#tuk does not know a life without him. still you say nothing.

[introspectivememories]

[onskepa]

Hello! Can you do a reader who is a siren with the sully family + metkayina?

Hellooooo!! Honestly this idea was a long time waiting! Glad you requested! Enjoy~!!

Pt 2

-----------------------------

Tirol

Water is essential for life, be it of fauna or flora. Water is a important element in keeping things alive. Land or sea, water is everything. There is nothing to argue about that. And no one knows better than the reef na'vi.

Water is their very life. A piece of their soul, their whole being. So who is this human to say she understands them?

Well meet Tirol. A human who came along with the Sully family. Many of the Metkayina clan were hesitant to accept Tirol. But the sully family that out of everyone in the family, Tirol needs to live here. Tonowari nor Ronal understood what they meant by that. Until one certain day.

During practice, Tsireya, ao'nung and rotxo were too busy helping neteyam and lo'ak that they didn't see tuk getting carried away by a sudden wave. She couldn't hold her breath much longer and was beginning to drown.

Lo'ak was the first to notice, screaming out tuk's name, the other teens turned and all panicked, quickly swimming towards tuk, but they were too far, they wouldn't make it in time!

tirol who was in the marui doing something heard the teens screaming out for tuk. She turns to see tuk struggling to keep her head above water. Panic struck her and without a second thought, Tirol jumps into the water to save tuk.

In less than 3 seconds, tirol grabbed tuk and held her above water. Tuk was choking out the water but was breathing alright and hugged tilor tightly.

Neteyam and lo'ak reached the two girls and released heavy sighs, checking on their little sister making sure she is ok.

Tsireya, ao'nung and rotxo stayed where they were, confused. A human is smaller, thus less energy and not as fast as a na'vi. So how was tirol able to make it to tuk when she was at the same distance at them yet made to tuk faster?

As the three swam closer, their heads still above water, ao'nung couldn't help but ask. "How were you able to swim with your little human legs?" ao'nung asks, tsireya hits him slightly at the back of his head which doesn't phase him.

The sully kids chuckled as tilor smiles. "Look underwater" was all she said. The three did so, and almost choked, they couldn't believe it, everything about it was beautiful as it was strange.

Instead of human legs, what they saw was one big long tail with fins! The scales glistening against the underwater lighting, the colors shinning through giving is a shiny look. The scales were of something else, blending the tail and the upper part of human skin. The tail was so hypnotizing, the fins were also of something else. Transparent yet elegant looking, flowing so beautifully.

Tisreya was amazed, she had never seen anything like it before! Lifting her head up, smiling so excitedly. "Amazing! your tail is so beautiful!", Tirol blushes slightly but is happy she nor the boys are freaked out. Rotxo came up, letting his mouth run before his mind, "how can you pee??". Both ao'nung and tsireya hit his head double time.

"please excuse my friends stupidity" ao'nung says. Toril giggles in amusement, "it is alright, but I am not going to answer that question". "Are all humans like you?" tsireya asks, tirol shakes her head. "Not really, I am called a siren".

"How about we talk more in the shallow areas" neteyam suggests, everyone agrees and does so. Gathering in a circle so everyone can admire tirol's tail, questions were being made.

"So what is a siren?" tsireya was the first to ask. Tirol and smiles and answers, "a siren is half human fish, we have the godly ability to sing. But not just singing a lovely tune no, our voice is our power. I can lure anyone with my voice in a hypnotizing way, and I lead them wherever I please".

The three reed children stared in amazement. "Have you ever used your...power before?" ao'nung asked. Tirol nods and explains further, "I have, I even assisted in battles against the sky demons, I would hide in the deepest lakes, violent rivers, and lure the sky demons to me. Once they reach the deep areas, I would remove their masks and drown them. It has taken time but it is more silent and effective".

The more tilor explains, the more entranced they are. Of course they would ask her to sing but was denied of request, "Whenever I sing, even if I don't mean to on purpose, anyone who hears me will be affected and I don't want that".

The three kids nodded and rotxo asked, "is that why you came with the sully family? Because of the wide ocean?". Tirol answered as she began to weave some seaweed, "two reasons really. The first is yes, because of the ocean. I loved the lakes and rivers but I longed for wide spaces, swim more than tight narrow areas. Second is for what I am. Once the sky demons found out what I am capable of, they will be after me. So joining the sully family, I came here. And I am so happy that they brought me. I love the ocean! the reefs, the animals, everything, truly I feel more at home than in the lakes and rivers".

Rotxo grinned and stood up, "well come on then. Lets see if your tail makes you faster than us" he challenged. Smiling at the invination, tilor was quick to move through the shallow water, making rotxo eat sand.

Laughing and new feeling of energy, everyone went back to the water and swim along side tirol. With her beautiful tail, she looked at home under water. Communicating with na'vi sing language, she said her under water jokes. The reef kids loved her jokes will the sully kids cringed at how terrible they were.

After a long day of swimming, everyone returned to their homes tired. Tirol sat at the edge of the walk ways, drying her tail for her legs to return. Tuk and kiri sat beside, handing her a bowl of freshly cooked stew. "I swam so much today, weird to say I am glad I am feeling sore and tired. I never used this much energy back at home" tirol says with a big smile on her face.

"We can tell, you swam none stop all day, but I am happy you like it here. You seemed to adjust more quicker than the rest of us" kiri comments. Tiorl pulls tuk on her lap and tuk feeds her. "Yes, but in no time the rest of you guys will adjust too. This is our home now".

The next few weeks, the whole metkayina clan now knew of tirol's ability, while she still refuses to sing, she speaks stories of her ancestors, and tales of her fallen sister clan, the mermaids.

Ronal and Tonowari were amazed of tirol's skills and all that makes her a siren. They were quick to accept her more than the sully family. Which the family dont take offence to, but tirol uses her new found acceptance as a bridge to get the two along.

To say, Tirol truly feels at home, being where she truly belongs, in the ocean. Where it is her natural home, and thrive in her true element with her long time friends and her found friends.

Aaaaaaaaaaand that is this it for this one! Hope you all like it! Until next time! See ya!

Tirol = song [vocal]

[naavispider]

this is the other one! Quaritch is dumb af AU:

Unfamiliar AU: Quaritch doesn’t realise that Spider is his son. Either spider wears a tinted mask that hides his face that he never takes off, or Quaritch is just really dumb.

At the start, for both possibilities, Quaritch mocks this strange human for acting feral and siding with the enemy. Spider says nothing, both shocked and also not wanting quaritch to recognise him.

During the fight, spider is still the only one that gets captured however he is injured as Quaritch didn’t take the time or care to not actively aim/protect him. This means immediately upon arriving at Bridgehead, spider is given medical care and is too tired to fight. Quaritch has no reason to see this strange monkey child so he isn’t present for the torture. (And for the mask idea, this it the only time he is without it, so quaritch never sees his face) they manage to pull a memory from him, it was where the Omatikaya lived before the return of humans. (Closer to the forest floor).

The rda sends the recoms there (for the mask: a member takes pity on spider and gives him a tinted mask), but obviously the Omatikaya is long gone. During this, Quaritch takes a shine to spider. Because they’re “not related” Quaritch doesn’t have to actively make himself indifferent to Spider. (He’s free to have a relationship with him as he doesn’t have to lie to himself)

They search for Sully, get the banshee’s and do all that other stuff. + For mask idea: teasing him about the mask while spider is sat there terrified, spider turns his back when eating etc. for the non mask idea, some of the recoms can feel something is off about spider. When Quaritch and Spider are stood side by side  they can’t help but see a resemblance. They don’t bring it up.

Ending (mask idea): when Lo’ak and neteyam save spider, in the movie he grabs a new mask. So he leaves his tinted mask behind for a clear one. 

THEN, when Neytiri has spider under her knife Quaritch sees his sons face for the first time!!!

Ending (no mask): when Lo’ak, Kiri, Tuk and Tsireya are brought aboard the ship. Spider runs down to see them, and instead of sending him upstairs. Quaritch points a gun to both Lo’ak and Spider’s heads. (Even though he likes the kid, they bonded and whatnot, he didn’t want to kill him).

And through the comm, Jake says, “really? You’d shoot your own son?”.

Quaritch is CONFUSED, 

what? He’s only ever met this random Na’vi boy twice! Jake’s son is not his kid!-

 .........oh

I love the thought you've put into each of these scenarios! And I love the idea that Quaritch does not know straight away that SPider is his son. When I first saw the movie I remember being suprised that Spider's identify was revealed to Quaritch at their first meeting! Like, when Quaritch asked for his name, Spider starts by just giving his nickname, then followed up with 'Socorro'. He didn't need to say that if he didn't want Quaritch to know who he was. Spider could obviously tell this avatar had to have come from Miles Quaritch somehow, so the only reasonable inference is that Spider knew this was a version of his father, and wanted him to know who he was.

The tinted mask idea has so many opportunities - maybe it's tinted to block out the higher-than-Earth-levels of UV or infra-red light that could damage a human's eyes if they were exposed to it throughout their life. (I know the science in that sentence doesn't work out but you get what I mean, something along those lines).

If Spider chose to withhold his last name, and Quaritch cannot see the family resemblance (which honestly fair enough), or Spider chooses to keep his face hidden, I think Quaritch would at first be totally cold, uncaring and distant. He wouldn't particularly care that Spider was being tortured, so it would be Ardmore that orders the recoms to take Spider with them once they pulled the memory from him. The inner turmoil that Spider would feel, knowing he has the power to reveal his true identity at any point, would be immense. I can see him coming so close multiple times, only to bite his tongue (or force his hands down from the mask).

Quaritch only realising Spider is his son when Neytiri has him under knifepoint? I'm here for it. The angst potential!! I would die to see Stephen Lang act that out 😭😭

Thank you so much for sharing your ideas! I hope you get round to writing them! 💞

[thedragonnerd]

Rayaari headcanon - travel through the emotions with tears

(inspired by this lovely anon)

Tears of sorrow and pain

Raya is so young when she loses her mother, that the concept of death is difficult for her to understand. The reality doesn't strike her until bedtime, when she slowly begins to realize that Ma will never again be there to sing her a lullaby, or hug her fear of the monsters away. Benja is unable to stop the tears for hours, as Raya screams and cries and hits her small fists on the bed. Finally, she upsets herself so much she throws up, and her crying trails off to quiet whimpers instead. For months afterwards, Benja and Raya both dread bedtime, for this is when sorrow hits the hardest for her.

Namaari is nine when her Ba dies. Death is not an unknown concept for her, unfortunately. She has already begun to see its cold grasp ensnaring Fang citizens as famine begins to sweep the lands. But nothing can prepare her for the news the young soldier delivers of her Ba's accident, nor the expression on Ma's face when they both realize he won't be coming home. She doesn't cry for the first week after his death, and people whisper about how stoic and brave she's being. In reality, she is too shocked and numb to demonstrate any further emotions, until one night she awakens to find Ma has crawled into bed next to her, hugging her close in her sleep. Hot tears fall down her cheek, and she burrows into her mother's embrace as she cries silently.

After the Druun return, after she loses her Ba, Raya finds herself scared and all alone in the world, besides faithful Tuk Tuk. During the day, she wraps herself in false bravado, learning how to be a confident young woman instead of an easy mark for people with questionable motives. She employs a 'fake it until she makes it' approach to life, and it carries her through well enough...except at night. At night, she can't help but remember both her parents, and in the darkness she softly sings her mother's lullaby to soothe herself as the tears fall.

When the magnitude of what she has done by trying to take the Dragon Gem hits Namaari, she is horrified with herself. She cries quietly at night for weeks on end, reluctant to talk to anyone about her guilt. And then one day, she wakes up and decides she has no right to cry over it – she should step up and be responsible for her own actions instead, and be the best leader she can be. For several years after that moment, she refuses to let herself cry. Then one scouting mission, she loses her first soldier to the Druun, watching him turn to stone over her shoulder as they flee. She manages to hold it together as she tells his family how brave he had been; then, she goes to the kitchen, stealing as much rice wine as she can carry. She hides with her serlots, drunkenly crying into their soft fur until she can barely breathe. After that, she allows herself to cry sometimes, but only ever when alone.

The first time Raya visits Talon, she is fourteen and half-starving. The market place is loud and confusing, but it’s also full of food and wonderful scents. Unfortunately, she has no jade pieces and the soldiers patrolling the stalls do not seem like people with whom she should risk get into trouble. She almost walks away instead of trying to buy anything, but her stomach cramps just at that moment, and she almost gasps in pain. It breaks her heart, but she slowly hands over a ring of gold in order to buy some food – the only thing she has with her that belonged to her mother. ‘You know, that vendor scammed you,’ a young boy tells her with a snort, as she walks away. ‘You should have gotten far more product for the worth of the ring.’ The food tastes like ashes in her mouth after that, and hot tears slip down her cheeks as she tries to choke down the rest of her dinner.

Namaari’s scouting party is ambushed, not by the Druun, but by angry citizens from Spine. She loses good people that day, watching in horror as they are overwhelmed by Spine’s army, still acting as good soldiers trying to protect their Princess until the end. The last warrior screams at her to run, and even though it is against her instincts, she turns and flees into the forest, not even stopping when a sharp pain pierces her side - an arrow hitting its mark. She collapses some distance later, crying in pain and fear. For the first time, she fears she will die alone, bleeding out amongst the trees. Then she remembers her mother, remembers her duties and the promises she made to herself, and staggers upright. Her serlot finds her as she slowly makes her way forwards, and when she finally manges to crawl onto her back, they take off towards Fang.

‘You’re a traitor to your people,’ someone snaps at Raya, as she tries to mediate between two disagreeing Heart citizens. ‘You try to tell us what to do, but you’re a Princess who doesn’t even know half of her own culture. Too busy cavorting with binturis from Fang and other lands to bother with your own.’ She can feel the tears coming on as the words cut deep into all the fears she has about herself – how she isn’t a good leader, how she lost so many years where she should have learnt about Heart and her role as Princess. A hand lands on her shoulder squeezing gently, yet the voice behind its owner is cutting. ‘Gentlemen, I suggest you leave now before you make me do something I regret,’ Namaari says, and when the men depart angrily, silence falls. Namaari doesn’t say anything at first, drawing Raya into an embrace instead. ‘You’re a better leader than they could hope to be,’ she whispers into Raya’s hair, kissing her head gently. Raya clings to her tightly, arms wrapped around her waist.

‘You’re not welcome here, binturi,’ comes the accusation thrown into her face, and Namaari flinches, much to her own disgust. The celebratory gathering is supposed to be for all the lands to come together, but she can understand Fang not being so warmly welcomed. She is trying though, trying to atone for her mistakes, and after a long day of talking herself into having the confidence to attend, she is now just feeling overwhelmed with their cutting remarks. She simply nods and tries to walk away while hiding her face, but Raya is already pushing past her, getting into the personal space of the other women with a snarl. ‘She’s more welcome here than you currently,’ she growls. Then she spins around, holds out an arm gallantly to Namaari with a smile, and says ‘shall we?’ with a wink. Namaari links their arms, and they walk away with their heads held high.

Tears of laughter and joy

There is something charming and fun in watching Sisu learn more about people and their odd behaviours. Namaari is still slightly in awe of dragons in general, but she finds it easier the more she spends time with Sisu and watches her do ridiculous things. Sisu often brings Tong, Boun and even Noi along to visit Raya, and Namaari loves this time especially, because Raya will go and join in on the fun, laughing at her friends’ antics until tears stream down her face. Namaari sits and watches them with a smile, until Raya runs over and grabs her by the hand, dragging her over to the group.

Raya likes to think she is excellently athletic and nimble on her feet, and to a certain extent this is true. Unfortunately, she has a rather clumsy side to her also, and she spectacularly demonstrates this in front of Namaari by mistake. She is trying to demonstrate how smooth her mounts and dismounts from Tuk Tuk’s saddle are, and even goes so far as to try and show off by standing up on his back. And yet, she slips sideways instead, arms windmilling in the air before she drops onto the floor. ‘Are you alright?’ Namaari calls, and as soon as Raya answers in the affirmative, she can hear a cackle of laughter. Namaari is laughing so hard that there are tears shining in her eyes, and Raya can’t feel too embarrassed by her tumble when it brings Namaari such joy.

At the end of a very long day of Council meetings, Raya wants nothing more than to escape the political grandstanding and disappear into the night instead of staying for dinner. She manages to grab some food from the kitchen before it is even brought out for the guests, and then steals Namaari herself as company. They sit under the stars, enjoying their picnic and complaining about the day. Namaari does a wonderful impersonation of the most annoying Councilor in the meeting, and Raya startles into loud laughter at how realistic it is. Soon they are lying next to each other, giggling loudly until they are both crying from laughter.

Namaari kisses Raya for the first time during a sparring session. They are fighting in a casual manner for once, not trying to be highly competitive as usual, but preferring to shoot as many teasing remarks towards the other as punches, enjoying the moment. Raya manages to pin Namaari down on the ground, leaning forwards slightly to highlight her triumphant and teasing expression, and instead sees Namaari staring up at her with a soft smile. Namaari brings both hands up to slide her fingers through Raya’s hair, drawing her down until their lips are touching softly. Raya feels tears welling up behind her eyes at she feels the love emanating from Namaari.

Raya proposes after two years of dating and several days of angsting over whether she has the correct words to say or the correct proposal gifts. But when it comes to the moment, she forgets everything, and just blurts out ‘I love you. Marry me?’ Namaari stares at her in shock for a moment, before stepping forward to kiss Raya. ‘Yes, yes of course,’ she says, her voice shaking from her emotions. Raya cups her cheeks in both hands, gently wiping away her tears before they kiss again.

When they marry, neither of them can get through their vows without some tears of happiness. No-one judges them for it though – most of their family and friends are crying also.

[heartbeatan]

Devil's Garden: Chapter 4

Return to Chapter 3.

Return to Table of Contents.

Return to Desperado Series.

Return to Taehyung Fanfictions.

Return to Masterlist

Chapter 4

You fucking idiot, Taehyung cursed himself when everything clicked. He knew that name. Stintsons. Fuck! He even wrote it down, double-underlined it so he could come back to it. He had the missing piece in his fucking hands for two days. He could have saved you from this. All he had to do was just been a detective for a fucking second, instead of fucking around with his thoughts of fucking his married client.

“He understands,” Mina’s gazed moved to Taehyung when your face showed no signs of overcoming confusion. He could see you turn to him in his periphery, but he didn’t look back. He had no time now to sympathize or explain, or to feel embarrassment or shame for not picking up on the connection sooner.

“We have no idea what he’s been up to, or what he does, and we don’t want to know,” Taehyung spoke, trying to keep his voice from vibrating in anger. “Let us go. We won’t talk to anyone; we’ll forget he exists. Erase him.”

“What?!” you breathed out at his proclamation. He winced wishing you had just kept still instead.

“I don’t think so,” said Mina. “Like I said, you showing up today is of great convenience to me, given the circumstance. I’m going to need you to do something for me first.”

Taehyung sighed and closed his eyes. When it comes to the mob, you never just “do something first.” That “doing something” leads to more doings, to incrimination, until you’re trapped, in jail or dead.

“I’ll do it. Whatever you want, just let her go. She doesn’t need to be apart of this,” he finally adjusted his tone towards Mina in his attempt at a plea. The corner of her mouth pulled up in a smug satisfaction to finally see him grovel.

“She’s already involved,” Mina said as she turned to walk out of the room. “It’s you I don’t need. So, you decide how long you’ll be sticking around. But…” she pointed her finger towards you, “…she’s not going anywhere.” The two burly men followed her, closing the door behind them, leaving you alone. But Taehyung knew they would be back soon.

“What does she want?” you turned to Taehyung the moment the door closed. “Is she going to kill us?”

“I know we just met,” Taehyung cut you off before you could spin out. “But I need you to trust me. I need you to listen to everything I say from here on.”

“I do trust you, Taehyung,” you responded without missing a beat. His gaze darted to your eyes immediately, shocked by how easily those words slipped from your tongue, knowing that trust was something he wasn’t worthy of. “But you heard her. She doesn’t need you. You should leave if she’ll let you.”

“No,” he said firmly, ensuring you received the message without question. “This is my fault. I’m gonna get you out of this.”

“It’s not your…” your retort was interrupted when the door swung open with an industrial squeal.

The two men had returned. The brute, the one who had clocked Taehyung not long ago with his fist, pulled a knife off his waist and headed towards you. Your body tensed, leaning back into the chair as if you would be able to escape him.

“No!” Taehyung called, his heart beginning to pound. “No!” he called again, this time pulling hard at the ties around his wrists, nearly breaking skin as he did.

The man reached you, and with a strong grip pinned your arm still against the chair. He then dug the blade between your wrist and the zip-tie, and with a smooth flick the band snapped in half and fell underwhelmingly to the floor.

Taehyung let out a heavy breath, and he was fairly sure you did to. They were just releasing you from your confines, but he wanted to kick the man’s ass for being so fucking dramatic about it.

Once your second wrist was free, he turned the blade around, pointing the handle in your direction to take it. Rubbing your wrists, you looked back up at him, unsure what he was asking. The man nodded in Taehyung’s direction, and taking the blade, you understood what he was asking.

“Don’t try anything funny,” he said as you knelt before Taehyung and worked away at relieving his wrists of the zip-ties.

As Taehyung watched your trembling hands do so, his mind began to wander and plot. What if he took the knife from you? Could he overpower these brutes? Sink the blade into their necks? Take you by the hand and make a break for the exit? Adrenaline began to course through his veins as he thought about it, his body on edge ready to act the moment the second tie was removed – but, as he looked down at you, the dried blood still staining your face and hair, he realized that if you were both going to make it out in one piece, he would need to take a softer, more rational approach.

Now both released, you handed the knife back to your captor who returned it to its sheath. He then roughly grabbed you behind the elbow and pushed you in the direction of the door before he turned to Taehyung to do the same.

You walked down a long corridor, the floor covered in an aged carpet tile and the walls a large, off-white brick. You were in an office.

Is this…? Taehyung thought to himself until a door opened and you were both pushed out into the sunlight. It was. You were at Stintsons… Ezra’s office to be exact.

“Take this,” someone shoved an old cellphone into your hands. So old it had one of those walkie-talkie features on it. He flicked the dial for channel 04 and you could hear a static beep. “Don’t turn it off. Follow everything we say.” He then ushered you towards a car.

“You’ll drive,” someone slapped a set of keys into Taehyung’s hand and pushed him as well in the direction of the car. “Watch for speed bumps.”

Fuck, Taehyung said under his breath.

He climbed into the driver’s side, with you sitting next to him in the passenger’s seat. His eyes scanned the car quickly for anything that could be of value before checking the mirrors. He could see people climb into an SUV behind you. He looked forward and saw another party doing the same in a truck ahead.

���You’re gonna take Industrial to the 17, then make a right at the second light,” a voice came through the soundwaves.

Taehyung took a long breath through his nose, then closed his eyes as he pressed the clutch and turned the ignition. The engine – to his relief – roared to life without incident. He sure as fuck hoped Mina’s people knew what they were doing.

Before he put the car in first, he looked over to you. He didn’t know yet if he should tell you, but you looked calm – given the circumstance – as you sat next to him in your hoodie, holding the phone in your palm.

“Tuck your hair into your sweater,” Taehyung said. “Then pull your hood all the way up.”

You looked back at him inquisitively, but you did as he asked – brushing the strands off your face and tucking it all into the hood as he pulled the car out into the street.

“Pull it down as much as you can,” he insisted. “And look down the whole time we’re driving. Don’t look up at the CCTVs.” You understood then, he wanted you to hide from the cameras. It seemed counterintuitive, given that you were the ones being held captive, but you said you’d listen.

“How about you?” you inquired, noting he had nothing to protect his identity.

“Check the glove box,” he said, and you did. Finding it empty, but you didn’t stop there. You check the centre console, then stretched into the back, dipping your hands into the seat pockets in search of anything you could use.

“Ah ha!” you exclaimed as you returned to the front with a ballcap brandishing the Stintsons company logo across the front.

He took the cap and popped it onto his head, pulling the beak down as much as he could to hopefully protect his face enough.

“Take the next left,” a voice came through the phone again. Taehyung did as he was asked but noticed the SUV behind him had continued on straight, leaving your tail. You notice the truck you had been following hadn’t taken the left either.

“Why are they just leaving us like this?” you asked.

“There’s a bomb in this car,” he replied.

“What?!” you exclaimed. “How do you know that?”

“Stintson’s is just a front for the Uzo-Tuk.”

“You mean the gang?”

“Yeah,” Taehyung nodded. “They’re more than a gang. They’re a powerful crime ring. Drugs. Money. Weapons. People.”

“You better make that fucking light,” the voice came through the phone again. Taehyung peered up to see the yellow light too many meters ahead of him. But he did as he was asked, hitting the gas and speeding through the intersection. You grabbed the handle above the door, holding on for life and to your breath as the car rushed the intersection.

You made it through, though. An angry screech of a horn and a fuck you from a pedestrian you made it through the light as instructed.

“You think Ezra knew it was a front?” you asked when your stomach had settled from the rush.

“He was supposed to do a job for them, Y/N,” he didn’t mean for his tone to come off as patronizing, but it did. “I think he more than knew.”

“How do you know there’s a bomb?”

“It’s just their M.O. They park a car next to a target and then set it off remotely.”

“Was this what Ezra was supposed to do for them?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s on the next corner. Pull up to the curb as close as you can,” the final instruction came through the phone. “Then walk through the alley across the street and up the hill. Bring the phone.”

“Get out as soon as we park,” Taehyung said as he pulled the car towards the curb. “Keep your head down, take my hand. Don’t run.”

The car had barely reached a halt when you swung the door open. You made your way around the front as Taehyung close the driver’s door behind him. You took his hand as he had asked, kept your face low, and he guided you in a hurried stride across the street and towards the alley. The crumbled road ended in just a few metres, and led to a steep, dusty staircase that led from to a parking lot that elevated above the buildings. Henchmen greeted you when you reached the top, grabbing you roughly and dragging you towards the rest of the group.

Several of them held beers in their hands or a joint in their mouth while they laughed and joshed as if they were at a party. You had stayed glued to Taehyung’s side the best you could. He assumed you, smartly, were trying to stay out of the line of any of their sights. But it didn’t work. Taehyung watched as one of them, he appeared to be the leader, adorning a white tank exposing his sleeves of tattoos, looked over to you next to Taehyung and in an instant he knew he wasn’t going to leave you be.

“Hey, girly,” he called to you. “Come here for a second.”

“Leave her alone, man,” Taehyung groaned, trying to be as non-cholent as possible. But the man didn’t like that. So he walked up to the two of you, adjusting his presence to appear as menacing as he could, and pointing his finger in Taehyung’s face.

“I wasn’t fucking talking to you… MAN,” he said, and Taehyung almost laughed at his pathetic display of macho-ness. “Come here,” he said again to you, but this time grabbing a hold of your wrist and dragging you away. Strong hands grabbed Taehyung from behind, being sure he wouldn’t follow or try something. The tattoo’d man brought you to a spot on the ledge, so you could oversee the buildings below with perfect clarity. “You see that?” he pointed down to the street. “That’s the car you drove, right?” You didn’t answer, but he didn’t need you to answer. Instead, he pulled a phone from his pocket, tapped through the buttons until he handed it to you. “When I say, push the 'call' button.”

“Don’t fucking do it, man,” Taehyung called out. “Don’t make her do it!” How fucking cruel could these people be? Taehyung could see your expression change as you realized what was happening. You weren’t being asked to call someone – he wanted you to set off the bomb.”

“No. No, no, no,” you refuted as you pushed the phone away from you. “No, please. I can’t do that.”

“C’mon, baby. You can,” he patronized you with a disgustingly flirtatious tone. Taehyung jerked, trying to get a heavy hand off his shoulder.

“She’s not apart of this!” Taehyung called out again. “Just leave her out of it!” The hands holding him tightened their grip and he tried again to shake them off, but it only earned him a solid punch to the gut, leaving him breathless and kiltered over.

“Don’t!” you screamed when another one kicked Taehyung hard in the ribs, and you too tried to break away to come to his side, but the man had you held tightly. You turned and spat in his face. It was instinctive. You didn’t even realize you’d done it until it was too late. You didn’t have the time to consider how reckless it was, but before you could even think of what to do next a heavy hand clapped hard across your jaw, knocking you flat onto the earth.

“Fuck you!” Taehyung spat as he swung and arm trying to injure anyone near him.

Then… he heard a click, and his heart stopped.

He looked back. You were still on the ground. Mr. Tattoos standing above you, his arm stretched forward, in his hand a silver gun, arrogance lining his features, and rage making his veins visibly pop even under their array of ink. He wasn’t pointing the gun at you though. He was pointing it at Taehyung.

Everyone at the scene froze. It felt like someone had hit the pause button on a movie. It was possible at that moment that oxygen was no longer a human requirement, since no one on scene was taking any in.

“Stand up,” tattoos spoke, his command directed at you. Taehyung watched as your gaze followed from the gun to the place it was pointed, and when you saw it was pointed at Taehyung, when you realized that if you didn’t behave then something terrible was going to happen, you pulled yourself from the ground.

Taehyung wanted to call out again, but the stakes were too high now. But it hurt him to think about what this was going to do to you. Hurt him more knowing he could have been the one to keep you from this.

“Take this,” the man said as he handed you back the phone. “And when I say… you fucking push the button. Or else, your boyfriend here is dead.”

You looked back at Taehyung one last time. Your eyes filled with terror, and already filled with guilt and grief. Taehyung could tell you were asking him if it was alright. He nodded solemnly, although he didn’t know what your decision was going to be. Him? Or those innocent people, down there, on the street.

“Okay,” said tattoos. “Push it.”

[steveramsdale]

The ‘At Least Two Cups of Coffee Blog’ Blog

The ‘At Least Two Cups of Coffee Blog’ Blog

If you are reading this blog, then, by some miracle of chance, I survived to write and post it. This is entirely implausible but, apparently, true.

A crazy week in a crazy country full of life, history, noise, mess, poverty, beauty and spices.

Get comfortable, make sure you’ve been for that comfort break and steel yourself. This could be a long one. I set out to do something so I’d have blog material and there may be too much. I came to India! It is early on Monday morning now and I realised that if I left this until Saturday morning, there would be no time even if nothing else happens.

We have been excited for a while about coming. We planned with, and are here with our friend and colleague Wendy and her two wonderful children. We flew to Amritsar, a direct, two-hour flight, early on Saturday morning. Another friend, Dave, was also on the flight. The flight was, fortunately, uneventful.

As we approached and descended towards Amritsar airport, I noticed that the cars were driving on the correct (left) side of the road. “That’s good,” I thought. I soon had to reassess that observation. As we landed, one man started a very half-hearted clap but was not joined and stopped after, perhaps, five claps. It was a better landing than that.

The customs/immigration process was really easy. We had organised e-visas so there was little delay. Part of the process was having fingerprint scans. I could not get the fingers of my right hand into a position that the machine could read. The man at the desk decided not to worry about this, saying that we could “do it next time”. This is incorrect in many ways (well, at least two).

But, after a short wait for the suitcases, we were in India. It was very pleasantly warm. Although the car park had many white cars, not a-one was a Chevrolet.

The taxi driver arranged by the people at the hotel, was waiting for us with a sign saying “Tashkent”. As the plane, and everyone on it, had come from Tashkent, this could have been a little imprecise. We went to check if he was our driver and he had a screenshot of the text exchange between Wendy and the hotel. He, very sensibly, had the steering wheel, as God or Darwin (the jury’s out) intended, on the right-hand side of the car. Our suitcase was put on to a roof rack but was not secured in any way. I was sure I would see it fly off the roof at some point. I did not. It did not. The airport is not too far from the city and I soon had to change my “oh, they drive on the left” idea to “oh, they are supposed to drive on the left but many don’t.” This view also evolved over the next few days.

I have, in previous blogs, mentioned the lack of varied bird life in Tashkent, the one sighting of a hawk in the city and the eagles seen in the mountains and fro trains though the desert. Here, I had seen at least ten kites (I think) before we were 15 minutes in to the journey. On Sunday, we saw at least fifty circling and flying down to a river. There are also parrot-like birds and nightjars (I think). Anyway, there is interesting wildlife on hand, including Simon, Alvin and Theodor watching us from a tree.

So far (it’s Monday morning remember), we have used a lot of tuk-tuks. This is a really crazy way to travel. It is also a very cheap way to travel. I had, of course, heard about the roads in India but you do have to see it. I thought Tashkent roads we fairly anarchic but I will have to reassess that idea. Even on straight bits of road, there are bikes and motorbikes coming the wrong way. There are pedestrians doing whatever they need to do and vehicles of all sorts weaving in and out. And then there are junctions. This is governed purely by random chance. Drivers go in whichever direction they need to whenever they decide the odds slightly favour success. We have not yet seen even the smallest of accidents – just near-misses and cars with bumps and dents. There are untold numbers of scooters, mopeds and motorbikes. Very few have only a rider. The most popular so far was carrying five people. We were behind one where a girl of around five or six years of age was sitting with her hands in her pockets, not holding on and casually sorting out her hair, as necessary. She turned to smile at us. I have calculated that the ratio of helmets to people who travel on motorbikes is about 1:10,000. We passed one biker who took off his helmet as he was riding along and placed it in front of him on the tank.

On Saturday, after settling in, we went to the Golden Temple. This is a remarkable and wonderful place. It is clearly sacred to the Sikhs of India and the world. Everyone has to remove their shoes before entering and most kneel and put their foreheads to the marble floor to honour the temple and the sacred book it houses. The temple itself is in the middle of a man-made lake and is reached via a walkway. Many people were either getting into the water or, at least, reaching down and putting water on to their heads or even drinking some. The precinct around the pool is very large. People take selfies in front of the temple and the many signs saying that photography is forbidden in this sacred place. Of course I have a photograph of one such sign. Here, for the first of many occasions, people started to ask to take pictures with us. We stood still, at one point, to observe the whole scene and were immediately swamped by such requests. How do you describe those pictures when you post post them? Time forbids more detail about this experience.

We were all hungry by the time we left the temple and went to the first café/restaurant we found. We, of course, had fabulous curry costing almost nothing. I will not repeat this idea throughout the blog, so you should assume that this does happen repeatedly. Indian food I have had in the UK is (was) probably my favourite as a category, but it is at another level here.

On Sunday, we visited a fort which is now a developing visitor attraction. It was used by an 18th/19th Century warrior/leader of the Punjab and Sikh Kingdom, Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Later, the colonial British used it as barracks and, more recently, the Indian army has used it. Now it is a theme park. The children enjoyed the 7D(!) cinema presentation, camel and segway rides.

In the afternoon, we set off for the nearby border with Pakistan. This involved a taxi ride of about an hour on a variety of road surfaces. We were not sure what to expect but had been told it was worth a visit. Each day, at about 4:30pm, there is a ceremony of lowering the flag(s) and changing the guard. Car and coach parking is extensive and a few thousand people were there/arriving/arrived. Plenty of retail and food opportunities exist also. We were directed to the special line for foreign visitors and were allowed through without our passport, showing our TSB visa cards and clearly foreign faces as proof/ID. After a security check we walked to a part-stadium, part-amphitheatre. A short piece of road leads down to a large gate which marks the border. I don’t really know what I had expected but this was not it. The other surprise, which should not have been a surprise, was that exactly the same scenario was being enacted on the other side – the Pakistan side. The Border Security Force put on a really good show. I’m sure you know that there are real tensions between these two countries. This ritual, however, shows clear cooperation and seems more theatrical than military. There was an M.C. whipping up the crowd. There were men walking around selling chocolate, drinks, crisps and Cornettos. There was (very) loud music. A large group of women and girls were invited to either run towards to border waving flags or to dance enthusiastically. When the actual event started, it was bizarre and fascinating. Different groups, pairs or individual soldiers marched down the road to the gates, which were now open. Apart from two scary looking soldiers in typical army uniform and carrying guns, who marched in a ‘normal’ style, all of the other marched with very exaggerated steps, some almost kicking themselves in the head. At the border, they ‘confronted’ their Pakistani counterparts, raising arms and sticking out their chests. The scary guys stood in front of two similarly scary opposite numbers. A couple of the ‘marchers’ shook hands across the line. Most of the uniforms are very ceremonial with hats that have large plumes.

This whole ‘show’ has clearly been planned and coordinated between the two side. If there are two ‘this’ side, there are two ‘that’ side. The respective flags were lowered together. Eventually, the gates were closed

Shortly before the actual ‘ceremony’, three people arrived with airport-style luggage trollies and actually crossed the border.

This was a bizarre and unmissable event. On the way back to the car, a man stopped me and asked to take a picture of his child with me – he had a baby of about one-year-old. He handed the child to me, whereupon the child began to cry. The father now has a picture of a foreigner holding his distraught child and a talking point for years to come.

On Monday, the dreaded travellers’ tummy hit me. We explored a little in the morning but I had to take to my bed and stay near the toilet. We returned to the Golden Temple in the evening as we had been told it was even more spectacular when lit up at night. It was quite cold and raining by now and I could not face walking around without shoes on, so I stayed in the Shoes House and watch the world go by, feeling sorry for myself and being smiled at by beautiful people. I went back to the hotel by myself and could see the temple from outside the complex. It was beautiful. I haggled my tuk-tuk fare to 150 rupees but when I got back, I only had 136 to my name. This was accepted without apparent annoyance. We’d had an argument with one driver (who was certainly under the influence) who demanded 300 rupees. He would not take what we offered and I eventually left in on the ground and walked away.

Overnight, Mairi joined the sick club. By the morning, I was not feeling as bad, but we had an eight-hour train journey to Delhi to survive. We had booked a ‘first class’ sleeper compartment and so we were able to sleep and rest. The toilets were not so bad. For part of the journey, a young man with a sword was standing outside one of them.

The train was not unlike the Soviet over-night train in Uzbekistan – except there was no samovar. We passed the time and saw some sights, especially as we drew close to Delhi. There are untold numbers of people living out their lives in make-shift huts by the side of the railway lines.

Delhi is much bigger, noisier and more chaotic than Amritsar. I walked in the area outside the hotel early on Wednesday morning and went in to an early-opening café. I had reasonable coffee and a cinnamon roll. I had a 100 rupee note and 2000 note. The bill, coincidently, was 136 rupees. The young man a duty was able, a little unwillingly, to change the large note. With Mairi sleeping off the bug, the rest of our party visited the largest mosque in India. We also visited Connaught Place. This is the up-market part of the city and very clearly part of the British legacy. It also has many familiar brands – the obvious ones such as Starbucks and Pizza Hut. Mairi was feeling a little better in the evening, so we went to Pizza Hut for something familiar and comforting.

Thursday was the big day – The Taj Mahal. We had pre-booked a tour with a driver, guide and all tickets and so on arranged. It was about a three-hour drive mostly on a quiet, three-lane motorway. I slept quite a bit, but when awake thought that it could almost be the M1 through Derbyshire and Yorkshire – except for the part where some kind of monkey ran across the road.

As this is going on and on….I’ll be brief. The Taj Mahal is as beautiful as you might expect, as people say. It was amazing to be there and see a structure most people have seen so many times in pictures. “I typed this at the Taj Mahal” – that’s pasted from my phone notes, as a little gift to you. Part of our tour took us to a ‘no obligation to buy’ marble goods workshop and shop. We saw how the inlays are made and were shown various goods. The pressure part of the ‘no obligation’ was a little uncomfortable. We also saw the Red Fort of Agra, another spectacular construction, this one also used by occupying British forces. This was a long day, but worth it. The final part of the drive back was much longer through the Delhi rush-hour.

We spent Friday on another tour. We paid a really low price to have a driver take us to different sights and to a lovely restaurant. We declined the shopping experience he wanted us to have! There are huge, ancient buildings in Delhi, built by powerful men to show their power and wealth to succeeding generations – and you wonder how things would be different if that wealth had been shared then instead of hoarded and spent on futile vanity projects. Humayun has an amazing tomb, though. The poverty is also still obvious.

I have just scrolled up and seen how long this is, so I’m going to stop soon. This has been a great trip. We have had great company and seen amazing things. Not everything is included – sickness tales, for example. It is early on Saturday morning and we leave today.

Next week? Back to normal? We’ll see.

[crashpaddiaries]

Dear Crashpad Diary #16

Happy New Year beeeeeasts!!

I wish you all the most fantastic and unimaginable things for 2017… it will be memorable and whenever… in the future… you think back and visit this year… your thoughts will be fulfilled with happiness and your face will be hit by a smile bigger than you can support… you know those one that you get cramps in the jaw??? hahahaha

So… the post is this year but with some reminiscence of 2016… which was… how can I relate to this year??…. well… the best year ever would suit pretty well!! hahaha but… it is defo the best year ever… until 2017!! hahaha

I have no doubt that the new year will come with some surreal surprises and experiences!! =) ENJOY it as hell!! hahahah

The latest adventures of last year involves crazy buses… people dying and reviving… urban legends and loads… loads of fun!!

I had to break the line up of the trip…. cuz so far on this trip I was keeping the same path the Portuguese people took in the past… haha following my roots… leaving Europe… towards south… getting to South Africa… then India… but.. because the visa issue we had to break the rule and go to Sri Lanka… did the portuguese have the same issue with the visa?? hahaha

Actually I am not mad at all because of it… our days in Sri lankan soil have been fantastic and enjoyable.. some time too adventurous… have you ever seen how the bus drivers act in their traffic?? haha That is madness… they don’t stop honking… almost going over anything the whole time… does not matter if it is a car… motorbike… tuk tuk… bike… dog… post… traffic light… they don’t even respect if there is an old couple on it…. they dont stop on the bus stops… actually I don´t know how they call it there… cuz bus stop should have the purpose to the bus park in that place so the people inside could leave safe and happy wherever and whenever needed… right?? So…. they should rename it… maybe Bus Dive area or Bus Jump-and-keep-running-if-you-can area hahahahaha cuz it is an extreme sport ahahahah

Fair enough I always left the bus in the final stop… I mean… when it was properly parked and safe haha I would not mind get injured climbing but commuting…. I have to decline the offer Sri Lanka hahaha

I don´t know… I think the drivers are on cocaine haha… they play freaking loud techno music and act a bit weird not to say much hahahaha

Great experience though…. got the bus… paid 50 sri lankan rupees… almost witnessed 45 accidents in 10 minutes… got stuck in the traffic without moving for other 30 minutes… decided to walk… hopped off… of course because of the traffic the bus was not moving…. but the driver was still honking…. the pay trance was running and I was already few meters away… ahead haha in your face bus!! haha You know that you made the right move when the universe give you back the money you paid on the bus… I crossed the street and there was the 50 rupees note waiting for me!! And around 1 hour later I got to the hostel to meet Stephen and get the flight to India!! Hooooooray!! =)

During my time in Sri Lanka I got the opportunity to travel alone for few days… something that I hadn’t done  in the last 2 years… I love being on my own and always do… but travelling in other country is another stuff… the freedom and the possibilities are awesome! Took the trains to the heart of Sri Lanka… visited temples… mountains…. hang outside the wagon… enjoyed the cold breeze…. how I love travelling!!

If you´re ever in Sri Lanka… don´t miss the scenery train to Ella and Kandy!! =)

I got to the Hostel at 9pm… our flight would be at 2am… we had time… 10 mins later the rain came as I´ve never seen in my life… it was so incredibly hard that we were in the rooftop and we could not chat among us because of the noise… hard to believe!! And quite long… almost an hour raining uninterruptedly…. I was sure that our flight would be delayed if not cancelled…. but nature is kind and everything worked out well!! =) There we go India… good to see you again! =)

Left Sri Lanka at 2am ish… got to Chennai (India)… had to get the stamp…. wait for the other flight to Bangalore…. got there…. ate a burrito haha…. went to Decathlon cuz Stephen had to get a new boot… tried to do some slackline there…. realised that I was sleepy…. lied down in one of the crash pads there for an hour… we had to kill time… our bus to Hospet would leave only 10:30pm from the centre…. after that we went to an restaurant… ate again…. waited…. went to the mall… at this point I was like the walking dead…. we found some sofa…. sat and did not move for a while…. hours passed by…. and its time to go to the bus…. and another hour waiting…. I was already gone…. wasn’t interacting at all… needed some sleep urgently…. hahahahaha

The bus was a sleeper bus…. but I didn´t sleep…. I died there and was waken up in Hospet by Stephen…. the adventure was almost over… we only needed one more bus or tuk tuk… cross the river in a boat and walk a little…. hahahahaha yep…. we do sacrifices for climbing!! =)

Once in Hampi… the climbing can’t stop hahah we got loads of great sessions… sweet problems and nice people….

Alfonso… our friend from Ireland also has arrived for christmas…. he had his own adventure coming from Bangalore…. but switching the sleeper bus for a daily one… full of people and stopping in every single city…. took him 10 hours to get to Hampi…. what a brave guy hahahahaha But I´m sure it was worth it…. we´re having such a nice time!!  

The Christmas morning we decided to go climbing… early morning we headed to the Crystal Ball area… on the way we passed by a couple that asked us if one of our friends was gone missing the christmas eve…. cuz that morning they found a guy passed out on the road… bleeding… unconscious…. with no IDs and in a pretty bad shape was taken to the hospital…. well… we weren´t missing anyone but got concerned as it is unusual here….

The climbing day was fantastic and we got as usual… wrecked…. that day we heard loads of stories about the guys… the legend started hshshhah

Some said that it was a scam and some people did sth bad to him…. we heard that he was well…. we heard he died… we heard he was climber…. we heard he was not…. the police was around but we did not see any…. until few days later…. the day they took the crash pads of everyone that was in the plateau climbing after the sunset…. that was the new rule… no climbing after darkness… cuz the guy supposedly told the police that it was dangerous….. haha Who is the guy??? Is he alive??? hahahaha what a mess….

And the police kept all the crash pads piled up in the plateau but did not know what to do with it… people that rented their did not know what to do…. some of the officers did not even speak english…. what a mess again hahahahaha

In the end they gave back all the seized crash pads…. and so far we don’t know whats the story with the guy!! haha Hope he is ok!!

Though…. I heard he was not actually a guy… it was an alien that because of the level of the energy Hampi has, got attracted on his way back home (Pluto) and in a meteor shower came to India…. as the gravity is different in his place and he did not have any shoe proper to the approach (shout out to 5.10… where is my sponsorship???)… he was walking through the egg shaped boulders… slipped…. didn´t have any spotter… neither crash pads (shout out to Petzl…. where is my sponsorship??? hahah)…. he fell and started the legend! hahahahaha

Talking about crazy people…. Myself and Alfonso went to the temples…. visited some new ones… had awesome time…. but the latest one brought me some weird experience haha

We were there… to see the monkeys and the elephant…. started taking pics of the elephant…. its important to emphasise that… to get in we had to pay… and to use the cams we had to pay a bit more… there were people with the elephant… people giving money to the elephant which would take it… give to a guy and then “bless” the person putting the trunk in their head… afterwards… getting some food… over and over… and wed took lots of pics…. after getting bored by the sameness and annoyed by the elephant´s “habitat”…. we went to the monkeys…. they are everywhere…. and the cams kept shooting loads…. the shooter was pressed pretty continuously…. as my lens are fisheye and wide-open…. I normally get freakin close to the subject…. almost in their face… and with the monkeys was not different….

Almost ready to go away we split and suddenly a guy came talking loads of pics of me… coming with the cam pretty close… you know when you try to understand whats going on live… as the things happen?? haha there you go!! haha

And that was me… I was there… in a photo shoot… without any clue and being photographic raped hahaha I thought at first that it could be because of the monkeys…. cuz I was getting really close and he wanted me to feel like them… which would make sense… but the old guy was really aggressive and shouting at me…. did not get at all…. until I started paying attention on what he was saying…. “thief”… “Fuckin thief”…. “you took thousand of pics of the elephant and did not give any money to him!!” hahahahaha

Oh… thats the reason… money… well… its funny how people get mad for nothing…. hahaha

I tried to argue with him that we paid at the entrance but there are some people in this world that don’t respect even the atmosphere inside a temple full of kindness and good vibes….

haha but as he came close to me shouting again I decided give him the same act he gave me… he took pics of my face right??? I put my big Canon 7D… with my big fish eye… as close as I could (without hit him in the face… even though that would be delightful….)… if you know nothing about photography…. its nice to know that this cam takes 8 pics per second…. and each pic makes a nice and loud noise…. hahahahaha it was like shooting the old fella hahahahahahah

I think that cam had never given me such a huge pleasure!! hahahahah but the pics I made with it are great anyways hahaha check them out in my Flickr page!!

After that he tried to punch me… I avoided engaging cuz it would mean trouble…. fighting an old indian guy… inside a holy temple…. no good!! hahahaha

Alfonso was chasing monkeys and didn´t even see it hahaha his big arms would have helped keeping the old grumpy and penniless guy away!! hahahahah

Good story though…. and good lesson learnt…. never fight back with the same weapon… unless your weapon is better that your opponent hahahahahahah just kidding!! =)

haha… cool… I had few other things to tell yas but got excited once again and wrote way too much…. hope you enjoyed…. we´re enjoying over here too!!

Have a fantastic life and smile everyday beasts!!! Keep climbing strong and having fun!!

2017 will be spectacular!!

Cheers,

Evan