#I would post some parts just to humiliate myself more but everything is in Spanish

[dermy-der-demp]

I'm gonna read that saiki & Mera friendship fic that I wrote and never ended,it have to be sooo bad man

[thealexchen]

One Year On: Life is Strange 2 Critique

December 3rd, 2020 marks a year since Life is Strange 2 ended. I was inspired by @smitethepatriarchy‘s text posts (here, but there are several other answered asks worth reading) and @suhaplays’s text post (here) criticizing Life is Strange 2 to write a critique about how Life is Strange 2 handled certain themes and social issues.

(tw: gun violence, police brutality, animal death, incarceration, racism. In this essay, I use the word “queer” in a reclaimed sense, as a queer person myself. Of course, spoiler warning for all five episodes of Life is Strange 1 and 2).

A year on, my feelings about this game have soured... a lot. When the game was first announced, I was overjoyed that our new protagonists would be two Latino boys. Finally, we would have a culturally meaningful, groundbreaking video game with people of color and their experiences at the forefront! 

Then the game was met with immediate backlash and I utterly exhausted myself defending it for weeks on Reddit and Tumblr. Throughout 2019, as the episodes came out I became increasingly disillusioned, frustrated, and disappointed with where the story was going. I couldn’t figure out why I felt so damn miserable while playing this game.

Then in the summer of 2020, when Tell Me Why began rolling out pre-release material, I noticed that they posted a Q&A about transphobia, gave content warnings, and discussed at length about their collaboration with GLAAD, Checkpoint, and the Huna Heritage Foundation to make the game with sensitivity and proper research. I cannot speak for trans and gender non-conforming people on whether Dontnod succeeded at doing so with Tell Me Why. But Life is Strange 2 did… none of that.

Essentially, I realized that the reason why I was so frustrated with LiS2 is because it focuses way too heavily on a trauma narrative. This comes off as insensitive to players of color without any content warnings or extensive research.

Sean didn’t have to get kidnapped, kicked in the face, and called a racial slur by a gas station owner. Daniel did not need to watch his puppy get mauled by a mountain lion for the sake of a “difficult choice.” Sean didn’t have to lose his eye for the sake of heightened drama. Sean didn’t need to get called a racial slur and humiliated by his native language/beaten in the desert for refusing to sing. Daniel didn’t need to get shot— twice. Hell, all of “Faith” probably could’ve been cut— how is a church cult that brainwashes Daniel and beats Sean half to death relevant at all to the story?

Even if not all of the game’s violence was racially motivated, the consistent trauma that Sean and Daniel endure does not make for positive representation— or even good characterization. There is a difference between sympathetic characters and well-written characters, and trauma does not make Sean and Daniel any more complex or likable-- just more fucking traumatized.

LiS2 is more grounded in reality, but that also makes plot holes that much harder to excuse (Daniel’s powers being spotted, most of the Parting Ways ending, Sean’s prison sentence). But most of all, it grounds all of Sean and Daniel’s pain and trauma in reality. 

There is no magicking away a town-destroying storm with time travel. Sean can’t keep his dad alive by ripping up a Polaroid. After Max unlocked her powers, she was still a Blackwell student, reconnecting with Chloe, taking photos, saving lives, and uncovering a murder mystery. After Daniel unlocked his powers, the Diaz brothers lost everything. 

The game never lets you forget that Sean and Daniel are homeless, wanted, constantly in danger, and that they are never getting their old lives back. It permeates the entire game, and for players of color, just reinforces a sad, miserable, grim reality about living in the United States. It is, as @smitethepatriarchy said, potentially triggering for players of color, and it is certainly not something I needed to be reminded of.

And the representation of POC? It feels shallow and ill-researched. It would only take a Google search to find out that Dia de Muertos (a holiday to honor the dead, no less) was from October 31 to November 2 in 2016, the year the game takes place, but Daniel only talks about Halloween in episode 1. Sean and Daniel never discuss any Mexican customs, foods, or holidays. Sean doesn’t speak Spanish with his immigrant father, only during a scene when he’s traumatized (again!) by two racists, and again when talking to Mexican immigrants— in jail. Daniel doesn’t speak Spanish at all. Most of their allies throughout the game are white, including Finn and Cassidy, who appropriate Black culture with their dreadlocks.

So what’s left? Sean and Daniel’s existence as people of color is, at worst, just a narrative prop to justify everything that happens to them. They are people of color on the surface only. In a meta-sense, the game only considers the color of their skin and their last names as what is narratively important… yikes.

I don’t have anything against people who genuinely loved the game and were moved by its messages and story. But I can’t help but feel bitter that white players have the luxury of only thinking of this game as a work of fiction and not feeling any personal reliability to Sean and Daniel’s racialized trauma.

I don’t regret playing LiS2, but I do regret all the time and energy I spent defending it in the beginning. I understand now that I shouldn’t let people’s opinions get to me, nor should I feel obligated to like or defend a game for its attempts at representation. But now, I think I understand how queer fans must have felt in late 2015 when Polarized released. After following the game for 10 months, to see that Chloe’s ultimate destiny was to die and Pricefield is another ship plagued by the Bury Your Gays trope (in the ending that the devs clearly put more work into) must have been just as disillusioning and infuriating. I understand why some fans were so quick to unfollow LiS or develop mixed feelings about the series, because that’s how I feel too after following LiS2’s development from September 2018 to December 2019.

Before I end, I will admit that Life is Strange 2 arrived at a time when I needed it. I still stand by my belief that DN did a great job characterizing Sean, Daniel, and Chris without toxic masculinity, which is the best thing they could’ve done for a male-focused follow-up to a game about queer women. I love that Sean is still a canonically bisexual man of color in a major video game and that DN didn’t forget their queer audience. I love the world and characters that DN built, but I still prefer AU fanfictions of their normal lives, without all that trauma. 

So, I will continue to treasure Lyla and her 10 minutes of screentime (aka the only shred of Asian American representation I can get from this series). I still reblog LiS2 fanart to support the artists. I still support Dontnod, because as Tell Me Why has shown, they are capable of researching and writing stories with more sensitivity. And let’s be honest-- I’m still gonna be hella excited if Life is Strange 3 is announced.

But so many aspects of Life is Strange 2 were bungled that it came off as a remarkably average and forgettable experience. A year on, I don’t hate Life is Strange 2, but I am writing this to move on from it.

Thank you for reading.

[drtanstravels]

“It was one of the few times in my life that I was fully aware of being on the brink of a great experience. And not only aware but grateful, grateful for being alive, grateful for having eyes, for being sound in mind and limb, for having rolled in the gutter, for having gone hungry, for having been humiliated, for having done everything that I did do since at last it had culminated in this moment of bliss.” -Henry Miller, ‘The Colossus of Maroussi’

In my last post, we had just completed our four-day Ecuadorian train ride from Quito to Guayaquil and were gearing up for the main event, a three-night cruise around the Galápagos Islands. For those that are after a little background information on the Islands, here are the basics:

The Galápagos Islands, part of the Republic of Ecuador, are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean surrounding the centre of the Western Hemisphere, 906 km (563 mi) west of continental Ecuador. The islands are known for their vast number of endemic species and were studied by Charles Darwin during the second voyage of HMS Beagle, as his observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin’s theory of evolution by means of natural selection.

There are only 116 visitor sites in the Galápagos: 54 land sites and 62 scuba-diving or snorkeling sites. Small groups are allowed to visit in 2- to 4-hour shifts only, to limit impact on the area. All groups are accompanied by licensed guides.

There have been thousands of books written about the Islands and pretty much every website related to them has an extensive history of the area so I’m not going to do it here. I will, however, add more information later about the particular islands we visited and the wildlife species we saw. If, in the end you still want to know more, probably the best starting point would be the series Galapagos with David Attenborough (also known as Galapagos 3D), all three episodes of which can be watched here, free of charge.

Our entire Ecuadorian adventure had been based around this leg of the trip. Anna, Roshini, and myself had always been fascinated by the Galápagos Islands and had forever wanted to visit. Pat, who, as I mentioned last time is terrified of animals, was initially excited too, until she did a little research. My guess is she first thought this was going to be the type of island holiday Anna usually goes on with her friends, this time in South America. However, when she dug a little deeper and found out where she was really going, terror struck. “It’s all animals,” Anna said Pat’s first educated, yet frightened response was. “Mainly lizards!” This was going to be even more fun than I first anticipated. There were three different cruises aboard Royal Galapagos’ Natural Paradise yacht to select from:

An eight-day cruise consisting of 16 different stops,

A five-day cruise consisting of nine different stops, or

A four-day cruise consisting of six different stops,

We had chosen option three, which meant we would be following the route on this map:

Saturday, February 17, 2018 We left our comfortable hotel in Guayaquil and made our way to the airport for the 10:00 am flight, our destination; Seymour Airport, located on the island of Baltra. Once we arrived on the island, we went through the proper channels and were transported by bus to a ferry dock connecting Baltra to the island of Santa Cruz, the second-largest island in the Galápagos, via the Itabaca Channel. Our luggage was all sorted for us so we hopped aboard the ferry and sailed to Santa Cruz and paid a visit to the Fausto Llerena Breeding Center, where we were to encounter our first native species, the Galápagos giant tortoise:

The Galápagos tortoise complex or Galápagos giant tortoise complex are the largest living species of tortoise. Modern Galápagos tortoises can weigh up to 417 kg (919 lb).

The Galápagos tortoises are native to seven of the Galápagos Islands. With lifespans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates. A captive individual lived at least 170 years. Spanish explorers, who discovered the islands in the 16th century, named them after the Spanish galápago, meaning “tortoise”.

Shell size and shape vary between populations. On islands with humid highlands, the tortoises are larger, with domed shells and short necks; on islands with dry lowlands, the tortoises are smaller, with “saddleback” shells and long necks. Charles Darwin’s observations of these differences on the second voyage of the Beagle in 1835, contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.

We were led around among the tortoises while our guide, Elmer, mistakenly kept referring to them as “turtles,” a completely different species altogether. Tortoises are a land-based reptile, while turtles can swim and, although this could be put down to mistranslation on his behalf, knowing what animal you are teaching people about is a vital part of working  in a sanctuary for them. He was also open to questions, particularly about the age of the animals but still didn’t really seem to know what he was talking about, prefixing every answer he gave with, “It is possible _________.” Brilliant, but  saying something is possible doesn’t make that information factually accurate, it just sounds like your making shit up! If I said that it was possible that a tortoise switched gender every time it yawned, it wouldn’t be untrue. Tortoises do yawn, therefore it is possible, but it is also extremely unlikely and almost certainly bullshit. Besides our guide, this part of the breeding centre was great and we could get right up close to the tortoises. We then had some lunch at the island and were ready to get back on our bus to go to the Charles Darwin Research Station, but a giant tortoise decided to make itself comfortable beneath our wheels. Some of our first sights in the Galápagos Islands:

I’m glad it wasn’t our luggage they just chucked on the roof

The girls on their way to Santa Cruz

An adult and younger tortoise

They kind of look like they’re smiling

Giant tortoises do giant turds

Another bunch of them

Looking smug

A bit of a closeup

Anna getting closer

Me giving it a go

It was actually more difficult to get out

“I think I’ll just park myself here…”

Not going forward

Our next stop was the Charles Darwin Research Station, operated by the Charles Darwin Foundation. We still had our terrible guide, but it was possible this would be the last we would have to put up with him (and by ‘it was possible,’ I actually mean that I am 100 percent certain beyond a shadow of a doubt!). We were shown around the facilities, encountering more giant tortoises, as well as land iguanas and other species of reptiles outside, while learning about the breeding process for tortoises and seeing skeletons of dolphins and whales inside.

Once we were finished at the Research Station, we were taken to the main part of town so we could have a look around for a few hours before it was time to travel out to our yacht. There were some nice stores and some cool bars, as well as some beautiful stretches of coast so after exploring the town, we pulled up a seat and had a beer until it was time to make our way to the dock to be taxied out to the yacht. Our home for the next three nights is described on the Royal Galapagos website as:

Elegant and comfortable, the Natural Paradise is the newest yacht in Galapagos. Four of her nine cabins feature private balconies and the main deck suite can be converted into a triple room. Her social areas include a beautiful teak sundeck with Jacuzzi and a cozy al fresco dining. On the main deck you will find a spacious lounge and dining room. Snorkelling equipment, wetsuits and sea kayaks are available on board.

This yacht didn’t disappoint, either! Anna and myself were staying in Cabin 7, a suite with a king-size bed and private bathroom, as well as its own private balcony:

It was nice to not be living out of a suitcase for a change after our constant changing of hotels during the train journey. Instead, we could leave clothes out, not feel the need to pack every night, and live a relatively stable existence for the next few nights. I can’t say the same for Roshini, however, as she became violently seasick and spent most of the first night in the bathroom, vomiting. It wouldn’t be a constant problem though, as it was nothing some medication and a special bracelet couldn’t counter.

After we had settled into our rooms, we went down and had dinner before being briefed by our brilliant new guide, Peter, on the following days activities and then had a few quiet drinks and got to know the nine other people we’d be hanging out with for the next couple of days, a younger crowd than on our train trek. As had been the case up until this point, we were still jet-lagged so we had a relatively early night ahead of another early start and the rocking of the boat combined with calming effect of the sea definitely makes it easier to drift off. On the other hand, it can make showering a little tricky. A bit of what we saw during the latter part of the day at the Charles Darwin Research Station, as well as around the town and on the yacht:

Iguanas

A tropical landscape with cactus

Baby tortoises this time

Don’t worry, it’s just relaxing

A land iguana

You forget how long their necks are

Another pair of tortoises

Dolphin skeleton

Whale skeleton

It’s the rules!

Down on the main drag of Santa Cruz

Pelican

A panoramic view of the port

On our way to the yacht

Home!

Sunday, February 18, 2018 Our suite on the yacht had no curtains so getting up wasn’t a problem, both of us being awake and actually feeling somewhat refreshed before the alarm went off. We went down and were served breakfast and then we were to go by dinghy to our first stop of the day, El Barranco on the island of Genovesa:

  By Bamse [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

  Genovesa Island, named after the Italian city of Genoa, in honor of Christopher Columbus, (referred to in English as Tower Island) is a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The island occupies about 14 square kilometres (5 sq mi), and its maximum elevation is 64 m (210 ft). The horse-shoe shaped island has a volcanic caldera whose wall has collapsed, forming the Great Darwin Bay, surrounded by cliffs.

This island is known as Bird Island, because of the large and varied bird colonies which nest here. There are an abundance of frigatebirds and it is among the best place in the archipelago to see red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, storm petrels, tropicbirds, Darwin’s finches, and Galápagos mockingbirds.

Prince Philip’s Steps is an extraordinary steep path that leads through a seabird colony full of life, up to cliffs that are 25 metres (82 feet) high. At the top, the trail continues inland, passing more seabird colonies in a thin palo santo forest. The trail also provides overviews of a rocky plain. Storm petrels here are different from any others in the world because they are active during the day. To avoid predators, they only return to their nest holes at night.

So, for this part of the trip we would be doing a lot of bird watching, the main species’ we’d encounter being frigates, red-footed boobies, as well as a surprising number of short-eared lava owls. We also saw large groups of sea lions just laying around:

Anna having some fun before breakfast

I think we should get to see something cool today

The morning view from our yacht’s sun deck

Approaching Genovesa Island

Getting closer

Some sea lions lazing around

The water here is so clear

Nazca booby chick

Red-footed boobies

Nazca booby with an egg and chick

Some frigates from a distance

When two eggs are laid, they’ll generally abandon one of them

With a short-eared lava owl

A nazca booby that didn’t make it

I feel like the owl is judging me

To be honest, I’m not sure what this is, but it looked cool

Kind of magnificent

Another red-footed booby

Anna descending Prince Philip’s Steps

As I mentioned in the caption for one of the pictures, here is an interesting fact the Nazca Booby:

Like many seabirds, the species has a long lifespan combined with low annual reproduction and long periods of development in the young. Clutch size is one or two eggs, due to the low hatching success, however when 2 eggs are laid and they both hatch, it is common for only one of the chicks to survive.

Yup, they just ditch the other one, but such is life. Anyway, Anna is terrified of birds, but even she got into it, most likely because mankind has never really threatened these birds so they are reasonably tame and don’t particularly see us as a predator.

We went back to the boat for lunch and while we had been out in the morning, a fishing boat had dropped off some fish for dinner that night. The chefs onboard the boat were gutting and cleaning them on the side of a small boat next to our yacht and there were birds everywhere, just trying to get some of the guts being tossed overboard. When we had finished eating, we got back in the dinghy, bound for Genovesa again, this time landing at Darwin Bay in order to go snorkelling. When I was hanging out in Bangkok with my mate, Owen, back in January, I had asked Anna if she wanted anything while I was in town. At first she hadn’t been able to think of anything, then she suggested waterproof phone covers for this particular trip in the hope that we might be able to capture underwater footage of a marine iguana. We wouldn’t get quite that lucky, but we would see some cool stuff while snorkelling. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to take photos while underwater because the phone is unable to detect your finger touching it at the time. Instead, the only option is to film the entire time you are snorkelling, which is what I opted for when I realised the photos weren’t going to happen. During this particular one-hour swim I got quite close to a hammerhead shark, saw a school of manta rays go past and saw many cool looking fish, both large and small, sometimes simply joining a school of them and just swimming along, just going with the flow. The video came out a bit blurry, but it also wouldn’t be our last time snorkelling so there would be plenty of opportunities to get it right. Also, the videos are quite long, tend to make some people feel a tad seasick when they watch them and get a little boring after the first few minutes. Still, one day I might load them onto my Youtube channel, perhaps even edit all the good bits into one video, but that will take some time.

After snorkelling, we went back to the boat to dry off and get changed, and then we were off to Darwin Beach to hike through mangroves filled with more birds, gradually making our way down to some tidal pools where we would get to see sea lions again, this time just hanging out and playing. A bit more about Galápagos sea lions:

The Galápagos sea lion is a species of sea lion that exclusively breeds on the Galápagos Islands and – in smaller numbers – on Isla de la Plata (Ecuador). Being fairly social, and one of the most numerous species in the Galápagos archipelago, they are often spotted sun-bathing on sandy shores or rock groups or gliding gracefully through the surf. Their loud bark, playful nature, and graceful agility in water make them the “welcoming party” of the islands. They are the smallest sea lions.

Slightly smaller than their Californian relatives, Galápagos sea lions range from 150 to 250 cm (59 to 98 in) in length and weigh between 50 to 250 kg (110 to 550 lb), with the males averaging larger than females. Adult males also tend to have a thicker, more robust neck, chest, and shoulders in comparison to their slender abdomen. Females are somewhat opposite males, with a longer, more slender neck and thick torso. Once sexually mature, a male’s sagittal crest enlarges, forming a small, characteristic bump-like projection on their forehead.

When wet, sea lions are a shade of dark brown, but once dry, their color varies greatly. The females tend to be a lighter shade than the males and the pups a chestnut brown.

They sound like they could be fun to have a look at, which is exactly what we did. That description might be able to help you differentiate between the males and females:

Some birds as the fish was being cleaned for our dinner

A skeleton welcomed us to Darwin Beach

We would see plenty more of these

Baby nazca booby

A young red-footed booby

An older red-footed boobie

This turtle didn’t make it

Nor did this, whatever it was

A little cove

Staci, one of our companions from the US, achieved tri-level sunburn

Life’s pretty sweet when you’re a sea lion

Just kickin’ back

A pup

Anna getting up close

I thought I’d do the same

I don’t think this one even noticed we were there

Their barking is kind of startling at first

Feeling majestic

I think this one would be pretty high maintenance if you were a male sea lion

back on the dinghy

Headed back to the yacht for dinner and a nap

Galápagos sea lions are often described as ‘playful’ and that is definitely an accurate description, but it makes things a little difficult when you’re not allowed to touch them, but they approach you, seemingly wanting to make contact, as this one did to me:

Anyway, when we got back to the yacht, that fish we had for dinner was so good and afterward we had a nightcap and chatted with some of the others in our group before letting the sea rock us to sleep again.

Monday, February 19, 2018 We were up early again for breakfast, Roshini feeling substantially better because she had taken some medication the previous evening to counter the effects of seasickness. Today was to be our last full day in the Galápagos and it would also turn out to be one of the best, packing in as much as possible on Santiago Island:

By Bamse [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Santiago Island is an island of the Galápagos Islands. It is also known as San Salvador, named after the first island discovered by Columbus in the Caribbean Sea, or as James Island. The island, which consists of two overlapping volcanoes, has an area of 585 square kilometres (226 sq mi) and a maximum altitude of 907 metres (2,976 ft), atop the northwestern shield volcano. Marine Iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, land and sea turtles, flamingos, crabs, dolphins, and sharks are found here. There are a large number of goats and pigs, animals which were introduced by humans to the islands and have caused great harm to the endemic species. Darwin Finches and Galápagos Hawks are usually seen as well as a colony of Fur Seals.

Puerto Egas, south of James Bay and west side of Santiago, is one of the best sites. There is a long, lava shoreline where eroded rock formations house an excellent variety of wildlife. Marine iguanas bask in the sun. The tide pools contain many Sally Lightfoot crabs, which attract other types of hunters. Following the trail Fur seal lions are found. Puerto Egas is not only a good spot for taking pictures but also perfect for snorkeling and seeing many species of tropical fish.

Being a volcanic island, the sand is quite dark, yet still very smooth to the touch. We landed in the Buccaneer Cove area of Santiago island, which was once a refuge for British pirates. They used to anchor in the protected bay to make repairs and stock up on tortoise meat among other things, whereas we just spent our morning watching sea turtles such as this one:

After looking at turtles for a while it was time for snorkelling again. The previous day I had forgotten to put sunscreen on a small patch on the back of my left arm, just above the elbow, which in turn got very sunburnt, but I also noticed another area that was getting a little scorched as well; the top of my head. Singapore is essentially right on the equator, just like the Galápagos islands, but we noticed two major differences — The Galápagos isn’t anywhere near as humid as it is in Singapore, but the sun was far more intense! I wear a cap almost all the time in Singapore, but I don’t wear sunscreen, yet I hardly ever get burnt. Put me out in the sun for 10 minutes during Summer in Australia and I look like Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama, and the same was the case here. I’d lather up thickly with sunscreen, yet there was nothing I could do about my scalp, which was directly facing the sun every time we went snorkelling. Still, it wasn’t going to stop me, only today we would be going twice. The first snorkelling trip was in Buccaneer Cove just before lunch, the second in Puerto Egas immediately after we ate. We saw similar stuff to last time, but on these two trips we also encountered white-tip reef sharks and had fur seals swim up to us, all of which I filmed, which was a good thing because I had a problem with my mask constantly fogging up both times, no matter what I did to prevent it.

After our second snorkelling expedition of the day, we finally got to encounter what we had come halfway around the world with the hope of seeing — The marine iguana:

The marine iguanais a species of iguana found only on the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador) that has the ability, unique among modern lizards, to forage in the sea, making it a marine reptile. This iguana feeds almost exclusively on algae and large males dive to find this food source, while females and smaller males feed during low tide in the intertidal zone. They mainly live in colonies on rocky shores where they warm after visiting the relatively cold water or intertidal zone, but can also be seen in marshes, mangrove and beaches.

Researchers theorize that land iguanas and marine iguanas evolved from a common ancestor since arriving on the islands from Central or South America, presumably by rafting.

Marine iguanas can dive as deep as 20 m (66 ft), and can spend up to one hour underwater.

Marine iguanas have several adaptions that aid their feeding. Among these are flattened tails for efficient swimming, blunt heads (“flat noses”) and sharp teeth allowing them to easier graze algae off rocks, powerful limbs and claws for climbing and holding onto rocks, and compact limb bones compared to the land iguana, especially those from the front limbs, providing ballast to help with diving. As a sea reptile, much salt is ingested. The salt is filtered from their blood and then excreted by specialised cranial exocrine glands at the nostrils, expelled from the body in a process much like sneezing. The head may appear white from encrusted salt.

So not only have these reptiles evolved to be able to swim and eat algae, they have also adapted to their new diet by developing a special gland to help them expel salt, unique to them and no other reptile. Again, if you want an explanation as to why these animals are so fascinating, I recommend watching that David Attenborough series that I mentioned at the beginning.

We definitely weren’t disappointed because we were absolutely inundated with wildlife as soon as we set foot on the island. There were sea lions, fur seals, red rock crabs, and what we were hoping for, marine iguanas, at every turn, but unfortunately I couldn’t get a picture or footage of one ‘sneezing’ out the salt, although we saw a few of them doing it. Here’s how it looked while we were walking along the beach:

How the water appears when a wave pulls back out

More sea turtles swimming around

Anna and yours truly just after a wave went a little too high

Turtle tracks

Looking at another cove

Walking along the beach

Old lava formations

Pat, Anna, and Roshini

An iguana staying out of the sun

A fur seal swimming…

…and a couple more

Not sure if that is a seal-snot bubble or not

These things love posing

Getting sleepy

More iguanas climbing out of the sun

A wall of crabs

Siesta time

The fur seals were more than just a little bit tame. At one stage, I was sitting on the edge of a rock pool with my feet in the water, just watching a couple of pups playing and swimming around. The water was quite warm so I wasn’t really aware that I was moving my feet a bit and wiggling my toes, when suddenly one of the seals nipped at my toe the way a puppy does, clearly mistaking it for a small fish. The seal barely even reacted when I jumped back, pulling my feet out of the water as fast as I possibly could. It just went straight back to playing with its mate:

We then had to take the dinghy around to an area that was less beach and more volcanic rock, tidal pools, caves, and caverns. Here we encountered plenty more marine iguanas and crabs, as well as a lot more sea lions and fur seals, but it was also coming over a little stormy:

Looking a little damp

A marine iguana cooling down

I think this one is getting tired of the crabs

Hitchin’ a ride

A whole bunch of fish with one or two dead ones

clearing up

Probably just snacking

This was just after it snorted out the salt. Unfortunately I missed it

Joining the crew

These things aren’t remotely scared

I figured it would’ve made more sense to adapt to eating crabs

The water doesn’t even come close to washing them off

There are tons of these things around!

The girls again

Maybe the crabs will evolve to eat the iguanas one day…

A strange volcanic structure

This one sea lion looked like it was dreaming

This particular fur seal was putting on a bit of a show

See?

“Hey, pervert, what are you taking pictures of?!?”

Sleepover

“Oh, hi!”

If you’re wondering what it looks like in live action while you’re there, I was filming some of the marine iguanas hanging out with the crabs when a sea lion swum behind them. Pretty much everything in one shot:

There was, however, one event that upset the girls a little as we were about to leave — We saw what I initially thought was a sea lion, but turned out to be a fur seal (it is difficult for the layperson to differentiate, so don’t worry if you’ve been having trouble while looking at the pictures) feeding a pup. While doing so, another pup approached her several times in order to feed. I filmed the first encounter as the adult seal barked and then attacked the pup, but according to Anna, on the second attempt, which I missed, the adult actually bit the pup quite violently, the younger one waddling away in agony. It turns out that is not out of the ordinary and here‘s why:

Galápagos fur seals have the lowest reproductive rate reported in seals, and it takes an unusually long time to raise seal pups to independence. Females bear only one pup at a time, and she remains with her newborn for a week before leaving to feed. She then periodically returns to the pup and stays to suckle it for a few days before leaving on another hunting trip. Females recognize their own pups by smell and sound, and pups also learn to identify their mothers by the females’ “Pup Attraction Calls”. Mother-pup recognition is crucial because females exclusively nurse their own pups, often violently rejecting strange pups that approach. Orphaned seal pups usually try to sneak up on sleeping or calling females to suckle, but stealing milk is not enough to sustain the pups, and they usually die within a month.

I guess this footage is probably among the last anyone will see of that particular pup:

It was a bit of a downer to end such a fantastic day in a way so depressing, but that is just the way nature works. We took the dinghy back to the yacht for our final night, where we had dinner, some drinks, and exchanged details with people that we would like to remain in touch with the following day. We were forewarned that the sea was going to be rough that night so many people were taking their seasickness medication and wearing the bracelets to counter the effects. Me? I slept like a baby, and I don’t mean waking up every two hours, crying and shitting, either.

Tuesday, February 20, 2018 We were flying out today, first from Seymour Airport in Baltra again, bound for Guayaquil, spending a few hours in town, and then fly from Guayaquil to Amsterdam, Netherlands, where we would kick back and relax for a few days. That didn’t mean that there was nothing to do before our flight back to the mainland; on this cruise they try to pack in as much as possible and that meant there was still an adventure to be had before our morning flight — We were going to spend our last couple of hours in the Islands by soaking up the sights around Bachas Beach, back on the north shore of Santa Cruz. We landed on the shore of what is mainly a swimming beach at about 6:00am and walked around, taking in the sunrise and watching flamingoes, iguanas, pelicans, and crabs. What was also interesting is that there are still remains from the US presence in the Galápagos during World War II, particularly part of an old floating pier:

Frigates again

If you have to get up before dawn, it had better be for a view like this

Cacti on the coast

Another further back

The ruins of the pier

Looking out to sea

An old WW2 buoy buried in the sand

There are a lot of flamingoes on this beach

The iguanas don’t bother the flamingoes at all

A ton of crabs

Even these things aren’t scared of people

Passing the buoy again to get back to the dinghy

A pelican on the rocks

Another one of the islands in the distance

We went back to the yacht to have breakfast and get our luggage ready, before heading to the airport. To be honest, we all thought that our early-morning jaunt around Bachas Beach was the perfect sendoff following our three nights cruising around the Galápagos Islands, but that was actually still to come at the airport. When we arrived at the airport in Baltra we paid the relevant taxes that are expected when you are leaving the Islands and then waited for our plane. As we were sitting there, I noticed this guy just staring at me; yes, a land iguana about a metre (3’4″) long, a little rough around the edges, but completely unafraid. Myself and Alejandro, an American-based Peruvian that we made friends with on our tour, approached it and we took our last photos in the Galápogas Islands:

Now that was the perfect sendoff, a giant iguana waiting at the airport. We made our two-hour flight, landing safely in Guayaquil Airport and then took a taxi into town. We had a few hours to kill and Anna, Pat, and Roshini had really liked the Panama hats they had seen in Ecuador, plus Anna needed a new hat anyway, so we got in a taxi and our first stop was  Ecua-Andino Hats for Anna, Roshini, and Pat to get one customised each.

After their hats were ready, the taxi took us back to the waterfront area of Guayaquil. We were looking for somewhere to eat and in the process ended up having a good look around the area, just roaming the backstreets and alleys. Here is what we saw of this beautiful part of this colourful and vibrant city:

This place was beautiful to explore

I love how all of the buildings are so old, yet so colourful

Others doing exactly what we were

Sadly, as always there is a clear divide between the rich and the poor

This area of town was stunning, but it was also a workout!

That’s just what cats do…

A view of the top of a hill from the top of another hill

We struggled to find somewhere to eat in the backstreets, besides some local ice-cream, so we opted for a large commercial place on the waterfront for lunch. Before long it was time to taxi it back to the airport and fly out to Amsterdam, a trip you will be able to read about in the third and final part of this saga when I get a chance to write it.

This was hands-down the best holiday I have ever been on and will be a difficult one to top. That doesn’t mean that I won’t enjoy future travels and fully embrace upcoming experiences, but I doubt that anything will ever come close to this vacation, especially when you include the Ecuadorian train trip that preceded it. Even Pat enjoyed it, despite all of the lizards! A big thank you to Royal Galápagos for putting this leg of the trip together, as well as all of the crew aboard the Natural Paradise for your service. An extra-special shoutout has to go out to Peter Freide, our guide from the moment we got on the yacht, we really appreciate your help, your knowledge, and your sense of humour. Thank you for helping make this the greatest time of my life thus far!

Exploring the wildlife on a four-day cruise through the Galápagos Islands. You're going to be scrolling through a ton of pictures! "It was one of the few times in my life that I was fully aware of being on the brink of a great experience.

[lunarose99]

Dorks

I wrote another thing. It’s actually fluffy and... well maybe not romantic but certainly less angsty than my usual stuff. 

Enjoy Keith and Lance being dorks getting together because of aliens. 

Read on AO3

Lance is about to pee himself.

 Why, you may ask?

 Well, now, that would be an excellent question. The short answer is the presentation he is listening to is hilarious. It’s supposed to be about one of the early humans, he doesn’t remember which one, but the point is it’s supposed to be boring as dirt. And he supposes if this kid was actually talking about what he’s supposed to be talking about, it would be.

 That’s why no one in the class is listening, anyway. The slides for the presentation have neat little pictures of early human skulls and the perfect amount of text and boring titles. And every now and then the kid clicks through them to make it look like he’s going along with it.

 The words coming out of this kid’s mouth, however, do not match his slides at all. He got started on a tangent at some point and just rolled with it. The teacher hasn’t said anything, and every time Lance glances over at Professor Sendak the man has had his head down over his desk. No one else is paying attention, either, hence why the kid went on with his tangent.

 The tangent? Conspiracy theories. This kid has been ranting about fake moon landings and aliens for five minutes now, and he shows no signs of stopping. It’s kind of adorable, actually.

Lance wishes he could remember the kid’s name. They’ve had class together all year, but the kid was quiet and never raised his hand, and Lance never paid attention during roll call. So to see this quiet, shy, nerdy kid become so animated and passionate about conspiracy theories of all things is downright hilarious.

 It’s always the quiet ones, right?

 What made it worse is Lance is pretty sure he is the only person in the room paying attention to what this kid is saying. He ran late today and so ended up in the front row, his traitorous friends not saving him a seat. There had been several angry texts about that.

 He wanted to take it all back. This kid was amazing. Lance needed to learn his name and everything else about this kid. This was his new best friend right here.

 “And the pyramids!” the kid said, waving his arms. “Did you ever notice the pyramids are the same in central America and Egypt, despite the two regions having no contact with each other? It’s obvious aliens were involved! They taught the humans how to build!”

 Lance is having a hard time figuring out if this kid is serious or not. At this point he was only talking to meet the time limit their presentations had to be, so the actual sanity of the kid was questionable.

 Lance’s sanity, however, was going to take a nosedive if he didn’t let out his laughter soon. He’d shoved a fist in his mouth a while ago and bitten down on his knuckle, which had been working. But the more he watched the kid the harder it was becoming to keep his composure. But if he laughed it would break whatever reverie has the class ignoring this presentation, and he doesn’t want to get the kid in trouble. Not when he has made Lance’s week.

 Like all good things, the presentation does eventually end. The kid hits the key to end the slideshow and then looks around to see if anyone has noticed. Lance takes several deep breaths to calm down.

 The kid has to call Sendak’s name to actually alert him the presentation is over, and Lance is pretty sure the kid just got full marks for that reason alone, which is so unfair in the grand scheme of things, but he’ll let it go this once.

 “Oh, thank you, Keith. That was very enlightening, well done.”

 Lance almost loses it again. Enlightening indeed.

 Keith gathers his few materials and goes back to his seat. Sendak gives them a few reminders about their essay and when their final will be, and then he ends the class early. Keith was the last presenter.

 Lance books it to Keith’s seat before the kid can leave.

 Keith pauses in gathering his things. “…can I help you?”

 He’s cute, Lance decides. He’s got a messy haircut and pale skin, and his typical black t-shirt and dark skinny jeans. He pulls it off well.

 “Your presentation was the greatest thing I’ve ever seen,” Lance said, breaking out into a smile again.

 Keith’s eyes widen, a pink dusting covers his face. He bites his lip and his face gets even redder. “Uh…thanks.”

 “No problem! I mean, that takes serious balls to do what you just did!” Lance looked away for a second to wave and acknowledge Hunk and Pidge. He swears it was just a second. But when he looked back, Keith already had his bag over his shoulder and was running out the door.

 Lance blinked.

 “Um…what just happened?”

 He ran away? Why did Keith run away? Lance hadn’t even asked if he wanted to get together sometime! Hell, he hadn’t even gotten a last name! How was he supposed to find him now?

 “Lance, come on! I’m hungry!” Pidge complained.

 “Yeah, yeah I’ll be right there.” Lance stared at the place Keith had disappeared a little longer. Was it something he said?

 Xx

 Keith wants to die. Let it be known on all records that dying of embarrassment is, in fact, possible.

 God, he hadn’t thought anyone was actually listening! He never would have rambled on about all those theories otherwise! Especially not the cute Spanish boy!

 To: Shiro

I want you to write ‘Killed by aliens’ on my tombstone.

 To: Keith

Part of me wants to ask why, the other part of me doesn’t want to know.

Is there a reason you’re thinking about your post-mortem desires?

 To: Shiro

I did something stupid and I will never be able to recover. The only repentance is death.

 To: Keith

Okay, before you actually give a heart attack, tell me what happened. Are you okay?

 To: Shiro

Remember that cute guy in my bio class?

 To: Keith

The one with the amazing butt, yes I remember.

 To: Shiro

And you know how I had my presentation today?

 To: Keith

I remember something along those lines. How are these related?

 To: Shiro

Well I was the last presenter, so of course no one is listening by that point. Not even prof. I had a throwaway line about aliens early in the presentation but no one reacted, so I thought fuck it and just spent the time talking about aliens. Prof had no idea, he didn’t even know when I was done.

 To: Keith

You didn’t.

And let me guess, guy with the amazing butt was actually listening.

 To: Shiro

he came up to me after class and said it was the best thing he’d ever seen??? Shiro I’m dead I can never show my face in public again.

I ranted about aliens in front of the hottest guy I’ve ever seen

 To: Keith

Please tell me you got his number

 To: Shiro

Shiro. What part of this conversation makes you think I got his number.

 To: Keith

Well what else would you have done after he said your speech about aliens was the best thing he’s ever seen?

That’s a keeper right there. Never gonna find another one like him.

 To: Shiro

I want to remind you who you are talking to.

 To: Keith

So what did you do then? You had to have said something

 To: Shiro

I said thanks and booked it first chance I had

 To: Keith

Keeeeiiiitttthhhhh

 To: Shiro

This why I need you to kill me and put me out of my misery.

   Much to Keith’s chagrin, Shiro is not willing to kill him. Keith is forced to suffer his humiliation. By the time that class came around again, Keith almost skips it. And he would have, if they didn’t have to turn in their final essays that day.

 Hot Guy is standing outside the door to the room when Keith gets there, and he notices Keith before Keith notices him. So Keith has no chance to escape.

 He should have planned his funeral better over the last few days.

 “There you are!” Hot Guy says. “Why’d you run off so fast the other day? I didn’t even get to introduce myself!”

 Keith blinks. He…wants to introduce himself?

 “What?”

 “My name’s Lance Sanchez. You want to sit together today?”

 Keith can no longer process what’s happening. His body moves on autopilot separate from his mind, and he finds himself sitting in the middle of the room next to Lance.

 “So…how’d you learn so much about aliens anyway?” Lance asks.

 Keith continues to stare at Lance. “You…really were listening.”

 “Um…yeah, I thought we established that?” Lance asks, looking side to side.

 Crap. Keith is blowing it. Hot Guy is actually talking to him and Keith can’t stop being an idiot for two seconds to actually enjoy it.

 He’s saved from further embarrassment when Sendak starts the class. It’s a review day mostly, and just when Keith thinks he’ll be able to run away and never see Lance again Sendak hands out study guides and tells them to work on it together.

 “Perfect, now we can talk more!” Lance says, flashing a gorgeous smile at Keith.

 Yeah, if Keith could just stop time and stare at that smile until he dies he’d be very happy with his life. It’s a little crooked, the right side pulling up slightly higher than the left, but the way it makes Lance’s face crinkle is to die for and Keith thinks that would be a wonderful reason to stop breathing.

 “Uh, are you okay, buddy?” Lance asks.

 The smile disappears and Lance’s brows drop into concern. It’s not as pretty as the smile, but any look directed at him is good enough and oh crap when did it get this bad? He knew he was crushing on the guy but that was strictly because Lance was aesthetically pleasing to look at. He should be a little more functional than this.

 “Keith?”

 Keith blinks and shakes himself out of it. He should probably respond. “Yeah, sorry, I was just…”

 “Distracted by my good looks?” Lance asks. His voice dropped an octave and he raised on brow, smirking, actually honest-to-God smirking.

 And it shouldn’t, Keith knows it really shouldn’t, it was barely a sentence, but those words have his face heating up again. For God’s sake he doesn’t even know if Lance swings his way!

 But, as usual, his mouth runs faster than his brain. “Yes.”

 The flirty look drops immediately, replaced by wide-eyed surprise. Lance leans back a little, the tips of his ears turning red. “Wait, really?”

 Keith buries his face in his hands. “You’re stupidly attractive and if you could just get the rejection over with already that’d be great.”

 It’s a few moments before he feels Lance prying his hands away. Now Lance looks amused, a softer smile on his face this time. “How about instead of a rejection, I give you my number and we go on a date.”

 “What.” Keith.exe has stopped working.

 Lance’s smile grows. He rips off a corner of the study guide and writes down some numbers, sliding the paper over to Keith when he’s done. “You’re not so bad on the eyes yourself.”

 Keith’s gaze darts down to the phone number. Is this real life? Did he actually get Hot Guy’s number? Or did Shiro actually kill Keith and this is some weird post-mortem dream?

 “This is real, right?” Keith asks. He’s asking to make sure this isn’t a dream, but Lance thinks he’s talking about the number.

 “Of course it’s real! You think I’d give you a fake number after all of this? I haven’t been able to stop thinking of you for two days, man.”

 “I…really? You’ve been thinking of me?” Keith asks. His face is heating up again, but for once it’s not in embarrassment.

 Lance’s blush, however, might be. “Don’t look so pleased.”

 Keith smiles and picks up the paper, taking his phone out so he can program it in right now. As soon as that’s done, he sends Lance a smiley face.

 Lance brightens as soon as he gets it.

 Keith is ready to walk out right then and process what just happened, but he realizes something crucial.

 They’re still in class. What are two people who just agreed to date but haven’t actually gone on a date supposed to talk about?

 “What are we supposed to talk about for the next half hour?” Keith asks.

 “Whatever we want, I guess,” Lance shrugs.

 “You could try doing the study guide in front of you,” a girl on the other side of Lance suggests.

 Both boys freeze and blush in embarrassment. The fact that probably half of the class heard their getting together is just dawning on them.

 Keith buries his face in his hands again and sinks down in his seat. “I’ll just die now please.”

 Lance laughs. “Not until after the second date, at least.”

 Keith peeks out from behind his fingers.

 “Come on, you little rabbit, let’s study so we don’t fail.”

 “I can’t fail this class, I’ll never be able to look Sendak in the eye again after the last two days.” Between an alien presentation and scoring a date in his class, there was going to be very little biology that Keith actually remembered.

 Lance scoots his chair closer and leans over the worksheet, reading aloud the first question.

 Keith stares at him for a moment and decides it’s a good thing he’s not a biology major anyway.

 Xx

 To: Shiro

Shiro. what do you wear on a first date.

 To: Keith

YOU HAVE A DATE????????

 To: Shiro

Please don’t freak out I’m alREADY FREAKING OUT

 To: Keith

I’ll be there in ten minutes and I want details. Who is it even with?

 To: Shiro

Hot Guy with the Amazing Butt from Bio

 To: Keith

The one who listened to your alien presentation?

 To: Shiro

…

 To: Keith

I don’t believe this. Aliens actually got you a date.

   gemcM��|�

[j-c-bird]

When No One Knows Your Name (Part 2/2)

There are many noises in the world that drive people crazy. Maybe it’s repeated clicking of a pen, or the beeping of a car’s horn, or even a dog constantly barking at nothing all night long. There is one sound, however, that is by far the worst. No other noise brings so many negative emotions in an instant. That sound is an alarm going off in the morning.

With a groan, I roll out of bed. Across the room sits my blaring alarm, far enough I can’t hit the snooze button from the warmth of my mattress. My parents truly are cruel for coming up with that one as a solution for my inability to wake in time. Grumbling, I halfway trip to the offending device and turn it off. The sound still rings in my ears. My alarm is the only thing needed to rouse the entire house.

Groggily I reach over and grab my phone. There’s already a message waiting for me from Julie. I’m not surprised. She always texts me early in the morning, right before her swim practice.

You better get to school on time today Trinity. Don’t forget to bring your camera. You owe me a photoshoot.

I roll my eyes but still smile. I do owe her a photoshoot. Especially since the rest of yearbook just so happens to always ‘forget’ about Julie being on the swim team. Really though it’s just Lorene forcing Rosie to make sure never to take pictures of Julie. I don’t know why she hates my friend so much, but she does.

Ok. Be ready for it after school. I shoot back.

Yawning, I head into the bathroom. My hair is a mess, looking more like a brown nest than the ponytail I left it in last night. With a wince I start working on brushing out the tangles. Eventually I find the hair tie, and subsequently have to rip out my own hair to get it. This is the last time I wear it up to bed.

Heading back to my room I look over my clothing options for the day. There isn’t much, I need to do laundry this evening. Lifting up a shirt in the mirror, I turn slightly as to yell over my shoulder.

“Hey Mom! Do I look better in blue or red!”

“Blue! Red clashes with the green in your eyes!” She screams right back. The dog barks at both of us for being loud. She likes to sleep. I smile, and pull on the shirt. With that I return to the bathroom to put on makeup. I need to get some more foundation soon. The bottle is almost out.

“Trinity!” Mom calls, “Come on! We’re going to be late!”

“Coming!” I holler, grabbing a scarf on my way out.

------

Letting out a yelp, I spring from my seat as paint is splattered all over the girl who was sitting next to me. The green coats her hair in half formed clumps, and already the entire class is laughing at her.

“Jay! I can’t believe you. Just look at the mess you made of yourself,” The black haired girl across from us purrs. Lorene. The paint covered girl doesn’t react to the taunt, instead she gets up and trudges out of the room. The teacher doesn’t stop her, instead he glares out at the classroom.

“Alright. Who threw paint at Miss Ayers?” He grumbles out. No one steps up. I think it was Lorene and Rosie, but I was working on my paper and didn’t see. Some part of me feels slightly bad for it. I know that those two torment that girl all the time in this class. Maybe if I’d kept better watch, I could have stopped them.

“No one? Ok then. Everyone grab a sponge. Until someone confesses, everyone is going to clean. I want this room spotless before the bell rings,” The teacher orders, before following the prints of paint out into the hall. The entire class groans, and some people even throw jabs at Lorene, but no one decides to turn her in. Everyone knows what happens when you make yourself one of her targets.

I pick up a sponge, and start working on cleaning the chairs. The one the girl sat in, I think they said her name was Jay, takes some scrubbing. The paint is already drying. I can’t imagine how it would feel to have this in my hair and all over my clothes. That prank was cruel, even for Lorene and Rosie. I hope the girl is alright.

------

“And so everyone had to clean. I was almost late to third period because of those two,” I complain, rather loudly, to Julie as we get our food. She listens intently, a look of disgust spreading across her face. Can’t say I blame her. Those two are nasty.

“Someone should really put those two in their place. I’ve seen that girl. She never hurt anyone,” Julie grumbles, gripping an apple tightly in her hand. I nod in agreement before getting into line to pay. Our conversation soon drifts over to the subject of this afternoon. I’m going to get some good shots of Julie to put in the yearbook. Thankfully the teacher in charge decides if something makes it into the official book, not Rosie.

We finally make it out into the cafeteria. It’s already packed, despite the fact that a good hundred people are still getting lunch. Honestly, I don’t know how the staff keeps up with everything. Maybe I should volunteer to help them out some time soon. It would at least get me out of Spanish for a few days.

The trays click softly against the table as we sit down. Julie talks louder now that we’re out here. People are laughing and yelling, almost everyone is on their phones. That’s weird. Reaching out to grab someone walking by, I end up cutting off Julie to get the kid’s attention.

“Hey. What is everyone looking at?” I ask, eyebrows furrowed together. The kid grins at us before handing over his phone, on it a video waiting to be played. The format is that of the school website.

Julie leans over to look at the phone, adjusting her glasses. I tilt it slightly in her direction before pressing play. If there is sound, I can’t hear it over the commotion in the room, but the image is crystal clear. It’s a video of what happened in art this morning. Every bit of it. I feel gross watching it, and so I shove the phone back into its owner’s hands.

“Who posted that!” I hiss, my stomach twisting. The kid just laughs at my reaction before showing me the profile that put it up. Rosie. Lorene must have told her to record it. The monsters. Julie is twisting her hair, like she normally does when she’s upset. The blonde strands fray under her fingers.

Standing up, I scan the cafeteria for the distinct red hair of Rosie. She’s across the room, laughing with some guys. Lorene is nowhere near. She’s probably out eating in town. That doesn’t stop me from stalking over to the ginger, blood boiling.

People part in front of me, apparently the look on my face spells murder. I can feel Julie trailing behind me anxiously. Finally I make it over to the table Rosie is sitting at. She raises an eyebrow at me, looking to the world like a queen on a throne. It’s almost ironic considering it’s her ‘friend’ who really rules this school.

“Rosie what the hell! It’s bad enough you humiliated that poor girl in front of the class, did you really have to show the whole school too!”

Rosie just rolls her eyes, slipping down from her perch on top of the table. She tucks her hair behind her ears and pulls out her phone. Holding it out, she shows me the video again.

“Oh come on Trinity,” She draws out her vowels slightly, “Just watch it. That was funny and you know it. Don’t be a party pooper.”

I can feel the heat rushing to my face, but a hand tugs on my wrist right before I say something. Turning, I see Julie. She shakes her head at me and motions for us to leave. She looks scared. Instantly my rage leaves. I almost forgot just how much they attack her too.

Biting my lip, I give her a nod. Julie lets out a sigh of relief before starting to pull me away. I can hear Rosie laugh from her spot behind us.

“That’s right. Listen to the geek like usual,” She calls over to us. The boys around her join her in making fun of Julie. My friend’s face turns red. It takes effort not to turn around and sock her in the face.

------

I watch the dark figure cutting through the water with awe. I had walked into the pool area to take photos of Julie, but got a free view of the swimmer instead. Ronnie Spears, captain of the boys swim team and the most attractive male in school.

“He’s like a fish…. If fish were hot,” I whisper, wide eyed, to Julie. Julie just nods in agreement from her spot besides me. We continue to ogle at the boy until he finishes his laps. The black curls of his hair are all wetted down, but I can’t help but feel my eyes drifting down to his chocolate colored chest.

Suddenly the door slams open. I jump and spin around, only to find Lorene and Rosie striding inside. I have to force myself not to scowl as they make their way past us.

“Move it. Official yearbook business here. Oh Trin, you should just get you and your little camera out of the pool. You’re not needed right now,” Lorene trills, patting my hair slightly. I bat her fingers away and stand my ground.

“Excuse me Lorene but I am a part of yearbook. You aren’t though. What are you doing here?” I snap. Lorene scoffs at me, waving her hand in my face, as she scans the room. She freezes and her eyes narrow as she spots someone in the corner. It’s the girl from the art room. She’s sitting on the bench and drawing something, glancing up at Ronnie from time to time.

I can practically feel the teritorial anger radiating from Lorene. Never mind the fact that she isn’t even dating Ronnie. When she has her eyes on someone, she doesn’t give up. Lorene stalks over to the poor girl in the corner.

“Well what is this?” She asks, loud enough everyone in the room can hear, ”Are you drawing the swim boys? What are you, a pervert”

Jay is helpless as Lorene’s manicured hand snatches away the sketchbook. Lorene flips through a few of the pages, making sounds of disgust the whole time, before slamming it shut.

“All of these are awful,” She declares before tossing the book backwards. Jay tries to rush forward to catch it, but she’s not fast enough. All of her sketches fall straight into the pool, before sinking like a stone.

“Oops,” Lorene purrs, Rosie laughing at her side, “Well at least it’s not that big of a loss.”

Even across the room I can see the tears falling from Jay’s eyes as she sits on her knees next to the edge. Julie hurries past me and kneels down next to the girl. She slips into the water and swims down to the bottom, fishing the book from the water. Julie emerges with a gasp, and puts the pages on the tile.

“I’m sorry. It looks like most of the pages are ruined,” Julie says to her as she pulls herself out of the pool. Jay barely reacts to her words, instead she tries to open her sketch book. The paper falls apart under her fingers. The tears fall faster now. I take a step towards the two, but Lorene is already behind them.

“Aw the poor little freak. Are you upset? Why don’t you go cry to mommy,” She mocks, flicking the back of Jay’s head. The entire room watches in stunned silence as Lorene continues to rip the poor girl apart.

“Mommy! Daddy! I’m too pathetic to even stand up for myself!” Rosie whines in what I assume is a poor imitation of Jay’s voice. I don’t really know though. I can’t actually remember a time when she spoke aloud, at least not in front of me.

“Hey!” A voice yells. Everyone’s head snaps over to see Ronnie heading over to them. He looks angry. Only now do I realize how large he is, and when he’s pissed it almost makes him look scary. Lorene takes a step back as he gets between them and Jay.

“Leave her alone. I don’t know what the hell you think justifies this, but you’re disgusting. Now get out of here or I’ll call in coach,” He growls straight into Lorene’s face. She tries to stutter out some sort of excuse, but the look Ronnie gives her seem to change her mind. I watch numbly as she scrambles across the room, Rosie close behind her.

Ronnie turns around and his face softens as he looks down at Julie and Jay. He kneels down and picks up the ruined sketchbook, offering it to Jay. She just stares at him with awe.

“Here. You’re name is Jenny, right? I heard your parents call you that,” He smiles at her. Jay, Jenny, whichever is her name, on the other hand doesn’t send one back. Instead her face crumples into a strange bitter expression. She mutters something, but not even Ronnie hears is. He leans a little closer to her.

“What was that?” He asks, voice soft. Jenny’s hand’s curl into fists at her sides, I can almost swear some kind of smoke is coming from the ground under her. It looks…. Purple?

“I said. That’s not my name,” She snarls, the amount of rage coming from the girl is surprising. Ronnie goes to say something, maybe apologize, but before he does Jenny stands up. The second she is on her feet, the doors slam shut right before Lorene and Rosie make it out of them.

“No,” Jenny hisses. Her voice sounds distorted, like someone overlayed another one on top of hers. She’s shaking with fury and smoke is definitely rising from under her feet. Julie starts to back away from her, but as soon as she starts moving Jenny’s gaze snaps to my friend. Her eyes…. They’re glowing.

Julie barely has time to take one step away before she is suddenly thrown through the air, colliding with the wall on the other side of the pool with a loud crack. I scream for my friend, and scramble over for her. I’m not the only one who screamed. Lorene and Rosie are desperately trying to pry open the doors, calling for help.

I drop to the floor next to my friend. Blood leaks out of a split in her head at an alarming rate, and her arm is twisted at an awful angle. Julie’s eyes are closed, and her breathing is shallow. I rip my scarf from my neck before pressing the fabric into the cut. Crimson bleeds through faster than I’d like.

“Julie. Jules. Please. Open your eyes,” I whisper desperately to her, pulling my friend halfway into my lap. She doesn’t respond. My vision swims and my throat seems to close up, but I don’t stop talking. She needs to be ok. She needs to be.

A deep laugh has me looking up from the prone form of Julie. Across the pool, right next to Jenny, stands a man. He wasn’t there a minute ago, and his entire body swirls with purple smoke. He’s petting Jenny’s head, like someone praising their dog.

Ronnie is still near them, but not for long. He is also thrown aside, this time to the wall closest to her. It doesn’t hurt him as much as it hurt Julie. Some part of me twists at that. Why did Julie have to be injured, and not him.

Lorene and Rosie are trying to get into the locker room now, but those doors are also sealed shut. We’re trapped in here. Jenny smiles slightly, before stepping down and into the pool. Instead of sinking though, she stands on the liquid. Her grin grows as she makes her way into the center.

“For years I sat there and never bothered to fight back. Well now it’s different. Now I can make you pay.” Jenny’s voice echoes throughout the whole room. Lorene and Rosie are cowering in the corner, Ronnie is trying to edge over to us, and the man is standing at the edge of the water. He looks like a proud father, but when his eyes glaze over me I shudder. Something is wrong with him.

Ronnie makes it to us while Jenny remains occupied with the other two. He puts his finger to Julie’s neck, and seems relieved with what he finds. She must still have a pulse. He slips the scarf out of my hand and takes over the job of keeping pressure on the cut. I wonder why until I notice how much I’m shaking.

“I’m sorry! I really am!” Rosie yanks away from Lorene, “I was just doing all of that stuff because of Lorene! You gotta believe me Jay! I-”

“That is not my name!” Jenny screams. The entire building shakes, and the water in the pool starts to lift. Rosie tries to scramble back, but the liquid whips towards her. In seconds the redhead is engulfed. Rosie claws at her throat. Jenny is…. She’s drowning her!

In a moment of pure adrenalin, I stand up and yell. Instantly Jenny’s concentration is shattered as she turns to look at me. In the corner of my eye I can see Rosie fall to the ground, coughing. I have a much bigger problem now though. Already I can see the liquid edging towards me. My limbs shake as I look into the girl’s eyes. They’re still glowing with a pale, sickly purple.

“I…. I know you’re upset. And I know they deserve to be hurt…. But this isn’t right,” My voice quivers, but I take a step towards her. Ronnie tries to stop me, but I send him a quick look. If she gets angry again….

“You don’t really want to do this,” I murmur, just loud enough for Jenny to hear me. She snarls, raising up on a small platform of water.

“What do you know. You’re not their favorite toy,” She hisses. Her hair is starting to float, and the smoke starts to drift towards me. Yet, I still take a step forward.

“I know I’m not. But I also know that you don’t really want to do this,” I reach out a hand, “Just…. Come to me. Please.”

Jenny stills for a moment, face scrunched up with confusion. I leave my arm outstretched, fingers reaching for her. I keep my eyes on her face, even as the water slowly lowers back into the pool. My heart pounds in my chest. A knot is caught in my throat, but I don’t move.

It seems like an eternity before Jenny takes a step towards me, the glowing flickering out of existence. She’s shaking, but I reach a little farther. Just a little closer. The world seems to stand still as she slowly walks towards me.

Her feet touch solid ground. Jenny’s eyes are fixed on my hand, even as she reaches out to take it. Behind her, I can see the man scowl. He explodes into a puff of smoke, before he, now only purple mist, starts rushing across the pool. He’s going to hit her, and I have a feeling it would end badly if he does. Thinking fast, I rush forward and snag Jenny’s hand. She yelps as I yank her into a hug, both of us falling to the floor.

The mist passes straight over us and collides with the wall, dispersing. I let out a sigh of relief before turning my attention to the girl in my arms. She’s quivering, and already I can see the tears forming in her eyes.

“I…. I just…. I don’t want to be Jay, and I don’t want to be Jenny…. I want to be me,” She whispers. I tug her closer, allowing her to bury her head in my shoulder and sob. Stroking the back of her head, I murmur soft comforts to her.

On her back sits a necklace. It almost looks like it was all twisted around whenever she went…. Crazy is the nice word for it I guess. Still being mindful of her, I reach down and lift it up. It’s a small golden heart with the letters JA carved into it.

“Your necklace is very pretty…. What does it mean?” I ask softly, spinning the chain around her neck to get it back where it belongs. She lifts her head up, still sniffling slightly.

“Its…. Its my initials…. Jane Ayers….,” Jane mutters. I give her a small smile, setting the charm back onto her chest.

“Jane. I like it,” I put my arms back around her. Jane leans back into me, laying her head on my shoulder. Her hands move from where they sat on my back, and settle onto the side of my head.

“Thank you….” She whispers in my ear. I rub a hand up her spine in a soothing fashion.

“You’re welc-”

------

I’m careful to catch Trinity in my arms as she passes out. Shifting her into a better position, I look up at the man sitting in front of me. Rozzan is handsome again, no longer looking like an old man. The demon smiles at me, reaching out his arms. I squeeze Trinity in one more soft hug, before handing her over to him.

He curls her against his chest, cradling her soft form close. She looks peaceful, almost happy, in her sleep. Seems I did the spell correctly. I grin before looking up at the demon’s face.

“Is that all you wanted dear? Well you should have just said so,” He purrs softly, leaning down to peck my forehead softly. I can feel his power jolt through me at the contact. It’s a good thing I broke Rozzan from his prison, otherwise I would still be weak. I reach over and brush some hair out of Trinity’s face. If he was still trapped, I wouldn’t have gotten her either.

“Now Jane, love. You need to finish what you started,” He mutters into my ear, tone turning malicious. My smile only grows as I turn to the boy and girl nearby. Finish indeed. Tugging back on the magic, I raise my hands to complete the job.

END

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(Once again, this is my writing. Please don’t use it. Check the prompts and starters tag if you want something you can use.)