Creative cosplays are my favourite. I love it when someone unexpected shows up at our booth. And this bottle of hot sauce was definitely unexpected!
Wargrave Island (Serial Story) Part 12: Conclusion
List of Characters | Part 1| Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11
Dropping the bin and running, Riko felt so stupid. She’d left Kate alone and unarmed, other than a baseball bat.
The sand and smoke made running awkward and painful in equal measures. It felt like it took her a month to get to where she’d left Kate, and she fully expected to find the woman dead in her wheelchair.
“Take that, you asshole.” Riko heard Kate’s yell followed by a metal thunk and yelp of pain. The wind turned and the smoke moved towards the inside of the island, letting Riko see what had happened. A man was laying down cradling his head and Kate was glowering over him wielding the baseball bat.
“Kate, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I might be in a wheelchair but I’m also an Olympic athlete.” Giving Riko a sad smile, she said, “Your partner’s an asshole.”
The man laying on the ground was Ethan. His arm was still attached, but without his fathers watch. Taking her handcuffs out of her back pocket, Riko cuffed him to an old stump of a tree. He was unconscious.
After a few minutes of resting, she got some water from the lake and threw it in his face. He woke with a start.
“Why, Ethan? Why?”
Smiling he shook his head saying, “Not how? Really, you won’t give me the satisfaction of telling you how I bested the amazing Riko Dulac?”
Holding back the tears that were stinging her eyes, she shook her head and asked again, “Why?”
“Fine. I’ll monologue for you. This is revenge, pure and simple revenge. You are all terrible people and the planet is better off without you.”
When he didn’t continue, Kate laughed, “If anyone has reason to hate this group it would be me.” She pointed at her legs.
“At least you’re still alive. The merciless teasing and horrible things you all did to my sister made her kill herself. Do you know what it’s like watching someone you love change completely?”
“Yes,” Riko said unable to hide the crack in her voice.
Ignoring her he continued, “She went from a happy inquisitive girl to a depressed and angry one.”
“Kingsley was your sister? She killed herself?” Riko asked completely blindsided.
“Yes, and you didn’t even notice. Protector of the school, moral compass, bully slayer… All high and mighty and blind to everyone but her friends pain.”
“Why did you wait so long?” Kate asked.
“Revenge is a best served cold.”
“Fine. Now that you’ve told us why, tell us how. Do you have some sort of magic powers?” Riko said sarcastically. There was no way he could have sent the texts, move the bodies, set up the traps, and everything else.
His only reply was to smile. She slapped him. She couldn’t help it. She started to shake him. His smile only widened. She was getting ready to punch him when he finally spoke, “I don’t have magic powers. I have partner.” He looked over her shoulder.
She turned just in time to see a sword come out of Kate’s chest. Standing behind Kate with a crazed look was Allison. “You didn’t really think you had the brains or the resources to pull this off, did you?”
“Allison?” Riko’s head spun and she watched the light die in Kate’s eyes.
Struggling to get the sword out of Kate, Allison grunted. She finally gave up and took a shotgun out from a sling on her back.
“Yes. Poor little boring Allison. Did you forget about me again? Like the time I was supposed to tutor you in math and you never showed up? Or the time you, Zane, and I were going to go see Narnia together? Or maybe that time I was supposed to get a ride with you to the grad party? Ring a bell?”
“I’m sorry, Allison. I didn’t realize…”
“NO!” Allison yelled, “You didn’t care! And when I saw what you all did to poor Kingsley, I knew you had to pay. It took me years to get the money to buy this island and put cameras everywhere. Finding Ethan was a nice bonus.”
“How–”
“Did I make it look like you had no signal? My app has an extra layer. I can activate it and it take over your phone. Making it look like you have no signal. It then only allows texts from me to get through. And you were all dumb enough to install it.”
“Wow. We must have been horrible to have you go through all this trouble,” Riko said. She was still angry, but she was also guilty and exhausted.
“I don’t want your pity, bitch!” Allison snickered and then added, “I want you to die.” She raised the shotgun at Riko. “Any last words?”
Riko recognized the shotgun and hesitated before saying, “Don’t do it. I–”
Cutting her off again, Allison said, “I don’t care,” and pulled the trigger. The shotgun, the same that Riko had rigged to backfire in the hotel, backfired and shot Allison in the chest.
Ethan started giggling at the sight. He didn’t stop as Riko took her phone and deleted Allison’s app. Then she restarted the phone for good measure and when it turned back on, she had five percent battery, but she had signal. She called 911 and explained where she was and babbled what had happened.
Still giggling, Ethan started bashing his head against the tree stump he was tied to. Riko tried to care, she tried to feel indignant that he was trying to escape justice, but instead she just felt numb. When he stopped moving she reached over and felt his neck. He was still alive, barely.
In her numb state, she was relieved he would face justice but she couldn’t help feeling that the entire thing was partly her fault.
Help me write 2017’s serial story and vote for the
2017 Serial Story – You Vote, I Write
If you enjoyed Wargrave Island why not read previous years serial stories:
2014 – The Ridiculous Adventures of Felix Felicis
The story of a man who likes things neat and organized and gets dragged across time and space.
2015 – Only Human
The story of an ordinary-ish human, who enrols in Monster University to find her sister’s killer, but finds love and friendship instead.
Blush: Nursing
Nursing vs breast feeding
You might think that these two terms are the same, and for myself, they are. However, there are people who do not identify as female, and using the term “breast feeding” might generate a feeling of dysphoria in them. So I am trying to use the term “nursing” universally.
Nursing vs formula
I chose to nurse Dragon, rather than to use formula. For multiple reasons, this was the best choice for us. On top of the doctors and nurses telling us that nursing was the only way to go (I felt bad for the woman in our baby classes who was choosing to formula feed. The nurse running the class was shaming her), it’s so much cheaper to nurse than to buy formula, and it’s much faster to feed the baby when nursing; shirt goes up, bra goes down, baby latches to the body.
While the woman in my class did choose to formula feed, there are many people who don’t get that choice and must use formula for a variety of reasons. No one should be shamed for their inability or choice when it comes to nursing.
The Beginning
Nursing was really confusing to start with, because I constantly felt like I was doing it wrong. Is she latching properly? Is she getting enough? How do I hold her? How can she breathe?
One of the major benefits of being at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital was that my nurse was someone that I’ve known since she was 3 years old. I felt very comfortable asking her for help. The QCH also has excellent lactation consultants. There are numerous places you can go to if you need additional resources as well, like ottawa.ca/prenatal, parentinginottawa.com, lllc.ca, breastfeedinginc.ca, ottawabreastfeeds.ca, and 311 during business hours to talk to a public health nurse. The QCH also offers nursing classes on certain days.
Fortunately, we figured things out fairly quickly, which I am grateful for, and my milk came in after about 48 hours, so Dragon didn’t lose much weight before she started gaining it again. There’s nothing like seeing the numbers on the scale drop to make you feel like you’re failing as a parent, and this happens right after birth.
Interesting things I discovered about nursing
There’s something called let-down that happens when the breasts fill with milk unexpectedly. (I say unexpectedly, because I am often surprised by it.) This happens after a certain amount of stimulation of the nipple. The amount of time required for this varies from person to person, and the amount of let-down varies as well. I’ve discovered that if I’m already full of milk, let-down causes some milk to escape, even if the baby is attached to the other side. I assume to see a problem here. I’ll come back to that.
Let-down can also happen if the baby hasn’t been fed in a while, if the baby cries, if another baby cries, if you think about the baby and are nowhere near the baby, etc.
So to get back to that problem. The problem of leaking. I find that I have this problem most often at night, because Dragon is a very good sleeper. If she has fed well enough before bedtime, she has slept 8 hours straight. Compare this to during the day, when I feed her every 4 hours or so. You can imagine that that extra 4 hours means that I am incredibly full. I’ve had several incidents of waking up with a soaking wet pyjama top.
Solution:
Nursing pads! I commissioned these from Crafty What-Knots, and OMG they are the most comfortable things of life! The pad on the bottom left (the purple one) is showing the inside. It is a super soft material that I want to rub constantly, and it is incredibly absorbent. There is an inner layer that is extra absorbent. Then the backing…the awesome backing that is the reason you should get your nursing pads from Crafty What Knots; I told her that I loved all things geeky, and she found me Avengers, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Minion fabric!! The backing protects my clothing by locking the wet inside the pad.
I am so impressed by these pads – they’re big enough that my shifting around at night doesn’t move them (which was my problem before), and they’re exactly what I wanted. (She can do non-geeky fabrics, too, if that’s what you want.)
If you’re enjoying the Blush blogs, consider learning more with Blush: The Card Game from Renaissance Press.
You Don’t Need to be a Jerk to Act Like One
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
There’s something that’s been bugging me since November 8th. A lot of people have been saying or doing stupid jerk-like things.
Jerk behaviour goes through cycles and the latest one is to say, “It’s okay, I’m not a jerk.” As if not being a jerk meant your behaviour couldn’t be that of a jerk.
A friend posted an article where a jerk-face was condescending a female expert about her field. Someone commented that this was obvious mansplaining (When a man disregards a woman’s experience and decides to explain things to her despite her being way more qualified to explain the thing.) A guy commented that they were using the term wrong and that there was no way to know if the jerk from the article was actually a sexist-jerk.
So here’s something that a lot of people don’t seem to understand: An action is independent from the actor. In the same way, the action is independent from the actor’s intention.
The action is independent from the actor’s intention.
Let’s tackle the second statement first. What this means is that despite being influenced by an intention, an action is its own thing. If you call someone stupid, the action is hurtful even if the intention wasn’t. Even if both parties believe the act to be harmless it’s still a hurtful act. Because it normalizes a difference in cognition as bad. This may seem like a banal example but try it by replacing the word “stupid” with the pejorative racial slur of your choice.
An action is independent from the actor.
You don’t need to be a Chef to cook a dinner. Just like you don’t need to be a jerk to do something that’s jerk-like. In the example above, the jerk who was condescending to an expert might not have been sexist, but what he was doing was sexist. It doesn’t matter what he was or what he was intending, he acted in a sexist way.
Why is this important?
It may seem pedantic to insist on this divide but it’s extremely important. People are fallible and we all make mistakes. It’s possible to do a jerk act from ignorance and not malice.
The trend is to say, “Look at that person; they did something jerk-like. They’re a jerk!” That leaves no room for the person to learn or for the person to grow. It creates a society where there are whole websites dedicated to how your favourite celebrity/activist/politician/etc is “Problematic.”
There are people out there who act constantly in a jerk-like manner and they are jerks.
I have acted like a jerk in the past and when someone explained to me why what I did was jerk-like, I tried to change my behaviour.
Try to not act like a jerk when people tell you your actions are jerk-like.
Éric
Runway
The runway lights of Montreal’s airport. Still not at the final destination. Where is the TARDIS going? Stay tuned for next Monday!
Heart Tea Heart
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
I love coffee (if you’ve read this blog for a little you probably know that) but I also have a soft spot for good tea. I mean loose leaf, flavourful, and bold tea.
That’s exactly what you get with all the different blends from Heart Tea Heart.
I’m partial to the Knights of Avalon, the English Breakfast, and for reasons that are obvious in the next picture, the Harvest Apple Oolong.
Heart Tea Heart has a pop-up location for the holidays and is stocking books along with tea. Including mine.
Books and Tea make wonderful presents.
They’re at the Merivale Mall 1642 Merivale Road, Ottawa, Ontario! Go check them out.
Also go give them a Like on Facebook, and if you’re out of town, check out their website.
Later days,
Éric
Marvel cruise
On board certain Disney Magic cruises, there is a new event – Marvel superheroes will be there as well!
So if you would like to meet some superheroes, and would like to cruise the Bahamas for 7 or 8 nights, or Canada and New England for 7 nights, this is a perfect vacation for you!
https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/onboard-activities/marvel-at-sea
If you are concerned about the price of a cruise being too expensive, remember, cruise prices include the accommodation, your meals, and activities on board the ship. So take the total cost, divide it by the number of nights, and try to find another vacation that is that good a price!
If you are interested in booking a Disney cruise vacation.Jen has retired from working as a travel agent. Hope you’ve enjoyed Fandom Travel.
Serial Story and Criticism
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
Creating things is hard. Showing it to other people is like ripping a piece of yourself off and hoping people will like it. (Van Gogh understood and took it a little too literally.)
There’s no trick to taking criticism. There are rules however, (which I sometimes forget) the chief most of those is: Never engage or defend. If someone says that your setting sucks because of X, you smile and nod. Later you can cry and rant and scream, but to the person you smile and nod and even thank them.
The second rule is just as important. Don’t dismiss or accept criticism until you’re calm. Once you’ve gotten over the emotional reaction, you’ll be better able to judge if you should take the criticism to heart or throw it out.
As a writer, there are things that I do well. I can create compelling characters, silly jokes, and I’m pretty decent at adventure style stories. What I don’t do well is realism.
All this comes from a criticism of this years’ serial story. It was harsh, sarcastic, and a little condescending, but not wrong. I’m not a hard mystery writer. I’m also not practised at realistic fiction. Wargrave Island has been a little cartoony in the deaths and I’m ok with that. It’s been an experiment and it’s taught me that this isn’t the genre that I want to be writing.
If you’d like to help me decide what to write for 2017’s serial story vote in the poll below. So far we’ve only had 5 voters so tell your friends and decide what 2017 will be like:
What Should be the Genre of the 2017 Serial Story?
- Comedy & Fantasy (21%, 3 Votes)
- Romance & Science-Fiction (21%, 3 Votes)
- Science-Fiction (14%, 2 Votes)
- Science-Fiction & Fantasy (14%, 2 Votes)
- Romance & Fantasy (14%, 2 Votes)
- Romance (7%, 1 Votes)
- Action-Adventure (7%, 1 Votes)
- Fantasy (0%, 0 Votes)
- Comedy (0%, 0 Votes)
- Super Hero (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 14
Loading ...What Point of View should I write?
- Third Person Limited (43%, 6 Votes)
- Third Person Omniscient (29%, 4 Votes)
- First Person (29%, 4 Votes)
Total Voters: 14
Loading ...What Form should the Conflict Take?
- Person VS Nature (50%, 7 Votes)
- Person VS Person (29%, 4 Votes)
- Person VS Self (21%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 14
Loading ...How Many Main Characters Should Be in the Story?
- 2 (43%, 6 Votes)
- 3 (43%, 6 Votes)
- 1 (14%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 14
Loading ...What should the Main Character(s) Be?
- Normal Human (36%, 5 Votes)
- Non-Human (Alien, Elf, Dwarf, etc) (21%, 3 Votes)
- Special Human (Super Hero, Chosen One, Magic user, etc) (14%, 2 Votes)
- Personification of a Concept (Death, Liberty, etc) (14%, 2 Votes)
- Anthropomorphized Animal (Human looking fox) (14%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 14
Loading ...Should There be Time Travel?
- No (57%, 8 Votes)
- Yes (43%, 6 Votes)
Total Voters: 14
Loading ...If you have any extra suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments. No promises that I’ll use all suggestions.
Thank you and Later Days,
Éric
AC Lounge
The TARDIS is off on a trip! Here it is in the Air Canada Lounge in Ottawa’s airport. Where is it headed? Take a guess and stay tuned next Monday for the next picture in this series!