#theboat

 “They say eyes are the windows to the soul.”

Just an idea I had: If Clem was taken to the boat instead of Louis/Violet I imagine that Violet and Louis would combine to be like Clem was in the episode. Still had the party, and AJ told them a bit about himself and Clem. And Vi and Lou hug it out before they go to recuse them.

Relationships: LouxClem (Romantic), ClemxVi (Platonic), ClemxAJ(Platonic)

Summary: Instead of Violet/Louis being taken by Delta, it’s Clementine. She endures her own form of pain while there, and only hopes that AJ is safe. When they come to rescue them, they find Clem in bad shape.

Warning: Physical beatdown, gore, slight aftershock

She thought she hated boats before the world went to shit. But this really took the cake. The rocking of the boat made her head spin and her stomach churn. Her throat burned from the bile she felt rising.

The smell made it worse. Walkers smelled so much worse, but she was used to it. This though, this was nauseating. But that could’ve also been the blood.

She remembered what happened last night, and despite everything that happened since, she never regretted it.

She groaned and looked up to see the barrel of a gun right in front of her. Aimed right between her eyes. She looked past the gun to see Lily’s saddened face.

Clem copied her saddened face and felt her eyes sting. Once she called this woman her family, someone she was friends with. But now...

“Shit.” She heard Lily curse, “this should be easy.” So she wasn’t the only one feeling this pain. When you see an old friend, and you’re on opposing sides. It is the worst thing one can experience. Her breath hitched, with her muscles tensed, like she was fighting with herself to pull the trigger.

“You won’t kill me. I know you won’t.” Clementine’s voice was soft like she was talking to a friend. In some ways, she was.

Lily’s voice was full of emotion when she responded, “why?”

Clem’s golden eyes looked into hers, “We were like family once. You won’t hurt family.” She turned her head, showing off the hair clips in her hair. 

If possible, Lily’s face was, even more, saddened, “You kept them?” Her voice cracked. 

Clem nodded. “I should’ve gotten rid of them... but I couldn’t.” She whispered. Her eyes stung when she felt tears escape. They dripped down her face onto the dirt below her. 

Lily took a step back, shaking her head. She looked to Clem like she was debating something. The woman took a deep breath, and swung her gun at Clem, hitting her over the head.

Clementine fell to the ground. She heard someone shout out her name, Louis or Violet she believed, maybe both of them, but the world already faded around her.

She suspected Lily did so because of what she had said. They were once family. Maybe Lily thought they could be so once again. 

She was relieved and horrified to see both Aasim and Omar. They both seemed fine, and they had expressed concern for her. She’d been unconscious for the entire way over to the boat, and they weren’t sure when she was going to wake up. 

They had told her what had happened after Lily knocked her out. Louis had rugby tackled Lily in an attempt to rescue her but was subdued by the combined forces of Lily and Abel’s arm. Violet had come to their rescue, but it was too late for Clem. Lily slung the girl over her shoulder and shoved the girl into the cage. 

Even though it was in vain, Clem smiled. Her boyfriend came to save her. Even if he failed, she felt her heart flutter at the thought. 

They talked with one another about a plan. However, all ideas led to a dead end. The only thing they could hope for was that the others came up with a better plan than them.

At one point Minerva showed up, mainly to check on Aasim and Omar. She told them what had happened, that Sofia died and that Delta was her family now. 

It was clear she didn’t a shit who Clem was, didn’t even bat an eye. It made sense, they never met each other. 

“Clem.” She looked up from her place in the corner of the room. Lily entered the room with Minnie, and she stood. 

“What?” “It’s time you and I have a talk.” 

Now she was here. Trapped, broken. Bloody. 

She heard voices outside of her room, but she couldn’t focus on them. She had other things to worry about.

When Lily came in to talk, she tried to convince Clem that what they were doing was good. She didn’t agree. She started yelling about how fucked up Lily became since they last saw each other.

That did not end well. Especially for her leg. In her anger, Minerva had buried her blade in her calf. She was scolded instantly, but it was obvious that Lily was probably going to give her the order anyway. So there she was, slumped in the corner of the room. Her head leaned against the wall, her wounded leg faced the wall. 

The voices came closer and the door opened.

“Aasim! Omar!” Louis cried when he saw his friends. He went up to the door and watched them come up to the bars. “You’re okay.”

“Louis! Vi!”

“Holy fuck!”

“Where’s Clem?” Louis looked passed them, but he didn’t see her.

“She’s in the other cell. You take care of her first, she’s not doing so great.” The shake of Omar’s head made Louis’s blood turn to ice. 

Minnie unlocked the other cell and he pushed past her into the room. His heart dropped when he saw her. She was conscious, but she seemed to be in pain. The leg farthest from him was covered in blood.

“Clem!” He walked up to her and was about to grab her shoulder when he was smacked over the head.

“Minnie! What the fuck!”

“I will kill him, Violet! Don’t test me!”

“Louis?” He felt someone tapping his cheek. He groaned and his eyes scrunched together before they opened. 

“Clem!” He gave a relieved sigh and hugged her. He pulled her to his chest and felt her arms wrap around him. “You’re okay.” 

“Yeah, yeah I am.” Louis stood up and helped Clem to her feet. She hissed and leaned against the wall.

“Clem?” He held his hand out. Her hand grabbed onto his arm, and he helped her shift her weight on him.

“It’s not that bad, it just hurts.” She dismissed it and after a moment, she was able to walk, though she had a noticable limp.

She turned to him, and she gave him a long and tight hug. Her head was buried in his shoulder. He was surprised, but he recuperated quickly. “Thank you.” She whispered.

He pulled back confused, “For what?”

“For coming to rescue us.”

“But...” “It’s the thought that counts Louis. Just accept the compliment.”

I imagine it goes on as the episode does, except I want to imagine that Clem kicked Minnie off of her and took the crossbow and shot her shoulder.

I dunno

.... A phrase that grows increasingly common as 3D T.V.s are able to become household objects, and almost every movie theater is upgrading to IMAX. The entertainment industry is constantly pushing for bigger, better, flashier things to grab hold of of waning interest and attention spans. 

“The Boat,” produced by SBS, is an interactive experience of a young girls journey as she flees her country. I call this an experience, rather than a story, because of the platform used to tell the tale of Mai, a Vietnamese refugee. The reader is part of the story; not only do they control the tempo of the text, but the flow of the background images by scrolling, all the while listening to the haunting sounds of the waves crashing. Always influencing their own experience.  

The further I traveled into this narrative, the more immersed I became with the sound, images, and even touch; as I scrolled in a hurry to read what happened next, gathered every eerie image and grew numb to the crashing waves and background sounds, I became a part of the story. 

This type of reading can be the future; to have a multi-faceted experience and the ability to have stimulus in more senses while reading is an exciting concept. I think it is one that we, as teachers, should be open minded towards. How will these types of ‘experiences’ impact our students with attention disorders? Will they succeed to grab and hold their attention in ways that traditional books do not?

I think that this type of media is important to explore, as we more further into a technological age and have to adapt. Encourage your students to read either “The Boat,” or similar media experiences. 

Not only does “The Boat” enrapture the reader through the medium, but it educates many of us who do not know about the repercussions of the Vietnam war and the rich and tumultuous history of that country and its immigrants. The story revolves around Mai, who flees the country as communists take over Vietnam. She ends up on a boat, heading towards Australia, and meets other immigrants that look toward a brighter future. Her tale is one of love and squalor, survival and life.