love-to-hate/hate-to-love” villains in Abi-Maria, who thankfully cracked a coconut into *redacted*’s head! 13) 42 I haven’t been completely loving the new era of the 40′s’, but I find it certainly worked best thus far with 42. Some of the twists were slightly altered from 41 showing production had learned some of their faults, while also adding some new interesting twists. I think the cast really pops here, especially in our winner! 14) 40: Winners at War An all winners season, what’s not to love? I do find a different boot order could have made for a much more entertaining season, but what we were given was still some of the closest challenges and fiercest competition we’ve seen. I support the win of our second two-time winner, and will forever remember being touched by Ethan’s journey on Extinction 15) 13: Cook Islands Once again another theme that might not have played out so great in hindsight, but it did lead to our most diverse casting yet and I think it pays out on screen. The birth of legendary players like Parvati, Ozzy, Penner, Yul, etc. and an all-timer moment when Jeff asks “Candice, from Raro tribe?!?” 16) 27: Blood vs Water I do find the pre-merge a bit salty and a bit of a downer, but once the season starts picking up momentum it pays out. Some comedic moments with our “coconut bandits”, it also gave us the historic moment of someone voting out their mom! I very much enjoy the winner and their journey here 17) 29: Blood vs Water 2 This is another season that I think plays much better on a re-watch than live at the time. I always loved the winner and their journey, but some underperforming cast members does drag this down a bit. There are some really unique moments & dynamics playing out with the only all original cast BvW theme however, worth revisiting 18) 38: Edge of Extinction The theme may be awful, but I really support the original cast in play and how hard everyone was playing. I think the theme and how the season ultimately plays out drags this down a lot further for most people, but I’d love to see characters like Devons, Victoria, Lauren, even Reem return for another try 19) 31: Cambodia - Second Chances What should be the “ultimate Survivor super-fan season” ends up playing out a bit too unnecessarily complex for me, but still it cannot be denied how strong the returning cast is and how hard everyone is playing. An all-time tribal when an idol blocks a record 9 votes, plus a great winner, an overall good season 20) 12: Panama Perhaps the most uneven season in terms of tribes between the explosive Casaya and the tepid La Mina, it has some very iconic, comedic moments (mostly from Shane) and the birth of our queen Cirie! 21) 4: Marquesas A very underrated season. While the change in location last minute does show on screen production-wise at times (a kite challenge, really?) we get our first big power flip with the dismantling of the Roto Four, and our first “rocking out”, as well as the many firsts in our winner! 

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Ain’t No Hershey Bar 22) 17: Gabon Probably the biggest cluster-fuck of a season, it is messy in all the right ways. One of those “so bad it’s good” type of situations, I can’t help but grab the popcorn and take in all the salt & sass. It also has one of our best landscapes, I’ll never forget the moment Ace is doing a confessional and an elephant just walks into the background for a sip of water 23) 41 A very polarizing season, lots to love and to dislike. Production was trying out a lot of firsts here, and while they don’t all pay off I find what does makes for an overall enjoyable enough season. I think a re-edit could make for a more entertaining experience, especially in regards to our winner 24) 3: Africa I do find the earlier seasons can be a bit drier or slower compared to more modern eras, but Africa certainly brought us our most dangerous season. Between the lions, the lack of water & food, and the intense sun, this may be the best season for people actually wanting surviving in their Survivor 25) 19: Samoa This season is very heavily edited towards a certain character, so mileage varies depending on your opinion of him, but the way Russell outmaneuvers not only the cast but production is masterclass. I don’t support all of the gameplay, but it does make for entertaining TV 26) 9: Vanuatu Another season that plays better in a re-watch than at the time. I think the men vs women theme works better this time around, and the ultimate winner’s path does allow for a lot of good conversation & commentary 27) 1: Borneo The one that started it all. Production doesn’t quite have everything figured out yet, which can make for a bit of a clunky watch, but what we get here is the template & groundwork for every season to come. Thankfully we had a winner with the foresight to see the real potential of this game that is Survivor 28) 43 A very great cast that I think is unfortunately brought down by the current metagame, as well as a confusing edit and a not so favourable winner. I do think Jesse’s big borrowed idol move will go down as an all-timer, but that alone is not enough to catapult this season any higher

29) 2: Australian Outback Some big memorable moments as well as a good balance between gameplay & survival elements, it’s a shame the older editing & pacing make for a bit of a calmer watch at times. Survivor was never more popular than at this moment however and it really shows in the reunion! 30) 26: Caramoan There’s not a lot of great stuff in this season, between the negative moments with Brandon & Phillip and Brenda & Dawn you would hope for some great strategic gameplay, but there’s not really that either. Yet somehow I end up being drawn back to this season, I guess it hurts so good! 31) 14: Fiji An awful theme. Wow, I wonder who will dominate, the Haves or the Have Nots?! You can also feel the recruitment in regards to casting. But we still have one of our more diverse casts with some bigger, historical moments that I think play better through a modern day perspective 32) 30: Worlds Apart Similar to Caramoan, I find there are a lot of downer moments that drag this season down (Will being awful to Shirin, Dan overall, Joe in hindsight), but yet I am drawn back to it. If you enjoy awkward moments then Vince is comedic gold, and Rodney definitely plays much funnier a second time around 33) 36: Ghost Island This theme should have been great, but it really doesn’t pay off. The cast I also found was a bit dull, but the dynamic of Wendell & Dom really gives this some mileage 34) 23: South Pacific An instance of a good but unfortunately under-edited winner in a not so great season. The overtones of religion & Catholicism hamper the gameplay, and the casting isn’t at it’s strongest. Nothing awful here, but nothing fantastic either 35) 11: Guatemala Our first captains season that unfortunately doesn’t seem to “pop”. Another case of an under-edited winner, there isn’t much great gameplay to speak of. The Mayan temples are however beautiful, and we do get the birth of the Immunity Idol 36) 34: Game Changers Was this Game Changers, or Game Players? Because this cast certainly didn’t feel legendary in the way the theme suggests. The boot order also left a lot to be desired, and we get the messy situation with Varner... if not for a few comedic moments this could have easily slipped down a tier

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Forget You, Go Home, Goodbye 37) 35: Heroes vs Healers vs Hustlers The birth of the fire making twist, which for me did not play out well. Some may enjoy the winners journey here, I ultimately found it disappointing and frustrating. Some lackluster challenges as well as a confusing theme made for an overall letdown of a season 38) 8: All Stars At the time I got swept up in the love story of Rob & Amber, but in re-watching the season there is a lot of saltiness, as well as some ugly situations (Jenna’s departure commentary, Rich & Sue). In wanting to get swept up in gameplay I found very little to be excited about 39) 39: Island of the Idols Obviously we know why this is a bottom tier season, but that aside I do think there was some great characters & moments that save this from being the worst season. The theme was bad to begin with so it was never destined for greatness lol 40) 24: One World I love the theme of putting everyone on one beach, unfortunately the recruitment casting along with the split of men vs women made this season a drag. I love the winner and their gameplay, but there are a lot of forgettable castaways here, not to mention one of the most polarizing player in Colton  41) 21: Nicaragua  Not much to love here, a pretty poor cast with some sloppy gameplay and a mild winner. If the most memorable part about the season is two people quitting, you know there’s a problem 42) 22: Redemption Island I guess mileage really varies depending on your love for Boston Rob, but I feel like this season was served to him on a silver platter. I guess it answers the question is it fun to see a big-leaguer play in the minors with the rookies? The answer is no, no it is not 43) 5: Thailand Here it is, the worst season of Survivor. The ugliness and mishandling of the Ghandia & Ted situation, the emotionless cold winner, the pitiful gameplay, it’s all here! I will however never forget that Robb strangled Clay during a challenge and that he brought a skateboard to the jungle!

[stories-from-peter]

Radar Beach

My friend Jerry Toon wanted to spend his summer on Radar Beach on the west side of Vancouver Island between Tofino and Ucluelet. It was very remote, at the time, and quite difficult to find. He asked if I could pick him up on August 25 so he could get back to civilization. My girlfriend, Barb, had an old Rambler American she bought from her mother and agreed to make the trip with me. Jerry gave us very specific instructions on how to find him.

We took the ferry to Nanaimo and drove across Vancouver Island toward Tofino. The paved  road only went as far as Port Alberni so we had to rely on logging roads for much of the way. We drove to the top of Radar Hill and camped in the car overnight. We were completely alone on Radar Hill the entire time. In the morning we started searching for the beginning of the trail that led to the 5 beaches that make up Radar Beach. The trail head was overgrown, didn’t look much like a trail, and took some time to find. We clambered down the steep grade, sometimes climbing down trees that were part of the trail. Eventually the terrain flattened out and we could see an expanse of sand appear through the brush.

When we arrived at the first beach it was totally deserted, as Jerry said it was likely to be. We headed south along the sand until we encountered a large outcropping of rock. After climbing over the rock we could see a second beach, equally as deserted as the first. We got past the second beach and ran into some different scenery with a lot of rocky shoreline, a whale carcass in the rocks, and some shipwrecks in the water.

I managed to get myself inside a sea cave and grabbed some pebbles that had bits of sand pounded into them by the waves. We encountered the paw print of some animal I thought might be a wolf. Barb’s hand was not much bigger than the mark in the sand. It took some effort to get past the next beach and finally see the fifth in the series of beaches. Jerry said he would be at the very end of the last beach so we pushed on.

We saw what looked like a shack made of driftwood and bits of other material. We asked if there was anyone there and two girls came outside to greet us. They invited us in to share some bannock with them and told us they knew Jerry. Barb looked very uncomfortable while we chatted with the girls. My guess was that she was not happy with the girls being totally naked. They shared some of their experiences living on a deserted beach for the summer. They were able to scrounge enough food and buy a few things they needed to augment their diet.

We continued on down the last beach, finding a few abandoned shacks along the way. As promised, we found Jerry at the very end of the beach, in a relatively nice shack. We also found the animal that left the huge paw print in the sand. It was a very large and friendly dog. After the long hike Barb and I needed a break so we spent the night in the shack with Jerry. The next morning we started the return journey to Vancouver. Of course, we had to stop to say goodbye to the girls.

I have been to very few places as remote, wild, interesting, or beautiful as Radar Beach. I went back a few years ago and found it had been gentrified. The trail was manicured, had hand rails in places, and we had to pay to park at the top of the hill.

[44gamez]

New Xbox games — February 5 to February 11

Xbox gamers might want to shuffle their backlogs round as soon as extra as 15 new Xbox video games launch throughout Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox One, and PC subsequent week. Though it's quieter subsequent week when it comes to massive releases, there are nonetheless a few attention-grabbing video games on the best way. February 8 sees the releases of The Inquisitor, Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Journey, and Cannibal Abduction.This is a breakdown of all the pieces coming to the world of Xbox subsequent week. Tell us which of those you are planning on selecting up within the feedback!February 6Alisa Developer's Lower — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneStep into the golden age of horror-themed action-adventure video games as you enter the footwear of Alisa, a royal agent tasked with monitoring a wished prison - who finds herself transported and trapped inside an odd Victorian mansion haunted by unusual mechanoid dolls. This developer's reduce is the definitive model of the hit, critically acclaimed ALISA.Sydney Hunter And The Curse Of The Mayan — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneOn this pixel-perfect homage to the traditional motion platformers, you play as Sydney Hunter - an explorer who will get trapped inside a Mayan pyramid whereas he is out exploring! February 7Dungeonoid 2 Awakening — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneBust blocks in your path to victory in an adventurous mashup of nostalgic recreation genres!Traditional dungeon crawling will get a block-busting twist in Dungeonoid 2 Awakening, a top-down journey introduced in retro pixel artwork type! On this style mashup, you’ll decide from 4 role-playing lessons, every with their very own distinctive stats and particular ability, then set off on a quest to beat evil by controlling a floating platform to deflect a magical orb into targets alongside the best way.Transfer the platform left or proper on the backside of the display and bounce the orb to maintain it in play. Let the orb fly previous you, and also you’ll lose a coronary heart. However fret not, by destroying partitions, gravestones, enemies and extra together with your orb, you’ll trigger power-ups and modifiers to drop in the direction of your platform, a few of which could heal you, some may shrink you, some may energize your orb for stronger assaults or produce other results! Cost your particular assault to unleash significantly efficient spells and assaults in opposition to massive blocky bosses earlier than they carry your journey to an finish!February 8Cannibal Abduction — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneCannibal Abduction tells the skin-crawling story of Henry’s try at escaping the home of a cannibalistic household earlier than he turns into dinner. After embarking on a weekend getaway in his father’s automobile, Henry’s plans take an surprising flip when the automobile breaks down in a distant space, resulting in a fateful encounter with a suspiciously useful native. BONUS: Should you’re nonetheless alive afterwards, break into an deserted submit workplace for scrap as Adam in The Night time of the Scissors! All the pieces is yours for the taking, however the snipper has different plans for you. From horror grasp Tomás Esconjaureguy, comes two twisted tales of terror! This thrilling VHS-styled low-poly survival horror pack is a must have for any slasher fans. With cat and mouse type gameplay and lightweight puzzles, keep away from the killers in any respect prices through the use of the shadows or hiding spots. Be alert although, staying hidden will not at all times be sufficient to flee. Are you able to survive, or will you be a part of the ranks of those that have failed? Ikonei Island: An Earthlock Journey — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneDiscover and collect assets. Farm the land, craft instruments and kit, construct your base or a comfortable house - Ikonei Island is yours to find! Befriend magical creatures and struggle monsters with your pals or journey solo! Invector: Rhythm Galaxy — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneFrom Warner Music and the acclaimed indie recreation studio, Howdy There Video games, Invector: Rhythm Galaxy invitations gamers to embark on a musical journey via the universe to expertise a brand new option to play and interact with the songs they love. Soar via vibrant celestial landscapes completely synched to the beat of chart-topping hits from a few of at this time’s largest stars, together with Charlie Puth, PinkPantheress, Fifty Fifty, and plenty of extra. Put your subsequent sofa occasion into hyperdrive by competing in opposition to family and friends in heart-racing native multiplayer motion, or grow to be a solo maestro by mastering the rhythm of 40 songs in a fascinating single-player mode. And with an eclectic mixture of music and a spread of ability ranges to select from, everybody’s in a position to be a part of within the enjoyable! Mustache In Hell — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneMustache in Hell is a comical twin stick motion recreation. You and your mustache should battle hordes of enemies, acquire loot, improve weapons and tackle huge bosses.John Mustache is a tough-as-nails police officer. After some disquieting goals, he finds himself awake in an odd place and should make an surprising cope with the Grim Reaper to regain management of his life. The Inquisitor — Xbox Sequence X|SJesus didn't die on the cross, however got here down and unleashed vengeance on all of the nonbelievers. 1500 years later, a military of Inquisitors brutally implement the religion. On this darkish fantasy journey you resolve intricate instances and unveil abysmal secrets and techniques as Inquisitor Mordimer Madderdin.February 9Deathly Harmful — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneLethal and equally harmful — that’s our anonymous hero, who swore an oath to conquer all of the evildoers of this fantasy land! Armed with scythe and two computerized pistols, he'll tolerate nobody who stands in his manner.DD is a brand new twin-stick motion with excessive emphasis on dynamic fight, roguelike components and neat pixel artwork type. This recreation provides you actually hordes of enemies and totally different instruments to eliminate them. Cartoonish violence has by no means been so enjoyable earlier than — belief us, you gonna love capturing these pesky spiders and skeletons!Alternative of Life: Center Ages 2 — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox One Jubilee — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox OneSoar and spin via Jubilee’s precision platforming. No upgrades, no powerups, simply you, gems to gather, and animals to rescue in your option to freedom!Management:Override — Xbox Sequence X|S, Xbox One Prisonela DX — Xbox Sequence X|S

The Tales of Bayun — Xbox Sequence X|S Manitas Kitchen — Xbox Sequence X|SConvey collectively a gaggle of dinosaurs with extraordinary abilities to make up one of the best kitchen brigade the world has ever seen. All underneath the supervision of a really impolite and really tiny boss.Uncover new recipes As you progress via the story and full goals, Trexito will bear in mind recipes from his culinary faculty. Get the components and acquire the recipes.Cook dinner like solely a dinosaur can How does an Ankylosaurus knead dough? Why does a Triceratops want a flamethrower? A Pterodactyl that can't fly? Use their unimaginable abilities to prepare dinner sooner and higher!Be careful for the competitors You arrive within the kitchen and... damaged counter tops? Cheese on the ground? Watch out for your rivals, as a result of they will not make it straightforward for you...Uncover Alpadino's secret Alpadino is aware of greater than you suppose and hides a not-so-fun secret. Uncover what his true mission is behind Trexito's new pizzeria, and perhaps... you may simply find yourself lined in cheese. Source link Read the full article

[coolmusiccentral]

Top 40 Albums of 2023

We say goodbye to 2023 with 40 of the best albums we've listened to in the last year, a list topped by Fever Ray's amazing third album "Radical Romantics", another close encounter with Karin Dreijer's extraterrestrial electropop project. Our top 5 albums of the year also include Yo La Tengo's "This Stupid World", one of their best efforts in an amazing career that's nearing its 40th anniversary, Protomartyr's sixth album "Formal Growth in the Desert", another post punk masterclass, and the two excellent albums that newcomers Bar Italia offered us in the year ("Tracey Denim" and "The Twits"), combining a hard work ethic with great talent.

Here are our Top 40 Albums of 2023 based on what we've listened to so far, plus a few others that stood out. This list will be updated in the near future as there are certainly more good albums out there that we are yet to discover and will be posted in its final form in Cool Music Database as usual.

Top 40 Albums

Radical romantics - FEVER RAY

This stupid world - YO LA TENGO

Formal growth in the desert - PROTOMARTYR

Tracey denim / The twits - BAR ITALIA

Rat saw God - WEDNESDAY

The record - BOYGENIUS

First two pages of Frankenstein / Laugh track - THE NATIONAL

I've seen a way - MANDY, INDIANA

Everyone's crushed - WATER FROM YOUR EYES

I inside the old year dying - PJ HARVEY

Everything is alive - SLOWDIVE

The beggar - SWANS

Sit down for dinner - BLONDE REDHEAD

Stereo mind game - DAUGHTER

O monolith - SQUID

Shook - ALGIERS

The ballad of Darren - BLUR

Javelin - SUFJAN STEVENS

Cacti - BILLY NOMATES

UK grim - SLEAFORD MODS

Medicine - GOAT

The death of Randy Fitzsimmons - THE HIVES

Plastic eternity - MUDHONEY

In times new roman - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

I don't want you anymore - CHERRY GLAZERR

Bobbie - PIP BLOM

Food for worms - SHAME

Gigi's recovery - THE MURDER CAPITAL

Breaking the balls of history - QUASI

Careful of your keepers - THIS IS THE KIT

Clear pond road - KRISTIN HERSH

Islands in the sky - DEATH VALLEY GIRLS

The land is inhospitable and so are we - MITSKI

Chaos for the fly - GRIAN CHATTEN

Weathervanes - JASON ISBELL AND THE 400 UNIT

Mommy - BE YOUR OWN PET

God games - THE KILLS

Bless this mess - U.S. GIRLS

Time's arrow - LADYTRON

Mid air - ROMY

Also recommended: Isn't it now? - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, All her plans - CABLE TIES, The price of progress - THE HOLD STEADY, On grace & dignity - THE GOLDEN DREGS, Bird machine - SPARKLEHORSE, Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall concert - CAT POWER, Brain worms - RVG, House Of All - HOUSE OF ALL, Sea of mirrors - THE CORAL, I thought I was better than you - BAXTER DURY, Rabbit rabbit - SPEEDY ORTIZ, Formentera II - METRIC, The candle and the flame - ROBERT FORSTER, Strange disciple - NATION OF LANGUAGE, Dead meat - THE TUBS, New York City - THE MEN, Continue as a guest - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, Blondshell - BLONDSHELL, Several songs about fire - A SAVAGE, Cousin - WILCO, The future is your past - THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE, Land of sleeper - PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS, Expired candy - BODY TYPE, The last rotation of earth - BC CAMPLIGHT, Nowhere to go but up / Welshpool frillies / La La Land - GUIDED BY VOICES

[phoenixcatch7]

Actually you know what yeah I'll make a little list of stories within the Unbound.

1: City of the wind: walled city state in the desert run by a secret cult of the sun, who secretly overthrew the previous rulers. Fresh air is so vanishingly rare due to the machinery the city is famous for being built at every choke point or crack in the walls, to the point the impoverished citizens hold festivals by the river when the wind blows just right. A wandering traveller and his loyal bodyguard friend rescue a young girl and the mother takes them to the secret old history archive where they're squatting illegally, sparking a chain of events that leads to a dream walking invasion of the castle.

2: a group of fairies are newly born, and to reach the outside world must solve puzzles designed to teach them life skills and about their magics in an ever expanding spiral of mossy tunnels, growing close in the process. Think a zelda forest temple, but even more green. And tinker bell style.

3: the kind clockwork stranger: an old shopkeeper of nicknacks invites a newly orphaned child into his home, but shortly passes away, leaving an unsupervised child with admittedly a large amount of self preservation but not common sense in charge of a time machine with a vague instruction booklet. Thankfully, they survive, but adventures have left them in the body of a child. With an oversized leather coat, a top hat, and a big staff they spend their time escaping guards, helping the local kids, and trying to convince another small orphan child to stop trying to break into the palace to look for their missing mother (this does not succeed until the time machine comes out). Steampunk.

4: a vampire has trapped an evil dragon under his castle for centuries. Unfortunately, the maiden he captures accidentally finds and awakens it, causing the great beast to destroy the castle above it as it claws its way free, tossing her and several staff members (also possibly vampires) into the steep but lush crater pit the vampire has been hiding for all this time with illusions to claim its rare resources. Yes the vampire gets eaten by the dragon while everyone figures out how to climb the sheer walls.

5: a supermodel is accused of murder of a political figure, so she and her friends embark on a dramatic escape from the police, guards, military, etc. There's disguises. Chase scenes. High risk improv. Everyone does drag at one point. The himbo everyone thinks she's dating gets caught in the crossfire and cheerfully joins the crew. There's cruise liners, there's limousines, there's a final push in the dead of night across a lake with a stolen pirate ship the supermodel resolves by activating a secret rainbow bridge mechanism in an abandoned island cave that links to a castle ruin where it's safe to hide until her innocence is proved.

6: the moon queen's daughter decides to go on her earthly pilgrimage after watching an astronaut football game. She awakens in her returning space craft several years later with no memory of her time on earth, and her father issues an investigation while she reconciles the seven years she's missed her siblings grow up.

7: an enormous half flooded cave system in a volcano is home to several communities of fishermen, mermaids, and assorted magical beings happily living side by side. One day, a young siren girl teaches her fire lion friend how to pilot her gondola, and they learn much about their island caves and it's history over the summer. They uncover a vent connecting to the still active volcano depths, and the fire lion slips down to explore, finding caves full of lava hiding the most beautiful crystals they've ever seen. They return home with a bag full, and the crystals are turned into jewellery by the young siren and her father, the master jeweller.

8: a figure of legend is reincarnated over and over again to fight evil, think king Arthur and the king under the mountain, until their patron diety decides to bring them through time and space until every version of them can meet. Though they are instructed to fight evil, there's not really much of it about, so they turn into a roving band of archaeologists and historians, despite not all of them being literate. There's a lot of forgotten dungeon raiding. They may or may not be telepathic and just haven't realised. The horse is also a version of them.