#no but like seriously. yesterday we ran for 30 minutes straight and i felt blood in my lungs LOL. today i had to walk 40 minutes to get hom

[ejzah]

A/N: I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this, but here’s yesterday’s Whumptober post since ff.net is still having issues off and on. Sorry for clogging up your feeds with all my posts about this.

***

“Deeks, sit rep!” Callen shouted over comms as Deeks grunted loudly in pain. It wasn’t the first time he’d requested an update. Deeks punched one of the two gunmen trying to corner him, slamming the guy into the concrete wall and managed a breathless,

“Oh, I’m fantastic.” The other guy, who had a severe buzz cut and three inches on Deeks, stalked closer while he surveyed the situation. He’d lost his gun fighting the first gunman; it had flown somewhere across the room. It was too far away for Deeks to make a run for it and he was only armed with his knife now. “Actually, some back up might be nice,” he decided.

“Ok, we’re on our way.” As he dropped into a crouch to avoid his opponent’s roundhouse kick, Deeks hoped they came quickly.

***

“Stay down!” Deeks shouted, digging his knee into his opponent’s back. The guy kept jerking, nearly dislodging Deeks’ hold. It was taking all his strength to keep him down.

He panted as he leaned over the man. A couple of drops of blood fell from his nose, landing on the guy’s shirt, and spread into oblong dots.

The man underneath him roared and flipped onto his back, using the force to slam Deeks into the ground. His head made a sharp crack as it hit the concrete and Deeks instantly lost his grip, all his attention now focused on staying conscious.

He didn’t even see the first kick coming, but he certainly felt it. The breath rushed from his lungs and he gasped, curling into the fetal position for a second.

The guy must have been wearing steel-toed boots, because every kick felt like it was pulverizing Deeks’ insides. Deeks let his body go limp, not needing to fake his labored breathing.

He kicked Deeks in the stomach a couple more time, apparently just for the fun of it. Deeks didn’t move, letting his head fall back. His opponent looked over him and grinned, pulling out a sharp looking knife. As he bent forward, Deeks thrust himself forward and used the momentum to ram the man straight into a concrete pillar.

It was enough to stun him and Deeks dove for his gun, grasping the handle and rolling onto his back just as the door to the floor burst open and Sam rushed in, immediately followed by Callen and Kensi.

“On your knees!” Sam shouted, aiming his automatic rifle at Deeks’ opponent, who was just stumbling to his feet. He snarled, but dropped to his knees without a fight.

“Oh, sure. Now you come after I do all the work,” Deeks muttered breathlessly, wincing as he tried to sit up. Kensi rushed to his side, her hands quickly running over his torso as she eyed him with concerned.

“Deeks, are you ok? No, don’t get up,” she said, pressing on his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” he insisted. His head felt like someone had, well, shoved it into a wall and his ribs were on fire, but he didn’t think it was any worse than he’d had before.

“It sounded like he was knocking the crap out of you,” Callen commented, offering Deeks a hand.

“I, agh,” He gasped as his abdomen protested the sudden movement and stood in a hunched position for a minute, waiting for the pain to subside while Kensi hovered over him. “I was just, uh, lulling him into a false sense of security.”

“Sure you were,” Sam said as he finished handcuffing the Deeks’ opponent and jerked him to his feet. He glared at Deeks again, baring his teeth. Deeks winked at him and grinned, knowing that his teeth, coated with blood, would be a nasty sight.

“Kens, you take Deeks to the emergency. We’ll handle these two guys.”

As Kensi wrapped her arm around his waist, he tried not stumble.

***

Deeks shifted uncomfortably, stretching his torso to relieve some of the pressure. His trip to the ER had been uneventful with a diagnosis of bruised ribs, as he’d expected, and a couple stitches to his bottom lip.

The attending doctor, an overworked looking man who could have been anywhere between 30 and 40, had given him a script for prescription strength Tylenol. So far the three pills he’d taken hadn’t soaked in.

“You almost finished?” Kensi asked, coming up behind him and resting her chin on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I just need to send my after case, incident, and my injury reports to LAPD,” he said.

“I’m so glad I don’t have to fill out reports for two agencies.”

“Your sense of sympathy is remarkable,” Deeks drawled with a grin. He tilted his head back for a kiss and then turned back to his work.

It was after 8 by the time they got home and Deeks was absolutely wiped. It felt like every part of his body had been pummeled with a meat tenderizer. He gingerly tugged off his jacket, which reignited the fiery pain in his lower abdomen.

Kensi flipped on a few lights, took Monty for a quick bathroom trip, and then started rooting around in the fridge and cupboards.

“Ok, your choices are leftover Pho or my famous peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

“I think I’ll pass on dinner,” he said, shuffling to the stairs. Kensi paused in the process of filling two bowls with soup, already having guessed his normal preference.

“Are you sure? You haven’t eaten all day.”

“I really just want to sleep.” He was exhausted and laying down sounded blissful.

Kensi frowned, but didn’t push any further and dumped one of the bowls back into the takeout container. She joined him at the foot of the stairs and gently wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

“Ok. I’ll be up in a little bit,” she told him, punctuating her words with a kiss. Deeks grinned for the first time in several hours. If he wasn’t so sore and tired, he would seriously consider starting something.

He ran his nose along the length of Kensi’s jaw and across her cheek. Kensi made an incredibly sexy sound in the back of her throat as he teased her lips apart. Cupping the back of her head, he kissed her thoroughly. Kensi’s arms came around him again, pulling him against her. He yelped at the sudden pain the slight pressure had caused in his entire abdomen.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he insisted as Kensi instantly jerked away, her hands fluttering over him once again. “It’s just my ribs.”

“That’s not good, babe,” Kensi said with a frown. “If it still hurts this much tomorrow, I’m taking you back to the doctor.”

“I’ll feel better once I lay down.”

***

An hour or so later, Kensi had finished dinner, taken Monty for a quick walk, and paid a couple bills. She hadn’t heard any sound since Deeks went upstairs. When she checked their room, she found him laying on his back amid a nest of pillows.

She was reassured to see him sound asleep. Careful not to wake him, she pressed a kiss to his forehead. His skin was warm and smelled faintly of sweat and blood. He must have been extremely tired to forego a shower.

She changed and slipped into bed beside him, resting a hand on his chest. Deeks sighed a little in his sleep, but didn’t move.

Kensi woke up suddenly, blinking in the darkness. She automatically swept her hand over Deeks’ side of the bed and found it empty.

Frowning, she sat up and glanced around the room, noticing the stream of light coming from under the bathroom door. There was nothing unusual about Deeks using the bathroom in the middle of the night, but her stomach clenched with unexpected foreboding as she approached the door.

“Babe, you ok in there?” she asked quietly, tapping on the door. He didn’t answer so she tapped again and heard the unmistakable sound of retching. She yanked the door open without and gasped as she saw him bent over the toilet. “Deeks,” she murmured, rushing to his side.

He weakly turned his head, his eyes glassy and skin visibly sweaty. Kensi brushed his damp hair back from his forehead, her concern mounting as she felt his burning skin. She didn’t need a thermometer to know he had a fever.

“I don’t feel very good,” he mumbled hoarsely, flinching as he shifted minutely.

“How bad does your stomach hurt?”

“It’s killing me. I took some antacids, but it just made it worse.” His words were becoming more slurred and his head drooped. “Feels like something’s gonna explode.”

Kensi wrapped her arms around his torso, easing him back against her chest. He still whimpered, his entire body shaking with the effort to support himself at all. This was definitely more than just bruised ribs.

She lifted his damp shirt, revealing his stomach and upper chest.

“Oh my god,” she murmured. Dark, almost black bruises covered the majority of his abdomen. They were the worst on his right, lower side. “Ok, we need to get to the hospital now.”

“Ok,” he muttered, not questioning her. His face drained of color as he pushed himself up on shaking arms and for a moment Kensi was worried he was going to pass out.

She helped him sit on the bed, reluctant to leave him alone. He seemed unaware of her worry, consumed with holding himself upright, one arm loosely wrapped around his middle.

“I’m going to grab your shoes and the keys. Don’t move.”

By the time they were on their way to the hospital, Kensi could tell that the pain was getting worse. She sped down the quiet streets of their neighborhood, praying that an unsuspecting police officer wouldn’t try to pull them over.

“Ok, baby, we’re almost there,” she told him, more for her own sake than his, as she parked haphazardly in front of the emergency entrance. Deeks made it through the door on his own, but Kensi knew the effort had cost him. She got him situated in a chair in the waiting area and he groaned again, curling in on himself.

There was one nurse on duty behind the front desk, paging through a file. She didn’t look up as Kensi approached, consumed with her task. Kensi smacked her hand against the top of the counter and the nurse looked up in dismay and then annoyance.

“My husband needs to be checked out immediately,” Kensi said, gesturing to where Deeks was stretched into an awkward position in an attempt to find some relief. “He was kicked in the stomach earlier today and now he has severe bruising and stomach pain.”

Picking up on the urgency in her tone, the nurse pulled a stethoscope from around her neck and hurried towards Deeks.

“When did you say he was kicked?” she asked. Deeks didn’t resist when she lifted his shirt and pressed the chest piece to his lower abdomen. He jerked reflexively when she pushed a little harder, gripping the arm of the chair so tightly his nails bit into the fabric.

“Um, about 12 hours ago.”

“Any other symptoms?”

“He has a fever and nausea. He threw up earlier. We went to the ER and the doctor said it was just bruised ribs, but I think it’s something else,” Kensi explained, feeling helpless as the nurse gave Deeks a cursory examination.

“Does it hurt when I push here?” She directed this question to Deeks, who hissed loudly when she lightly palpitated the most bruised area.

“Son-of-a,” he muttered.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said grimly, turning back to Kensi. “I’ll have someone bring a wheelchair and get a doctor to see your husband as soon as possible. You can fill out his paperwork while we wait.”

***

Kensi walked down the hall, chewing on her bottom lip as she clutched Deeks’ phone to her chest. A doctor had come to evaluate Deeks about 20 minutes after they arrived and after another brief examination and a few questions, ordered a CT scan.

The doctor hadn’t seemed overly concerned until the results had come back. Then all hell broke loose. Suddenly Deeks was transferred to a gurney while the doctor pulled her aside and quickly explained that he thought Deeks was suffering from internal bleeding or a ruptured organ. She’d barely had time to kiss Deeks before he was wheeled off for emergency surgery.

Kensi had been pacing ever since; she was exhausted, but if she sat down, she knew the fear would overwhelm her. God, she hadn’t even had the chance to say “I love you” and her mind was filled with the image of his sweaty, pained face.

“Mrs. Deeks?” She spun around, rushing over to the doctor who performed Deeks’ surgery.

“Dr. Andrews, is he alright?” she demanded.

“We had to remove his appendix, but the surgery went well.”

“His appendix,” Kensi repeated and Dr. Andrews nodded.

“The trauma he received inflamed his appendix and over the course of the day, the organ became infected, causing acute appendicitis,” he explained, handing her a image from the CT scan and indicating the spot where his appendix had been. It was a darkened mass that Kensi, even with her limited knowledge, knew should not be there.

“Oh my god.” She could only imagine the force Deeks was kicked with to cause that type of damage and she felt slightly nauseous.

“Some of the surrounding tissue and other organs sustained fairly significant inflammation as well, so we will want to monitor him for a couple days.”

“So he could need more surgery?” she asked a little faintly.

“In my professional opinion, it’s unlikely. We just want to be sure.” When Kensi continued to look worried, he touched her shoulder, his expression kindly. “Your husband is going to be fine,” he assured her. “You can go in and see him now if you’d like.”

He was still unconscious when she entered his room, attached to several IV’s and a heart monitor, with an oxygen mask over his face.

She stepped right up to the bed, but hesitated to touch him. He looked so fragile with all the wires trailing from his body and a large white bandage covering a good portion of his midsection. She contented herself with running her fingers through his hair.

His eyes fluttered at her touch, opening completely when she gently cupped his cheek. Slowly Deeks opened his eyes completely, glancing around the room in mild confusion before he landed on her.

“Hey,” he murmured hoarsely. He frowned at the oxygen mask and clumsily took it off.

“Hey, baby. How’re you feeling?” she asked, tugging a chair towards the bed and sitting down.

“Like someone pulled my insides out and stuffed them back in.”

“Well, I guess they kind of did. They had to take your appendix out.”

“Huh.” He glanced down at his bare torso, poking at the bandage. “I wonder if I’ll have a big scar,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad you’re going to be alright,” she said. Deeks gave her a lazy grin.

“But just think of my beautiful golden skin, marred by a big, nasty scar. The women will be mourning in the streets.”

“Oh my god, you are so stupid.” She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his and rested her hand over the center of his chest, reassured by the steady beat of his heart. His skin was still a little warmer than normal. “I was really scared,” she whispered.

He laid his hand over hers, applying gentle pressure.

“Me too,” he admitted. “But I’m ok.” He shifted his head slightly and kissed her. “Thanks for making sure I didn’t explode.”

Kensi laughed wetly, cupping his cheek.

“Anytime.” They stayed like that for several minutes until Deeks started to blink sleepily. “Do you need anything?” she asked.

“I’m a little chilly.”

“I’ll see if there’s an extra blanket.” Deeks grabbed her hand a little tighter, tugging lightly.

“Or we could snuggle,” he suggested with an impish smirk. Kensi eyed his bandages, reluctant to risk hurting him. “Are you really going to let me lay here and freeze.” He lifted the edge of his blanket in a clear invitation. Rolling her eyes, Kensi crawled in beside him, carefully arranging her arms around him. When they were settled, Deeks sighed, pressing his nose into her hair.

It was hardly comfortable, with the safety bar digging into her back and the constant beeping, but Kensi was content to lie there all night. She’d nearly lost Deeks again and she wasn’t about to stray too far.

***

A/N: Am I playing fast and loose with science and medicine again? Why yes I am. While rare, blunt abdominal trauma has been known to cause appendicitis on occasion.

I also based Deeks’ symptoms on my own experience with a twisted ovary, which was originally misdiagnosed as appendicitis and a couple cousins who actually did have acute appendicitis and required surgery.

[bts-love-sweat-tears]

Julie’s Love Yourself Concert Diary

Concert Date: September 29, 2018

Written: September 30, 2018

Warnings: I curse more than I should?

Words: 3,330ish-added a few  things at the last minute (phew!)

A/N:

[Update: Tumblr couldn’t upload all my photos that I spent awhile choosing and placing, so I’m going to have to pare it down. Sorry bbs! I opted to cut my personal & merch photos in favor of the boys]

So I have one thousand and one things I should be working on-for school, for work, for my eventual job hunt. But instead I am going to write about last night’s experience while it was still fresh in my mind. I was thinking of doing a song-by-song play-by-play, but you can look up the setlist on Wikipedia, so instead I am going to talk about the things that jumped out at me. WARNING: This is essentially one giant spoiler, so I will try to put a “Read More” cut, though it’s been being weird for me lately. So scroll carefully if you’re going to a later date and don’t want to know. All photos taken on my (now ancient) iPhone 6, so I tried to choose the best ones). Will edit as I see typos I made.

I’m a little nervous since I usually write fiction instead of sharing my personal experience. Anyway, full disclosure that this is just my perspective, and I’m (always) happy to discuss things (civilly) if you disagree with me.  <3  Photos and opinions are mine.- please don’t re-post anywhere else.

The Background/ Pulling a Namjoon and Leaving my Ticket at Home

Even though I was going to the Saturday show, I flew into LaGuardia using frequent flyer miles on Friday morning. I was staying with a friend in Queens, so I went straight to her apartment. I’m a grad student as most of you probably know at this point, so I spent most of Friday working on a paper that was due. I had two friends I met at last year’s concert going to the Friday concert, and they went for merch promptly at 9, but I had just arrived and had a deadline to meet for school.  Around 4:30PM, I decided that I was done for the day and opened Ticketmaster to print my ticket for the next day’s show. When I logged in, I saw the notice that the ticket had been mailed to me. I remembered having seen that when I bought the ticket in May, but in my defense I was jet-lagged and ill on that day. Furthermore, I moved to and from NYC in that time for a summer internship, and SO MUCH HAD HAPPENED. The tickets had been mailed while I was living here and I had never seen them, so somehow it slipped my mind. Obviously I lived too far away, but I didn’t know if I could express overnight them, but I think when I called Ticketmaster, the old ones were deactivated when the guy tried to send me the link.

Anyway, print at home was not an option, so I called Ticketmaster and in a panic explained my situation. They said it happened all the time and offered to send me a link. Luckily I kept the rep on the line, because it turned out that even they couldn’t email a link because of the anti-scalpers/fraud/whatever.

Then the rep said that I could show the credit card, but I had literally cut it up the week prior since the Vendor (e.g. the store that the card was through) had switched their card to a different bank (e.g. Visa to Mastercard), so I seemed shady af, even though I was telling the truth. He said as long as I had a login to a statement showing the transaction (I didn’t, since they had opted to close the account at an institutional level).  So I called my mom frantically, and luckily she is the hyper-organized type who keeps paper copies of everything and sent them to me. Seriously, Mom for the win!  I run to this print shop as it’s closing and print everything out.  I had the Ticketmaster receipt & order #, and two photo ID’s confirming my address. The guy said it should be fine, but I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. This was my one birthday gift and something I had been looking forward to for months. Anyway, my friend and I went out to a local bar near the Halsey (yes, the singer took her name from the station) stop on the L line, and I was super anti-social because I was so upset. I also burst a blood vessel in my eye  (it will heal, no worries) because of too much birthday partying the prior weekend, so I’m sure I was a (sour) sight to behold.

I slept poorly for obvious reasons, and left the apartment around 7AM, and arrived to Prudential center around 8:30ish. There were only a few people outside of will call, but the GA line was already wrapped around the building. I made small talk with people outside of the box office, and one woman told me she had gotten soundcheck both days. Seriously, what kind of karma do I need for that to happen to me? She and her friends had been camping out since Thursday, and they were SUPER organized: while she waited in line, one was at merch, and someone else was holding their GA site. I almost wondered if they were a fansite or something. ARMY are a truly organized bunch (except for me, clearly).

Anyway, after another half hour of pure anxiety, they opened up will call and I was panicking, but they were really helpful and gave me my ticket after I verified the order number, showed my id and confirmed some other personal data. I decided then and there that nothing else mattered and I was just happy to be there and be in.

Waiting in line/Logistics/Staff

I left the box office, and got into the GA line. It was probably around 9:15, and the line had already doubled-back on itself all the way around the building. The woman from earlier told me that her friend had got #1000 and was only 3 rows back, so I still had some hope. Basically, you line up to get your spot in line- though it’s kinda dumb that you have to line up twice, it makes security go faster and guarantees that there isn’t a huge surge/stronger people cutting  in line later.

I wore what I thought were my most comfortable shoes, but after standing on concrete for hours, I don’t think it makes a difference. People were so friendly though-  I never once felt awkward even though I was by myself. The same was true last year- the friends who had gone up for merch on Friday I met while in line at last years’ Wings concert. I chatted with people around me, drank the two bottles of water I had, and looked at my phone. Bring an umbrella for shade and sunscreen though-I didn’t and am rocking a nice farmers burn/tan today.  It wasn’t humid though, and it wasn’t raining, so it could have been so much worse.

Even though there were tons of people, everyone was well-behaved. I didn’t see any altercations, though as the day went on the staff seemed a bit overwhelmed with crowd control.  I didn’t see too many people selling unofficial merch like last year, though I did buy a few necklaces (Joon and Chim, ofc).

After 3.5 hours, I finally got my wristband. They told us to be back by 2pm to line up for real, as they were going to try to open the doors at 3 instead of 3:30 (didn’t end up happening).

Merch

I then ran to merch, but there wasn’t much left. The fans/pickets were selling out as I got in line, and people were basically yelling “NOOOOOOOO” everytime the staff put up a “SOLD OUT” sticker. I bought what I could that was left, including a bracelet, which I’m actually in love with, the eco-tote (super overpriced tbh, $50 for a canvas bag), but the shopper bags were gone and I needed something to carry the box and batteries V3 ARMY Bomb I bought. I had one from last year that I also forgot, but I think the new version was cool because they are synced up with the music so you can change colors and patterns along with everyone else. Overall, it’s EXPEN$$$$IVE, but if anyone’s worth it, it’s Bangtan.

Newark

I was getting super tired after this, so I kinda passed on the photo studio table, big poster, and UNICEF stuff. I tried to go to Starbucks, but even though it was the middle of the day, I didn’t feel that safe, even though it was like 11:45 in the middle of the day. I’m a 27 year old who’s lived in Latin America (which is generally stereotyped for violence), solo traveled around the world, and I’m from the Rust Belt (aka home of true urban decay), but that part of Newark sketched me the heck out. Probably it would have been fine, but I opted for caution, and went to a Dunkin Donuts and empanada place right around the corner. The timing was actually good since we had to get back pretty quickly to line back up.

The second line was where the staff struggled, telling people to back up and get in order, but it seemed like staff were doing different things. Plus, if they wanted people to back up, they should have created room at the back first, before telling the front to basically “back that ass up” on the people behind them.

GA vs. Seated

I can say this- if you are short, you probably want a seat. Or if you have any kind of knee, back, or joint problems- I stood for approximately 14 straight hours on concrete yesterday. I am just under 5”5” but I was probably one of the taller people in the crowd, so I had a pretty good view. Even though they asked people to not take videos or record, you WILL be looking through a sea of cell phones. I could see pretty well, but sometimes when they were on the main stage I had a hard time seeing around other people’s arms.

Last time I had P2 seated, and the view was wonderful. I went to the bathroom, charged my phone, and ate nachos (lol), so it was generally a more chill experience. I was still super close but up a little higher and could see absolutely everything. But last night I was SO close I could see Joon’s dimples irl, and got splashed by both Jungkook and J-Hope when they threw the water bottles.  Probably 100 people think this, but I’m also pretty sure Yoongi  (and maybeeee Jimin) saw me jumping and singing along like crazy since I was one of the taller people. At the very least, Yoongi keep looking in the general direction I was in. Ofc I looked gross af with my messed up eye and crazy hair, but what I loved about the concert is that I was 100% able to forget all the insecurities I carry around with me on a day to day basis and have an AMAZING time.

Of course the whole place is crazy high energy, but I feel like last night was INSANELY high. I’m not sure if it was the overall vibe or if that was the GA influencing my opinion.  It just depends on what kind of experience you want to have. Also, if you are claustrophobic, you should probably pass on GA. The guards kept forcing people to back up, at one point even coming in with a flashlight, and people would surge forward whenever a member came close. But someone said the night before was chill, so maybe it’s just luck of the draw.

The Show

The show was absolutely amazing. They opened with IDOL, which got people hyped from the get-go. Their dancing was ON POINT as always. People were chanting during the intro videos and chatting as it filled in, so it was a great vibe once again- just super happy feeling. The audio visual part was AMAZING, though I’m no pro, and I loved all of the concert outfits, especially Jimin’s super sparkly sweater. Lots of jumping, and lots of screams. I didn’t have earplugs and was fine, but if you’re sensitive to loud sounds I definitely recommend them. ISTG I remembered hearing a mashup of FIRE, but maybe not? Wikipedia seems to think not. But they played a few older ones too, which made me so soft and nostalgic.

More on the members during the concert

Kim Namjoon

Ok, this is so so so biased, let me start with that. If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know how much I love this man. Seeing him smiling and happy was amazing. And they had a professional translator for this concert, so I felt like Joon was able to relax a little and enjoy himself instead of worrying about translating for everyone else.  He is just as tall and proportional as everyone says he is.  Everyone talks about how soft he is these days (and I love it), but he has undeniable charisma when he raps. Plus him in sunglasses, ddaeng. Seeing him so close was akin to something spiritual for me (I SAW THE DIMPLES WITH MY OWN EYES), as were people shouting along with him to “Love.” At the end, he commented how we were all sharing the same air, and hearing him think the way (I know at least some of ) us think was so heartwarming.  

Also during some of the videos, there were some NOT AT ALL subtle Minjoon moments.  

Kim Seokjin

The crowd last night ADORED Jin and gave him all the attention he deserves to have all the time. People were chanting his name SO LOUDLY during instrumental breaks in Epiphany. His voice was phenomenal, particularly the high notes. it’s clear how hard he’s worked to make it sound so effortless.  I noticed that people weren’t moving as much during some of his notes and I can only think it’s because we were literally transfixed. It’s well established, but I don’t think this man has any bad angles. Even in the still pictures I took while dancing, he DOESN’T look awkward in any of them. #impossible.

Min Yoongi

Suga was clearly happy about something last night- he was SO cute and happy. Other ARMY on the train back to the city agreed with me. His rapping was fire (duh), but he was really smiley and took out his earpiece a number of times to hear us screaming. “Seesaw” starts with him laying on a couch and I can think of no better way to capture his true soul (lol). He was extra attentive to fans, and  I feel like what Tae mentioned in Burn the Stage, he was trying to memorize ARMY’s faces and live in the moment. I felt bad because there were clearly parts where he wanted us to sing along, but we couldn’t necessarily keep up with his tongue technology :P  But people definitely tried their best.  

Jung Hoseok

Idk what I can say here that’s new. J-Hope is one of the most charismatic members on the stage. And there’s something in the American air that turns him into Jay Hope. Seriously, he’s hard to move your eyes away from. “Just Dance” was the first solo track if I remember correctly and he did not disappoint. His glasses at the end were adorable, and one of the other members called him a “happy grandfather” or something like that.  Seriously, if you’re still sleeping on Hobi, we can’t be friends.  

Park Jimin

Jimin was ethereal as always, and the choreography for Serendipity was…..salacious, to say the least. Like if you thought the “Take Me Down” cover from last year’s Festa was too much, then idk what to tell you. Bring holy water or something. Despite  the free water that fans were providing to others (ARMY are seriously the best) there was a different kind of thirst occurring, if you smell what I’m stepping in. Jimin is pure charisma, like J-Hope. Obviously their styles are totally different, but when they move, you stop whatever you’re doing and watch. Again, I didn’t even see many ARMY bombs moving during Serendipity- I think we were too entranced. I personally thought that he killed his vocals and did great, but he seemed a little tired or like he was working hard at it. Jimin was also the one (at least that I saw from my angle) that got the closest to the fans, crouching down and leaning over the teleprompters/fans/lights/ whatever the black boxes were at the edge of the stage.

Similar to Tae and Yoongi, I saw him looking at fans A LOT during the show. He was exactly how he seems in V Lives and cameras, and I’m fairly certain I would spontaneously combust if I ever ran into him irl (even if I didn’t know who he was)- he just radiates warmth and friendliness. Seriously, if I believed in magic, I feel like he would be able to influence people’s emotions.

Kim Taehyung

So many fic writers have this ultra primal (for lack of a better word?) for Tae, but all I see is a cute sweetheart. Obviously I’ve never seen someone create as much tension with their own arm as he does during Singularity, but when he’s not dancing, I just got a super innocent, cutesy vibe from him. His voice was so smooth last night. I mean, I knew, but now I KNOW.  He actually was shooting hearts at one fan (how lucky they are), and pretended to fall down when they shot him back! They were further back in P2 as well so he really does work hard at paying attention to everyone. He actually called over another member (maybe Yoongi or Jimin? I was too busy trying to remember how to breathe, to see whatever he was seeing).

At the end he whipped a heart out of his beanie (how I pray to god someone got that moment on camera) a la Jin. He just seemed really comfortable in his own skin last night, and I was so grateful for it.  

Jeon Jungkook

I had a hard time seeing most of his Euphoria performance as it was relatively early on and people were taking a shit ton of videos. He also stayed mostly on the main stage, rather than come out to the extension area near where I was. His abs are just as great in person, and the screams were (as is to be expected), absolutely deafening. They’ve talked about it in shows, but his voice is  SO stable. Obviously they stopped at times and don’t use too much backing vocals, but it sounded EXACTLY how it does on the album. He threw something into the crowd  (I think a banner) at the end, and it FLEW so far-back to P2 or further. They’re not kidding when they talk about how strong he is.  

Final thoughts

At first, I was a little exhausted after my emotional trauma of the prior day, and from standing for so long but the minute it started I forgot everything else. I was salty when I couldn’t see that much bc of people recording (esp when they asked us not to), but I understand the specialness of the moment and wanting to have some tangible evidence that you were there. By the time the concert was over, I realized how special GA was, even if it’s more difficult logistically (since I went solo and didn’t have parents or friends to stand in). I still don’t know if it’s hit me that I was like 10 feet away from them, max. It reaffirmed how important they are to me. I didn’t write this to brag, but to hopefully share my perspective and let others live vicariously through my experience. If you want clarification or anything else, write to me!  

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

Not gonna lie... with as much feedback I get (i.e. 1-2 faves/kudos a week, if I’m lucky), writing this feels like a fucking chore nine times outta ten. And I hate tedious grinding. Which is a fucking shame, because there must be like 15 readers out there who get to the chapters as I’m posting, and literally all I’d need is like 2 random commenters and my motivation would be reset till almost the end. Maybe September will bring back some of those verbose peeps who disappeared into the blue... maybe. ffn ao3

30. Knights of the coffee table

As she gets further away from the door, then the submarine, Kat starts shaking. A moment of hesitation; instead of going straight for the bedroom, she walks up to the toilet, which is vacant, to her great relief. The entire ship is eerily empty as people are scattered between the dining room and the shore from what she can hear through the beeping sound in her ear.

She slips onto the floor with back to the wall, and stares into nothingness for at least a few minutes. Returning to reality, she realizes that she's gotten sweaty. Again. And there's also a knot in her stomach. Still a little light in the head, she ambles outside to the sink and leans onto it. Stares another hole into the drain.

She's never felt so misplaced in a body, any body before, dawning sicknesses notwithstanding. Nor can she remember the last time her anxiety got this overwhelming when making a wrong move. It feels as if her ghost was dragging some kind of dead weight around. She… she legitimately just tried to kiss someone. On the lips. That's just not something she would do. Even in her wildest dreams, she's only receiving those.

Her comatose confusion soon turns into frustration; this… is so not her. Where's the real Katja and what did she do to her?! How could she have ever mustered so much… such confidence, to just, like… try and do something like that? Maybe, it's just the pill… but quite frankly, all she noticed being off was getting sleepy as fuck. And thinking out loud, which she avoids when in company. Is… is it her 'mask,' then? Or the powers? Can being taller, stronger, or just in a man's body itself, really make such a difference? Is she really like this…?

Kat peeks into the mirror; that's... not Law. Just his shell, and whoever she's supposed to be.

What could he be thinking of her now… oooh...

Having spent god knows how much time standing there with face buried in her hands, she decides to wash quick, then go down to the girl's room and be awkwardly miserable there. Frankly, she should be targeting the kitchen, but her nerves killed any appetite she might have had.

She considers lying down upon arrival, but has the feeling that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep anyhow, so… she crashes on an armchair. Staring into nothingness until she gets sleepy… a long-forgotten classic.

Twilight soon turns into darkness, and eventually Nami and Carrot arrive and blind her with the sudden lights.

"Ow," she mumbles while rubbing her eyes slowly.

"Oh… you are early," Nami notes in surprise; "did you piss him off by being nice again?" That still doesn't clear up why she was sitting around in the dark, but…

Ha ha, being… 'nice,' yyyyeah… "I," she heaves a lethargic sigh with hands still plastered over her face, "did worse." Thinking about it… she didn't buy the bear because of… or, did she? No… nope, she did those things yesterday to cheer him up, this is new. Oh… oh, nooo.

It's because he was nice to her later, isn't it? FUCK. How pathetic can she get?! That's pretty much all it has ever taken… she just started being totally suspicious of people's kindness down the line. Except for… this time. Fucking breach in the defenses.

Hearing this, even Carrot slows down, taking a questioning look at Nami. What can be worse with Trafalgar Law than being too nice or excruciatingly dumb?

"Well… did you do something stupid?" The navigator asks before closing the door, zeroing her leftover options.

Kat slides the hands off her vision. "…" Well… technically speaking, "that too." Something really stupid at that. If she didn't do that… this whole situation wouldn't be an issue.

"Then we pass, since you are not the obnoxious type, and that's the last known thing he hates apart from some psychopaths, the government, and bread," the mink shrugs, settling on the coffee table.

"I feel like there's a story to tell here," Nami notes, also sitting into the other chair. "You look quite taken."

"… uhhh… I suppose so," she creaks. Whether she's going to tell anything is another matter. Spilling the beans could make her the laughing stock of the alliance for as long as she's here…

Nope, not happening.

Nami squints at her; something is definitely up. "Well?"

She goes back into hiding and grumbles. Carrot places her hand on her chin, pondering. Her and Nami take a passing glance at each other; Kat is one to answer direct questions that don't involve opinions, so this is certainly out of the ordinary. The mink takes over the interrogation:

"That bad, huh…? On a scale from 1 to 10, how uncomfortable is it to talk about?"

"…" She doesn't want to talk or even think about this, like, ever again… but Kat also feels the peer pressure building up. And she can share this much, if nothing else. "… nine." At the very least. She has no idea what a solid 10 would be, but the minimum and maximum scores might as well not exist as far as she's concerned. There's always better or worse possibilities than what one can imagine. But this one does cut it pretty high, no matter how she looks at it. Fuuuck… how is she going to show her face tomorrow…?

"… so, let me get this straight," muses the navigator; "Additionally to doing something stupid… you did something else that bothers you, personally. And you are, by all accounts… embarrassed?" If not ashamed… it's the best she can figure from what she can see.

She moans again; that's a fucking understatement. She can feel getting red in the face again…

The girls sink into their thoughts; what's something… that would embarrass Kat?

For starters, it's not an easy thing to do. Odd hobbies, odd habits, the worst of what the world of puns can offer, anecdotes that are usually more disturbing than funny, regardless how entertaining she herself finds them… she's not bothered to share these, and also gives zero fucks about her language, which includes everything from obscure words to cussing, and her working class also shines through at times. She takes well to being corrected on things, so that's not it, either.

This has nothing to do with how she presents herself as. The key to this the other involved party, that is to say, Trafalgar Law.

"You either made him so uncomfortable that you ran away…" starts Nami, cocking her head to the right; Kat would probably overreact in a situation like that…

"… or murdered Torao with a cold-blooded joke comment, and he himself kicked you out." continues Carrot, tilting hers to the left. She can say things without thinking that could be hurtful, then regrets doing so right away.

"… or both," they nod together once they've run through the other's idea quick.

Apart from being a cold-blooded ego murderer… they are not far from the overall basic solution.

"Honestly… the quote-unquote worst thing I could think of… is something like trying to get too cuddly with him," the redhead adds after a chuckle. Oh, he'd hate that. "You pass out hugs left and right, but he gets grumpy whenever people dare to even touch him. You wouldn't want lame hugs and never ending complaints." He could barely handle the one he got the other day…

"Ha ha, right! Although… well, it's an extremely unlikely option and you'd be more pissed than hiding in a corner, but I cannot even begin to imagine if he was the one stomping into your comfort zone. It's more likely that you accidentally squeezed the life out of the dude… or were flirting with him, he would probably die from that, too," Carrot nods as they giggle to each other, then catch the flaming red ears behind Kat's hands as they glance back towards her.

… Ah.

"YOU ACTUALLY HIT ON HIM?!" they scream in unison, Nami being more on the horrified side of things while Carrot is more excited than anything else. The awed sparkles in her eyes are entirely unnecessary.

"SO WHAT IF I DID?!" Kat screams back at them in embarrassment and panic, and with a burning-up face. Technically, she just straight-out skipped the flirting part and went for the finish line. She can't quite believe it herself… the more she thinks about it, the less so. Because she never would have thought to be capable of even getting that close to... to kiss someone. Gave up on having any kind of relationship eons ago, too. Ugh. She's having kind of a personality crisis right now, okay?! More importantly, however… "And why are you yelling it for all to hear?!" Seriously…! This is already bad enough as it is.

"Okay, okay, okay, calm down," Nami instructs her after snapping out of her surprise; "Zoro's probably out cold in the crow's nest, and there's noone left on the Sunny right now! Your secret is as safe as it gets!"

That… actually sounds very reassuring after the heart attack; Kat slumps down in relief. She's also on the verge of tears, to be honest.

"Either way, Kat…! What was it that you said?! Was it on accident?" asks the mink without any other care in the world.

"It's… less about having said something. It's what I did by a hair that was out of line." If she's lucky, he didn't get a word of that… what if he can read lips, though? Nooo…

"… like, slapping his ass, or so?"

An awkward smile appears on Nami's face while she starts thinking that maybe she should get a hold of Carrot's horses, here.

"NO!" Kat screams in bewilderment. It's… not without precedent, but the couple of occasions when she did something even remotely similar were all a dumb joke among female peers. Boy thighs and butts are out of question! … even if said boy is in her body.

"Joking, just joking!" Carrot protests with raised hands; "Because we said 'hitting on,' get it?"

Kat stares at her. "… I'm not even getting quality jokes anymore," she sighs eventually, grumbling, with hands on top of her head.

"You're obviously tired, so I don't blame you," the rabbit girl continues with a shrug. "Hell, you are definitely blowing things out of proportion because of it. Whatever you did cannot be all that serious… sleep on it, alright? It won't seem that bad in the morning." Unless, of course, Kat did break the bejeezus out of him.

The initial answer is an elongated, whiny moan. "No, it is bad! Very bad!" she bursts out then, reaching back to the uncharacteristically aggressive voice from a minute ago before covering behind her arms that she pulls forward. Then, she raises one hand up with a gap roughly the size of a longer nail between her thumb and pointing finger; "I was literally… this close. This close! " She takes a big breath before continuing; "To… mack on him." Her sentence ends in half a whimper. Taking another sniffle-suspicious deep breath, she collects her composure and peeks out towards the table from behind her bars. "Then he winced, I backed the fuck out... and we were locked into the most awkward space sharing nonversation of the century." She fucked up sooo bad…

"You… you actually did that?" asks Nami, the reality of the situation setting in. She can see how this is not a situation her friend can handle. Kat… doesn't get physical with people she doesn't know. She did notice her flinching last week when shoving her towards the infirmary, even though she wasn't hurt there; she figured she's overstepped her boundaries back then. Afterwards, she's made a point to let Kat initiate, and it seems to have worked out perfectly fine; now she'll readily give and receive pokes and hugs whenever. That girl really is kind of like a cat in this regard.

Similarly, unless someone straight-out asks for it, she rarely shares her opinion on anything out of her jurisdiction… the navigator had to poke around a little last Saturday just so Kat would tell which dress she thinks would suit her better. Then the spare time artist went into a five minute monologue about pros and cons, and the details of color theory and whatnot… making the decision even harder, to be honest. 'Just choose whichever you are more comfortable in, you will be the one wearing it, not me,' was her final conclusion.

All in all…. she keeps to herself, to an extreme. And today, she intruded into another's personal space, and judging by her recap, and the kind of person Law is… it must have come off as incredibly rude.

"... yeah," She squeaks almost questioningly as she emerges from her shame barrier, then takes a rugged breath and stares at the ceiling. Never in her wildest dreams… What the fuck has gotten into her back then? She refuses to believe that she'd be capable of such an act... "The funniest thing is, though," she continues as her vision slides down the wooden walls, "that the idea came outta nowhere. I just had this... garchu moment while the painkiller and drugs were still kinda tickin' and gave 'im this big ole bear hug. Which was fine, aye? But I took too long to leave 'im alone proper, wondrin'bout how small and cold he is right now, and darn me if I did not like this person 'ere as much as wee liddel me did her mum back in them days, and..."

Nami puts a hand out in front of her face, contemplating to wave if she girl doesn't react. "Kat... Kat, calm down, your lingo is getting thick and hard to follow..." The words started rolling really fast somewhere down the line, too.

She does come to a full stop, though; her mouth twitches. "Then, he looked up. At me. That close." She lifts her fingers up again a bit, with downcast eyes; they have been displaying the short distance ever since she gave that estimate. "And that's when I... just thought, 'holy shit.' I mean, I could just... blame being high, but..." She feels like blushing again and puts that hand to her temples.

Carrot, who's been listening all spellbound, looks over to Nami. "… falling in love sounds hardcore."

Kat buries her face in her hands again and moans. "I haven't had a crush on anyone since I was 13. That's a literal decade! This is so embarrassing..." And will be super awkward for however long they'll be stuck like this. Maybe… maybe it will go away in two weeks. Please, be a two to four weeks phase like with anything or anyone this has happened with.

Nami sighs and walks over to her to give her back a stroke. "There, there…"

Having all of this bullshit out of her system (and getting a long overdue, nice petting,) Kat feels really tired all of a sudden. She can finally focus on other stuff now, too; reviewing the convo with the girls, she speaks up again: "By the way… you said the ship's empty? How come?" This place is always teeming with life…

"Yeah, it's Friday, and as Luffy has declared… it's party time," the redhead sighs, straightening herself and stretching. "He dragged everyone past our already half-drunk sleeping beauty out, but I didn't sleep all that well last night, so I'm all partied out already." Having said that, the navigator yawns.

"Oh… yeah, I forgot." She herself told the captain and Usopp about it, too… she needs some goddamn sleep.

"Shit, right…! I promised to get back for another round of booze and the karaoke," Carrot says and jumps up near immediately; "see ya!"

With that, the door is already slamming shut.

"... was Carrot playing your bodyguard, or…?" Kat asks with a raised brow.

"This area gives me the creeps at night," sighs Nami before ambling towards the light switch. "Like, no offense, but this is quite a ghost port." She swears she can see things move in the shadows at night.

Kat starts yawning away again, too. "You are not wrong about that. Ain't nothing in this corner but dying businesses and hooligans." She crawls onto the floor to find her cocoon. "At least the rent's cheap in the vicinity," she moans with the covers already over her.

"That's one way to look at it," the navigator nods, getting rid of her pants. "G'nite," she moans then a little later into the pillow after crashing into the bed.

"Good night to you, too," Kat sighs. She feels more like a zombie instead of a ghost now. Kind of like after crying. Yeah… maybe she really just needs to sleep on it. Maybe.

[caraferguson]

Adventures in Victoria

I wrote a few emails to a friend back in the spring of 2010. Recently searching for some other emails I stumbled across these and, inspired by another friend's posting cool stories about his current trip to Victoria, decided to post my dusty tales - well at least the first few days of my adventure. 

Here we go...names have been changed to protect the (not so) innocent:

Cara's Excellent Adventure - Hello Victoria:)

Wow.  Victoria is beautiful.  The hotel is very stuffy and stodgy and kind of faded but cool.  Reminds me of the way my Grandma's house (100 plus years old) in Shelburne smelled.  I think they may have actually imported some of her original furniture because the couch in my room is the spitting image of one she had in the parlour (seriously, not a living room or great room - a parlour) back in the day.  There is even a stain on it reminiscent of the time I spilled lime Kool-Aid whilst fighting with my older brother over who got the last potato chip.  Hmmm. Btw I tricked him (actually I may possibly have hit him with a hard object which probably doesn't fit the definition of tricking him exactly) and got the potato chip in case you were wondering.  And blamed him for the stain too ha ha. I'm just going to tell myself the stain on this couch is lime Kool-Aid cuz the alternative could be quite unsettling.  

The reception here was so nice. So posh and gracious.  They upgraded me to a deluxe room because I am so cute I think.  Okay, so maybe that's a stretch. They probably upgraded me because I arrived early and they didn't want me loitering in the lobby attracting sailors (it's the 100 anniversary of the Navy and the streets are crawling with men & women in uniform) or pestering the guests with my Queen imitation.  I do a pretty mean Queen wave btw - wrist positioning is critical to a successfully authentic Queen wave.  That was also in case you are wondering.  Ahh, I bet I've inspired you to try it now haven't I?  I can see you doing it right now.  Careful, not too much curvature to the fingers.  Tut tut cheerio and all that.

Well off to the gym - good thing about this place is that it's high tea and all the Stodgies are heading to the upper Lobby which leaves the gym empty for me to use.  Which is good because I get very red-faced and sweaty and when others are around my workouts are frequently interrupted by people asking me if I'm okay and/or if they should call 911 or trying to zap me with those defibrillator (sp?) thingies.  This is why I work out in my garage.  I did tour the Y and may get a membership so I can work with one of the trainers there but I'll probably have to make up a big sign to wear around my neck that says "I'm okay.  Really." or "Put the damn defibrillator thingie away before someone loses an eye".  Or something like that.

Day One of Cara's Excellent Adventure 

Woke up at the crack of yawn.  Seriously.  That three hour time difference is a killer.  4:30 here and wide awake.  I'm thinking I'd like some breakfast so I can fuel up before an early trip to the gym but nothing is open.  Okay, well nothing within reasonable/safe walking distance that I know of is open.  I'm regretting not taking the time yesterday to hunt down a market and pick up some fruit and cereal or something.

I make some coffee, do some work, kill some time.  I consider ordering room service but even though it's coming out of the company's account I can't bring myself to order two eggs, fruit and coffee for $30.  I don't know if I told you this but my maiden name is Ferguson...Scottish blood...I'm not cheap but spending that kind of money on breakfast goes against my very DNA.  So I go out for a walk and find a Smitty's and get the same for $10.  I decide to explore a bit and head out around downtown Victoria.  Still, nothing is open yet but it's a nice walk along the harbour and little nooks and crannies of the city. 

I'm walking along Government Street, very pretty, lush, green trees and foliage, the sun is shining and I'm snapping photos.  It's absolutely freezing out but still such a beautiful day and I'm enjoying it.  As I walk out under a canopy of dense greenery I hear a sudden bloodcurdling shriek and the heavy rushing sound of a huge wingspan propelling an ominous dark object at my head.  The air swirls around me and I feel talons scrape over my scalp.  It happened fast. I didn't scream or run or wet my pants even.  I bravely and calmly swatted at the air around my head as though it was an irritating fly and not a tourist-eating pterodactyl - a renegade that had escaped from the Jurassic Park movie set and made its home here.  I felt around my head.  No puncture wounds or pre-historic bird poop.  I admit, I was relieved.  Perhaps it was my fault and I should have spent more time brushing my hair when I got up this morning - the creature may have thought I was walking off with its nest on my head.  Because even though I go to bed with relatively calm, straight hair somehow, over the course of the night, something happens to it that normally would require a can of hairspray, a rat-tailed comb and a Weed Whacker to accomplish.

So I head back to the hotel thinking - okay, I've probably left enough time for breakfast to digest - time to hit the gym.  Back to my room, into my workout clothes and ready to rumble.  Now I frequently make a habit of taking the stairs whenever I can and I happen to be one door down from some exit stairs.  Let me back up a minute actually.  My room is at the end of a really, really long hallway that is off another really, really long hallway.  One of them is so long that you can't even really see the end of it properly.  And there is a big, big ramp you have to use.  Oh, and about that ramp.  Big ramp that you can see a mile down the hallway, this is not a little carpet speed bump let me tell you, and they have this teeny tiny little sign on the wall that says "Caution ramp".  Now I ask you - if someone's eyesight is so bad that they don't see the ramp how the heck is a little sign going to help them to avoid tripping?  Really?  Does that make sense to you?  But I digress.  Anyway.  I decide to take the stairs that are at the end of this killer long hallway down to the Fitness Room.  That is when I discovered that this is the stairway to the bowels of the hotel and not the Fitness Room.  It is a stairway that no one ever uses.  And all of the doors to each floor lock behind you.  And there is no technology that allows you to just swipe your room key to get out.  I have to confess, I didn't try every floor but I tried a lot.  And they were locked.  And it was an unkempt, musty stairwell.  There were cobwebs and such. I kid you not.  Not having any luck going up I went back down, down, down to the aforementioned bowels.  I manage to get a door open to a dark, dank room ... a few puddles on the floor - drips coming from the ceiling.  A single bulb kind of swinging in the middle of the room.  It was freakin' creepy let me tell you. Knowing that if there are pterodactyls on the loose there could also be a few escaped raptors running around I'm nervous.  I expect to see a huge bloody carcass swinging from the ceiling - hey, it is a meat conference I'm at - this is not so far-fetched. Plus I also had a long discussion with someone the other day about a few Stephen King novels that scared the pants off of me and this room had Stephen King potential.  My footsteps actually echoed dully...once again I kid you not.  Then I heard voices.  I was quiet but I wasn't sneaking up on them purposely - I was trying to figure out if they were employees or some hotel bowel dwelling scary people.  They were employees.  And they actually yelped (aka screamed like little girls) when they saw me (once again I considered that perhaps I should do something about my hair) but it was because they hadn't expected a human to come from the direction I'd come from and possibly also because I'd caught them smoking pot.  I explained my predicament, they said they had forgotten there were even stairs there, and there were so many places you could get lost in this hotel.  They showed me how to get to the Fitness Room.  I tell you I was never so happy to see a gym before.  And, for the record, I did go back and check the stairwell.  There was no sign indicating that if you entered the stairwell the door would lock forever behind you...so they have a sign warning you about a huge ramp that if you don't notice you probably deserve to trip over but no sign to indicate that you could be trapped for all eternity in the stairwell once the door closes and locks behind you.  Go figure. 

Rest assured that  I made a note of that on my hotel comment card.  

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful after that - I worked out for an hour, had a long shower, got ready to meet my friend who was arriving around lunch.   We did high tea (which despite the name does not involve any pot other than that which holds the tea). It was kind of a letdown though it was tasty. Just thought people should have to go all poshed up but there were tons of people in jeans and baseball caps.  Somehow it needed the posh part to be special.

Went out to explore again - avoiding the site of the pterodactyl attack - which, by the way, after eyewitness reports (I ended up meeting someone this evening that had witnessed it) I've discovered it was just a big, bad-assed crow and I'd walked too close to its nest.  Apparently this has happened before and had nothing to do with my lackadaisical hair care.

Anyway, after that it was a cocktail on the hotel veranda where they actually bring blankets out for you.  I thought it was just for me and because it was evident that I was badly in need of a nap but apparently everyone gets one to use if they want.  Not that I'd want to wrap myself up in a blanket that a stranger had been using.  Well not until after a few cocktails at least.  After said cocktails I went back to my room and quickly fell asleep.  

The rest of it you kind of know.  Meat reception (mmmm meat).  Ran into Mr. X and he was really nice to me and we talked for ages.  That was new.

Okay...so I have sooo rambled on.  But it's a pretty good record of my day.  Only mildly exaggerated.  Truly adventurous.  I like it here!