Chapter 94 – the rant

I’m honestly not sure which character I agree with.  I sympathise with both sides of the argument!

***

I saw Underworld: Rise of the Lycans the other day.  That being the first time I’ve gone to the cinema with a group of male, nerdy friends for several months.

I enjoyed it, but in all honesty, it’s no more the type of film I’d normally watch than Twilight was.  The basic concept is essentially vampires versus werewolves, which is, I will admit, genius.  Two of the scariest, most awesome mythical creatures in a dramatic battle.  As a concept, it’s pure win.

The movie is a prequel to a movie I’ve never watched, so it took me a little while to follow it, but there’s just enough exposition that I could work out what was what without much trouble.  It also naturally ended with a cliffhanger, so I should probably watch the original some time.

To be honest, though, I more enjoyed spending time with my friends – my male, nerdy friends – than I enjoyed the movie itself.  It was by far the most violent movie I’ve ever watched, and while fantasy violence and bloodshed doesn’t bother me, neither do I find it as amusing as most of my friends seem to find it.  One of my friends afterwards said that he was dissappointed that it wasn’t gorier(!), but I thought there was quite enough gore, thank you very much.

I did like the way they handled the romance side of the story; the directors clearly know their audience well.  All too often, directors will throw in an unwanted romance subplot under the misguided impression that it adds depth to the story, but here it was entirely relevant to the main plot, while thankfully managing not to dominate the movie (because, let’s face it, nobody goes to see an action movie for the romance).

So anyway, not entirely my cup of tea, but if you’re looking for a decent fantasy action movie to watch with mates, you could do a lot worse.

*Sigh.*  I’m not very good at being “blokey”, am I?

Chapter 94 – Making Plans

(Iaru01)

Location: the farmhouse
Mood: thinking
Music: Variation no 7: Hip Hop ~ Amadeity

Sup guys? Been discussing what to do next. We’ve been here for over two weeks now, so I think it’s time we were making plans to move on. Longer we stay here, longer we’re putting ourselves and the farm people at risk. Not sensible to hang about like this when the police could drop by any day now. We’re going to be found out eventually. Besides, it sucks being stuck indoors all the time. We really need to keep moving.

Unfortunately, it’s been difficult convincing the others. Well, that’s not quite right. Specifically, it’s been difficult convincing one of the others, who’s been insisting that we’re safe here, that we’d be ungrateful to leave now after Tom was so kind to invite us in, that Megan needs to stay here because she’s still recovering, and so on.

Which is a pile of crap. We’re not safe anywhere, and the longer we stay in one place, the sooner we’ll be found, especially since this farm isn’t exactly isolated. Chances are someone will spot us and recognise us sooner or later, and that’s if the police don’t find us first. And it’s not ungrateful to leave after we’ve been here for a couple of weeks. If anything, we’ll be pushing it if we stay around much longer, because there can only be so much cleaning in one house, right? Four housekeepers has got to be excessive. We don’t want to outstay our welcome. And as for Megan, she herself says that she’s feeling a lot better now than she did, and her burn is a lot less visible, and she’s still got enough ointment left to last her at least a couple of months. Not trying to be insensitive or impatient here, I’m just being practical. Megan herself agrees with me.

I’m hoping we’re going to get moving within the next week, the sooner the better, I reckon.

Chapter 93 – the rant

Honorine Blanchard is yet another new character.

♫ Feed the birds!  Tuppence a bag! ♪

Ah, nostalgia.  Who got that reference?

***

My copy of Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 1: Orientation finally arrived just the other day.  I love it!  It’s so glossy and shiny and new!  I’m reading it very carefully, because it’s so pristine and perfect that I don’t want it to get out of shape.  Don’t you just love a brand new hardback?

Incidentally, if you don’t read Gunnerkrigg Court, I urge you to do so.  Right now.  It’s my absolute favourite comic.  If you’re not as obsessive a fan as I am, you don’t even have to buy it, since all the strips so far are viewable free online on the official website, starting here.

Chapter 93 – Canards et Cygnes

(honorineblanchard)

Whenever I find myself with nothing to do, or feel stressed, or upset, I always go down to the park and stand by the lake, and watch the birds on the water. There are always coots or moorhens. Usually mallards, sometimes geese or swans, too. Occasionally a heron or a bittern. I like the swans the best. They’re so beautiful, and so graceful.

When I was very small, my mother would often take me to feed the ducks. It would cheer me up if I was feeling sad, and calm me down if I was making trouble. Even if the weather was cold and wet, I would wrap up warm and visit the ducks in the rain. Who’d have thought that tearing up dried bread could be so much fun? Back then, it seemed like the most blissful thing in the world.

Chapter 92 – the rant

All work and no television would make Johnny a dull boy.

Steel Radar Fury is a science fiction, New South Avenue is a soap opera, and Bella & Bethany is a variety show that almost everyone in Johnny’s world watches.

The Mets are a real British baseball team (the London Meteorites, not the Metropolitan Police).  The Hercynia Halberdiers are fictional, though.

If this chapter seems to portray baseball in a less-than-flattering light, please bear in mind that very few people in the present day UK care about the sport, so Johnny’s interest suggests that it is more popular in the world of the story than it is in real life.  In the real world, British baseball is actually experiencing a decline in popularity.

British baseball has slightly different rules from regular baseball, but in the world of the story, I think they play by the American rules.

***

Gong xi fa cai!

Chapter 92 – Paint and television

(johnny07)

Well, this has certainly been an interesting month. In the space of a few weeks, I have been taken in for questioning by the police, escaped from a burning police station, been threatened at gunpoint, ran away from home, become a fugitive, survived a car crash and been attacked by a monster.

Compared to all that, this last week has been a welcome change. We haven’t been attacked, threatened, or pursued for eleven days now. Under the circumstances, I’d say that’s pretty good going.

The four of us spent much of the weekend repainting the front hall and living room. I’ve never really done any decorating before, but it’s easy enough. It does get dull after a while though.

But hey, I’m not complaining. After all, here we have access to the greatest cure for boredom: a television! Nothing like “Steel Radar Fury” or “Bella & Bethany” to alleviate the tedium of cleaning and decorating. Maybe I could have done without “New South Avenue” (yawn!), but Bradley and Megan like it, so it’s only fair that they got to see it.

I’m especially glad I got to see the Haberdiers beat the Mets on Saturday! Even if it meant enduring Iaru, Bradley and Tom’s jibes about baseball not being a ‘real’ sport. Hmph! But then, they let me watch it, which was nice, especially since it meant I was hogging the TV for about 3 hours! I had been resigned to not being able to see it.

Chapter 91 – the rant

It’s midnight.  I am so behind schedule with this.  Sorry!

You know, I thought once the main plot kicked off, this would get easier to write.  I think it’s actually gotten more difficult.

Chapter 91 – Black Night

(bizzariarox)

hoo boy. so much crazy stuff has happened since i last posted. check the others’ blogs if you don’t know about it yet, because it’s way too much to explain.

read em yet? good. so anyway, we’re now at this farmhouse. it’s kinda cool. very spacious. me and megan are sharing a guest room, and the boys are in a room just down the hall. there weren’t enough beds for all of us, but at least megan has a bed. i don’t begrudge her that. i’m not the one who got attacked, after all.

the farm people are really nice to let us stay here. there’s three of them running the place: caitlin, tom and mark. one sister and two brothers. caitlin’s the eldest child. she’s a very practical person, and i think she handles most of the business side of things here. she has this very brisk way of talking which makes her sound very serious, even when she’s joking. once you get used to that, she’s very funny.

tom seemed quite threatening at first. he’s pretty gruff, but he’s a really nice guy when you get to know him. quite aside from saving all our necks last thursday, he’s also the one who persuaded the caitlin and mark to let us stay for a while. all of which is especially nice of all of them, since they could have just turned us all in to the police the moment we got here. also, tom’s been really good looking after us all, especially megan, who was in a real shock after what happened to her face, as i’m sure you can imagine. thanks to tom, she’s visibly recovering, so that’s good.

mark is the youngest. he’s hardly ever around, since he does a lot of delivery running and general outdoor work. he’s often kinda grumpy, and i think he’s a bit anxious about us being here, but i think he’s a good guy at heart. he towed iaru’s car back, which was nice of him. i think he tried to help iaru fix it earlier, but it’s in the kind of state where nothing can be done, short of replacing all the contents of the bonnet, plus the entire front of the vehicle.

given how kind they’ve been to us all, it probably seems ungrateful when i say that we’re al getting a bit restless here. we haven’t been allowed outside, and with good reason, but it’s still no fun being stuck indoors indefinitely. iaru in particular is getting fed up.

not that we haven’t had anything to do. we’ve been doing a lot of early spring cleaning for the farmers here. today, among other things, we’ve been sanding down the skirting and cleaning the walls in the hall, which is in need of a repaint. i’m guessing that’s our job for the weekend.

the farm people get up really early. i’m still nowhere near an early riser. time i got some sleep!

Chapter 90 – the rant

Poor Iaru. He’s a lot more upset about that car than he’s letting on, but he doesn’t want to draw any of Bradley’s sympathy away from Megan.

I was being quite silly when I came up with Billy Baggins and the Wereworms, but this might just be one of those cases where fact is every bit as strange as fiction.

One of these days I’m going to forget that Iaru’s blog host lists “Location, Mood, Music” and leave it off by mistake.

***

I had my history exam today.  I suppose it could have been a lot worse.  It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, which doesn’t really bode well.  I was writing up until the last second.

Still, it’s in the past now.  Now I can relax and take a break.  What’s that?  Coursework, you say?  Sorry, I can’t hear you over the sound of no more revision!

Annoyingly, the last time I hit publish, it deleted most of this post, so I’ve just had to write it out again.  Let’s hope it works this time…

Edit: Yep, worked!  Whew!

Chapter 90 – What now?

(Iaru01)

Location: the farmhouse
Mood: good, thanks
Music: Foundation ~ Billy Baggins and the Wereworms

Still at the farmhouse, and we’re wondering what to do next. Obviously can’t stay here forever. It’s really nice of the people here to give us a place to stay, and food and medicine and everything, but the longer we stay here, the longer we put both ourselves and the farm people in danger. It wouldn’t be a good way to repay their kindness if we ended up getting them arrested or something, would it?

Problem is, we’re not sure where’s the best place to go from here. The Cymru border’s not far from here, but now that we no longer have a car, it seems a lot further away than it did. I can’t believe what happened to that car. It was so stupid. Tried to fix it, but it looks to be beyond repair.

If I’d only driven a bit slower, maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation, but I guess that’s by the bye now. You know, it’s really scary trying to drive on ice like that. I’ve never attempted to drive in that kind of weather before.

Actually, if I’d kept going much longer, I expect I would have had to stop anyway, because the snow kept on falling. We’d have been stuck. We can’t leave now, as it happens, because it snowed again this morning, and it’s showing no signs of thawing. Maybe if we borrowed the tractor, but I’m pretty sure they need that.