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suffering-and-happy-about-it · 4 years

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The Lonely Man (Ghost of Tsushima one-shot, Part 2.)

The first one-shot which leaded to the other one: H E R E

One-shot description: Tsushima had found its peace again - Kotun Khan and his men had left the island, the Mongolian invasion had ended. Yet its remnants were sure to last in your home for a long time.

A/N: The warning from the first one-shot still stands. No matter how hard I will be trying, there will be some cultural mistakes, because I am still an European. But just like before, I will do my best to make it as accurate as it will be in my strenght to write the best continuation to the first part I’ve posted like two weeks ago.

Word count: 5.5 K

Pairing: Jin Sakai x female reader (He HAS a strong chaotic-bi energy, but he's talking about girls in the hot springs, so... 👀)

Warnings: xx

It was a few weeks since the spring finally started and since the peace had finally stumbled into your homeland again. It was true - after a long winter, the sun rays finally felt like gentle tickling on your skin. The beaming sunlight was warming you up, making you feel relaxed anytime you had the time to sit in the garden. Just like you hoped previously, the garden next to the farmhouse has bloomed beautifully. The trees had bloomed to be colorful - there was a few Sakuras, which were planted as already grown trees, were pink, so it was putting a smile on your face when the smile leaves flought by.

Yet there also were small trees with red leaves that barely reached your waist. You didn't know what kind of trees it was, but it was making the gardens a wonderful place. And the flowers were making you even more wonderstruck as you inspected and sketched every one of them when you had a while to do so.

A lot of people expected that as soon as the Mongolian invasion comes to an end, which came true ever since it was rumored that Kotun Khan's head was exhibited in the Shikamura castle, the geisha households will come to an end with it as the women will move to bigger cities to have bigger money and better clientele. But it soon became apparent that this wasn't the case. It seemed that the geisha ladies decided to live in the household even if the invasion ended and there was no need to gather in one place.

Although it was a big, former farmhouse back in the day, the mistress was planning on expanding it. The girls could travel to meet their clients from the household, but they would finally take in other trainees and appreciates as well, which would surely be amazing. If this plan would work well the geishas on Tsushima island wouldn't have to worry that their craft would end. This way, they could pass their knowledge on. While you were still living at the household, during the ordinary mundane jobs. You were still going for rice and other kinds of food, but at least, now you had a smart cart and a horse. You were still cleaning up the floors, doing the laundry, and cleaning the dishes.

This was your work. This was what you were doing every day, so you weren't even complaining. Yet even if you sometimes didn't even stop during the day, even if you sometimes took a bath at the hot springs and sometimes, you joined the geisha classes to learn new things, the man sometimes still crept to the back of your head.

It was a long time since you've seen him. It could be many weeks, it could be months. The timelapse from his departure was just running by. Ever since the morning Jin had left, you've heard a lot of stories talking about the legendary Ghost. His progress with repressing the Mongols was publically known and heard about. Your personal favorites stories about the Ghost was the ones talking about him searching for the legendary gear of the old samurai masters, finding bows, and the rumored sets of armors scattered and hidden across the whole island. He still was talking to foxes, following them around to learn all the secrets of Inari.

Yet sometimes, worse news got to your ears. Jin was holding the Mongolian invasion back, almost singlehandedly, yes, but his methods were scary and almost brutal. From the intensity of said stories, it could be heard that Jin was probably falling deeper and deeper into this dark situation around him, which was quite saddening you. But how could you help him? You couldn't just travel through the whole island and tell him to stop.

But when you were thinking about him, you were wondering... Was he thinking about you? Or was it exactly how you thought it will be? Did Jin forget about you as soon as he left the farmhouse on the back of his horse? Yet those were the question you knew you will never have your answers for. Life was just the way it was.

You were a girl who was in the right age to find her a husband, to settle down, and to start a family on her own. Yet it was hard for you to like the boys of your social status ever since you've met Jin. There were nights when the warm breeze reminded you of Jin's touch, there were moments when water or sake reminded you of the man's kiss. Shadows creeping on the curtains and shoji reminded you of his moves. But over time, you knew that you'll forgive Jin. All it was to took was time.

As the spring progressed, there was a young fisherman walking around the house more and more often. First, everyone thought he's just walking around, dreaming about the girls he can never have - but soon enough, you realized that it's not the case. In fact, he was trying to gather the courage to speak a woman of his social status. One morning, he came over to you when you were doing the laundry by the river and introduced himself. It was a nice guy, you had to say. His goal was obvious.

The boy's name was Eiji and his intention with you was to court to you, making you fall in love with him. It was very noticeable he liked you a lot - he was nervous whenever he came around to talk to you. When you tried to joke around, Eiji got shy and he almost didn't know how to respond. Which made you think about Jin even more. When you joked around with Jin, he carefully joked back. And his carefulness wasn't originating from being into you with his whole being - it originated from your social statuses being too different to go at each other with open and offhand jokes just like that.

Yet Eiji was completely clueless at times. You thought it's sweet and slowly, your relationship started to deepen. It was just a natural conclusion that he wanted to get married to you after some time. But... Were you ready for such a big step? Marriage wasn't consisting of engagement of any sorts at the time - it wasn't even legally documented that man had married a woman. All it took was you to move into Eiji's household and to stay there to legitimize your marriage. But there was where the hitch with this whole relationship took the first hitch.

You weren't sure enough to take the next big step. Right at the time, you've been doing pretty well. There was this place you've been the happiest in possibly the longest time. The girls were taking good care of you and you were free to leave whenever you wanted. But... Submitting yourself to a man, bonding with him to create a family.

Or... Was it just your uncertainty about leaving your freedom behind? Couldn't it be something else? When you were refusing Jin's offer, you've told him the following: if you'd meet again sometimes in the future, you'd know that it was the destiny leading you on the same road once again.

Since your family was very keen on honoring the spirits, you've always believed that something like a destiny exists somewhere out there, provided by the almighty universe and spirits watching over you.

Maybe you were hoping that destiny will lead the man back to you, now everything was solved. Jin could be the samurai once again who would soon get married to someone of the same social status, continuing his life for all you could know.

There was no certain and reliable information to trust, regarding Jin Sakai. Some said that he killed lord Shimura. Some were saying Jin didn't kill his uncle, but walked away from the whole Bushido codex since he had violated it so many times. There were people who were saying that Jin Sakai felt so ashamed, that he left for Japan on a small boat, as he got killed by the sea.

His spirit was everywhere, everyone was talking about the man. Yes, he surely turned into the rumored Ghost. A Ghost which followed you on every step and the Ghost, who was ways lingering on the back of your head.

Yet after some time passing by, the marriage seemed like the best solution. The girls had their suspicion about what happened that one night when the samurai asked for your companion, but falling for a man after one night seemed to be dangerous.

Eiji was there for you for long months. The boy brought multiple flowers and small gifts, like new materials to make new clothes out of. He was extremely sweet and noticed the small things you liked, always focusing on them.

After long weeks of the girls talking you down to marry the guy, you agreed to his proposal. But to keep at least some kind of remnants of your freedom and pride, you wanted to have some ceremony. You wanted to have a ceremony in the geisha house, since the mistress was the closest person you had to a family member, just like the other girls.

And everyone seemed to be very excited about this event. It all could be easily explained - this was the first real, happy moment since the Mongolian invasion had ended. It was natural that everyone was going over the top with the preparations. The girls helped you with sewing the nicest shiromuku you could make yourself.

They also managed to get you some top tier fish meat to make food from, and the biggest present was sake brought from a man named Kenji. It was the best sake you had ever tasted.

Yet as all the preparations were coming to an end, another rumor started to go around the place where you lived. A strange man entered the valley where the farmhouse was located - and people were getting a strange feeling from the man.

He was, without a doubt, a ronin. But what was making him strange was his straw hat, the remnants of a group of soldiers, who joined the Khan. But... Why was the person even alive? It was rumored that every Strawhat was killed by Jin Sakai.

Naturally, out of fear and respect, people didn't stop the stranger on his way through the farms and villages. And for a reason, you were worried that somehow, the man will crash your happy day. Which, for a reason, seemed to be a real option.

It was even the biggest thing you were nervous on the morning of the ceremony. The man was on your mind the whole time - when you were dressing up, at the time when the Shinto ceremony was prepared, even throughout the time you were walking through the house, feeling the last remnants of your freedom slipping through your fingers. And that was surely a thing you didn't like. It was just moments from when the ceremony was about to start - soon, someone would come for you to lead you there, as you'd start to conceive Eiji as your rightful husband, living with him until the end of your days, doing everything with him.

Honoring the spirits, taking care of the home, take care of children, cook the food, and... There was so much thing you were about to do on a daily basis. Yet it was like a cycle that would be repeating itself every single day. It was the one thing over and over again which was making you freak out. Until you heard some excitement going around in front of the very house you were waiting in.

Someone was trying to stop someone from talking to you, but the other person seemed to be unstoppable. Soon, the shoji flew open and at the same moment, you sprang up on your feet. A feeling of uneasiness and fear struck you as you looked at the masked ronin standing in front of you while Kohaku was trying to make him leave the room so he wouldn't make you too nervous or distressed before the ceremony.

The man appeared exactly as the rumors described him to look like. Which, on one hand, was the first time you've seen a rumor coming true for the first time. He, indeed, was wearing a straw hat covering his whole face and a worn-out yukata along with airy, comfortable trousers. For a reason, his inner palm was resting on one of his swords as he turned his face at you. A thought flew over your head.

Was this person here to kill you? Could someone hear about your connection to Jin Sakai? Could he be looking for revenge? If that was so, which was highly doubtable, the person was surely seeking revenge at a bad place. Jin didn't care for you ever since he left your settlement. The man won't likely even know that you would be killed. Which, in fact, was very sad... But true. Yet instead of that, the man just fell down on his knee, showing you his humility and respect. With scared expression, you looked back at Kohaku standing outside, wanting to oust the man out.

"I just wish to speak to you, lady." - The man barely spoke out, having you nervously spinning your fingers around as you didn't know what to do. Well, if he'd like to kill you, you'd be already dead, right? He had quite some time, about a minute, to slice your throat or to murder you in any other way. So, there was a possibility that he maybe doesn't want you dead. After a minute, you nodded at Kohaku, closing shoji to have at least a hint of intimacy.

"If you wish to speak of Jin Sakai, I don't know where he is or what is he doing now. I don't know any other reason why would you visit me on the day of my wedding." - Was all you told him as you lounged around the room to take a sip of water to hide the nervousness that was hugging your whole brain. But the man was still on his knees, having his head lowered in front of you to prove to you, how vulnerable he was. And, in that moment, you heard the words which you were thinking so much about.

"You promised that if we'd ever meet again, you will admit that this was all destiny's doing." - The man spoke out a bit cleared than before. With these words, you turned back at him. Your heart almost jumped right into your neck when you realized what he was indicating with the statement. Hoping it's him under the hat, you walked in front of the man, unmasking him with shaky hands. As soon as you saw the black hair, your fingers wanted to do only one thing - to dip into it, to caress it, and to tug on it, just as you did before. - "I'm just staying true to my word, Y/N." - Jin whispered and put your palm on his cheek to feel the caress of your skin again. He was still beautiful as if he hadn't aged a day since the day you've seen him for the last time. The only change from the man you've seen such a long time ago was that this Jin had a scar on the left side of his face, yet in your eyes, he still was almost breathtaking.

With a happy sigh, you got on your knees as well, putting even your other palm on his cheek. A smile lightened up your face as you absorbed every small part of his face with your eyes and your fingers - just moments before he kissed you. On his journey, ever since he left your farmhouse, he was honoring every shrine he had met, hoping he'll meet you at the end of his journey. And there he was, after a long time of traveling the mainland in the shadows, hidden from the eyes of his own people. Yet nothing seemed to change in the way you embraced him or the feeling your kiss had woken inside of him.

"I was... I was worried that you had died, Jin. I was horrified." - A mumble left your mouth when the kiss had ended. Jin, until that moment, didn't notice you were crying the whole time he was stealing the kiss from your lips.

"It's very complicated, my dearest." - He answered, slowly leading his palms on the beautiful clothing you were dressed in. It was special to see normal people evoke a Shinto ceremony. Usually, the wife you moved in with the husband, starting a family. Yet the dress was suiting you - making you look innocent, even if the man had to smirk when he realized he already stole your innocence. At that moment, Kohaku stormed into the room again - yet when she realized who was the man leading his palms over your body, she bowed with the deepest meekness. - "Lord Sakai." - Was the only thing she got out. Jin didn't answer, yet he got on his feet and stopped the lady from bowing even lower.

"I am no lord now, lady Kohaku. You must've heard of it by now." - He smiled shyly, stepping away from Kohaku once again. With deep sadness, your mistress nodded, sighing. - "I did hear about what happened, yes. But apart from your uncle and the shogun, you were the only one who fought for the ordinary people, so in my eyes, you will forever be the lord I know you as." - Kohaku explained simply, backing to the door again. - "I will tell the others about your presence, my lord, to make them understand why the ceremony will be delayed." - Kohaku addressed and left you both in the empty house.

There was something else she was saying with her words. She won't only tell them that the ceremony will be late - she was about to tell Eiji, that no wedding will happen that day. Women were very sensitive to picking up the words and signals that weren't said out loud. And the day Jin left the house on his horse, she immediately picked up what happened the other night, although the never spoke of the issue out loud. Why should she? It was a private matter. You, without realizing, never were the same once lord Sakai left the farmhouse.

"If it's complicated, sit down with me and tell me what happened to you, please," - You asked and invited him to another room, which had opened shoji leading right to the garden, so you both had a nice view. Without asking, you poured the man some sake to make him more relaxed, even if your presence was already doing enough. You checked your privacy three times to know it was safe when you walked behind the man to massage his shoulder, bringing the yukata off his shoulders enough for you to plant a kiss on the nape of his neck.

Jin slowly started opening up, starting exactly on the day he had left you on the farmhouse. He spoke of his friends, Yuna and Taka, of the sensei Ishikawa and even told you rather intimate information about lady Masako, the only survivor of clan Adachi. He spoke of the fight against the Mongols... Until the first beats of his uncle being disappointed in him started to hint on how the story will end. At that moment, his back was leaned into your chest as you held your arms entwined on his chest.

"It was obvious that nothing will be as it was before, I could feel it. His gazes, words, and behavior started to shift heavily. It was breaking my heart apart, yet at that moment, I couldn't take anything back. It was all done, I've already stepped from the journey of honor to save what was remaining after the Mongols stormed through my homeland." - Jin sighed, putting his palm over your forearm to smooth it without paying attention to it. - "Shogun marked me as a traitor and sent my uncle... My own family and blood... He sent my father to kill me as a punishment for both of us."

"While you're sitting here with me now and he isn't, did you kill him, Jin?" - You whispered, gently pushing your fingers under the yukata on his chest, putting the center of your palm on his heart to feel it beating. Yet the man shook his head, watching the sakura in front of you. - "No. While I may have no honor, I wouldn't ever kill my own family. I left him there because I couldn't do it. Yet now I have no family, no honor, and no-one else left. I am a wayfaring ronin on his way to... Somewhere."

This wasn't true and he knew it. He still had Yuna to accompany him. - "You have me." - You whispered after a small while. - "I promised that if our paths ever cross again, I'll admit that this was all evoked by destiny. And here you are." - Your arms around his body tightened. Jin smiled at those words, holding your forearm tightly than before. - "You have a life here, Y/N. I have no right to take it away from you. I came late." - Jin squeezed your arm one more time before sitting up to look you in the eyes. His lips gave you a saddened smile as he rose his palm to smooth your jaw.

"What are you going to do now, Jin? Where are you going?" - You asked, catching his palm in yours as you pressed a peck into the small valley on his palm. - "Well, now I visited you, I will most likely hide somewhere in the mountains to wait for another chance to protect my country, leading a lonely life aside from everyone." - Jin described openly to which you stood up, taking the upper layer of the dress off, standing in front of him in a black yukata and pants similar to his. - "Stop, this is not what you want." - Jin tried to plead you, catching your palms in his.

"I always dreamed of a small house aside from everyone and a peaceful, quiet life. I wanted to marry this man because you weren't coming and I was horrified you might never come." - You answered before kissing Jin to shut him up for a moment. - "Go for your horse, I will wait at the other end of the garden." - Was the last thing you've told him before you left.

The man did exactly what you wanted him to do - he, again, put his straw hat on to cover hid identity, walking out of the house where Kohaku was already waiting for him. - "Lady Y/N is very distraught, please, let her take a moment before starting the ceremony." - Jin bowed to the lady and she repeated his actions, pushing some food she packed for both of you while she told everyone that you had some oppressing matter to attend to.

"Take good care of my girl, lord Sakai. Keep her safe and happy, may the spirits look after both of your souls." - She smiled before turning on heels, walking into the house you were at just minutes ago. And she found exactly what she thought she'll find - the upper part of your wedding dress was laying on the ground next to a half-drank sake. And in the distance, she heard a horse riding off, presumably with both of you on its back.

Presumably, it was Jin's choice to come back for you, yet he'd never meet you if there wasn't for destiny. Your choice of complying with it was one of the best you've made. Life in the mountains granted you both with a great deal of privacy, so you could bond deeper, getting to know each other more close. So close you had started a family after some time, which was the best thing that ever happened to Jin.

Clan Sakai had its successors. He had children of his own to which he could pass his knowledge, knowing that when he leaves the Earth one day, the destiny of the Sakai family will be secured.

Sometime later:

The coffee shop was literally brewing with life. You adored having a shift on days like these - the sun was shining, so people were in a good mood, they were snickering, giggling at laughing and most and foremost, they left you some good, generous tips. Every buck could help you pay off the college loan you were currently fighting with. Sure, having a degree sounded nice, but it was actually expansive to study it when you had no-one to help you with it. And no-one would tell you this beforehand.

With a small smile, you leaned your elbows to the wooden desk behind you, as you started to play with your small notebook and pen, which you used to write down the orders of your customers. That day, you had quite a lot of people coming in to have your delicious sundae with hot raspberries and strawberries. Your workplace sure as hell wasn't the biggest in the town, but you liked it a lot. It had a nice, family-like atmosphere and most of the workers were nice people to work with, which was the reason why you didn't have even the smallest problem with coming to work.

On the other hand, a man was running late on his family lunch. But the craving for a cup of coffee was stronger than he was, so when he spotted the first coffee shop next to the road, he stopped there, leaving his sister in the car. - "Jin! Come on! Uncle is going to kill us" - She cried out of him and it almost seemed that Jin was really coming back to the vehicle - just to get his wallet from there.

This man was unbelievable - dressed up in his leather jacket and with a man bun, he was looking quite ridiculous in the eyes of his older sister. - "Wanna something too?" - Jin leaned his elbows to the opened window on his side of the car, having his sis rolling her eyes monumentally at it. - "Then watch the car and don't drive away with it, yea?" - The man patted the hood before running inside the coffee shop. As soon as he spotted a waitress standing by the countertop, he headed straight to her, not looking at her in the first moments.

"Hey, hey." - He got out with heavy breathing. - "Do you make take away coffee? Please, tell me you're making take away coffee." - A man spoke at you, barely looking at you, seemingly being in a time press. Your eyebrows arched at the question. You hadn't got someone like that every day if you had to be honest.

"Sure, I can make you a cup of our take away coffee, if you want to call it like that. Chill out, are you fine?" - You asked the man with worried, watching him being dressed up in a leather jacket on a day like this one was. It was too hot to have such clothes on. But in the between, you moved behind the cash register to have access to the coffee brewing machines. - "Yea, I was just without caffeine for too long and I'm... Really... Craving... One."

At this moment, the man noticed you for the first time. Yeah, he kinda knew that he's talking to someone the whole time, but at that moment, JIn looked directly to your face for the first time. And the first thing that struck him was that he knew you already. Your face was almost awkwardly familiar to him. But Jin was fully aware of never seeing you before. You were beautiful, eyecatching and something totally out-of-the-world for the man so much, that he forgot how to speak or listen to what you were saying.

"Excuse me?" - He asked you back, jumping in the middle of your monologue. Your eyes widened as the man interrupted you in the middle of naming your offer, having you completely forgetting what you were speaking about. - "I was asking you about what would you like to order." - You mumbled, looking at the man back.

Something was telling you that you've seen him somewhere. These lips were hard to forget about - and you've memorized them from somewhere. Almost as if you already had kissed them one day. The eyes and the entirety of his face... Where the hell did you meet this guy? - "It wasn't this sort of excuse me. I wanted to ask..." - "If we had already met somewhere?" - You finished with anticipation. This conversation could go two ways - either, he'd think you're a total creep or he would be thinking about the same thing as you were.

"Yea. Exactly. Do you have that feeling too or am I going nuts?" - The man's face lit up with a huge smile, which obviously had you smiling in a second too. Quickly, you shook your head and confirmed the weird feeling inside his head. - "Good. Now, for the coffee, I would like a latté with double milk, please." - He finally placed his order and you, since you got through the stranger phase pretty quick, pointed your fingers at him, wiggling your eyebrows. - "I'm on it, chief." - You winked, having the man's eyes watching every move you made.

You moved with such grace that it was hard to take his eyes off of you - it was so hard that Jin had to lean his arms next to the cash register since he wasn't able to turn around from you. There was this force that was simply making the man gravitate toward you, even if he hadn't ever felt like that before. Any girl he had previously dated or slept with never had him gravitating towards them. It didn't matter if they were somehow considered prettier, had better jobs, or whatever, any of them didn't for these reactions out of him. Again, he got lost while you were obviously talking to him.

"Excuse me?" - He woke up from his small trance again, still leaning his upper body the countertop. - "I was asking if you're alright. But now, I almost want to ask you if you're staring at my lovely bottom." - You repeated yourself, finally finishing his order. With a small smile, you took the cup to your palms, searching for a black marker.

"Isn't this against the company policy or something?" - "What is?" - "Flirting with a hot costumer." - The man smiled at you daringly, shoving a strand of his hair behind his ear. As you finally found the marker, your cheeks started to go on fire as you shook your head unbelievably.

"As long as the hot costumers don't mind it, it's not taken as a sexual assault. Come on, what's your name?" - You pushed the cap on the stranger's cup. The man straightened again, putting both his hands on the countertop. You watched as he childishly bit his lower lip, tapping some sort of a melody into the wood. - "Wouldn't you wanna know?" - His playful voice teased you, but just moments after that, you put the cup in front of him, naming the amount of money you wanted from him. Without any word, he paid and even gave you a pretty generous tip, But when you gave him the receipt, the man took the marker and wrote his name and his number on the back of it, giving it back to you.

"And what should I do with this... Jin?" - A victorious smile lighted your whole face up as Jin was already walking back to his car, where his pretty nervous sister was sitting. - "I think youre smart enough to figure it out. My offer is today at eight p.m., so give me the deeds as soon as you decide." - He winked before he turned at his heels, walking straight to the car.

The whole exchange was definitely that once-in-a-lifetime one because you rarely met someone who would make you feel like you knew them from the very first moment you laid your eyes on them. Who knew? Maybe it was destiny showing himself even centuries after the moment you've met someone for the first time. Well, that was pretty crazy to start with, but... Who could really know?

#jin sakai #jin sakai ghost of tsushima #jin sakai one-shot #jin sakai imagine #jin sakai x reader #lord shimura #the tale of the ghost #well here you have it

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stvpidinlove · 3 years

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[ IM JIN-AH, SHE/HER, CIS WOMAN ] — [ SENA HA ] is a child of [ PERSEPHONE ] with the power of [ PLANT GROWTH & SHADOW TRAVEL ] . they were born in [ 1993 ] and have been in nemean lion since [ 2005 ] . with the change, they [ HAVE GRADUATED FROM ] the [ BUSINESS ] role which makes sense since they’re usually [ ANSWERING EMAILS & RUNNING IN HEELS ] . if you’d like to meet them try the [ MOON ] building .

perhaps my most put together character but is that saying anything

BASICS

hometown: san francisco, california

eye color: brown

hair color: brown

height: 5′7

sexuality: bisexual

birthday: august 29, 1993 ( virgo )

BIO

sena’s a first generation american, raised by a single father, who wouldn’t find love again until the age of 49, by which time sena was old enough to be a bridesmaid and drink at the bachelorette party. so growing up, it was always just her and her father. he wasn’t exactly...a sad man, but he was melancholy, sometimes. he’d get lost in his thoughts, sometimes, and especially as a child, sena would wonder if he was thinking about her mother. because a lot of the time, she was.

she didn’t know much about her absent mother, but her father only had kind things to say about her. then again, he only had kind things to say about most people, which was probably how he ended up as a defense lawyer. his parents had hoped he’d go into something like law, though ultimately they were disappointed by their son’s big heart, prone to taking on hopeless or pro bono cases.

but then again, in most situations, his clients paid, because he had a reputation for being good at what he did, and it was all based in hard work and research, not in smearing the prosecution or fabricating stories that would be more convincing to the jury. the two of them were never wanting for anything and sena loved growing up in san francisco, swinging by chinatown or fisherman's wharf after school or on the weekends, frequenting the various museums whenever a new exhibit blew through town. she spent a lot of time on her own because her father had busy hours and she had no siblings to talk to, so she quickly learned how to be self-sufficient and responsible

from a very young age, sena knew she was different. there’s really no good way to explain her ability to make plants grow at will, a skill she less-than-discretely displayed regularly at the park near her house. the shadow travel was less obvious and far more difficult, something she never really used unless there was a pressing reason

like many demigods, sena has always been fascinated by her mother’s story, for as long as she’s known the truth of her parentage. she’s been at nemean lion since the age of thirteen, making it easy to find the proper resources for learning more about the entire world of greek mythology. although the seemingly unbelievable has been a part of her life since her conception, sena is a very level-headed person. she’s organized, almost to a fault at times, and always looks put-together, whether she is or not

before nl, she’d wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps, maybe not exactly, but certainly she had an interest in law. she never fully gave up on the dream, but she can appreciate her role at nl, too, and as long as she’s helping people with her business acumen, she’s satisfied

sena isn’t uptight, exactly, but she does struggle at times to let loose. she’d never leave her apartment in an un-ironed skirt or wrinkled blouse. appearances mean a lot to her, primarily because she knows it’s important to put your best food forward in business and present your best self

partly due to proximity, she’s been at nemean lion for quite a while now and can’t imagine life without it, though she visits home a lot because she’s close with her father. she’s glad he has his new wife (and young twins) to keep him company while she’s away

RANDOM FACTS

for a daughter of persephone, sena doesn’t spend a ton of time outside these days. she’s the kind of person who has to be reminded to get out and take a break from working. that said, she loves nature, innately, and enjoys gardening

she’s the kind of person to scold gently/kindly because she can’t help quietly worrying about everyone and wanting them to succeed but she tries really hard not to be overbearing

somehow she has huge big sister energy even though she grew up as an only child

sena can’t shadow travel other people yet but she’s lowkey working on it??? she’s been training for over a decade so it’s like...why not but also she doesn’t see it as a huge priority. she’s gotten really good at doing it herself though she sort of has a mentality of not wanting to abuse her powers by using them frivolously

POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS

the biggest mom friend...plus she’s on the older side compared to a lot of people at nl so she’d def fall into the big sister/mentor category, i feel like people would come to her for Life Advice because she seems to have her shit 2gether and she gives good sensible advice

she does sort of consider hades kids to be like step siblings but ig it depends on the person lmao

someone who also came to nemean lion 10+ years ago who she’s been friends with for over a decade, super duper close, probably goes up with her to san fran sometimes!!!

a longterm roommate! they get along really well and ofc they’re friends but they’re not like Besties which is why they’re able to live together for so long without complaint. lowkey codependent??

an opposites attract kinda thing where they’re super forgetful and/or messy and sena always has to help them get their life together but secretly she enjoys it <3

#:) here she is #nlintro #𝙵𝙸𝙻𝙴𝙳 𝚄𝙽𝙳𝙴𝚁 ( 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐 ) * sena

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ocular-intercourse · 4 years

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every once in a while, i am remembered that i should probably nail down what exactly is in the realm of possibilities with the enhancements in the gyoverse

is the process government regulated, or more of a talent thing, the way anybody can learn how to draw with enough patience? I think it’s a mixture of both, people are not forbidden to gain certain abilities, you literally can’t keep it from happening, those are just things that can develop naturally when a person has the right mindset, but it’s also a dangerous process if certain levels are reached and things go wrong, so the government tries to keep certain levels.. I guess certified? At the very least registered. If you gain a certain amount of power you will be observed.

So there are two areas of use: personal & professional life.

In personal life a person can develop certain helpful abilities, imagine a fisherman training himself without trying to a point of being able to sense the location of fishes in the water. It’s very close to people in our world who just get very very skilled in their labor and get the ability to do specific things simply by experience (the way people in food stores can eyeball the weight of a specific item and be 100% right). Those are not particularly ‘powerful’ per se, more little every day helpers that might not even entirely get recognized as an enhancement. A lot of these abilities are inherited, but that might be less of a genetic thing and more grounded in the upbringing, environment, and education, one person teaching their skills and experiences to the next generation and them developing these enhancements themselves.

Then there’s professional life especially in jobs that are highly competitive, because everybody wants to be the best they can be in their field so naturally they would use any tools they can get their hands on. The biggest example of course is the army. The country with the strongest soldiers wins, so there have been raised standards and whoever cannot reach them loses by default. Hence the imperial army usually weeding out people with insufficient talent for the enhancements (thembo supreme raime being an exception). A whole nation selecting and breeding for the ultimate warriors at all times. There have been certain Levels established, a class of soldiers with Level A, Level B, Level C (those are not the actual names I’m still workshopping here), each with stronger abilities than the last. I imagine there are tests, either on set dates, or evaluations a person can apply for, to be moved to the next class (and get more pay and status). These Levels of evaluating a person’s capabilities can vary from job to job. A soldier with Level B would probably score lower in a scientific, research-based field, it’s all depending on how good you are at the enhancements that are useful for your job. (Army standard’s being pretty much universally accepted as the most powerful and useful skillsets and therefore valued the most)

Now this feels like a JRPG leveling system. My character’s skillset scores are Army Level C, Medicine Level A and Barter Level B+. (Now I’m picturing Trading Cards with your favorite Soldiers. Noor has one and every skill is at S cause propaganda. Gyo’s is a lot of S with worse scores in anything communicative, also S+ in immortality)

But what are the basic and less basic abilities a soldier can gain?

At base level are physical enhancements. More stamina, more strength, more agility, general healthiness (better immune system, faster gradual healing).

Followed by your base senses of smell, taste, sight, hearing and feeling. Later Levels of this ability include higher control, shutting down some senses or enhancing only one.

A little bit more difficult are things that need tighter control. The ability to influence your digestion, your blood flow, your oxygen intake. You can go longer on less food and air, you can slow your bleeding down, or trigger adrenaline rushes at will.

The next step is adding supernatural senses. The ability to feel the presence of other people, even at a distance and out of sight. The more trained you are in this area the better the feel is you get on the person and their intent. You cannot read minds, but you can certainly feel anger or admiration, general feelings or moods.

The next step is learning how to hide these things in yourself. These can cancel each other out depending on who is involved. A person that is good at hiding their intent can not hide it as well if the other person is better at seeing people’s intent than they are at hiding it.

The next step would be considered elemental magic by most standards. You can create a spark of flame, a bit of fluid, a gust of wind. These will most likely not be impressive flame thrower like attacks or anything, but can be practical here or there.

Also magical but more difficult, and mostly requires the student of this direction to split from developing other enhancements to concentrate solely on this area to be effective: healing magic. Gyo for example has mostly ignored healing magic, he can keep wounds shut enough to keep someone from losing blood but he cannot close them entirely, while Noor chose to stop their studies of techniques that would help in fights to focus on learning how to heal and nurture (it’s not only wounds, they can also relieve pain and control infections and other things). To be skilled in both is incredibly difficult and I don’t think it is currently seen. Something must be put on hold to learn other powerful things, so you have to pick and chose what you want to be proficient in. It is also an ability you can only use on others and not yourself, so most soldiers (at least those that get to this point and are therefore most likely power hungry in some way) chose to ignore it for something that helps themselves rather than others.

A similar direction but removed from regular healing magic because that focuses on healing other people while this is entirely self-focused: the next level of the control over your own body, the ability to sustain the body without meeting nutritional needs or rest. Beginners of this Level can go several days without sleep or rest, depending on a.. let’s say amount of ‘spiritual’ energy they have gathered before. They are, in that moment, basically feeding their body’s needs from this energy. The better you are at this, the longer you can go. This Level is only reached by those soldiers, that are willing to focus as much on their intellectual studies as they do on physical training. Many talented soldiers who exceed in fights get frustrated by these requirements. The ultimate Level of Control over your own body is the step Gyo has reached where he entirely halted all aging and is practically immortal, if not killed or dying of an illness. I imagine it has a lot to do with gathering such a vast amount of energy, that you can feed on it indefinitely, because you have learned to gain the energy quicker than you deplete it. There are earlier levels of this ability when you learn how to stretch less energy and slow down your aging instead of halting it completely. (many ppl in or out of the army will try to gain some bits of this ability to prolong their lives, everybody wants to squeeze a bit more out of it if they can) There are varying degrees of aging speed depending on the person’s skill level and energy intake.

The problem, aside from many people not having the mental or physical requirements to begin with, and the fortitude, discipline and patience to stick with it, is that said energy is also extremely volatile. People who begin gathering it often get overwhelmed by moodswings, the energy wanting to get out and presenting itself in any way that is currently available for it to be released by, whether that is physical or psychological. In higher concentrations the amount of energy can be literally corroding if your body and mind are not prepared to handle it. People carrying a large amount of energy can be caught in a bad moment and lose the ability to contain the energy, often with catastrophic consequences, definitely for the person themselves, sometimes for their surroundings too. People on Gyo’s Level are basically walking nukes, he could take out a small town if he ever lost it. Key to get to where Gyo is, is a strong enough anchor, a feeling or a motivation that drives you that is enough to sustain your willpower. (While in universe the idea is more philosophical, trained soldiers being told “think of something that motivates you”, this is more literal than they think. Gyo’s current anchor is wrath, that is why his sword which is known for its gruesome owners, attached itself to him. You could see the wrath as a fingerprint scan, if he did not have it, the sword would not work for him. A person’s anchor can also switch, which Gyo’s will, eventually, to his need to protect, and it will cause trouble with his sword and I assume some of the ways his other abilities have worked for him in the past)

The different Levels soldiers can be classified as are defined by a combination of these abilities, since each of them have multiple levels (from lesser to higher control over your body, stronger elemental magic and so on). So, to reach Level A you need Skill A Ability Score 1, Skill B Ability Score 1, Skill C Ability Score 1 while reaching a higher Level requirement might look more like Skill A Ability Score 2 Skill B Ability Score 3 Skill C Ability Score 6. So, a test that would allow you to reach the next Level would test how high your Ability Scores in each Skill are and see where that lands you. So even if your Levels are Skill A Ability Score 6 and Skill B Ability Score 6 if you do not have Ability Score 6 in Skill C you will not reach that higher Level. Gyo probably has all Skills maxed out (except healing but that one is counted separately since the army knows most soldiers will not reach high Ability Scores here).

But like I said, this Grade System is army specific. In another job field requirements might look more for skills that help you read and retain information faster, or specialize in reading other people and putting pleasant emotions out there to influence others.

This also explains Raime’s situation. While they are, from birth on, unable to gain these things that count as army recognized enhancements, they have an ability more on par with those private uses that develop naturally through talent and repetition. They DO technically have enhancements, but they are exclusively social, enhanced emotional intelligence if you will. The ability to read people, not the way the army enhancement works where it is basically a supernatural sense you gain, but more through being able to instinctively read faces and voices and putting together what that means rather than sensing it.

I don’t think this is entirely a class system based on your Level of enhancements, but typically people with enhancements are respected more, more so if they are high skilled in ‘popular’ fields (a soldier Level A will be more respected than a Scientist Level A). There is definitely a certain pressure to gain certain Levels, especially in higher society. If a first born noble does not gain high army Levels they are considered shameful.

#ocs #gyo #noor #raime #gyoverse

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nofacenocaseblog · 4 years

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𝗗𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 #3: NARCOPISOS Inc. /Barcelona narcopisos, a necessary evil

The 3rd episode of Dope Stories is the most in-depth investigation of the series, so much that it took me nearly 3 years to gain the trust and respect of my contacts and more importantly, to get relevant insights about the local drug market and its players to show, under a different angle than mainstream media, what’s happening behind the closed doors of the Ciutat Veilla’s narrow streets.

Playground 1 - Raval, Barcelona / 2018 / iPhone

“Drugs are ruining our neighborhood! “, “Narcopisos are disrupting the real estate market!” , “ We don’t feel safe!”…

Those are the slogans or headlines you see in the media or written on banners hanging from people’s balconies.

“Narcopisos are filthy and dangerous!”

But are they though?

FOREWORD

Before getting started, I wanted to write a few words about Barcelona. After living more than a decade in New York, my wife and I moved to Catalan capital for about 4 years. After reading this article you might think that I m not particularly fond of the town and its inhabitants. I won’t lie, we didn’t receive the warmest welcome, especially from Catalans. This said, the town and its vibe are unique and galvanizing. Very much like Marseille (my hometown), Barcelona is an harbor city with the port/marina right in the center, meaning: lots of traffics, smuggling, immigration, corruption, drugs etc… There is always “something going on”, if you catch my drift. Shady, nasty, funny, ugly, beautiful, vulgar, the cast of “pirate-like” characters gravitating around the city center is fascinating.

Occupied - Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / Nikon 3200

As far back as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn toward the forbidden, the danger, the illicit, the hidden, the bad... To my eyes, “ugly” has always been more interesting than “beautiful”. Barcelona is not a dangerous city but you need to keep your guard up: pick pockets roaming the subway, gypsies asking for money on La Rambla (the city’s most touristic avenue) while releasing your back pocket from your wallet, junkies selling stolen goods or begging for change for their next fix #nextfixandchill , black people selling fake airmax on the Barcelonetta marina, drunken street fights in the early hours of the morning... Tragicomic scenes are unravelling before your eyes in an surreal backdrop: Gaudi’s most beautiful “psychedelic” buildings (Sagrafa Familia, casa pedrera, Palau Guell...) in a jungle of gothic buildings ending on a fisherman village overseeing a beautiful beachfront promenade ending with the native “star’chitect” Bofill’s famous W...

Poolside - Barcelonetta, Barcelona / 2018 / iPhone

Ok, enough with the touristic tour, time to get real!

Stairway to Hell - Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / iPhone

Embark on a descend to the heroin inferno that became Raval. From the fields of Afghanistan to the bloodstreams of Spain...

La Ruta [Spanish for “the route”]

19,414 Pakistanis live in Barcelona, 6,600 of them are established in the neighborhood: El Raval (1) meaning more than 30% of the total community. El Raval has always been my favorite barrio in town. With 47% of immigrants (2) , the mosaic of faces, cultures and shops you encounter is dazzling . Going back to the Pakistani population, I used the word “established” for a specific reason: they actually own many of the businesses in Raval: barbershop, cheap bars and restaurants, wholesale shops, import/export businesses, money transfer services (Western Union, Moneygram), food and grocery shops... I’m not accusing here the Pakistani business owners of backing the drug traffic but they basically created a web of small businesses in a tight net community with their own language, making it hard for the authorities to see through this social fabric potentially sheltering illegal activities.

Why the Pakistani population is subject to speculation and doubt from the local authorities? The answer is simple: Afghanistan. Afghanistan is by far the biggest producer of opium in the world. According to the US military, 90% of the world's heroin is made from opium grown in Afghanistan. It makes up 95% of the market in Europe (3). The country has been the leader in opium poppy production since 2001. Based on the 2014 report from the UNODC (United Nation Office on Drugs and Crime), Afghanistan not only grow opium but also process heroin in several laboratory as well as morphine (easier to produce from raw opium by adding calcium oxide and ammonium chloride). From Afghanistan, several routes are used to smuggle their prime commodities: the Balkan route has been the primary route but things are changing and the Southern route has become more and more used. Afghanistan share 2,400km of border with Pakistan and over 50% of illicit afghan opiates are trafficked through Pakistan which enjoys a a strategic location making it a perfect dispatch zone with readily accessible by land, sea (Gwadar and Karachi seaport) and air ways .

The same UNODC report also indicates that the majority (37%) of the heroin seized in Pakistan was en-route for Europe..

*** Read and/or download the full report here ***

By the way, let’s not forget that Barcelona is also one of the Camorra’s stronghold. And with Russians and Albanian mafias also present on the territory, Spain -where no powerful local crime syndicate operates and laws on prostitution and gambling are “blurred” to say the least- has become one of organize crime’s favorite playgrounds for money laundering, drug smuggling, human trafficking, gambling and prostitution... Nothing really happens here without their “green light”, but that’s another story (5)

Back to our Southern route, once the product reaches Barcelona, it becomes very hard to pin point. Narcotics coming through the Balkan route also ends up in Barcelona but in different “retailers”’ hands: Romanian family-based clans, based mostly in Besos (a run-down project in the heart of Poblenou) and occupying one single narcopisos in Raval (they have moved 3 times over the 4-year period of my “investigation”) but known to have the purest and most processed Caballo sold in town.

El Caballo [Spanish for “the horse”, street name of heroin ]

[WARNING] Most of the photographs of this post are uncensored, quite graphic and… of poor quality…. my bad, I took them. But I had circumstances: hidden cellphone, no flash, illegal activities going on, indoor, with very little to no light… Shots are not the best (no pun intended) but you’ll step right into the infamous narcopisos you’ve heard of or read about. And not once they’ve been searched and trashed by the police like you’ve seen in the press but while they are in full operation. Raw, those images might be quite shocking to some of the readers, but take the emotion out of he equation and you’ll come to realized that, for lack a better choice, narcopisos are a necessary evil. My intention here is not to start a polemic nor come out as a provocateur but to shed light on a real issue, still happening, involving real people, slowly dying, failed by a syste unable -or unwilling- to help them.

Gears - Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / iPhone

El Raval

1989, US superstar Keith Harring is in Barcelona for his exhibition on La Rambla. After speaking with an old friend of him from New York living here for awhile, he decided to paint a mural, his way to to show his love for and connection with the town. The next day, Harring chose the wall in Plaça de Salvador Segui in Raval. He was warned that the area was one of the most dangerous areas in town. Back then, in the 80’s the Spanish government had the genius idea to decriminalize the use, but not the supply, of hard drugs and did not implement any proper treatments to sustain this measure... Spaniards have ignored the issue and it sparked a heroin addiction epidemic that saw HIV rates soar (2a).The artist was attracted to the neighborhood and decided it would offer the perfect canvas for his message about the dangers of drugs and AIDS. At first it was supposed to be a temporary mural but in the end, up to this day, you can still enjoy Harring’s mural behind the MACBA museum. Below is a photograph I took of what became now hot-spot for skateboarder and cool bars

Tricks - Raval, Barcelona / 2016 / Nikon 3200

Beside its bad reputation, Raval has always been a magnet for artists and “cool kids”, misfits and outcasts but more recently the new kid on the block is named gentrification… in other word: Fun is over. Well… not quite yet. In Barcelona, everything moves slowly, gentrification included. The result is a mix of fancy hotels, art galleries, designer boutiques... mixed with prostitutes and their lovely clientele, dealers, junkies, businessmen, families of tourists wandering the streets… a fascinating mix of characters with theatrical scenes playing before your eyes: hustlers trying to rip off tourists, white collars finding themselves buying bad cocaine from a kid in a narrow, sketchy alley… the show is in the street, but not only.

The Narrows - Raval, Barcelona / 2016 / Nikon 3200

What businesses, in Barcelona, are open 24/7, have no vacancy, a steady stream of customers and a product that sells itself? The answer: Narcopisos Inc.

The phenomenon of the Narcopisos emerged in 2016 (a year after I moved to Barcelona) following Spain’s property crash. Foreclosed or unsold apartments, owned by banks and investment funds were left emptied, abandoned, in a country in full housing crisis... It wasn’t long before the vacant spaces started being squatted: some by respectable families, in need of a place to live, some by drug dealers using them as selling point and shooting gallery. A place where you can get a cheap fix in a relatively clean room.

Ritual - Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / iPhone

Helped - Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / iPhone

Thanks to my various contacts, I had access to different types of narcopisos, but from crack to dope houses, most of them were operating the same way: - a cctv video surveillance in place at the street level or someone looking out for the cops. - a room with junkies to confuse police upon arrival and make it look like they are actually squatting the place - 1 to 3 dealers serving customers one a the time. - An exit back door (if available) in case the police knocks on the front door. - One or two rooms for users. - Hourly cleaning of the premises to make the place look “decent” and “squatted” in case of a bust - Little quantity of drugs at the time, no more than 10 grams of each. - Open 24/7 - Re-up every hour or so - Single use paraphernalia available to the users - In some cases, Narcan at hand (medicine used to reverse the effect of an OD).

Cleaning Session - Career d’en Road 22, Raval, Barcelona / 2016 / iPhone

My connections in the Pakistani community took time to build but strengthen throughout the years to reached a level of trust where we came to split the bread at several occasions… no seriously, we actually got invited in their Halal “canteen” in Raval where only Pakistanis could enjoy their local cuisine, a unique experience… They also gave me access to two of their stash houses: located in legit apartments, in proper buildings, on the outskirt of Raval, close to Sant-Antoni, less prone to police check. No users there, only wholesalers, dispatching heroin to “representatives” of each narcopisos at below retail-price: between 20 and 40 euros the gram depending on the quantity purchased.

Going back to the narcopisos, some were run by junkies (where the product was often cut from the bash they were getting from the stash houses), some by pakistani or afghan immigrants, with decent quality product, some by Catalan families, living there for decades under stabilized rent and with their own connection and product of fluctuant quality. Last but not least, one narcopiso was occupied by the Romanian clan mentioned earlier. Below are some photos of one of their spot at 22 Carrer d’en Roig, later busted and walled by the Mossos d’esquadra (Catalan police)

Romanian at work - Career d’en Road 22, Raval, Barcelona / 2016 / iPhone

Boss - Career d’en Road 22, Raval, Barcelona / 2016 / iPhone

If narcopisos was selling both crack and heroin, two rooms were at the disposal of users, one for smoking their bottles or pipes and the other room to shoot up or smoke heroin on tiny pieces of foil.

Sterile hospital-like garbage disposal were available for discarding the used paraphernalia.

Bloodstream Hunt - Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / iPhone

#NextFixandChill - Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / iPhone

Everything is provided to avoid the spread of disease and the use of the drug in plain sight in the street therefore reduce public disorder.

Not that dealers became humanitarian all of a sudden, but kicking customers with their (illegal) purchase out in the street expose them to being ratted on or worst, having an overdose in plain sight attracting the police and paramedics... either way, it’s not good for business so narcopisos’ “managers” rather keep their clientele indoor until they’re done using and good to do.

Now, there is another type of business in Barcelona dealing with drug users and addiction: it’s called Centre de Dispensació de Metadona - Centre d'Atenció Primària Casc Antic (the methadone clinic in short....).

* They’re not open 24/7 but rather in the morning only * It can take up to 2 weeks to see a doctor in order to enroll in a Methadone Maintenance Treatment -MMT (true story...when a single day can be the last one for a heroin addict living in the street) * Last but not least, since the doctors and nurses’ work schedule is way more important tthan their patients’ care, some centers give up 3 to 4 days worth of supply of methadone at once to heroin users so the health workers can have their days and weekends off. The result of this amazing system: the methadone is sold in the street by users so they can buy their heroin and/or in certain case, the methadone is saved up (for rainy days) and the patient keeps using heroin instead. Yes, the patient: let’s not forget that those “filthy junkies” actually are patients (even if they’re hardly seen as such in those centers), suffering from a disease called addiction, or substance abuse disorder if you prefer the american way of calling it, and in need of medical care but what can I say... old habits die hard (both way...).

Patients taking methadone to treat opioid dependance must receive the medication under the supervision of a practitioner. After a period of stability (based on progress and proven, consistent compliance with the medication dosage) and only then, patients may be allowed to take methadone at home between program visits... but not in Barcelona.

Methadone substitution as a treatment of opioid addiction does not function as much to curb addiction as to redirect it and maintain dependency on legal channels. Methadone has been designed that way, as a lifetime treatment whereas alternative palliatives such as Buprenorphine are not even considered by doctors when those therapies would be more efficient in certain cases: with users who do not shoot the drug for example, or with users wishing to quiet and get sober... but let's be honest here, sobriety has never been the objective of those methadone programs. The real goal of this public service is not to cure addiction, but to make sure junkies don’t use, steal, rob and/or commit act of violence in the streets to feed their habits

The patient here is not the users but the society. Those centers aren’t trying to help the user quit his habit, but to make sure the society doesn’t suffer from it. Good or bad, Narcopisos are curbing down the spread of diseases, cleaning up the streets from users as they offering temporary shelter to their customers and operate around the clock.. It seems to me that their function is almost... complementary if not necessary.

So before eradicating narcopisos from the face of Raval, let’s pause and look at the alternative: junkies buying and using drugs in the streets of the city center, in the worst sanitary condition possible with no regard for the residents around.

Mañana

So what’s next? Keeping those illegal activities going on? Certainly not.

But before jumping the gun and closing it all at once, better get ready for the alternative because drug addiction will not disappear with the narcopisos. In my last article, I speak about users stigmatization and how society still struggles to see addiction as a disease and not a will power issue, turning the blind eye to a sheer amount of studies and discoveries explaining how heroin addiction, over time, modify the pathway of your brain frontal lobe and affect your decisional power, making it hard -to not say impossible- to say “no”.

Don’t take me wrong. It would be naïve to think all users roaming the streets are here trying to quit and become their better self. Most of them have no intention to do so. I’m not here to judge nor take side. But in order to find a solution to the narcopiso situation, I would like to introduce Barcelona to his neighbor: Portugal.

Portugal had one of the worst heroin epidemic in Europe back in the 90′s and after the failed many “US war on drug”-type of approaches. They finally shift approach and started treated drug addicts as patients who needed help, not as criminals” says Goulao, the architect of Portugal drug policy. After the decriminalization and treatments, they planned to open “supervised drug consumption facilities” Naina Bajekal says in her 2018 article in the Time “where drug users can consume drugs in safer conditions with the assistance of trained staff. Such facilities have been running in Europe since 1986, when the first was opened in Berne, Switzerland.”(5)

The result? Evidence (6) shows these these type of sites save lives, reduce public disorder, and curb the spread of diseases.

Does that sound familiar? Yes, that's right, the first of the two businesses we spoke about: Narcopisos Inc.

Purgatory - Carrer d’en Roig 22, Raval, Barcelona / 2017 / iPhone

For No Face No Case: Dope Stories chapter 4, we’re going to Italy. Don’t worry, it won’t be another mafia-related article explaining how the N’Drangheta and Camorra became the most powerful crime syndicates in the world, you can watch that on TV. Called “Il Racconto dei Racconti” (Tales of Tales in english), the article will keep it real, street style: short stories from North to South: Torino, Milano, Genoa, Roma, Napoli... Stay tuned for some dope stories on how drugs are sold, used and abused in the Renaissance country

References (1) https://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/featuresx/report-barcelona-pakistani-community/ (2) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Raval (3) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47861444 (4)https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2018/12/07/inenglish/1544171107_204329.html (5) https://time.com/longform/portugal-drug-use-decriminalization/ (6) https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/portugal-heroin-decriminalization/

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thewaterisblackwithvenom · 5 years

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My initial impression of Kieran was that he was an anxious, weak nerved kiss-up. I mean he doesn’t make any attempt to fight back when Arthur captures him, even if he stands there and does nothing. Dude’s got a gun. Makes zero attempt to go for it. My initial thoughts was he was too cowardly to even fight back, when in reality Arthur was running for him with a lasso. His hands are literally full. Who Arthur is doesn’t really matter; he doesn’t have a weapon drawn and is clearly trying to take him alive. Unless he’s a massively terrible shot, he could’ve easily shot Arthur. Clearly he’s more afraid of what Colm will due to him than just dying(which makes sense, especially with how he went out : )))) ), so it really would’ve been in his best interest to die trying to kill Arthur instead of being captured, most likely killed, and most likely tortured beforehand. Far as I can figure, reasons for just surrendering would’ve been

Fear (logical, but with his biggest fear being whatever Colm would do to him, doesn’t seem as likely, even if he was straight up panicking)

Pacifism (not saying he’s a pacifist, but he’s definitely not a fighter by nature, despite his will to live)

Once he’s captured, he holds out for about a month in sh*t conditions. He breaks once they turn their violent attention to him, but even then he still tried to hold out. The only reason I can think of why he wouldn’t just talk is fear of what Colm would do to him if he made it out alive. If he was scared that the Van Der Lindes would kill him after he talked, he could’ve stayed quiet longer, I guess, though really who could hold out when you’re being threatened with castration lmao.

After the fact, I expect my initial impression to be right. It wasn’t. I mean, I was 100% right about him being a genuinely nice person, not exactly cut out for outlaw life, and not a rat or weaselly person. Things I were wrong about were his general demeanor.

He’s a naturally positive and friendly person. Despite being constantly picked on and flat out threatened, he’ll even greet Sadie(who is probably most likely to kill him in the beginning, let’s be honest) with a level of confidence I didn’t expect. He doesn’t slink around her with his head down, but is 100% aware that she hates him, and I’ve never heard him try to change that. He’ll greet her, but goes out of his way to let her know that “I’m here and realize that you hate me so I’m giving you space”. Anyone else who calls him “O’Driscoll”, he’ll get upset and correct them. Sadie straight up tells him to die and he doesn’t say boo. I love that he is aware of her pain and doesn’t try to change her feelings about him just so he can sleep better at night. He plays the long game; respecting her boundaries, and not giving her any other reasons to hate him, hoping that someday she’ll maybe at least not despise him for just being connected to her enemies in the past. He could b*tch and moan about how he had nothing to do with Jake’s murder; he wasn’t there, he didn’t pull the trigger, and he didn’t want that to happen. He really is innocent. But he leaves that and her the f*ck alone, the only contact he initiates is just general politeness. She makes real threats, and he has ever reason to believe her, but he still has the balls to not cower around her. If anyone else in the gang makes any kind of “O’Driscoll” comment, he gets genuinely irritated and corrects them, even if it’s hopeless. Not just the women, who(save for Sadie and Mrs. Grimshaw) aren’t a threat. But he’ll get upset and snap back at Arthur and Javier that he’s not an O’Driscoll. I don’t believe for a second that Kieran thinks he could beat either of them in a fight. He’s not a fighter, and he’s also not stupid. He’s survived about half his life being beaten around. The reason he’s survived could be luck, but also him knowing how far he can press his luck with very dangerous people. I used to find it amusing in the beginning when he’d snap back, because like. Lmao, you really wanna get upset with Arthur? Seriously? Dude. Don’t go there.

He stands up for himself, and is confident enough in himself to be as bold as to say to Arthur’s face, that he’s not a bad person, and that’ll he’ll warm to him eventually. That also caught me off guard, because I was under the general assumption “god this kid is me. anxious af, doesn’t like people, just likes horses”. I projected far too much lmao, because despite him feeling more comfortable with horses, he’s pretty outgoing, in a confident way. If people are just indifferent to him, he has no problem going out of his way to greet people with confidence. When he’s being bullied, he’s ballsy enough to stand up for himself, and when people are genuinely nice to him, he’ll show signs of being flustered/anxious, likely due to the fact he probably has very little experience with kindness. Whatever kindness he experienced outside family was most likely fake and extremely conditional. He never made any comments about having relationships of any kind with anyone. His life has been about survival. He knows how to not press his luck with the wrong people, knows basic social manners(how to be friendly without being overbearing, how to give people space, and even when he helped Molly out of the stagecoach), but I feel like he has the least experience in healthy relationships. Relationships where someone is actually nice to him. That’s also why I’m 1,000% peeved that we didn’t really get to befriend him. Watching him come out of his shell more was so nice. Save for his massive guilt about Jack(which wasn’t even his fault anyway), he was finally starting to feel like he belonged there. Sh*t hurts man.

I think the thing that caught me most off guard was his level of confidence that you really get to see in his fishing side mission.

Arthur says that he’s(Arthur) not that great a fisherman, and Kieran, not missing a beat, comes back with “But I am! *laughs* I’ll teach you something.”, all of which happens seconds after Kieran is done straight up mocking Arthur’s teasing of him. If I hadn’t spent 5,000 years wandering around camp, and getting to see everyone’s personalities that you’d miss if you flew through story mode, that mission would’ve made my head spin. If your impression of Kieran is “soft scared horse boy”, there’s so much that happens in like, a minute that’d throw you off.

Arthur asks Kieran if he’s going fishing

Kieran, likely caught off guard by someone going out of their way to interact with him in a non-hostile way, says yes

Arthur, incapable of just being nice to him follows up with a threatening tone “... or running back to Colm O’Driscoll?”, bc f*ck this guy actually knowing I’m starting to warm up to him, I have to be a Big Tough Outlaw bc I am a Bad Man

Kieran, irritated and a bit nervous now, snaps back that of course he’s not

Arthur responds by bumping his fist against Kieran’s shoulder/chest, gives an amused chuckle, and responds with “pffft, I’m just joking w/ u lol relax” (I love this interaction because it really shows, at least to me, that Arthur is genuinely starting to like Kieran. instead of continuing along the lines of “watch yourself”, his tone and body language gestures that “I don’t mean it, I’m just messing with you”. Even if he’s still being an *ss, it’s not like his previous interactions. The playful physical contact, non-menacing laugh, and “I’m just kidding w/ u” comment are all friendly gestures. He wouldn’t do any of those if he actually didn’t like Kieran. Arthur’s not a touchy-feely “I’ll fake like I’m your friend so I can slit your throat later” kind of person)

Kieran’s nervousness instantly melts away and he responds with “wow. ur so funny. hah hah. rlly had me goin there. ur hilaaaaarious.” he’s 100% done and just rolls his eyes at this point.

Arthur just goes “shut up��, and I love the way he says it this time bc he’s more like. Offended/irritated that he’s being sassed instead of actually meaning “shut up or else”. He’s all “>:((( shut up brat” and it’s cute lmao.

Not two seconds after Arthur tells Kieran to shut up, he absolutely doesn’t and invites him fishing. Like, a genuine “hey wanna go fishing?” and not like, a “desperate for your approval, please give me more opportunities to prove myself to you”.

Arthur says he’s not a great fisherman, and Kieran responds with “Yeah but I am!”, laughs, and says he can teach Arthur something. I found this part super fascinating, because as someone with severe anxiety, my response would’ve been totally different. I’m confident in a few areas; I know what I’m good at, and what I’d be semi-competent at teaching people, but if someone-- especially someone higher on the social ladder than I am-- said that they weren’t good at something, that I was really good at, I always try and downplay things so as not to make the other person feel like they’re lesser than me. I like to think my art skills are decent, so if that kind of situation came up “I’m not a great artist”, my response would be more like “Heh neither am I, but I know some tricks that have made things a lot easier. I can show them to you!” Kieran straight up told Arthur Morgan that he’s a great fisherman, and could teach Arthur something. Former O’Driscoll, teaching Dutch’s right hand man something. That was a cocky move, even if it’s true. I love that he has the confidence to flat out say that without even backpedaling. Kid knows his worth and isn’t afraid to just blurt it out.

Arthur responds with a friendly “Sure”. Not like an “yeah alright fine”, but more like how he responds to people who considers friends. Come to think of it, other than certain instances where Kieran pushes his luck here, Arthur is friendlier/less hostile and grumpy with Kieran than he is with Sean lmao. Granted, Sean is uhhh, overbearing and obnoxious, but Arthur sees him as a younger sibling, not an ex-O’Driscoll.

On their way to the beach, Kieran brings up past vs present. “who would’ve thought we’d be going fishing together when it wasn’t that long ago that I was tied up on the back of your horse begging for mercy?” He says it with such a light hearted tone like it wasn’t even a big deal. He could’ve died from dehydration/starvation/the cold, and he’s literally like “isn’t life funny?” Don’t know whether to be impressed that it didn’t leave him with serious trauma and resentment or said that maybe he doesn’t see it as that big a deal because he’s had worse. Either way, the way he says it is interesting to me.

Ofc Arthur has to remind him “how do you know I’m not dragging you away from camp to kill you?” bc again, can’t let this kid know I’m actually starting to like him. He Must Know that I am a Big Bad Threat. “..because I saved your life” “ya and every day I don’t kill you I’m saving yours” “you don’t mean that” “yes I do I am Serious so shut it” Kieran knows Arthur well enough that while the threat is still a touch unnerving, he has the guts to point out that he doesn’t mean it. he knows Arthur well at this point, and despite the slight possibility he might actually mean that, he choses to believe it’s just Arthur being... Arthur.

Throughout the trip, Kieran opens up about camp life and his past, and in general Arthur doesn’t have anything that nice to say. Arthur’s genuinely a nice person, but I wouldn’t call him “soft”, so that doesn't’ surprise me. Despite this, he’s not exactly mean to Kieran like he used to be. He’s not remotely sympathetic, but at the same time he wouldn’t be for really anyone else, either. Maybe the women bc women, but. However, towards the end, when Kieran talks about losing his family and being on his own since then, Arthur does comment along the lines of “well, look at it this way, you’ll never be alone again”. I could be misinterpreting it, but I think that’s Arthur’s way of saying “you’re one of us now”. Can’t really say anything nice to him or show sympathy, but “you’ll never be alone again” could’ve been his way of trying to comfort him in an offhand sort of way.

Not what Arthur meant, but I couldn’t help but laugh when Kieran was like “do you think Dutch trusts me now?” me and Arthur both laughed, sad thing is I laughed bc I’m like “yo Dutch don’t even trust Arthur lmaooo, shoot for something actually obtainable Kieran”

This is already five pages longer than I intended it to be lmao, but literally my entire point is that my impression of Kieran had been that he was a soft, nervy person with low self confidence. The way I see it, all the evidence proves that he’s a lot more than a lot of people give him credit for.

He is a sweetheart by nature; I really don’t think there’s a mean bone in his body. He’ll stick up for himself and get irritated, but I can’t think of a single instance where he did or said anything mean-spirited. He’s helpful for the sake of being helpful, and is grateful for any actual kindness shown to him. He grows to genuinely care about the gang’s overall well being, and goes so far as to flat out state he’d give his life for Jack’s if he could, despite Jack being a brat to him in the beginning. But despite the fact that he’s a kind hearted individual, he will stand up for himself, and if the follower glitch dialog is accurate, he will engage in combat if he has to. A lot of his dialog is pretty snarky too, which I thought was interesting. I thought he’d be a lot more jumpy and nervous during a shootout, but again I was wrong. To me all evidence points to his anxiety/nervousness all being circumstantial. It really only presents itself when his safety is actively being threatened, and in foreign situations(people going out of their way to be friendly to him; catches him off guard). So yeah, I think you could technically call him an anxious person and it be somewhat accurate, but he’s not anxious like people today are. His anxiety isn’t “across a broad range of circumstances”, as are anxiety disorders. I think it’s more accurate to say that Kieran is a pretty self confident, moderately outgoing person with a bright personality, despite the sh*t he’s been and still going through. And that’s what I love about him.

I started out feeling bad for him, with a touch of amusement, just for the fact that I really did pity him. He just seemed like such an unfortunate person. I felt really bad having to bring him in, because my general impression was that he’s really not meant for the outlaw life and was probably a nice person. Hated having to bring him in, but having read his bio before playing the game, I was at least relived that his position as part of the gang meant that me bringing him in wasn’t going to result in having to be the cause of his demise. Him being tied up for weeks made me feel really bad since I couldn’t do sh*t to help him out any, because Arthur didn’t give a damn. Poor thing didn’t even have shelter when it rained in 40℉ weather, and didn’t even have his coat on. Once he was free to move around, I was a bit surprised at how confident he was in greeting Arthur. Save for Tilly, in my game, Kieran greets Arthur more than anyone else in camp. Always bright and cheery. Seeing as how I spent most of my time in camp on the outskirts doing chores(see also: avoiding Dutch lmao), running into Kieran a lot was unavoidable, especially because Arthur’s morning routine is cooking breakfast by the campfire. Eeeevery morning, there’s Kieran. Literally can tell what hour it is by where Kieran is and what he’s doing, and vice versa. If it’s 2pm, I know exactly where Kieran is. With how much time I spent at camp, it didn’t take any time at all before I was very familiar with him. I never had any negative feelings or suspicion towards him, but other than our shared fondness for horses, I had no real reason to like him(pity isn’t exactly a reason to like someone after all). But I grew fond of him so quickly ever since dragging him down from Colter, especially after he saved Arthur. He was brave enough to stick up for himself, brave enough to risk his life saving Arthur, and brave enough to state that he’s “one of you now”. He does more than his fair share of chores every day, stays out of everyone’s way, and remains bright and friendly despite his sh*t circumstances. Oh and he loves horses. Those are the reasons I grew attached to him, and still am. I thought he was just 1889 me, but now I realize he’s a lot of what I wish I was. I love his confidence, despite the fact that he has no one backing him up. Ever. I have supportive people backing me, and yet if someone says sh*t to my face it’s going to make me seriously question my worth. Kieran Duffy fights back anxiety, plants his feet and defends himself. I’m f*cking proud of that boy.

Oh my GOD this is embarrassingly long lmao, but I f*cking love Kieran Duffy with all my heart and I feel like so many overlook how strong he actually is. He’s not an ~anxious soft boy~. He’s sweet, and kind, hard working and self reliant, open and honest, confident and snarky, and is just overall such a lovable, wonderful person. He’s not a weak little snitch, nor a skittish people-pleaser. He wants to be liked for who he is, and while he’s always trying to prove himself, he plays the long game and lets that happen naturally. He’s not a boot licker like Micah. I hate that a lot of the gang gave him such constant sh*t, and that despite the fact no one liked him, Micah was treated like “one of the gang”, when he said so much sh*t. Motherf*cker made comments about throwing out the women since they were “dead weight who you can’t even f*ck”, and older “less useful” members like Uncle and Swanson. Meanwhile Kieran works himself to death on a daily basis, but all the Big Men of camp pretty much hold his past over him constantly, despite the fact that he didn’t have a choice, and wasn’t even really part of the gang. It’s just really sh*tty and I hate it lmao.

I’m going to shut up now and pray to GOD this doesn’t make it into the tags or so help me I’ll tag it later lmao.

#seriously I literally just like analyzing things to death if it's something that I'm into #I have a blog so I can scream into the void #not so I have a crowd to preach to #I'm not a content creator!! I am just a loser with a lot of thoughts!! I like to yell about things I love!! and in this case!!#that thing is Kieran Duffy!!#this isn't even good compared to what I usually make but it's been ages so I guess I should be nice to myself #but yeah holy sh*t #I love him sm #he deserves so much better #in game and by people in general lmao #his tag can be such a sh*t show I don't like my stuff showing up there #let me love him in peace #n e ways #Shut up V #Studies #Kieran Duffy #tumblr I swear on me mum don't you throw this into the tags #idc if people read it and like it just to be clear #if that happens cool w/e #I just don't. like throwing things out there/into tags #anything that like. advertises it #I like having that choice #and my emotions towards one of my fav characters #is not something I just wanna throw into the hellhole that's his tag lol #sometimes there's a lot of good stuff in there other times. eck

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onehvlf · 4 years

Text

► — now announcing their royal highness, [ NOAH CENTINEO ] ! oh , wait . that’s just [ ASTER “SQUEAKY” SMEE ] , the [ NEUTRAL ] child of [ MR. SMEE ] they are currently a/an [ 20 ] year old [ FISHERMEN ] of [ AURADON ] , but were originally from [ THE ISLE ] . people say they remind them of [ GENTLE WHISPERS, BRIGHT STARS ON A DARK NIGHT, & A HAND SEWN JOLLY ROGER ] & that they are [ + HARD-WORKING , + EMPATHETIC ] but also [ - TIMID , - CO-DEPENDENT ]. welcome , to the beginning of the new united world.

tw; mentions of depression and anxiety

HISTORY.

squeaky’s real name is aster which means star, a deliberate choice by his mother and father, unfortunately his mother passed after giving birth to him and his twin brother.

mr. smee was unsurprisingly, one of the better parents to have on the isle, but his biggest flaw was his loyalty to captain hook which was one of the few things he did put above his own kids.

the nickname squeaky was given to him because of his timid nature that often caused him to “squeak” out words and he was made fun of for it by many members of the crew. it caused him to actually stop speaking for a few years, he only ever talked to his brother and a very small handful of vks that watched out for him and his brother.

he has always been attached to his brother at the hip, he hated ever being apart from him and even if they found it annoying or weird, everyone learned quickly to not try separate them no matter the circumstances.

since he was a scrawny kid, he primarily did chores on hook’s ship in exchange for his protection from people outside of the crew. the crew picked on him and teased him, thankfully not as much as they did his father, but they would protect him and his brother if a villain outside of them tried to do the same.

overall, he was chosen to go over to auradon just in time to escape the worse horrors of the isle because he knows if he had chosen to go back, he’s not sure at all he would have survived.

PRESENT.

he has felt guilty ever since the barrier was closed about getting to enjoy auradon life while his own family and other people he cared about on the isle were left behind.

he knows that he would have never excelled in the environment of the isle but he cried for days thinking about his older brother sammy and his father being trapped there.

he became very quite and withdrawn, resorting to only speaking to his brother again (occasionally the other vks depending on their relationship!) until he was put into therapy to help his speech problems and deal with everything that he was feeling.

eventually, he finished high school a year late but as soon as he was done, he went to work on the docks because it reminded him of his family. he’s one of the best fishermen in auradon and always brings in the largest hauls.

he’s super happy that the barrier was brought down but his guilt is still a heavy weight on his shoulders, making it hard for him to reach out to old friends from the isle.

MISC.

he no longer has any daily speech impediments but if he feels trapped or deeply uncomfortable his voice gets higher. if he starts stuttering at all then he will shut down completely and stop speaking until he calms down.

he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety after the barrier closed and he takes medication for the latter daily, but his depression is manageable enough with therapy and healthy coping techniques he’s learned over the years

still very co-dependent on his brother but since they have phones now that always provide immediate contact, he can stand to be away from him for certain periods of time.

he loves to sing sea shanties to himself when he’s fishing and most likely no one beside his brother has heard him sing, but he does have an amazing voice.

sewing and knot/rope work are some of his talents due to being a fisherman and even though auradon is still a land of plenty, he prefers to live modestly and repairs or makes his own clothes when he can.

WANTED PLOTS / CONNECTIONS.

his twin bro! pls someone bring in squirmy !

also his older brother sammy ! (didn’t mention him much so if anyone picks him up they’ve got free reign w his character)

ak friends

vk friends from before the barrier closed

unrequited crushes

that’s all i can think of for now but aster is open for anything so pls hmu if you’d like to plot !

#rottenhq: intro.

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akaneiro-fr · 6 years

Text

“My guide took me to the headlands,

where the steep cliffs meet the ocean in a thunderous roar, sending salt spray over the top of crumbling rock. He didn’t even flinch at the water, contrary to what one might expect. Truly, the fisherfolk of Bavatica are of a different breed from the common Ridgebacks you might encounter across Sornieth. I saw no ancestral terror of the water in him at all; only a relaxed amusement as I stumbled back from that precarious cliff-edge.

I assure you, gentle reader, I do not find myself the least bit terrified of that vast body of water below. I merely wished to save myself the indignity of an inopportune dunking. Be as it may, this particular cliff, jutting out like a Guardian’s head, proved the best vantage point, rather than Bavatica’s bustling port, or any of the other cliffs.

There was a lighthouse a few cliffs over; my guide assured me it was a lonely task, but the dragons working it were very much up to the work of warning away trading ships and dragons from the precarious rocks jutting beneath the frothy veneer of ocean.

The wind whipped droplets of seawater at us; I did not think a dragon could fly against such a powerful headwind, though the fisherman had said, very casually, that the hatchlings of Bavatica often took diving from these cliffs as a challenge. Ah, the folly of youth! I must admit to you, my dear reader, that I had in fact considered a dive from this very cliff. I have, after all, little fear of danger or anything that braces the senses. But our sojourn to the headlands today had little to do with such feats of daring, and so I reluctantly adjourned the matter for now.

“Well,” said the fisherman, laconically. “Here it is.”

I glanced over the edge of the cliff again. But there was nothing beyond tempestous ocean and that lead-grey sky; no sign of movement. I think I should very much liked to have seen even a hint of movement, though I do not think fang or claw or rapier would have saved me from such an encounter.

“Well?” I repeated, with a touch of incredulity.

“They dumped the bodies here,” he said, gesturing with that sharply-spiked tail. I have, of course, previously written of a most uncouth altercation to do with a recalcitrant Ridgeback. The trick in dealing with an aggressive Ridgeback is to avoid the tail spines and to apply copious amounts of aquatic solution. I was not so certain that a squirt bottle or even the threat of the ocean below was such an effective deterrent, when confronting the fisherfolk of Bavatica. Nonetheless, my conversation with the fisherman went smoothly and without the slightest threat of imminent bloodshed whatsoever.

“The bodies?”

“Aye.”

“What bodies?”

The fisherman looked at me as though I had been missing something perfectly obvious. “You wanted the source of the legends of the Crimson Wedding. Here it is.”

I will not repeat the conversation that followed, save to present the meat of it. This adventure, dear reader, had begun several weeks ago, when one of the scholars at Bavatica’s famed university had distractedly mentioned “The disastrous wedding of Princess Kalliope.” That, of course, had instantly drawn my attention. Naturally, I have attended a good number of weddings, and many of them have been memorably disastrous, but the manner in which the scholar had spoken led me to imagine some infamy beyond what was usual.

The Wedding, in fact—for it does not do to omit the capitals in this case—is a practice that takes place every year, during the governance of a ruler of Bavatica. The rituals by which dragons take mates and nest are, of course, as varied as clans and cities: in Pellorn they exchange heartscales; in the sweltering heat of Isstka, they pick the brightest, most perfect of their feathers and exchange them with a desired mate. Still, in Chaddan, the dragon carves the heartwood from their parents’s tree and offers the sculpture as a sign of intent.

In sunny Bavatica by the sea, some dragons retrieve shells and paint them all sorts of bright colours and thread string through them and offer the finely-worked pendant to their counterpart. The Wedding of the Sea, then, involves an offering to the Tidelord.

“A strange practice,” I remarked, to the coatl bard who had deigned to explain this to me. Bavatica, after all, claimed the Lightweaver as the city’s patron. Atayal chuckled.

“You’re a long way from home,” he told me, bemused. I could not disagree with that bald statement, naturally. Sometimes I think of the lightning-struck expanse of scrubland that I had once called home. But how does one ever stay still? I have seen the towering ancestral groves of Chaddan; the intricate metalwork from the forges of Pellorn; the gaily-fluttering cloths and dyes from the looms of Isstka, and ever more wonders. And even with all of these in mind, the colours and scents of Bavatica are as water to a dragon stranded in the desert.

“The Wedding is one of the biggest events of the year,” continued Atayal. “With so much depending on the trade networks by sea, air, and land, how could Bavatica fail to honour the Tidelord and seek his favour?”

This, I conceded, seemed prudent.

It was explained to me that the Wedding of the Sea was performed each year by the appointed Prince or Princess of Bavatica. They would be taken first by ceremonial procession and then by boat to the centre of the harbour, holding a shell pendant. Customarily, Atayal said, the ruler would be expected to fashion the pendant themselves.

Then, the pendant would be consecrated, the ritual words spoken to wed Bavatica to the sea, and the pendant cast into the waves, for the Tidelord to approve or disapprove of the rite.

“There will be divers,” Atayal explained, the brightly-coloured cloths and silks he wore fluttering in the breeze. “If the pendant is found, it is taken to be a good sign. A good year ahead; bountiful catch for the fishermen, calm sea and favourable tradewinds for the port.”

“And if the pendant is not found?”

“Bad,” Atayal said, darkly. “Very bad.”

The Crimson Wedding was one such year; Princess Kalliope had cast the pendant into the sea, but the pendant was not to be found. Worse; some of the divers who had searched for the pendant had gone missing. And by nightfall, dragons swore they saw a spreading pool of red on the water.

“Divers go missing all the time,” said one of the scholars, when pressed. “That year was the year of a great battle and many bodies were cast into the sea rather than buried. The conditions were right for algal bloom. What they saw was red algae.”

I did not quite think so. And who would know better than the fisherfolk? They worked the thick nets of knotted serrassam rope all day; rope woven from kelp and treated with some special substance known only to the Fisherfolk’s Guild of Bavatica. Try as I might, I could not induce the secret of serrassam rope from my guide, or from any of the fisherfolk of Bavatica. Worked serrassam rope is a wonder of Bavatica; whereas Karnatk in the Ashfall Waste is known for the deep red hues of its yuccaweave ropes, the fisherfolk of Bavatica opt for blue-green dyes for their serrassam rope nets. My guide unbent enough to explain to me that each net had a weave and knot unique to the fisherfolk lineage it hailed from.

“Family?” I asked.

“Of a sort.”

“Not blood?”

“No—not blood, but water. Some dragons seek the water. Sometimes they find find themselves by the water. Sometimes, the water finds them,” he said.

“Ah,” I said.

There is a proverb among the fisherfolk of Bavatica; Atayal told me this later. Water is thicker than blood.

Serrassam rope nets, when properly treated and knotted together, are strong enough to carry not only a load of fish, but also the weight of a full-grown Ridgeback. Indeed, good reader, if you are ever so fortunate as to roam the marketplaces of Bavatica, allow yourself the time to roam the port and docks and you will see a clan of Ridgebacks out at sea, sprawled indolently on their outstretched nets, waiting for the fish. On occasion, a ship will sweep out from the waters, startling fish into the nets of their waiting fisherfolk kin.

Indeed, the fisherfolk had their own tales about the Crimson Wedding, as I was to discover. More fortunately still, one of them was willing to take me to Blood Point, over from which bodies had been thrown in the year of the battle. The same year, I thought, as the Crimson Wedding.

And there we stood now, gazing over into the roiling ocean.

“Why throw the bodies into the sea?”

The fisherman shrugged. “Hard work, burying them all,” he said. “Too many fell in Bavatica’s defense.”

A sudden thought struck me. “Even the Imperials?” I asked.

It is well known to all that the Imperials have their own particular burial rites, of which little is public knowledge. What the Imperials of Bavatica do with their fallen kin, I have never managed to pry from them, though all Imperials have grown dark and refused further conversation when the matter is brought up. It would be most peculiar indeed if even the Imperials had consented to such a burial.

The fisherman nodded. “Even them.”

“Strange,” I said.

“Imperials left,” the fisherman said.

“Pardon?”

“They left,” he repeated. “Always do, when the city is under siege.” He shook his head. “Cowards, maybe. But the Guard never calls them out on it, and the Prince accepts their behaviour, and so they flee while others bleed for them.”

“Cowards,” I repeated. It did not seem quite fair, after all, that the Imperials fled the city while the others died and fought for their home. Not at all.

“Well, then,” he said. “You wanted to see the Blood Cliffs, and I’ve shown you the Blood Cliffs. But now there’s a story to go with the Blood Cliffs, and I’m only going to tell you it once, mind.”

I told him I was ready.

“The first day,” he said. “It was quiet.”

I stared at him.

“It was quiet, too, on the second day. On the third day, there were shadows, moving under the water at night, when the ocean is calm and the water is like glass. And then you would see it: a shadow, only it had many arms. The fish fled, on the fourth day.”

“Fled from what?” I asked.

He ignored me.

“Ships started disappearing. They disappear all the time, of course. But sometimes it would be fisherfolk. Stories of hungry teeth, of arms reaching to rend in the dark. As if whatever it was feared the eye of the Lightweaver.”

I remembered that the fisherfolk of Bavatica were said to be a superstitious lot.

“And then the Crimson Wedding,” I said, remembering. Red pooling on the water. Algae? Or blood. The divers never returned. And the pendant was lost, and the Tidelord’s displeasure clear.

“Yes.”

“Is it still there, then?”

“Maybe,” he said. “It never went away, as far as we know. Sometimes, a hatchling claims to sight something in the water, and we’re all wary for the next week or so. We teach them the ways of the water, early. Kelp, sometimes. Or big fish.”

“Or whatever it is,” I said.

“Or whatever it is,” he agreed, peaceably.

“And you feel alright sprawling on your nets out there? With whatever it is possibly still lurking out in the waters?”

He shrugged. “Whyever not? Hasn’t made a reappearance in my lifetime, has it?”

But as we gazed out into the ocean in pensive silence, I could have sworn for an instant I saw a glimmer, as though of a pendant on a silver chain, clutched in a cavernous maw.”

—From “Bavatica: The Myths, The Legends”, by Rurik Azurras, Esq.

#fr lore #bavatica #dp: rurik #dp: atayal #—Kas

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twdmusicboxmystery · 7 years

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8x09: Analysis

Good morning! How did everyone like the episode last night? Today I'm going to talk about broad plot points. Tomorrow I'll do a post about the details.

I thought it was a beautiful episode. A really good send off for Carl. I cried several times.

***Warning: Spoilers for 8x09 about in this episode. Don’t read until you’ve watched! You’ve been warned!***

Carl

5x09 Parallels. I've said several times I thought there would be parallels between this episode and 5x09, where Tyreese died. There weren't as many as I expected, but they were there. The biggest one was seeing Rick and Michonne dig Carl's grave at the beginning, even though we didn’t actually see him die until the end.

Very similar to Ty’s death. We saw the grave being dug at the beginning of 5x09, but didn't understand whose grave it was until the end. In that case, we had no idea Ty would die (unless we read spoilers) until the end of the episode. The difference here was that we knew Carl would die when his bite was revealed in 8x08.

Carl told Judith that he didn't beat the world, as Lori said he would. I have to say I disagree. He was bitten. Of course he still beat the world in his own way. But he said to everyone, as he was dying, to recognition, especially, showed that almost outgrown the world. It was his own special kind of transcendence. In a way, that’s a parallel to Tyreese too, as Tyreese died thinking about forgiveness and peace.

Huge emphasis on the fact that he got to say goodbye. In the flashbacks, Michonne left him a note saying “I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye” for when she left with Rosita to see the Sanctuary.

Of course, she DID get to say goodbye because she made it back in time. They talked about goodbyes several times throughout the episode. Remember that Beth hated goodbyes, and no one really got to say goodbye to her because her death was so sudden. Major anti-parallels there. Of course, it's all-important that he got to say goodbye and we saw his burial.

It's important that we saw the flashbacks at all. We have major precedence for this. When they don't show us something, they always flash back to it later. It. For example, in S4 we saw Ricky kick Carol out of the prison. In S5, they showed us flashbacks to what happened to her during that missing time. The same thing is true here. And it wasn't just Carl's point of view that we flashback to. We also saw flashbacks how the Saviors escaped the sanctuary. Before, Rick was imprisoned at the junkyard, and when he returned, he didn't know what happened. So it flashed back to Morgan's point of view as well, showing what happened what we missed.

This is important because it shows that everything we missed with Beth will have to be shown eventually. They ALWAYS eventually show us events that are skipped. There's a lot of unexplained things around Beth, the biggest ones being unexplained stuff that happened the Grady, and of course those missing 17 days after Coda.

I also thought it was interesting that he that they juxtaposed Carl’s words with Morgan's brutality. I’ll come back to this, but we could see Carl's goodness and transcendence and then they put it side-by-side with Morgan and his cold, rage-driven killing.

Carl talked about 3x16! Guys, this is huge! We some of the dialogue in the trailer, so I’ve already touched on this when it comes to callbacks to S4, but him talking about 3x16 is pretty much a confirmation everything I wrote in my Beth Greene was Always Gimpel's Sheriff post, and a lot of the stuff both me and @thegloriouscollectorlady have been talking about lately. Carl talked about shooting the Woodbury kid in 3x16.

Not only was Beth present, which we would read into any way, but more importantly, it's what led to Rick becoming a farmer and the entire arc in 4a. I'll talk a lot more about this later this week, but we’re seeing major story arcs from S4 come full circle this season. It’s extremely significant and it makes me super happy.

Carl gives Judith the hat. I don’t think I need to tell everyone how significant that was. The sheriff will live on, specifically in the little one that Beth always took care of. I remember back when 5x10 first aired, I noted that Carl took care of Judith. He even used the sheriff's hat to protect her from the rain.

So Beth took care of Judith most of her life. When she disappeared Carl stepped in that role more fully, taking on Judah's care almost entirely while they were on the road. I feel like they tried to have Carl specifically step into that role, which Beth previous occupied. Now they put the sheriff's hat on Judith, who has only ever been worn by few other characters. (Rick, Carl, Beth)

Now Daryl has assumed the role. We knew he would bc of the trailer, but it’s significant that his attitude wasn’t one of sadness about taking Judith. It wasn't something he had to do, it was something he wanted to do. He was very firm and confident about it. He picked up Judith, sheriff's hat and all, and, wearing his vest, walked out with her. I thought it was really interesting the way the camera focused on his back. We can almost see this is a return to S4 Daryl. He's confident and strong, he's got his best back, and he's caring for the "new sheriff." So we don't know exactly where this will lead, but symbolically it's very significant.

Remember those wings have always marked him as a guardian and protector, which is why, symbolically, he needed to regain the vest before he took over protecting Judith.

Finally, Carl actually died with the sunrise.

So now we’ve gotten through the night, and we have a new day. There were several parallels to Andrea's death. Carl shot himself, rather than waiting to succumb to the fever. The other thing I noticed is that Rick and Michonne stood outside on the porch and heard the shot. That's almost exactly what happened with Andrea's death. Even though Michonne stayed with Andrea, will the viewers didn't see her shoot herself. We saw Daryl and the others outside the door and their devastated reactions to hearing the shot.

So what does this mean for TD? I hope it means that with this new day we’ll see Beth next episode. I also want to point out that Andrea's that happened in 3x16, which was mentioned here a lot. Almost like they’re trying to align this episode with 3x16. In the next episode, 4x01, we got the Bethyl hug. So I’m really, really hoping, that we’ll get at least the beginning of Beth’s return in the next episode.

Siddiq

Siddiq is a freaking doctor! That, we did not see coming. In the comic books, Siddiq is a fisherman and a construction worker, not a doctor. This is something they are doing for the show. We don't see any evidence that he knows how to cure bites, but he did talk about treating one, at least insofar as reducing the fever and making the patient more comfortable. He’s the first person we’ve ever heard talk about treating a bite at all. That’s a big deal. We need to watch this story line closely.

Honoring Carl. Siddiq talked about honoring Carl. He said because Carl saved him, he would honor Carl by doing whatever he could to help TF. We don't know exactly why yet, but from the trailer, he, Daryl and Rosita go on a mission that takes them through the swamp. So whatever Siddiq is up to, he thinks it will help TF in some. I repeat, I really think something about Siddiq will both bring Beth back into the picture, and perhaps help TF win the war. That's why Carl’s sacrifice will be worth it.

The last time we heard a lot of talk about honoring someone was right after Beth's death. To honor Beth, Rick wanted to take Noah home to Virginia. And he did. @thegloriouscollectorlady pointed out that while there's definitely a parallel here, it's kind of an anti-parallel. In S5, TF honored Beth by taking a in stranger (Noah) and doing something for them, because it's what Beth wanted. In S8, the stranger (Siddiq) is going to honor Carl by helping TF. So it's the same thing, but in reverse. With that being the case, let's hope we see the reverse of Coda next. Like this represents 5x09 and perhaps were moving backward toward Coda and the opposite result.

Carol and Henry. I had a major epiphany during this episode. In THIS POST I said that in order for Carol's arc to resolve, she needed to figure out how to love and nurture another child as she did Sophia. Last night, I realized I’m missing one big element. Henry kill Gavin, which was disturbing. Go back and watch that scene. Watch the reaction of all the adults. Ezekiel was merely shocked. Carol was so horrified she turned away for a minute. Morgan looked like he might throw up.

While it’s understandable because he obviously holds Gavin responsible for Benjamin’s death, the way the show portrayed this was as something very dark. It came across as a callback to Lizzie, who also had no problem killing the living. It’s like they’re trying to say Henry is straying onto a dark path. Carol wouldn’t be able to help but think of Lizzie when this happened, which is why she was so angry at him, and Ezekiel couldn’t understand. So, it's not just a matter of her loving the child, but her saving him from becoming like Lizzie. She failed with Lizzie. She should've seen what was wrong and didn't, but perhaps she will with Henry.

I’ll talk about this more later in the week as well, but for now, it’s important that Carol, Ezekiel and Morgan were there. We’ve thought since S7 that Carol and Ezekiel will be parents to Henry, but it’s interesting that Morgan is entangled in this too. He and Carol both lost biological children, specifically because they failed to save them (a theme between Rick and Carl in this episode). Now these three adults all saw Henry kill a man. It doesn’t matter whether or not Gavin deserved it. The point is that Henry did it without hesitation and wasn’t as bothered by it as he should have been. That’s not good. So now these three need to figure out how to save Henry in the same way Rick saved Carl in 4a.

The two, final “shocking” scenes we hoped would be Beth. I'm pretty sure the one the blogger referred to is the one that showed Negan at Alexandria. That's what she meant about the future. It was part of Carl’s vision and shows that he wants Negan to actually become part of the community, integrate with Alexandria and have everyone work together.

Sorry to keep saying this, but I will do a separate post on how significant this is, especially where S4 is concerned. I don't know that Negan will ever actually integrate into TF’s community the way Carl wants, but this will most definitely drive the plot forward for Rick.

The second scene is still very unexplained. Remember that in 8x01, we saw two flashes forward: Rick’s old man coda (which I now have to call Carl's) and then the one where Rick’s eyes are red-rimmed and the plate-glass crosses hang above him. We always figured that might be Carl's funeral. It's not. They buried Carl in this episode, and then showed that scene separately. It’s definitely not the same thing.

Rick sits against a tree, bleeding from a wound on his ribs. He has blood all over his hand. Honestly, it looks like a scene where he could be dying. (I still don't think he actually will; I feel like they’re trying to make us believe that. I could be wrong, of course.)

I had a somewhat disturbing thought while re-watching last night. Perhaps Rick will try and make nice with Negan to fulfill Carl's best wishes, and Negan will betray him by either stabbing or shooting him in the ribs. Maybe that's what we’re seeing in this scene. That would explain why he says, "my mercy prevailed over my wrath." It sounds like he's very resigned to his own death. It's like he's saying, “well, at least I was merciful, as Carl wanted.” This is just me musing over what it might be. We really have no idea.

I've never thought that Rick would die, and still don't. But remember THIS POST about Dawn's back story and how it's going to relate to Beth's future arc. Dawn actually killed Capt. Hanson. I’ve always said Beth won’t do that, because she's a much better person than Dawn. But maybe it's not about Beth killing Rick. Maybe someone else will either kill him or try to. Whether he's dead or just severely incapacitated, someone else will have to step into leadership. Based on the back story and foreshadowing surrounding Beth at Grady, it will be her. Either way, it would be tied to Carl, Carl's death, and Carl's last wishes. But again, this is just conjecture.

Overall, I really loved this episode. I thought it was beautiful. All the symbolism in it, which I'll go over in more detail tomorrow, makes me as hopeful as ever for TD. What did everyone else think?

#beth greene #beth greene lives #beth is alive #beth is coming #td theory #td theories #team delusional #team defiance #beth is almost here

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gdwessel · 4 years

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NJPW Strong Episode 26 - 2/12/2021; Castle Attack Tour Lineups Announced: Title & Feature Matches, New Young Lion Debuts; Review of NJPW World Pro Wrestling on Roku Channel; KENTA AEW Match On NJPWWorld, Other Notes

Last night was this week’s edition of NJPW Strong on NJPWWorld, continuing the Road to the New Beginning USA:

JR Kratos [Team Filthy] d. Jordan Clearwater (Fisherman’s Buster, 6:20)

Bateman [ROH] d. Clark Connors (This Is A Kill, 8:41)

Chris Dickinson & Danny Limelight [Team Filthy] d. TJP [FREE] & Ren Narita (Dickinson > TJP, STF, 15:04)

Can’t say I’m too broken up about Dickinson beating TJP. There appears to be a feud between Dickinson and Ren Narita brewing here. Between the first and second matches, Kevin Kelly interviewed KENTA, in response to Jon Moxley’s interview last week. KENTA declared he would save the title from “rotting” under Moxley. The last few weeks, now that Moxley is actively part of the feud, this has really heated up. A mere two weeks away from the title match. Next week’s episode is the start of the New Beginning USA series of episodes.

The full slate of cards for the two Castle Attack shows on 2/27 and 2/28/2021 have now been announced, as well as for the Road to Castle Attack tour that starts tomorrow. I won’t be posting the full lineups here, but rather in an Upcoming NJPW Events post later on today.

Already, there are two things working against the tour. First, the state of emergency in Tokyo, which later got expanded to Osaka as well as other prefectures, has been extended, with no sign of letting up, so the cards are going to be as limited as they were on the Road to New Beginning that just ended.

Second, the show next Sunday, 2/21/2021, is scheduled for the Toyota Crown Arena in Fukushima. Fukushima got hit with a 7.3 magnitude Earthquake at 11:08pm Saturday JST (so about 8:08am CST) with tremors also being felt in Iwate and Yamagata prefectures, where shows are also booked for this tour. There is a distinct possibility those shows may not happen now because of this. The good news is, there is currently no tsunami alert right now, so hopefully we don’t have a repeat of 2011. That being said, this blog/podcast extends our hopes and good thoughts that everyone will be alright in the end.

All this said, there is a full slate of title and special singles matches due to take place at the Castle Attack shows, and even one on the final Road to Castle Attack date. That one will be Los Dos Peligrosos, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI, challenging Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo for the IWGP Juniorheavyweight Tag Team belts on 2/25/2021 at Korakuen Hall. This will be a prelude match to Hiromu’s defense of the IWGP Juniorheavyweight title on 2/28/2021 v. ELP.

The biggest title match of the tour will be Kota Ibushi defending only the IWGP Intercontinental title v. Tetsuya Naito as the main event of 2/28, following Naito’s challenge on Thursday. In a press conference yesterday, Ibushi had this to say about Naito’s challenge:

Perhaps one reason (Naito challenged) is out of opposition to my idea of unifying these two titles. I want to say that I have a deep, deep connection to both of these titles. I have my own way of thinking, and when these two belts become one, then I can really achieve my dream, and bring professional wrestling to new heights.

Also featuring on Night 2 will be Hiroshi Tanahashi’s first-ever defense of the NEVER Openweight title, he will face off against United Empire’s Great O-Khan for that title. And the challenge has been made official, as Guerrillas of Destiny will defend their IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team belts against the CHAOS tandem of Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI.

Night 1 will feature five singles matches, however the only “title” match on there will be a Provisional KOPW2021 match between current holder Toru Yano v. Chase Owens. Kazuchika Okada and EVIL finally get their grudge match, as does Jay White, looking to finally beat his current nemesis, Tomohiro Ishii.

Another highlight of this tour is a debuting Young Lion, the first in two years! 24-year-old Yuto Nakashima will be in the opening matches on this tour starting tomorrow, although, the way they list him, I am not sure he will be on the NJPWWorld streams. More information:

24 year old Nakashima will see action in special opening matches through the Korakuen Hall events on the Road to Castle Attack, in singles bouts against established Young Lions Yuya Uemura, Gabriel Kidd and Yota Tsuji. These special matches will take place at the earlier time of 5:40 on each night. He will also be competing on non-televised live events through the tour.

Standing 180cm tall and trending at a potential heavyweight 95 kg, Nakashima has an athletic background in MMA, judo and jiujitsu, as well as water polo. Having spent a year in the Fale Dojo before it became the NJPW New Zealand Dojo, he entered the Noge Dojo in June of 2020.

Best of luck to Nakashima as he begins his NJPW career.

As I mentioned above, I’ll have the tour lineups in an Upcoming NJPW Events post later on today.

Last night, I was able to finally sit down and watch the debut episode of NJPW World Pro Wrestling on Roku Channel on-demand. They definitely did start with Wrestle Kingdom 14, as the match they chose to debut the show with was Jay White v. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental title. They did not go with the “World Pro Wrestling RETURNS!” intro like the earlier episodes of NJPW on AXS (and honestly, I don’t even know if they do that anymore on TV Asahi), but rather, a recap of the storyline by Kevin Kelly, which, fair enough, for the supposed “new” viewers out there. The match commentary was lifted from the NJPWWorld English feed from the event, so Kelly, Chris Charlton, Rocky Romero and Gino Gambino on the call here.

It’s a little befuddling to once again have NJPW on American (and Canadian, and UK) TV be behind once again, after the efforts of NJPW on AXS to be as close to current as possible, however, there could be a bit of desire to show how big NJPW was prior to the pandemic too, as Night 1 of WK14 was their biggest crowd in many years. There were also multiple commercial break spots, which did take me out of the match, but sadly, that’s par for the course with “free” streaming these days.

In truth, this did seem to be lifted from a TV Asahi episode, as the final credits did show the TV Asahi logo. And they ended as they used to, with Naito’s post-match backstage interview. Strangely, despite this being a “weekly one-hour TV program,” the second episode was available, showing Kazuchika Okada v. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight title from that same show. I didn’t watch that one yet.

Overall, it’s a decent presentation, but with Roku being the streaming powerhouse it is, I’m not altogether sure what the point of the program is, when they could just have NJPWWorld available on the platform (which it is not). Between that, and the weird Thursday 5pm (EST?) timeslot, I don’t feel like this is best serving the product, especially now being a year behind current times, something NJPWWorld can provide easily. I hope it’s a success, but at this point I don’t feel as if weekly TV is something NJPW needs.

A few other odd notes:

The match from Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite featuring KENTA & Kenny Omega v. Jon Moxley & Lance Archer is now up on NJPWWorld, if you had not been able to see it when shown live on TNT.

Contrary to what I felt about it, Keiji Muto did indeed beat Go Shiozaki for the GHC Heavyweight title at Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Destination 2021: Back To Budokan show yesterday, a show which also unveiled yet another new logo for NOAH (at least with this the green was brought back). I still think this is a mistake, but also, the Muto/Muta fanboy in me is happy that he’s joined Kensuke Sasaki and Yoshihiro Takayama as holders of the IWGP, Triple Crown and GHC titles. Congratulations to my favorite wrester of all time achieving that milestone.

There is talk right now that if there is health department approval, venues in New York including Madison Square Garden could start allowing fans back in at 10% capacity as early as 2/23/2021. There hasn’t been much talk about Wrestle Dynasty of late, since the pandemic overtook the world and cancelled the event, however NJPW did say they hoped to hold it in 2021. If this goes through, don’t be surprised if NJPW starts pushing that again. I think allowing fans back anywhere in the USA is a massive mistake right now, but then, nobody asked me and they wouldn’t listen anyway.

I think that’s it for this post. Upcoming shows post later.

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ahqueenoh · 5 years

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Berlin to Budapest.

If like me you have the travel bug, but equally prefer travelling alone, I couldn’t recommend Contiki more! They are a travel company for 18-35 year olds and they go (almost) everywhere. Every trip is an adventure and the people you meet along the way make every moment worth the long flights and sleepless nights.

This is my third time travelling with Contiki (my 4th is already booked! Bring on January!) and as the title suggests, we went from Berlin through Prague, onto Krakow and finished in Budapest. I had a wonderful time and many delicious meals, starting with Berlin Street food!

During the Second World War a woman called Herta Heuwer would approach US soldiers and swap liquor for ketchup and curry powder. She would combine these together, pour it on top of a sausage and you had Currywurst (pronounced curry vurst)!

Still a traditional street dish in Berlin you can find the kiosks EVERYWHERE. So of course I decided to try this special meal.

In all honesty, I did not know what to expect, I had been to Germany before and was still on the fence about the cuisine, that coupled with the idea of curry powder and ketchup did not fill me with joy.

Nonetheless we queued and paid, I went for Currywurst with chips (fries) and a drink, so if it was inedible I at least had something to last me until dinner.

In our group, we were also surprised to see that the kiosk offered vegan and vegetarian Currywursts so for all you none-meat eaters you too can enjoy this dish.

And enjoy it we did, the first taste to hit you was the sweetness of the ketchup, followed closely by the warmth of the curry powder. Of course you could taste the sausage too which added to the pleasure of this street dish. There’s something unique and indescribable about German sausages but I couldn’t imagine enjoying a Currywurst without one.

Since the dawn of the 20th century, Germany has gone through two world wars, the Nazis, the Soviets and five currencies. It is now one of (if not) the strongest economies in the EU and its capital is a diverse city that boasts being one of the safest cities for solo travel, a hub for street art, nightlife and reinvention. Nothing quite sums up all that history like this eclectic street dish, so should you have the pleasure of being in Berlin I can’t recommend Currywurst enough.

The adventure didn’t stop there, almost as soon as we arrived in Berlin it was off to Prague, which was certainly one of the most beautiful cities on this trip, but one of the biggest highlights for me (of course!) was the food.

We had the joy of attending a restaurant called Michal’s, (organised by Contiki) to enjoy a traditional Czech meal in the heart of this stunning city.

We began the meal with bread, soup and a garlic butter, the butter itself merits an entire blog post, it had the texture of cream cheese, the taste of butter and just the right amount of garlic.

For me, the soup was the real standout of the meal, I will go out on a limb and say, there is nothing more special in east Europe then their soups. Light, rich and full of big chunky vegetables and meats these soups are the cure to your worst break up, hardest heart ache and the most dismal of dismal days. We do not have the equivalent in England and it breaks my heart a little every time I eat Heinz Canned Tomato Soup (which gets far to much glory in the UK).

I could’ve easily eaten ten bowls of the beef soup but I was promptly presented with a platter of meat and potatoes. Again another triumph, so tender it fell apart on the journey from platter to my plate.

Czech cuisine is not for everyone and is rich and heavy to the extreme, but for me it is the sort of comfort food to make your soul sing and to bring all kinds of people together.

The restaurant certainly succeeded in bringing our tour group all together, a band played traditional music while two people danced. Of course there was some audience participation from inhaling enough water through a plastic sword to fill three wine glasses (my personal sucking skills won me a small bottle of liquor) and the dancers selecting some of our group to get up and dance.

Overall a joyous evening, full of food, laughter and copious amounts of wine.

A must do if you’re in Prague.

We waved Prague goodbye and zoomed off to Krakow (well, not quite “zoomed”, one cannot simply “zoom” in a coach containing 31 passengers and their luggage).

Sadly we were greeted by torrential rain which put quite the dampener on our first day and the chocolate box Old Town Square, but! In the spirit of making the best of a bad situation we persisted with a bicycle tour (which was rescheduled to the next day) and wondering the Cloth Hall, now a tourist market hall featuring the finest souvenirs this side of Poland, and generally getting rather soggy.

After drying our toes, Contiki had organised another restaurant extravaganza, this time at Kogel Mogel, rated highly by Michelin and known for their Perogis, we were given the chance to experience fine food and a cooking lesson.

Of course we started the meal with the aforementioned Perogis, almost anything can go in these traditional dumplings, usually they are filled with potatoes, meat or cheese (my personal favourite is red cabbage). The dumplings KM served us were a selection of potato and cheese, deer and pork.

Perogis always baffle my brain a little. While in your mouth the dough feels thick and heavy but the filling is often light and fluffy. You anticipate bloating and stomach ache but instead feel warm and satisfied.

The restaurant was kind enough to show us how to make Perogis and to let us have a go. The recipe and execution was simple enough so we gave it a go, needless to say I was hopeless but I got better, as with most Eastern European food, the key seems to be a caring hand and lots of love, a skill I can utilise when eating Perogis, not so much when making them.

After marvelling at our peers Perogi talent we returned to the table for our main course which was delicious but the standard meat and potatoes.

Now back to the Perogis, we had another dish of desert Perogis which I am ashamed to say I did not enjoy, for the simple reason they were stuffed with plums, a fruit I find so disgusting I am offended at its very presence on my plate.

However this has given me a vocation, I am now on the hunt for more sweet Perogi flavours to try.

Alongside the plums we had a dish that seemed to be like a Creme Brûlée but was not, this compote like desert, was extremely sweet and just hit the desert spot I had been craving since Berlin.

If you ever find yourself in Krakow it would be plain old bad manners to dine anywhere else but KM.

Our last stop on this epic adventure was Budapest. Technically three cities, Buda, Old Buda and Pest (pronounced Peshed) this was our sweetest stop on the trip, which was an ideal ending for me, as a large woman with an even larger sweet tooth I was certainly missing the sweet treats I love to indulge in at home.

Introducing Ruszwurm, a gorgeous confectioners established in 1827 and still going strong today, you can find this little gem on the Buda side of the city, within spitting distance of the Fisherman’s Bastion.

My first tip would be to go in a small group. I decided to go on a day the rest of the group was going to the famous Budapest Baths, another must do, so I was able to find a seat easily.

I was absolutely desperate to try the famous Ruszwurm Vanilla Kreme, a cake that is 90% cream, sandwiched between two thin biscuit/cake layers.

As soon as it arrived I regretted coming to the confectioner alone. It was large and thick and I didn’t think I was going to be able to finish one alone.

How wrong I was! This cake is the most delicious cake I have ever had the joy to taste, it has already had a reoccurring role in my dreams and I went back the next day with a few of my Contiki friends for another slice of this devilish Kreme.

Like Perogis, this cake will mess with your mind a little. It is able to stand securely with a solid thick looking cream centre and the biscuit like pieces, provide a strong hard looking foundation for the cream to sit on, but once on the lips, the cream melts into a light, perfectly sweet, whipped vanilla taste that makes me weak at the knees, the matching wafers crumble and crunch providing an excellent contrast to this sweetest of sweet treats.

This Vanilla Kreme was clearly made by a man who sold his soul to the devil and I thank god we cannot find this cake in London otherwise, within a week, I’d be bleeding cream.

If you take nothing else from this post, you must go to Ruszwurm when in Budapest.

Honourable mention:

Beetroot Soup- a delicacy in Poland that also contains little meat Perogis. This vibrantly coloured soup has a mild pickle taste that I deeply enjoy and with the accompanying Perogis is a must have lunch dish.

Central Market Hall- located on the Pest side of Budapest, this old market hall plays host to excellent street food and souvenir stands alike, an excellent stopping point for food and presents (for all the haters at home who wish they were in a city like Budapest). The “must have” street food is Langos, essentially fried bread with sour cream and cheese (most places will allow you to add various other toppings as well). Goulash is also a popular choice in Hungary and makes for a convenient lunch. Neither of these meals are a Burger Queen approved “must” I found Langos too doughy for my taste and strikes me as a pretentious pizza (not quite why I travelled all the way across Europe.) and goulash has nothing on my favourite Polish or Romanian soups.

For me, the must have is Cabbage Rolls, a dish I had the delight of eating when I worked with some fantastic Romanian women and went to Bucharest. It is the must eat meal of choice in the iconic Central Market Hall. You are served a huge portion with a side of additional cabbage. The “roll” is pork and rice (vegetarian options available) wrapped in pickled cabbage I love them so much I would marry them if I could.

Needless to say Romania and Hungary share a border and a close history so the Cabbage Rolls are (almost) as good as Romania.

#belin #burgerqueenblog #budapest #prague #krakow #food #delicious

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xseedgames · 7 years

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The Legend of Heroes: Trails Series - Localization Blog #2

Hi, kids!

This is Brittany, Localization Producer at XSEED, editor/graphic text monkey/what-have-you for Trails in the Sky the 3rd, and current head for the Trails series in general. I’m very eager to write this blog, because it’ll be full of updates for FC, SC, and the 3rd.

Let’s get the 3rd’s status out of the way: schedule-wise, we’re currently doing great! When we announced this game last year, I was dead set on getting it out by spring 2017, so I’m very proud to say that goal is being met. Trails in the Sky the 3rd is coming to PC in English on…a date you’ll find out very, very soon.

Barring typos or odd QA hiccups (which can happen when “smashing” PSP and PC code together to get the best of both worlds), the game is in pretty good shape and we’re right where we need to be. It’s cleaning up very well.

| QA is a sexy time and I won’t let you take it away from me.

I’d like to start by properly warning Trails newbies first: please play Trails in the Sky’s first and second chapters before playing the 3rd. Heck, please play them before even reading this blog! Although the 3rd is not a “third chapter” since the Estelle and Liberl’s story wrapped up with SC, this story still relies on knowledge gained by playing those two games. Internally, I’ve said before that the 3rd has only one target audience: people who’ve played both Trails FC and SC. Cold Steel fans will understand some of the lore dumping, but other details will be quite lost on lost you. Though, hey, if you want to purchase it anyway and help support my coffee fund, I ain’t gonna stop you. (Please buy it and play it later. I’m desperate, here.)

I would have loved for this blog to feature more specific details on the 3rd itself, but I tend to consider the series as a whole whenever I do my editing and am constantly referencing/perusing the text from the other games as if they were my current projects. Because of that, I’m going to be noting planned adjustments for the Sky trilogy that I decided were important enough to implement while I was working on the 3rd. We can dig into protagonist and deuteragonist Kevin Graham and Ries Argent in future blogs.

- Dead Emperor Sword > Sword of Abaddon – Loewe’s S-Craft. I meant to fix this during SC’s QA, but there were so many things I was brushing up till the last minute that it was lost in the shuffle. The original is straight-up wrong. - Pillar of Salt > Salt Pale – You’ll learn more about this in the 3rd. - Stainrose > Steinrose – This is a classy alcoholic drink briefly mentioned by Schera in Trails FC. This is clearly meant to be Steinrose and was written correctly in SC, so we’re extending that correction to FC. - Museum Descriptions – Text in the museum in Grancel will either be rewritten or greatly expanded upon in general. These descriptions were shorter due to every editor’s wariness of character limits in games, but that’s not actually a worry here, so woohoo! The Capel will also receive similar tweaks. - Master/King/Guardian of the Lake – I don’t understand how I missed this one, but boy, did I screw up when doing sweeps. You might remember the Guardian from Cold Steel; it’s a legendary fish. Well, the whole legendary fish thing actually dates back as far as the first game. Turns out, we’ve used a mix of king or master to describe it. I’d considered using the more common of the two in the current text, “master,” but I realized “master” is used in several other forms throughout FC and SC. To make its intent clear, I’m going the easy route and replacing all instances of king/King/master/Master with “Guardian” like the way it is in Cold Steel I&II.

| Mysterious boy who isn’t so mysterious if you’ve already played Cold Steel. This marks his first Trails appearance.

- Duke Dunan – I believe that even if he’s Queen Alicia II’s nephew, being a duke, he should be addressed as “Your Grace.” He’s been addressed as a number of things, including “Your Excellency” by Phillip and Kanone, so this will be corrected. - Sky Bandits – I talked about this a bit with the current series translator, and we decided that the term ‘sky bandits’ wasn’t the name of the Capua family’s group in particular. They’re simply bandits…who happen to do their bandit-ing while piloting a sweet airship. It’s not a term specific to them, but as generic as “thief” or “schoolteacher.” It shall be decapped in all instances throughout the trilogy. There are a few more words I decided to decap, and no doubt I’ll find even more in the future. They’re minor in comparison, though, so they’re not really worth listing here.

| Here’s a new feature, the “Remote Ability.”

- Airship/Orbalship/Flying Boats – Here’s one that’s bothered me for some time even though I couldn’t figure out a better solution. There’s an entry in the Capel about orbal airships stating that ships less than 20 arge in length are known as “flying boats.” We don’t actually use that term anywhere else, but no one ever brought it up so I left it as is. While reading through the games again, however, I noticed that we used both “airship” and “orbalship” as generic terms. It’s specifically thanks to orbal energy and the Orbal Revolution that modern civilization in Zemuria was able to achieve flight, so presumably all airships regardless of length use orbal energy. I don’t think it’s a stretch to scientifically classify small ships as “airships,” larger ships which require significant orbal energy as “orbalships,” and have “airships” be used as a generic term among citizens at the same time. After all, we in real life still can’t seem to decide if Pluto is classified as a damn planet or not, even if the population generally seems to refer to it as a planet no matter what its classification is. With this update, I will do away with the clunky and never-used “flying boats” in favor of the current entry.

- Hmm-Hmm!/Hm-Hm!/Etc. – Like Cold Steel I&II, this kind of chortle/laughter isn’t present at all in the 3rd. It was toned down considerably before launch in SC, but it’s still present in both FC and SC. I’ve always wanted to go through the script and alter/remove these, and I finally did! Maybe some will object to this decision, but if they’re not in the newer games, it’s just kinda weird to keep them in the older games, too. In case you wanted to know how much I suffered to do this: o "hmm-hmm" (164 hits in 96 files) o "hmmhmm" (184 hits in 85 files) o "hmhm" (89 hits in 52 files) o "hm-hm" (8 hits in 8 files) o "hmm!" (12 hits in 11 files) o "hm!" (21 hits in 20 files) o "hmm." (36 hits in 35 files) o "hm." (17 hits in 16 files) o "Hm," (62 hits in 41 files) o "hmm," (282 hits in 155 files)

- Duke/Baron Fisher – You might recall the president of the Fisherman’s Guild, Mr. Fisher. (Or maybe you do not recall, which suits me better. HEH.) Apparently, his title is mentioned once in both FC and SC—the first time was the “Duke of Angling” and second time was “Baron of Fishing.” This also comes up in the 3rd, but we thought “Fishing Baron” was a simple enough title for the guy, so this will also be fixed in FC and SC.

| From the 3rd’s opening animation.

- Social Sciences/Studies – This is the program Kloe takes at Jenis. I noticed a discrepancy here and there while doing some digging for the name, so all of these have been changed to “social studies.” It’s social sciences in Cold Steel, but since that’s a different country, I don’t consider the difference a big deal. - Faculty/Staff Office/Lounge – Also noticed this was a number of slightly difference things, so it shall be changed to “faculty lounge.” - Dorms/Dorm – Unless the person mentioning the dorms at Jenis is referencing both the boys’ and girls’ dorms, I made it singular since there’s only one dorm building each. Not really a problem, but it was bugging me. - Olivier: “In fact, I believe the Imperial Academy was to launch an investigation...but then the Hundred Days War broke out.” - *nerd glasses* Okay, this one is really cool to me!! I happened to notice the line and was confused by “Imperial Academy, so I checked the Japanese, which was more like “Imperial Science Institute.” Turns out, this is the very same “Imperial Institute of Science” that’s been brought up a few times throughout the Cold Steel arc. (Ahh, I just love how this series connects the little things.) - Dad/Daddy/Papa/Mom/Mommy/Momma – Estelle as a child calls Cassius “Daddy” in FC, but she says “Papa” in SC. SC will now match FC. Cassius still calls himself “Papa” when babying Estelle, though. I haven’t looked too deeply into this yet, but it’s also been fixed in the following instances so far: o Anya - Daddy(FC), Papa/Daddy(SC) = Daddy o Elke - Papa(FC), Papa/Dad(SC) = Dad o Mirano - Father(FC), Papa/Father(SC) = Father o Louis - Dad/Mom(FC), Papa/Mama & Dad/Mom (SC) = Dad/Mom o Helena - Dad/Mom (FC), Papa/Mama (SC) = Dad/Mom o Lucia - Mommy (FC), Mom/Mommy(SC) = Mommy

I feel ashamed to see all of this...

- Mayor/Lady/Miss/Ms. Maybelle – This one was pretty wild. When checking her address for the 3rd since Lila’s address was translated as “Lady Maybelle,” I went through FC/SC and the results were a mess. Some NPCs referred to her in three different ways, and Estelle went from “Mayor Maybelle” in FC to “Maybelle” in SC. One could argue closeness allowed her to drop the formalities, but I don’t see them as that close. Virtually everyone should be calling her “Mayor Maybelle” now, save for four exceptions: Lila, who calls her “Miss Maybelle, ” and Kloe, General Morgan, and Yahat, who affectionally call her “Maybelle.”

This biggest change affecting all these Sky games, however, will be this:

| You don’t know how happy it makes me to see this.

To refresh your memories, Zin Vathek is an A-rank bracer from the Calvard Republic, and he’s one of the main playable characters throughout the trilogy. However, due to some absurd reason I can’t even begin to understand since I wasn’t with XSEED at the time, the original translation team insisted upon changing his name to Zane.

The series has yet to truly set foot on Calvardian soil, but several characters from there appear to be of Eastern descent. This may lead some to believe that Calvard is mostly an “Asian” country, but personally, I think something very different is going on. Republican names also include stuff like Vathek, Cochrane, or Rocksmith (the Republic’s president). There’s even the Gambler Jack novel that stars a white man named…Jack…and includes characters like Chief Minister Shamrock and Enrique.

I believe Easterners are actually the minority in Calvard, and Eastern influences are reflected in a Chinatown-esque area called the “Eastern Quarter.” Even the writing in Gambler Jack mentions how immigrants tend to gather in the Eastern Quarter, and the writing goes out of its way to point out Eastern features in Halle, the heroine, as if it’s not usual for its author to see.

Throughout the localized games, there have been mentions of people from farther east immigrating into Calvard to the point where it’s become a problem. Incredibly interesting as this is, it’s only been brought up in bits and pieces throughout the series, so I can only make an educated guess on what exactly Calvard is like or what’s going on within. Also, you’ll learn more about this in 3rd and I don’t want to go into detail. These kinds of things could point to racial tension in the future or something else entirely. The more I’ve learned, the more my gut tells me that there’s a reason for these characters—Zin included—to have been given Eastern-influenced names.

While I’ve never been fond of “Zane” to begin with and believe it never should have been changed in the first place, I do understand that it’s been a part of the Trails English canon for many years. Before making the change, I tried to think of various solutions and consulted Falcom’s development team directly with my thoughts. One possible solution was based on many friends who immigrated to the West as children: they had their name from birth, and then they also had a more “white-sounding” name to further blend into Western culture. I thought this method would allow us to keep Zane, finally adopt Zin, and give Zane a few unexpected extra layers.

I’m happy that I expressed these concerns to Falcom’s team, because it gave me the confidence to do away with the more complex solutions and just skip to the overhaul. Moving forward, “Zane” will officially be “Zin” for the entire Trails in the Sky trilogy, and “Zane” will be a thing of the past. I’m excited about this. Please welcome Zin warmly.

| You’ll see cutscenes like these throughout the game.

In the Future/Other Notes

- Gambler Jack – This novel appears in both Trails in the Sky SC and Trails of Cold Steel II. The CS2 version was brushed up. This may or may not make it into this next update, but I’d like to backport this when I can. - Skippable S-Crafts – We added this patch into the PC versions of FC/SC in December 2016, but I felt it was worth noting since it’s not in any other version of the Sky trilogy but ours. You can now skip S-Crafts with the press of a button! Yay! - S-Craft Voices – Years and years ago, before my time, the Trails in the Sky trilogy was all dubbed at once just because it was battle lines and it was easier to get it all finished in one go. Some mistranslations happened here and there in those battle lines. It’s why Kloe shouts, “Radiant Plash!” instead of her actual S-Craft name, for example. The lines from one of Kevin’s S-Crafts gets mentioned as part of 3rd’s story, and you might notice it differs from the text in his actual S-Craft. I’d like to fix the voice someday, but we’ll have to work with the original for now. Just know that it was a conscious decision to not match the story text and battle lines. - NPC Names – Like Zin, a few NPC names I believe have references that were initially missed. Mirano/Trino/Modena are supposed to be Milan/Turin/Modena, I believe, Stain is supposed to be Stein, etc. These all these like relatively minor in the grand scheme of things and have no real impact on the world-building, though, so I’m still compiling a list and debating if it’s even worth touching this. I still want to…but lol. NPCs are truly trouble in this series… I have a bible I made myself for the series, but I’d love to keep filling it in!!

|I’m slowly building stuff like this in the name of obsession.

Ideally, one of the other big changes would be the basic name on Steam/GOG/Humble being displayed. We’ve always gone with Trails in the Sky and Trails in the Sky SC, but I worry names like these as an introductory header may cause confusion among newer fans. I want to someday rename these display names Trails in the Sky First Chapter and Trails in the Sky Second Chapter. We’ll see.

My hope is that outside of Zane > Zin, you guys noticed approximately none of these things and will end up reading this blog and going, “Huh. This person’s obsessed, but okay. Cool.” But how do these things happen? The same way it always happens with text-heavy games: too many cooks in the kitchen. Too many translators, too many editors. Many of these choices are perfectly valid out of world context, but when you’re given thousands of files, no unified index for characters unless you build it from scratch yourself, and some very nasty deadlines, things happen.

The series is much more unified than ever because we realized that when it comes to text-heavy projects, taking our time with a smaller team yields a much better result than throwing as many people as possible at it. CS1, CS2, and the 3rd proved it. In a perfect world, I could go over FC and SC’s text line by line and tweak things in ways fans likely wouldn’t notice just to create further consistency, but considering I do these tweaks in my free time out of pure passion for the series, that’s gonna have to be saved for another day. I’m already very blessed to be given the opportunity to comb through older files and tweak at my leisure. Or maybe I just have a very unusual hobby.

Should you come across any issues that have cropped up unexpectedly with this update (which will be before the 3rd’s launch), please feel free to contact us. Stuff happens, things break, but we’re always willing to look into it and fix it if it’s within our power. My heart belongs to the series forever, so anything I can do if time allows it, I try. Thanks for reading this update, kids, and I hope to write more about the 3rd soon!

| Yes, this actually is in the game.

#XSEED Blog #XSEED #THE LEGEND OF HEROES #TRAILS IN THE SKY #SORA NO KISEKI #POST: BRITTANY #LONG POST

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raynahealy-blog · 7 years

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Overboard

Did Juneau where I’m currently living?

There was a big hint there. Hope you picked up on it. But because I have little faith in you- I’m living in Juneau. Juneau, Alaska. Which is part of the United States despite what three different Sprint employees I talked to think.

My experience of the United States involves a lot more Subway Sandwiches and Curves franchises than I’ve seen in Juneau but nonetheless I’m convinced that I’m still in America. First of all, there are guns. Second, an obesity epidemic. And third, there’s all sorts of people who frequently take cruises. To be fair most of them don’t live in Juneau but they are around. And round. One could go so far as describe them as portly. Which is also close to a boat vocabulary word.

All in all I would say I’m thriving. There have been highs- including almost exclusively the low caliber of humor required to get a canoe full of cruisers knee slapping. There have been lows- which ironically usually involve being dragged to the top of mountains. But there were definitely a few lows this week that didn’t involve mountains at all. Have you ever had one of those weeks where you work on top of lake but somehow you’ve ended up in the lake not once but thrice.. i mean twice. Been there, pal, been there.

The first one I certainly had coming. I tried to trust my sense of balance on a trailer. Plot twist- I shouldn’t have. Luckily I was able to fall into the lake in front of colleagues and colleagues alone. It may take awhile to regain their respect but I have all summer so I’m optimistic.

The second time, though, was a bit different. To understand the full impact, I’ll have to walk you through why it was so stressful for the witnesses. Every day, we start our typical canoe tour by reading the fun and dynamic safety waiver to our newfound canoers. This safety waiver goes through all the ways that said canoers may die on my watch. When we get that bit over with, we put them in rain gear that can only be described as the perfect blend of Alaska fisherman chic and moldy. Then it’s time to board the canoe. But before anyone can do that, we give one more safety presentation where we again tell them the different obstacles that may lead to their death over the next two hours. Almost all of which have to do with succumbing to hypothermia in the 34 degree water. At this point my cruisers are smiling nervously, eyes darting back and forth, wondering if it’s too late to go back to one of the 25 diamond stores they forwent at the port. But nonetheless we lull* them into the boat.

*by ‘lull’ I mean push and pull with our full strength to get some of the heftier ones on board.

So picture this: now we have a full canoe of cruisers who are basically in scuba gear to fend off any drops of water that would have the audacity to fall on them while they are in a canoe on a lake in a rainforest. These cruiser canoe-ists are now keenly aware of the exact temperature of the water and the danger that it poses. It is my job to ramble off neature facts and perfectly timed puns to keep their minds off of the safety concerns and hypothermia lurking beneath our boat.

Halfway through one of my always successful and hilarious tours, I began angling my 37 foot canoe towards the beach where I will help the cruisers do what they do best: eat. As I pulled up, like a motherf*cking gentleman, I hit a sandbar that has disguised itself by being undetectable to the naked eye. I jumped out, test the waters if you will, and saw that you could not walk to the beach without hitting a deep stretch. Professionalism still in tact, I hopped back onto the canoe and went in for round two of what proved to be the biggest parking challenge of my young life

This time I made it up to the beach, canoe nice and perpendicular. I tried to swing it around for one of those infamous native canoe parallel parking jobs that we all take for granted. But my 400 pound boat loaded down with people who frequent all-you-can-eat buffets, would not budge. I realized that I’d have to take one for the team and jump out to pull and prod the canoe to the perfect unloading position. That had happened before. I am no stranger to having to get into the lake waste deep at this particular beach. And I was starting to feel the pressure because I wanted to get this damn thing parked before the usual “You just need a man’s help!” was blurted out by the token 60 year old white man in the canoe. So I took a leap of faith.

As I hopped, my toes went searching for the sand beneath me. But alas there was nothing for them to find. I realized much too late that 5′11″ was not tall enough to touch bottom. The illustrious drop off was just below my boots. I fell back on some of those skills I learned as a JV swimmer and bobbed at the surface just as my entire canoe of cruisers looked down in horror to see their fearless captain overboard. As I came up I began, with flawless form might I add, to doggy paddle to the beach. I looked up at my cruisers with a big smile on my face, hoping my sense of calm would fool them into thinking this happens all the time. By the looks on their faces though, I knew that it had not. Their eyes filled with terror and their mouths were agape. I could almost see the safety waiver floating through their minds.

Despite all the warnings of death and hyperthermia that we had laid out pre-tour for them, I made it out of the water alive and shook off like a wet dog. Instantly every able-bodied man was out of the canoe trying to pull the boat into place, having lost faith in my ability to do so. Meanwhile all the women on board had started an Alaskan strip tease. They were shedding two to three layers of fleece garments and insisting that I wear them all. I had to spend the next eight minutes trying to fight them off. It almost had to get physical. I reassured them that I was Alaskan tough and needed to take a dip to cool off anyways. They took this opportunity to remind me that I am actually only Kansan tough and therefore my delicate constitution could not handle a glacial lake without 17 layers of fleece pullovers. It was an astute observation but I stood my ground. It was difficult to get them to stop looking at me like I was a dying baby bird, but as we say in the tour industry, the show must go on. I paddled back, dripping wet and a thousand percent less trustworthy to the others in my canoe.

When the tour ended, people were shoving money into my hands.

“This will help you get a new phone.” They said sympathetically.

“I appreciate your commitment to the perfect parking job.” They patted me on the back.

So in the end, falling into the lake (twice) wasn’t the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. Next time I size up a group that looks a little stingy or boring, I might pull that trick again. But maybe not. Ending up in the lake twice in three days was a career low for me. I hope at least. But it’s hard to say for sure.

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buttonholedlife · 5 years

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10 House & Techno Artists to Enjoy in 2020|EDM Identification

Photos Credit: Addiction Digital Photography As home as well as techno remain to reign as being one of the prevailing powers in the setting, climbing stars are actually creating an

effect with new audios and also remarkable sets.There's certainly that the development of your home as well as techno setting over the previous few years has actually performed what seems to be to be actually an ever-increasing growth to the top. Leading the charge are actually renowned artists as well as renowned tags that have recorded the hearts of many around the entire world and also changed more en route. While the standard-bearers of the setting remain to drive your house and also techno sound ahead in a relentless method, rising artists have sculpted out their very own allotment of the setting with unique designs and takes as well.Now, with the brand-new year grabbing heavy steam it is actually time to make some forecasts on who with the rising ability is going to be making a primary effect on our home as well as techno setting in 2020 (as well as hopefully past). Band in as well as begin scrolling to locate out that we experience you ought to be maintaining a close ear tuned to this year!

10 Home & & Techno Artists to Watch in 2020

Barraging coming from the creatively wealthy setting of The big apple Metropolitan Area, Tyler Morris aka Westend shown up with a blazing internal fire as well as an all-natural skill that would certainly make a quite excellent smudge on the tech-house scene. Along with the early as well as on-going support of labels like Container Of Cats and also Audiophile XXL, it ought to happen as no shock that he will rapidly be actually gathered up due to the loved Dirtybird brand discharging dance flooring heating systems that consist of "Do not Cease," "Nakey," and also "Detonate" with John Summit.Dim Mak as well as Club Nightclub have actually even come to be privy to his natural potential to provide people what they really want, setting him up for an amazing breakout year along with club-ready paths that include" Friend Area "(CCD), and "Goin Up" (Dim Mak ). What helps make Westend's popular music therefore delectable to our home songs masses is actually surely due to the modest feelings combined with enjoyable and cool beats making him a supporter favorite to record at occasions like the annual Dirtybird Campout.In enhancement, he recently ruled the remarkable Avant Gardner stage with Martin Ikin as well as Fisherman, additional solidifying his task as a mainstay in our valuable home songs area. Along with the that's that of the market precisely promoting this much more than worthy celebrity, you may wager that our experts have merely yet started to view what Westend invites establishment for the future!-- Maria Qrion is just one of the best faces on the proficient roster of Anjuna musicians but has actually quickly strengthened her place in the centers of several in the Anjunafamily. Knowing to play popular music at a very early grow older while being actually brought up in Sapporo, Japan, she has because moved to the Gulf Location and also her occupation has actually truly taken off ever since.Something that brings in Qrion's songs stick out from other musicians in our home and techno setting is her ability in developing sensational soundscapes by layering organic and digital factors together. Capturing listeners off their shoes with each authentic release and also remix, she is actually found the perfect formula to yank at our heartstrings time and also time again.Last year was actually a truly massive one for Qrion on the launch face with EPs like Sine Surge Party

but it is difficult to overlook her performances at well-known shows also. She took show business at Team Treatment Weekender, ABGT350, and also very most lately participated in a number of bent on Groove Voyage Miami to start the years off in the greatest means achievable. Don't reconsider Qrion this year, she'll most definitely blow your mind.-- Grant Rebūke What do you obtain when you blend future-forward residence as well as techno along with music elements tweezed straight from the early '90s rave age? The solution can be found in the type

of Rebūke. Taking a sound that initially stole the gaze of house and techno legend Jamie Jones with the launch of"Along Came Polly"in 2018, future would certainly enable the monitor to become called the last Crucial New Tune for Pete Tong on Broadcast 1. From that minute on, the Irish multiplied Rebūke has been actually invited along with open upper arms as well as has ended up being one of the field's most promising stars.With what several would certainly describe as an unusual as well as nonconformist design, our team see something thus refreshing putting out in almost the only thing that he makes. Rebūke is actually simply impossible to disregard. That being actually mentioned, Drumcode as well as Dirtybird are no morons when it comes to seeing star premium, and also soon Rebūke would certainly create but one more opinion along with Jump Ship(Dirtybird )featuring stick out path "The Water pipes"and Discompose( Drumcode), a three-track astonishment that warps the thoughts with excitable technicians and downing basslines.If you have however to record this guy in activity, possess no concern due to the fact that Rebūke's Rave Broadcast has actually obtained you dealt with. Including a number of his greatest events to date, Rebūke shows off his capabilities while verifying that being different is the essential to unlocking results and level of popularity. Communicating coming from private experience, I had the terrific option to

catch him opening for Veggie Velour in Atlanta georgia and I left behind a dedicated follower, moved due to the raw and also sideways creative thinking that maintained my mandible on the flooring the whole time.-- Maria If you have not presently began listening to the noises stemming from Codes You best start today. This New York-based musician delivers his years of adventure as a DJ to the phase no matter where he goes as well as could be consistently found cutting out live during the course of his collections that are actually teeming with strongly curated tracks.We have actually been actually transfixed and also embeded an effective groove ever before considering that we heard his Bumps EP on Psycho Disco back in 2016. Ever since he is actually beautified labels like Dirtybird, IN/ ROTATION, and Country Nightclub with some keep tracks of that our company just can not obtain sufficient of like "one hundred %Skill-sets"and the cash EP.Additionally, Codes has likewise packed the dancefloors at festivities like Beyond Paradise SoCal and also Launch procedure NYE to reveal off his unique stylings. And also if Codes 'songs as well as performances weren't enough to satiate you, then his capabilities as a tastemaker are going to give up also more appetizing tunes along with his label Holy Molé that released in 2013. It is actually very clear additional than ever before that it is actually Codes' opportunity to sparkle, thus be sure to find him in 2020 given that you won't regret it!-- Give Some of our favored discovers in 2015 was progressive master Dezza who took us to a state of electronic bliss with his stunning audio layout. While he might have meddled other closely associated categories like hypnotic trance, it was his releases in your house music realm that definitely protruded as one thing unique like "Natural honey," "Cold weather Outside "with Julian Gray, as well as" Hope Weaver" along with My Friend.Adding to the mix, Dezza took the reins of the guest mix on Above & Beyond's Group Therapy Radio to display his skill-sets as a tastemaker along with one on ASOT as effectively. He also crossed the pool to take the phase at

ASOT 900 in Utrecht as well as made his United States debut in Chicago at Trance Identification 10 that left a lasting impression.Riding the surge of excellence into the brand new decade, Dezza has proceeded to improve his impressive catalog of songs by returning to Colorize with the launch of" Close Your Eyes "previously this month. If you perform the quest for a clean face in the dynamic property world to acquire down to on the dancefloor in 2020, look no more than Dezza as he'll certainly supply.-- Grant In 2014 saw the increase of a number of musicians

in the bass property scene however couple of stole our centers very like Wenzday carried out. Birthed as well as increased in the Bay Area she polished her skill-sets behind the decks as an accessible style DJ before strengthening her unique style of house songs. Those years have since returned as her functionalities have actually become well-known for taking crowds on an enthusiastic trip through an assortment of styles.While her vibrant sets have brought in dancefloors move she's backed it up with an arsenal of contagious songs too. Wenzday's Heartbreak Property EP was a standout release on Insomniac Records 'IN/ ROTATION and also she adhered to that up with the Demons Dancing EP that "Daily"that actually aided close out the decade right.When Wenzday isn't responsible for the decks at festivals like Nocturnal Heaven, Lost Lands, or even a Room Yacht-hosted program, she is actually working nonstop along with her brother Dack Janiels on their cumulative 40ozCult. If 2019 specified show business of what was in outlet in the new decade coming from her, expect this increasing superstar to remain to create an influence in the bass house scene for years to follow.-- Grant John Summit has actually been among the hottest titles in our home popular music scene in recent months. With roots in house popular music's neighborhood of Chicago, John Top's music possesses a certain groove as well as percussive drive that has received

him observed through a few of the biggest gamers in the industry.His rise began when Dirtybird included"Touch off"along with Westend on the Dirtybird BBQ: Obtain Roasted compilation in 2019. Ever since, John

Peak has collaborated with tags like Toolroom, Repopulate Mars, Solotoko, This Ain't Bristol, as well as Farris Wheel. His design of residence matches effectively along with all of all of them; it's a special dancefloor-ready tech home vibe.After completing 2019 with the release of his Activate EP on Repopulate Mars as well as a New Year 's Eve set at Spybar in Chicago, factors are going to merely be actually much bigger and much better for John Top in 2020. Anticipate even more tour times as well as more groovy technician house from some of the scene's most thrilling up as well as happening artists.-- Michael Los Angeles-based artist RYBO has actually been actually one of the performers we've been actually keeping our ear tuned to for a few years currently after initial hearing his audios that were lost on Desert Hearts. Along with a

lot of releases under his belt on the tag, he's also a constant skin at their standalone celebrations as well as showcases where he is actually become prominent for taking some major energy to the dancefloor.Additionally, RYBO likewise aided co-found Percomaniacs which has been a home for his keep tracks of like "Something New"along with Anabel Englund,"Mi Casa"

along with Lubelski, and"Take Me Away "that was actually another astonishment. He's additionally taken a trip far and wide to play evaluate festivals Northern Nights, Electric Woodland, Ocaso Underground Music Event, and also plenty more.Now, with the brand-new year in complete swing, he is actually wanting to carry much more power to dancefloors with upcoming evaluate festivals like Beyond Paradise SoCal and

group evenings in metropolitan areas consisting of Reno as well as Denver. Stay tuned for his honest release"Someone Like You "with Lubelski and also SOHMI as well as look at several of his top tracks below!-- Give One of the artists who has actually been actually shining brighter than ever as of late is actually Meadow bright. Birthed in the UK today located out of the United States, he has actually been actually grabbing some significant momentum over the past

couple of years along with releases on labels

like Silk Music and also Anjunadeep. Capturing audiences away into the stunning modern soundscapes he generates in the center, tracks like"1992, ""Possibility"along with Nox Vahn, and"Heart "all left behind an enduring impact and also maintained our team returning for even more in an infectious manner.But Marsh isn't just excellent as a result of his studio job, as he has actually likewise stretched his abilities from responsible for the decks also with unforgettable functionalities

. A constant skin at Anjunadeep showcases, he is actually played in metropolitan areas like Goa, London, Chicago, as well as Miami while likewise being selected to play at

Team Treatment Weekender as well as Anjunadeep Explorations as well.Already using higher in the brand new many years with the current release of his most current EP Eu Topos that was only gone down on Anjunadeep, it's crystal clear right now especially that Marsh will be actually one of the driving interject the scene moving ahead. Take a pay attention to some of his

best keep tracks of listed below and don't rest on his collection when he properties in an area near you.-- Give Final, yet most undoubtedly not the very least is actually a dynamic tech residence duo coming from Glasgow that has actually been actually getting some gigantic energy over the past couple of years: Illyus & Barrientos. First collaborating in 2014 over a common interest for house popular music, they promptly attacked a stride along with very early help from tags like Toolroom, Glasgow Underground, as well as Suara.2019 observed Illyus & Barrientos discharge paths like "Scream,""The One,"as well as"Still Defeating"that remain to find their method in to our turnings to now. They also showcased their audio along with a Vital Mix on BBC Broadcast 1 that had plenty of delicious tunes and showed their potentials as tastemakers in the property songs realm.A recurring face in Ibiza throughout the Toolroom Residency last year at Paradise, they were actually an appreciated attraction to see when announced to play in urban areas like San Diego, Chicago, Greater london, as well as Brisbane. Currently, Illyus & Barrientos are steering onward into the new years and we are actually sure they are actually

going to attract also more followers along with each passing time.-- Grant Which property as well as techno musicians do you presume will burst in 2019? Allow our company understand in the opinions!

This content was originally published here.

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thisisluxurytravel · 5 years

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Fantastic Diving Cruise from Komodo to Bali

I love Komodo diving. On my 11th trip to Komodo, I chose to dive with Ilike liveaboard for the first time this year, and it felt like coming home. The boat is fantastic, and we were rewarded with great weather and amazing dives in Komodo and beyond.

Getting to Komodo

Getting to Komodo has become more accessible with each passing year. Labuan Bajo is the gateway to Komodo.

There are plenty of flights to Labuan Bajo every day, from Denpasar, Jakarta, Kupang, and even Manado. There are currently no international flights to Labuan Bajo, so you’ll still need to connect in either Bali or Jakarta.

TIP: At the time of writing, Garuda allows 30 kg of diving equipment as free extra baggage, making it the best choice of airline for divers in Indonesia. If you are thinking of booking Lionair because it looks cheaper, do read my review on why I will not fly Lion air Here.

This is Luxury Travel boarded the boat just before lunch. I was coming from the Seraya Resort (you can read my review about it here), and the crew already had a tender ready to shuttle me from the pier to the boat. They provided hotel or airport transfer for the other passengers.

We were welcomed aboard with a cocktail and cold towel and then escorted to our cabins.

The first day was a lazy day, as no diving was planned for that day. We departed at around 4 pm to Bidari Island, where we spent the night. It is only 30 minutes away from Labuan Bajo and is home to a protected bay.

For more information about diving in Komodo, you can read my article here

The Ilike liveaboard and its cabins.

The boat is as lovely as it was on my last trip. You can read my full review of the ship in this article about my previous trip aboard the Ilike.

There were only nine passengers. The boat can comfortably fit 14 passengers and 16 crew members. Needless to say, we were totally pampered for the entire trip.

This time I was in Cabin 5. It’s a standard cabin that has a good position on the boat. Cabin 5 is far away from the machines and is located toward the middle of the ship.

I think it is totally worth paying a bit more for a standard cabin. The budget cabins are only a little bit smaller, but they are located closer to the motor and, therefore, are louder. Also, Cabin 6 is located beneath the stairs, and you can hear the footsteps as people continually go up and down the stairs.

Aside from that, the cabins are very well soundproofed. Not once did I hear the other passengers in the neighboring cabins.

The boat and the cabins are really nice, but what makes this boat truly unique is the staff. They are efficient, proactive, and extremely friendly. The team works hard to promote a pleasant atmosphere, and it shows. On a few nights during this Komodo diving trip, the crew even started impromptu concerts on the deck during sunset.

The food was very good. It was mostly European dishes for the 3 courses dinner. Lunch was buffet style and comprised a mix of Indonesian and western dishes.

We even got treated to lobsters that the crew bought from Fishermans near the Sangean volcano.

Itinerary of the Ilike diving liveaboard from Komodo to Bali

Our journey was a nine-night trip from Komodo to Bali. We spent five days in Komodo National Park before making our way to Bali.

I love Komodo. It is my 11th time there, and I have been diving on every trip. Komodo diving has the perfect combination of healthy and vibrant reefs, plenty of fish, and excellent visibility. Throw in the chance of seeing big fish, like Manta rays, dolphins, and sharks, and you have the ultimate diving conditions.

The itinerary of the liveaboard trip is never fully known in advance because the crew needs to take the weather into consideration. The Ilike crew also communicate with other boats to avoid overcrowded dive sites.

Komodo is getting busier and busier; there must have been over 100 dive boats in the port when we left Labuan Bajo!

Our itinerary was specifically designed so that we would avoid the big crowd. Most day boats dive between 10 and 2 pm, so we avoided the most popular sites around that time, and the Ilike liveaboard did an outstanding job at this. We rarely saw another dive group underwater.

One good thing about diving in Komodo is that the area is not very big and the water is usually very quiet. That meant that the cruising time between two sites was quite limited and that there are no overnight cruises while in Komodo. Because of that, it is an excellent destination for first-time cruisers or people who are afraid of getting seasick.

Cruising between the islands is very scenic. The islands are beautiful to look at, and there is no trace of civilization. While traveling, we saw many things jumping in the water, like dolphins, marlins, turtles, you name it.

We also got lucky enough to witness an eagle hunting for fish for about 30 minutes.

TIP: Bring binoculars if you want to watch the wildlife from the boat!

Day 1: Diving with turtles and Dolphins in Central Komodo

We first did a check dive at Sebayur, which was great as I had bought new diving equipment and had to check my weight.

Sebayur is excellent for check diving, as it is very protected and often has very low current. It has a sandy bottom with a maximum depth of 25 meters. The coral garden at 5 to 8 meters was so beautiful. We didn’t see the turtles that often hang around there, but we did find a ghost pipefish that was very cute.

The second dive at the Tatawa Besar dive site was awesome. Not only are the corals beautiful, but we were joined by a group of six dolphins. We were diving along the slope when we first heard them. They swam toward us for a short encounter, but they, unfortunately, didn’t want to hang out with us. This is my second time meeting dolphins underwater, and it is always a fantastic experience.

We also dove at the Golden Passage dive site. This is an exhilarating dive as the drift can be quite fast through the channel between Komodo Island and Gili LawaDarat.

This is a shallow dive site, its maximum depth is around 20 meters. Here you can find the healthiest hard corals in Komodo. It is an excellent place to spot sharks at 20 meters.

Day 2: Looking for big pelagics in North Komodo

The plan for this day had some of the most action-packed dives sites in all of Komodo.

We started with the Shotgun (also called the Cauldron) dive site by Gili Lawalaut. The Shotgun is one of the most famous dive sites in Komodo. It looks like a canyon with a hole in the middle, hence its alternate name, the Cauldron.

This dive site is mostly a sandy bottom with nice bommies and hard coral. It’s interesting to note that some of the corals here are over 500 years old, the oldest in Komodo.

The current will take you slowly through the first part of the channel until you reach the Cauldron.

The Cauldron hole is 24 meters deep. The wall on the right side is covered in soft corals. There are also many giant trevallies in the crack.

After the Cauldron, the current will start to pick up. This part of the dive is called the Shotgun.

TIP: you need to deflate your BCD at the end of the Cauldron because the depth changes fast, the current can be strong and you don’t want to pop up.

It is an exhilarating drift that can be quite fast. There is plenty of fish around to look at as well. There is no need to fight the current as the drift usually ends up in a quiet sandy bottom with sharks, turtles, and beautiful corals. We saw two turtles mating. We were lucky to spend the last 20 minutes of the dive with two Manta rays and two turtles. It was such an amazing experience.

Our dive at the Cauldron was hard to beat, but our next two dives at Crystal Rock and Castle rock were also amazing.

The Crystal Rock dive site is composed of two submerged pinnacles of Gili Lawalaut. The biggest rock goes up to the surface. The smallest one is 12 meters down.

There was a lot of action at the split with sharks, and we also saw a few sleeping sharks.

The channel between the two pinnacles has sweetlips, big napoleon wrasses, and turtles.

Castle Rock is probably my favorite dive site in Komodo. It is an underwater pinnacle that starts at 5 meters and goes down to 30 meters. This dive site can also have a ferocious current and be one of the most exciting dives in the entire park. There is a lot of big pelagic fishes hanging out in the area. We used our reef hook to stay in the current and witnessed over 20 sharks passing by and circling around. Besides the sharks, the amount of fish present in the current was phenomenal; from white tips to grey nurse sharks. You can tell that it was the mating season in Komodo as many sharks had substantial scars on their back as they were fighting over the female sharks.

Day 3: Meeting the Komodo dragons

Ilike cruises are about much more than diving. This morning we went to encounter Komodo dragons on Rinca Island. We got a bit lucky, and it was my most exciting visit so far. We even got to witness them mate. Two males then started to fight over the female. Usually, if you see the dragons they are lying the sun and not doing much, so this was very exciting.

The day was followed by two more dives at Mawan and SoroLiah.

Mawan is an exciting dive site because Mantas often hang out there. The dive starts with a gentle drift through a coral garden and finishes in a sandy bottom area that has two Manta cleaning stations.

Day 4: Exploring central Komodo in the water and on land

Our first dive of the day was the Pink Beach dive site. The temperature was much colder than in the north of the park.

The pink beach dive site is a gentle beach slope going down to 25 meters. A small wall starts at 15 meters with many crinoids.

Coral cat sharks that walk around the wall have been seen there, but we were not lucky to see them. Overall, I found this dive site a bit disappointing after all the fantastic dives we had done in the previous days.

Our next dive would be Manta Point at Makassar Reef. This is the largest dive site in Komodo, spanning over 2 kilometers. It is a sandbank with a sloping beach that is mainly sand and rubber.

The highlight of this site is that there are a few cleaning stations that attract Mantas, Mobula, and Eagle Rays.

We didn’t see any Mantas when we dove Manta Point, unfortunately; there was no current. The dive was, however, interesting as it is full of nudibranchs shrimps and other macro stuff that you can only enjoy when there is no current. We also encountered a few sharks and a marble ray.

It’s worth noting that I have dived Makassar Reef before and have seen up to 30 Manta rays, so with a bit of luck this dive site can be awe-inspiring.

At the end of the day, the Ilike liveaboard organized a sunset drink on Pemilu Island; an island paradise in the middle of Komodo National Park. We explored the beach, the mangrove area, and climbed the hill to see the view from above. We then ended up on the beach with good music, drinks, and a fantastic sunset. Life felt just perfect!

Day 5: Retreating to the north of the park after a failed exploration of the south

Today, we tried to go to the south of the park. The wind and waves were too strong, so we had to turn back for safety reasons. The Ilike liveaboard had to retreat to the north to dive in the more protected sites.

We tried our luck once more with Manta Point at Makassar Reef, and this time we saw two Manta rays.

We also dove again at Castle Rock, but this time there was a lot less current and a lot fewer sharks. It was still a fantastic dive, though.

We then explored the Lighthouse Reef dive site. It is a relatively new dive site, and it was my first time diving it. It is a long ridge at a corner near the lighthouse of Gili Lawalaut. The most interesting parts are the boulders 30 meters at the ridge. They are full of different kinds of fish and sharks. I, however, still found that the ridge at Castle Rock was much more interesting and full of life.

Day 6: Leaving Komodo National Park for Gili Banta

We started the day in the Batu Moncho dive site. Batu Moncho is the beach on the other side of Komodo National Park. It is far from Labuan Bajo, so not many boats make it here.

It is a very beautiful sloping reef going from 5 to 20 meters deep. After 20 meters it becomes a sandy bottom with lots of bomies. There are a ton of leather corals in the shallowest part and plenty of seafans around 15 meters.

This is a scenic site with a pretty landscape. There was no current, so it was a relaxing dive. We saw a few stingrays, a shark, as well as a huge barracuda. Some areas also have many glass fish that look very pretty.

We did this dive at 7 am, which was a bit too early as it was still covered by the shade of the mountains behind us. This site is probably better after 8:30 or 9 am.

Our second and third dives of the day were at the K2 dive site at the island of Gili Banta. Gili Banta Island looks like a deer and is located to the west of Komodo Island. You realize that you have left Komodo National Park as there are no more boats around.

K2 is a sloping reef with a small ridge and a wall going down to 25 meters. It has terrific corals and soft corals. The macro lovers in our group were thrilled. There was no current and excellent visibility, so it was a very comfortable dive. We saw a crocodile fish, orangutan crabs, plenty of other crabs, and several nudibranchs. This site didn’t have much big fish, but the colors of the reef were enchanting.

The site along the bay is quite large. We did two dives there and didn’t see the end of it.

The group then did a night dive on Gazer beach. I don’t like night dives and typically don’t do them. I regretted not doing this one as it was the best of all of them. So don’t be like me and miss out on this if you are on Banta Island. The divers saw a walking catshark, a few stargazers feeding, a baby frogfish, and plenty of lionfish.

Day 7: Diving the active volcano on Sangean Island in Sumbawa

The three dives we did on Sangean Island were the real surprise of the trip. I was not expecting that it would be so much fun!

Our first dive of the day was at hot rock dive site at the foot of the Sangean volcano.

It is named as such because there are many underwater bubbles and some of the underwater rocks are incredibly hot. The site is sloping reef with many bommies.

This site has some of the most delicate corals and soft corals we have seen on this trip. The colors of the coral contrasting with the black sand was simply stunning. There is a fantastic amount of nudibranchs, too. Did you know that nudibranchs mate in groups and are cannibals? They actually eat each other!

On the sloping reef, you can also find sea fans with pygmy seahorses. The site is filled with fish; they’re everywhere! There are tons of fusiliers and damselfishes and dozens of other species of beautiful fish. This was easily one of the prettiest dive sites we have seen during the diving trip. There was a strong current just teeming with life!

Our second dive was on the Lighthouse Reef. It is a sandy slope that turns into a wall at 10 to 30 meters. This dive was mostly about macro.

There was a mix of sea fans, soft corals, and sponges. It is very colorful but maybe a bit less than hot rocks. Some areas have been dynamited for fishing. There were many fishermen from Bima spearfishing, which might explain the lack of big fish at the site.

The third dive was at the Tikno Reef (or black diamond) dive site nearby.

Tikno is a reef mixed with volcanic rocks, and there were a few bommies in the area but for the most part, it was just black sand. Don’t be fooled by the lack of corals and bommies, though. This, too, was a great dive. Probably as good, if not better, than Ambon and Lembeh.

In an hour, we saw at least 20 different nudibranchs (including my first Pikachu!), a wonderpus, ornate ghost pipefish, and plenty of shrimp. We could feel the warmth from the volcano bubbling up from underneath. We also heard a volcanic eruption while underwater. What an experience!

After the third dive, we visited the Bontoh village. It is a traditional village with plenty of animals. The villagers were very welcoming and busy building a boat. Their craftsmanship was quite impressive.

We also enjoyed the sunset off Sangean Island where the volcano was erupting. Unforgettable!

Day 8: Morning dive in Satonda island and cruising to Bali

On our last day, we only had time for one dive on Satonda Island, located in the middle of Sumbawa. There are many sponges with hairy crab lobster. Damaged corals, little fishes and lack of sunshine made this site the least interesting of the whole trip. It was however interesting to contrast it with the amazing dives we have done in the past week and to realize what a fantastic place Komodo and Sangean are.

TIP: be careful if you dive there because I saw a grenade underwater!!

After the dive, we hiked to the lake in the middle of the island; Satonda is an extinct volcano island. The hike was super easy, and the lake and surrounding scenery are definitely worth checking out.

Diving organization aboard Ilike Liveaboard

Diving is perfectly organized on Ilike liveaboard. There were four dives organized on most days, three day dives, and one night dive. I don’t like the night dives, so I focused on the three day dives.

We were divided into two groups, each with our tender boat to shuttle us to and from the dive sites. The crew would even load up all of our equipment onto the tender boat. The service on Ilike is genuinely five stars. The dive deck is one of the biggest ones I have seen on a liveaboard, so it never felt crowded.

The staff would assist us in putting on wetsuits, carrying all the equipment, and they would even welcome us back to the boat with a warm towel. Upon returning from a night dive, they would also offer hot chocolate to warm up the cold night divers.

Diving could not be made any easier. Thirty minutes before the dive time, Patricia, our cruise director, would brief us about the dive site. Her briefing was very informative. They included elements like the dive site’s topography, currents, and depth. Her briefings also included interesting stories about fish and their native habits. I learned quite a lot.

The Ilike liveaboard has been designed with underwater photographers in mind. There is a charging area and a camera area where you can prepare your gear if you’re a photographer. The service offered for cameras is also outstanding. The crew would bring my camera on the boat for every dive. At the end of the dive, they would rinse it in fresh water and place it back on the camera table and dry it for me.

Internet and phone connection in Komodo National Park and the way to Bali

There is no Internet aboard the Ilike liveaboard. If you want a connection during the trip, buy a Telkomsel card for your mobile phone. It cost about 150,000 Indonesian rupees ( ~10 USD) with a data plan for a month.

Telkomsel has the best coverage in the remote regions of Indonesia.

The Internet connection was good in most of Komodo National Park. We often had 3G or 4G a few hours a day, and the boat would usually anchor at places with an Internet signal for the night.

We had no coverage ( not even phone service) on the way to Bali for two days between Banta Island and the Sangean volcano.

Then, on the crossing through Sumbawa and Lombok, it was on and off; the Internet only being available when we neared towns and villages.

Bali has good 4G coverage.

TIP: The Internet signal is better the higher you go on the boat. It would often not work in the cabin, but it would on the sun deck. Don’t expect the connection to be good enough to download movies, but it was certainly good enough for web surfing, checking emails, and using messenger services.

When to dive in Komodo

The high season in Komodo is mid-June to the end of September. This is the dry season with blue skies and great visibility. You can, however, dive in Komodo the rest of the year and have a higher chance of seeing Manta rays during the wet season.

Conclusion of my diving liveaboard from Komodo to Bali:

Exceptional diving, a comfortable boat, and a friendly crew are the critical ingredients to having a fantastic dive holiday. Komodo has earned its status as one of the best diving spots in the world and is now attracting the crowds. Sangean island is impressive as well, but it is still undiscovered, so go there now before it becomes too popular.

For more information and booking, contact Ilike liveaboard.

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