#jibboom

[hmsspeedy]

Cochrane made an experiment with a big kite by using it as a sort of additional foresail when he commanded HMS Pallas in 1806.

Quite obviously the 'innovative' use of gigantic kites to propel ships is not as new as companies like Airseas want make us believe.

Here is the story of Cochrane's big kite, narrated by himself in his autobiography:

'On our way home, we one day made an experiment which even now I believe might occasionally be turned to account; viz. the construction of gigantic kites to give additional impetus to ships. With this view a studdingsailboom was lashed across a spare flying jibboom to form the framework, and over this a large spread of canvas was sewn in the usual boys' fashion. My spars were, however, of unequal dimensions throughout, and this and our launching the kite caused it to roll greatly. Possibly, too, I might not have been sufficiently experienced in the mysteries of "wings and tail" for though the kite pulled with a will, it made such occasional lurches as gave reason to fear for the too sudden expenditure of his Majesty's stores. The power of such machines, properly constructed, would be very great ; and in the case of a constant wind, might be useful. The experiment, however, showed that kites of smaller dimensions would have answered better.'

Images:

Portrait of Lord Cochrane

HMS Pallas Entering Plymouth Harbour by

Thomas Lyde Hornbrook (1780 - 1850)

Using gigantic kites to propel ships

[armandposting]

hey pirate show friends! in honor of my boat graduation and because I'm procrastinating my work I thought I'd make a post about some super basic sail mechanics/terminology for all your writing-about-ships needs. this just covers the very broad strokes that you'd need to convincingly talk about what's happening on a ship while there's other stuff going on, or to insert some ship-based drama. I'm not an expert and I'm only practically familiar with one tallship that's much later in period than the Revenge. but here are some things I did not know before sail training that I think could be helpful or provide some fun jumping off points for writing! this is super long but I am super procrastinating. hopefully it's helpful to someone. if not, I at least wasted a fun hour thinking about things that aren't my day job.

1. what are the basic types of sails?

for a square-rigged ship like the Revenge, you will have both "square sails" and "fore-and-aft sails." square sails are set perpendicular to the masts and, obviously, are roughly square. they are "bent onto" (meaning connected to) the "yards," which are the horizontal pieces of wood that cross the mast. fore-and-aft sails are set going, well, fore and aft, meaning they follow the line of the ship. these can include staysails (triangular sails bent onto the "stays," or wires that support the masts, and therefore run down the middle of the ship), jibs (also triangular and bent onto stays or wires, but going out along the jibboom and bowsprit, which are the spars that extend forward of the ship's bow), spankers (a large trapezoidal-ish fore-and-aft sail bent onto booms (basically like a fore-and-aft yard) off the mizzen mast, which is towards the stern of the boat, and acts as a wind rudder), and more. some older ships also had spritsails, which were small square sails bent onto yards that hang off the bowsprit. they look very silly in my opinion but to each their own. these aren't all the kinds of sails but they'll cover your basics.

ships can also have any number of sails. full size square-rigged ships can have as few as two or as many as five square sails on each mast. the lowest and largest sail can be called either the mainsail or the course, and are further specified by saying which mast it's on (i.e., the fore course, main course, or mizzen course). going upwards and assuming a five-sail mast, you've next got the lower topsail, upper topsail, topgallant (pronounced t'gallant), and royal. the staysails are named for the mast they connect to. so the most forward might be the "fore topmast staysail," indicating a sail that is connected to the upper part of the foremast.

2. how are sails controlled?

the vast majority of sail control actually comes from the deck and does not require having people aloft, or in the rigging (I'll address the reasons to have people aloft in the next section).

each sail has a number of "lines" (ropes) connected to it at different points that control whether the sail is "set" (fully extended) or "doused" (pulled up towards the yard). more lines are connected to the yards and control how the sail is oriented. the yards can be pulled back and forth, some of them can be pulled up and down, and their angle relative to the horizon can also be adjusted. the square sails on a mast all work together as they are stacked on top of each other and often have interconnected rigging. the lines all come down to the deck and are "belayed" (a figure-eight shaped way of wrapping the rope) around a "pin." the pins may be on a rail that wraps around the ship (the "pinrail"), on a rail that makes a square shape around a mast (a "fiferail"), or on a metal band wrapped around a mast (a "spider rail.") (there are other rails also, especially on the headdeck, which is the most forward, and the quarterdeck, which is the most aft. don't worry about it.)

some things you might do with sails from deck:

set sails (pulling the foot of the sail all the way to the next lowest yard so that it is fully extended and can fill with wind)

douse sails (pulling the foot of the sail up to its yard so that it is no longer catching as much wind. you can leave the sail doused if you might need to set it again, or you can send people aloft to furl it if you do not need it or are in conditions where it is dangerous to have a loose sail)

conduct manuevers, i.e. turn the ship

the three basic manuevers are tacking, wearing, and boxhauling, but all of them are just ways to turn the ship and change course. you can look up the particulars of these manuevers if you're interested, but I think the most important part from a writing perspective is knowing the initial commands. there are a whole series of commands for each of these manuevers but the opening ones you might most need are:

for a tack, the captain or conn (person in charge of issuing manuevering orders), first calls "ready about!" one of the other orders that might be dramatic to have in a writing situation is "helms a'lee," which occurs after ready about and prompts the person at the helm to turn it.

for a wear (the most common and least work-intensive way to turn most large tallships, though it loses you more ground), the order is "prepare to wear ship!"

for a boxhaul (essentially a three-point turn for when you do not have a lot of space to manuever), the order is "stand by to boxhaul!"

you can also stop the ship by "heaving to" (past tense: "hove to"), where you rotate the yards in opposition to each other so that the sails form a right angle with each other, which loses you all of your wind power.

these might change by period or tradition, but are the most common I'm aware of.

the commands for setting and dousing sails are pretty straightforward- you're just going to say "on the [fore/main/mizzen], set/douse your [sail]!" someone lower in the chain of command might also say "hands to the [sail] gear." whatever needs to get done is then accomplished by hauling on, easing (letting go slowly and under control) or casting off the relevant lines.

4. so what do people do aloft?

going up into the rigging is referred to as "laying aloft." you do this by climbing the "shrouds," which are those things you always see people in Boat Media climbing on-- they look like big nets or ladders that extend from the rails of the ship up to the masts. the shrouds may go to "cranelines" (small footropes that allow you to access the middle of a mast between yards, which is often where staysails are stowed), to platforms/crow's nests, or to "footropes," which are strung under each yard. there is also the "headrig," which is a system of footropes and stays that form what looks like a net under and around the jibboom and bowsprit and allow those areas to be accessed. all of these need to be tarred and otherwise repaired, and if a line parts (breaks) a new one needs to be rigged. masts may also need to be tarred or painted and other hardware might need to be repaired, checked, or replaced, such as "blocks" (pulleys that help lines move), shackles, and hooks. you might also need to bend on sails, or even replace entire masts if you're doing heavy repairs in port. people doing these jobs might carry tools or materials tied off in canvas buckets, or ride on a "bosun's chair," which is a wooden swing that can be tied to a gantline and used to lift a person up into the rigging or down over the side of the ship (like stede during the lighthouse fuckery or lucius when he's supposed to clean barnacles).

for non-maintenance related activities, the only things that really need to be done aloft are loosing and furling the sails.

square sails are kept, when idle, rolled and tied to their yards (furled). fore and aft sails are also furled, which depending on the sail may also mean tying it to a mast, or it may mean bundling it down against a stay or spar.

before a ship gets underway, the sails therefore need to be loosed (untied). a captain might not order all sails to be loosed at once when first starting out. if there's heavy winds, you might only need a few sails to get the speed you're going for. in light winds, you might need all of them. the order of loosing on a ship with five square sails per mast is typically: lower topsail, upper topsail, t'gallant, royal, course. but this is ultimately up to the captain's discretion. the courses have a lot of power and you might not need or want that much power when the winds are high.

to loose a sail, sailors are ordered to lay aloft, where they range out along the yard of the sail they're loosing. they stand on the footropes and hold onto a metal rail called the "jackstay." on each side of the yard, there are 3-5 "gaskets" holding the sail tied to the yard. these are loosed as sailors lay out along the yard (the knot is called a butterfly and can be pulled out in one easy motion). then each person stops at their gasket and "gasket coils" it, which coils the gasket up nicely so that it sits right at the yard and doesn't flap around the sail. gasket coils can also be undone easily by flipping one part of the coil over and then just letting the rest fall. the sail can then be set from deck.

you might need to "sea stow" a sail if you have to furl them very hastily, for example if a storm is coming. in this case you'd lay aloft, loose a couple of gasket coils, and spiral them widely inboard (towards the mast) and tie them off. the goal is not to look pretty, just to be fast. the sail will be doused from deck, and the hardest part of this is gathering up the sail the rest of the way so that it can be tied down. you lean your hips against the yard, reach over, and gather up chunks of the sail, tucking them under your belly until you have all of it, and then tie your gaskets. it's hard to do because you are not working together as closely or as carefully in a sea stow situation, and also potentially because the conditions are garbage.

sails ideally are stored in a "harbor furl," particularly, as the name implies, in harbor, where you are not likely to quickly need them loose again, and you have the time to put them away nicely. also, ship people judge each other if these don't look nice. this is a much more synchronized manuever. the sail is doused from deck, then sailors lay aloft in the same way as they did for loosing. here, the people with the hardest jobs are the ones up first, who go out to the farthest points of the yard (the "yardarm"). everyone begins to gather up the sail in the same manner as a sea stow, leaning over the yard and tucking folds of the sail under your stomach. the people at the yardarm are also dealing with the blocks and gear at the lower outside corners ("clews") of the sails. their job is more technically complicated and so they control the rhythm of everyone's gathering. once the sail has been folded and furled nicely with the "sun skin" facing out (protecting the rest of the sail from the elements), the person on the weather (side the wind is coming from) yardarm calls, in rhythm, "roll-ing home," or something similar, which prompts everyone to roll the sail up on top of the yard in unison. then each person wraps their gasket around the sail and yard, ties it off, and heads back down. again, that command might vary by period and tradition.

5. what are some things I could throw in my story for drama?

here are just a few:

a line could part! this is actually not uncommon on buntlines, which are one of the lines that help set and douse sails. when one of these parts and there's any amount of wind, the whole ship is going to know about it very fast because the sail, out of control, will start to "flog." this means it flops around in the wind and makes a very ominous sound (like a huge towel being snapped). to fix it, crew needs to lay aloft immediately and sea stow the sail so the bosun or other skilled crewmember can rig a new buntline.

a note about lines parting: manila lines do not have the "snapback" effect that modern synthetic lines do. this means they part more easily, but also more safely. they also get VERY swollen and spongy when it's wet, because they absorb water, and may even start to unlay (where the strands start to untwist themselves). so they can be also very annoying to handle when wet.

you might have to execute a manuever while people are still aloft! this is not uncommon, particularly for people aloft performing routine maintenance, but not ideal in bad conditions, particularly if people are out on the yards. because manuevers involve the yards being pulled back and forth and therefore rotating on the mast, it can be pretty harrowing to ride one through a manuever (or fun, depending on what kind of person you are). there are also pinch points between the yards and the mast that anyone on the mast or shrouds needs to steer clear of so they don't get crushed by a moving yard. "avast!" is a real command used when there needs to be an immediate all-stop due to a safety issue.

you might have to sea stow in really heavy conditions! if you've seen the episode of black sails where flint sails the Walrus directly into a storm, you know how difficult this is. when a sail is full of wind, it's very hard to pull it up by hand, even when doused. dousing only pulls the sail about 3/4s of the way up to the yard, and a doused sail can still catch wind. in truly heavy winds it can be almost impossible to stow.

in high seas, the ship could roll so badly that people on the yardarms get dunked in the ocean! this has also happened on black sails, I think in that same episode. this has never happened to me but I think if it ever did I would just rather fall off in the ocean than get swung back up again, thanks (<-guy who is afraid of heights). this is not a death sentence though, sailors can and have held on enough that they get swung back up and can safely get down. if conditions are bad enough that this happens and you do lose grip and end up in the ocean, it's probably going to be pretty difficult to impossible to get rescued, at least in the 1700s.

someone inexperienced might belay a line that needs to be cast off in order for a manuever to work, or vice versa. this could be an easy fix or it could cause a very dangerous situation. if you lose control of one of the halyards that lifts the yards, for example, that's potentially tons of uncontrolled load that could fall and break any number of things on its way. or if a line is made fast when it needs to be loosed, you could have yards raised crookedly and/or lines breaking as the strain becomes too much.

rope burn! the lines on a ship are often controlling a lot of load and power. if you allow the rope to slip through your hands instead of moving hand-over-hand, or if you just lose control of it, you can get rope burn that can be pretty severe. it's a wound that almost looks like a burn from fire would, especially while healing.

[elsewhereuniversity]

May I request a name?

I am at a loss on how to continue through the world. I feel a safe name would be a good start.

Jibboom

[inthefallofasparrow]

Also Round 1 , Round 2 , Round 3 , Round 4 , Round 5 , Round 6 & Round 7

[thecunnydiaries]

5th Monday

Very fine: light winds up Royal Mast & yards: out flying Jibboom. Had a general clean at the lower Deck & whitewashed it, in fact it is looking better than I have seen it.

[mongrelcave]

Blood and Water - .ii

She wakes to the sound of wood creaking.

There are stars above her.

No. she realizes that they're not just above, but all around her. She's in space. She sits up and runs her palm over the cool wooden planks underneath her before actually scanning the perimeter. From what she can tell, she’s on a galleon ship right next to its shrouds, and everything's relatively clean for what she assumes is a pirate ship - judging by the jolly roger she sees tied to the ship's jibboom.

“…Where-“ she startles at the sight of a very strange creature that looks like a wad of pink chewing gum approaching her. What’s stranger is what follows: Ryan, grinning and clad in old-fashioned pirate gear while other people that look unfamiliar to her trail closely behind. He looked more leaderlike than usual, here. There's a twinkle in his eye - one he lost after the recent 'incident'. "Welcome aboard!" He holds out his arm, inviting her to let him help her up. Irene blinks and obliges. Somehow, he was able to pull her up with ease despite the differences in stature and weight between them. "Ryan--" Her eyes narrow when she 'receives a message'.

search his mind. find the truth.

"Hell," she facepalms. "I must be in your brain." "Into the brain…" He blinks and looks off. Irene follows his gaze to see a pink planet in the shape and color of a brain. "That's where we're going now!" "What? No, Ryan, you're dreaming. What is all this about, anyway?" "It's an epic tale of my journey to get the treasure from the Dread Pirate Roberts." He bowed and mocked a British accent. "'With Pride. What can I do you for?'" She frowns slightly at his ridiculousness, although what he said sounded quite familiar. "We need to get out… I do, anyway. Let's go." Irene takes a step toward Ryan, but his smile disappears as he takes a step back in return. He looks upset, which makes Irene panic. His emotions might make this a lot uglier than it should be. "You're not…" He grumbled and suddenly Irene was wearing a full pirate costume, hat and eye patch included. Now it's her turn to grumble. "Much better! Now we can travel to Teller Prime!" "Teller what?--" He turns and points firmly at the brain planet. "Full speed ahead!" Irene isn't given the time to react when the ship makes a sharp turn - which would have knocked her down, if she hadn't held onto the railing. As commanded, the ship sails toward the planet at full speed. The angle at which the ship is sailing doesn't help, either. She looks off to the side only to see that Ryan and his crew stood completely still on the slanted ship.

Irene blinks and suddenly, they're no longer on the ship. In fact, the ship is nowhere to be seen. An old western style took over, pink sand under their feet - although she, Ryan, and the other crewmates continued to wear pirate outfits. The citizens of the old city rushed around busily. Irene takes in the scenery for a moment before turning to face Ryan. "Fun's over," she puts her hands on his shoulders. "You're in a dream. I'm from the real world." He blinks and everything around them slows. "Woah… Okay, lucid dreaming." He follows that up by closing his eyes with a pinched expression as if focused on something. Irene's hold tightens and her eyebrows furrow in frustration over what to say. "This isn't lucid and I'm not from your imagination. Notice how I'm the only one talking to you directly?" He pushes her off and looks around. He flinches when he rubs his shoulders. "Ow… Manage your stress. I know a guy--" "Ryan!" She snaps. Ryan holds his hands up defensively. "Woah! Don't like therapists. I get it but--" he's cut off by a hard smack, leaving a stinging mark on his cheek. "You need to wake up!" He rubs his face with a shocked frown. "That felt real… Okay. Yeah. Easy." Ryan stares at the ground with a strained expression. "Wake up… Just… Wake up!" Irene stares at him expectantly. He looks like he'll pop a vein, but he gives up at some point. "I can't wake up…" He exhales deeply. "Is this…Is this some Bucket prank?" Irene tenses as her heart sinks. She fears what will happen if she lingered here any longer without fulfilling her duty. Although, she doesn't exactly know what Jackson meant when he wanted her to find the 'truth.' Is Ryan hiding something from her? She ceases the thought and replaces it with something else. "Can you contact Leach?" He blinks out of his disappointment and looks up at her. "True! Ahem. Leach! Hey buddy!" They both just stand there for a moment. Nothing. Ryan looks back at her with a shrug. "No luck. Huh… I never tried contacting Leach in a dream." Irene sighs. As expected, Jackson wouldn't make it that easy. How is this even possible, anyway? She doesn't recall Jackson having this ability - then again, he does have two gods in him. Perhaps one of them is the god of dreams. "Alas. I suppose this will continue until I fulfill my part of the contract," she says bitterly. Ryan makes a neutral hum. "What, so Jackson can send people into minds now?" He mutters. "I don't know. Doesn't matter much now, though. I'm supposed to be 'finding the truth'," she makes air-quotes with her fingers, "but I don't know what that even means." To that, Ryan huffs. "I'm an open book, Irene. We can just tell Jackson," he stood on his toes to get close to Irene's eyes like they were camera. "To fuck off!" She cracks a smile but immediately goes back to her serious composure. "As much as I'd love to, I think the messages are a one-way thing… Maybe if we just look through your memories? Your history?" "Yeah. Let's go into my repressed memories like this is Inside Job. Maybe there's a folder of all my traumas organized neatly. Like the time my superman undies got caught in my locker the first day of middle school," Ryan scowls. "Honestly Irene. I don't know why he sent you here." Irene stares at him.

he's hiding something. isn't willing to show it. he doesn’t trust her…but she doesn't need trust.

She shakes her head. "Shut up." He frowns. "Damn, okay." She looks back at Ryan apologetically. "No, not you… Just- Him. He's driving me nuts," He nods. "Maybe he can let us out?" She gives him a thin-lipped smile. "Well you know him. He's not one for charity." That comment was meant to be light-hearted, but it just makes her heart sink even deeper. Despite the fact that she's been bound to Jackson for only a day, this felt all too familiar. The contract pulled out memories she had buried deep within her psyche. She's known men like him, and he knows this. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

There's an awkward silence. Maybe it was too soon to jest - she isn't quite used to doing that. She tries for another: "I can't believe I'm stuck in your head now." Maybe that was too rude-- "There are worse places to be," he hums, looking off at the middle of nowhere. Seems that time has stopped completely. This isn't working. Get to the point. "Look. I know this situation is…bizarre, but help us out here. It will be uncomfortable, but we've gone through worse together." Ryan scoffs, still not meeting her eyes. "Let's just find a way out." "Please, Ryan," she pleads as gently as she can. He needs to make this easier for her. For the both of them

Another beat of silence. She takes a deep breath.

"I'm sorry--"

he doesn't trust you. that's fine. you know when to use force.

Her voice is caught in her throat as all her nerves set off at once. Irene awaits a command.

command? she doesn’t need commands. he’s nothing but a pest - much like a mosquito, and mosquitos are better off squashed - but before that…

She steps forth. He doesn’t know why, but the act makes the hair on Ryan’s neck bristle. He takes a step back in response - but this proves to be futile when she grabs his wrist quicker than he could react. She closes their distance by yanking him toward her. “Did nobody-” he tries pulling away to no avail. “Did nobody teach you about personal space?” The silence that once surrounded them is filled with the grinding of wood from the western buildings and the whistles of wind as it kicks up sand beneath their feet. “Don't you want to wake up?” she snarls, grip tightening to a painful degree. He winces. "Irene- how are you-" Irene takes a deep breath, as if to calm herself. Then, she gives him a thin, eerie smile that doesn't meet her eyes. He doesn't like this. "Very well." She finally lets go and Ryan turns to rub his sore wrist. He looks around to see the barren, pink wasteland with broken planks of wood, furniture, and glass buried under the sand. Then, he barely hears Irene mutter: "I never liked using force…Given me no choice."

Everything warps. His heart sinks.

"Irene!" Ryan turned to face Irene, his eyes were filled with horror, tears caught on the base of his eyelids. The junk sinks into the sand, and his surroundings start to look foggy - like he was staring at a closeup of a Monet painting. His mind feels like it's being dissected as his dream shifts into a recent memory. The cave. He's struck with the stench of dried bodily excrement and mold. The memories of voices echoed around them as the new scene settled into place. Like a movie screen circling the two of them, they watched the scenery change again: his home, his brother - what he had and lost; a memory within a memory. Ryan stood frozen helplessly as the memory played. All of his emotions washed over him and Irene all over again as he stood paralyzed. Tears fell silently from his face, he dug his nails into his shaking arms. In the corner of his eye, he sees her flinch. His voice was shallow and full of resentment. "Is…is this what you wanted?" He didn't look at Irene. It wasn't entirely clear if he was talking to her or Jackson. She hesitates. He barely hears her muttering a quick apology before disappearing without a sound.

He sniffles, wiping away his tears, and he tries waking up - but he doesn't. He's pulled deeper into the graveyard of his buried memories, and he starts to panic.

He tries again,

Fuck.

The nightmare worsens. Memories mixed with horrific things he didn't even know he could imagine. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wake up. Irene simply abandoned him.

She lied.

.iii

[casspurrjoybell-21]

Pirate Chains - Volume 1 - Strong Tides

*Warning Adult Content*

Chapter 30 - Omen - Part 2

Nyx

"I couldn't handle listening to Mern sing anymore," I muttered under my breath.

Agenor chuckled as he entered the cabin and shut the door behind us, casually discarding his shirt. I walked over to the bed, where I saw the chain resting on my pillow. With a sigh, I thought to myself how much I despised that chain. I hoped that he wouldn't use the dog leash on me tonight but I knew better than to ask. He probably wouldn't care about my feelings toward it and I didn't want to get into an argument right now. For once, I had such a good day.

I took off my shirt and reached for a wet cloth from the bucket beneath the window. I used it to clean my face, neck and body before returning it to the edge of the bucket. I then sat down on the bed, feeling tired after our long day. As Agenor removed his dagger and placed it on the table, he muttered...

"Twenty seven and eleven."

"What's that?" I asked, rubbing my eyes and trying to shake off my drowsiness.

Agenor looked deep in thought, completely sober despite the many drinks he had consumed earlier. He didn't answer my question right away, so I repeated..

"Twenty seven what?"

He turned to me with a serious expression before leaning against the table and cracking a small smile that didn't put me at ease at all.

"There are twenty seven men who aren't pleased with your current status on the Martina."

I was startled by the news.

"What? Twenty seven pirates hate me? How. When did that happen?" I exclaimed, feeling wide awake.

He shrugged.

"Don't take it personally."

I couldn't help but respond sarcastically.

"Oh really? You're telling me that twenty seven pirates on this ship despise me and all you have to say is that I shouldn't get offended?"

"Well, not all of them hate you. Some, let's say, they don't exactly dislike you."

I was perplexed and struggled to comprehend this revelation.

"What does that mean?" I asked, looking at him in disbelief.

He hesitated for a moment before answering...

"I mean, not all of them have a problem with you."

"And how do you know all of this?"

It was only after he gave me a sly smirk that I realized the truth.

"Wait... That's why you were following me around, today? You were spying on me," I accused him, feeling betrayed.

He acknowledged it with a nod and I felt a pang of disappointment. I had been so happy to spend the day with him, thinking he wanted to be by my side, only to find out he was investigating me. He saw the confusion on my face and came to sit beside me. After securing the chain to my collar, adding to my disappointment.

"Don't worry, out of the twenty seven, only eleven might do something about it."

With that, my peaceful day was the last thing on my mind.

"What? What does that mean? What could they possibly do to me?" I asked, feeling a sense of dread creeping up on me.

He held my face in his hands and reassured me.

"No one would dare to harm you," he said with confidence before adding with a furious glint in his eyes.

"If anyone so much as lays a finger on you, I'll pin their head and balls to the jibboom."

My mind raced with thoughts of the eleven individuals who wanted to harm me. What if he found out about what happened with Ken? God, he'd be so angry he might end up killing both of us. Agenor suddenly grabbed me by the neck and pulled me closer to him.

"Who is it, Nyx?" he demanded.

"What?"

"Right now, you're thinking about the fucker who messed with your head lately. Just tell me his name and I'll..."

I was taken aback and tried to push his hands away.

"Cut it out, Agenor. It's not important," I insisted.

"Not important?" he repeated incredulously. "Clearly someone has said something hurtful to you and I know you well enough to know that you don't take insults lightly."

"I'm fine now, so drop it," I retorted, feeling uneasy under his intense scrutiny.

He let out a long sigh to calm down.

"Please tell me what happened. Even if it's over, I need to know. The person who hurt you is obviously careful enough that no one else knows about it. If someone did, I would have found out immediately. The fact that he can mess with you under my nose pisses me the fuck off. Just tell me who it is and what happened." he said with conviction.

"No one will ever hurt the one I love," he added, his eyes locking with mine.

I stared at Agenor's hand, which held mine tightly. Why did he need to know everything? Even if the situation has ended, he insists on knowing all the details. Did he not trust me to handle things on my own? This was becoming a bigger issue because of his stubbornness.

Though he spoke calmly, I could feel the intensity of his grip. His desire to protect me seemed more like an obsession with controlling every aspect of my life. He had already suspected that someone had insulted me and I feared what he might do if he found out more.

What if he knew that Ken had touched me. I felt a shiver of disgust go through me at that awful memory. And I knew something like that was enough to trigger Agenor in a dangerous way. I mean, he didn't even like me looking at him defiantly. So who knows how he'd react if he knew that. I didn't want to anger him again. It was really hard to face an angry Agenor, it was just too much. I looked at him.

The memory of his sword, dripping with blood, flashed before my eyes. I couldn't risk his wrath. I needed to learn to hide my emotions if I hoped to survive this ordeal. I hated this feeling of fear that consumed me. After a moment of silence, Agenor said...

"Okay fine, don't say a thing. Just look at me."

I looked at him, not completely trusting what he might do.

"Ajax?" he asked after a moment of silence.

I frowned in confusion and he continued...

"Pitt?... Jay? ... Nash? ... Bates?"

"What about them?"

He remained silent for a long moment studying my face then added...

"Biff?"

"Who the hell is Biff?"

"If you're asking, then he's off the list," he said, still focused on my every reaction.

"Wait, are those the ones who hate me the most?"

"Like I said, they don't necessarily hate you."

'The canning bastard was trying to read my face to get what he wanted.'

"Ares?... Ken?"

I immediately stood and turned away. My heart raced and I felt my face ready to betray me. I stood and walked to a lamp hanging on the wall and turned it off. The room darkened and only the rays of moonlight sneaked through the window. Then I walked past Agenor and lie on the bed to sleep. I felt him glare at me for not giving him what he wanted. He stood up and walked around the bed while kicking a chair on his way. He sat trying to keep the cool façade as long as possible. Being his impatient self, that didn't work for long, he leant towards me and yanked my shoulder back to make me look at him.

"Why the fuck would you want to hide anything from me? You must tell me everything Nyx, without me even having to ask."

I sighed and sat. Then I calmly said...

"I'm not used to being treated like a child, Agenor. Stop playing games with me. I'm not a..."

"A what?"

"A WOMAN. I'm a man and I can take care of myself if given the chance. If you really care about me, you'd trust me. Don't make a big deal out of this, right now I'm here. I'm good and that should be all that matters."

Despite the darkness, the concern in his eyes was visible and I hated myself for causing him to worry. Maybe it was my fault for not proving myself to him, for not showing him that I could handle things on my own.

[usaccidents]

SACRAMENTO, CA (July 13, 2023) – A 38-year-old woman died and Israel Campos was arrested after a DUI crash in downtown Sacramento Sunday night on July 9.

[sacramentonewsjournal]

Aftershock 2022 kicks off 4 days of music at Discovery Park

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — Hundreds of individuals might be at Discovery Park in Sacramento for Aftershock because it returns for one more 12 months. Right here’s what it’s worthwhile to know in regards to the pageant.  Gates are scheduled to open at midday daily of the pageant, and with no precise parking at Discovery Park, individuals within the space can anticipate site visitors. Sacramento Police mentioned to anticipate the site visitors to persist till Sunday. The pageant requested attendees to not entry the encircling tons across the park utilizing Backyard Freeway. There’s a designated Aftershock Journey Share Lot that’s situated at 500 Bercut Drive.  The Bercut Drive lot can be utilized for all drop-offs and pick-ups together with taxis and lodge drop-offs.  Individuals who select to bike can get to the occasion utilizing the Jedediah Smith Bike Path. The pageant mentioned there’s a complimentary bike valet situated close to the Jibboom Road entrance. “The bike valet will settle for all lively transportation automobiles together with bikes, skateboards and scooters and might be watched all through the whole occasion,” Aftershock mentioned on its web site. Thunder Valley On line casino to host a number of large performers in 2023 Based on the pageant, attendees don’t must put on a masks, be vaccinated or be examined for COVID-19. Final 12 months, over the 4 days, practically 150,000 individuals had been anticipated to attend the occasion. And with the pageant being 4 days lengthy once more, the variety of attendees will doubtless be the identical. The pageant usually brings thousands and thousands of {dollars} of income to the world, as lots of people come from out of Sacramento for it. Shut Modal Counsel a Correction Counsel a Correction Originally published at Sacramento News Journal

[jeffgoodsellart]

This is my absolute favorite icon from this piece, I just love it when ideas to combine objects create this much resonance. I like that he is precariously balanced on the paintbrush Jibboom (yes, that’s what it’s called on a sailing vessel, I looked it up :) yet he has the wings to fly. There is a great deal of meaning in that for me. #jibboom #bowsprit #angel #boy #angelwings #invictus #masterofmyfate #captainofmysoul #art #symbolism #artist #artistoninstagram #assemblage #assemblagesculpture #sculptor #sculpture #assemblageart #mixedmedia #jeffgoodsellart #jeffgoodsell (at Woodland Hills, Utah) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcadYplLEP/?igshid=tpvcxix7fn5n

[elizapdushku]

The Ultra Zone by Steve Vai, 1999 #stevevai #theultrazone #jibboom #musicilove #albumaday #0415 https://www.instagram.com/p/B-_XvZpHIbx/?igshid=ez5drnjrwpbw

[armandposting]

christening the new windbreaker with the requisite layer of tar by tarring on the jibboom and bowsprit in 15-20 knots sustained wind lol

[architectureforsuicides]

Lady Bird (Greta Gerwig, 2017) Jibboom Street Bridge Sacramento, California (USA) Bridge over the American river Type: swing bridge, truss bridge.

[ltwilliammowett]

What did HMS Victory look like after the Battle of Trafalgar?

In short, she had taken a lot of damage, her forward topmasts and yards, the nocksail booms and yards, the jibbooms and the entire mizzenmast were lost. In addition, the hull was badly damaged by gunfire and about two hundred hand grenades thrown onto the deck.

There had been minor fires on the boat's outriggers and near the trailing magazine, but they were quickly extinguished. Most of the boats stored on her were sunk and the starboard side of the ship was badly damaged as many gunports were lost and both anchors were shot away.

Victory being towed into Gibraltar on her way home after the Battle of Trafalgar, by Richard Barnett Spencer, 19th century (x)

After the battle, the starboard side of the forecastle had to be shored up and 30 cm of water per hour ran into the hold through bullet holes below the waterline. The shallow beak bulkhead, a transverse partition at the forward end of the ship, was riddled with holes caused by gun and grapeshot.

Over 200 panes of glass at the stern were broken and the cupids on the figurehead lost either an arm or a leg. After the battle, the ship was towed to Gibraltar by the Neptune. There she was repaired as far as possible, at least so that she could sail alone again, and then she had to get to Portsmouth as quickly as possible because she still had Nelson's pickled body on board. It was not until Portsmouth that she was fully recovered.

[inthefallofasparrow]

The Signs as Alternate Universe

In honour of us entering the Time of the Great Unspoken Void, here are your pre-approved star-signs for this Third Year of The Artichoke.

jibboom: April 2 - May 24 vanillish: May 26 - June 14 herpes: June 15 - June 22 galadriel: June 23 - July 15 rammstein: July 16 & 17 ambergris: July 18 - Sept 1 shamwow: Sept 2 - 14 fargo: Sept 18 - Oct 27 starbucks: Oct 28 sudoku: Oct 29 - Nov 18 tumeric: Nov 20 - Dec 9 jojosiwa: Dec 10 - Jan 29 blunderbuss: Jan 30 - Feb 28 batfink: March 1 - 4, March 21 - April 1 trebuchet: Feb 29, May 25, Sept 15 - Sept 17, Nov 19

             March 5-20 :The Great Unspoken Void (non-existent)

[nofatclips]

Jibboom (homage to Stevie Ray Vaughan) by Steve Vai from the album The Ultra Zone