#Boat Boys nation rise up!!

[rangerstark25]

This isn't what I intended to draw, but it is what I ended up with-

Unfinished Boat Boys doodle for the soul, kinda happy with how it turned out <3

[serafilms]

song 24! message in a bottle (taylor swift) + aang requested by @fylithia (spotify wrapped event)

but now you’re so far away and i’m down, feeling like a face in the crowd, i’m reaching for you, terrified

It’s been years now since the war ended. Years since you and your friends saved the world, defeated Zuko’s father and brought peace to the four nations once more. Ever since, everyone’s been busy trying to piece the world back together. Katara’s been staging a feminist revolution in the water tribes, Toph has been reinventing Earth bending, Suki taking the Kyoshi Warriors all over and recruiting, Sokka inventing, Zuko rebuilding a nation and Aang flitting all over the place.

You, on the other hand… What have you achieved? You went back to your village and spent some time telling stories of your adventures to children, then picking up odd jobs on fishing boats and cargo ships to hitch a ride to wherever your friends are off making history. You tell yourself you like the simplicity, like not having to worry about the fate of the world, but you feel like about as insignificant as a speck of dust at your biannual (twice a year) catch ups.

I’m like an old lady telling stories to relive her glory days, you think bitterly.

But you like reliving them. You miss adventuring and seeing the world with your friends. You miss when you were all just kids and there were no real titles or duties in the way (aside from your common goal of ending the war, of course). You miss when Aang looked at you like you’d hung all the stars in the sky, when he was just a boy who liked you but never said it, and when you liked him but refused to show it. Now you feel like you’re miles apart, like he’s on the top of the mountain and you’re left waiting at the base.

You still all write each other, Aang more than the rest but you can’t shake the feeling that it’s out of pity; it’s an obligation to you as an old friend. They’re busy now and that’s not their fault, and you all really would have no reason to go back to camping out. In fact, with the Avatar and Fire Lord especially, it was probably a security risk.

You’re too busy drowning in your own misery to notice Katara until she’s already nudging you in the arm. “Hey, why aren’t you over there with everyone else?”

Starting a little in surprise, you stare at her for a second before sighing as you kick your foot into the dirt and watch the dust rise.

“No reason,” you lie. Because I don’t want to talk to you guys. Especially Aang.

Your time alone has dulled your social skills, because Katara stares at you for a good seven seconds before you realise she expects you to keep talking.

“I think it’s just a little overwhelming to be around many people when I’m usually by myself.”

Her face softens and she reaches out to put her hand on your knee. “But it’s us. We want to make you comfortable and be around you. You know that, right?”

You nod, and she squeezes then releases you. “Let’s start small. Aang!”

Your chest flickers with panic as his bright eyes locate you instantly and he leaves his conversation with Zuko without a second thought. Katara takes his place, striding back up to the group as Aang stops right in front of you.

You feel your heart lurch at finally seeing him up close after spirits knows how many months. He's taller than you now, so it's not hard to avoid his gaze, but you can't tear your eyes away yet. His eyes sparkle at you and you feel yourself flush at how cute he looks with faint freckles dusting the upper part of his cheeks.

"Hey," he greets you softly, taking a seat beside you. "How are you?"

"I'm good," you find yourself saying, despite your mind being devoid of any thought that's not of him. His smile that's as sweet as ever, his eyes, his pink lips. How he's so, so out of your league.

Much like Katara, Aang seems unsatisfied with your short reply. "What have you been up to?"

Thinking about how much I love you. You can't say that, of course, so you babble on about the courier job you did a few months ago, which was great because you helped find a few new Kyoshi Warriors for Suki. When you look back at him once more, Aang has a soft look on his face, and a smile that seems to be there without his knowledge. Your face flushes, stomach flips and something akin to hope rises within you.

His cheeks turn pink when you've trailed off and he realises you're looking at him.

"Wow," he says. "That sounds really great."

You roll your eyes a little, feeling a sense of familiarity. "It's fine, you don't have to pretend you're interested. I know it's all boring compared to the work of the great Avatar."

"No, really," he insists, and there's an urgency in his voice, as if he needs you to know how genuine he is. "I think everything you do is amazing."

You smile. "Really?"

Aang nods down at you, eyes wide. "Well, yeah. I mean, it's you."

Embarrassed but pleased, you look down at your shoes before looking back up at him. "Thanks, Aang."

He grins at you, before glancing over to the others. "Wanna go catch up with everyone else?"

You take a look over at your friends. They look normal now, like a group of friends laughing, instead of the incredible figures they are. You nod at him and he extends a hand out to help you up. You take it.

You can't tell him how much he means to you, but you feel closer now. All you can do now is hope that one day, he gets the message.

[city-of-ladies]

"As boys and men went out on the boats — “my grandfather was nine when he started,” said the local historian Arlette Julien — girls and women were in the canneries, some from the age of eight, some up to 80. They’d be called in at any time of day or night, whenever the boats came in: in pre-fridge days, sardines needed treating fast.

Dressed in long heavy skirts and clogs, the women would work up to 18 hours non-stop, go home at midnight and then be called back in at 4am. The floors were filthy with mud and sardine guts, the women’s hands wrecked by brine, toilets often a distant rumour … all for 80 centimes an hour. That 80 centimes was just enough to buy a litre of milk, half the wage of a professional washerwoman. All ages earned the same amount.

The strike struck on November 21 and within days 2,100 people were out, 1,600 of them women. The Communist mayor Daniel Le Flanchec pulled the town council behind the strike. He called in Communist support from all over France.

Thus was assured a level of organisation not experienced by earlier French strikes. Funds were raised, soup kitchens sorted, Christmas presents for children arranged and marches assembled. The strike became a national issue.

Finally, though, and after six weeks, the cannery owners were forced to negotiate. They conceded overtime payments, a ban on work for girls under 12 — and a pay rise to one franc an hour. Men got 50 centimes more. “Equal pay wasn’t an issue. The movement was born of desperation,” the history teacher Françoise Pencalet said. “The women simply wanted a little more than what they had.”

[waterfire1848]

Maybe an au where Ursa flees with Azula and Zuko?

Hello, anon!!!

The night that Ozai asks for the throne, Azulon doesn't call for Zuko's head but for Azula's. Like before, Azula is the only one there when Azulon orders Ozai to kill her. Terrified, she flees to her mother (because she literally has no where else to go) and Ursa is quickly able to see that something is really scaring Azula, this clearly isn't an act. Ursa eventually finds out what Ozai has agreed to and still provides him with a way to kill Azulon and get himself the throne. (Ozai: What do you want in return? Ursa: The children come with me. Ozai: Fine. Take the boy, but Azula remains. Ursa:...Fine. I will leave Azula here, but I'm taking Zuko. Ozai: I hope you two find a nice little peasant village to live in.) Of course Ursa is lying through her teeth because that night she takes both of her children out of the palace and runs away in the dead of night. (Ozai literally agreed to kill Azula a few hours ago. She's not just leaving her there). She gets them down to the boats and then has to deal with them screaming and demanding to know where they're going (but they're also 8 and 10 years old and very easy move) so Ursa gets them on the boat and they leave. (Yes, Azula does try to jump into the water and swim back to shore and yes, Ursa is very tired by the end of the night).

The three end up in the Earth Kingdom, near Omashu, and take refugee in a small village for a few days to get themselves together. Ursa's main plan is to just figure out where to go next because she has no doubts that Ozai knows that she took Azula is coming after them so she needs to get somewhere safe: Ba Sing Se. The only problem is that none of them have passports that'll get them into the city (actually they do have passports but it would look really weird if they showed up with Fire Nation passports saying they were members of the Royal Family). This means to Ursa that she has to either steal passports from another family or buy fake ones to get them all into the city. She opts for the first option as they're on a bit of a time crunch. (Ursa: I packed enough money to get us to the Huaxi Village. That'll get us half way to Full Moon Bay where we can catch a ferry and- Azula: I'm not going. I'll stay here and wait for dad. Ursa: Azula- Azula: I'm not going with you! I never wanted to come! Ursa: I wasn't going to just leave you there! Azula: I would have been fine! Ursa, who is tired: Ozai was ready to kill you, Azula!! Azula:....Ursa: Do you think he wouldn't act on it?! Because he was going to! Would you have preferred I leave you behind with a man who doesn't love you and wanted you dead just for the throne!?! Azula: *Runs off and hides in the bathroom* Ursa: Azula... Zuko:... Ursa:... Zuko:...These are good dumplings.)

The next day, Ursa takes both the kids and they start walking to Huaxi. It's a long, long walk, especially with two young kids, but they eventually make it there. Huaxi, because it's so close to Full Moon Bay, is filled with refugees, all of whom have passports. Ursa doesn't love the idea of stealing passports from another family but no one else has the Fire Lord coming right after them. She waits until Zuko and Azula are asleep then sneaks out (Yes, she has the Blue Spirit mask) and steals three passports, one for a woman and two children passports. (Zuko: Mom? Ursa: Zuko, you should be asleep. Zuko: Did you steal those? Ursa: Sweetie, we'll talk- Zuko: Did you steal those? Ursa: Yes. Zuko: I thought we weren't supposed to steal. Don't other people need those. Ursa: I don't like it anymore than you do, but if it's a choice between you and your sister and a random family, I'm going to make sure you and your sister are safe. These passports will get us to Ba Sing Se and you two will be able to live there in peace. Zuko: But- Ursa: You'll understand when you're older. Now, go to bed.) The next morning, Ursa is thankful for firebenders rising with the sun because the three of them are gone before anyone can realize their passports are missing.

They make it to Ba Sing Se and get inside the city with little issue, but are placed in the lower ring. Ursa doesn't care as much about that as her only real worry now is getting the kids inside and situated safety. Azula and Zuko, of course, do not like going from a Royal Palace to a tiny apartment that they aren't allowed to firebend in. Zuko kind of understands why his mom did what she did but he also hates the change just as much as Azula does. Ursa is too tired to deal with her kids anger so kind of ignores them which gets them, especially Azula, even more angry. One day, while Ursa is out looking for a job and a school for the kids, Azula and Zuko run away. Their plan is to go back to the Fire Nation because Ozai needs to have heirs so of course he'll take them back. Ursa arrives home that night and, when she finds, no one there, panics and starts running around the entire lower ring looking for her children. (Zuko: Azula, are you sure this is a good idea? Azula: I'm sure, dum-dum. We'll be fine. Zuko: It's just that...mom wouldn't have brought us here unless she thought- Azula: She stole us from the palace and dumped us in this chicken-pig sty! If you want to be a baby and cry about it, be my guest, but I'm going home. Zuko: I'm not a baby! I'm a prince! Azula: Then prove it and let's go home.) (Would you believe that yelling about how you belong in a palace and are royalty attracts attention?) Zuko and Azula are jumped by people who hear them yelling and the siblings are forced to firebend at them. However, these men are grown men and Zuko and Azula are children. The men are about to hand them over to the Dai Li (for a handsome reward) when Ursa jumps in (again Blue Spirit mask) and gets the kids out. Ursa and the kids have a heart to heart where she apologizes for not noticing how big a change this is for them and ignoring them. And the kids agree to give the city a shot, especially after Ursa promises that she'll make them traditional Fire Nation food and get them some red clothes.

Years go by, Ursa is working at the local library, Zuko is working at a tea shop and Azula is working at a combat studio. They've created a small life form themselves there, away from the Fire Nation, and are starting to finally break free of Ozai's abuse when they get word that the Avatar is in the upper ring. Getting curious, Azula and Zuko decide to go visit him where it's revealed that they're firebenders and the two admit to being Ozai's children. Aang, desperate for a firebending master, asks them to come along (who better to teach him how to defeat the Fire Lord then his children?). Zuko and Azula are hesitant to go, both because they don't want to return to their father and because they don't want to leave their mother, but when the issues with Long Feng start up, the three person family realize that they can't just stay hidden in the city forever and agree to help. (Yes, Ursa is coming with them because why don't these children have any kind of adult supervision?). After the fight with Long Feng and the Dai Li, Azula and Zuko start to train Aang as best they can while unaware that Long Feng spent a very interesting letter to Ozai about how two teenagers and a woman, claiming to be his wife and children, are in Ba Sing Se and helping the Avatar.

[canmom]

L'aventure de Canmom à Annecy: Vendredi 3: Kaina of the Great Snow Sea

For Friday I spent my reservation walking right back into Bonlieu Grand Salle, on the premiere of Kaina of the Great Snow Sea: Star Sage. This film was not even out in Japan - I was one of the first people in the world to see it outside the studio that made it! Even though I knew absolutely nothing about the film, I was like, sounds sick, let's go.

It turns out that it's based on a story for TV by the great Tsutomu Nihei (accompanied by a manga, but it seems first conceived as a TV show). I love Nihei's work, but that comes with a wrinkle: this is another adaptation by Polygon Pictures in CGI, the same studio that adapted Blame! as a film and Knights of Sidonia as a TV show. These adaptations are... controversial I suppose, I know people who enjoy them, but I would say generally they are not loved by fans of Nihei's manga. That said, I haven't seen their take on Blame!, and I watched Sidonia so many years ago that I was basically a different person, so I resolved to give them a fair shot.

Also the director and producer came on the stage, both of them holding bottles of beer, and were really fun and energetic, getting us to cheer the film with three segments of the audience going か, ��, な (I was in the 'い' group), so in general the energy in the theatre was pretty enthusiastic...

...which means it's truly a shame that the film ended up disappointing.

It turns out Star Sage is actually a sequel film to a TV series that aired in 2022. I did not realise this going in, but it explains a lot: we seem to be starting in the middle of the story, with a lot that happened beforehand. It was easy enough to pick up on the character relationships - most are quite archetypal - but I think it would probably work a lot better on the back of the TV show.

What I really liked about it was the imaginative setting. The 'Snow Sea' only loosely resembles snow; it is akin to a slow-moving fluid, transparent if you sink into it. Floatation is possible only with 'snowfoil sticks' harvested from the animals that live in the snow sea, which are used to create special boats that travel across the surface. There are some cool setpieces with this, such as a huge cliff where the surface of the 'snow' becomes vertical. This whole world is covered by an enormous solid canopy supported by 'orbital spire trees', with city-states built at their bases, surviving on the water that rises up through the trees.

The main characters of our story are Kaina, your standard heroic boy with the Nihei-standard long fringe, and Ririha, the princess of a certain nation. At the outset of the film, they have defeated a nation of invaders in a war by supernatural (or rather magitech) intervention, and they are now setting sail along with Amelothee, a defector from the invaders, on an expedition to the 'Great Spire Tree' where abundant water might be found.

Their mission successfully gets them to the tree, but there they find a technologically advanced nation led by a dictatorial young man Byōzan who enslaves the expedition. Amelothee and her people seem to defect and side with him. Kaina and Ririha attempt to infiltrate the project, and discover that Byōzan intends to find something called the 'Authorised User's Suit' with which he can order the big ancient robots to cut down the spire trees, believing this will save the world. They're captured; Ririha is taken to Byōzan, who needs her connection to the tech-spirits, while Kaina is sent underground to the mines where the workers are searching for the Authorised User's Suit.

Ririha is introduced to Byōzan's mother, who drops some of his backstory, and underlines that he has totally the wrong idea and is in part running on resentment at not being able to see the spirit anymore. Meanwhile, Kaina is for whatever reason immune to the ghosts guarding the old ruins, and finds the Suit, along with the big reveal: this whole thing is in fact a massive terraforming system, and it's basically finished, it just needs two people to give the instruction to complete terraforming to the spirit/AI governing the project (for some reason).

Kaina emerges with the suit, and the workers stage a rebellion against Byōzan. Amelothee was actually only pretending to defect, but despite everything, Byōzan gets the suit back and commands his robots to cut down the tree, but Kaina manages to climb up after him, rescue Ririha, and save the world. The humans start farming, and ever after is lived happily.

The influence of Nausicaa is very strong, if more so the movie than the manga. For example, we have a fantastical ecosystem (complete with bugs) that is actually a terraforming system; a vague prophecy; Amelothee is basically Kushana; Kaina carries a rifle not so different from Nausicaa's. I love Nausicaa, and I think there is a ton of potential in this film; sadly I just don't feel like it's realised. If I would compare it with anything it's actually a fairly obscure scifi anime film called Gin'iro no Kami no Agito, which has a cool setting of overgrown post-apocalyptic ruins but ultimately falls down to a massive ancient scifi machine that needs to be turned off by the right kind of boy.

So yeah partly this is because, for all the imaginative setting, this is just a standard 'boy saves the world' type of plot. Certain elements, such as the terraforming system requiring a final voice command, feel needlessly contrived. But that said, there's plenty here that I like. And the Nausicaa film is not so different.

So is it the visuals? Maybe. And that's probably worth examining...

I will preface this to say that I absolutely do not believe that is impossible to make good CG anime with present day tech. In fact earlier in the festival I watched The First Slam Dunk which was genuinely one of the best looking animated films I've ever seen. Even without the unique watercolour-like shader tech they used in that film, Studio Orange have been doing cel-shaded CGI like their Houseki no Kuni and that looks great, and from what I've seen of Trigun Stampede, it works pretty well there too.

CG should also be a pretty natural fit for the sort of grand scifi spectacle this film is going for. But it left me cold here. So why?

Partly we can look at technical stuff. For example, there is a lack of cloth and hair physics. One of the things that really sold Slam Dunk's CGI was that the characters' loose clothes swung and folded and generally moved naturally. In contrast, the characters in Kaina in their bulky snow outfits look decent enough in stills, but when they move, they move mostly as rigid dolls.

But also it's the way characters move in general. It is hard to really nail down where the problems lie without watching the film again, but it felt like there is a lack of weight, a lack of real impact, as well as a lack of emotion conveyed by the animated acting. The face rigs seem to be quite limited in how far they can really push their expressions, the body language just as much. And the camera is constantly in motion, too much so - which means that a lot of the tools of framing become unavailable.

Likewise, the lighting and composite tends not to use the powerful negative space and contrast that Nihei's manga is so good at. In this case since it's anime-first there's not a manga to compare with, but this is a setting that truly depends on selling a feeling of vast scale, and it just never quite sold it.

(Also... it's a small complaint but the particle effect used when the boats move through the snow sea, which consists of small spherical balls thrown up, just plain looks so bad, it bothered me so much. Like I don't know how this ever got to be the final effect used - it looks like a placeholder.)

All in all it felt sadly lacking in ambition. It's just too conventional; the setting ends up feeling less interesting for the big reveals. What I really like about manga like Blame! is how vast and bleak they feel; by contrast this movie felt small, this big strange scifi world just a backdrop for the usual hero story. I would have been much more interested in a smaller-scale narrative about how people survive in this Great Snow Sea than half-baked spiritualism and magic words that fix everything.

So that was a shame! Still, fun to attend a premiere all the same, and most of the audience seemed to enjoy it more than I did. The team from the studio were actually interviewing people at the exit to the theatre, but I missed the chance to tell them (more politely than the above lol) what I thought. Probably for the best though, they don't really need the advice of some British girl with no industry experience lmao.

After that I made my way back to my hotel to try and get an earlier night. Not a lot of food places were open, especially places doing decent vegetarian food, so I ended up getting a pizza, which was a huge mistake because I know too much cheese makes me feel ill. Next year I gotta make sure to eat earlier.

Saturday was a good end to the festival - besides Barry JC Purves, who I posted about already, I got to see Rintaro! But more on that in a bit~

[mayfly-maycry]

I saw you mention you’re watching one piece and you got me wondering: what are your fav anime’s and why?

My very first official ask :0 let’s do this :)

Oh boy, *cracks knuckles* my favorite topic!

This got longer than I thought, so a cut for those who don’t want to hear my thoughts on like 11 different animes. They’re in chronological order of when I watched them, since the degree I like a show at any given point is incredibly variable haha

Fullmetal Alchemist (specifically Brotherhood): this was one of my first animes, and I’m a huge fan of the alchemy system, plus an excellent balance of trauma and happy endings. I think I need to rewatch it, since I’ve been informed that there’s a lot I missed because I watched it before I developed standards/critical thinking skills.

Attack on Titan: this was my introduction to anime, but it only gets better on rewatch. The attention to detail is insane; you can pick out details related to reveals SEASONS later. I didn’t even notice until I rewatched it back in December, but AOT is so full of jokes that it would’ve been a comedy if the stakes were any lower.

My Hero Academia: look, hear me out, I know what the fandom’s become, but it’s not like that. First of all, you lose a lot in the anime; Horikoshi has thought through a lot more of how a “world with superpowers” differs from ours than you ever see in the anime. A lot of it is small things, like how the clothing industry accounts for metamorphic quirks; the biggest issue is how dirty Villain Academia was done; the anime cut like half of the bad side of superpowered society, and by extension the villain motivations, out with that. Personally, the ending I’m rooting for is Shigaraki tearing apart society, being defeated (not redeemed), then Deku working to build it back up better; unfortunately, it looks like that’s not happening from where the manga is headed.

Demon Slayer: tbh, I don’t have much to say about this one. The art is gorgeous, the powers are cool, and I enjoy watching it. That’s enough for me.

Haikyuu: it’s a bunch of boys being boys. I love them all dearly. That’s all. If I remember correctly, I also unlocked the “character analysis” skill when I watched this the first time so props on that.

Jujutsu Kaisen: I don’t even know anymore man, I’ve been watching, reading, and loving this story for so long I can’t even pinpoint what I like about it anymore. Still highly recommend.

Spy x Family: I love the characters and their interactions. This one may or may not be related to a crossover fic dropping Itadori Yuuji and Saiki Kusuo in here that’s been brewing in my head for a while now.

Bungo Stray Dogs: this is another one where I love the characters. The power system is pretty cool and the plot is mid at best, but the characters *cheff’s kiss* are phenomenal.

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K: this was the first and only story I’ve ever seen using an omniscient first person POV, and the way it was done was masterful. You, the viewer, have the same knowledge as Saiki; you can see disasters coming just as well as he can. And since he is practically omnipotent (and his motivations align), he tends to take steps to rectify these situations, which is exactly what I generally want to reach through the screen and do. This resulted in one of the most satisfying watch experiences of my life. Highly recommend.

The Case Study of Vanitas: this is another one where it’s just a bunch of dumbasses messing around with a sprinkling of trauma. That’s it, that’s all I have to say. I very much enjoyed it.

One Piece: you mentioned this one in your ask, and I gotta say, I would not have committed to over 1000 episodes if it wasn’t on this list. Some people say it gets good around episode 300, but I thoroughly disagree; the genre just changes right around there as the villains get stronger than the Strawhats and the stakes rise. It was good before that, a bunch of dumbasses messing around on a boat, saving a nation from tyranny and fighting god along the way; my favorite. The attention to detail, character development (might have to revoke this one if the Weak Trio keep getting done dirty post-TS), the actually GOOD takes on real issues; I could go arc by arc, but this has gotten long enough haha 😅

[lyndonriggall]

Door 34

Photo by Georgie Todman.

A few months ago, I got a gnawing feeling. It felt like the slow rising of a wave of overwhelm, and that the little boat I called my life was floating somewhere in its path.

I was behind on edits working with my wonderful mentor, Mark Macleod, on my children’s novel. I was attending a series of workshops developing a brand new project for a local theatre company. I had just returned from an international holiday, and I had a job application to complete and a stack of creative writing folios to mark, not to mention all of the emails I had to answer. My house was in disarray (never a good sign), and I was recovering from a knee injury that was making running difficult. I was a busy boy, and it felt like everything that had once been a blessing had suddenly become just one more thing to constantly be worrying about.

I sat down on the couch with my head in my hands. What was I going to do?

After a moment (and a big sleep), I thought about everything a little more. What was I really doing? I was writing a children’s book, and in a month’s time I would have the opportunity to pitch its concept to some of Australia’s best publishers. I was creating an original play in an environment where I had an enormous amount of creative support, and it was growing every day. I had been to Japan, where I had driven a go-kart around the streets of Tokyo, undertaken a traditional tea ceremony, and visited the world of Harry Potter at the Universal Studios theme park. I had almost cracked a twenty-minute five km personal best in my running, and I was working at my favourite school, teaching my favourite subject and had a new leadership position. I was co-President of one of Tasmania’s largest literary festivals.

It was a lot to sift through. But, I reflected, Lyndon at 24 would have killed for the problems that I had now. For all of my challenges, I was living the dream of a younger version of me. I am living the dream of a younger version of me, even now.

Much has stayed the same for me in 2023. I wake up in my little house, largely following the same routine in which the clock might be set by coffees in the morning, green teas in the afternoon, and a cup of earl grey in the evening. Some things have changed, though. For the first time in more than a decade, I will be acting in April, in the Launceston Players’ 2024 Production of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, a darkly funny comedy about a writer living in a totalitarian state being interrogated about the grisly content of his stories. Georgie and I, as co-presidents of the Tamar Valley Writers Festival, will be heading up our first fully-fledged event this year in October, bringing local and national storytellers to our hometown. After six years teaching English 3, this year I will be taking my first Philosophy class, and will spend at least some of my time unpacking the big concepts of the good life, ethics, and the mind/body problem.

I have been so very spoilt on my arrival at thirty-four. There were messages that my phone buzzed with all day that spoke of me in the kind of way that seemed perhaps to indicate a person I wish I was, rather than the way that I am, but which nevertheless made me feel that I might be doing something right. There was cake, and decorations, and presents that were as thoughtful as they were generous. There were enthusiastic happy birthday declarations at school, a family member who cancelled their plans that night to be able to spend more time with me, and food… food… so much food.

I live the kind of life now where I have almost an entire year laid out before me at every turn. The school calendar ticks forward from day one to exams with a frighteningly predictable progression that always gradually increases in speed and intensity. Trips, activities, performances and adventures start filling in the gaps long before the diary has officially turned from one year to the next. It is a gift, certainly, on some days, to be busy. There isn’t time to worry about the sorts of things that used to turn over in my mind for hours: the things said and unsaid, heard and not heard, the mistakes made and the undeserved successes. There is only time to hold on tight.

Most days, when I wake up, I feel lucky. I used to think of each new day, and each new year, as a blank page, but perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it is a door… not necessarily something that I get to write for myself, but something that waits for me, and that I only need enter to discover. There are times when it all feels really, really hard. Of course there are. But through all of the challenges I’ve faced, I haven’t yet had a year where I regretted where I've found myself. I have learnt and grown so much. I think Lyndon of ten years ago, and twenty years ago, would be proud of me. I think he’d be excited that one day he would get to be me, and open Door 34 for himself.

If you’re reading this, the chances are that somewhere behind that door you are waiting. Today, as I step through and turn the lights on to face the surprises of the year ahead, I feel so grateful to be here, and so grateful that you are too.

Whatever happens, this place is home now. And as the way back closes behind me, knowing that you are in here somewhere beside me, I am excited to see, and embrace, whatever lies ahead.

[cksmart-world]

SMART BOMB

The Completely Unnecessary News Analysis

By Christopher Smart

October 3, 2023

THE BABY AND THE BATHWATER

Hey Wilson, guess what? The government didn't shut down, after all. Nobody knows exactly why because no one can figure out what the hell is going on. In May, the Biden Administration worked out an agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to avoid a government shutdown. But McCarthy went back on the deal 'cause Florida firebrand Matt “Baby” Gaetz and a dozen crazies wanted to shut down the government to prove a point. What point? Don't ask silly questions. Baby Gaetz showed McCarthy he was serious by spitting in his face and calling him a pussy. To which McCarthy retorted, “Sticks and stones will break my bones but spit will never hurt me.” Well, not exactly. In order to win the Speaker's seat McCarthy promised Gaetz and his band of MAGAttes that if he didn't do what they wanted they could pants him. So McCarthy did as they said but they pants him anyway. Then McCarthy did something completely unexpected, he COMPROMISED with Democrats. WTF! In doing so he threw Baby Gaetz out with the bathwater, leaving him dripping with spite, absent his signature skunk-eating-garlic grin. An angry Baby Gaetz promised retribution and he got it on Oct 3 in Shakespeare-style as he led a revolt that ousted McCarthy from the Speaker's chair. Et tu Brute!

DON'T LIKE HOMELESS PEOPLE— SUE 'EM

Those damn homeless people are at it again — they're creating a nuisance on streets, sidewalks and public parks, according to a recent lawsuit and it's all Salt Lake City's fault. “Salt Lake City (read Mayor Erin Mendenhall) has adopted a policy of inviting and fostering vagrancy, public camping, public urination, public defecation, and the public use of illegal drugs on its property... ” What's wrong with you, Salt Lake City. Why can't you fix homelessness. Maybe they should sue San Francisco, too, and L.A., San Diego, Denver, New York City, Burlington, VT... And heck why not just sue the whole damn country. There are one million homeless people in this country — in 1980 there was only a tiny fraction of that. Here at Smart Bomb we just call it Reaganomics: quit spending money on the social safety net and affordable housing; cut taxes on the wealthy and money will just trickle down. A rising tide floats all boats and homeless people will just float away or drown. You're right Wilson, maybe we should sue the bastards who set up this economic system that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer 'cause Congress sure as hell isn't going to do anything about it. Or we could send the homeless away somewhere, like the Reagan National Library in Simi Valley, California. Call it The Grapes of Wrath.

LDS CHURCH: TIM BALLARD IS A BAD, BAD BOY

Well, there goes Tim Ballard's Temple Recommend. That's a bummer for a would-be Mormon hero, especially if he's planning a run for the U.S. Senate. As you will recall, Ballard invented Operation Underground Railroad (OUG), a nonprofit claiming to fight sex trafficking. IRS tax filings for 2021 show that OUG had 82.1 million in assets against 1.38 million in liabilities. Not bad work if you can get it. You guys seen any sex trafficking around here. Maybe you'd like to make a contribution. Ballard was big and getting bigger after “Sound of Freedom” — a movie based on his heroic work — became a box-office smash. Utah A.G. Sean Reyes was one of Ballard's biggest fans and went undercover with him in Colombia to flush out traffickers and save girls, or so the story goes. But now Shifty Sean is backing away from Ballard and won't endorse him for the Senate since several women complained that Tim made inappropriate advances. Tim also bragged that LDS Apostle M. Russell Ballard was central to his business dealings. President Ballard did what? Oops, you screwed up, Tim. He has stepped down as CEO of OUR, which is too bad 'cause rescuing trafficked girls is such a good gig. But that's peanuts compared to a Temple Recommend. Eternity can be such a long time.

Post script — That's about it for another fun-filled week here at Smart Bomb, where we read banned books so you don't have to. OK Wilson, do you remember in junior high the big hit that was Henry Miller's “Tropic of Cancer.” French people actually did that? Did our parents know? How could they? And no, “The Tropic of Cancer” was not in the school library. As the paperback made its rounds, all the good parts got underlined. That was cool 'cause it saved a lot of time. Those sultry James Bond books were popular, too. The dude knew how to work it. Where did Ian Flemming get that stuff. We obviously had a lot to learn. And then there was “The Diary of Anaïs Nin.” Holy smokes. Girls were thinking that, too. OMG! Banning books is hip again. Some parents and MAGA mobs are ripping books out of libraries and screaming at school boards and librarians intent on turning children into sex fiends or homosexuals or communists. Yes Wilson, it is reminiscent of the “War on Drugs. Don't want college students to smoke pot? Easy, just outlaw it. Don't want teenagers to know how the French have sex? Easy, just ban books. Right. Don't want middle school kids turning gay. Easy, just ban “And Tango Makes Three,” “Beyond Magenta” and “Captain Underpants.” Take that, Satan.

Well Wilson, it's just too bad Sean Reyes and Tim Ballard had to break up. They were such a great couple, going around the world in disguise to get them sex traffickers and save all them girls and then telling everybody how cool they were. It's just too bad — a shame, really. So what do you and the guys in the band have that might help with the big breakup:

I don't care if you never come home I don't mind if you just keep on Rowing away on a distant sea 'Cause I don't love you and you don't love me You cause a commotion when you come to town You give 'em a smile and they melt Having lovers and friends is all good and fine But I don't like yours and you don't like mine I don't care what you do at night Oh, and I don't care how you get your delights I'm gonna leave you alone, I'll just let it be I don't love you and you don't love me I tried to love you for years upon years You refuse to take me for real It's time you saw what I want you to see And I'd still love you if you'd just love me I don't care if you never come home I don't mind if you just keep on Rowing away on a distant sea 'Cause I don't love you and you don't love me

(Promises — Eric Clapton)

[curiositymeanings]

CRYPTID SIGHTING AT KU-RING-GAI NATIONAL PARK

The West Head Observation Post is one of three structures that persist in Ku-ring-gai National Park, along with two concrete casings housing 4.7” guns. 

It rises innocuously from the side of the steep cliff that plummets towards the ocean, just north of what is now known as Resolute Beach. Today, decades of rain and wind and the slow reclaiming things of the bush have given its bland, poured concrete appearance a somewhat ageless visage. Once harsh geometric angles which suggested modern human industry have been filed down into a blank sort of Easter Island head; a straight-browed visor, flat all-seeing eyes and a grim jawline. West Head’s Head. 

Sometimes, things wash up on the beach that we were never meant to see. Our eyes dismiss them as bleached timber tree trunks, or scattered formations of rock, or seaweed. We don’t see the skeletal forms, the horns, the Old Things that live in the corners of our eyes. 

In 1940, when the harsh Sydney summer reached a scorching 42 °C and the bitter winter mornings only a few degrees above freezing, the Australian Imperial Force was busy, in secret, constructing The Head. 

Once a distant possibility, the threat of a Japanese invasion was starting to feel more and more likely. Paranoia crept into the lives of cheerful, tanned coastal folk as the once friendly sun was co-opted by fascists in the north. The Rising Sun was approaching and if he arrived Australia might not survive the fight. 

Civilian factories turned their efforts to making barbed wire, and huge concrete pyramids weighing  over two tonnes lined every beach south of Mona Vale to stop the progress of tanks that might make it on shore. They arrived like the thunderous steps of giants on the sand, waking and stirring long dormant things that dwelled in, and were made of, the land. 

In the park, (which in 1940 wasn’t a park at all, but a series of privately owned parcels of land cobbled together by wealthy white fellas who took over foreclosed small holdings for pennies or rum from poorer settlers), brave lads with bronzed limbs and bright, clear eyes set about their secret project to erect the huge guns and a watch tower that would guard the enemy approach to Sydney by boat or submarine. 

They didn’t stop to look at ancient red ochre hands painted on cave walls by the people who had been driven from those lands which were later sold for rum. They didn’t have the time, and the enemy was out there, waiting on the horizon like a red dawn waiting to rise.   

Hundreds of tonnes of steel and concrete had to be brought in by water, smuggled up the cliff face using a winch railway system of weights and counterweights up a 50 degree incline track. The materials were raised with effort and landed with terrible purpose onto the steep sides of the cliff, but the workers were hidden by dense bush on all sides. Surely, no one could see what they were forming up in those hills.  

After a solid year of human toil and sweat and effort, 93 able bodied Australian men were kitted out as part of the West Head Fortress Battery in January of 1941. 

What they had achieved was a miracle. But in the odds-defying feat of doing it, and doing it in secret, they were all of them unaware that they had in fact been watched. 

The clear eyes of the boys started to darken with the suggestions of forms, right at their periphery. In the corners of their vision, things moved and stirred, malicious and angry at being disquieted on their turf. One young man swore he saw a long, white python with jutting, angular antlers and a malformed head slither into the water from which they had pulled their concrete and steel. It had lurked there, he swore, until in the half light of dusk, when it had again pulled itself onto the sand and gazed up at the flat, dull ‘eyes’ of The Head from which infantrymen looked out for far flung dangers that would come from other lands, not as a part of the land they occupied.  

Those who felt the tug at the corner of their eye dismissed it as an alertness to the Jap threat. If any of the bright young boys had known of dreaming or the spirit of the land or the secrets of the bush, they might have turned their eagle eyes towards the rumbling upset within the soil they called Australia. But they didn’t know.  

They kept looking out hard at the horizon, over Broken Bay and Lion Island, straining their eyes for the approach of fascism out of the north. And when one of the youngest in their corps went for a quick dip at Resolute Beach to cool off after a day of sweat and toil, none of them saw the thick, pale white thing that wrapped around his waist and gently took him under the barely breaking foam tips of the sea that lapped gently onto the pristine beach.

The war continued, and the things indifferent to the wars of men continued to watch out from their own strange, ageless heads.

[exandrianineorzea]

Selru is/was a Gleaner born and raised in Old Sharlayan before he got sent on a boat to Mainland Eorzea to try and get sent into the Land/hand guilds to learn what they knew under order.. However he had to join the adventurer's guild and one of the combat classes to do so, so the boy ended up riding to Gridania with the Twins (who thought he was sent to spy on them from their parents at first until he buggered immediately off) and took up conjury to better learn magics since his fathers couldn't teach him that, all while suffering what he thought was Aether sickness. ICly the developing Echo altered his own aether during his trip away from Old Sharalayan by the time he got to Gridania and attuned to the Aetheryte he couldn't actually teleport back to Old Sharlayan, and when reentering in Endwalker there was a bit of a hold up with the book keeper keeping the gate since his aether didn't trigger the book like it should have as a citizen. I headcanon his non-bio father rushing up to confirm that this is INDEED his son and they both explain how his developed Echo altered his aether. He would have LOVED to visit his family during everything (Though his dads DID travel to Eorzea to explore areas he opened up in the nations of Nym, Amdapor, and Mhach when able, since one of his dad's is an archeologist (who was excited to turn his Archeology into Anthropology with the Nym) but since he couldn't do so easily he ended up considering Ishgard his home base of operations. But even then he's too much of a traveler to really settle down anywhere -- He has a suite in the megaduta in Raz at Han, a penthouse in the Firmament of Ishgard, a Book Cafe in Mist on La Noscea, his room at his dad's place in Old Sharalayn, Inns all around the world, a Place in House Fortemps (And House Borel), and of course in both the Waking Sands and the Rising stones and the Pendants on the first (I wouldn't be surprised if the Chai's let him crash with them when in Eulmore). Even after the events of Endwalker 6.0 he's still too much of a wiggle wanderer to just settle one place and consider it home: Home is where your heart is and his heart is with everyone.

oh hey would you look at the time i have another wol question for ya

where is your wol/oc from?

is it one of the major cities? somewhere outside eorzea? is it where their family is from? do they consider it home? how often do they visit and do they wish they visited more?

[let-the-stars-guide]

Hyades: Merchants & Bunny boys chapter 1

The earliest memory Makula had was the heat. Their home country Khaenri'ah was ruled by a Monarchy, not a God. Unlike all the other nations in Teyvat, they had higher beings to defend them from other nations. They got along fine through hard work and intelligence. Unlike most successful people from Khaenri’ah, Makula didn't have the most critical job. They were born into a family of merchants, not rich like the young noble Amanita Virosa. While in Khaenri’ah, their job was delivering things. Through this, Makula met the Good and Bad of people. You think they would have remembered that when sent to other countries to expand the business.

Flashback

Makula was packing for their move to Mondstadt tomorrow. Their parents helped them pack a giant bag and made sure Makula had everything. They went through all the old stuff they had and put them in a box while packing their everyday stuff. The door squeaked, and Créme Makula's Mother entered. She told her a boat would be ready for them and their brother to leave in the morning. Makula nodded and went back to packing. A hand on their head and a kiss pressed to their cheek. Slowly their mom walked out of the room to give them space. Makula assumed their Mom was getting emotional and shook that off.

The next day their parents dragged the morning out for as long as possible since the Siblings wouldn't return anytime soon. Soon enough, they were walking to the ocean where the boats were. Makula got on and helped Bay on board. They tied everything down and began to row away. Makula looked again to see her parents waving at them before dust and smoke blocked the view.

Makula continued rowing for days until she saw land coming nearby. Makula and Bay stopped near the ground to camp for the night. The land was a small island that looked empty. They both settled for camp and began discussing where they would go. Bay brought up going to Inazuma to sell his wares while they discussed going to Mondstadt.

"Are you sure you want to go to such a faraway country, Bay?" He turned to them with a deadpan look. He nodded, ending the conversation. Hours later, Makula woke up to see Bay gone. They panicked and got up, calling for him. They calmed down once they saw his boat was still there. They decided to wait for him to show up.

Bay appeared much later with fish on a stick and other fishing materials in his other arm. "I went fishing for breakfast." He dropped down in front of Makula and began to light a fire. Smoke began to rise as the fire grew. They watched their older brother fry the fish for breakfast. They diligently watched how he cooked and the materials he used. Bay wouldn't be around to cook them food anymore, so Makula had to learn independently. After he finished, he served them both breakfast. Gently, Makula ate a piece of the fish before smiling. The way it was cooked tasted good, almost similar to their father's cooking. Once they were done eating, they began to pack and continue on their trip to Mondstadt.

Pushing off, Makula and Bay rowed in sync, getting further and further away from that island. After paddling for quite some time, there was nothing but open sea. Since it wasn't safe, they kept rowing until they reached land. After days they finally saw a beach with some weird red thing floating in place.

Pulling over to the shore, Makula checked the map. The area that they arrived at was Starsnatch Cliff. It said if they continued on foot, they would make it to Mondstadt. Checking with their brother, they explained that they had made it to their location. Bay nodded and told them that he would continue going to Inazuma on his own. Makula tried to plead with him to wait it out, but he waved them off.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." He patted them on the head and hugged Makula.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure to be careful." He got back into his boat and set sail.

"Come visit me once I get there!" He yelled. His figure grew smaller and smaller as he rowed.

Makula decided to leave the boat at the beach for the time being since no one was nearby. They took the road from the map to Mondstadt. The scenery and the way the sky looked seemed fake to them. Having grown up in a nation where everything was hot almost all the time, and now living in a country full of forests was a weird change. Makula was even shocked to see livestock running around and sleeping. Despite their gawking, they failed to see a male walking toward them.

"Excuse me!" They saw a male wearing a mask approaching them.

"Did you need help finding something?" Makula shook their head and walked past him. The man followed and kept talking. Makula decided to ignore him and continue. She checked her map until it was snatched from her hands rudely.

"Oh, you're trying to reach Mondstadt? I can help you with that." He told them to follow him. They tried to snatch the map back, but he kept holding it over their head like a bully. Makula grit their teeth and followed him to get the map back. He led them to a camp where other men taller than him were waiting. They eyed him, then turned to face Makula.

"A new test subject!" They looked at him, confused, until the men pulled out weapons. Makula checked their stuff and looked for anything that could be perceived as a weapon. There was nothing! Makula slowly backed up and ran away. Giving chase, the hoarders followed her until they reached a dead end. Unable to fight, Makula got captured and locked inside a cage.

Their stuff was taken and ravaged. Finding nothing important except mora, they threw the bag in an empty chest. The hoarders began to mock and tease them for blindly trusting strangers off the street. A little while later, when they were asleep, they tried to reopen the cage. The door unfogged wouldn't budge. Having no way out, they sat down in the cell. They tried doing every method, and the cage wouldn't open. Makula decided to wait for the cage to open again to try and escape.

After being locked in, they opened the cage to let them out to use the restroom. Going into the bush, they bent down and hid, waiting for treasure hoarders to look for them so they could snatch a weapon.

After 10 minutes, one of the treasure hoarders called out, threatening them to come back or they would die. Reaching the bush, Makula pulled him by the leg into the grass. They tumbled for a minute until they knocked him out and grabbed his dynamite stick. Getting up, they began to approach the camp. The hoarders noticed them and came up to them with rope to tie them up.

Makula pulled out the stick of dynamite and threw it to their feet. The area below sprouted into fire. The treasure hoarders ran around trying to get the fire off of them. Makula ran around getting their things that were strewn around camp. The only thing they couldn't find was the needed map with essential details and dates written on it. Looking up, they saw the treasure hoarder that brought them there, Dangling the map over their head again. Kicking him in the groin, Makula snatched the map and began to run into the forest they came from. Sets of footsteps followed them. Makula kept running until they reached a small city.

Before they could enter, they were tackled. The group she ran from soon surrounded them with weapons pointing at their neck.

"We were just going to take your things, but now we have to kill ya." The leader pointed at Makula's head.

Makula saw the sword swinging down to end them. In what they thought were their final moments, they regretted not being able to have the power to protect themselves.

A blue shield deflected the attack pushing their attacker back. Looking up, they saw the protection of water. They touched the shield, making it bigger. Using their feet, they got up and used the shield to push them away.

Angered, the hoarders attacked again; this time, they were hit in the head with a slap of water. They began using arrows, but the shield deflected the attacks. Being at a disadvantage, they clicked their tongues and retreated.

The shield dropped, and the water dispersed. Makula stared down at their hands. Did they do that? They were shaken out of their thoughts when someone came running toward them. A male with brown hair wearing a uniform approached them.

"Greeting strange yet respectable traveler. I heard yelling this way and came to investigate." You blankly stared at him. So this was the police force in this country? Why were they so late to the scene??

"Is everything alright?" Biting her tongue, she gives a fake smile/

"I was just being harassed by some men in masks that had weapons, but they retreated." You smiled, but your eyes wore a glare.

"Treasure hoarders? I'm sorry I arrived so late." He apologized. You waved him off.

"It's quite alright. Do you think you can show me where Mondstadt is?" The knight nodded and told you to follow him. Going down the right path, this time, she reached a city that had Windmills and a gothic structure.

"Welcome to Mondstadt; please allow me to escort you to a hotel to rest." You nodded. Entering the city, you noticed how calm the people seemed. You even caught them staring at your curiosity. Looking to your left, you saw a woman with a Bob hairstyle peering closely at you smiling. The sign above her said," Adventurer's guild." Makula eyed her carefully and decided to come back to talk to her.

Reaching the hotel, the knight paid as an apology for not helping you with the Treasure hoarders. They accepted his offer and went up to your room. It was small but had the necessities, even a shower, and toilet. They bathed and went to sleep. They decided to handle their Merchant affairs tomorrow and look for a place to live.

Of Merchants and Bunny boys story quest to be continued…

[littlegingermochipie]

anastasia au / アナスタシアバージョン zukaang week 2021 day four | ba sing se season 2 au / 平行宇宙

aang woke up under the control of dai li, while zuko and iroh lived in ba sing se three years after banishment. set as canon divergent version before crossroads of destiny. more of this story below the cut!

excuse my fuzzy brain for incoming plotholes maybe hehe yeah wow i love impulsiveness. anyway yeah sozin comet ain't comin until like, 120 AG-ish

zuko and iroh stopped searching for the avatar and peacefully worked under quon's patronage at ba sing se.

fortunately, due to their successful tea business, they found better access to knowledge of the avatar, as well as various air nomad's relics and textual informations. they decided to keep everything at their secret warehouse, hiring bands of thugs to keep it safe.

unbeknownst to iroh and zuko, four years before they lived as refugees, dai li was the first one to find aang in his iceberg state near eastern air temple.

hundred years ago, aang briefly fought against fire nation army at the temple alongside pathik, gyatso, the nuns, and several young monks. he was saved by pathik from dire situation by getting thrown into the ocean.

long feng planned to raise the boy as their secret weapon so earth kingdom could rise, taking down the fire nation.

upon woken up, aang was hypnotized, and could only remember that he's an orphan named liu jun, born as earthbender.

he was told that the markings on his skin was a curse since birth by angered spirits, and to never let other people see it or they'll be facing the consequences of his misfortune.

he lived like a bird in a cage under long feng's watch and the head of dai li's tutelage. for six years long, he felt horribly stressed.

one day, aang finally found a way to get out of his residence by tricking the caretakers, sneaking and riding on earth kingdom's logistic vehicles.

once he's out of the food supply cart, he found and saved momo from being sold by black market thugs in the lower ring. there, he stumbled upon zuko and iroh's secret warehouse.

zuko was mad for the intrusion, but quickly realized something about the boy's appearance. iroh, however, noticed that this liu jun has upper class upbringing, and concluded that he's one of the rebel child who wanted the taste of outer walls.

zuko just blatantly state the obvious; "kid, you really, really look like the avatar in that painting," but aang was like, "who's avatar?" and ended up being educated about hundred years war history.

aang felt shocked by the tattoos he saw on the painting. still, he quickly dismissed the idea that he might be a living airbender, since their tattoo was supposed to be a sign of mastery, not a curse like long feng said. he didn't tell this to iroh and zuko, yet.

"aish, you must be mad for ever thinking i'm the avatar. he should be an old man by now! i'm afraid of being near fire or under the water for too long, and i dislike being in cramped spaces with damp air. how am i supposed to bend those elements?" (those are also the mental issues resulted by long feng's braingwashing, ofc)

either way, he needed to hide from long feng. aang quickly sealed the deal to iroh's offer who gave him the chance to help their tea shop in the meantime. well, anything but being under dai li's supervision works.

for a week of working together, zuko had noticed a lot of strange things in aang; like how he could easily play kangling (air nomad's bone flute), how his footsteps were so light he almost can never be heard walking, and how he never want to bathe and get dressed with other people nearby.

in the hunt for aang, long feng sent royal guards to every corner of earth kingdom territory. finally, they found aang at the warehouse. chaotic pursuit ensues. iroh and zuko managed to save him—at the price of being labeled as criminals.

with the help of june, iroh and zuko found their way to their old ship and crews. they brought aang there, and asked who he actually was since he's so important for the dai li.

from zuko and iroh's research, the only living people who could confirm the avatar's identity was bumi, who's in omashu, and the temple sages. too much risk for those, ofc, so they opted to go to the empty eastern air temple for more hints.

there, they met pathik, who went, "monkey feathers! aang, is that you?" to which aang replied, "nah, i'm liu jun." and pathik's like, "but i can sense your avatar spirit! and-and your tattoos, let me look at it!" but aang was so, so afraid of showing it.

then, by nudging his inner ki, pathik managed to trigger the avatar state out of aang, causing him to remember everything, including his airbending ability.

zuko and iroh be like, "well, shit, he's really the avatar," and their journey went rather hellish from that, with both zhao's fleet and the dai li on their tail.

after being informed by pathik that he had bonded with an air bison named appa, aang wished he could find him, since appa's the only family that might remain alive with him in this world. zuko promised that they would find appa.

under the pretense of companionship, zuko secretly plotted to give aang to ozai, while he and iroh helped the boy to master four elements by travelling around the world.

feelings were hindering him on the way, though. months of travelling together did that. "i think we could be good friends, even in another lifetime, if not a hundred years ago." oof, aang.

just like dimitri and anastasia, zukaang had deep bonding session at the boat with their dancing dragon and firebending lessons. iroh did smile knowingly at them.

betrayal slapped hard when aang found out about zuko's actual plan during their fight against zhao at north pole, who revealed with, "you befriend this dishonored prince, avatar? all he wanted to do was to send you to the fire lord as a nicely wrapped gift! this was all a ploy to earn your trust, to take you down by knowing your exact blind spots! you are merely a tool for him to regain his former identity!"

ouch. they got separated from there. aang then teamed up with the eventually formed gaang at the other side of the world, while zuko getting scolded by iroh, "you don't only lose someone that you care about, but the hope of the whole world! your hope! hadn't the past three years taught you something? hunger for power only bring despair to you!"

both once separated parties then reunited with the crossroads episode. aang ended up dead, katara swore to finish the fire siblings off, and zuko went absolutely mad, drowned in grief.

it's up to zuko now, to actually fulfill his promises; from finding appa to saving the world from his father—all without knowing that katara could revive aang. angst angst angst, final boss, zukaang banging then everyone lived happily ever after ♥

the musical scores would be:

a rumour in ba sing se

once upon an agrahāyana

caldera holds the key to your heart

learn to wield it

learn to wield it (dancing dragon reprise)

in the dark of the moonless night

feels great to finally manifest this draft of zukaang anastasia au for @zukaangweek uwu

[maddiwrites]

Breathe With Me

Pairing: JJ x Reader

Summary: After finding out who hurt you on that horrific night, JJ helps you through another panic attack and makes plans to protect his girl.

Note: This was requested a long time ago after a chapter of my rewrite was posted! Instead of doing JJ x OC, like requested, I changed it to JJ x Reader so that people who don’t read my rewrite can enjoy it too. Hopefully this is okay with ya’ll. 

Word Count: 3.5k

WARNINGS: Sexual Assault!!! This chapter has descriptions of sexual assault. Please do not read if this is TRIGGERING!!!! 

National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673

Masterlist

It was another regular day on the island. Hot and crowded with tourists. With everyone working, you decided to tag along with JJ and Pope to delivery groceries for Heyward’s business. Usually this meant going to Figure Eight, your least favorite place to be. Normally it didn’t creep you out too much, but because of a rather recent incident, you didn’t like being there.

Right after your dad went missing, you spent a lot of time with Kie as she lived out her Kook Year. Avoiding the Pogues and John B and surrounding yourself with stuck up assholes and their expensive drugs and alcohol helped you forget about your own family crisis. You would do anything to take your mind off your dad’s disappearance even if it meant getting high on whatever was offered to you. You didn’t ask twice about what it was. You figured if the rich people we’re doing it, it couldn’t be that bad right?

One night you did a long line surrounded by Rafe and a couple of his buddies. Pretty much everything after that was a blur. Your memories are fuzzy, like a puzzle piece you can’t piece together. The last thing you remember is your black hitting something soft, like a mattress or a pillow. You thought you heard the zipper of your shorts being pulled down but figured it was Kie helping you change into a pair of pajamas. 

The next morning you woke up practically naked with a blanket covering your bottom half and your bra pulled down to your stomach. You began to panic and ran your hands down your side, flinching at the tenderness by your hips. The skin was yellow/green and getting ready to bruise. Your breathing became shallow and your throat tightened up. You fumbled around the room you didn’t recognize for your clothes and slid them on, not caring what was backwards or inside out. You stumbled out the door and tip toed down the long staircase of the large house you were in. Figure Eight, you thought. 

You didn’t go home first. You went to Kie’s house. Because your body ached. Because you wanted to cry but didn’t want John B or the other boys to hear you. Because you were afraid to be naked around anyone but another girl. The second she opened the door, you sobbed into her arms and told her what you think happened to you. Kie tried to get you to go to the police or even the hospital, but you couldn’t fathom the idea of anyone knowing about what happened. Not even a stranger. Because you were embarrassed. You blamed yourself for this happening to you. You were high as fuck, trying to forget about your family troubles. You were the one to make yourself weak and vulnerable. No one else. Someone just took advantage of the position you put yourself in.

Kie didn’t pressure you. She wanted to support you in whatever decision you made, despite wanting justice for you and sending whoever the sleaze bag was to jail. She sat on the toilet and talked to you as you showered slowly. You spent most of the time staring at the wall and feeling ever inch of your body. You felt so dirty and no amount of soap or scrubbing could make you feel any cleaner. 

You stayed at her house for a couple of days until John B eventually texted her because he was worried. You both decided it was time for you to go home, but you never told them what happened. You were afraid of what John B and even JJ would do if they found out. And the last thing you wanted was for either of them to get hurt or in trouble.

John B didn’t notice something was off as much as JJ did. He could tell you were being more quiet and reserved than usual. Your usual style of crop tops and jean shorts changed to sweats and baggy t shirts. You slept with your door locked and didn’t touch a single can of beer since you came home.

Moving on from that night was a slow and gruesome process, one you don’t know if you’ll ever fully recover form. Luckily for you, JJ was a great distracter. He was an amazing story teller, he could make you laugh with a small hand gesture, and his laugh could draw you in for hours. No one was surprised when the two of you eventually started dating. Not even John B, who was a little apprehensive about it at first. 

To JJ, everything came to light when another make out session became heated. Like that morning, it became hard to breathe and your mind wandered off to what could have happened to you that night. In a blink of an eye, you were back in Figure Eight with someone pulling your zipper down. You could physically feel the bruises on your hips again and your skin burning. 

A panic attack emerged and JJ was left confused and lost. Fortunately for you, he was quick to realize something was seriously wrong and helped you through it. He breathed with you and talked you down. When you were calm, you explained what happened. At first he was pissed. Pissed at whoever could have done this to you and even a little bit at you and Kie for keeping this from him. He was ready to charge out of the house, grab John B, and find the sick son of a bitch who would touch an unconscious girl. But your cries stopped him. He’s never heard pain in your voice like he did that night. It physically cracked his heart into a million little pieces and he dropped every instinct he had and stayed with you instead. 

Since then, he’s been the most supportive and protective boyfriend. At every boneyard party, he would keep an eye out for any Kook that decided to show their face on your turf. He took note of anyone looking at you in a weird way. He carried the gun he stole from Scooter in his backpack for protection. He was serious about using it too. No one touches his girl and gets away with it.

Luckily, nothing happened between JJ and any Kook. No one made a move to talk to you or tease you. Kooks kept their usual distance from you, which not only made you feel better for yourself but because you didn’t want something to happen to JJ. You know the rules of the game of this island. Nothing bad ever happens to Kooks. They don’t know consequences. 

When Pope docks his boat, he asks if you would come with him to drop groceries off at the Thorntons. If he did it alone, it would cause two trips and he doesn’t want to waste time. 

As you go to agree, JJ steps in and shakes his head as he looks between you two. “I don’t think thats a good idea.”

“Why not?” Pope asks, completely clueless.

You subtly shake your head, silently begging for JJ not to say anything. Pope and John B still didn’t know and you want to keep it that way. Sure you would feel safer with JJ by your side, but you won’t be alone. You will be with Pope. And who would try to start something in the middle of the day anyway?

“It’s fine, J,” You tell him. You even try to joke. “I’m sure you’ll survive one hour without me.”

When you kiss his cheek, JJ turns to look at you with his brows pinched together with worry. “Y/N...”

“Seriously, J...” You say. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” You whisper that last part as Pope turns to get the bags. 

“You have your phone?”

You nod and pull it out of your pocket to show him. “Yes. I’ll call you if anything happens.”

As JJ walks in the opposite direction of you and Pope, you feel the tension in your shoulders get tighter. The sight of these homes gives you flashbacks. The worst part about all of this is you don’t even know who hurt you. It could’ve been anyone - a touron even. It would be easier to know who did it so you know who to avoid. 

Pope notices your change in behavior but doesn’t mention it. Instead he keeps a silent eye on you and studies your every movement. 

As you pass the golf course, you hear a couple cat calls and cheering from a group of teenagers. When you look up, you see Rafe, Topper, and one of their friends making their way over to you. You take a step behind Pope, hiding behind his body and keeping your eyes trained down on your shoes. 

“What do we have here?” Rafe whistles as he comes closer. He looks down at the bags in your arms and the beer in Pope’s hand. “Bring us something?”

“These are already paid for,” Pope glares at them.

“Oh, right, right,” Rafe nods as if he understands. Then he takes is golf club and swings it at the brown paper bag in Pope’s arms, causing everything to spill out of it. 

“Dude!” 

“Sorry, man!” Rafe holds his hands up in fake surrender. He leans down to pick up a beer bottle and tosses it to his tall friend. “Trevor, you feeling thirsty?”

The guy, better known as Trevor, cracks the beer open and takes a long sip. When he looks down, he spots you and eyes your figure up and down. Then he smirks to himself and a shiver runs down your spine. You don’t like the way he’s looking at you. Like a piece of meat or someone he knows too much of. 

Rafe catches his eye and smirks to himself. “Ah, yeah. I forgot. You and Routledge have some history.”

Pope looks over his shoulder at you and sees your chest rising and dropping at a quicker pace. You’re gripping the bags in your hands so tight that he can see your knuckles turning white. You look away from the group of Kooks at the golf course with a frown on your face. Something was wrong, Pope thought. 

“Yeah, you could say that,” Trevor chuckles. He looks at you again and tilts his head. “What? You don’t remember me?”

“Pope...” You feel like you’re choking. How could he know you when you have no idea who he is? You don’t like where this is going.

Trevor continues, “Can’t say I blame you. You were out of your mind wasted that night -”

“What the hell is he talking about?” Pope says, looking between you and Trevor. He wasn’t one to get confrontational or angry, but he didn’t like what he was hearing. He didn’t like how you were acting. Something wasn't adding up. He knew you’ve hooked up with Kooks before, but this one was different. 

“Almost as dead as her daddy,” Rafe chuckles. Something in Pope snaps and he pushes Rafe back by his shoulders. In retaliation, Rafe raises his golf club and smacks it against the middle of Pope’s back, causing him to fall down with a thump. 

“Pope!” You cry and drop the bags you were holding and kneel next to him. 

“Hey,” Trevor touches your shoulder to try and pull you away from the two fighting boys, but you flinch away from him. 

“Don’t touch me! Get away from me!” You cry.

Trevor immediately holds up his hands in surrender and takes a step back. Your outburst causes everyone to freeze in their movements, even Rafe and Pope. The wheels in Topper’s head start to move a little quicker too. He looks between you and Trevor and feels off about your connection. You looked terrified. And Y/N Routledge was almost never terrified. 

Even though you are outside, you feel claustrophobic. Your heart is beating so heavily against your ribcage that you wouldn’t be surprised if it were to break your ribs. Pope notices you’re two shades paler and having a hard time breathing. Tears are silently falling down your face and you continue to crawl away form the group of Kooks backwards. 

“Y/N...” Pope says quietly.

“We should go,” Topper says. He never hated you like some of the other Kooks did. Sure you never got along, but a small part of him thought you were cool. He knew something was extremely wrong and he couldn’t help but think it had to do with their friend, Trevor. He looks at Rafe who continues to stare at you with surprise. “Dude.”

“Yeah...” Rafe says slowly. “Trev, let’s go.”

The three Kooks scatter back to the golf course. You squeeze your eyes tightly and grip the fabric of your shirt, pulling it away from your body because right now it just feels suffocating. 

“Hey.” Pope crouches down near you and lightly touches your shoulder. His touch feels like an electric shock, making you flinch even further away. When you open your eyes, you’re back in some random Kook’s house on a mattress you’re unfamiliar with. “They’re gone. Hey, they’re gone.” Pope tries to be gentle with you, but he also wants to get you out of here and in a more comfortable setting. 

“JJ,” You manage to say. Your throat feels on fire. “I need J-”

Pope immediately starts fumbling for his cell phone and dials his best friend’s number. He bounces on the balls of his feet as he impatiently listens to the ringing. “Come on. Come on.”

JJ answers. “Hey! Sorry I’m on my way back now. You’ll never believe how much this lady tipped me. I swear I’m coming on every -”

“JJ, shut up and listen to me. Y/N...” He glances back at you and sees you’re hunched over with your forehead resting on your knees and your fingers through your hair. “She’s having a panic attack or something. I - I don’t -”

“Where are you?” JJ’s once elated tone has dropped to a more serious one. 

Pope tries explaining what part of the golf course they are near. 

“Okay. I’ll be there in five minutes. Pope, get her under some shade or something. And if you can, try to get her to look at you. She needs to open her eyes to see where she is.” Pope nods, forgetting that JJ can’t see him. “Pope!”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. Okay, doing that now.”

JJ hangs up the phone so he can run faster. 

Meanwhile, Pope crouches down in front of you again and says, “Y/N/N, hey. Can you open your eyes?” Pope lightly taps your ankles. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just me.” You slowly blink your eyes open and sniffle back the tears. Pope smiles when he sees he’s made some sort of progress. “Hey. JJ’s on his way. Why don’t we move you under some shade? It’s getting pretty hot out here. Can I help you up?”

You nod and let Pope help you up and bring you a couple feet away under a large tree. Your back rests against the bark and you try taking deep breaths to calm the swirling nausea in your stomach. 

It was Trevor. It had to be Trevor. From the way he looked at you, to the innuendo Rafe made. You knew in your heart that it was Trevor who had hurt you that night. 

A part of you always wanted to know who did this, but another part of you wished you never figured it out. Because now his face will haunt you forever.

About a minute later, you hear another set of footsteps quickly coming your way. You panic, your immediate thought going to Trevor. Would he come back? 

But then you hear your boyfriend’s beautiful voice. “Hey.” His tone is soft and gentle. “Hey, baby. Look at me. It’s JJ.” You open your eyes and meet the lovely blue one’s you fell in love with. He grins at you and takes your hands in his. 

“I’m so - sorry,” You sob, suddenly hating yourself for bringing this back up to your boyfriend and ruining Pope’s work routine. “I - I -”

“Hey,” JJ says and pulls your hands to his chest, palms down. “Remember what we did last time? Match my breathing, okay? Ready? Take a deep breath.”

Pope watches with awe silently from the sidelines. He’s never seen this side of either one of you. You so panic stricken and scared, JJ so intent with concern and intuitive. 

You follow JJ’s breathing until you feel calm enough to breathe on your own. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” JJ shakes his head. “Don’t be sorry. Do you want to tell me what happened?”

You look down at your hands that are folded in your lap. You want to tell him. Of course you want to tell him. But you’re afraid of what happens next. You’re afraid of how JJ will respond.

“Rafe, Topper, and their friend Trevor jumped us,” Pope answers for you. Like JJ, he’s also curious about what happened. Of course he was there for the physical breakdown, but he wants to know more about what you’re going through emotionally. 

“Did they hurt you?” JJ looks back at you and inspects every inch of your open skin for signs of scratches or bruises. 

You shake your head. “No.”

“Then...”

“I know who it was,” You say, your voice as soft as a whisper. 

“What? You mean. -” JJ’s head snaps back and forth between you and Pope. “Who?”

You dip your chin into your chest to hide your tears as they start to flow again. You take a deep breath and look back up at your boyfriend. “Trevor.”

“Who the fuck is Trevor?” JJ looks at Pope. 

Pope shrugs, “I don’t know. He was golfing with the other two Kooks.”

“Where’d they go?” JJ stands up, causing both you and Pope to follow him.

“No, JJ -” You try to pull him back to you but he slips his wrist out of your grip. 

“JJ!” Pope calls out to JJ who walks in the direction the other three disappeared to. 

“JJ, stop!” Your voice cracks which makes JJ turn around to look at you. “Please. I just want to go home.”

JJ freezes and bites down on his bottom lip, feeling conflicted. His head is telling him to run after the Kooks and beat every single one of their faces in until he finds the one named Trevor. But his heart is telling him to walk back to you and take care of you. 

“Okay,” he decides and wraps his arm around your waist. “Let’s get you home.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After you fall asleep later that night, JJ tip toes out of your room and silently shuts your door behind him. You passed out early, exhausted from the panic attacks and crying. In the living room, Pope, Kie, and John B are waiting. You had no other choice but to tell John B what happened. Now that Pope knew, it felt wrong keeping it from your brother as well. Of course it caused an argument, but in the end, John B only wants the best for you and to protect you. Which is why they’re here now.

“Ready to go?” JJ looks directly at your brother.

John B holds up his car keys. “Let’s go.”

“Whoa, where do you think you’re going?” Kie grabs John B by the elbow and glares at both of them.

“Where do you think?” JJ says.

When Pope and Kie stepped out of the room to check on you, JJ and John B both secretly decided that when you fell asleep, the two of them would sneak out and find this Trevor person and give him what he deserves. 

“Don’t be stupid,” Pope says, looking between the two. “You know how this works. The two of you end up getting in trouble and he gets to walk away clean.”

“I don’t care. I’ll kill him -”

“You can’t,” Kie says.

“I’m not asking for your permission, Kie!”

“Where’s the gun?” Kie says. “If you’re going to do this, I’m not letting you bring the gun. Leave it here.”

JJ looks up at John B who reluctantly nods his head for JJ to give it up. The blonde sighs and reaches into the back of his waistband and pulls it out.

“This is a bad idea,” Pope says again even though he knows the other two don’t give a shit. In a way, he kind of respects it. He would go to if he didn’t have a scholarship to worry about.

“Keep an eye on her. We’ll be back in a couple hours,” John B says.

“You better hope you are. Because if you’re not, you’re only going to be making this worse for her,” Kie tells them.

Kie’s words have both John B and JJ rethinking their decision. But only for a split second. 

JJ nods. “Don’t worry. I’d never leave my girl behind.”

[thetruearchmagos]

#Yeah#tell me about them#I'm flabbergasted#and you also have a life?

Sometimes I do!

Details below the cut

UC Govt.

Limiting this one to two specific POVs for now. First is Chief Minister Atanda, recently appointed head of state of the UC, and for SSAW's purposes the 'highest' perspective available. He views himself as inheriting a conflict he'd never wanted to occur, and must now navigate the various elements of his government to achieve whatever end he would call a 'victory'.

Secondly, we have the currently unnamed 'Consul Commissioner', the UC's head overseeing diplomat to the regions of the former Goilac Empire. She's the ranking civil servant on the spot, charged with directing the UC's policy pre-War, and now dealing with the unfolding crisis from a much closer position.

UC Mil.

Big one. I'll go through it quick;

Admiral of the Fleet Sir R. P. Ashvin. Flag Officer Commanding, Naval Fleet Forces, he provides us insight into the fierce struggle taking place between the UC's highest military leadership as they put together their response to the invasion.

Vice Admiral Olivia D. Oxley. FOC Task Group Mystique, she commands what should have been a reinforcing peacekeeping mission to Ngaionui. With the destruction of TG Formidable and the definite outbreak of war, she's the senior commander on the scene, tasked with the liberation of the islands and the defeat of the Republic of Nouvolouis.

Lieutenant Commander Evren Bayrak. A seasoned, if junior, naval aviator, Evren leads a flight of Blazer strike aircraft aboard the carrier Mystique. Instead of a warm few weeks on a tropical island, they'll fly strike missions day and night against the best the Nouvo fleet has to offer.

Lance Corporal Piki Mete. An Ngaionui native, the young Marine finds himself fighting for his homeland as the Nouvo invaders make landfall on his country's westernmost island.

Captain Oskar Kukulski. Submarine skipper on his last boat ride, Oskar had been stalking the waters of the Aukati Sea well before the war began. Now, commanding the only platform capable of striking back against the invaders in their own waters before Mystique arrives, he'll wage a one-sub war in the depths.

UC Espionage

Malik, the only person in this section, and in a sense the main POV of this whole story. Operating under diplomatic cover in the Nouvoloian capital of Cagnan, it's him who'll bring back some of the first scraps of intelligence that will warn of the coming war, and once it breaks out he'll return to Nouvolouis as a key piece of the UC's 'special activities' taking place on enemy soil. Malik also acts as a window between the two warring societies, providing his perspective into life under the Republic's regime and the work of those who would resist it in peace and war.

Nouvo. Govt.

An unnamed Minister within Nouvolouis' civilian government, presumably within its economic wing. A high functioning bureaucrat and a recent entry into his country's highest halls of power, he gives us a view into the power politics, factionalism, despotism that governs Nouvolouis and the decisions that will set the nation on the path to war.

Nouvo. Mil.

Admiral Alard Macon. A career professional who's been in the service since before the present regime's rise to power, his appointment as supreme commander of the Nouvoloian invasion is as much a recognition of his talents as it is an attempt to keep him away from the Capital and the halls of power he detests.

Captain Aurele Traver. A young aviator flying maritime patrol aircraft, he'll play a pivotal role in the operation that sank the carrier UCS Formidable and began the war. An idealist and card carrying party loyalist, what he'll see in the fighting to come will shake him to his core.

Nouvo. Security

Captain Girauld Castex. A village boy turned moderately principled agent of state security, to call Castex a foil to Malik would not be inaccurate. He'll serve to give a bottom up view of the brutality and coldness that permeates the modern Republic, as his duties change from hounding up criminals to rounding up dissidents he'll find his carefully manicured face and faith put to the test.

Working on a Character spreadsheet after you pointed it out, and it is... a terrifying experience.

How many. I just want a number.

[caravelmp3]

FEAR AND LOATHING IN DOMESTICATION

pairing: josh kiszka x reader warning(s): mentions of alcohol, references to sex, depression, & anxiety  synopsis: in better terms, josh kiszka is a rolling stone, and when the pandemic causes the band to settle down for an undisclosed amount of time, reader helps josh come out of his slump note: title & reference to that one interview. you know the one. as someone with a fear of domestication as well, i related so hard to josh when he talked about settling down, and this came out of that. it’s just a lil something !! also posted on ao3 if you would like to check it out there instead. hope you all enjoy !! x 

Josh was a vagabond, a nomad, living a peripatetic lifestyle of hopping from city to city overnight by bus or jet, bouncing between venues and interviews as if he was born to do so. Staying in three-star motel rooms in the middle of nowhere became a part of his lifestyle, one that he became quite adjusted to after three years on the go. Even while visiting home he was between family and friend houses, checking in on old stomping grounds, visiting studios hours away, anything to stay busy. In the clearest sense of terms, he was a rolling stone.

So, as everyone imagined it would happen, he began to lose his sense of self in 2020. One second the band were planning the release of an album, preparing to hit the road and play stadiums in South America with Metallica in the spring, and then the next they were hit with the news of cancellations and push-backs to everything they had been working towards. With the rise of a pandemic they were forced into a hiatus and into the first real break any of them had received, if they didn’t count the few days visiting home last holiday season.

He and the rest of the band hunkered down in Nashville and Josh started to live in his worst fear - domesticity. He was waking up at the same time every day in the same city, he was living the same life day after day, and it became old very quickly. While catching up on rest and exploring a new city was fun at first, it started to look like every other city before long. The adventure he would wake up to with excitement was no longer around. He had been forced to settle down, and he felt like a trapped animal trying to gnaw its own leg off.

And like the rest of the band and the management team, you hated seeing him that way.

The relationship between you and Josh was short, but you knew Josh for years, and you noticed the differences in his personality immediately once you followed him to Nashville following the shut down of your own job.

You once swung by the studio with a surprise lunch for the boys and the team and he was struggling to write lyrics on a notepad in the other room, surrounded by crumpled and balled sheets of paper. He would stay up later at night scrolling through airline websites for flights out of Nashville to random cities (as long as he was traveling, he told himself), and he shifted through hobbies to find anything that stuck (which eventually was reading and painting) (there was a corner of the living room filled with stacks of books and canvas paintings).

And you tried your best, even when times were hard on you, too. In order to boost Josh’s spirits and get his mind off the persistent idea that he was stuck in time, you attempted baking new treats and made him try them after dinner, you dabbled in bartending and made new drinks with tequila, set up painting dates in the backyard after work, bought books from second-hand stores you thought he would enjoy, and bought new and random vinyl for the nights spent in during summer storms.

But the bright blue, cloudless summer skies and warm breezes rustling the trees of summer became the red of maples and the bronze of oaks of autumn. Everyone hoped things would be different, maybe even just slightly, but nothing had changed at all. The band was still in Nashville, making the best of their time off to expand the album and the universe it was set in, and you were back to working, but only remotely, so Josh insisted you stayed with them instead of traveling back home at seemingly the height of the worst so far.

When the long, hot days turned into cooler mornings and long nights with the sun setting at five p.m., the effect of the year had finally hit everyone. Everyone was tired, they felt defeated.

So in one last desperate attempt to boost spirits and morale, everyone set off on their own adventure and escaped Nashville in the early days of December. Danny was going to Los Angeles, Sam was going skiing in Montana, and you knew that Josh and Jake needed their own trip. So after a few phone calls and exchanged emails over a week, you booked a trip for the twins and their family in Key West. It was something small - a rented RV for the dreaded sixteen-hour drive south, but what awaited them was a week in a rented beach house and days on a boat in the Gulf.

You booked it for everyone, you wanted the boys and their family to let loose and spend some time together before work drove them away again, but you weren’t going to lie and say you didn’t book it with Josh in mind. He was a fan of the beach and islands, history, and the water and sun and sand, and after months hunched over a studio coffee table writing and working endlessly on the album design, he deserved time to himself, to recover, to recoup.

You told him before bed on Thanksgiving day. The Kiszka family had come down from Michigan to celebrate the holiday, and they did with dinner and a fire in the pit in the backyard with music and plaid blankets and smores under the stars. After staying up talking to his mom, Josh had come to bed last with the lingering scent of fire smoke in his hair and Corona on his breath, and he met you under the covers, nestling his face in the crook of your neck before pressing a soft kiss against your skin while wishing you goodnight.

Humming, you rolled over and rolled into him. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around you, and that’s when you, in a sleep-deprived state, began to rattle off all of your plans,

“Tell your parents to stay for another week.” You said, eyes still closed, half-asleep.

Josh paused. “Why?” It wasn’t something he was opposed to, but it caught him by surprise.

“I booked a trip for the rest of us. While Danny and Sam are gone.” You laid your head on his shoulder, pressing a gentle kiss to his chest. “We leave for Key West in four days.”

And the shot of adrenaline that ran through Josh was something he hadn’t felt in quite a long time. The last time he got excited about going anywhere was to a new record shop that opened up a few streets over from the house. He quickly sat up in the bed, looking down at you (now laying sideways) in the dark with a smile.

“You’re fucking joking,”

You laughed and reached out for his hand. “Not at all,” you said bringing his hand up to kiss the palm, “I’m going to pick up an RV in a couple of days, and we can surprise your parents and take them shopping for clothes and everything else we need.”

Out of what seemed like a rush of euphoria, Josh threw himself on top of you, peppering your face with kisses and you laughed at the show of affection and at the tickle of the growing mustache he managed to grow (and pull off). You turned your head, holding his cheeks, and kissed him.

“Now, come on, let’s get some sleep.”

“Well that’s unlikely - now I’m going to lay here and think about all the dumb shit we can do.” He said, sliding under the covers and sliding an arm around you.

You just laughed and nestled your cheek against his chest, listening in to the quiet shuffling in the hallway outside the door of everyone going to bed, to the ticking sound of the clock on the wall, and then to Josh’s voice,

“Do you think they have pirate themed dinner cruises?”

“If they do, I’m sure you’ll find out about it.”

And he did.

(There wasn’t one.)

But you found so much more than you two ever dreamed of. Trading dreary Nashville for a bright and warm island, you welcomed the hot breeze and sun-kissed skin.

And even though there wasn’t a pirate themed dinner cruise, you watched Josh come alive in a new environment. You strolled hand-in-hand with him through the butterfly and nature conservatory, letting him rave about the multicolored birds and point at flowers he thought you would like while capturing them on film. On Duval Street he pulled you to get caricature portraits done, he ordered shots for everyone in the bar after a night spent swimming. He roamed Dry Tortugas National Park with Jake, admiring the view and history within the brick fort walls, and first thing one morning he pulled you out of bed to get breakfast and visit the Ernest Hemingway Home, so you sat with him on a bench in the morning light and drank coffee and pet the roaming cats that passed by.

The last night on the island you woke up naked without Josh beside you, and you turned to see him sitting on the balcony with the white sheer curtains billowing around him, writing in the journal he always kept on his person. A smile tugged on the corners of your lips.

Josh was falling in love with life again.

And you were falling in love with life again, too, because Josh was so passionate about living it.

[macgregorhoughton]

Okay so Jungle Cruise is releasing on digital at the end of the month and there’s a ton of bonus content including 11 deleted scenes. Here’s the names of them!

MacGregor Drives The Boat

MacGregor Water Skis

Joachim And Nilo On The Dock

Frank Talks To Proxima & Lily’s Nightmares

Sub Gets Stuck

Proxima Surprises MacGregor

Frank Gets The Cold Shoulder

Trader Sam And Lily Walk In The Jungle

MacGregor And Trader Sam Say Goodbye

Frank Makes Tea For Lily

The Backside Of Water

MACGREGOR WATER SKIS??? I NEED TO SEE THIS!

Ohhh OHHHH oh

where to begin! first of all- only 11?? I know they got about 50.

MacGregor Drives The Boat- honestly I felt like that joke was unresolved. he just went from "idk how to do this" to casually driving it. much needed scene.

MacGregor Water Skis- shhskskfj idk what this is gonna entail but boy am I looking forward to it. make him suffer hajdkf

Joachim And Nilo On The Dock- yes yes yes we deserve a scene of them interacting. the camp of it all

Frank Talks To Proxima & Lily's Nighmares- Ohhhhh interesting! that moment where lily wakes up from a nightmare was oddly short so that could be a nice extension. maybe a reveal that frank also has nightmares 👀👀

Sub Gets Stuck- I think I've said it before but I love that the submarine was a comedic character in itself. so excited to see this lmaoo

Proxima Surprises MacGregor- I'm sorry MORE content for them???? I already got so much more than I ever dreamed we'd get! whoo!! I'm assuming this is the moment before he runs upstairs screaming so it makes sense they removed it cause it's a much better joke construction to go from showing her before he sees her to him being chased a few minutes later.

Frank Gets The Cold Shoulder- this could literally be anything but I'm hoping with how Emily and Dwayne played these two it'll be hilarious

Trader Sam And Lily Walk In The Jungle- YES!! Sam/Lily nation RISE!! yeahhh!! honestly there was the weirdest gap in the movie there. Trader Sam stays with MacGregor and sends Lily away with the arrowhead and then she surprises Lily after the conquistadors almost got her and then a cut to Lily the next morning walking around the jungle looking for MacGregor? and then MacGregor joins Lily and Frank with Trader Sam? sth is missing there and I hope this scene fills it.

MacGregor And Trader Sam Say Goodbye- this is gonna be cute and funny I just know it. Maybe Frank hauling MacGregor into their little boat. Hopefully establishing how much Trader Sam is annoyed by MacGregor already. More adorable sibling interaction 🥺

Frank Makes Tea For Lily- JUSTICE!! i predicted this would happen in the movie (as a reference to African Queen) although I kinda expected it'd be with MacGregor. But still! I fucking CALLED THIS ONE WHOO

The Backside Of Water- a joke so good you gotta make it twice! and then cut one lol.

Thank you for sharing the list! I hadn't had a chance to check it out yet!