#from the lake house to the confrontation to the museum

[abooklover]

Alex is stronger than me because if I just came out to my dad who then convinced me to spill my heart out to the love of my life, which I did while lying on a pontoon in the middle of a lake only for said love of my life to literally roll off of it to escape the conversation and then fly out of the country I think I would die on the spot. But no Alex Claremont-Diaz is like no siree, I love you and I’m gonna fly across a fucking ocean to tell you that.

[hpoxfordprogram]

EuroSummer 2024

~by Ethan CordeiroReflecting on a summer filled with lifelong memories and incredible cultural exposure has been a fun exercise, and it reminds me of just how impactful my Oxford Program experience will be on my life and worldview going forward.

Immediately upon landing in Rome, Italy for the start of the travel portion, I felt immersed in a lifestyle with an entirely different pace from what I’m used to in the United States. At cafés, I saw businessmen casually paging through files with breathtaking Roman and Renaissance architecture behind them. I noticed how sacred the process of enjoying, not just eating, a meal is to the Italian people. And I discovered that wine does go with everything (if you pick the right one). 

While acclimating to the undoubtedly more relaxed Italian lifestyle, we took in some of the most beautiful Western art and architecture ever created. My visit to the Vatican revealed not only the dedication and skill of the artists that built the holy city, but the equally strong fervor of visiting worshippers from around the world. I was lucky enough to attend a mass said by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square, and it was unlike anything I’ve experienced. Watching thousands of people of all ages, ethnicities, and linguistic backgrounds pray and sing in unison was breathtaking. A highlight of Roman art for me was the Galleria Borghese, where we took in the work of the Borghese family’s most famous artistic clients, including Bernini, Caravaggio, and Canova. The image below shows the ceiling of the first gallery, covered by a stunning fresco of The Apotheosis of Romulus by Rossi.

Our exploration of Italian Renaissance art ramped up in Florence, where we visited the Uffizi gallery, where we saw several famous works by the likes of Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Titian. The city’s relatively small size and walkability made it easy for us to explore a blend of Gothic and Renaissance architecture on foot as well.

Interspersed with our visits to museums and cultural sites, my friends and I took several day trips to explore Italy’s natural beauty. Below is a photo from our 4-mile hike at the Lake Como Greenway, where we took in the serene mountainous landscape, strolled through quaint villages, and even jumped into the glassy turquoise water.

The most impactful cultural experience I had with visual art on this trip was at the Venice Biennale, a cultural exhibition with pavilions exhibiting art from across the world. The theme of the Biennale was “Foreigners Everywhere,” and it was fascinating to see how different countries’ artists approached this theme. The German exhibit (pictured below) included multi-modal depictions of futuristic and apocalyptic scenes and was one of my favorite pavilions. The art confronted viewers with questions about humanity’s shared future – blurring national and political boundaries in the process. This take on the “Foreigners Everywhere” theme contrasted with the Dutch exhibit. The pavilion had sculptures created by the descendants of African slaves depicting the alienation and exploitation their ancestors faced. My time at the Biennale reinforced my perception of Venice as a center of culture, both for Europe and the world at large. The exhibit invited artists from all walks of life to portray what the concept of an “outsider” means to them and presented each of these interpretations as equal. I found this pluralistic approach to culture very moving.

Upon leaving Venice, our tour bus traversed the foothills of the Alps before arriving in Vienna, which was by far my favorite stop on our European tour. I felt as though each new street I turned onto housed some stunning building I couldn’t help but stop and stare at. The metro system was efficient, the locals were friendly, and the bratwurst was exquisite. What I’ll remember most from my visit, though, were our incredible musical experiences.

For our Composers and their Music class, we visited the Vienna State Opera for a performance of Richard Strauss’ Salome, which was eccentric (to say the least) but very technically impressive. The following night, my friends and I scored discounted tickets to Swan Lake, also at the opera house. The performance floored me. Hearing Tchaikovsky’s iconic music brought to life with spectacular dancing was a treat, and I was amazed at how completely I understood the story despite ballets having no dialogue. This performance represented the pinnacle of theatrical art, and my experience seeing it will forever stick with me. I gained an appreciation for how complex ballet is, since a performance involves dozens of skilled professionals—from dancers to choreographers to stagehands to musicians—working in concert to assemble the show. Below is an image of the curtain call for the two lead dancers; needless to say, the crowd was on its feet in rapturous applause for this moment!

Even after Swan Lake, I wasn’t done with incredible music in Vienna. The following night, I visited a jazz club where a band led by Dana Gillespie was performing. Gillespie was a prominent collaborator of many famous artists, (including Elton John, David Bowie, and Jimmy Page) while leading a successful solo career in folk pop and blues. After the show, Gillespie approached me after seeing my Georgia Tech t-shirt and explained that she played a gig at Tech in the 70s. This launched a conversation about her career, involvement with Bowie, and extensive connections to India (my family’s country of origin). This interaction was both unexpected and very interesting; I’ll swear by Vienna jazz bars for celebrity run-ins in the future! 

As the travel portion of our trip came to a close, my friends and I took a day trip from Antwerp to Brussels, where a highlight of my visit was a tour of the European Parliament. During the tour, we learned about the parliament’s function and its interactions with other organs of the European Union. As a geopolitics nerd, I was ecstatic to explore the physical home of European democracy. Though the inner workings of the EU are very complex, the information I learned on the tour taught me how this complexity balances power within the union and ensures that EU law meets every citizen’s needs. My favorite part of the tour was seeing the Parliament Hemicycle (pictured below), where representatives from all 27 member states meet to debate and vote on policy.

I continued to seek out new cultural experiences while in residence at Oxford, both by exploring the city and through weekend travels. Perhaps my favorite trip was to Barcelona, where I spent plenty of time with Antoni Gaudí’s architecture. His bio-inspired designs were unlike anything I’d seen before and brought immense character to the churches, homes, and parks I saw. Below is a picture of the Basílica de la Sagrada Família’s interior, where Gaudí combines traditional elements of Catholic church design—stained glass windows and vaulted ceilings—with elements showcasing his reverence for the natural world, particularly the use of columns that resemble tree trunks. Gaudí’s incredible attention to detail was evident in all his work; I was amazed at how his singular vision for the Sagrada Família was so clear that builders continued following it decades after his passing.

I am so grateful to have participated in the Oxford Study Abroad program this summer and would enthusiastically recommend the experience to HP students considering it. Applying my classroom-based learning by visiting some of Europe’s most iconic and beautiful cultural sites was in itself a treat. Beyond that, though, this trip has allowed me to forge some very close friendships that I know will last well after we return to Atlanta. I will admit, the constant traveling was somewhat mentally stressful (and the cobblestone streets physically stressful), but the cultural awareness and travel habits I developed were overwhelmingly worth it. EuroSummer 2024 will always hold a special place in my heart, and even after being here for 12 weeks, I can’t wait to come back!

[onenettvchannel]

FLASH REPORT: The Casagrandes Movie completes production, set for exclusive Netflix premiere in 2024 (updated as final!!!)

GREAT LAKES, ILLINOIS -- The eagerly anticipated animated digital movie, which based on the popular TV series and original movie of "The Loud House" on Nickelodeon, has reportedly finished its production last month in the late mid-November 2023, as stated from a caption tweeted post shared by The X Network (formerly Twitter). We furtherly unveiled the exciting details about the film's creative team and its exclusive streaming home on Netflix in the late mid-March 2024, where it was only first initially reported by The Wrap.

(PHOTO and CITY BANNER COURTESY: PugaVida via The X Network & EDITED and SPONSORED BY: Rhayniel Saldasal Calimpong and Roy August Bustillo)

Miguel Angel Puga, renowned for their contributions to esteemed animated projects, takes the directorial reins of "The Casagrandes" movie. Assisting in crafting this streaming cinematic masterpiece is Anthony Michael Gama-Lobo, the brilliant mind behind Nickelodeon's cartoon shows, accompanied by a team of talented sub-writers including Rebecca May, Lalo Alcaraz and Rosemary Contreras. This said highly anticipated film promises to offer a fresh and unique perspective on the beloved characters from a spin-off of 'The Loud House'. With such an experienced team leading the way, fans can anticipate an extraordinary cinematic journey that remains faithful to the essence of the original series while venturing into new and captivating storylines.

(PHOTO COURTESY: PugaVida via The X Network / The animation staff finishes production after Season 3 finale ended and transitions to a Netflix movie.)

Produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio (NAS), whose impressive resume includes The Loud House, Glitch Techs, etc., the animated streaming movie is poised to be a visual spectacle with top-notch animation and storytelling. Fans eagerly await the opportunity to delve deeper into the Casagrande family dynamics and witness their adventures unfold on the big screen at home, which some American theaters for kids and teens' demographic to be featured outside the streaming release date on Netflix will not be shown elsewhere to the public.

(SCREENGRAB PHOTO COURTESY: Nickelodeon Animation Studio and Netflix via The Wrap / From left to right: Ronnie Anne Santiago [our internet Stringer Correspondent of Nickelodeon News for OneNETnews] explores some kind of tribal-like museum, together with Punguari joined her for a Mexico adventure.)

A sneak peek into the upcoming streaming movie was also first provided by The Wrap, obtaining a screengrab image delivered to our news team of OneNETnews, from a contributed digital news correspondent. The image showcases the Casagrande family in a dynamic pose between Ronnie Anne Santiago and the identified sibling-like female individual named Punguari, hinting at the vibrant animation and engaging narrative that await viewers.

A movie synopsis revealed exclusively to OneNETnews, the Mexico adventure in the said digital streaming movie event ends up ruining her plans on Ronnie Anne's birthday: "After a surprise family trip to Mexico derails Ronnie Anne Santiago’s birthday plans, she is determined to prove that she’s old enough to do her own thing – even if it means confronting an ancient preteen demigod whose angst has apocalyptic potential!".

Excitement is building as fans speculate about the plot twists and surprises that will unfold in this highly anticipated aforementioned streaming movie on Netflix.

(SCREENGRAB COURTESY: Rhayniel Saldasal Calimpong)

The journey to bringing "The Casagrandes" movie to life faced its share of challenges. An online petition on Change.org garnered significant support from fans, urging the production team to revive the project after it seemingly faced delays so far until the present day. The successful petition not only demonstrated the passionate fanbase but also played a pivotal role in convincing the decision-makers to move forward with the production, granting approval to the delight of fans worldwide before it becomes global syndication for kids and teens alike.

(EDITED THUMBNAIL PHOTO by Rhayniel Saldasal Calimpong)

There were bumps along the way to completion. It is worth recalling that our news article, us as an independent news organization to OneNETnews, which was deleted the first time upon request, caused quite a stir commotion, when it was leaked online last year in the late-March 2023. The leak originated from an undisclosed anonymous forum site and had a significant impact.

(STOCK PHOTO via Google Images)

Consequently, the Paramount Animation Group of Companies (PAGC) initiated legal proceedings against the independent news organization to OneNETnews based from a home country, the Philippines. In our previous news article, we inadvertently supported their actions, but now we stand corrected. This unfortunate leak incident serves as a sternful reminder of the difficulties encountered in safeguarding sensitive information in the age of digitalization. It underscores the importance of maintaining constant vigilance to safeguard intellectual property and ensure efficient management of the NAS' production.

As the digital streaming movie gears up for its exclusive Netflix premiere, fans can rejoice in the successful realization of their collective efforts. The film promises to be a cinematic treat for animation enthusiasts, offering a new chapter in the lives of the Casagrande family that will captivate audiences of all ages, despite the cancellation after the Season 3 finale ended last year in late-September 2022.

"The Casagrandes Movie" releases to stream starting March 22nd, 2024 at 2am Eastern / 1am Central (in the United States) / 3pm in Manila -- only on Netflix!

FILE PHOTO COURTESY for REPRESENTATION: Nickelodeon Animation Studio BACKGROUND PROVIDED BY: Tegna

SOURCE: *https://www.thewrap.com/netflix-animation-success-future/ [Referenced News Article via The Wrap] *http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2020/09/24/298203/20200924nickelodeon01/ [Referenced PR News Article via The Futon Critic] *http://www.nickalive.net/2023/04/nickelodeon-announces-casagrandes-movie.html [Referenced News Article #1 via NickALive! News Bureau] *http://www.nickalive.net/2023/11/the-casagrandes-movie-reportedly-wraps.html [Referenced News Article #2f via NickALive! News Bureau] *https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/the-casagrandes-movie-to-release-on-netflix-exclusively-in-2024/ [Referenced News Article via What's on Netflix News Bureau] *https://www.change.org/p/get-the-casagrandes-movie-back-on [Referenced Petition Page via Change.org] *https://desuarchive.org/trash/thread/61737054/#q61765337 [Referenced /co/ thread forum archive via 4chan] *https://www.netflix.com/tudum/movies-shows-netflix-2024 [Referenced Movie Listings via Netflix's Tudum entertainment news bureau] *https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81221344 [Referenced Synopsis via Netflix Media Center] and *https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/the-casagrandes-movie-to-release-on-netflix-exclusively-in-2024/ [Referenced News Article via What's on Netflix news bureau]

-- OneNETnews Team

[cocoartistwrites]

Hogwarts School Trip. Except instead of a museum or a chocolate factory Dumbledore thinks it'll be fun to send them back in time. Bonus points for Tomione but pls have fun with this prompt

ily so much

The whole year wakes up early. Even Justin Finch-Fletchly is on time, and Justin is never seen before noon. All they’ve been told is they’re going on a trip to learn more about the Wizarding World, they’re to be at the edge of the forest by six in the morning on the dot, Professor Dumbledore is taking them, and they’re to wear their school robes and bring a wand and absolutely nothing else, not even snacks.

Ron has snacks anyway. Professor McGonagall takes them off him with a very disappointed, A member of my own house and a shake of her bun.

Their names are called out alphabetically. All they’re told is they’re getting a disillusionment charm from the Headmaster. This is the most contact every student except Harry Potter has ever had with Dumbledore, but he knows most of their names anyway.

[The problem is, once they’re disillusioned, the professors can’t quite corral them. Hermione can’t help but think they should have waited until they were inside the strange glowing golden circle. Perhaps that way Professor McGonagall wouldn’t have had to go to fetch Neville, Seamus and Ernie, and she wouldn’t have been left behind, and it wouldn’t have turned into complete chaos.]

“Where do you reckon we are?” Ron asks, once they’ve all finished gasping for breath and being sick. “Looks the same to me.”

“Well, I think it is the same,” Hermione says. “But that tree was definitely smaller?”

“Well-deducted, Granger,” Draco Malfoy sneers. “One can really see how you got all those OWLS.”

“Didn’t realise you were counting,” she snaps back (with charm of course, she’s learning how to deal with his bullying).

“A school trip from Hogwarts to… Hogwarts. So glad I woke up early,” Justin Finch-Fletchley mutters. “I’m missing a weekend shooting at Linhope for this.”

Hermione bites back a smile at the absolutely baffled, yet disdainful, muttering this provokes from Ron and Harry. Tea with the queen and well, pardon, your highness and lagabed, which, surely is a prime Mrs Weasley word. She grasps their robes.

“Why couldn’t he have done the spell now?” she hisses. “Everything’s shimmering, I feel like I’ve taken acid.”

“Well, well,” Professor Dumbledore says, “it seems we’re mostly here and partially present and correct. You’re no doubt curious to know where i have brought you-”

“Looks like Hogwarts to me,” Malfoy’s snide voice carries. “Fascinating.”

[“Where did Nev go-” “McGonagall was still-” “-too early or we were late or what?”]

There is absolutely no obvious point to this trip to 99.1% of the year. They in 1943, at Hogwarts. It’s a perfectly normal school day. The 0.9% is Harry, Ron, and Hermione who are confronted with Tom Riddle in the flesh and have absolutely no idea why.

“There’s no way the Ministry approved this,” Hermione hisses to Harry.

“I’m sure he has his reasons,” he replies, unreasonably.

“You see here the teenage Lord Voldemort,” Dumbledore announces behind his silencing ward, as they trail to Potions behind a group of Slytherin sixth years. “Just like any of you, except of course born evil.”

He hums. A group of First Years coming the other way are knocked over by the group of several dozen time-travellers.

The disillusionment charms start wearing off halfway through the lesson, and it’s only then that it becomes obvious they’ve lost more of the year than were left behind in 1995.

“Ah,” Dumbledore says, recasting them too late, “I was distracted by the wafts of - well, hello Horace…”

“Who’re you?’ Tom Riddle asks Hermione. He’s not looking at any of the others.

“Ministry Observation Group,” she snaps. “Carry on, Riddle.”

“How do you know-”

“I think it’s time we-”

“Where’s Goyle?”

“My goodness, Weasley, do you ever stop eat-”

They crowd into the corridor, Dumbledore’s obliviation charms flying thick and fast. He doesn’t notice the new addition, and nor does anyone else, until Hermione is pulled into an alcove off the ground-floor corridor.

The others have vanished around the corridor when Tom Riddle’s Finite takes effect on both of them. She misses the Unspeakables’ entrance, is told later there were an unprecedented fifteen of them. Misses the castle-wide manhunt for Crabbe and Goyle, later found sleeping by the Black Lake. Misses the general chaos of it all.

“You’re from the future, aren’t you? I saw old Greybeard back there,” Tom Riddle says. “Legilimens.”

Hermione, no Occlumens, is no match for this. She is, however, a match for the obliviation he tries and for his imperius. He’s not that good, as it turns out, not yet.

He is, however, a very good kisser. He pushes her back into the stone wall and she almost falls for that one. She doesn't though.

Her full body-bind has him crashing off her lips, hands still curved around her waist, pulling her with him as he descends.

She scrambles free and runs back to the forest where they entered just as everyone is tumbling into the circle again, this time supervised by the cloaked Unspeakables.

No one, not even Hermione, realises they’ve taken someone with them until they get home.

[lunarrwolf]

mini series coming soon!!

since you guys got me over 300 followers, i held up my end of my own deal and was finally able to think up the first of a 100% written series (social media included only when needed to build the story).

there will only be two for now but i want to get the sykkuno series a good ways in before bringing in new content like this! i’ve been a writer since middle school and have major writer’s block for a book i’m working on rn so i’m really excited about writing an actual story for lunarrwolf! these are the banners, very tiny synopses, and sneak peek excerpts for DAYWALKER!s and Siren Woods

s.h warning: siren woods will not be for the faint of heart as it will be put in the category of a psychological thriller. it will contain suspense, fear(s), anxiety and/or mentions of depression, isolation and swearing

d.w!s warning: this is an apocalyptic world w/o zombies. it will contain violence, anxiety, entrapment, fear(s) and swearing

disclaimer: i will do my absolutely best not to treat either of these as if they were actual novels. i plan on putting in comedic lines and scenes to lower any thriller/horror vibes from the stories, and not too go too far to avoid truly triggering myself or anyone else. warnings will only be issued in chapters that are going to actually include one or more of above the above. but if anyone who reads them in the future have issues do not feel like you need to keep reading.

-

DAYWALKER!s

a variety youtuber mini series

summary

ten creators find themselves amidst a city with an oddly familiar vibe, a weird yet intimidating apocalyptic appearance, and hundreds of strangers that feel the need to do nothing but fight their way through the city. even if that means to the death.

excerpt

“You’re all going to die, you know.. so you might as well give up now and let it take over.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

You blinked at the growl woven in with your friend’s deep voice, knowing for sure that if you were in an animation a sweat drop would be making its way down the side of your head. He hated confrontation more than anyone here but when it came to his friends, and being trapped in a place like this? Who knew what damage he would do to keep them safe.

The man ahead of the group did nothing but stand there with a mocking grin on his face. It was unnerving, and dare say almost bloodthirsty. There was no amount of sanity or free will from where you all stood just a couple of yards away, and just that thought alone chilled you to the core.

“Corpse.. maybe you shouldn’t.” You stated, stepping closer to him to lower the risk of the strange man hearing the second part. “I don’t like the looks of that guy even from over here. We’ve already had to deal with a ton of crazy shit since finding each other. We can’t risk losing our only real muscle of the group.”

Ignoring the offended voices of Sean and Ludwig, the man with the torn mask looked at you only when you put a hand on his shoulder. It took sharing glances and seeing head shakes from most of the others to have him loosen the fist his hand was already in. Standing up straight, you watched as he rolled his shoulders, jaw still clenched from the tension. Rae was taking advantage of the off putting interaction and explored the small area, so capturing everyone’s attention when Corpse relaxed a bit wasn’t hard. “It’s gonna be a tight fit but I think we can make it work.”

“Whoa.”

“Where did you learn how to hotwire a car?” Ethan questioned, being the first to make his way toward the beaten vehicle.

“Video games?” The brunette answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She hit the side of the driver door twice, motioning to the group. “Now get your asses in here before that guy decides to pull a Resident Evil zombie sprint on us.”

“Yes ma’am.” Sykkuno saluted, earning chuckles that were a rare sight since ending up here. The two of you didn’t waste time in calling the front seats beside Rae and Ethan, forcing everyone else to get in the back of the truck and make it work. No one could complain, though, seeing the circumstances you were all in.

It took a few seconds of revving the seemingly old engine before the machine began making its way. You could actually hear the ones in the back shift around to get in more comfortable positions for however long a ride it would be. The girl behind the wheel didn’t pay any mind to the stranger that watched her drive you all away, but you did. And even when he continued to shrink in distance and eventually disappeared, you knew his words would stay with you.

“You’re wasting your time! No one gets out of Mirror City!!”

Siren Woods

a variety youtuber mini series

summary

seven internet personalities find themselves in the middle of an old town myth as they take a break from their careers and head up towards a rural mountain area. among every spooky or jumpy experience with a horror game here and there, never did any of them think they’d end up in this situation.

excerpt

The fire crackled with a sense of release, almost as if this large flame represented the time everyone needed away from their jobs. After how crazy the media has become the past few weeks, you and your friends agreed that a trip towards a much lesser known area would do you all well. It was a teenagers on summer break scene where everyone was gathered around a campfire in the backyard of a lake house, telling stories to either amuse or scare each other. Seán and Ethan were the first to do so, tag teaming in a very dramatic reenactment of the first time they met in person, which of course had to be followed by your own scene with Y/F/N.

Time flew by and before you knew it, the sun was completely set and the darkest shade of navy possible was barely lit with a crescent moon and a few stars. The only real source of light was the fire, illuminating the six faces in an orange glow. Any laughter died down minutes ago, leaving a silence that was comfortable for everyone. “You guys want to hear a funny story?”

Squinting at the man sitting in the log across from you, you leaned forward, hands folded in your lap. “Funny haha or funny we might want to kill you after we hear it?”

“Uh..” Corpse met your gaze immediately, his mask somehow looking more eerie with the natural lighting. “Funny kind of hoping you won’t kill me, if I’m being honest.” He confirmed, leaning forward himself to warm up his hands while the rest of you debated on whether to let him tell it.

After a few minutes, and three overtaking two, he was allowed to do so. It was an old myth of the town you all resided in for the week; a Slenderman type of entity of the forest that the locals from dozens of years before chose to call Siren Head. The name stuck once old photos were found and set up in the small museum in the Common. He stood at forty feet tall, with two megaphones for heads and tangled wires for a torso. He had the ability to perfectly mimic broadcasts, conversations, sirens and screams, and had been said to only emit white noise if ever asleep. Speed nearly matched that of a cheetah and his strength was unbelievably high due to his size. Every sighting of said species had only been released by victims, and it was an urban tale that stood alive to this very day.

Rae was on the grass now, legs crossed one over the other as she tried to look at everyone at once. “Why the hell did we all come to a place called Siren Woods, then?!”

“Well.. the town looked really nice online, and it’s living up to that. And I thought siren meant more mermaid than a freaky Creepypasta-type thing.” Sykkuno could do nothing but respond with nerves showing through his face and every subtle movement of his body as he explained why he ended up agreeing with the destination.

“Yeah, I did too.” Y/F/N piped in, shrugging her innocence as you all began telling your sides. “Who doesn’t think of a mermaid when you hear the word siren?! That’s basically what they are.”

“I, for one, think we should find another place to stay.” Ethan spoke up.

Seán gaped at his longest friend in the group, “You don’t actually believe in that.”

“I’m not taking any chances, dude. Those people believe in that thing enough to build a whole section of the museum for it.”

You watched your friends go back and forth, some freaked out by the story but not believing it was real while the rest wanted to find a new vacation spot. “What do you think, Y/N?”

You turned to Corpse, blinking as the simple question processed in your mind. “I’m with Ethan on this.. even if that thing isn’t an actual being the belief here is hardcore.” Three faces lit up in relief while the roommate, Irishman, and faceless internet persona felt differently. “Let me finish..” you sighed, “Let’s stay another night but keep an extra cautious eye on Spencer and Luna. Animals have a sort of sixth sense, so if anything weird happens they’ll warn us. Deal?”

Y/F/N shared a glance with you, letting out a sigh of her own. “Suddenly I’m feeling a lot better that we brought our dogs instead of getting sitters.” She bent down to pet the canines laying between the logs, hoping if they did bark it would just be from a resident knocking on the door.

[emj-tolj]

              A Healthy Cup of Adventure Hunting Tea

More than often when I put my boots on and hit the ground for a day or weekend of adventure hunting, I will carry with me a small pouch, in which I carry tea bags. In some cases if I know where I am heading I will look for tea ingredients (herbs and flowers). Depending on the adventurous mind I am in, will depend the blend, which helps me take in the full experience of the adventure. While we all are effected and inspired by teas differently, here is my Adventure Hunting Tea influences:

Birch: An invoker of pretty much any adventure within autumn settings. I find it also invoke high desires for adventures that have some magickal element to them.

Mint Tea: Mint is my go to for many moods. Mostly fantasy and adventures dealing with  the air and wind. (Hilltops, windy days, canyons)

Black Tea: Pretty much all adventures but particularly when the adventure is home or office based like Gangsters and Noir settings. Very retro/vintage  Urban-ish feelings. 

Grapefruit: When I am looking to inspire adventures dealing with Magick, spells and other such themes, this is my go-to tea. Also any adventure that may take me into the wetlands and swamps.

Blueberry: Any adventure dealing with woodlands and forests

Raspberry: Any adventure in which I know there will be some sort of confrontation or battles

Elm: Elm tea takes me into wanting adventures into the winter season. Not sure why but it does.

Blackberry: Any adventure that takes me into a place like libraries or museums

Hawthorn: I have to be careful with this tea as it kicks in a lot of adventures with in the realms of love and passion. I mean HIGH love and passion adventures.

Rose petal/hips: Any adventure where love, passion and springtime take place

Linden Tea: This is my “go to” tea when I need to invoke summertime feelings and adventures. Its really powerful for me.

Chamomile: Any adventure that spans into times of rest and sleep. Often I will have Rose tea and Chamomile for a heightened experience

Lavender: Awesome tea for homebound adventures or adventures in farmers and gardens

Green Tea: Any adventure that takes place in fields. plains, meadows, gardens, valleys. Also I find most powerful when I am on summertime adventures.

Pumpkin Tea: Pretty much obvious, anything dealing with autumn as well as forest and farmlands.  

Beech: This tea I find is a leader to high action adventures in rustic places. So I am sure to be well geared for everything and everything, including battle.

Maple Syrup Tea: Another one of the teas that invoke high adventure in the theme of Fantasy and Westerns.

Oolong Tea: Any adventure that takes place or around a social gathering, such as a tavern scene, a dinner or hanging out at a campsite with friends 

Cherry: Any adventure that takes me into places like faires, carnivals, amusement parks and places of high wild entertainment

Chocolate Mint Tea: Any adventure dealing with the winter season and holidays.

Citrus Tea: (Orange/Peach/Apricot) This tea for me invoke pretty much any summer time adventures.

Lemon Tea:  Not only a Summer adventure invoker but specifically adventures  centered around places like boats, beaches, harbors, ports and other shorelines.

Cucumber Tea:  This tea REALLY invokes summer theme adventures but also places like rivers, gorges, brooks, lakes and other fresh water areas.

Willow: This tea I find is best for slow day adventures often leading to just picnics, fishing and lazy days. Defiantly a summer adventure invoker.

Oak Tea: Not a fave of mine taste wise but its does help me dive into adventures set in old urban areas, like old book shops, alleys, antique shops and so forth. 

Hibiscus:   This tea invoke adventures in me when there is a lot of trekking, walking and running. Areas like forest and woodland borderlines,  

Ginger Tea: A bit spicy for some but i takes me into adventures of Arabian and middle eastern delights. Deserts and exotic market places. (I lived 10 years in Two Suns Summerset so this tea was drunk a lot!)

Lemon Grass: Another tea which for me invokes a more “home-body” adventures. Specially farms, villages, orchards, gardens, villas and cottages.

Ash: This tea I find drives my adventures to one particular place and that is to open fields and meadows. A veru spring and summer time vibe I find comes with it.

Apples: Pretty much an go all tea for all sorts of adventures. Specially if your adventures border around these like pioneering and “westerns”

Pineapple: A great tea to help stimulate adventures in tropical places and summertime settings. 

Spearmint: (And Winter mint) Excellent to inspire and stimulate adventures set in the winter season. Spearmint I find is also a great inspirer of adventures dealing with wind (see MINT above)

Jasmine: Another tea for me that is bet taken to inspire adventures within the lines of love, passion and even just self love. I find when I by some new adventure gear, I will have a cup of Jasmine Tea to help me align my new clothes/gear to my “AH” self. 

Vanilla Tea: Hard to find but for me its an all around adventure invoker. It represents so much for me and invokes all sorts of adventures

Coconut Tea: Can be used to invoke and enhance tropical adventures as well as summertime and also adventures set in woodlands and forests, as it had a very earthy flavor

Walnut: This is one tea that for me I can not take without a weeks leave from work. Its powerful for me, invoking HIGH ADVENTURE feelings with lots of energy and want to go into battle. The smell alone gets my blood boiling to grab a sword or gun. The setting does not seen to matter; rustic or urban.

Cinnamon: (Spicy) Yeah, for me its invokes adventures in the autumn and winter seasons, but a very wild taste, so it will inspire adventures of power and action. 

Fig: A tea that, for me, inspires adventures in places like Italy, Greece, Egypt and other places along the Mediterranean, Earth and water feelings.

Pear: This is a rarity for me as I am not fond of tea BUT the tea invokes me to take off for areas like mountains, hills and cliffsides.

Corn Flowers: Another rarity for me but definitely invokes adventures within the realms of fields, farms and the old west.

Rosemary: For me, this tea is a “stay at home” tea or at the least inspires places and adventures in gardens, farms, fields and yards. I call it the “Wonderland” tea

Pine: Pretty much an all around rustic forest adventure invoker. However at times I tend to want to adventure in places like cafes, taverns, inns, B&Bs and other places or rustic and calm settings.

Black Cherry: This tea invoke adventures in pretty much all high urban places. I will have this tea before I hope the rail into the city.

Almond: This is another tea that sends me to adventure in the woods and forests. Other times it will inspire adventures in places like tavern, inns and campsites.

Honey: This is another one of those “Homebody” cottage teas but I find at times it will take me to exploring woods and the fields.

Alder: A tea I find induces adventures  leading me to places like rivers, springs and other fresh water sources.

Thyme: This tea is a killer and does me in. Not only does inspire high adventure but in dark places like basements, old houses, caverns, tunnels, swamps and wetlands. Or at the very least Rainy days. So for me I know I need to grab my sword or guns cause I know I will be dealing with some nasties.

Anyway that’s my list. Again these teas may inspire you differently and if you are an Adventure Hunter I encourage you to experiment. I would suggest NOT mixing and making blends at first but just let solo herbs spark and inspire. Start the day with a cup of tea and see where it takes you. Have a second cup for lunch or teatime to keep the inspiration going. I HIGHLY suggest you make a log of what sort of adventures the teas inspire in you. If you plan to carry teas with you on your adventure I highly suggest a air-tight baggy if you plan to be out in the rain or around water. 

[darlingsdevil]

Of The Valley (Joel x Reader)

Chapter 6: MIA

Summary: Life in Jackson is never easy. Consoling angsty teenagers, wading through the mysterious waters of Joel’s romance language and with a child of your own on the way? Life is about to get a lot harder.

CHATPER WARNING: This chapter contains mentions of teenage drinking and smoking weed.

Tag list (comment to be added or removed) @sidepuff @joelsheartache @fangirl-inthe-us @cowboyfrazer @scarletpines @mikah-writes @sleepylunarwolf @mr-robot-x @shybookdragon @heughan @writer-jamie @nelliecraine

Of The Valley Masterlist

RDR2 Masterlist

•••

You fell asleep on the couch once you calmed down, you wanted to sleep for the night and worry tomorrow. Yet loud knocking on your door in the late hours of the night awoke you.

You jolted awake and looked out through the window from your spot on the couch, seeing a shadow of a person through the curtains.

Another loud knock.

“Alright! Fine! I’m coming!” You shouted, angrily throwing your blanket off of you. You unlocked the door and looked at the visitor.

“Dina?”

“Hey, Y/N. I’m really sorry for waking you up so late and probably Mark too, I know this is super out of the blue but, do you by any chance know where Ellie went?” She asked you. Dina wasn’t on your list of people you had avoided, she was constantly in the bar with Jesse. Dina was the life of the party, with her came laughter and excitement, she was easy to be around, which is why you never avoided her. There were no expectations from her, she was just a kid that was kind and didn’t push. You hadn’t seen her nearly as much as you used to, or anyone for that matter, but you never outright refused to be around her, or cross the street when you saw her walking your way.

You shifted in your spot, straightening yourself up. “No, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just that I don’t know where Ellie went, I looked around town and everything but she’s not here,” Dina said, worry slowly filling her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know where she went. Maybe ask Joel?”

“I just.. don’t want to worry Joel or put anymore strain on them,” Dina explained. “But I just figured since you went on patrol with them she could have mentioned it.”

“No, she didn’t mention it to me. Any chance she could have snuck out?” You rose a brow. Teenagers snuck out all the damn time, it was no secret, though rarely anyone mentioned it. It was an unspoken rule, teenagers even in the apocalypse were rebellious.

“It’s probably the most likely choice.. I’m just worried because it’s so late and she almost always tells me beforehand or invites me along too,” Dina rambled, her hands fidgeting at her side as she explained it to you.

“Have you told Maria, Ellie’s missing?”

“No, Maria would kill Ellie if she knew she snuck out.” That was true, considering when teens usually snuck out they smoked pot and drank alcohol, you didn’t want Maria searching for a dopey drunk Ellie.

“Yeah, I would tell her if Ellie doesn’t come back by sunrise,” You suggested. “Where’s Jesse by the way?”

“We got into an argument earlier, I just didn’t want to bother him, you know?”

You understood that well enough.

“I’m going to go out looking for her, I just wanted to make sure someone knew where I was going too, sorry for waking you, goodnight.” Dina was ready to leave, but you pulled her back. You could leave Jackson for an hour or two.. you had done it for a full night, besides you couldn’t let a teenager go out there by herself. You couldn’t let her wake up Joel or alert Maria either, both would make Ellie only angrier. You didn’t want to leave Jackson, much less two days in a row, but if you had done it before you could do it again. It wasn’t patrol either, you would probably find her within the next few hours. She couldn’t have gone far.

“Woah, woah, woah. You can’t go out there alone, especially not during the night, I’m going with you.”

“Are you sure?” Dina asked.

“Yeah I am, let me go get my coat first, I’ll be right back.” You fetched your coat from your room, grabbing the pistol hidden in your dresser, you never wanted to pick it up again, or even have to use it, but there was no way you would leave town without it. The last thing you wanted to do was use it on hunters or infected — no matter who you were shooting at, you didn’t want to be the one to pull that trigger. But if it came down to life or death, you would use it, even if every ounce of your body screamed in protest, you would disregard it, you had used your rifle yesterday, what was a pistol to that? You still had work in the morning and was putting yourself in harm's way while pregnant really the best idea? It didn’t matter.. you needed to make sure Ellie was safe. You returned to Dina, she was biting her nail gently, her brow furrowed.

Once you stepped outside you realized how cold it had gotten, you could see your breath as you exhaled.

You waved the gun in the air, showing it to her.

“Any chance you have your gun with you?”

“No, I went to her house first and then got caught up looking for her, I forgot to bring it with me,” Dina explained.

“Hold on. There’s another gun upstairs, I’ll get it,” You replied, turning around and walking over to the staircase that led up to his loft. Mark had a stash of guns in his room, as protective as he was of all of his belongings, you were certain he wouldn’t mind you letting Dina borrow one. It wasn’t like he would be needing them anytime soon anyways.

But you hadn’t stepped foot in his room since it happened.

You opened the door up to the staircase, your head feeling like it was going to explode. Your heartbeat so loud in your ears you were sure even Dina could hear it. Every step was a louder groan from the creaky steps that resonated in your ears, you walked as slowly as you could. It was dusty in the staircase, it had been a long time since it had been used.

When you finally reached the top step you were ready to turn back around, tell Dina that you couldn’t find it. But you needed to open that door and let the memories flood in. You were having a child, if that wasn’t a new beginning you weren’t sure what was.

You weren’t ready to confront it all head on. The first step in a long road to recovery, it wasn’t something would happen overnight. But you had to start somewhere, maybe you started yesterday when you began reconciling with Joel, or stepping foot out of Jackson again, picking up a gun and doing the job you were meant to do. Regardless of when you started, that door was meant to be open, and you were at the very least ready to see what was behind it.

Even if you were terrified, even if you wanted to turn back. That door had to be opened.

You gently turned the knob, stepping inside the room. You felt like an intruder, like you had stepped into a scene you weren’t supposed to be in.

It looked different than you remembered.. everything had a darker hint to it, like the room had completely lacked life in the way that some abandoned places did. There was no presence, no feeling of being watched, just a room devoid of life..

Yet it also looked the same, his bedsheets still ruffled from that night.. his band posters littering the walls, his dusty record player in the corner. His snake plant by the window that had long since died. His never ending piles of flannels too.

It was almost too much, seeing his things left frozen in time, knowing that Mark would never return to this room. You had neglected everything he had so meticulously created, whether it be the plant he miraculously kept alive for years, the records he claimed needed to be heard regardless of how obscure they were, you had forgotten about it all. And now there was not even an energy in the room, like the life of the room itself in there had died with him. Now there was not even a presence of him, just a hallowed husk of a room.

There was something out of place though. Mark’s dog tags sitting on the knob of the dresser. He never took them off. Why were they here now? You could have sworn he was buried with them..

Maria.

It had to be Maria. When had she snuck up here? They looked like they had been there for awhile, collecting dust and all. Was the photo he kept in his pocket here too? You looked around the room but could not find them, instead you found his gun in his bedside table, grabbing his dog tags and locking away the memories behind you.

You walked back downstairs to Dina, you handed her Mark’s gun.

“I hope I didn’t wake Mark,” She said sincerely, placing the gun in her waistband.

“You didn’t.” You shook your head, clutching the dog tags in your hand.

•••

You and Dina had to be smart, taking side streets and cutting through backyards to get to the West gate. Dina decided Ellie was most likely in three places, the lake, the ski resort or the art museum that had a rooftop exhibit overlooking the river. The lake was the closest and was your best bet, so you decided to go there.

It wasn’t uncommon for you to be out at night, especially considering you had work very early in the morning, but this was too early. You hoped no night owls were up to see you with Dina at such a late hour.

You led Dina to the small hole in the wall that you could both easily slip through, dodging the night guards and the spotlights, you hugged the wall as you made it far enough to where you could not be seen. Perhaps it was foolish to sneak out to look for Ellie.. but you didn’t want to risk her getting in trouble with Joel or Maria.

You were anxious being outside of Jackson.. like there was a threat looming around every corner, but you had to find Ellie no matter what. You were glad Dina came to you, even if you weren’t her first, or second choice for that matter.

It didn’t matter if you had work in the morning — or you were pregnant, you needed to find Ellie. That was all that was on your mind, finding her, and making sure she got back into town safely and under the radar.

Ellie could handle herself well enough, you were hoping she was fine and just lost track of time. But why hadn’t she told Dina earlier in the day? Did she just forget? Was she with Cat? You were cautious of Cat.. she seemed nice enough but seemed like somewhat of a bad influence, and Ellie’s relationship with Cat seemed to cause a riff between her and Dina. Of course though, it wasn’t your place to judge. Joel was clueless when it came to teenage romance.. or perhaps he wasn’t and just hadn’t put Ellie and girls together. You hadn’t ever asked Ellie about it, but you knew regardless and she never denied it. At least to your knowledge she hadn’t told Joel.. which was understandable, but you doubt Joel would care and would still love her regardless.

You and Dina managed to make it to the treelines, far from the gate. It was only then did you begin talking.

“I’m going to be so pissed if she’s just drunk,” Dina said bitterly, shaking her head. You held your gun more tightly as you ventured further out. The lake wasn’t far at all, a twenty minute walk at most.

“How often do you guys sneak out?” You asked, your voice a whisper. Dina walked close to you as you found the nature path that led to the lake. It had been so long since you walked that road.. at least three months.

“It depends. A lot though, more often in summer. Not usual for us to go out in fall though, same for spring. Winter we usually just go sledding. I’d say once a month or so,” Dina replied quietly.

You continued walking in silence before Dina spoke.

“Have you ever snuck out?”

“I have, just a few times. Even adults get ansty sometimes.”

“I guess that’s only somewhat shocking. The one person I could never imagine sneaking out is Joel, he seems too hardcore survivalist to any fun.”

“You would be surprised,” You chuckled lightly.

Dina whipped her head around to face you, her mouth agape in humorous shock.

“You’re telling me Joel Miller is a party animal?”

“He’s not.. that much of a partier,” You said, your voice very quiet.

“I can’t believe this. And Mark?”

“Yeah, Mark is the party.” Mark didn’t particularly like big parties.. he preferred smaller ones but he still knew how to let loose.. perhaps too loose sometimes.

Dina didn’t have much to say to that, other than that she could see that Mark liked to party. It was true, Mark liked dancing, music and hard liquor, he just didn’t particularly like large groups of people, as much of a social butterfly as he was.

You walked in silence for a few more minutes, your mind on high alert, glancing behind you frequently to make sure anything - or anyone was following you. You knew it was stupid to not tell anyone where you and Dina were going, or that you had snuck out, but you didn’t want to risk Ellie being caught. It was strange, you had completely abandoned her and Joel for months and now you couldn’t stand the thought of her getting in trouble at the expense of just doing something a normal teenager would do. Perhaps it was the weird new maternal instinct that magically kicked in.

It was uncommon for infected to be nearby town. In fact, it was very rare. There were constant patrols during the day within a three mile radius of town, infected were found and put down quickly. The guns were still another layer of protection, if Ellie was further from town there was a chance you would need them. You were still completely on edge, Dina was too. Being outside of Jackson was the last thing you wanted to do again, yet here you are, not even a day later.

You wondered why Ellie would leave without saying anything, especially to Dina. They were as thick as thieves, they really cared about each other, no wonder Dina was nervous. Ellie was upset when she came back with Joel the other day, maybe she just needed to clear her head. But sneaking out? That was uncalled for. There were quiet places in Jackson she could have gone to.

The top of the lake house came into view as you reached the peak of a hill. There was a small fire by the far side of the lake, next to the house. The lake house was not technically a house, and more like a mansion. It was a popular spot to sneak out to, considering it was one of the few places out of town that had electricity and wasn’t completely abandoned. Occasionally, Maria let people visit the lake every summer as a reward for their hard work.. though patrollers (once yourself included) liked to stop at the lake if they got back early.

“Think that’s her?” You pointed out towards the fire at the side of the lake. Dina nodded next to you. You were glad you didn’t have to walk fourty minutes to get to the art museum or ski resort, both being in opposite directions of one another. Unless.. that wasn’t Ellie. It could easily be hunters, but hunters liked to hide. They wouldn’t be out in the open though. The last time you came across a group of people it had gone worse than you could have ever imagined, you pushed that thought to the side.

The lake was mysterious looking, it’s dark waters glistening in the moonlight like it held many secrets. Three months ago, you stood here in the heat of summer, your shirt sticking to your back, waiting to jump into the water and pop open a can from a six pack, the sun beating down on the water making it shine brightly. But now it just looked cold and dark, yet not unwelcoming. Now the fall air was crisp, the leaves dark and crunch under your feet, your breath lingering in the air visibly.

You led Dina down the path to the dock, from there you would be able to get a better look at the people at the bonfire. It looked like a group, seven or so people. You stuck to the trees until the plants growing in the water were tall enough to shield you. You could hear loud laughter, whoever these people were, they weren’t particularly subtle. You figured it was most likely Ellie and a group of other rebellious teens.

“That them?” You said gruffly, peeking out from behind the plants, hearing the waves lap at the shore.

“Yeah, yeah, I think so,” Dina mumbled, staring at the group by the lake. You couldn’t make out faces, but they looked like teenagers.

“Recognize any of them?”

“I can’t see much. It looks like a party though.” There were cans littered around the fire, at least from what you could see.

“It’s probably them then, come on, let’s go,” You said motioning for her to get up with you. Dina pulled herself up next to you, following you on the path to their bonfire. If they were drunk, you doubt they would notice you until you were right on top of them. Stupid kids.

As you got closer you could hear bits and pieces of their conversation, they definitely sounded like teenagers.

“Why do you think Ellie didn’t tell you?” You whispered.

“I don’t know, she could be with Cat.”

You wrapped around the group by taking the path into the woods so you could ‘sneak’ up on them in case they weren't who you thought they were. If you were quiet enough, they wouldn’t notice you until you were right on top of them.

As you got closer, Dina recognized them. She began walking faster to the group, louder too. She went far ahead of you. They noticed immediately.

“What the fuck was that?” You heard one of them whisper-yell. They all began looking around. There was no Ellie or Cat in sight.

You had to lightly jog to catch up with her as Dina made it out in the open.

“Dina? What the hell are you doing out here?” One of them asked, they all stood up. You recognized them, you didn’t know their names, having only seen them in passing.

“Do you guys know where Ellie is?” She asked, her voice slightly harsh.

You caught up with her, walking out in the open to meet her. The group stiffened, they kicked their beer cans to the side and one even hid her joint behind her back, you could still see the smoke, and there was no doubt most of them were faded. The smell gave that away.

“Uh yeah. She’s in the lake house with Cat,” The one who had the not-so-hidden-blunt said. You squinted at the lake house and saw that there were lights on in one of the bedrooms.

Dina glared at the house and lightly scoffed.

“Thanks. Don’t get too drunk tonight, be back before sunrise too,” Dina said dismissively, already marching her way up to the lake. The group behind you relaxed, already getting back to their teenage binge.

You kept a careful eye on Dina, jealousy bubbling underneath her. She knew that she shouldn’t feel that way with Ellie, especially considering she was off and on with Jesse.. at least right now she was. It felt wrong to be in love with her best friend, yet she also liked Jesse too. She was always jealous of Cat.. Cat wasn’t good for Ellie, anyone with a pair of eyes could see that.

“Were those your friends?” You asked her as you made your way up to the lake house, glancing behind you at the bonfire.

“Cat’s,” She replied plainly.

You remained silent for the rest of the way as you made it into the house. You remembered the last time you were here.. the party, with Mark. You had put Mark’s dog tags on, you could feel them lightly jingle each time you took a step. His necklace left a feeling of comfort in you, even though you had banished the thought of him for months, now here you were wearing his dog tags like everything was fine. Maybe it was, or was on its way to be. The only thing on your mind tonight was returning Ellie safe and sound to Jackson, not having a baby, not rebuilding your relationship with people you had neglected, not coming to terms with Mark’s death, only Ellie.

The lake house was very open, every room seemingly sprawling with dark wood accents and a winding staircase that led up to the upper floor. People mostly stayed (and partied) on the first floor, but the upstairs wasn’t completely off limits.

Dina walked swiftly up the stairs, her brow furrowed in anger. You tried your best to keep up with her.

“Ellie?” She shouted, you followed her. As you made it to the top of the steps, you heard rustling in one of the rooms.

“Just, stay there!” Cat called out, Dina didn’t listen. She found the room they were in and barged in.

Both Ellie and Cat covered themselves up quickly, you rolled your eyes and turned away. They were blushing madly and Dina glared at the two.

“Really? What the hell is wrong with you? Sneaking out, not telling me where you were going?” Dina jabbed, placing her hands on her hips.

“Ellie’s not your responsibility, you don’t have to know where she is all the time,” Cat hurled back. Ellie shot her a look.

“She’s my best friend. I think I have a right to care about her and make sure she’s safe.”

“Will you two shut up please? Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Ellie said angrily, pulling her shirt on. You stayed outside the room, leaning against the wall.

“Come on, get your stuff. We’re going back to town,” Dina said to Ellie.

“She’s not going anywhere,” Cat challenged.

“Oh yes she is. It’s late and Ellie’s very obviously drunk.” You couldn’t see inside the room, but you were sure there was alcohol in there.

You decided to split up the fight before it got any worse. As soon as you popped up behind Dina, Ellie immediately looked at you in confusion. You weren’t who she was expecting.

“We do have to leave, Ellie. It’s late. If Joel or Maria finds out that you snuck out, they won’t be happy,” You persuaded. Ellie looked very drunk, her face was pink and she didn’t look totally in the present. Cat was the same too, but a lot more angry.

Ellie looked over at Cat, sighing before she spoke. “It is late.. I’m sorry, I have to go back, Joel gets up in a few hours.”

Cat scoffed before rolling her eyes, “Fine. Just go. I’m staying.”

Ellie retrieved her things from the room, pulling on the rest of her clothes while you walked back into the hall.

“Is Cat always like this?” You asked Dina quietly, glancing over your shoulder to the room. You could hear them arguing.

“No.. I think she’s just angry, I interrupted her and Ellie. Cat and I have never really gotten along, but it’s never been like this,” Dina shook her head.

Ellie came out of the room, shame burning in her. You all began walking towards the staircase before Ellie began. The silence was thick and awkward.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how late it got.”

“You could have told me where you were going, Ellie,” Dina replied softly, both averting each other's gaze.

“I know, I’m sorry.”

You didn’t interrupt them, you were just there as the chaperone. It wasn’t your place to judge either. Ellie needed a scolding.. but you weren’t the person to give her one at that time. You would need to repair your relationship with her first before you would be in any position to tell her off.

You were relieved that Ellie was safe and just lost track of time, you hoped she wouldn’t have too bad of a hangover in the morning. Considering how she stumbled occasionally and looked not so stable on her feet, you sure that she would atleast feel something in the morning.

You were damn tired, and you had work in the morning too. You just wanted to rest.

“Ellie!” Someone shouted angrily from below you, startling all of you.

“Holy shit. Maria?” Ellie cursed, her eyes widening. You looked over the railing to the lower floor.

Maria was there, and she was not happy.

•••

[castrosaitabau-blog]

WISDOM OF THE MAASAI

In quest for a fathomable perspective, bunduzman had to go further north of Kilimanjaro to the wilderness of Maasai land. In pursuit of a lifestyle, cultural and cohesive human-fauna co existence I finally set my foot on the soil I always wanted to explore since years in memorial. Maybe we could say the time was right, destiny had aligned itself . little did I know of the pot of gold awaiting . I visited my late granny`s sister my only resource person I knew and a cultural hardliner to get the wisdom of the guru.

First impression and am pretty at peace, I knew this all I wanted. Hemming the landscape in abundance are dark black volcanic boulders but dispersed as compared to `shetani lava` free flow lava rocks. beneath the  blue skies, amidst hillsides, sparsely distributed shrub tower from the dark soil but there`s magic that this place offers, afore me is the most photogenic Kilimanjaro background and am sure this place harbours wisdom and treasures of the land.

According to maa culture , upon a meet up  a catch up is mandatory. My holism side is coming out alive strongly. The maa call it `lomon` and so do i. every minute here is a crucial learning opportunity for me so my indulgence is eclectic.

Soon am shown my accommodation and as per maa culture it is far from the boma (homestead) as am a moran(warrior). Morans sleep further from women and children . the set up is spectacular. Set in serenity and tranquility I must acknowledge my uncle Loserian sundowner`s eye for a choice of such a picturesque scenery.

My room`s background is the most perfect quaint I would ever capture of the Kilimanjaro. Certainly  kibo it`s stature like a benevolent giant embracing the Amboseli plains, it`s snow caped top like a kings crown and from my conservation and ecological proficiency I understand the sleeping giant role in providence and sustainability. Set near an oldonyo (hill) rocks are arranged symmetrically in the interference -free solace and solitude.

Everywhere I have gone as an adventurer I have always valued the virtue of making friends. It`s 1700hrs  and my uncle and I are sitted for a perfect sundowner moment. The view is blissful as the sunset glares are twilighting Amboseli national park plains.my guide who`s my uncle is quite familiar with the geo-location , a true warrior of the land!

My guide points out a large mass reflecting the gleams  and says it`s Lake Amboseli in the horizons, further north and to  the east a hill protrudes to my knowledge the landmark of Namanga town. From namanga you go to `sanya ya juu’ a vast area occupied by maas both in Kenya and Tanzania.am overlooking the pastoralists corridor from my sundowner`s point of view.

Deep to Tanzania is kijiweni,then to murtoni, sangarini, murtot, entonet, barazani ,kilombero, shauri moyo, bustani then to mtamburu heading west.day by day my stay opens up a deep understanding of the population dynamics, transborder cultural influence  and cultural role in identity and heritage.

My pursuit of a multi lingual perfection is bearing fruits. It`s a couple of days and my maa tutor `mr. ole Naanyu credits my efforts.am familiar with basic words likje ` aaoomon olorika( can I have a chair please?), endaah(food), kuleeh(milk), osoit(rock), oldonyo (mountain), sambu(brown),aang( home), enkaji(house) ndare(goats), enkolong(sun), alapa( moon) enkare( water) just but a few….

Culture is the antidote of propaganda – always my mantra. Basic rules first for a common entity and understanding of anything in my bunduz pursuit.i attribute this to my flexibility and open mindedness that I can morph and fit in anywhere if only I take care of the language barrier.couple of days and am totally in love with thebunduz in maa land.is it the solitude? Is it the simplicity? Is it the community unity and compassion? Sure I feel a sense of belonging every homestead I visit.

My maa is getting better as I can now structure a sentence, `aeeyoo adol ingwesin lo Amboseli’-( I came to see the wildlife around Amboseli) is my introduction everytime I meet a local . `Ayaauwa lomon ol la shumbaa pedol motonyik, ingwesin-(my work is to show tourists  birds and wildlife ) is the skeleton key phrase for my stay here . Am euphoric to meet even toddler named after me, `Fidel Saitabau’. it`s maa wisdom to name a child after a relative for matriarch continuity and remembrance.

My quest for a deeper `Ambo-kiili ecosystem burns deep within me . am in tune with the universe and so does my fate.i get a phone call from another uncle who invites me to visit them at their camp and this totally uplifts my spirit. The next Sunday  morning am amped in my combat  cargo pants and jungle green shirt ready  to be picked up. The first sight of his giant sized physique reminds me am in the land of warriors- a reassurance of some sort I must say.

`Big Boy’ I call him knows the ways of the land and totally the Amboseli-tsavo ecosystem and it`s neighbouring conservancies. It’s a Sunday so we on easy mellow chill mode as I get acquinted with his fellow warriors of the bunduz. Their hospitality is warm though in solitude , out in the cold lies the camp amidst bush ambience.

I harbour a great conviction and passion with the conservation inclined  personnel as we are in the same area of professionalism- CONSERVATION for future generations. To my surprise , Big boy has planned a reconnaissance survey and am totally stoked! In his Big boy boots , I board his offroad bike as we fade into the wildnerness.

Since my arrival I have been anxious to find out a story of a great tusker and am told not worry no more since I found the soldiers in the field who were there till the demise of the supreme tusker. slowly we cruise and transverse the plains of the conservancies.  Big boy showing me the wildlife and local maa terminologies . we go deeper into an eco-tourism perspective as we are sombre on how `Rona virus’ has robbed tourism it`s liveliness.

We are at the AA Amboseli lodge and it`s a perfect totaln dysfunctionality thus when I spot my first aves , the black flecked yellow throated francolin and marabou stalk. To the north we head leaving behind the `lemongo museum’- dedicated to the study of wildlife .Am impressed as am aware of a fully stocked  library.To the south west is the Osero house .

In a while we are at Sopa lodge and kibo safari camp all in a total shutdown.As an intrepid adventurer my soul cries as I understand the replica to the tourism kitty.intersecting the junction from sopa is the road down to the Kenya wildlife service headquarters and next to it is Amboseli National park kimana gate all in a total shutdown.on the main road is      `The Mada hotels kilima camp also is the same state.

My  point of interest is the Or kelunyet village – a maasai cultural village perfect for briefing of the maa culture but that not of my concern as of now. Outside or kelunyet  is a watering place that has natured one of the greatest tuskers that has transversed this plain. Compared to the mighty historical Ahmed  of marsabit who was mandated presidential escort.

As the water trickle down and fade so is the presence of the mighty tusker Tim who gave up ghost after five decades.But the glory still triumphs  the land as every villager around here knew or must have heard of the great tusker and even the global village where he won the hearts of many.my uncle Big boy is a marshal in the wildlife field under `BIG LIFE FOUNDATION’.

February `4th is the morning of demise of Tim. Big boy was one of the first person in the `scene of crime’ as he explains this was        Tim`s favourite feeding area just opposite or kelunyet the other side of the road to Amboseli gate.am glad am getting first hand information from  a ranger who witnessed Tim`s last presence here before being taken to the museum.

A peace loving, gentle and benevolent tusker he was for tourist to take photos of him sometimes pushing away other tuskers who tried to be vicious . Tim would relax for them to get a perfect caption- a photogenic legend he was.

December 1969 is when the great legend was born in Amboseli national park. four years later he got the name Tim from an intrepid American researcher Cynthia Moss who had arrived in Kenya in 1972-founder of Amboseli trust for elephants.

From her research ,Cynthia Moss reckons that Tim came from the  TD family led by his matriachial grandma Teresia and the  mum was Trista. For a while we observe the place as my uncle even shows me his last cloacal emittance a prove that this was his area he liked. Rather than outside or kelunyet Tim would sometimes change environment to the yellow barked acacia filled and water abundant kimana sanctuary for water or greener pastures or probably his females, a gentle bull who filled  Amboseli with his progeny.

Tim had survived the 1980 Amboseli severe drought an era when Tim lost his grandma Trista from spears of pastoralists. prior in 1977 he lost his  mum so he was left to wander alone but survived-a soldier of a kind. Tim`s death was a twisted gut but my uncle Bid boy explained to me he had found him lying and bleeding from injuries incurred from another Tusker perhaps a confrontation. Tim was gentle ,carefull and grandiose as his tusks were ground touching .probably it is the MUSTH that brought about a conflict of interest.

As we transverse the  airstrip outside Amboseli gate closer to Tawi lodge Tim`s memories just run my mind obnoxious in some way but I have to let nature take it`s cause. upclose sights of maasai giraffes distinctive by their yellow fawn, common ostrich and gerenuks divert my mind as I go back to the camp reminiscing my day.

Another day another dollar, but dollars won`t come easy here in the bunduz since Rona invaded. My mind is at ease when my uncle promises to show me Tim`s brother Greg, a great tusker like him and of close resemblance and supremacy he says.

Am euphoric by the mention of a foot patrol as I know this will give me an upclose  real time floral fauna encounter .For me euphoria is preceding vulnerability .As i rub mosquito repellant on my body ready to zip my self in my sleeping bag as I sleep amped.

At 0600hrs I wake up to the most soothing ambience of aves wildebeasts in the background. sorrounded by bones of great mammalia is our camp.my maa friend gives thanks in maa as we head to make breakfast. we collect `rigiek’ (firewood) as we catch up in a while breakfast is ready.

At 0700hrs we ared out of the camp ready for the routine foot patrol.My uncle takes me through the GPS mapping process and `The Black View IP-68’ for data collection and we begin mapping our waypoints and sightings in the field. We are amidst grants gazelles and wildebeasts as the hilly breeze hits us to a rude awakening .

My uncle Big boy is my resource person as I gain a lot of lessons on bushlife survival techniques. I can identify male and female ostricvhes , their milky like excretion and general ostrich behaviour like laying eggs at the same periodand the role of female and males to protect the eggs tillthey hatch.Bog boy explains the colour variation and advantage in terms of camouflage.

At night the dark feathered male take roll of roosting on the egg as the female feeds while during the day the female takes over brown feathered blending with the savannah. Am more amused by ostriches` behavior once the eggs hatch. The responsibility of caregiver is left to one of the females, the most ferocious one as the others leave.

Our mission is to transverse the conservancy on a `wreck patrol’ leaving no point unattended as the GPS maps our path indicating bordering conservancies.Am now well conversant with the interface and from a conservationist and wildlife manager to be perspective am  impressed. The app has  a ranger unit entity, members present, patrol method, patrol area ,are poachers armed? Additional is a record of  wildlife sighting, tracking live or dead, scat/dropping ,number of animals ,wildlife treatment, illegal human  activities, animal mortality, human wildlife conflict, community service by rangers e.t.c

Amboseli neighbours kimana group ranch an area which my grandpa Mr. Elijah Mwatee had demarcated in his tenure of duty long before moving to kwale and kilifi. The group ranches that make up kimana ranch are kilitome conservancy, nailepu, osupuko, naalarami and olitiyani conservancies anf far is the kimana sanctuary and the olgulului group ranch.

As an avid birdwatcher I enjoy spotting the augur buzzard, black flacked yellow throated francolin, the Kori bustard, superb strerlings, helmeted guinea fowls , just but a few. I encounter a rare type of ungulate and Big  boy tells me this is their hotspot area. Am talking gerenuks as they browse on the shrubs near the windsock area.

Despite the dominating grant`s gazelles, impalas, wildebeests, gerenuks attract my attention as these arid survivors are wise in their own nature. Gerenuks eat the fleshy part, buds, fruits, flowers and climbing plants and do not require water if ever, rarely reducing predator risk as they graze in open areas.

Gerenuks have a pre-orbital gland ( like topis) that emit a tar like scent bearing substance that is deposited between twigs and bushes. This alerts other gerenuks in the area that there is a claim of territory. Gerenuk itself is a oromo - somali name meaning giraffe like gazelle in Swahili(swara twiga).

A fascinating thing is also gerenuk`s male performing a courtship ritual to an oestrus female. He will approach herand horizontally lift one of his front legs and repeatedly tap the female under belly and flanks. Or else he will rub his pre orbital gland on her body marking her with his scent to mate. The local maas call gerenuks` enkoilii’.

Am glad beinga plant community enthusiast to learn their local maa names. The maa community widely cherish flora and have a name for every plant / tree and to my surprise a nutritional or medicinal value.

The acacia tortilis is treasured in most homesteads as a source of shade local name `ol tepesi’ and loved by elephants as they rub theirselves on their rough bark. The whistling acacia , local name `elwai’ is an ingredient for soup once they slaughter, oremit is a stomach cleanser, `elokii’ finger like euphobia for hedges, `entialong’ a stomach remedy, oltiasmat found  near Amboseli gate on the saline soil has an aesthetic value, olo songori ( devil`s whip).

It`s almost noon and the overhead sun is scorching , determined in our hats we beat the shrubs bearing in mind the vulnerability we are exposed to. Of worth recalling is a Laxadonta Africana in solitude usually  very vicious behind a bush who was throwing mud at himself. We came to such close proximity about five metres  unaware of the staring danger just that a gut feeling saved us.

We are now at Tawi lodge Amboseli as we surpass the thicket and to Big boy`s precision of his line of duty he teels me have a break at ` The zebra plain hotel’. Our GPS reading 37 0025E 12 79S at UTM. Pressure 96 99 690

As I heave a sigh of relief and down my cold concoction am humbled by the dedication the rangers have devoted from `BIG LIFE FOUNDATION’ to ensure a peaceful cohesion of humans and wildlife in the Amboseli conservancies  that stretches to kimana sanctuary and chyulu  hills.

By the time we arrive at the camp at 1330 hrs  we have done a pretty 28 km patrol leaving me with nostalgic memories. On the contrary to fatigue am motivated  to explore more of the camps in chyulu hills and the other conservancies.

As my maasai is getting better I can identify wildlife like `ol`  logwarak (lion), emuny (rhino), oloitiko( zebra), oe ngat (wildebeest), or birit(warthog), oyayaiii( porcupine) essuni( impala), or ngojine( hyena), or makao( hippo), or meot (giraffe), or kanjaoni (elephants), olo sokuan (buffalo).

                                                                                                                             By Saitabau Castro.

[coeurdastronaute]

Either/Or: Nerd 10

Previously on Nerd

The house on Smallman Street was a raucous affair. 

The lights spilled out from the windows, casting long yellow streaks through the freshly free from snow lawn while the music played and boomed, thumping quietly along to the laughter of the people inside. Cars filled the street in all directions, pulled up onto the edges of lawns and blocking each other in. The night air was crisp and the party was needed after the winter that seemed to provide perpetual clouds and precipitation. 

It was everything Lexa imagined and expected, and yet when confronted with the grandeur and majesty of a high school party, she was slightly overwhelmed. The theory of it was gone, and the practice seemed like a lot. But still, she closed the door to Clarke’s truck and sighed in the almost warm air of the spring evening and shivered. 

From the edge of the lawn, Lexa peered up at the house and driveway that filled with classmates. She adjusted her glasses and took a deep breath to prepare for the evening. She wasn’t alone, she had to remind herself. And it could be fun. It sounded like it was a lot of fun, and that was something to start with. 

“Did I mention you look exceptionally cute tonight?” Clarke asked as she rounded the truck, shoved her keys in her pocket and smiled at Lexa. 

It was a dangerous smile, Lexa realized, and one that she was beginning to become intimately familiar with. Something about the single dimple and the ghost of the other, the stretch of red lips and the spark of something in her eyes that made Clarke absolutely lethal. And that was before words were put into the equation. 

Dumbly, Lexa adjusted her glasses and looked down at her jeans and sneakers and old sweater over an old shirt from a trip to some national park. It wasn’t anything special or even that remarkable. She hadn’t put any effort into it other than to keep her mother from complaining that she was wearing sweatpants. 

“I don’t know about that.” 

“I like this sweater,” Clarke explained, fiddling with the stitch of the knitted dark green. “It makes your eyes seem like they’re really green.” 

“Oh?” 

“You look cozy and I like that.” 

Without anymore argument, she stretched and kissed Lexa quickly, chastly, as if sealing the words that wanted to come out forever. Satisfied with her work, she grinned and held Lexa’ hand before tugging her toward the house and music and people and lives. 

“I can be the sweet one sometimes,” Clarke explained. “Wouldn’t want you to think I don’t think you’re cute.” 

“I don’t get it, but I’m not going to fight it,” Lexa promised. “Even if you need to get your eyes checked.” 

As they walked up the steps, Clarke laughed and Lexa felt herself breathe a sigh of relief for earning something like that. 

“We’re not going to be that couple that argues about how cute the other is. That’s absolutely disgusting.” 

“Ew, yes.” 

“Cool, then just accept it.” 

“I already agreed, despite mild objection.” 

“That’s not accepting.” 

“It’s accepting and dissenting. That’s allowed in a democracy.” 

“This is, at best, a constitutional monarchy,” Clarke explained. 

“Shut up,” Lexa nudged her and laughed. 

From inside the party, a few eyes turned to see the couple approaching-- the same couple that they were still very unsure was an actual couple. They certainly looked like one, with their hands locked and arms swinging between their two bodies. Their cheeks were blushing and if anyone were to pay attention to them, they might notice the slight way they rotated around each other, and the slight adoration witnessed through glances and smiles and body language. 

The house was absolutely stuffed with people and noise and commotion, but the pair pushed in, all smiles and greeting their friends as they trudged onwards to find a place to anchor themselves. 

Tugged forward, Lexa held Clarke’s hand as they wove through the kitchen and deeper into the house and toward the music. She didn’t really pay attention to people she passed, but rather that she was very close to Clarke and holding her hand and that was enough for her amidst it all. 

Somehow she got a cup of nearly warm beer and accepted it without a fuss and sipped it before deciding that she would be nursing it for the rest of the night. 

“You made it!” a voice erupted as Clarke finally stopped directing them through the bodies. 

The hand disappeared and Lexa went from looking at her cup to her empty hand to Clarke’s neck being engulfed by another set of arms, and she was very confused her feet weren’t moving anymore. It felt like she’d been making the pilgrimage through the party for years with no real destination in mind. 

“Finally. I’ve been waiting for my partner to get here so we can run the beer pong table,” another voice entered the forray. 

Lexa stood back slightly and let Clarke greet her friends, recognizing and barely knowing a few of them. She felt like she knew them because of Clarke, and the secondhand knowledge seemed a little weird at the moment. 

“Sorry I’m late,” Clarke explained, tucking hair behind her ear as she leaned back and found Lexa’s side. “I was running late, and then Lexa’s soccer game went later than expected.” 

The eyes of the group all realized that aforementioned Lexa was standing there. She took a sip of her beer and smiled slightly. 

“How’d it go?” Wells broke the quiet, and Lexa was grateful she didn’t have to keep sipping her drink. 

Clarke leaned against her side, and Lexa was grateful for it. 

“Really well. We won again. I think it’s two in a row for us,” she explained and nodded slightly before someone grabbed her. 

“We’re twelve and two thanks to this one’s goal tonight!” 

Lexa grinned as an arm wrang her neck and she jostled with the motion, grateful to have someone else she knew. 

“All because of your assist,” Lexa promised her teammate. 

“I was spectacular,” Raven agreed. “Thanks for finally getting her to come out, Clarke. We’ve been asking Woods to come forever.” 

“And here I thought she was just my nerd hiding out,” Clarke teased, earning a furious blush as she slipped an arm around Lexa’s middle. 

“I always assumed she was just too busy.” 

“I am,” Lexa disagreed, slipping her arm over Clarke’s shoulder. “I just finally had some time open up.” 

“Convenient,” Raven nodded. 

It was probably much worse in her head, but Lexa realized she was almost having a good time throughout the night. She’d dreaded those events as nothing more than an opportunity to embarrass herself, or feel even more disconnected than ever from her classmates. Maybe it was time and distance and fate, but it clicked, and she felt like she wasn’t lugging around her brother’s baggage for the evening, like she could enjoy herself, even if he wasn’t there. Guilt was limited, finally. 

Three drinks in, and Clarke got cozier, and Lexa didn’t mind at all. Warmth spread through her chest as she experienced loopy Clarke. 

Tucked in a spare living room that led out to the backyard, the group ebbed and flowed, adding and subtracting and shifting like a tide pool. Clarke sat on the floor, her back against the couch with Lexa beside her. She pressed closer when reaching for something, and she let her hand linger on Lexa’s thigh, tucking it there absently while her thumb traced the hem. 

For a moment, at some point in the middle of that happening, Lexa gulped and looked at Clarke, slowly, so as not to draw attention to herself. She looked down at the hand and tried to pay attention desperately to the people talking. 

“Settle something for us, Woods,” Bellamy half-shouted though the music was lower than ever. The alcohol coursed through the party, seeping out the edges. 

“Yes?” 

“What did you get suspended for on that eighth grade field trip?” 

“You got suspended?” Clarke scoffed, her surprise evident. 

“It’s not that crazy of a notion.” 

“It’s… it’s actually unbelievable.” 

“It’s not.” 

“It really is,” a few other people chimed in and Lexa sighed and shook her head. 

“I bet it was because you were doing extra credit on a school trip.” 

“Or taking too many notes.” 

“Correcting the tour guide,” Raven offered with a laugh as everyone joined. 

Lexa couldn’t help but smile when she thought about it, something she hadn’t done in too long. She felt Clarke squeeze her thigh and she took a deep breath before starting. 

“It wasn’t anything exciting. Aden and I wanted to go to this movie and then the comic shop a few blocks away from the museum, so we snuck out and thought we’d just join at the bus,” she began. “But everyone was gone by the time we made our way back.” 

“You ditched a field trip?” Bellamy balked. 

“I thought you’d never ditched before?” Clarke furrowed, faux betrayal on her face. 

“I didn’t count it as ditching. I’d been to that museum every year for how many school trips?” 

“Probably every year of school,” Wells agreed. “I feel like I could recite the entire tour by heart.” 

“Exactly. So it wasn’t ditching persay.”

“But Aden didn’t get suspended,” Raven reminded the group. 

“I was the distraction while he slipped back in with the group at school. We grabbed a cab, but didn’t have enough money to cover it.” 

“You almost got away with it.” 

“Yeah. Almost.” 

There was a pause as Lexa swirled the remnants of her drink and took the last bit in a big gulp. The group thought about it for a little while, the party slowly dying around them. 

“Do you remember when Aden got stuck up in that tree over by the lake?” Gus asked. “They had to use the ladder on the fire truck to get him down.” 

“You’re the one who dared him, if I remember correctly,” Raven sassed as everyone laughed at the memory of when they were just scuffed-knee kids in too much trouble. 

“He was really good at climbing,” Bellamy promised, dissecting the moment. 

Lexa felt a pain in her heart-- not a stabbing, not a tearing, not a purposefully painful type of ache, but rather a soreness, as if her heart has worked out harder than ever before, and the lactic acid built up to a degree that made movement feel like the muscles were stretched to their limit. It was a healthy ache, one that still felt uncomfortable but was by no means unbearable, and if she wasn’t mistaken, perhaps even required. 

“Hey,” Clarke whispered. “You okay?” 

Without even really thinking, Lexa nodded and made herself smile. It was forced only for a split second before she met Clarke’s eyes and meant it. 

“Very okay,” she promised. 

Clarke wasn’t sure she believed her, but before Lexa could protest again, she shifted and kissed her cheek, burning and pink and all. 

“Thanks for coming, by the way.” 

“Thanks for inviting me.”

“Will you drive me home later?” 

“I will,” Lexa smiled, never breaking their glance an leaning forward, goofy smile on her face to match the slightly inebriated one that stared back. 

“Will you kiss me?” 

“Right now?” 

“Eventually.” 

“Definitely.” 

“But also right now.” 

Lexa couldn’t help but laugh and she agreed, the tips of ears burning as she leaned forward for a chaste kiss. She pulled back and had Clarke’s eyes on her and she had arms around her neck and the slight weight of the girl of her dreams. And when she closed them again, Clarke leaned forward and kissed her again. 

“Will you go dance outside with me?”

“Oh, well… I don’t-- I’m not much of a dancer.” 

“Perfect. Me neither.” 

Uncoordinated and messy, Clarke pushed herself up before Lexa could argue, tugging her along. 

“Where are you two going?” 

“I want to move. I want to dance. I want air,” Clarke explained. “And Lexa is nice enough to do whatever I ask.” 

“Dumb enough, you mean,” the soccer player supplied. 

“That too,” she grinned and pulled through the crowd, leaving a gaggle of friends behind who only watched after them for a moment before hopelessly gossiping about the pair. 

XXXXXXXXXX

Toward the end of the night, the cars disappeared slowly. People made their ways back to their respective homes or friend’s houses or next port in the never-ending sagae of drinking and general teenage debauchery. Lexa wasn’t sure how, but she knew a lot of people at the party, and they were all happy to see her, bemoaning the fact that they hadn’t see her out before. 

“I thought you wanted to dance,” Lexa furrowed as Clarke opened the truck and handed her the keys. 

“I’m not that drunk, but I know how you get,” she smiled. “I just wanted to get out, and sometimes you have to play your part in order to escape. A french exit sounds nice, doesn’t it?” 

“If you want to stay, we can,” Lexa shook her head, still looking at the keys as Clarke made her way to the passenger seat. She leaned over the hood and rolled her eyes. 

“Let’s get out of here.” 

“Sounds good.” 

As was becoming normal, Clarke played with the radio, carefully finding something , but failing as they made their way down the block and away from the party. When she scrolled through the dial twice, she pushed in an old cassette and let the song start that made her smile. Lexa felt a hand on her thigh as she drove and gulped before adjusting slightly. 

“Where am I going?” 

“Anywhere. Your curfew isn’t for another hour, right?” 

“Just about.” 

“Head over towards the mall. I’m hungry.” 

“You’re kind of bossy.” 

“I thought you liked that.” 

“I must.” 

Clarke smiled as she watched lights zoom by. She hummed along to the music and snuck glances at the girl driving her truck. Lexa had a knack for concentrating. She focused intently and let little else into her mind, and it was endearing, for the most part. But at the moment, slightly intoxicated and exceptionally turned on, Clarke was less amused by Lexa’s inability to give her attention and drive a car. 

“What are you looking at?” Lexa laughed nervously as she caught Clarke’s eye.

“You. I like looking at you.” 

CLarke looked away with the confession. She felt her cheeks blush and she sighed, her head leaning against the window. 

XXXXXXXXX

“Have you decided anything?” Lexa asked, snagging a fry from the container between them as they sat in the old truck in the middle of the empty mall parking lot. 

This felt a little more normal than the party, though she remembered not being particularly overwhelmed, which was a surprise. For an instant, Lexa believed that maybe her brain wasn’t as broken as she accused it of being sometimes. She sipped her soda and waited as the girl beside her finished chewing. 

Slightly intoxicated, but coming down from it, Clarke was messy hair and handsy. Neither facts were a problem for Lexa. 

“I haven’t yet, but I’ve debated it, and I think I might just tell her I know, and to stop. My dad will never have to know.” 

“That’s true,” she agreed. 

“The doctors are usually pretty optimistic for him, but his symptoms are becoming more often, and I just don’t know how long I have him for.”

“And you don’t want to ruin the last bit of time.” 

“Yeah.” 

The pair relaxed and finished up the make shift dinner a fast food drive thru provided. Lexa spent a good portion of it watching Clarke adjust and her legs cross and change on the dashboard. Between sips of her drink, she tried to think of something to say, but failed to come up with anything that would have made a difference. 

“I appreciate you asking,” Clarke finally sighed, balling up a wrapper and tossing it on the floor of her truck. “But please, can we not let my mother ruin anything else?”

Clarke let her head lull back until she looked over at Lexa and gave her a smile that showed how tired a lot of her own thoughts made her. She needed to be real and present. She needed anchored. 

“Whatever you need.” 

“I’ll take any distractions you can give me.” 

As she spoke, Clarke shifted closer so that she was against Lexa’s side in almost no time, an arm around her shoulder, the flat seat of the truck a perfect place to casually lean against another person. Outside, the parking lot was a desolate ocean of hatched asphalt and lights that were beacons against all else. Inside, the tape played and Lexa smelled Clarke’s hair, finding the familiar shampoo warm and lingering on the evening. 

“Well, there is a dance coming up…” Lexa trailed off and debated what word should come next, and she was left with a complete blank. There had to be another word that went there. All wors could be followed by other words, it was the basis of human speech. And yet all words, tens of thousands of them, they all felt wrong. 

Clarke turned slightly, which just made Lexa more nervous. But instead of helping, she just held her arm and pulled it tighter around her shoulders. 

“Interesting.” 

“The Sadie Hawkins dance,” Lexa explained. 

“Rings a bell.” 

“It’s when the girl asks the guy to the dance. It’s nothing too crazy. They’re doing a decade theme. The Sock Hop 60’s.” 

“Wow, you sure do know a lot about the dance for someone who doesn’t like to dance.” 

“I hear things,” she shrugged. “I just don’t know how it works if we’re both girls.” 

“Are you trying to ask me to the dance, Lexa?” Clarke teased. “I never would have imagined you wanting to go.” 

“Seems like a good distraction.” 

“Purely selfless then?” 

“Yeah,” her cheeks burned with the fib. 

The cheerleader beside her let her worry in the quiet before shifting slightly. Clarke remained very close to Lexa, though she faced her now. She looked at her lips and back at her eyes and she really looked at the track-running, school government secretary, part time tutor, part time mechanic, full time babe. She ran her fingertips along her jaw and saw the nerves that existed on her cheeks. 

“Do you want to take me to the dance?” 

Lexa nodded and smiled. 

“Good. Because I just assumed you were my date.” 

Without warning, Lexa pushed forward slightly and kissed the girl that was almost in her lap. She kissed Clarke eagerly, happily, a distraction and a very honest panacea for all that ailed the wonderful girl in the front seat. Relatively new to the kissing and making out thing, Lexa was eager to spend many hours doing it more often. She felt arms wrap around her neck as Clarke pushed against her. Her whole body melted in response. 

“Don’t I have to get you home before curfew?” 

“I’ve never been out past it,” Lexa smiled, kissing Clarke again and earning a slight chuckle despite her lips. 

“A few minutes late won’t hurt, I guess.” 

Lexa made it approximately thirty more seconds into the first bits of what had the markings of her best make out yet, and the guilt snuck into her head and she pulled away, lips swollen and mind conflicted. 

“I should get home before curfew.” 

Clarke let out a laugh and shook her head before hugging Lexa’s shoulders for just a moment before scooting to her own side. 

“Thank you for everything.” 

“Thanks for making out with me.”               

next

[kseniainneverland]

DESCENDANTS 3 - REVIEW

WARNING! SPOILERS UNDER THE  CUT, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE!! from this point onwards, reading is on your responsibility. you have been warned.

Alright, Descendants 3, where to begin with this...

First off, thinking that this is Cameron Boyce’s last movie ever, it makes me feel very sentimental and sad and I hope that the movie would’ve done him justice more. But I’m afraid that  while it was a cute and aesthetically pleasing movie, that is about it.

After watching it a couple of times now, I have one word for D3: clusterfuck. I’m not going to lie. D1 was great, D2 was good but D3 wasn’t really the ending this saga deserved. NOW KEEP IN MIND that I haven’t read the books and I personally think that the movie still should take time to explain things. Plus the books came after the first movie anyway so...

In a nutshell, the plot is inconsistent, the movie is rushed and lot of the character development (save from Mal’s and Audrey’s) is pretty much murdered and just ditched away. 

Beginning with a song like (Good to Be Bad) like every Descendant movie, it gives the movie the energy that it lacks towards the end. The VK’s choose Smee’s sons, Celia and Dizzy to come to the Isle and return to Auradon, only to get them after giving them time to pack their things.

Next thing we see, Ben and Mal are getting ready to embark to the Isle with the VK’s. They stop in front of the Beast statue though and Ben sings (short acoustic verse “Did I Mention”) to Mal, then proposing to her. Audrey is not pleased but hey she’s back and damn she’s rocking that hair! 

Now this is where things go a bit off the rails. I understand Audrey still holding resentment to Mal even though at the end of D1 she seemed to be amicable with her so - what’s the dealio Audrey? Of course we can assume that her resentment grew back during D2 - the movie she wasn’t in. Her grandmother is there and basically gives Audrey shit cause she lost Ben to Mal (like wth is it with this hatred from grandma, chill out lady...).

Mal, Ben and VK’s go to the Isle and while they’re leaving back Hades tries to break out and use his ember but Mal fights him (as a dragon) and gets him back inside. In Auradon, Audrey sits in her room and embraces her darkness (”Queen of Mean”, one of the best songs in my opinion, holy shit), stealing the Queen’s crown and Maleficent’s staff turning to Dark!Audrey and suddenly possessing magic and knowing how to use it without any training? Okaaay, shady much? I mean it could be the staff also controlling her so I’ll give the benefit of a doubt here.

Alright so Hades tried to get out, Mal makes the hard decision to shut down the barrier forever with Ben after reasoning with him and feeling guilt for possibly endangering Auradon. Cut to Evie’s little cottage-manor, Audrey pays Mal a visit, cursing her to turn into a hag. That kind of didn’t really serve a purpose in anywhere else than maybe Audrey’s mind if she thought that Ben wouldn’t love her? Idk man. Anyway, Mal can’t reverse the spell because “there’s nothing that can reverse the staff’s spell”. Oh but waaait....

The VK’s decide to get Hades’ ember, going to the Isle and suddenly Mal turns back again because dark magic doesn’t work in the Isle. So... Mal/VK’s just forgot that? I doubt it because they did live there for such a long time. Oh well, moving on. Celia is with them cause she runs errands to Hades. Meanwhile in Auradon, Jane’s having her birthday party and Audrey crashed it, cursing everyone asleep. Except Jane cause she jumps into the Magic Lake - again something that can reverse the staff’s spell that is supposedly non-reversable? Did anyone actually fact-check the script, I wonder... And well - she takes Chad with her. Oh the loyal, dumb puppy.

Alright back to the Isle, Celia gets the key and we meet Dr. Facilier shortly, he’s actually a nice man (oh and btw so was Dizzy’s grandmother aka. Cinderella’s stepmother before too...) which I have kind of hard time imagining BUT nonetheless I kinda like it? They get out and find Harry + Gil and couple other pirates stealing their bikes (same kind Mal took to the Isle in D2) and run after them. Celia and Mal go to Hades’ lair. 

They find Hades napping, but then he wakes up, Celia trying to distract him so Mal can get the ember. But whoops, he grabs Mal’s hand. And then we learn something shocking! (not really) “Hi Dad.” Oh well look at that, Hades is Mal’s dad. Even though I recall that in the first movie it was said to be a human male? But then again, makes sense why Mal has such great magical powers. They argue and get a nice rock’n’roll duet together (”Do What You Gotta Do” and boy I’m fawning over Cheyenne Jackson’s voice!). Celia kinda does background “ooh”s which is... so weird really. Like why?

I’m not gonna lie, I kinda enjoyed the bickering chemistry between Hades and Mal as father and daughter. He clearly cares about her but tells her that her mother was not an easy person to be with and he never stayed in contact with Mal. Now this is about everything that we learn about their relationship. Mal has a certain resenment at him but Celia reveals that Hades being her father explains him asking about her. Mal tells her that Evie is the only one that knows.

Meanwhile in Auradon, Audrey visits Ben making him an offer to make her his queen again but he thinks she’s under a spell and Audrey realises he doesn’t care about her. She uses magic to turn Ben into a Beast and also turns Fairy Godmother running towards the Museum to get her wand into a statue (not shown how she made that happen really... but later on we see that she can apparently see ppl in the staff u know, like a CCTV kinda thing).

VK’s get back to the portal and when they cross over, Harry and Gil do too. They try to stop them and in the midst of it the ember drops to the water (spoiler: if it gets wet, it stops working). Uma catches it and then turns back into human. They strike a deal when Mal makes a promise to let any of the VK’s that want to get out of the Isle, get out. 

So Uma, Harry and Gil are now going to Auradon with the VK’s to help them. Kinda reluctantly. Gil gets all pumped up for fresh food and all which is kinda cute x’D And Harry ofc is trying to steal money from a sleeping student but Jay stops him. Dude is awake though and tells the VK’s what happened. They go to look for Ben and go to his castle, eventually finding the walls clawed and end up in a fight between some armors that Audrey controls (”Night Falls”). 

Eventually they beat Audrey together and almost celebrate. But not quite cause they are enemies. Evie is trying to play the middleman, suggesting an icebreaker game which doesn’t really take off. But props to her for trying. Also I should say that she suggested trying to be friends when they met Uma, Harry and Gil at the entrance to the Isle.

After the fight they split up - the boys go into the woods trying to find Ben while the girls go search Audrey’s room and Uma finds her diary where she mentions the fairie’s cottage. Then the girls go back to Evie’s where they found Smee’s twins and Dizzy sleeping as well as Doug. Evie tries too wake him up but can’t (duh, he’s under a spell). Uma’s all like “he’s under a spell. is she not a fast learner?” and Mal tells her that Evie’s emotionally involved. Which brings us to the ah so sweet - true love’s kiss (”One Kiss”). But Evie is unsure cause they haven’t used the L-word yet. When did Evie become so insecure though? She has been super confident throughout the series even though imho her storyline with Doug has NOT gotten the moment in spotlight it deserves. But wait, she kisses him after the song and he wakes up! Aww so it is true love. Bitches I wanted to see more of them before this bc they’ve been in the background (also can I mention that Doug has turned into like a young Nicholas Cage clone with his long hair and all and dam he’s cute!).

The boys find Ben, now in beast form and trying to kind attack them (and failing adorably) when Carlos calms him down and takes a splinter from his paw (i mean... he has paws now?). Kinda reminds me of Tinkerbell and the Neverbeast when Fawn took a splinter from the Neverbeast’s paw :’D Anyway, back to the story. Then Jane arrives with sort of a hose, getting Ben all wet with the water from the Enchanted Lake and he turns back too human - except he has a little beard/stubble and kind of fangs? Also Carlos and Jane meet again and are all cute together. Harry tries to make a move on Jane but Carlos literally blocks him, lol.

Back to Evie’s. Mal and Uma are talking when suddenly boards start covering the house. Audrey’s magic has gotten stronger cause Mal can’t reverse it alone but when Uma joins in with her shell, they manage to beat it, making Audrey angry. 

They build up a plan and Gil, Doug and Jane go look for the Fairy Godmother while the other’s go to the Fairie’s cottage, finding Chad locked in a closet. They walk out and then comes the moment of truth. Evie tells Ben that Uma + the pirates joined them cause Mal promised that the kids from Isle can come to Auradon. She reveals that she lied to everyone, making her friends mad. Celia takes the Ember, throwing it into a pool of water. Uma and Harry leave. Evie faces Mal, who obviously feels awful and her friends are mad at her. Then poof, they’re turned into stone. Mal sings what is - I assume - the song to build up her confidence/self-searching (”My Once Upon a Time”) and confronts Uma asking for her help to beat Audrey. But Uma turns her down even after she tells her that she saw the good in Uma - that she really cares.

Next we have Celia calling for help cause Audrey has her on top of one of the towers. Mal turns into a dragon, trying to battle Audrey but can’t do it on her own. Uma and Harry happen to come back and Uma’s suddenly like “she can’t do it on her own, i’m here girl, i’m here” forgetting that Mal totally lied to them and kinda screwed them over and helping her igniting the ember again. With the help from the ember, she beats Audrey. Everyone is awakened, except Audrey who’s fading away after being hit back with the magic. Mal can’t wake her up even with the crystal and tells Ben, Beast, Belle and everyone else in the room that Hades could. While they doubt it, Mal tells them that he’d do it - for her, he is her father after all. Ben is a bit shocked but sends guards to get him from the Isle.

He’s brought to the Castle in shackles and he works his magic, waking Audrey up. She apologises to Mal and then Mal apologises to her as well as Ben and then Audrey’s grandma apologises to Mal. It’s an apologyfest, and all is fine again. Yay? Hades is escorted back to the Isle and has a nice little moment with Mal, giving her the ember. Celia, Uma, Harry and Gil also go back to the Isle. Mal and Ben attend their engagement party and she surprisingly declares that she can’t be the Queen of Auradon - she can’t turn her back to the Isle. So in conclusion of a long speech, they open the barrier (even though the Beast is against it but Ben shushes him :D) and Mal becomes the Queen of Auradon and the Isle. (”Break This Down”) The people from the Isle (with Uma’s leading) notice this too and meet some of Auradon’s people halfway and have this big closing number with lost of  dance and singing.

And then people rejoice. Gil and Jay seem to have sparked a friendship. Harry brings comedy to the scene being like “so she’s deeeefinitely taken?” bout Mal, then trying to make a move on Evie and finally Uma who’s not having it. And then Harry ends up dancing with Audrey. Okay, seems legit. Then there’s Hades, being happy for Ben and Mal (and also giving Ben the “i’m watching you eyes”). They dance into  the palace yard (or somewhere) and the scene cuts to the core four, staring at the passageway to the Isle, apparently to go meet their parents (cause they didn’t come to Auradon?) and the end credits roll.

ALRIGHT.

Plotwise yes, it’s a clusterfuck. The whole movie is very rushed, it’s like they tried to include too much things. Like said, at the end of D1, it seemed that Audrey and Mal were somewhat civil, then Audrey was spending some time in the fairies cottage/seven acres woods/something like that in D2 and we didn’t see her at all. Suddenly she’s all hateful and resentful again and her grandmother is being a total jerk to her. Whole turning into evil happened almost right after the movie opened so there was no proper lead to it really. Nothing to explain WHY Audrey went back to resenting Mal and Ben and Auradon.

Then Mal’s father. Alright, pretty much everyone knew by now that Hades was gonna be Mal’s father even though I recall that in the first movie or somewhere else it was said that it was a human male. What happened in their past could’ve and more so SHOULD’VE been dug into a little more cause Mal is resentful at him for not being around - but why wasn’t he around? Why didn’t he call her? After all, he had been asking about her from Celia so obviously he does care for her.

The other VK’s were even more pushed to the side than before. I do get that Mal is kind of the lead here, but they did kind of sideline their character development. The other VK’s were in such minor roles I could easily say that they might as well be taken out altogether. Evie tried to be a peacemaker, she gets a few lines in couple of songs and one song to herself. Her character has also been very confident and craving for love, kind of seducing Doug in the first movie and making him accidentally jealous in D2 and suddenly she’s insecure? Yeah, love can be scary sometimes but of all the characters I just don’t see it characteristic to Evie to suddenly become uncertain of herself in the terms of love. Jay’s more like acting as a guide to good to Gil and Harry for the time being and Carlos is just being his adorable self. Still can’t believe there was no Jarlos kiss! (also he got Jane a pendant saying “Jarlos” as her birthday gift, how adorbs!)

The main problem is that there isn’t really a proper climax in the movie. It starts off god and then falls flat on it’s ass. May I also point out that not ONCE in these movies have Mal and Ben had a duet together - yes they’ve shared songs but also with other people in them - and they are the “true love” couple after all which is a bit disappointing. I mean Ben has been kind of put into thee background in the movies too - and in this last one even more so, whenever the core four have been side to side. But even in the last movie - since they’re engaged after all - I was surprised that when they opened the barrier, Jay was next to Mal (as well as Evie), squishing her hand and her leaning into him. In the end Ben is the king and Mal’s fiancee so in my opinion, he should’ve been next to Mal, not behind her (as much as I do love Mal). And I mean I was also waiting that the other VK’s would’ve met their parents too. But no. Disappointment. 

In a nutshell D3 is a movie about Audrey being a resentful brat and turning dark, introducing Mal’s dad pretty shallowly adding pretty much nothing into her story arc or character development. Except her forgiving her father pretty fast. Too much is trying to be fitted into 1hr45mins. Mal and Hades could’ve had their own movie working it out. Audrey could’ve had a thorough build up to what led her to the dark path.

Aesthetically it’s very pleasing and I enjoyed the music and I do love the cast. The end was kind of bittersweet and the whole movie was a bit unreal once you know that Cameron is no longer with us (rest in peace). So this is and end of and era. Despite this honest and well - unfiltered - review I thank the cast and crew of Descedants  from the bottom of my heart that they have brought these  movies to us.

Long live the VK’s!

[july-19th-club]

actually i’m not done talking abt true detective s1 i actually have a lot of thoughts about those last several minutes and how important it was that it ends on a relatively hopeful note. do we know where rust’s going? what the heck this man intends to do now that he’s confronted both his most unfinished work and his greatest source of grief? we don’t, but i think we can safely say that he’s not leaving just to go somewhere and die. in his own sour and half-resigned way, it seems like he’s intending to go get some stuff done in his life, to maybe for once make plans that don’t have anything to do with death and i’m going to put my thoughts on that under a cut bc i started writing and it just kind of got away from me and it’s more or less a whole piece of fiction now

he said something about being a painter if his life had gone differently, and i think maybe that’s what he pursues next. he’s in his fifties now, has spent more of his life as an addict than not, and i imagine that the road toward finding some kind of equilibrium is not simple. if he manages to quit drinking, i don’t think he ever manages to quit smoking. it’s a comfort thing for him, as much as he knows that it’ll be that or some other chemical damage that will get him in the end. he has a silent bet on with himself as to which one it will be, when it finally happens, but it hasn’t yet and so he gets what money he’s saved and goes on a road trip. 

it’s experiences he’s after now: he goes to appalachia, he goes to new york city, briefly, doesn’t really enjoy it, goes on toward the great lakes, goes further. he sees wyoming and the dakotas, the redwood forest region, the coast of maine. canada. it occurs to him that he’s spent his whole life on one side or the other of the contiguous states, never paid much attention to what’s in the middle. he explores. he accumulates memories, knowledge, tries to enjoy it and tries to move from one sight to the next quickly enough that the doubt and disinterest can’t creep back in. tries to appreciate things: the rain. the heat coming up from the asphalt when he stops for some lunch. the stretches where he doesn’t talk to another person for days on end. even tries to appreciate the feeling of being anonymous in a crowd, walking among many other people who are focused on anything but him, tries to see it as a natural part of the things that exist to make up the world and not a poorly-designed set for a badly-written story. and around him it continues to happen. the radio continues to play. the road continues to be long. the sky continues to be huge and filled with stars, and when whatever this is has finished Something may continue, and in it he may have the chance to love and be loved. 

maybe he calls his ex-wife, and maybe she immediately assumes that it’s a goodbye call, because it’s been close to twenty years since they last spoke and she has no illusions about the state of mind he was in at the time. she may be surprised he’s lasted this long, but she agrees to meet him. he shows up sunburnt and long-haired and craggy-looking, but with the same wry face she remembers. he shows her his driver’s license photo, in which he is still sporting a weird-old-man mustache, and she makes fun of it. he tells her everything. turns out, her life has gone in an entirely different direction. where he spiraled, she thrived. eventually she decided to become a foster parent, and perhaps she wound up adopting a girl who comes to live with her as a teenager. the girl is a woman now, and has found a nice girl of her own, and the two of them are considering children, when they’ve got the finances for it. the cycle continues. he is terrified of the concept as he would be of being dropped into a parallel world where none of the loss ever happened. there is no rhyme or reason, and he is still learning how to be optimistic about the certain knowledge that even if there is another world, there’s absolutely no plan. he’s afraid. but he is more afraid of being without family, and this knowledge is sudden but he is sure of it. he meets the adopted daughter and the daughter-in-law. the daughter’s a biochemist, daughter-in-law’s a philosophy major, and they all get on like a house on fire. he can talk with the girls for far longer than claire can about the sort of heady, probably pretentious topics they’re interested in. he moves on after a few visits, but he keeps all of their numbers close. 

he travels. he paints fallingwater. he paints the wallowa valley. watercolors - he likes them better than oils or acrylics, likes the way they soften whatever he uses them to illustrate. he paints whatever he gets interested in, sometimes stopping the truck on the verge of the highway to take out his colors and paint the chicory by the side of the road. he visits a museum to study other artists’ work, gets interested in frederic remington or somebody, goes to rodeos and paints the riders and the swirls of dust. he paints mt. mckinley from memory. he paints his own flashbacks, trying to show how the colors bleed into one another, how the images repeat and revolve. he goes back through texas and louisiana, stops in bars and orders iced tea and paints the bikers. he calls his family more frequently. he calls his one friend, asks to stay updated on people’s lives, acts interested in their affairs even when they call him on a bad day and he has to feign it. one day his families meet each other. he arranges it. they have dinner together and he gives everybody paintings and when marty asks if he’d be interested in consulting on a case or two, just when he’s able to, when he’s not busy or he’s bored, he says yes, he might consider it. he is planning to move closer to his own people, but if he does, he may need the money. he thinks of things in terms of time, now. how much of it may remain, if he is smart with it. how much of it he has already used up. there is a dark, miserable center to the thought that he is careful not to get to close to, because it will swallow up everything a man can build if he’s not paying attention.

when the daughter-in-law is pregnant, the girls ask around for name suggestions. they deliberate for nine months and then some, even after the baby is born and he, more afraid than ever, meets it and lets its small hand clutch his finger like it is the only life preserver in a swallowing sea. what can this tiny creature, just-created, with eyes that look around vaguely but don’t stop, know of doubt or fear or the lifelong drowning conviction that nothing exists for a good reason? all the baby knows is what it experiences, and so he holds it as kindly as he can. with luck, it will grow. it will be one, then two years old, it will learn words, it will begin to move around far faster than its parents can keep up, with luck or perhaps un-luck it will become five and then ten years old and develop convictions and interests and then maybe it will someday be as old as he is and it will still enjoy the world. he holds it with as much hope as he can. 

after a while, they do choose a name, one of his suggestions. miles. as in “to go, before i sleep”.  

[penniesforthestorm]

Castle Rock, Part 2

“Be Your Own Hero!”

  Episode 4: “The Box” Episode 5: “Harvest” Episode 6: “Filter”

Hello, and welcome to the second part of my Castle Rock coverage! Now that the major expository groundwork has been laid, I want to spend a little time talking about the characters. Let’s start with Dennis Zalewski, the Shawshank guard who discovered The Kid. Zalewski, who has a pregnant wife to support, is unhappy in his job, lamenting to Henry Deaver in a previous episode, “Do you think I’d be working here if there was a Wal-Mart within sixty miles?” At the beginning of Episode 4, “The Box”, we see Zalewski arriving for another day on the job, accompanied by the gritty strains of Tom Waits’ “Clap Hands”. Every time one of the prison’s doors shuts behind him, we realize that he feels just as trapped as the men he’s guarding. Zalewski’s coworkers don’t seem to share his distaste. An oily representative of Shawshank’s new corporate owners pays The Kid a visit, and describes, with relish, how he and his Army buddies tortured an Iraqi prisoner who wouldn’t give up his name. In response, The Kid intones a passage from the Book of Revelations: “He has a name written on him, which no one knows except himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is called The Word of God.” The Kid stands up as he speaks, looming forbiddingly over the other man.

And what’s Henry Deaver up to? First of all, he and Alan Pangborn go up to Bangor, to make arrangements for Matthew Deaver’s coffin to be delivered back to Castle Rock. Henry, hunting for more clues, stumbles across a name in an old news article about his own disappearance—a man called Desjardins, who lived just a mile from the lake. He decides to pay a call on Desjardins, and finds a whole lot more than he bargained for. The house is in utter disrepair—an old piano has crashed through the kitchen ceiling, and there are broken boards everywhere. Its elderly inhabitant, Joseph Desjardins, seems oddly delighted to see Henry. He brings Henry back to his bedroom and digs out a water-stained cardboard box containing Henry’s police file. It’s a relief when Henry leaves unscathed, goes to visit Molly, and ends up spending the night with her. The next morning, though, Henry calls Zalewski and says that he’s leaving Castle Rock. Zalewski had agreed to be deposed at a hearing regarding The Kid, and earlier in the episode, he stopped by The Kid’s cell and promised him that soon, they’d both be free. He even offered The Kid a friendly fist-bump. Now, after listening to Henry’s voicemail, Zalewski goes into his office. He removes his pistol from the safe, climbs the stairs, and shoots his way up to the warden’s office, as Roy Orbison’s “Crying” (another aria, of sorts) swoons over the soundtrack. Henry is there waiting, and Zalewski manages to say, “I want to testify”, before a smoke-bomb goes off behind him and he is shot down by another officer.

Episode 5, “Harvest”, opens with Henry at a clinic in Texas, undergoing a cognitive exam. He is asked to repeat five words, which he does: “Boat, white, church, dog, family.” It’s about the mysterious ringing in his ears that’s plagued him since he was young. We see him cringing in the aftermath of Zalewski’s shooting spree; clearly, having a gun go off right by him hasn’t helped. Back at Shawshank, Warden Porter is getting chastised by her boss. She sighs about being ‘thrown under the bus’; it’s the second time this idiom has been used in her presence. The first time was in conversation with Henry, regarding the late Warden Lacy, when she sneered, “That’s where you throw dead perverts”. Speaking of Warden Lacy, we get a flashback of him and The Kid together down in the cage. Lacy admits that he has always felt some doubt about what he’s done, even though God told him The Kid would ‘drag evil behind him everywhere you went’. He touches The Kid’s hand, then his face, with a gentle, sad expression. In the present, The Kid is released. He undergoes a similar exam to the one Henry had; his five words are, “Face, velvet, red, church, family.” Henry and Molly put him up at Molly’s office, and instruct him to stay hidden. That night, The Kid slips out. He finds a boy's birthday party in progress, and sneaks in to watch, but as he lingers in the shadows, the party devolves into a screaming match between the parents, and a baby wails inconsolably. The Kid retreats into the night, pensive and alone. Now it's time to talk about Alan Pangborn and Ruth Deaver. Scott Glenn and Sissy Spacek have wonderful chemistry on screen—you fully believe that these people are used to each other's rhythms. Alan grouses about having to attend a bridge-dedication ceremony in his honor, and Ruth teases him, her blue eyes full of mischief. At the ceremony, Alan begins a laconic speech, mentioning that he wanted to be a magician, but was hampered by the necessity of 'telling a story' to distract his audience. But he's interrupted by the barking of a large dog, and the sudden realization that Ruth is not in her seat. She's up on the railing of the bridge, and then aloft, heading straight for the river. Henry rushes over and jumps in to save her. And this brings me to the other major character I haven't yet discussed: Jackie Torrance (Jane Levy)—assistant to Molly Strand, sardonic expert in Castle Rock lore. When Jackie heads to Molly's office, she discovers The Kid lurking upstairs, sans clothing. Jackie takes this entirely in stride, rustling up some hand-me-downs and bringing The Kid up to speed on Castle Rock's historically bad luck. She even drops a reference to her uncle, who tried to ax-murder his family, back in the rad, bad old '80s (yes, that Torrance). This spooks The Kid, who flees to the nearest convenient rooftop, and Jackie calls Molly for help. Molly tries to console The Kid, but he tells her mournfully, "I shouldn't be here." The echoes of human misery in The Kid's (and Molly's) mind reach a crescendo. So Molly takes him to the Deaver house that evening, and Henry reluctantly leads him out to the old workshop in the backyard. Inside, on a dusty piano, The Kid suddenly picks out the classic hymn, "O God Our Help in Ages Past". "I remember…" he murmurs. Henry nods in approval and bids him goodnight. But our Kid has other ideas. He wanders out to the woods, and finds himself in direct confrontation with Alan Pangborn. Alan remembers him from the night Lacy claimed to have trapped the Devil in his trunk. Awed and frightened, Alan declares, "I can't remember my own dead wife's face, but I never forgot yours. 27 years, and you haven't aged one day." This seems to spark something in The Kid. He tells Alan he can help Ruth, and then says, "You have no idea what's going here, do you?"

In Episode 6, "Filter", The Kid sends Alan on a mysterious errand to Syracuse. He also continues to explore the environs of the Deaver house, clothing himself in a shabby grey suit and putting on a record. (Keen listeners will notice that when The Kid walks, he's frequently accompanied by the fwip, fwip of a record skipping.) Perhaps most intriguingly, he finds a repository of video tapes featuring Henry as a child out in the woods, clearly filmed by Matthew Deaver. Henry, for his part, has called for his teenage son Wendell (Chosen Jacobs) to come up from Boston, to see his grandmother. Wendell comes off the bus absorbed in his phone, but he's polite and amiable, particularly to Ruth. The three of them are making lunch when Ruth stares out the kitchen window in shock. The Kid is out there, in his grey suit. Something seems to pass between him and Ruth, even through the glass and the distance. In a panic, Henry runs out and whisks The Kid into the car, carting him off to the nearby psychiatric facility. Later that night, Wendell asks Henry why Ruth and Matthew adopted him. Henry mentions that they lost a child some years before, but insists that they are his "real parents". The next day, Henry goes marching off into the woods with the old camera, queuing up the footage of his younger self to see if he can discover what, exactly, Matthew was directing him to do out there. Ruth and Wendell sit down for a game of chess, with Ruth's copy of the famous Lewis chess set—a gift from Alan. (The original pieces, carved from walrus ivory by Vikings sometime in the 12th Century, currently reside at the British Museum.) Wendell notices that some of the pieces are missing, and Ruth relates a significant secret. She believes that she has become unstuck in time. "This conversation—we've been here before. We'll be here again." The chess pieces, scattered through the house, are her way of anchoring herself to the present—her breadcrumb trail. Henry could have used a breadcrumb trail of his own; as the dusk gathers in the woods, the camera's battery dies, and Henry gets lost. He finally discovers a campfire, guarded by another soft-spoken young man with wild eyes. An older gentleman comes out of the trees, and begins signing rapidly, while the young man translates. His name is Odin Branch (Ruth's Norse-mythology expertise would come in handy here), and his jumpy companion is Willie. Odin explains that he knew Matthew Deaver, and that the two of them shared an interest in what used to be called 'the music of the spheres'—a vast, universal sound, that some people hear and others do not. The theory is that the sound is the multiverse trying to reconcile itself—other realities knocking against each other like thunderclouds. Before Matthew's death, he had made a blueprint for a chamber he called 'The Filter'—a noise-proof room where the sound, which Odin calls the Schisma, might be observed in pristine condition. Odin has built a replica in his trailer, and, somewhat less than cordially, he invites Henry to observe for himself, slamming the door after him. The episode ends with Alan returning from Syracuse, to find The Kid sitting on the front steps of the Deaver house. The object Alan was seeking was Warden Lacy's car, and he has arranged for it to be brought down. Then Alan notices that The Kid is bleeding. "There will be a monument,"The Kid proclaims through clenched teeth, "to Warden Lacy, and to all who helped put me in there. Why did you do it, Alan?" Alan rushes past The Kid, up to the house, calling for Ruth. Whatever he finds there, we have the distinct feeling it won't be good.

[dontpickyournoseatthedinnertable]

Making Friends As A Grown Up Is Hard

I originally wrote this a couple of weeks ago, but felt like saving it on here. So, here goes. I'm waking up this morning very angry with religion. It's been a long time since I was legitimately angry with religion -- I had my hateful "new atheist" years a decade or so back, but mostly have a "live and let live" outlook on the subject now. At least when it comes to the majority of religious people who have the same outlook, anyway. About a year ago, Faye and I made friends with a wonderfully fun, smart, amazing mom and daughter up the road who happen to be Christian. We hung out at least once a week, usually, taking trips to museums or hunting rose rocks at the lake or taking a picnic lunch to the playground or just hanging around each other's houses; us moms visiting while the kids played. We babysat for each other. I once had Faye, her daughter, her triplets, AND my two nieces over for a few hours, and they all had so much fun together! Our daughters even spent the night with each other a few times and still say they're best friends. Then, we moved in September, and we haven't gotten to see each other much since. Faye's friend did spend the night for her birthday, but with Faye being in public school now and us being twenty minutes away rather than five, it has been hard to hang out. But, I figured we'd just find time on weekends once we were settled in. I tried to do exactly that a few weeks after we moved. Messaged my friend to see if we could get together. I didn't get a response, but I didn't worry about it cuz I know she's out in that dead zone where I just moved from and doesn't have a reliable cell signal or decent internet. I got busy for another week or two, then tried again. Invited her to our housewarming. Again, no response. She didn't even see the message. So, yesterday, I went to message her a third time to make sure everything was okay, and noticed I'd been "unfriended" on Facebook. I sent the message, asking if I'd done something and saying I'd like the chance to apologize if I need to. I got a response a couple of hours later. She sent me a very long, very religiously-charged letter that essentially boiled down to "I can't be friends with you any more because you're an atheist, and I can't reconcile being a Christian myself and hanging out with someone like you." I guess she forgot that her Jesus hung out with lepers, whores, and unbelievers, but whatever. We always had this unspoken agreement that we just didn't talk about religion when we were together, so I never thought it was or even could be an issue. I pretty much forgot about the fact that she WAS Christian most of the time, only recalling it when she would slip in a mention about her praying for something. So for her to say that we couldn't be friends because of her religion...was that something that was on her mind the whole time we were hanging out? Was she sitting on my couch, mentally struggling to come to terms with the fact that I don't believe in her God? And me moving was just the most convenient way to phase me out of her life until I noticed and confronted her about it? I'm fucking heartbroken. I really liked her a lot. I have very, very few friends in this life that I don't feel at least a bit of awkwardness around, or feel like I'm a bit of a weirdo and have to keep myself guarded. I've got, like...Michaela that I feel 100% comfortable around. (which isn't nothing -- that woman is an absolute SAINT for choosing to be my best friend, but that's a post for another day.) But I felt like I was really starting to feel that way with this woman, too. I felt like she "got" me, ya know? And I felt like she was pretty damned special and awesome. And now she's decided she can't be friends with me because of what I don't believe in. I did respond to her letter, and I did tell her how I felt, and that I would respect her wishes if she really didn't want to be friends with me, and she did see it...but has yet to respond again. I'll take that as a big ol' "Fuck off," I guess. And now that also raises the question, what about our girls?!? They get along so well! They have such similar personalities -- both tomboys with an interest in science and the macabre (they watched a crow decompose at the edge of my woods this past summer). Faye hasn't made many close friends in school yet, but she still runs in the house and checks to see if Ella has sent her a Skype message after school every day. But how are they gonna hang out now without it being awkward for us moms? And that's assuming her mom doesn't try to quash that friendship now, too. How do I even talk to my kid about this?!? I'm heartbroken that my friend feels that way, but I'm downright LIVID right now that she thinks her religion dictates that it must be this way. It begs the questions, did she make this decision on her own, or was it made on advice from her preacher or someone else in the church? Did she genuinely ever like me at all (I mean, I really FELT like she did) or is she using her religion as a "Get Out of Friendship Free" card? Would she still be my friend if I'd never told her I was an atheist? (Which she knew from the very start, cuz I don't keep it secret.) Anyway, I'm sad and pissed off and feel pretty lonely right now. If anyone needs me, I'll be elbows deep in a block of sharp cheddar.

[phantom-le6]

Film Review - Wonder Woman 84

Carrying on with my film review interval quickly so I can get on to reviewing the Batman animated series, it’s time to join DC a bit early, albeit in the live-action world of the DCEU as we take a look at Wonder Woman 84…

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

A young Diana (Wonder Woman) participates in an athletic event on Themyscira against older Amazons. After falling from her horse due to looking back at her opponents, Diana takes a shortcut and remounts, but misses a checkpoint. Antiope removes her from the competition, explaining anything worthwhile must be obtained honestly.

 In 1984, Diana works at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. while secretly performing heroic deeds as Wonder Woman. New museum employee Barbara Ann Minerva, a shy geologist and cryptozoologist, is barely seen by her co-workers and comes to envy Diana. Later, the FBI asks the museum to identify stolen antiquities from a robbery that Wonder Woman recently foiled. Barbara and Diana notice one item, later identified as the Dreamstone, contains a Latin inscription claiming to grant the holder one wish.

 Barbara wishes to become like Diana, which unwittingly results in her acquiring the same superpowers, while Diana unknowingly wishes for her deceased lover Steve Trevor to be alive, resurrecting him in another man's body; the two are reunited at a Smithsonian gala. Failing businessman Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano tricks Barbara and steals the Dreamstone, hoping to use its power to save his bankrupt oil company. He wishes to "become" the stone and gains its wish-granting powers, becoming a wealthy and powerful figure who creates chaos and destruction as his powers trigger worldwide instability.

 Barbara, Diana and Steve discover that the Dreamstone was created by Dolos/Mendacius, the god of mischief, also known as the Duke of Deception. It grants a user's wish while exacting a toll unless they renounce the wish or destroy the stone. Although Diana's power and Barbara's humanity diminish, both are unwilling to renounce their wishes. Learning from the U.S. President of a satellite system that broadcasts signals globally, Max, whose powers are causing his body to deteriorate, plans to globally grant wishes to steal strength and life force from the viewers and regain his health. Diana and Steve confront him at the White House, but Barbara, now aligned with Max, betrays Diana and knocks her down, escaping with Max on Marine One. Steve convinces Diana to renounce her wish and let him go, restoring her strength and gaining an ability to fly.

 Donning the Armor of Amazon warrior Asteria, Diana flies to the satellite headquarters and again battles Barbara, who has transformed into a humanoid cheetah after wishing to become an apex predator. Following a brutal match, Diana tackles Barbara into a lake and electrocutes her, then pulls her out. She confronts Max and uses her Lasso of Truth to communicate with the world through him, persuading everyone to renounce their wishes. She then shows Max visions of his own unhappy childhood and of his son, Alistair, who is frantically searching for his father amid the chaos. Max renounces his wish and reunites with Alistair and Barbara returns to normal. Sometime later in the winter, Diana meets the man whose body Steve possessed.

 In a post-credits scene, Asteria is revealed to be secretly living among humans.

Review:

Unlike a lot of people, I have enjoyed a lot of the DC Extended Universe to date.  Granted, most of their films have been flawed to varying extents, more-so than I’ve known with the MCU, and in truth only Man of Steel and the first Wonder Woman solo films cleared top marks.  Warner Brothers and DC are clearly trying, and while they might not succeed with live action the way they do with their animated DC films, I think we can all at least commend the effort.  Certainly, that effort shows through in this film, which is both sequel to the first live-action Wonder Woman film and a further prequel to Wonder Woman’s present-day self in Batman vs Superman and Justice League.  It’s well-cast around a decent plot, and offers both the action and character most audiences expect from films of this genre.

 However, the film is not without flaw, and these become more prevalent looking at the behind-the-scenes stories and features than through watching the film itself.  First, let’s tackle the couple of controversies that have come from the observations of others.  According to Wikipedia, the film has been criticised heavily on two counts.  First, Steve Trevor is brought into the film by possessing another man’s body in a plot thread analogous to 80’s era body-swap films like Vice Versa.  Because Steve and Diana have sex at one point during this time, this aspect is likened by some to rape despite that not being the intent of the film makers.  The second point of controversy is a scene where Wonder Woman saves Muslim children from being run over, something that is apparently controversial because actress Gal Gadot once served in the Israeli Defence Forces and has spoken in support of them.

 With regards to the first, I think the film makers needed to make it clearer that while Steve is doing his possession bit, the body’s native soul is totally elsewhere, as that might have changed how some perceived the scene.  Me, I’ve taken it from the first as just Steve and Diana without that exposition, and I think we can be a little too quick to assign the concept of ‘rape’ to certain sci-fi and superhero fantasy concepts.  This criticism strikes me as people wanting to be louder on a subject that is better tackled by being smarter about it, but I do think it’s probably something story tellers need to be mindful of going forward.  If you’re going to set up something that could look like rape if not explained fully, make the time to do that, no matter how it may hurt other aspects of your story.

 With the second, I tend to look at every religious conflict now and in the past and think “will you just grow up and stop having such massive-ass hissy fits over a bunch of stories that might not even be true?” Honestly, I don’t get why so many Christians, Muslims and Jews have to have massive conflicts with each other supposedly over faith.  You’re all worshipping the same deity, for crying out loud, and odds are 50/50 as to whether that deity even exists or not.  That’s honestly not worth keeping up a bunch of rivalry and hatred that started thousands of years ago; these days, it’s just an excuse.  Got land that’s holy to more than one religion?  Just share it.  Don’t like someone else’s religion and want to stick to your own?  Just say “thanks but no thanks” and carry on about your business.  That’s the mature, adult approach, and by the same token, just accept that it’s Wonder Woman saving some kids and leave the personal politics to your own story-telling.

 So, having dismissed the quibbles of the possibly over-reactionary viewers, let’s get into the bigger issues.  In terms of adaptation accuracy, the film is mostly good, but falls a bit short on Maxwell Lord.  The guy’s supposed to be a pretty irredeemable slimeball going by the comics, and while I can accept the film giving him some justification for taking things too far, I have a hard time buying into him effectively doing the ‘right thing’ at the film’s climax. It feels highly out of character, not to mention a bit anti-climactic.  Then again, that’s why I’ve never enjoyed superhero match-ups that pit a massively over-powered hero against a villain who is all about brains.  Such clashes make it impossible for the superhero to win in classic physical combat and gain the catharsis that comes from that.  It almost feels like that part should have come first and the grudge-match with Cheetah should have followed it.

 More significant an issue than that, however, is the idea that the whole wish fulfilment aspect of the plot was somehow people seeking lies and needing to accept the truth.  Wishes are not lies; wishes are wishes and have no set place in the truth-versus-lie dichotomy.  As such, truth is not by any means the answer to things when wishes go wrong.  Wishes going wrong is simply a literary device used to convey the idea that somehow wishing is bad, but it’s not.  After all, how many people who worked on this film wished at some point they’d be able to bring Wonder Woman to life on the big screen? Every film, every TV show, every book, every story anyone has ever created is the execution of a wish.

 The reality is that wishes only become a problem as a result of greed, which is the problem created by Max Lord in this film. If he’d just wished to hit oil to save his company, he’d be fine and things wouldn’t have escalated.  Instead, he takes on the Dreamstone’s power itself so he could exact his own price from future wishers, and as a result he upsets the stupidly precarious balance that keeps the world going.  It’s an interesting idea, albeit not all that original; leaving aside the classic “monkey’s paw” legend and others like it, you’ve only got to look at the Jim Carry film Bruce Almighty and Carrey’s character Bruce granting all prayers while using God’s powers to know wish fulfilment is dangerous in excess.  However, anything in excess is dangerous, and it’s not like wishing worked out so badly for Aladdin if we go by Disney’s versions of that story.

 The reality of WW84 is that it’s a decent film that’s mostly well-acted and has a decent story, but with a flawed underlying message that gets bogged down by various flaws in execution.  If I had to pick out a film that illustrates why the DCEU needs the Flash solo film to reboot it, this one would have to be right up there with Justice League, Aquaman and Birds of Prey.  Like those films, this one only warrants 7 out of 10, and much of that is down to a lot of the actors performing so well, especially Lilly Aspell as the kid version of Diana in the opening scene.  Only 10 years old at the time of filming and she did every stunt herself; an impressive feat to say the least.

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2020/12/06/germany-police-probes-swastika-found-in-parliament-building-dw-06-12-2020/

Germany: Police probes swastika found in parliament building | DW | 06.12.2020

German police on Sunday launched an investigation after a swastika symbol was found in a parliament building in Berlin.

A spokesperson for the Bundestag said that the unconstitutional symbol had been spotted carved onto the door of an elevator, according to German news agency DPA.

Read more: Finland’s air force removes the swastika from logo after almost a century

A staffer of Green party lawmaker Dieter Janecek tweeted a picture of the swastika scratched into the door in the Jakob-Kaiser-Haus, an office building for lawmakers next to the Reichstag that houses parliament.

The place where the swastika was found has since been taped over. “The position in the elevator in a Bundestag office building has been temporarily taped over,” the Bundestag spokesperson confirmed.

Read more: Neo-Nazi Sturmbrigade 44: How serious of a threat is it?

Possible jail term

Displaying, or being responsible for, Nazi symbols in Germany can be punished by up to three years in jail. 

Swastikas and other banned symbols can, however, be displayed if they are used for “civic education, countering anti-constitutional activities, art and science, research and education, the coverage of historic and current events, or similar purposes,” according to the Criminal Code.

That means movies and TV series — such as Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle — are usually exempt from such jurisdiction.

Read more: Nuremberg Trials: An important step for Germany to confront its Nazi past

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

The Nazi ideal

A new exhibition at the Vogelsang College, a former Nazi School in western Germany, opens on September 11 as part of a 45-million-euro ($50-million) project to secure the crumbling buildings. The exhibition includes this model of a bas-relief depicting idealized athletes at Vogelsang. The damaged original still stands at the sports ground of the site.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

Making up for past wounds

The original bas-relief “Athletes” can be found in the sports ground of Vogelsang College. Most of the 2,000 exclusively male students schooled there and at another Nazi college in Krössinsee in what is now Poland came from lower-middle-class backgrounds and had suffered unemployment in the recession that preceded Hitler’s rise. The curriculum consisted largely of physical exercise and drills.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

Site used for military after WWII

Vogelsang straddles a slope overlooking a spectacular vista of lakes and wooded hills in the Eifel region of western Germany. It was off-limits for 60 years because it was used as a military base and training camp for NATO troops.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

Medieval imagery

This Teutonic knight can be seen at an entrance tower to Vogelsang College. Formed at the end of the 12th century, the Teutonic knights were an order formed to protect Christian pilgrims en route to the Holy Land. Many of the Nazi symbols draw on medieval imagery.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

How ordinary men became capable of terror

Pictured from the new exhibition is a photo of the “cult chamber” which featured a statue of the “new German man” flanked on the walls by the names of “martyrs” killed in the failed Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in 1923. The exhibition also contains striking photographs of ordinary-looking men smiling in their uniforms, as well as interactive displays with testimony by Holocaust victims.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

The making of monsters

Stefan Wunsch is the scientific director of the exhibition. He is pictured with an exhibit containing an interview with Lithuanian Holocaust survivor Mascha Rolnikaite, talking about the so-called “Butcher of Vilnius” Franz Murer, a former college student at a different Nazi college in Krössinsee who was responsible for killing thousands of Jews in Lithuania.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

What does Vogelsang mean for me?

“Visitors are confronted with the question, ‘What has this got to do with me?’ If you look at political developments today, it’s very relevant,” says Gabriele Harzheim, a researcher at Vogelsang. Here, she is pictured standing in the former cult chamber inside the main tower of Vogelsang with photos of it in its original state.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

A tarnished site

Vogelsang was opened to the public in 2006 after the Belgian army vacated it, confronting authorities with a dilemma because the place is festooned with Nazi symbols and statues. Researcher Gabriele Harzheim is pictured holding a historic photo of the site.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

Ideological architecture

The communal halls at Vogelsang were feudal and elaborately decorated, while the squat, barrack-like dormitories were spartan to emphasize the community over the individual.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

Historical witness

Organizers expect the new exhibition and surrounding facility to draw 300,000 visitors per year. However, neo-Nazis also continue to visit the place. This five-meter (16.4-foot) torch bearer at Vogelsang College is a popular location for them to unfurl propaganda banners and have photos taken of themselves.

Former Nazi college reopens as museum to prevent extremism

Nazi sites may draw extremists

Museum directors and tourism officials are well aware of the risk of pandering to “dark tourism” – neo-Nazis fascinated with the macabre grandeur of the Nazi regime. Curators have tried to break the spell with sober exhibitions and architectural changes that counter the soaring bombasticism of Hitler’s architects.

Author: David Crossland

DPA contributed to this article.

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[aworryingdarkness]

Wake.

That the street had been built over what used to be a park was well established. The walls of a chain-pub in the town centre were adorned with reproduction antique photographs showing the area, the park and its small boating lake. But the lake, long since filled in, used to be what was now several streets away from this house, so even the residually high water-table did not explain why the cellar was so prone to flooding. Because the cellar would sometimes flood even when it wasn't raining. She had watched the water herself, seeping - even bubbling - up between the bricks in the floor. Last August, she'd walked down the stone steps into two inches of water, six weeks into a heatwave-induced hosepipe ban. The neighbours' basements were damp certainly, but the flooding itself didn't seem to affect them. Only here. The water authority had eventually checked their pipework and found nothing amiss. Their interest in the matter had ended there. And since a surveyor had reported no problems all these months down the line, there was nothing - legally - preventing her from selling the property. That the street had been built over what used to be a park with a boating pond was well established. That the park had earlier been marshland, was not. Oh, local records in the library and museum made mention of it, but this was hardly an unusual historic feature of coastal towns. Neither, sadly, was the smaller pool underneath what was now number 38 Park Road. The witching pool. Or more properly, the drowning pool. She knew nothing of this, of course. Not that the knowledge would have helped her. Because while the water was a problem, it wasn't 'the' problem. No, that was more the crying, and the screaming. At first these emanated from the cellar, but after a while they moved up to the kitchen, too. And they never failed to shock. She'd lost count of the number of cups and glasses that had been dropped as the result of sudden, soul-piercing screams, emitted at full volume at all hours of the day and night. The time she'd walked into the kitchen to be confronted by a crying girl of around eight years old? Well, that was an entire dropped tray followed by staying at a friend's house for three nights. The next was a young woman. She'd appeared halfway through the dishwashing; gibbered, sobbed and screamed for around five minutes then just as quickly vanished. She'd even tried talking to them on occasion, but to no avail. Each of the women - who only ever arrived one at a time - looked straight through her, presumably unable to see where, or when, they now stood. But she didn't know why they were here, or how - even if - she could help. In fact, she couldn't. Pain cannot be exorcised, cannot be undone. These were cries echoing down the years, their unfixable source buried in the past. Her neighbours had put this down to her, of course. Why wouldn't they? Their kitchens weren't haunted. She was the just crazy lady from number 38. She knew this. She'd stopped washing up. Stopped using dishes. Largely stopped using the kitchen, in fact. The shop at the end of the road sold things she could buy then eat in the lounge. The bins were at the front of the house, so she didn't need to go into the kitchen to get rid of the rubbish. It hadn't occurred to her that the reason she'd stopped washing and bathing herself could be down to a broader hydrophobia than the kitchen sink. That the guttural resonation which set her nerves on edge whenever the toilet flushed could be part of a larger, yet ultimately more acute, problem. But it wasn’t a problem because she’d mostly stopped doing that, too. If she could only sleep properly, she'd have the energy to clean up and get the lounge tidied. Then the estate agent could come back and look round properly this time. Yes. Sleep first. Maybe clear tomorrow. That would be fine. After all, the kitchen had been quiet for, what, days now? Yes, almost. That's enough. That's almost enough. Almost quiet enough. Almost quiet.