#no12

[ID: On a pale peach square black words write, “Some late nights I wake humming those lost notes, enraptured by their cadence. They sound the way my brain would if it followed the electrical patterns of my heart. They make this world seem different in an unquantifiable way, as if the notes are brighter than reality, and by being so, contest it. Their color smolders prismatic in the gaps of verity.”

Artemis Fowl inspired rose window?

Hmmmm, let's see if we can't narrow it down a little.

Do you want your whumpee to hurt physically or psychologically?

If it's physical, you could go the typical beating for information. You could go waterboarding, suffocation, forcing your whumpee to stand for long periods of time.

If it's psychological, you can force them to stay awake. Expose them to bright lights or loud noises. Tell them that no one is coming for them, that everyone they love is dead. Threaten them with their worst fears, force them to face them. Or do nothing at all to them. Leave them in a room in the dark, all alone. Have them untouched physically, isolated and alone for who knows how long.

Torture as a whump method is so broad, and there are so many ways to hurt them. So just break it down a little. Maybe there's something in this post that's made you think "I like this" or "I don't like this". Hopefully it's helped!

They’d been laughing when the hero had heard the soft double click, that’s funny...They’d thought to themselves, that sounded like...

“Don’t move!” They whispered, their face going white as their stomach dropped through the floor. 

Sidekick hadn’t noticed, they were still laughing about some joke the hero had made a moment ago--a lifetime ago now. They began to shift slightly to buckle their seat belt-the hero’s arm shot out and grabbed them hard enough to bruise. 

“Don’t fucking move!” They shouted, their heart beating a wild staccato rhythm in their chest, like a bird trapped in a collapsed cage.  

Sidekick had stopped laughing, they froze, looking at hero sharply, wincing at the iron grip that hero had on their arm, “Wh-what’s happening?” They’d been with hero long enough to know that something was very wrong. 

“I don’t know for sure...” Hero slowly let go of sidekick’s arm and eased out of the passenger seat, opening the door and stepping out disturbing the car as little as possible, when they reached sidekick’s door they opened it gently, barely daring to breath, they glanced up at their long time friend and partner, they’d gone a little pale, fear swimming in their widened eyes. 

“Just hold still for me, okay?” when sidekick went to nod they caught themselves just in time and winced instead. 

“Okay,” They breathed tremulously. 

Hero crouched by the seat, peering underneath it, when they saw the blinking red and green lights they hissed and swore under their breath. 

“What is it? A snake!?” Sidekick hated snakes as much as the fictional Indiana Jones did, maybe even a little more. 

“No, not a snake, there’s a pressured explosive under the driver’s seat,” the hero stated evenly, a false calm descending over their face, “What I need you to do is not panic, stay completely still for me, and I’ll have you out of here in no time okay?” 

“Enough with the hero-talk bullshit!” Sidekick squeaked, already starting to panic, “I can see through it!” They took a deep breath, “How bad is it? Tell me the truth.” 

Hero sighed, their hands were shaking, sweat already starting to bead on their forehead, “it’s..It’s not good sidekick....” They state finally, their voice coming very close to breaking, “It’s one I haven’t disarmed before, and I don’t know how sensitive it is.” 

“Oookayy,” sidekick took a measured breath, already starting to feel the strain of holding the same position, their muscles tight with stress, “What do we d-do?” 

“There’s only one person I know of who might know how to disarm it...But they also might be the one who planted it.” 

“The antagonist!” Sidekick exclaimed, “hero you’re crazy if you think that they’l help us without striking some terrible deal that’s worse.” 

Hero shook their head bitterly, “I don’t have a choice, I’ll call anti-hero to come and sit with you--” sidekick whimpered slightly cutting them off. 

“Pl-please don’t leave me, if I’ve got to be blown into mush I’d really like the last face I see to be yours,” they didn’t make eye contact, swallowing hard.

“Sidekick,” hero prompted, “Look at me,” sidekick did, meeting hero’s eyes, the determination he saw there gave him a boost of hope, “You’re not going to be blown to mush, okay? I’m sure we’ll get another chance to die together really soon,” the tight smile didn’t reach their eyes. 

“Promise?” Sidekick managed a smirk. 

Tw: Injury

“Alan, don’t move.”

Listening to big brothers had been something drilled into him for as long as he could remember. Resisting what they were telling him to do was something he’d been doing for just as long. 

Since he had become part of International Rescue, resistance had become something he found himself doing less often. After all, when it came to life and death decisions it was a relief to not be the one making the calls.

Being the one in danger made things a little different. It was something between frustration and reassurance he thought. He was obviously doing the right thing staying where he was, but he didn’t exactly have any other option. Especially not when a support beam was pinning his leg. 

“Not exactly got a choice right now John,” He grunted, testing if he could shift his leg at all. 

“No Alan,” John repeated, “Eos says there’s exposed electrical wires close to you.”

“Elm Wildlife Tours” is a highly committed, award-winning tourist operator offering a wide range of different tours on the Otago peninsula all year round. The “Peninsula Encounters” tour is a full day trip known as their most popular tour, taking you to the peninsula’s wildlife hotspots to see Albatross, Sea lions, Fur Seals, Yellow eyed Penguins and some other birds along the way.  

In the afternoon we got picked up by a “Elm Wildlife Tours” shuttle in Dunedin’s city centre. 

Something that we really liked straight away was the small group size, making the tour a lot more intimate. When we all made ourselves comfortable we got handed out information sheets (also available in multiple languages) that gave us brief summaries about the main attractions we are going to see on the trip and a list of birds we could be spotting. The guide also encouraged everyone to introduce themselves so that everyone gets to know each other a little bit and made the trip a lot more social as well.

Our first stop was the Albatross centre to see the Royal Albatross. There was an Albatross centre/museum as well, which we had time to explore while a couple of people went to a private conservation area to watch the Albatross up closer (has to be added to the tour separately or as a package).  Due to the season and weather we visited we unfortunately weren’t very lucky to see the Albatross up close (only from very far away), which was a little bit disappointing, especially because we missed our chance to see them in Kaikoura as well.

Our next stops were the breeding NZ Fur seal colony, Sea Lions and Penguins. The private conversation areas we accessed were absolutely stunning and made us feel very thankful to be here. At this stage a little bit of walking is required and so a basic level of fitness is advantageous.  Appropriate warm and waterproof clothing is a must, even us wearing a millions of layers were still cold due to the windy weather conditions. We'd also advice to wear walking boots to keep your feet nice and toasty, especially when it’s wet or muddy so be aware of the fast changing weather when preparing for the trip. We'd also like to mention the urgent need for drinks and food to keep you going all day.

Jordan and I had already seen so many fur seals that we didn’t expect anything amazing. However, we were surprised by the largest breeding colony we have seen during our travel plus the biggest and most adorable group of baby fur seals. We literary could have watched them play around forever. Down at the beach a number of sea lions were already waiting for us and we even saw penguins coming out the water every now and again. The most entertaining parts were when a Sea lion wanted to play with us and so tried to chase us (so obviously the guide saw this coming and led us to another save track) and when two penguins greeted each other with a specific greeting.

Our guide was absolutely amazing, probably one of the most knowledgeable and passionate guides we’ve had during our travels. He always pointed out bird species to us and had plenty to say about them, which was very impressive. He was especially fascinated by Sea lions that he has been studying for years, which was of course the highlight from the guide’s point of view. Especially the private conservation areas make the trip a highly unique experience.

Again there are so many different tour options that fit everyone’s requirements so we recommend checking out all the options on their website, the link is down below.

Kiwi Scores: Action: 3/5 Service: 5/5 Uniqueness: 3/5 WOW-Factor: 4/5 Cultural value: 3/5 Value for money: 5/5 Accessibility: 3/5

Useful Links:

VLOG: https://youtu.be/sOXYLy7nFbc