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flowerfan2 · 4 years ago

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Ok friends, I’m cracking up sitting here right now, because I just took a quick trip to get bagels, came inside with the bag of bagels in my hand, and then sat down to post today’s chapter before allowing myself the reward of eating breakfast... and this is how the first line of today’s chapter begin:

David comes into the house with a bag of bagels in one hand and a tray of hot beverages in the other...

I got iced coffee instead of hot, but still, I guess it was meant to be! Hope you enjoy Chapter 15. @perryavenue is going to recognize where I got my inspiration for this one...

David x Patrick, A03, 3k this chapter, 48k so far.

Chapter 15

David comes into the house with a bag of bagels in one hand and a tray of hot beverages in the other, listening to see if Patrick is awake yet. He was hoping to surprise him with breakfast in bed. Unfortunately, sunny Saturday mornings mean long lines at the bagel place, and it all took a lot longer than he had hoped.

David deposits the bagels on the counter, spotting Patrick sitting outside on the lanai. Drinks in hand, he joins him at the table and leans over to give him a quick kiss.

“Successful trip?” Patrick asks, taking the lid off his tea and inhaling appreciatively.

“Mmm, yes. I checked several of the bagels on the way home. The French toast flavor is overrated, but they do an excellent marble rye.”

“Leave any for me?”

“Even I can’t eat a dozen bagels in half an hour. Three, maybe, although that would still be a mistake. There are plenty left for you to choose from.”

Patrick grins at him and leans back, putting his bare feet up on David’s lap. David frowns.

“What, are foot rubs before coffee incorrect?”

David mock-glares at Patrick, even though he loves these silly call-backs to their history together. “Bare feet outdoors is incorrect.”

“But there’s a swimming pool.”

“The pool is over there,” David waves his hand. “You are here, sitting at a table, eating breakfast. Not swimming.”

“Technically I was reading the news on my phone. Not eating breakfast.”

“Keep antagonizing me and there won’t be any breakfast in your future, either.”

Patrick grins at him, then removes his feet from David’s lap and goes inside to retrieve the bagels, along with plates, cream cheese and lox. Ordinarily David would insist on toasting his bagel, but these are so fresh and warm that they demand to be eaten immediately. They busy themselves with their food for a few minutes, David moaning in appreciation, mostly just to watch Patrick react.

“So, I had an idea for what we could do today.”

“Is eating a pile of bagels and then taking a nap not good enough for you?”

Patrick chuckles. “I was actually thinking of going kayaking.”

David nearly chokes on his food, and Patrick pats his back good-naturedly. “Kayaking?” He doesn’t screech, but it is a near thing. “What about me, exactly, suggests that I would want to go kayaking?”

“Come on, David. We’ve been sitting around here for weeks. I did just get the all clear from the doctor. It’ll be fun.”

David does not think for a minute that it will be fun, as kayaking will undoubtedly involve bugs, unstable vehicles, and the threat of drowning. But Patrick has been beached, so to speak, ever since his injury, and David knows it has been weighing on him.

“I don’t suppose we could go on a nice, safe hike instead?”

Patrick laughs. “We can do that another day. I called a place about a half hour from here, they have two boats available this afternoon. Just give it a try. If you hate it, we won’t stay out long.”

Much to his surprise, David does not hate it.

They show up at the launching area in their swim trunks and shirts, David with his long-sleeved swim shirt on, and Patrick with some kind of sports related jersey. Their guide makes them wear ugly life preservers, which ruin David’s look but do give him a bit of relief when it comes to his drowning concern. After a short lesson, during which Patrick asks lots of excited questions and David tries valiantly to follow along, they each get into a kayak and are pushed out into the water.

The sun is shining rather enthusiastically, and David is glad that he has sunglasses on – he even made them stop along the way to buy a cheap pair, in case they wind up in the water. Patrick bought a ridiculous strap that holds his on his head, and he’s got a ball cap on as well, so there’s not much to see of him except his lovely pale arms which David very much enjoyed slathering in sunscreen.

David pulls his attention away from Patrick and focuses on stroking his paddle through the water, trying to put the guide’s instructions into action. Patrick stays near him, offering quiet corrections, and soon they both fall into a comfortable rhythm.

David knows that he’s in better shape now than he’s been in for most of his life. Although running doesn’t do much for his upper body, at least he’s got stamina. He tries to relax and enjoy it. If he paddles just right, the kayak cuts through the water without very much effort on his part. It’s kind of neat. Soothing, even, almost like the way it feels when he gets into a groove on a run.

They aren’t out on the Gulf, as ocean kayaking is far beyond their skill level. Instead, they are making their way down an inlet of some kind, a broad waterway with docks and houses on both sides. Soon they are out in the bay, and Patrick directs them past a piling with an egret’s nest on top, over to a bristly bunch of trees at the water’s edge.

“These are mangroves,” Patrick says, indicating the dense tangle of scrubby looking trees with visible roots. “They’ve adapted to living in salt water, extracting the fresh water they need. Some of them push the salt out onto their leaves. The leaves even taste salty.”

David doesn’t ask how Patrick knows this. He’d just wind up watching him lick a leaf.

They paddle closer, and David can see into the clusters of plants, the roots and branches weaving together.

“Want to go through?”

David has no idea what Patrick is talking about, but he follows him as he kayaks around the edge of a cluster. There’s an overhang, and what looks like a tunnel into the middle of the clump of mangroves.

“Are you serious?” David asks under his breath, but Patrick is already nearing the entrance.

“Go slow,” Patrick says over his shoulder. “Try not to point into them, and if you do get stuck, just grab on carefully and lever yourself off. Remember not to overbalance.”

It’s a recipe for disaster, but David gently eases himself into the tunnel. It’s cooler and dim inside, with branches and green leaves all around him. It smells like low tide, musty and brackish. The nose of his kayak gets hung up briefly as he turns too hard in one direction and for a brief moment it lists dangerously sideways, but he takes a breath and then uses his paddle to back up a bit and set himself on a straighter path.

He catches Patrick looking back at him, having executed some kind of fancy twisting maneuver so that he can see David. “Nice paddling, David.”

They rest for a minute there, Patrick showing David how to move his paddle to make his kayak go sideways (“it’s like a figure eight”) with limited success. Then Patrick spends some time pointing out to David the difference between the red, white, and black mangroves, which doesn’t make any sense because they are all clearly green.

David doesn’t argue with him. It’s far too nice here, hidden among the curving branches with Patrick who is so clearly, uncomplicatedly happy. David will wear an ugly life jacket and take his chances with the alligators anytime if it makes Patrick smile.

After they extract themselves from the mangroves, Patrick makes them paddle into the wind in order to reach a spot where they can pull up on to the beach. It’s less pleasant than drifting in the trees, but it’s worth it when their kayaks land on a sandy shore. Patrick jumps out of his boat first, pulling the bright orange monstrosity up out of the water, and then returns to help David get out of his without tumbling over, which David very much appreciates.

They sit down and stretch their legs, Patrick continuing to chatter about the birds they saw on the way over, how he’s never seen so many of the pink ones (roseate spoonbills, they’re called, but Patrick likes to correct David, so he pretends he doesn’t remember), how they’re fortunate to see so many birds of some kind or another this time of year.

After a while David just pulls Patrick against him, and Patrick shuts up, kissing David with the taste of salt on his tongue. They make out for a while, alone on the shore, their kayaks shifting slightly as the water laps against their sterns. Patrick lies back on the sand and David hovers close, his elbow braced against the ground as his other hand slides Patrick’s sunglasses off so that he has more skin to kiss.

They can’t go too far, for obvious reasons, but it feels wonderful to kiss and cuddle in the sun.

Finally they sit up, a little shy, and Patrick takes David’s hand in his and squeezes it.

“Thanks for doing this today,” Patrick says, and David’s heart swells. It’s not such a big deal, participating in an activity just because your partner asked you to. And it really wasn’t a hardship.

“It’s fun,” he concedes.

“I didn’t think you’d agree to come.” Patrick looks away, out across the water.

David puts a hand on Patrick’s chin and turns his face towards him, until his brown eyes are locked onto his own. “You asked.” There’s very little he wouldn’t do for Patrick. He can’t quite say that out loud, but he doesn’t have to. He thinks Patrick hears it anyway.

That night David’s putting away the remains of their take-out (Thai food, purchased on the way back from their kayaking adventure) when Patrick dances over to him and presents him with a package.

“What’s this? Aside from an already opened and poorly resealed cardboard box?”

“Open it and find out.”

Inside under the blue tissue paper is a menorah, a pretty silver-plated one with a leaf and branch design. It can’t have been cheap.

“Patrick, you didn’t have to-”

“I always imagined getting you a nice menorah, when we finally had a place together. I had seen this one online, and when I realized it was Hanukkah, well. Here it is.”

David just stares at it for a moment, tongue-tied.

“Do you like it?”

He wraps his arms around Patrick and kisses him soundly. “I love it.”

It’s actually the end of Hanukkah already, so they load up the menorah with the appropriate number of candles and David mumbles what he remembers of the blessings. It’s a rather lovely moment on top of a particularly lovely day, and David has to take a minute to keep it from overwhelming him.

Patrick notices, of course, and wraps his arms around him from behind, his chin on David’s shoulder, and they breathe together for a while. When David relaxes Patrick nuzzles his ear. “Want to go to bed?”

David turns in Patrick’s arms, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at the eager look on Patrick’s face. “Someone’s having a good day.”

Patrick captures David’s lips in a kiss, hot and insistent, and when he pulls back David is breathing hard. “Tell me you’re not.”

He shakes his head, happiness bubbling out of him. “Can’t do it.”

They make it back to the bedroom just before clothes start to come off, and soon they are naked and wrapped around each other, hands skimming over heated skin. Patrick seems to have a plan, he’s wound up and raring to go, and David loves it.

“What did you have in mind?” he asks as Patrick straddles him, holding his head in his hands and nipping along David’s jaw.

“I want you to fuck me,” Patrick says into the shell of David’s ear. “Open me up like this, and then fuck me.”

A thrum of arousal pulses through David at Patrick’s words. They’ve had a lot of sex over the past week, but Patrick hasn’t asked for this yet.

Their initial attempts at penetrative sex hadn’t gone particularly smoothly, back when they first got together. After a few mishaps they had ignored it for a while, content to turn each other on and get each other off in a variety of easier ways. David was happy to introduce Patrick to the pleasures of a really excellent blow job, and Patrick was, as always, a quick study, finding that he loved to bring David to the edge and then tease him until he was reduced to a writhing, begging mess.

And David was always quick to reassure Patrick that penetrative sex wasn’t the only way to have sex, that no matter what he thought in the past, they could make each other happy in any way they were comfortable with.

But Patrick was nothing if not determined, and so eventually they made their way back to it, first Patrick tentatively pushing into David, and later, when Patrick was in just the right mood, Patrick asking for David to do the same for him.

“You don’t have to like it,” David remembers saying to Patrick, one night when Patrick was feeling some combination of bad and nervous and embarrassed about the whole issue. “It’s okay if you don’t want to do it. It really is.”

At some point, though, something happened that changed Patrick’s mind. David’s pretty sure it had to do more with Patrick’s headspace than anything else, his gradual letting go of heteronormativity and becoming more comfortable with his view of himself as queer, but his prostrate probably factored into it as well. Afterwards Patrick clung to David like an octopus, both of them sweaty and blissed out.

“How do people not do this all the time?” Patrick asked, pressing his face into David’s neck. “How can it feel so good? Why didn’t you tell me?”

David had laughed and hugged Patrick tight, too caught up in his fiancé’s astonished joy to wonder how he was going to keep the attention of such an amazing man. It had been a very good night.

Tonight was shaping up to be even better.

Patrick holds himself over David while David finds the lube, and lets out a low moan when David reaches down and starts to press at his hole. David takes his time, circling gently, then increasing the pressure, all while Patrick moans and sways above him.

Patrick leans down to kiss him, his mouth open and trailing wetly down David’s jaw, catching on the stubble. He’s got a hand on David’s chest, and then Patrick shifts so his mouth can continue its journey, finding one of David’s nipples and sucking hard.

“God, Patrick,” David whines, just holding on to Patrick’s hips while Patrick bites at one nipple and then the other, sending sparks of electricity through his body. “Come here, let me-” David gets his fingers back where he wants them, and then he’s pressing inside, Patrick fucking his fingers.

“Ah – David – oh god, yes, there, oh-” Patrick pushes back against David’s fingers, rocking back and forth, hands grasping at David’s arm and his chest and then valiantly pulling at David’s cock, although his attention is understandably elsewhere. “Ohhhh, David, now, please, fuck me now.”

“Like this, or…?”

Patrick slides off David’s fingers and stretches out on the bed, pulling David on top of him. “Like this. Please. Now. Come on.”

David’s helpless to resist, Patrick’s big eyes pleading with him, his hands running up and down David’s arms, grabbing at his ass, squirming underneath him like he can’t wait a moment more.

“Okay, baby, okay. I’ve got you.” And he does, lubing himself up with a few quick strokes, and then positioning himself carefully between Patrick’s quivering thighs, one hand bracing himself on the bed as he slides into Patrick’s tight heat.

“David,” Patrick moans, “oh, fuck, yes.” He’s reaching for David, trying to pull him into a kiss, and it’s messy and breaks David’s rhythm and he doesn’t care, it’s so good, Patrick wanting him like this. David’s heart is slamming against his chest in time with his thrusts, and Patrick is writhing underneath him. The slick slide of their bodies feels so good, David doesn’t know how he can hold it all inside.

“Patrick, baby, I love you, I love you,” David pants out, heat pooling inside him, a familiar tightness building.

“Come on, David, oh god, come on,” Patrick pleads roughly.

David’s hips are moving frantically now, his muscles burning. He’s shaking, dripping sweat everywhere, and he’s close, he just needs to keep going a little longer, for Patrick, he can do it.

“David, I’m so close, oh god, you can, David-” Patrick gets a hand on his own cock and pulls, and David feels him, feels him quaking and shivering.

David comes with a rush of sensation, light exploding behind his eyes. Patrick is almost there too, and David gets a hand on him, both of their hands on Patrick’s cock, twisting together, over and over. Suddenly Patrick’s back arches and his whole body convulses as he comes, head thrown back in ecstasy, a long whine falling from his open mouth.

David collapses next to Patrick on the bed, turning his head to press his face against Patrick’s shoulder. Patrick drapes himself over David’s side, arm sliding over his back, nose digging into his collarbone. They lie there until the aftershocks subside, and then some, not wanting to move.

“Gonna have to change the sheets,” David finally says.

“That’s the first thing you think about, at a time like this?” Patrick teases, a shaky hand brushing David’s hair out of his face and onto his forehead.

“No, it’s not,” David says. “But it’s the first thing I can say without blushing, and I don’t have the energy for that.”

“David,” Patrick says, pressing a kiss to David’s lips, then pulling back before David has a chance to enjoy it. “Are you feeling things tonight?”

David snorts. “I’m feeling quite a lot. Seemed like you were, too.”

Patrick starts to hum <i>“Feeling Groovy”</i> and David can tell it’s coming, he can tell before Patrick even gets a whole phrase out, and he slaps a hand over Patrick’s mouth.

“For once could we finish up our lovemaking without a concert?”

Patrick is laughing against David’s hand, and he bites gently at the ball of his thumb. “Do you really want me to stop?” he asks, his breath warm against David’s skin.

“No,” David confesses, too open to argue even about this, about Patrick’s awful love songs whispered in his ears at highly inappropriate times. “I don’t want you to stop. Don’t stop any of it.”

“Deal,” Patrick says, easing David’s hand away from his mouth and wrapping him in his arms. David settles in, not caring anymore about sticky sheets and sweaty skin. All of that can wait for tomorrow. For now, he’s just going to focus on how wonderful it feels to drift off to sleep with the love of his life holding him close.

#schitt's creek #schitt's creek fic #David Rose #Patrick Brewer #kayaking #David x Patrick #sexytimes

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zalrb · 4 years ago

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hi! same anon from before, hahah. first of all thank u so much for answering - i'm a big steve mcqueen fan too and i was wondering if you were ever interested in reviewing your favourite mcqueen movies? a few words for each kinda thing. i love your movie reviews because way more often than not, i find myself agreeing with you and you seem to find the exact right words. of course, it's merely a request you don't *have* to take seriously.i hope u have a great day!

OK so here is my list, starting from favourite to least favourite. The only feature film of his that I haven’t seen is Hunger.

What I will say are general Steve McQueen characteristics that I like about all of the movies is the fact that his films require patience and attention. If I’m tired or not really in the mood to devote my focus but I want to watch something, I’m not putting on a Steve McQueen film. I want to be fully present. His work demands that. I appreciate that.

I have also come to respect that there are what you would consider holes in his movies. Like we don’t really know anything about Brandon’s backstory in Shame, we know his sister says that they come from a bad place but we don’t know what that place is and the movie doesn’t find it necessary to divulge that information. Widows has a lot of loose ends that a typical heist movie may at least attempt to sort out but I don’t think McQueen really concerns himself with those details, he concerns himself with the emotional present and he concerns himself with the present to such an intimate and almost unbearable degree that it can make you flinch and cringe as a viewer because it’s uncomfortable to kind of stew in emotional truth like that, it’s uncomfortable to stew in the present that way.

There is an artistry and a poetry to his movies, it reminds me of paintings and I can say without irony or without being corny or without being pretentious, that these movies really do examine the human condition, do deep dives into emotion or deep dives into emotions that a particular event or issue would bring about.

1. Lovers Rock

I love this movie for so many different reasons. It means so much to me as a woman of Jamaican descent to see an ode to Caribbean party culture in the diaspora

and even though it’s in London and even though it was in the 80s, there is so much overlap in Canada, it was basically like a spiritual experience watching this movie and on twitter, there was so much outpour of gratitude and feeling seen by Caribbean Canadians, it was like a whole moment, so this movie makes me super emotional.

Like this scene, where they yell “Jah!” “Rastafari!” it got me in my chest and I had never experienced feeling so seen in film before because it’s specifically Caribbean, in this case Jamaican, and what I usually see is African American or movies from the Continent and this was diasporic and it was Caribbean

But what I also love about it is that even though it takes place over one night, it’s a love story between two young dark-skinned Black people and it’s handled with the kind of grace and beauty and weight that I like in my love stories, like it’s not Atonement, it’s not POTC, but it’s this culturally specific courting and coming together and it’s super sweet and just very nice

2. Alex Wheatle

There is this scene in this movie that is excruciating to me in its simplicity and it’s one of McQueen’s techniques or choices. So this installation in Small Axe is about Alex Wheatle who is an author and in the beginning we see his life in an orphanage and how he’s abused and ridiculed and how as a child he would be thrown in a room for hours just lying on his side

Then we get to him as an adult and we see the way the police harass Black youth and they take Alex throw him in the back of their van and he’s bloodied and beaten and he’s just lying on his side for hours. And I cried because that callback to his childhood was so brutal to me even though we don’t see excessive violence onscreen, it was just him lying on his side like when he was a kid and how systems upon systems are failing him and failing Black children, Black people and I didn’t need that spelled out for me, I just needed to see him lying on his side for minutes. And that’s kind of the power of McQueen’s directing/storytelling to me?

Another reason I really like Alex Wheatle - and the Small Axe anthology as a whole - is showcasing Black history in other countries

and it’s a great story about identity and figuring out your history, your roots, where you come from and how it informs you

3. 12 Years A Slave

I didn’t know if I was going to watch 12 Years A Slave or not, I kind of make it a point not to watch movies about enslavement now and I haven’t seen a movie about enslavement since (I did watch the show Underground though). What I love about this movie is how it examines the human condition, how it examines resilience, how it examines the soul, really, through many of the characters but particularly Solomon. It’s that unflinching portrayal of emotion and the present that really stuck out to me. And also again some of McQueen’s choices, like when they’re on the slave ship, for a lot of it we don’t see inside, we see the rudders

but that inspired such dread in me? We see the trees a lot.

We see the setting. We see the environment and that just adds a whole other layer, Lupita Nyong’o spoke about that when filming, about just thinking about the trees and what they witnessed. But I watched it, I didn’t cry until the third act then I wouldn’t stop crying then I pulled myself together and a week later, my roommate was playing it in her room and I could hear it and I was trying to write for workshop and it was just the score that I could hear and I got so emotional I had to ask her to put her earphones in so I could work.

4. Education

This installment of Small Axe was again an educational one for me (pun intended) because I know the ways in which the education system in my country and in my province and in my city fail Black children and I know enough about how that happens in the States, I didn’t know so much about how it happened in England and this was very illuminating for me without it taking on the tone of a docu. There is this scene that is just so uncomfortable to watch because it’s long and it’s boring and it’s irritating and that’s exactly what you’re supposed to feel because you’re supposed to feel exactly what the characters would feel in those moments:

Education also has a scene where we hear an entire song, but it’s deliberately not fun, when the teacher torments all the kids with his acoustic version of “House of the Rising Sun.” Why that song? That happened with me!

Oh my god. The teacher brought in his guitar, and he started to strum. We’re this captive audience. That was it. But it’s interesting, about that sequence. Because it’s funny, and then it gets irritating, and then you get bored. You have to go through boredom to get to the other side of it, and then you get to something else. And then there’s another understanding of it. So it had to play out that way, in real time.

and you know by the end, the movie explores how to engage children, how to encourage children, how to advocate for children and the different ways you can educate children so it’s an optimistic movie and I appreciated that

5. Widows

My second best experience at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) was watching Widows. TIFF screenings tend to be very quiet. But there’s a scene in Widows where after the protagonists (four women) do the work and get the money, Daniel Kaluuya watches them, holds them at gunpoint and takes the money, then leaves in his car. Then you’re with him in this car and he’s feeling good about himself and he’s laughing and he’s listening to this speech his brother makes then you see another car gain on him, run into him and it’s the protagonists and they take their money back and the entire theatre cheered and clapped and it was awesome. And that is the type of “girl power” scenes I like that aren’t “girl power” scenes? Where it’s just this man thought he could take what he wanted from these women and leave and they were like ummmmmmm?

I would say Widows is McQueen’s most commercial movie and it still doesn’t read very commercial and unfortunately Liam Neeson is in it but again I like the choices he made, I like that when Colin Farrell’s character is going on this racist rant in his car, we see the exterior of the car with his dialogue as a voiceover.

I like how controlled and tight the direction is and how throughout the movie I was on the edge of my seat in a different way, I was just tense until it was all over. It was also interesting watching his direction with Gillian Flynn’s screenplay interact with each other.

I had issues with this movie, mainly one moment which is when Alice, who is white, slaps Veronica (Viola Davis) -- Veronica slaps Alice first but Alice is a character who has been abused and who has been controlled by the men in her life, by her mother and she’s finding independence and so she exerts that by slapping Veronica back and I just thought there were other ways to show that.

6. Red, White and Blue

Another installment of Small Axe. My first husband stars in it and won a GG for it

and has this gem in it

It’s a good representation of what it looks like trying to right a system from the inside, since this is about Leroy Logan who became a police officer and ended up policing the neighbourhood he grew up in and how he was trying to be a positive change in the environment and in the police force and the racism he experienced as an officer

7. Mangrove

The first installment of Small Axe. To be quite honest I wanted to like Mangrove more than I did. It’s Steve McQueen so it’s a good movie, although the accents had some Trini people I know be like mmmmmmmmmmmmno, and again it’s also an educational movie because you learn about the Mangrove restaurant which was a Caribbean restaurant and hub for the community and for artists and authors and the police saw it as a threat so they constantly harassed the costumers and did raids and did everything in their power to shut it down.

And there are some great lines in this movie, I was most compelled when it became a courtroom drama, because that was some masterful directing

8. Shame

Shame was definitely uncomfortable for me to watch haha and it’s interesting because there were reviews that were like the title doesn’t match what we see because are we really expected to believe that the protagonist feels shame when we see him in New York having anonymous sex with [conventionally] attractive strangers and he has awkward moments with his sister and I was just like ............ if there’s anything McQueen is able to do is show how mechanical and compulsive Brandon’s sexual conquests are and his inability to actually connect because once he does he becomes impotent and pushes Marrianne away, his life is sterile and unfulfilling

so, I don’t know, some of the reviews had me like, what movie were you watching?

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evolutionsvoid · 4 years ago

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The labyrinthine tangle of mangrove roots creates an interesting habitat for all sorts of creatures, be they aquatic, amphibious or arboreal. They create shelter and barriers for those that dwell in the water below, while forming bridges and islands for those that prefer a drier lifestyle. These mangrove forests seem to bring together the creatures of the land and sea, resulting in fascinating species and behaviors that are found nowhere else. One of these unique species is the Mangrove Squid, a specialized cephalopod that calls these twisted roots home. The Mangrove Squid is an amphibious member of the squid and octopus family, residing solely in mangrove swamps and forests. While its body is more equipped for swimming in the ocean than walking on dry land, it spends a whole lot of its life out of the water. In truth, its limbs are best used for climbing purposes, relying on its many tentacles to latch onto roots and branches to pull it up. With all these prehensile tendrils, you would think these little guys clamber all over the mangrove forest like boneless monkeys. Despite this ability, they prefer to stick to the exposed roots of the mangroves, hanging right above the water line. This is because Mangrove Squids are ambush hunters, and sitting up above gives one a tactical advantage to those who swim down below. During their hunt for food, a Mangrove Squid will leave the water and climb up onto some exposed roots. Using four of its tendrils, it will anchor itself to these structures and position their body so it sits right above the surface. Its four other primary tentacles will dip back into the water and become perfectly still. Due to their coloration, Mangrove Squids blend in with the surrounding vegetation, and the unmoving tentacles take on the appearance of simple roots. Fish and other aquatic critters that swim past these disguised appendages will be grabbed and eaten. This is the perfect ploy, as many smaller creatures run to these mangrove root systems whenever danger approaches. With the squid hiding amongst this vegetation, other carnivores flush their food right into their waiting tendrils. If this does not happen, the Mangrove Squid may take matters into its own tentacles. Hidden amongst the rest of its appendages are two long, whip-like limbs. These are the "feeding tentacles" that most squids have, though these ones have a slightly different purpose. When prey refuses to get into grabbing range, the squid will reel these two tentacles in and use them in the open air. It will hang them over the water's surface, positioning them so that the paddles extend past the prey that dwells underwater. When everything is lined up perfectly, the squid will slap the surface with these limbs, causing a commotion. This will startle prey and cause them to seek shelter, usually right where the squid is hiding. The other limbs will intercept and then it is lunchtime! Though these feeder tentacles can be used for manipulating and catching prey, they serve another crucial role. Though they can dwell in the open air, Mangrove Squids need to keep moist. At times they must sit still for hours on end, while the air and sunlight slowly dries them out. To combat this, they use these feeder tentacles to delicately scoop up water and pour it on their exposed bodies. Special mucus glands in these limbs help them capture liquid and form it into a large bubble. This ensures that they get more water with each scoop, and that less spills out, which could frighten prey or alert them to the squid's presence. The act of watering themselves is a slow and careful one, as if they screw up, they could scare off their food. Mangrove Squids do not just climb onto these roots when they wish to hunt. They stick to the water when they wish to travel long distances or rest. If a big aquatic predator shows up, fleeing to the open air is their go-to. Getting out of the water is a good method for avoiding water-based carnivores, and the gnarled network of roots of the mangroves serves as good protection from both terrestrial and aerial predators. They rely on this for defense so much, that it is where they lay their eggs. Courtship and breeding occurs in the water, but when the female wishes to lay eggs, she goes to the mangroves. She dispense her eggs in a sticky spherical cluster, then scoops them up with her feeder tentacles. She will then use these limbs to attach this cluster deep in the root network, in cramped places that even she may have a hard time fitting into. These eggs will be attached so that they hang right above the water. They will not be so close that they are submerged (as aquatic species could easily eat them), but they will be close enough that the waves and splashes keep them wet. When they hatch, the larvae will drop right into the water and be immediately in the safety of the mangrove roots. This location certainly isn't perfect and predation will occur, but it certainly helps their chances! Outside of these forests, the Mangrove Squid isn't too well known or revered, just another critter swimming around these flooded mazes. The only folk who have really anything to say about this species are the Mangrove Dryads (which should be pretty obvious why). To be more specific, they don't really pay too much mind to the squids that roam about the wild, it is when these creatures try to set up shop in more personal places that the Mangrove Dryads start having an issue. They don't despise these critters, they just find them to be nuisances when the squids want to use their limbs as a hunting ground. Mangrove Dryads tend to use their tangled lower bodies as a sanctuary for a variety of species during hard times or rough weather, so they aren't too fond of a predator hanging around and taking advantage of that. They say that the squids can also scare their saplings that hide down below, a situation that no mother wants. I believe there is an extra reason for the Mangroves disliking these creatures getting too close, and that is the gross violation of personal space. I mean, cripes, can you imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have something like that just latched on down there? I know Mangroves are used to having critters running around their roots, but still! It just seems uncomfortable and disgusting! It makes me think of that book I read once that turned out to totally not be a research-appropriate account of a Lou Carcolh. I think someone put it in the wrong section of the library, because it certainly did not belong in the non-fiction category! Honestly, I should have been tipped off of its scientific inaccuracy when they seemed to ignore the fact that the tentacles of a Carcolh have a natural adhesive on them. Had I been faster on catching that, I would have spared myself of the coming horror. It does explain why the librarian was giving me such an odd look when I rented it during my research of the beast. I am sure it didn't help my case when I told her it was for "research purposes." Chlora Myron Dryad Natural Historian ----------------------------------------------------------------- Behold, the Mangrove Squid! It is a squid that looks like a mangrove! Gosh, how creative! Got to love that totally original name!

#squid #cephalopod #mangrove #mangroves #art #drawing #monster #creature

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 4 years ago

Text

The Art Of Remembrance (Part 33)

Azula slaps her her arm, she watches the mosquito-fly buzz away and resents that she has slapped herself for nothing. It is growing harder to focus on the map between all of the insects swarming her and the increasing heaviness of her waterlogged attire. Next to her Sokka is battling his own cloud of bugs and seems to be faring worse than she. His flailing does nothing to fend them off.

“It’s not that much further, is it?”

“Sokka, we’re not even close.”

He groans.

The day is humid and muggy she can see it in shimmering waves in the air. Or maybe that is the beginning of the swamp’s games. All around her, from within the tangled cicada-mantis sing their unrelenting drone. It is a constant and never ceasing hum that plays in the background under various croaks and chitters. Every now and again, some type of fish springs itself from the water and flops back in. On one occasion one smacks Sokka from behind leaving him to grumble, “and here I thought that nature hated you.”

She shrugs, “it hasn’t thrown a fish at me yet.” She hopes that she hasn’t spoken too soon. The carpe had struck Sokka hard enough to leave a scaly imprint upon his skin that grows increasingly red.

“If only Katara were here.” He grumbles.

Azula must admit, some waterbending on her collection of mosquito-fly bites would be nice. The skin on her arms is growing quite lumpy with them. She has quite a few of them upon her neck as well.

“Ugg, If I have to pick one more elbow leech off…” she plucks a sizable one off of her calf. “This one didn’t even aim right.”

Sokka busts out laughing. She tosses the leech at him. He gives a little yelp when it splats on the back of his head and falls back beneath the surface. At his exclamation, she returns with a laugh of her own.

“This swamp is dumb.” He grumbles. “I hate swamps.” He tries to continue in a stomp but his feet suction into the mud.

“Come on, stop doing that.” She rolls her eyes as she helps to free him from the sludge.

“This is so gross.” He squeals. She can’t exactly make fun of him for that being as she is about a minute away from doing the same. Frankly it is undignified to be stuck waltzing through bog water. If Sokka had told her that she were a princess now, she wouldn’t have bought it.

“Hey, so I need to make a stop, if you know what I mean.”

“I’ll wait here.” She props herself up against a tree. As he wanders off to take care of himself, Azula inspects her nails. She cringes, they have so much mud caked under them. Though she doesn’t think it would be worth cleaning them now when they will only grow dirty once more. When she grows bored with her nails she tosses a little flame around.

“You almost done?” She calls. Honestly, she isn’t sure why it always takes him so damn long to go to the bathroom. Though this time, ‘getting lost in there’ is a very real possibility. “Sokka?” She heaves herself away from the tree.

.oOo.

Sokka jolts, “Suki?” He speaks just quietly enough to not draw Azula’s attention. And then he collects himself. He pulls up his pants as Suki’s image fades. “Ha. Ha. Nice try swamp, I know your tricks.”

“And yet you fall for them anyhow.” Comes that slick, sweet voice he knows so well.

“I thought that you were going to wait by the tree.”

She rolls her eyes, and puts her hands on her hips. “You took too long.” She shifts her weight from one leg to the other. “This way.” She beckons him forward.

“I thought that we were going…” He points back they way they’d been heading before he’d gone off to answer nature’s call.

“Your break gave me a chance to study the map better. It’s this way.” She slowly trails her fingers over his neck.

“What are you doing?” He asks. “Not right now.”

“Boring.” She sighs with another eye roll and a dismissive wave. He tags along as she slinks deeper into the swamp where the gloom is notably thicker. The hum of the cicada-mantis grows fainter and he shudders.

“Would you mind making a little fire?” He asks.

“We can make all the fire you’d like.” She tosses a look back at him and winks.

“Seriously.” He grumbles. He is beginning to think that he shouldn’t have confessed his love for her, if he knew that it would be a go-ahead for this. “I want a real fire, it’s really dark in here.”

“A real fire?” She cocks her head and a small smirk plays at the corner of her mouth. A feral, vicious smirk. Her voice dips into a growl. “I’ll give you a real fire.” She holds her fingers up to a low hanging strand of ivy. It is as tiny as a match flame, but the world around him is ablaze in an instant.

He cries out.

.oOo.

Azula snaps her head in the direction of the shout and curses. Of course the dolt has wandered into what has to be the gloomiest, dankest, most inhospitable part of the swamp.

“Sokka, where the hell are you?”

He doesn’t answer, leaving her to wonder if the swamp is muffling her voice. The acoustics of the place are dreadful. She pushes her way through the thickets, towards where she thinks that she his voice may have come from. But it is very plausible the the swamp is distorting its direction.

She scans the dimness around her, finding reassurance when she spots a path of battered vines. Sokka must have taken his machete to them. She follows the path of chopped vines until they fall short. She rubs her temples in agitation.

“You foolish girl.” Comes a voice, though she can’t place from exactly where. She shudders, she thinks that she knows this voice. At the very least, she is sure that she should know it. She rubs her temples as it comes again, “did you think that you could get away from me.”

The voice must belong to the head of the Vine Research Facility, or at least one of the many that have operated on her. Her tummy flutters with anxiety. How had she downplayed that she is in their domain? Back in the tundra it was all that she dreaded, them emerging from the snow to drag her back to the facility. Somehow it had slipped her mind to fear them emerging from behind one of the mangroves.

“It’s that boy.” The voice scowls. “He distracts you.” It finds a new part of the mire to lurk in. “Come back to me and we’ll get you back on track.”

Her stomach sinks further still. “Perhaps I could if you’d stay still.”

“But of course.” It replies smoothly. “I’m over here, just in front of you.”

She pushes back a curtain of hanging moss and vines.

.oOo.

Her laughter echos in his ears as he shambles out of the ring of fire. He finds himself waist deep in cloudy brown water. He tries to catch his breath, to calm his unease. But that smirk, that cruel smile and that wicked glimmer in her eyes...he can practically see it reflected in the water.

He slumps down against a tree stump, trying to remind himself that it wasn’t her. Not the real her.

“But it can be.” Her voice is suave and cunning as she stoops down to drawl lazily into his ear. “It will be soon.” Her hands trail down his neck and over his shoulders. She massages them carefully. “Do you really think that I’m going to let myself be buried? Do you think that a few massages and backrubs are going to be enough to keep me at bay?” She brings her hands down his arms. “I’m much stronger than that.” She purrs

“You’re not her, you’re not…”

“But I am.” She carefully moves her pointer across his chest. “I was here first and I’ll be here again.”

“That’s not true, it doesn’t have to be.”

“Honestly.” She says flatly. “What you have is fake. It means nothing.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m me. Who knows me better than I?”

He swallows. “Right now, I do.”

She chuckles it is a low and sinister thing. “Well aren’t you bold?” She asks. “How about this, take me there and we’ll find out whose right.” She nods her head to the left.

He follow the nod and finds himself face to face with a drainage pipe.

“Follow that and you’ll find the compound. You’ll find yours truly?” She gestures about her body. Her dainty and measured chuckles break of into a wild fit of laughter. The swamp water around her bubbles and boils.

.oOo.

Azula peers up at the man. He is large and imposing and built like a soldier. His hair ripples down his back in lush black waves. He boasts a beard that is just as pampered and pomp. He reaches out and pushes her bangs to the side, “look at you, you’re filthy.” He tsks.

“I’m in a swamp.” She points out.

“So am I.”

She is certain that she should know him. She brings herself to look him in the eyes and her stomach turns all over again. Those eyes, their hue, their shape… She swallows.

His hand brushes over her hair. “It’s time to stop acting like a child.”

“Father?”

His lips curve up.

“You burned Zuzu…”

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “I suggest that you don’t disappoint me or I might have to do the same with you.”

“You won’t.” She shrugs. “You can’t. You aren’t real.”

“At least you still have your wit about you. For now.”

“For now?”

He beckons for her to follow. But she keeps herself rooted in place.

“Don’t be so stubborn.” He growls. “I’m trying to help you.”

“Help me?”

.oOo.

“I think that we can still make it work.” These are her parting words. “Really, we’re the same, you and I. We’re both monsters. We’re both killers.” It is a harsh whisper and it echos faintly as her body shifts. The muscles in her arms twitch grosequely as her lean frame swells. The muscles she has now are too bulky for her otherwise petite frame. He follow the length of her right arm, it ends in glistening metal.

When he looks back at her face, he finds a different one entirely. Three eyes burn into him, but only briefly before his body contorts and finds itself buried beneath the clouds and flames of an explosion.

Sokka backs up, tripping over a rock he lands hard on his tailbone. Water soaks into his pants.That which doesn’t invade his clothing begins to gurgle and bubble. A dozen faces rise with glassy eyes and gaping mouths. They look up from the waters, expressions strained as they fight to keep at least their noses above water. They reach out desperately and grasp at the air.

“What did we do?” They chant in unison. “What did we do.”

“It was my birthday…” He might have laughed at the absurdity if he weren’t so thoroughly disturbed.

Suki shakes her head. “I can’t be with a murderer.”

.oOo.

“Follow me.”

“Not a chance.” Azula stands with her hands clasped behind her back.

His face bunches up in rage. “You dare defy me.”

She shrugs, “you can’t do anything to me. Nothing real, anyways.”

His face smooths once more, this is when ice works its way into her veins. “Oh, I can do things that are very real.” He throws back another curtain of vines, pleasuring her with the view of a hunched figure.

Her father steps to the side and continues to hold the vines parted. If he could hold them in place they must also be a part of the illusion. She watches the figure shift, its shoulders tremble. They tremble violently before the figure looks up. Azula meets her gaze and goes tense. She doesn’t like the unhinged look of those eyes.

The figure screams. The sound of it is drowned beneath a fountain of blue flame. Azula bunches her hands and holds herself up right, looking away only to meet her father’s merciless stare. She turns back feeling dizzy and ill. “It’s not real.” She repeats.

“Oh, but it is, just not in this moment.” Her father shrugs. “This is who you are. You are an animal.” Another voice wraps itself around her father’s. It is a soft feminine one, “a monster.”

And in the same way that she knows that he is her father, she knows that what she is seeing is a manifestation of the truth.

“I can give the rest of your memories back to you.”

“I don’t want them.” She shouts, sounding almost as shrill as the screaming figure in front other. It is the first time she has managed to admit it out loud.

“But you will take them. It is what you came here for.” He replies evenly, unphased by her outburst. “You are persistent, I’ve almost never seen you walk away from a mission with it left incomplete.”

He offers no further warning. Her head whips back as visions fill her mind. She sinks to her knees gripping her head as she exerts all of her energy into throwing her walls up. A few more memories leak in--a fight with her brother, “you should have feared me more”, a white room and a straight jacket--before she is able to block them out.

She lays in the stagnant water, breathing heavily. Her head beats from the onslaught of memories and the effort of keeping them away. This mission is a mistake. She has made her decision; they will make the arrests and she will burn the research notes away. Her vision goes fuzzy.

.oOo.

Sokka sits with his head buried in his knees and his hands clutching his head. He can’t help but think of Azula who tends to assume the same position when in distress. He wonders if she is doing it right now.

He is trembling so terribly that he can barely lift his head, let alone get to his feet. They are still around him chattering and begging for mercy. Please becoming more wet and gurgly as water fills their lungs.

“Stop it!” He screams. “Stop it!” He doesn’t know how long he’d been screaming it. Long enough for him to be tracked down and found.

He watches her drag herself out of a tangle of vines. He knows that it is her--the real her-- because she is shaken and her eyes are watery. Even still, she is in a better state than he. She approaches as quietly as the marsh will allow and drops herself down next to him.

He thinks that she wants to be held and talk about what is troubling her. Instead she wraps her arms around him and squeezes him tighter than anyone has in a while. He isn’t sure if she is trying to comfort him or herself.

He can’t bring himself to hold her back. He wishes that he could, but part of him is still afraid. She is holding him now and burying her face in his hair. But as soon as they follow those pipes, her hands will move from abdomen to his throat.

#Avatar #Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Fanfiction

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chantillyxlacey · 5 years ago

Note

How about five headcanons on a mermaid AU? Pick whoever you want as the mer.

( send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it )

Lewis is the merman in this AU– he makes his home on an island that is about 90% mangrove swamp, with the remaining 10% being taken up by an abandoned temple complex built around an especially massive, white-leaved tree whose roots created basically the only land on the island solid enough for a building like that. The rumors about the island and the temple in particular are many and varied, but they all agree on one point at least: the island is dangerous and you should never go there. Don’t even sail near it if you can help it.

Merfolk aren’t “natural” creatures; Lewis wasn’t ever born so much as created specifically to guard the island by the spirit that once inhabited the tree while she was away from the island. As such, he’s quite intimidating in appearance: he’s huge, even bigger than he is in canon. His sclera are black and the irises a bright pink– they don’t actually glow but they’re so reflective that it often appears that they do. The scales on his tail are such a dark violet that they’re almost black, and he has white stripes that mimic the appearance of ribs running down it. He has some minor color-changing abilities similar to a squid’s in the parts of him that are skin: it can be his normal canon flesh tone; or the cells will either flood with pigment or squeeze the pigment out, so that he becomes the same color as his tail all over with white markings that mimic a skeleton. His teeth are shark like and his hands are tipped in claws, though they’re actually fairly dull.

Vivi and Arthur are the sole survivors of a shipwreck that strands them on the island Lewis guards. Arthur was a political prisoner: he’d been part of a rebellion against a local tyrant on his way to a penal island; Vivi sympathized with him and with his cause and tried to help sneak him off the ship and escape and she got caught, so they were both in the brig when a storm hit almost out of nowhere and drove the ship against a reef– the hull breached in such a way that it created a hole for them to escape through and a sort of raft to cling to. They’re able to hold on through most of the storm, but get separated by a particularly large wave. The following morning they’re very surprised to find themselves both alive, “washed up” on an unfamiliar shore.

“Washed up” is in quotes because it wasn’t any random act of chance– Lewis rescued them and towed them onto the sand for reasons he can’t fully articulate. Maybe it had something to do with how they both did their best to keep the other secure to their raft instead either of them attempting to leave the other to fend for themselves. Maybe it was how they did their best to keep one another’s spirits up despite their dire situation. No one is ever supposed to set foot on his island, but he just can’t stand the thought of leaving these two for dead.

Lewis makes himself scarce at first, and helps them survive on the island from the shadows– delivering flotsam from the sunken that might be still be useful to them, leaving fish or fruit for them to find and eat, etc. Vivi and Arthur know there’s SOMEONE giving them a hand, and they’ve seen the huge shadow of something swimming around the island and through the network of rivers, but they don’t necessarily realize that these are one and the same. He doesn’t reveal himself to them until after a few weeks of this, when he finds a trinket they’ve made for him as a thank you gift and left where he usually leaves his ‘deliveries’ for them.

He spends so long admiring it and wondering at the fact that they’d go out of their way to use time and objects that they could have made use of to do something just for him, that he’s still there when they come to the drop off spot and they finally see who their mysterious benefactor is. Their appearance startles him enough that he briefly goes into ‘attack mode’ with the skeletal markings showing and it scares the hell out of Arthur, but Vivi’s immediate reaction is utter fascination.

THEY FALL IN LOVE. I’m predictable! I know you predicted this. They grow closer and start to fall and things are going swimmingly (hah) until Shiromori makes a return to her island…

#MSAU #i had THOUGHTS so u get some extras #providentially demonic #assk

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i-am-arcana-trash · 6 years ago

Text

At the end of it all.

*Julien and MC leave the Hanged Raven, to find their family*

Angsty: because that reversed ending fucked me up.

Content warning: Mentions of death, cursing.

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

Scout scampers through the swamp of mangrove trees, stopping every once and a while to make sure her two lost souls were still following her route.

Behind her, you and Julien carefully manuvered through the swamp, avoiding the bubbling weak spots in the ground.

As you made your way to the edge of the swamp, you stumbled over a tree root and fell against Julien. You felt the very familiar sensation of him steading you, and oh so carefully he ran his knuckles over your forehead and down your temple, careful to avoid his claws.

"Darling are you okay?" He murmurs, grey eyes still searching for any sign of hesitation or disgust from you. You gently kiss his palm and smile up into his eyes. "I couldn't be better" you smile back.

Sure the world had gone to hell in a hand basket, but Julien was here with you. Nothing could bring you down and nothing was going to keep you from your family.

Lacing your fingers between his, feeling his sharp nails delicately rest on the back of your hand you pull him along.

Of course you have no sense of time here, you aren't sure how long you've been looking but one day you feel it. A familiar purple aura, and the familiar pink shores of the Magician's realm.

Making your way to the shore, Julien freezes, panic in his eyes as he looks down at his changed body. And you feel the doubt and insecurity in your heart right along with him before settling him on the shore with Scout. You'll find Asra alone.

Planting a gentle kiss on his forehead, you stroke his feathered cheeks, 'Ill be back soon...I love you'

Following the pull of Asra's aura, you find him sitting in an oasis. It's beautiful and full of color.

Before you can get down to him however he spins around, the ends of his jacket slide across the sand, hands up in a defensive stance and you watch his face crumple when he realizes who he is looking at.

'Enough!' his voice is harsh to your ears....has the Devil been sending him visions too....?

Slowly you reach out to Asra letting your aura drift to him and you hold your breath...he closes his eyes for a moment as your aura covers him before it clears and he looks at you, tears threatening to fall before you rush for each other.

When you wrap your arms around him, you both begin weeping. You hadn't realized how much you missed your closest friend. You feel something press to your nose, Faust peeks out from Asra's collar and you stroke under her chin.

Asra pulls away to look you in the eye, his hands shaking as he holds your shoulders. 'I couldn't find you, I couldn't find anyone..' he chokes out. 'I spent gods know how long searching for a sign for anyone...and I would get glimpses of everyone; you, Portia, Ilya but every time I tried to reach you, you would turn to dust.....'

You know exactly what he's feeling, you and Scout had had many similar experiences while searching for Julien, shadows in the corners of your eyes, whispers on breezes....the fact you didn't completely lose your mind was a miracle.

You smile at him before speaking....'I found him....I found Julien ...we want to find the others, but we need help....' Asra smiles picking up his bag and hat. 'Then let's go...'

He notices your smile falters for a moment and he holds one of your hands in both of his. 'Whats wrong MC....? Is...is Ilya alright...?"

You nod but you want to tell him, 'He's different Asra....he's still there but he has changed...and he was so scared to leave, the Devil took so much from him ...just....try not to act too surprised when you see him...'

Asra nods and you grab his hand, walking back to the beach.

As you come over the last hill, Asra spots Julien before you do. He's standing at the waters edge, rubbing water in his face, ruffling out the feathers on his head and back and you feel Asra pause '.....Ilya....?'

Suddenly Julien whips around making eye contact with you and then with Asra. He cowers into himself, stuck frozen, the fear and panic clear on his face. You both rush to him and you fall to your knees in front of him cradling his face in your hands forcing him to meet your gaze. Asra kneels as well and takes one of Julien's claws in his hand, 'Oh Ilya....what happened...'

Julien sighs and meets Asra's gaze, his cheeks pink. 'I gave up.....and I was rewarded for my failures...' He motions to his altered form. Asra's eyes are gentle before he leans in, one arm around your shoulder, one around Julien's and holds you close.

'Im just glad your safe....still here....we can find the others'

Faust pokes her head out of Asra's shirt again and looks at Julien, she wraps her tail around his hand giving it a firm squeeze.

Asra laughs, a unique sound in the wasteland of realms. 'She still loves to squeeze you' Julien blushes pinker and looks away from the snake.

'ARRRUFFFF' Scout comes bounding back through the surf suddenly, ready to once again aid our search.

*undetermined amount of time later*

Sands continue to shift. As we traveled we found Nazali. They told us Nadia had been missing, no trace of her, not even a glimpse of her from the corner of their eye. When asked if they wanted to join us to search for Mazelinka and Portia, they shook their head. Solitude had turned into their only source of comfort. Solitude meant no one could hurt them and it meant if something happened to them...no one would hurt because of them.

Julien couldn't help the tears that fell as Nazali looked at them, their thumb strokes the downey feathers on his cheeks. 'You are an absolute moron.....but I'm glad you're safe...and I'm glad you have MC and Asra with you...'

You part ways with Nazali.

You never seen them again.....

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

One day Scout disappears. You called and called but her presence was lost in the sand. For a while she had been leading you into the Star's realm, towards what you hoped would be Portia and Mazelinka.

In the distance you see a lighthouse, you feel a pull of your magic towards it and follow your intuition.

After what felt like days of trekking, you are standing in front of the lighthouse door. As you reach for it, you hear a thunderous rumble from inside the light house and the door swings open.

Portia stands in the door frame, chest heaving, Mazelinka's shawl is wrapped around her and you feel your stomach drop.....where is Mazelinka?

Portia doesn't register you, her gaze fixed firmly on Julien's face before she sobs out 'OH ILYA YOU FUCKING STUPID BASTARD, KSOCBAKALIDJEND....BIRD BRAINED GANGLY SJFJDNDJF'

Her voice speaks unintelligible words and reaches a fever pitch. Julien shirks back from the noise covering where his ears used to be, sobs wracking his body.

'Pasha I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry....I just thought I could do something...anything to protect MC and you and.....' he approaches her, dropping to his knees and he holds her hands in his. His feathers convey how much he's shaking as he waits for a response.

There is a deafening smack and Portia smacks Julien on the cheek with a wooden spoon. He cups his cheek in shock before Portia's strength fades and she wraps her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him in a vice like hug, some of his feathers dropping to the ground after breaking off during the hug.

When they part she rushes up to Asra and I, giving us hugs before ushering us into the lighthouse.

Inside it's warm, you dare say, peaceful. Or at least as peaceful as things get in the world now.

Your stomach drops when you realize Mazelinka isn't there and you look at Portia. She's tending to a small fire in the center of the floor and and speaks softly 'I found Mazelinka shortly after everything happened....she wasn't herself...and then she died, from the change or from her bloody feet and the compulsion I'm not sure'

Julien leans against a wall, shoulders shaking and you feel the anguish in his chest. Grief and guilt hit you like a ton of bricks, eminating from the man you love so dearly. You warm up your fingertips, like that time you teased him in the Towers realm when you had lost your body during that fateful masquerade.

You stroke the back of his head, burrowing your fingers to nape of his neck, moving feathers out of the way and you feel his sobs lessen. Guilt drove him to do so many terrible things. You can't bear for him to take that invisible load again, not without your help.

That night you don't talk, you all sleep together, using each other for warmth, security, or perhaps just so the crippling loneliness you all experienced could be shared.

The next morning, you feel the slightest bit lighter.

You all agree to stay together. It wasn't the reunion you all wanted.

But at the very least.....you no longer had to do it alone.

#the arcana #the arcana julian #julien route #julien x apprentice #asra x apprentice #portia x apprentice #the arcana fanfiction #the arcana fanfic #julien reversed ending #angst #i hurt my own feelings writing this

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years ago

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523-525: "A Surprising Fact! the Man Who Guarded the Sunny!", "Deadly Combat Under the Sea! the Demon of the Ocean Strikes!" and "Lost in the Deep Sea! The Straw Hats Get Separated!"

A New Challenger Appears...?

These were good episodes. There was world building, with all the underwater scenes and explanation of how the OPverse and its technology works. There was action (the Caribou pirates ramming Sunny and the Kraken fight). There was comedy (Franky’s nipple lights, anyone?) and there was genuine tension (would the air inside the bubble last? Where have Luffy, Zoro and Sanji gone?)

There were also two big reveals.

And this was one of them.

Oh. My. God.

While Sentomaru got his ass burned by Marine HQ over letting the Strawhats escape, Rayleigh had found a comfortable grass tussock. The perfect place to sit and let a fit of nostalgia wash over him.

Could not believe it when I saw that straw hat on young Roger’s head. Luffy’s beloved hat not only belonged to the infamous Yonkou, Shanks, but has sat on the head of the Pirate King himself. I wonder if Roger and Shanks had a moment when the straw hat was passed down, like Luffy and Shanks did at the start of the story?

Rayleigh and Roger’s first meeting was great too. Luffy really does have a similar personality to Roger. He never cared that Rayleigh stole the ship. He just wanted a ship and someone chill to sail with. And Roger had Big Ambitions.

“Hey. Nice ship,” Roger said to Rayleigh.

“I stole it. My house burned down so I live here now.”

“Cool. What’s your name?”

“Rayleigh.”

“I’m Roger! I think we were destined to meet, Rayleigh?”

“Destined?”

“You wanna turn the world upside down with me?”

At the time, Rayleigh reacted like most of us would in that situation. Who was this madman and why was he trying to convince him to set sail.

But Rayleigh must have crumbled.

And the rest is history.

The tear in Rayleigh’s eye as he remembered his old friend was touching. Roger’s death and the break up of the crew must still affect him. But here he is, still alive, happy living with Shakky, coating ships for a living and ensuring the succession of the next Pirate King, who was at that very moment, heading for Fishman Island on his long-awaited journey.

Good job, Rayleigh. :)

Cyborgs Understand Cyborgs

Have to say, the underwater scenes were beautiful. It really did feel like the Strawhats were leaving the real world behind and passing into a fantastical realm where slow rays of light slanted through clear blue water and the enormous roots of Sabaody’s mangroves dug deep into the bed of the shallower, warmer sea. All the Strawhats were awed by the beauty.

Then, as Sunny submerged and the shadows grew longer and the water colder, Chopper and Usopp began to freak out a little. Didn’t blame them in the slightest. I kept thinking about pressure and what that would do to them if the bubble popped.

But Oda had thought of that and had it covered! I can happily report that the coating bubble is not that easily popped! Sanji demonstrated that the bubble will not burst even under tremendous deep pressure. Objects, like cannon balls and Luffy’s hands, can pass through the coating (not sure what that would do to the pressure inside the bubble, but I’ll go with it).

HOWEVER, sharp objects like sea king fangs or, say, one of Zoro’s swords would pierce the bubble. Similarly, if the Sunny crashed on rocks and the mast or planking shattered and burst the bubble from inside, it would be Game Over.

Apparently, seventy percent of ships heading to Fishman Island do not make it. Luffy and Zoro nearly made the Strawhats a statistic by trying to catch fish because they forgot they were inside the air bubble! Chopper and Usopp smacked some sense into Luffy and he broke out Hancock’s bento boxes instead (because Sanji had almost died from blood loss and was in no condition to cook. xD)

But, as I said earlier, Franky was a shining star of these episodes.

This was one of his crowning moments. He had an announcement to make concerning the identity of the one who protected Sunny with Hatchi, Duval and the Flying Fish Riders.

It was none other than Bartholomew Kuma, the one who spirited them away from Sabaody (and danger).

Franky must have got to Sunny first, as a battered, singed Kuma was waiting for a Strawhat - any Strawhat - to return. There was no ceremony about it. He simply stood, said, “I’ve been expecting you. Mission complete,” and walked off.

Franky told the others what Rayleigh already knew. Kuma was a member of the Revolutionary Army, like Luffy’s dad. He didn’t have much time left, but he had saved their lives at Sabaody. He had agreed to be turned into a World Government cyborg and has now lost his personality. Chopper asked the question I wanted to ask: how could he wait at Sunny if he was completely drained of sentience?

Franky, who is a cyborg and spent two years in Vegapunk’s lab, probably understands Kuma’s predicament more than most. He said that Dr Vegapunk, who modified Kuma, agreed to Kuma’s request to program a mission into his mind: “Defend the Thousand Sunny until one of the Strawhats comes back.”

Kuma has sacrificed so much. It’s good to know that the Strawhats now appreciate what he did for them.

“I don’t know my dad that well, but that Bear guy was a good guy,” Luffy said.

“Make no mistake,” Franky said. “He’s the one who gave us these two years. We can’t ask him why, but only remember that he did it. Bartholomew Kuma turned out to be our greatest ally. But remember, if we meet him again, he’s a killing machine.”

I like Franky. He can be silly sometimes, but the guy is articulate and intelligent. He has a good turn of phrase. I like the way he speaks.

Zoro believed Franky but wanted more. What was Kuma’s motive for all the weird shit he’s pulled over the years? Why would he agree to become a WG killing machine?

Kuma is still a mystery. I don’t think I’ll find out more about him until more is revealed about the Revolutionary Army.

A Familiar, Bovine Face In The Briny Deeps

While the Strawhats talked about Kuma, something approached in the shadows. Sunny was sinking fast. The silence of the deep ocean was unsettling. Whitebeard whales drifted past. Usopp was on alert. Seventy percent of ships sunk was not good odds in his book. It was just as well he was on the look out because he spotted the Caribou pirates’ ship approaching at speed!

Then they rammed Sunny!

(Honestly, that was dumb. It could have taken out their ship too. Do they even know how bubble coating works?)

But how had they caught up so quickly.

Turns out the Caribou Pirates had Mohmoo to help pull them through the water.

How cute is Mohmoo, though? (The subs called him Momoo. Is that the correct spelling?) Nami instantly recognised him, ran up to him and said, “I’m Nami! Remember me? I was there at Arlong Park!” I’m not sure how Mohmoo felt about Nami but he definitely saw Luffy and Sanji (and he cried and fled. Poor Mohmoo. Can’t the Strawhats just adopt him?)

Oh, and I was so blinded by Mohmoo’s cuteness, I forgot to mention that the Caribou Pirates tried to board the Sunny but got dragged away by Mohmoo, leaving Caribou himself alone on board the Sunny with the Strawhats looking at him like this.

You Were Saying...? Part I

Look at them. Even Usopp is like, “Dude... you fucked up.”

Once he was tied up, Nami asked where he’d found Mohmoo. Apparently, they just caught him. Lots of experienced pirates have sea cows to pull their ships.

Of course, this was like a red rag to a bull. Luffy decided then and there that he wanted a pet sea monster.

Only you, Luffy.

Luckily, as the ship sunk further, a prime candidate stared out of the murky depths with huge yellow eyes.

Luffy Just Punched Out Cthulhu

Lord Cthulhu A Kraken emerged! A vast, tentacled abomination with fragments of whole ships stuck between its teeth.

This was the point Caribou must have thought: I am trapped on a ship with absolute lunatics.

For Luffy had set his heart on that evil Kraken to pull his ship.

“I have a good idea. Let’s tame him. He can pull our ship!”

Usopp, Chopper and Nami were not for the idea.

Brook just looked at it and thought, “It has not bones. I have bones. We’re opposites, ehehehehehe...”

Robin sketched the tentacled abomination. Franky complimented her drawing.

Zoro said he didn’t mind helping Luffy, as long as he had a plan.

“Yes,” Luffy said. “I have one. But our problems is that we’re in the sea.” (lol)

For a horrible moment, I thought something bad might happen to Mohmoo. But no. Everything was fine. Well, for Mohmoo and everyone on Sunny. The Kraken popped the Caribou pirates’ bubble and wrecked their ship. I was like, damn, those guys are all dead. (And Zoro made his “too soon” jellyfish joke. Mihawk would be proud.)

Luffy decided he would fight the Kraken. Coribou showed them how to use individual bubbles so they could fight outside the one protecting Sunny. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji leapt into the bubbles and the fight was on!

I liked how Oda used Franky (rocket launcher), Chopper (guard point) and Robin (gigantic hands) to protect the Sunny. Oda is good at inventing clever ways to have as many Strawhats participate as possible. (It also shows their teamwork is as solid as ever!)

Wasn’t sure about Luffy and Robin’s DF techniques working underwater, or Sanji moving out of the bubble entirely (mainly because of the extreme pressure. At that depth, they would have been crushed) but Oda’s Universe, Oda’s Rules.

Plus, Zoro got carried away and slashed the Kraken (I wonder how much the bubble restrictions will impact their fighting styles?)

Then a cute little shark wearing a jumper (yes, a jumper) popped out of its severed tentacle, thanked the Strawhats for helping him and swam off.

WTF... XD

Oh, and the ship hit a downward current and all hell broke loose.

You Were Saying...? Part II

Usopp woke up to darkness and freezing cold. Nami, Franky, Robin and Chopper were all awake, fine and still on board. But Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were nowhere to be seen.

Huge fish with glowing eyes stalked the Abyssal waters. Searching for Luffy, Zoro and Sanji, they encountered huge poisonous jellyfish, carnivorous tubeworms, faceless crabs, huge blob fish, dodged undersea volcano vents (Oda has done his research!) and were almost munched by a massive angler fish.

Then, as if cute a shark wearing a jumper wasn’t weird enough, a Sea Bonze (?) which is a deep sea monster that looks like a man, bopped the angler on the head and told it off!

“Ankoro! How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t eat ships! Captain won’t be happy.”

Then an ominous, shadowy wreck sailed towards the Strawhats. Holy crap, I thought, that’s the Flying Dutchman. (I remember reading about that when I was a kid. The ghost ship doomed to sail forever and never make it to port). Then there was a teaser of an oddly familiar fanged face.

That isn’t Arlong, is it?

“What’s wrong? Snake? SNAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!”

#one piece #neverwatchedonepiece #nwop #never watched one piece #monkey d. luffy #roronoa zoro #sanji #usopp #nami #tony tony chopper #nico robin #franky #silvers rayleigh #dark king rayleigh #shakky #gol d. roger

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shawol9196 · 7 years ago

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Nature Spirits AU -- First meetings

🌊jinki finds Minho’s island first (on accident) they’re both surprised af but bond quickly (because Minho’s always down for making friends) 🌊when he can, Jinki likes to send/bring lil treasures and friends to Min. If it’s small and floats well, he’ll send it on a wave for Minho to find on the beach; otherwise, he’ll bring it over when he remembers. 🌊“at war” over the beach...aka Jinki sends waves as far as he can onto shore (well, without killing Minho’s garden) and minho tries to send roots out as far into the seafloor as he can reach 🌊Jinki keeps trying to bring Minho ocean plants so that he can “learn” how to be one so they can go on ocean adventures, but they’ve only succeeded once (he’s really good at growing kelp tho)

(Fic under cut)

Jinki was worn out. He’d been travelling for 2 weeks straight, trying to find shortcuts between different pieces of land. In order to save energy he’d been in his water form the whole time, so he was more than ready to sit on some island and feel the sun on his skin. As he swam along, he came across an island he hadn’t encountered before. It seemed sturdy enough from under the water. Poking his head out of the water, it looked small enough to be uninhabited. There was a single mangrove tree on the beach, with tons of stringy roots going out into the water. Further up the beach was what seemed like a tiny jungle-like area. I bet I can use that tree to help myself out of the water he thought as he swam closer. Though he could easily switch between human and water form, it wasn’t always easy to get used to the pressure difference. As he got closer he started to change form, starting at his head. He had reached the tree by the time he got to the tree, so he reached out to grab a hold while he waited for his legs. Out of all the things he was expecting for this island, a screaming tree was not one of them. He let go in surprise, putting all his effort into finishing changing as quickly as possible.

“It’s not very nice to try and pull someone’s leg off you know!”

Jinki opened his eyes. The tree he’d been holding onto was gone and in its place sat a boy that looked about the same age as himself, eyes wide with fear.

“Oh I’m so sorry! You see, I thought I was grabbing a tree” Jinki replied..

The boy laughed. “You did grab a tree.”

Now Jinki was confused. He began looking around for the tree.

“I can turn into a tree. I was sitting out here to rest and thought it’d be nice to stretch out in the sun,” the boy explained as he moved nearer to Jinki. “Normally I have a still and quiet disposition as a tree but you yanked my root a little too hard.”

“You can turn into a tree??? How did you even figure that out? For that matter, how did you get to this island?”

“Yes, I can’t remember, and I don’t know. All I know is my name is Minho and I can grow and turn into plants.”

As if to prove to Jinki that this wasn’t some sort of hoax, Minho touched the ground between them; as he brought his hand up, a small water lily sprang up. He brought his hand closer to Jinki. His fingers stretched out into thin branches, little leaves growing at the ends. He sat still and laughed quietly when Jinki grabbed his hand to check if it was a magic trick. Jinki had spent many many years at sea and seen many things, but nothing quite as interesting as this. “Wow, Minho. That’s really something.” he said after a while.

“So now that you know about me, who are you? How did you get to my island? I don’t see a boat or anything,” Minho asked, hands returning to normal.

“Oh, I’m Jinki. I’m a water spirit.”

Minho looked confused. Jinki stood, putting a hand out in front of him. As he brought it back towards himself, a wave started to form. It crashed on the beach a little larger than intended, soaking both boys. He looked down at Minho; the boy’s eyes were even bigger than before as he stared out at the water.

“Wow, Jinki. That’s so cool,” he whispered.

Jinki laughed, then turned around to look at the rest of the island behind them.

“So is it just you here?” he asked.

“Yeah. There was someone else a long time ago but they left and now it’s just me,” Minho replied, still staring at the sea. He stood up suddenly, turning to Jinki. “Do you want to see my garden? No one’s seen it before!”

#nsau #nsau writing #minho #onew #onho #ot5

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futureshawolhearts · 7 years ago

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Nature Spirits AU -- First meetings

(Onho / 2min / Minkey / Jongho)

(Fic under cut)

“It’s not very nice to try and pull someone’s leg off you know!”

Jinki opened his eyes. The tree he’d been holding onto was gone and in its place sat a boy that looked about the same age as himself, eyes wide with fear.

“Oh I’m so sorry! You see, I thought I was grabbing a tree” Jinki replied..

The boy laughed. “You did grab a tree.”

Now Jinki was confused. He began looking around for the tree.

“You can turn into a tree??? How did you even figure that out? For that matter, how did you get to this island?”

“Yes, I can’t remember, and I don’t know. All I know is my name is Minho and I can grow and turn into plants.”

“So now that you know about me, who are you? How did you get to my island? I don’t see a boat or anything,” Minho asked, hands returning to normal.

“Oh, I’m Jinki. I’m a water spirit.”

“Wow, Jinki. That’s so cool,” he whispered.

Jinki laughed, then turned around to look at the rest of the island behind them.

“So is it just you here?” he asked.

#i know it ends kind of Abrupt but #theres more to come ok #onho #fic rec #nature au #onho aesthetic #shinee aesthetic #mari writes apparently writes things #mari made a post

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ourenvironmentourhealth · 7 years ago

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Sustainability Word Of The Day -- Sustainable Tourism

As summer is quickly coming to a close, it is time to squeeze in some last minute vacations and soak up as much sun as you can before the brutally cold New England winter sets in! There is no better feeling than shutting down your laptop, packing up your bags and transitioning from work mode to vacation mode. Going on a quality vacation and taking the time to unwind and relax is crucial for our health and wellness. The workplace benefits that result from vacation time include; higher productivity, stronger workplace morale, and so many other positive benefits. So, if you haven't taken some time off yet this summer, now is your chance! So… what will your vacation look like? Are you going to fly off to some remote island and stay at a luxury resort, maybe you will book a trip to visit ancient ruins, go on a hiking excursion, or maybe you will board an enormous cruise ship and sail through the ocean for a week or so… The options are endless!

But… Have you ever stopped to think about what side-effects these travels may have? Or how your relaxing vacation may not be so relaxing for our environment and the local culture and economy of your destination?

Tourism is a HUGE industry, and it is only getting bigger. Although there are many positive results from the booming industry, for example, the amount of jobs it creates (one out of every nine jobs in the United States depend on travel and tourism). But there are imperfections! The main issue of concern is that as more countries develop their own tourism industry, the more it will create harmful impacts on our natural resources, consumption patterns, increase in pollution, and put more pressure on social systems. Right now, the tourism industry is not able to sustain itself… So what can be done change this for the better?

Sustainable Tourism:

Tourism that meets the needs to present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing opportunity for the future. Rather than being a type of product, it is an ethos that underpins all tourism activities. - The United Nations World Tourism Organization (WTO)

To help combat the negative effects of tourism, there has been a dramatic increase in something called Sustainable Tourism. The definition above is from the United Nations World Tourism Organization. They continued to explain that sustainable tourism is, "integral to all aspects of tourism development and management rather than being an add-on component. The objective of sustainable tourism is to retain the economic and social advantages of tourism development while reducing or mitigating any undesirable impacts on the natural, historic, cultural, or social environment. This is achieved by balancing the needs of tourists with those of the destination".

In my mind, those last two sentences really sum up the true essence of sustainable tourism! This broad definition is not just referring to the natural environment… It is opening the window of protection to the communities and cultures that are affected by the tourism industry. Think about all of those huge resorts that bought up beach front property in the many islands around the world. A majority of those resorts are not owned by native people. They are outside corporations coming in and setting up shop in small, and usually poorer, countries. So what does this mean? Well, most of that money does not stay in that country. Or what about the sight-seeing tours that over-use the natural landscape, causing extreme deterioration to the eco-system? To partake in sustainable tourism, you aim to go to local businesses and help spark the economy at that specific destination, and respectfully enjoying the environment while protecting and preserving it.

I had the wonderful chance to go on a trip that was dedicated to Sustainable Tourism! I went to Costa Rica (which is like the HUB for sustainable tourism, eco-tourism, adventure tourism, and all the other new innovative ways to travel). My time in Costa Rica was dedicated to learning from local businesses and organizations and what efforts they are doing to practice eco-friendly tourism within the country. I felt that this experience was extremely impactful because it vacations are typically dedicated to your relaxation and your personal enjoyment, but when you immerse yourself within the local communities you learn about the damages that they face as a result. I made it a point to ask them for their honest thoughts and what changes they have seen and experienced directly from the tourism industry. I wanted to share one particular conversation… While in the Osa Peninsula, we (the class I went with) took a kayaking trip through one of the pristine mangrove forests along the coast. Our tour guides were a father and son duo who were both born and raised right there in the local town. During the trip through the forest, I purposely slowed down and let my classmate paddle ahead of me, so I could enjoy the quiet and let the beauty of the forest surround me. During this time the tour guide (the father) seemed to be doing the same thing! It was clear that this was his favorite thing to do, watching him paddle through the dense roots of the mangroves it looked like it was as easy as walking for him. After a few moments of silence, I began to ask him about his childhood and what this landscape meant for him. His eyes lit as he told me all about the mangroves and spending time in the gorgeous places throughout Costa Rica! His deep connection and appreciation of the land were undeniable. I then began to ask him what changes he saw throughout his life. His tone changed as he told me about the loss of natural resources and the lack of respect people had for nature. He almost seemed defeated by and sadly accepting of the ecological changes that took place. He explained that new efforts were underway to help restore the land, but I got the feeling that things would never be how they once were. As we were talking we heard a motorboat blaring music speed by off in the distance, disrupting the fragile ecosystem and the animals that live within it. He explained that too many people try and take what they want from nature, and it just can't keep up. This conversation always stuck up to me because it was different than the typical interaction you may have with tour guides. Instead of rattle off all the great and interesting facts about the land, he shared with me the more personal connections he had with the land. Being out in the mangroves wasn’t a job for him… it was his life. He built his career around the places he loved, and ensured that his practices would help the land and not hurt it. The tours him and his son gave we focused on education, respect, and appreciation of the environment. They wanted to provide a safe and respectful way to let tourists enjoy the mangrove forests!

This gentleman was just one of the business owners I interacted with during my time in Costa Rica. This experience in Costa Rica exposed me to the many ways you can part-take in sustainable tourism, but more importantly, it let me have these conversations with men and women who see the negative effects of tourism. It was amazing to get to see and experience the new ways they try and approach tourism. If you are not careful, tourism can easily damage the natural landscape (litter, erosion, disturbance, etc.), pollution can skyrocket, local economy can change with the influence of tourists (everyday goods can become too expensive for locals), and the tourism jobs tend to be seasonal, low paying, and long hours! But by being mindful on how you travel, you can easily avoid the negative effects of tourism! Here are ideas/tips on who you can make your vacations sustainable

· Educate yourself on the places you are visiting and the people who live there

· Respect and honor cultural traditions

· Support the local economy (local, small-scale hotels, restaurants, and attractions)

· Support companies/organizations with strong environmental policies

· Fly less or offset your carbon emissions for the flight

· Incorporate educations on local culture and environment

· Interact with the local community

· Travel during off-season to prevent an overpopulation of tourists

· Be a TRAVELER, not a TOURIST

· Give back

I hope some of this information could give you a fresh look on tourism, and maybe some new ideas for how you want to take your next vacation! To be a responsible traveler you want to understand how your vacations and trips will impact the greater area and make sure the only footprints you are leaving are the ones on the sand!

Useful links --

http://sustainabletourism.net/sustainable-tourism/travel-tips-responsible-travel-tips/

http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/faqs/difference-between-eco-tourism-green-sustainable-travel

http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/students/ourchallenges/tourism/impactsoftourism

https://greenglobaltravel.com/what-is-ecotourism-10-simple-steps-to-more-sustainable-travel/

Pictures from my trip!

Kayaking through the Mangrove Forest off of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica

Rainbow over the mountains in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Me (in my cool garbage bag poncho) at the Monteverde Cloud Forest

Summer 2017 Sustainability Series written by Emily Ross

#sustainable tourism #sustainability #costa rica #mindful travel #positive development #ecotourism

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 7 years ago

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The Fishbone and The Firelily (Part 2)

My computer got a virus so I typed this via phone and edited it on here in the text post section. Because of this the formatting might be odd and I don’t have a word count. So apologies if this one is shorter or just not up to par with the first chapter.

He saw a blur of trees and a scalding ray of light.

“Aang? Aang?” It sounded muffled and distant. Something intangible came after that.

He blinked twice little sparkles danced across his vision before growing into large sunspots. The voice came again, and he felt his body jerk twice. Black blotches rose into the corners of his field of vision. “Katara,” he tried to mumble, though it sounded more like ‘guahara’. His mouth felt puffy and tingly. The black blotches spanned out until there was nothing left of the blurred trees. Only a small bead of light pierced through the splotches, he tried with all of his energy to hold onto it. But it was getting further, or maybe he was falling backwards.

.oOo.

"He's not good condition." The healer confirmed." The arrow was laced. Blackthorn and white jade bush, the combination is lethal, and with a touch of shredded leechy leaves is very slow acting. It can take months before he finally succumbs. Whoever did this wanted to prolong his suffering." He examined the arrow tip once again. "My word! Whoever did this must absolutely loath the child. See those black flecks?"

Katara peered over the man's shoulder and observed the liquid dripping from the arrowhead. At first all she saw was a slick shimmery sea green with a swirl of lavender and then she squinted. She saw it then, small, almost undetectable flakes of black. Like tiny onyx shavings that seemed to sap away all light around them. Katara had to confess the poison was darkly mesmerizing, if she didn't know any better she would have drank it under the impression that it would taste as lovely as it appeared.

"What is it?” Sokka asked before she could. She hadn't realized that he'd come to stand right beside her.

"Demon blood." The replies grimly. "As dangerous to the body and soul as it is alluring to the eye."

"So how do we help him?" Katara asked.

"Maybe we can go get some more water from the Spirit Oasis." Toph suggested.

"It takes more than that to combat demon blood. What you need to do is seek out the heart pool." The healer instructed.

"The heart pool?" Sokka asked.

"They say it's somewhere near Hira’a. In a place heavy with spirit energy." The healer replied. “According to the locals it gives life to the town. It’s the source of most spirit activity in the Fire Nation.”

“Okay but where is it in Hira’a?” Toph asked.

“Near Hira’a.” He corrected. “To be frank, I'm not even sure that such a thing truly exists. I’ve sought the heart pool out for some time now and have found no such thing."

Katara squeezed Aang’s hand “If there’s even a chance to help him, we have to do it.”

“I would imagine that you do. The world without an Avatar isn’t a promising world.” The healer agreed. He rummaged through a few shelves, knocking over empty vials, books, and other trinkets. He ignored the clatter of a crystal at his feet. At last he came upon a stack tattered pages. “Here is a list of all of the places I’ve explored. These are locations you can bypass, they have nothing of use. The last few pages are maps.”

“Looks like we're due for another trip to the Forgetful Valley.” Sokka said after skimming the list. Katara could hear in his tone that he was less than thrilled.

Toph on the other hand seemed pretty enthusiastic. “Neat, I’ve been wanting to visit these faces you’ve been telling me about.”

“You think Zuko is up for another trip?” Suki finally spoke.

“I think that Zuko has a lot of Fire Lordly business to take care of. We’re on our own this time.” Sokka replied.

Katara held Aang close, leaning his head against her neck. She could hear his breaths coming out steady and calm, having yet to be burdened by the poison coursing through his veins. She hoped with everything she had that they would find this heart pool before his breaths had a chance to become labored.

.oOo.

Getting from the Capital to Hira’a in itself had been a task, one that ate away at the precious time Aang didn’t have. Despite protest from Sokka, Aang opted to give Appa a break from flying and left him in the care of TyLee and the other Kyoshi Warriors, leaving them a bison short. Naturally, Sokka made sure to remind everyone that he told them to bring Appa along, to the point where even Suki was urging him to be silent.

It was three days to acquire a ship and another two to arrive in Hira’a’s port. Katara marked each one off on her calendar, feeling hear heart crumbling further with each dash.

“He could be wrong you know, about Aang having a few months.” Suki pointed out.

Still clinging to the remnants of their last argument Sokka asked, “was that supposed to be reassuring?”

“Of course it was.” Suki snapped back. “I meant that Aang could have more time than we think.”

He could have ended it there, but his worry over Aang and the stress of travel added some fight into his spirit. “Well maybe you should think about how you say things.” Or maybe it was the knowledge that he and Suki very well could have been on their way to Ember Island for a much needed vacation, but instead they found themselves in another life or death situation. No matter how it was, Sokka was feeling entirely agitated. The worst of it, he couldn’t even begin to come up with a motivation for the attack.

“On the upside, it seems like healer Rozen has covered a lot of ground in the Forgetful Valley already.” Katara noted after ogling the the map for a good while. “But that also means that the Forgetful Valley is a lot bigger then we thought.”

“How much bigger?” Sokka asked.

“Well...” Katara trailed off. She double checked the map. “He covered pretty much the same ground we did when we went. I mean he explored the place a little more, but not much.”

Sokka groaned, with any and all hope of them having come across it without knowing, completely obliterated, he was forced to resign to that he and Suki would have to reschedule their vacation for sure. At this point, Sokka didn’t know if he actually wanted a vacation with her at all. He ran a hand through his hair, what was he saying? Of course he did! He decided that it had to be his anxious mind doing the talking. Still he and Suki didn’t speak for the duration of the day. The only words he uttered, in fact, were a few confirmations when Katara inquired about the map in correspondence to their location.

Another three days, and they were still within familiar territory, relatively speaking. There were a few faces that Sokka recognized on the trees, and the spirit pools where they had met the Mother of Faces.

“This seems like a good place to set up camp for the night.” Suki declared.

“Yeah, Suki’s right, this place is protected too, so we can get a break from worrying about sneak attacks.” Sokka agreed.

“You can get a break.” Toph shrugged. “The rest of us realize that not too many people come here.”

“I think we should keep going.” Katara gave her in put. “Aang’s getting worse and it’s only been little over a week. I think Rozen might have underestimated the poison.”

“He seems like he’s breathing alright.” Sokka pointed out.

“Yes but,” she lifted his shirt some. Beneath the cloth a thick dark patch was forming, raised in some spots like thick veins and spanning out agonizingly slow. Perhaps if it weren’t so dark, he would have been able to see the slight pulsations. “I-I don’t even know what that is. I think it’s the demon blood.”

Sokka’s expression softened. “Alright, if you think it’s best to keep going, we’ll keep going.”

Katara nodded. “Thank you Sokka. I want to get somewhere that isn’t marked on Rozen’s map, at least then it will feel like we’re making progress.” She kissed the avatar’s forehead. “Hang in there, Aang.” She listened for a response, anything to indicate that he could hear her. But his body remained slack and unresponsive.

They were hours deep into night time when they finally reached some uncharted territory. Sokka’s feet were sore and his back was beginning to ache. He was glad for the water he replenished. He took a quick drink and kept moving, his eyelids feeling heavier with each moment.

“Are we ready to call it a night.” Toph yawned.

The group came to a halt by a lake overrun by the most peculiar mangrove tree. Instead of dull tan roots, this tree boasted ones of metallic white. If Sokka stared long enough he could see tiny flashes of purple, that could be mistaken for fireflies if not for their color. They would occasionally blink across the roots and fizzle away.

“Yeah, I guess we can.” Katara answered. Sokka could hear the reluctance in her voice. But seeing the exhaustion in her eyes...he wouldn’t have let her push on even if she begged him to.

“Good night everyone.” Not even bothering to craft herself a tent of stone, Toph practically flung herself to the floor.

Sokka crafted a small fire. Some hours before he had done some hunting and decided to cook the meat before it spoiled. The only one who didn’t accept his cooking was the earthbender who was deep into some dream that sounded rather impressive.

Unlike Toph, Katara didn’t sleep easy. She held Aang as tightly as she could so to feel his heart pounding on hers. No, she couldn’t fall asleep, not when she was so busy monitoring his breathing. She felt as though it would somehow cease if she stopped. She was certain that she was alone in her wakefulness until she heard Sokka rummaging through his pack.

“What are you looking for?” She murmured sleepily.

After giving a small start he answered, “my waterskin.” He found it and brought another splash of cool water into his mouth. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

“If only I could.” She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head on her knees. “Aang would probably give anything to be awake right now. It’s not fair.”

“What isn’t?”

“That we want to sleep while he’s forced to.” Katara replied.

Sokka nodded. “We can’t think like that right now. If we don’t get some sleep, we’ll never be able to help him stop sleeping. Right?”

He made it sound so logical. So simple.”Right...”

And she tried.

Sokka though, he couldn’t seem to take his own advice. It wasn’t just Aang, it was Katara. He hadn’t seen her in such a gloomy state since their father left for the war so long ago. He feared more than anything, what would become of Katara if she lost Aang. In a way she was right; it seemed unfair that Aang could withstand an all out war only to die at the hands of what was probably a stray arrow. But then why was it tinged with poison, he asked himself. It was one fiasco after another. Such was the life of the avatar, he supposed.

He stashed his waterskin away and busied himself with laying out a sleeping bag. If he couldn’t actually get to sleep, he may as well go through the motions. He could still see the embers from his cooking fire glowing. It was almost soothing, hopefully enough to lull him to sleep. But then again, fire was never particularly something that he found comforting.

He gave his sleeping bag another shake, trying to get it to land as flat as possible so he wouldn’t have to do much smoothing himself. From behind, somewhere nearer to the mangroves he heard a soft rustle. In no mood to deal with anymore stress, he chalked it up to the sound of his own sleeping bag. He offered the mangrove tree one quick sideways glance and nothing more. If he let his eyes linger at least a little longer he would have seen her.

#Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Aang #Katara #Kataang #Avatar #Fanfiction

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thaiingtheknot · 7 years ago

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Cat Ong and Cat Ba Islands

(Sorry, this should have come before the last set of photos. Whoops)

In the morning, I forced us to wake up at 5:15 to see the disappointingly nonexistent sunrise over the beach but was rewarded with some neat seashell finds - bivalves and spirals much different from the ones we have at home. Not surprisingly, we were the first to show up at the cottage for breakfast and dined alone on crepes (I might have eaten five...), fruit, eggs, and toast. I should mention that I signed us up to leave the island early for additional hiking on the next island over, but we still had two hours after breakfast to kill and I was determined to do some hiking on this island too. We asked around for the head of the trail but nobody would tell us where it was because it had rained overnight and they wanted us to wait and go with the big group later that day. Now this might come as a big surprise those of you who know me best, but I like to be independent and don't have a lot of tolerance for nonsensical rules or authority, so off we went, me practically dragging Stephen the rule follower, to find the trailhead on our own. We succeeded and were treated to a short but vertical hike/climb up to the top of the island where there were the most beautiful views of the surrounding bay and it's many limestone islands. Did we get wet? Yep. Did we slide down the trail, using the vines as holds on the slippy mud? Yep. Did I slip and turn into a mud monster? Yep. But it was so much fun, there were butterflies everywhere, the views were breathtaking, and I'm super glad we went off and did our own thing after two days of guided group activities.

After ridding ourselves of immense amounts of sweat and mud back at the bungalow, it was time to leave the island and we hopped onto a rowboat that took us to a speed boat that took us to Cat Ba, the biggest island in Ha Long bay, and one that has an economy split between fishing and tourism, as evidenced by all the boats in the harbor and condos on the shore.

We took a bus to Cat Ba National Park, where we spent a few hours hiking through the forest into the mountains up seemingly endless stairs. The hike was beautiful but humid as hell and I have a newfound appreciation for how much a person can sweat. On the way, I was taken aback when I saw a bright red, fairly large crab scoot into a hole among the roots in the middle of the forest! (too quickly to take a photo - here’s the only one I could find on the internet)

Finally we made it to a vista at the top, completely surrounded by rainforest covered mountains and the sound of monkeys howling in the far off hills. Breathtaking. On the way down, we laughed over the not so musical sounds of our guide singing at the top of his lungs to his ipod. The people here seem to like music a lot, playing it at meals "for relaxation" so we were told. At the bottom, we were ready to hop back on the bus but the starter was bad and all the guys on our trek had to get behind it and push it through the flooded parking lot so the driver could pop the clutch. On our drive across the island we passed mangrove trees and herds of goats coming up to the road from the hills until we arrived at our lunch restaurant where we were served another huge family style meal overlooking the green marsh.

After trying and failing to finish all the dishes, we hopped back on the bus (the driver left it running this time), took another ferry back to the dirty port of of Hai Phong, and bussed back to Hanoi, arriving an hour ahead of schedule giving us yet more unexpected time to explore Vietnam's capital city! Stay tuned :)

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alleycat4eva · 8 years ago

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OTRATS Accident

It feels like it has been a lifetime since Naruto originally walked through these swamps.

In reality, it has only been two years since he was brought here by Haku with his team and the Suna trio. It doesn’t sound like long, but for Naruto, two years is ages. So much has happened since then. So much has changed. The world isn’t what it was, and nobody has remained the same. Not even him.

He actually can’t say what the biggest shift was. Maybe it was the official declaration of Grass and Ame as war zones. They were unstable back then, but now the countries are battlefields that threaten to boil over into the surrounding countries of River and Fire. The borders are guarded on all sides by shinobi units from various villages in the hopes of containment, but it doesn’t seem to be stopping much.

Maybe it’s the fact that Team Seven isn’t comprised of Genin anymore, having finally been allowed to take -and having passed- the Chunin exams that cycled through to Suna. The flak vests on their shoulders mean that they are now ready to help man the border themselves and take on the heavier missions, something they all are grateful for in one way or another. To be honest, they were long ago overqualified for it, but after the Chunin Exams in their village and the events that followed, the whole of their team was grounded.

Actually, grounded would be putting it lightly. Team seven was mashed down into a pulp, put on a rigorous training schedule that was nothing short of exhausting. If they weren’t running through tactical exercises with Kakashi-sensei then they were being groomed by any number of people. Naruto knows that he was having trade, treaties, and intel management beaten into him by Ero-sennin right alongside fuuinjutsu and ninjutsu. Meanwhile, Sasuke was pulling double shifts with Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou, and that weird kid named Sai who Naruto -even after all this time- firmly believes grew from a mushroom like a strange, pale little goblin. Sakura…

Well, Sakura became a bit scary. Or scarier, rather.

If she wasn’t training under Tsunade-baa for iryo-jutsu, then she was forcibly wrangled into reading over diplomatic paperwork and running through the histories of trade and treaties with Naruto. If she wasn’t doing that, then she was studying some of the scrolls that Sound had released on scientific breakthroughs. More, she was on the practice fields with any number of people, but mainly Ino. Naruto remembers the days of the academy when he, Sakura, Ino used to go over the latest fashions of the courts and talk village rumors and style. When he got sick and tired of their bickering and had to shoehorn them into training. These days, those two are dragging his tired body out of the sheets before the sun has risen to greet the day with a rousing bit of mental and physical stimulation. Stretching and sparring while shouting questions about any number of things. If one party could not answer correctly, penalties were demanded. It’s a strange, horrible game for them, he thinks. No matter where he tries to hide or run, Ino seems to know one way or another. If she doesn’t know, she found out, and then she’d darting in with Sakura to surprise him or drag Sasuke so they can train against his ariel hawk summons or Sai is there with his ink or Kiba and his dog or Lee or some never-ending stream of people. They grew from it, though. Grew strong and smart enough that they were finally allowed out of the village to prove themselves and search for answers they could not find within its walls. Answers to questions that have eaten at them for years. It’s been two years since he last saw his Fairy-nee, somber-faced as she waved them goodbye from the home she shared. There have been no visits in the night, no home cooked meals, no songs or hugs or I love you’s, and nobody around him is said anything on why. At first, it was nothing new. Ryu-nee would often disappear for weeks. His childhood memories of her are spotted with long absences, something he is still hurt by. Never years, though. Never twenty-four long months of nothing. His sister is missing. She’s disappeared. Every time Naruto asked about her they would change the subject or brush around it, and though their faces would not change he could hear the emptiness where something should have been. A gripe, a complaint, an insult, something. More damningly, every time Misaki-nee would go out and come back, she would smile like she used to for a customer. Kakashi-sensei would leave for missions and come back with a dull, tired look in his visible eye. Even now the gray-haired man slumps as he weaves through the mangroves, jumping root to root like he’s traveled the path so many times he knows where each one already is. There’s a tension in his slumped shoulders, a weariness. And when the red-brown bark and bog water begins to become clearer, and the sound of crashing waves greet Naruto’s ears, tangled growth giving way to shifting sands, Naruto can see why. There before him is the home that his sister once shared with them all, resting where he remembered it would, and it has long since been abandoned. He feels his heart clench in his chest. His eyes prick despite himself because even though he knew, seeing it for real hurts. The team is quiet as they approach, and Naruto wants to shout. To roar, to make any sort of noise because this silence feels less like a shinobi skill and more like a visit to a graveyard. The porch in front is heaped with mounds of sand, the wood splintering and rough from salt, sun, and sea. The big bay window is yellowed and dirty, the front door blocked by a small dune. Even the curtains he can see are faded from exposure, and the side paint is chipped and peeling. Why? Why would they be asked here when it’s obvious no one has come in a long time? Why does it pain him when he knew? He wanted to ask so many things, like why she never told him who she was. Why did she keep so many secrets? Why did she hurt so many people? Ahead of him, Kakashi-sensei signals for a full stop. Naruto wants to ignore it and keep going to check every inch of every room for a clue, even when Ero-sennin flares his chakra in warning. Only when Sasuke slaps his shoulder and pushes a spike of chakra does he understand. It wasn’t a warning from Ero-sennin, but him breaking the Genjutsu that affected him. The image of the ramshackle house melts away as the Genjutsu shatters, and Naruto feels a breath of relief go through him. It hitches, though, when he see the person on the steps. For a second the bun and clothes throw him, but the one standing on the porch is not who he wants them to be. The skin is too pale, the figure too willowy. The hair on their head is to silken and fine, and the face shape is too aristocratic and angled. This is not Ryuishi. At first, he can’t tell who it is. But they smile, ever so genial and composed in a way that somehow simultaneously conveys both displeasure and welcome. “I seem to recall a willingly signed contract stating that this location should not be revealed to any new persons,” greets the beautiful man on the steps, his eyes lingering fractionally lingering on the form of the sannin. “A poor way to repay what was an extension of trust.” “Haku?” Sakura asks. “Is that you?” The smile on the man’s face softens a bit, brows shifting in a way that Naruto painfully recognizes as an expression Ryu-nee used to make. “I could ask the same of you all. I hardly recognize any of you,” he replies gently. “You’ve changed so much.” “Says the one who must have shot up three feet,” Naruto calls back. “What’s with the genjustu, Haku? She called us here, why the illusions?” “Naruto,” Ero-sennin sighs lowly. “Look at the boy’s hairpin.” “Eh? Why would I-” He stops mid-word, doing as told. Even from this distance he can pick out the bone-white of it and the beads that dangle off the end. It’s not his hairpin, it’s hers. His gut sinks into his sandals and he feels cold despite the warm sun. “Where is she?” He demands. “Where is Nee-san?” For an instant, hurt flashes across his feature before Haku wipes it away, smiling ever so soft and ever so cordially. “I was hoping you knew, Sun.”

Okay, so. The truth of the matter is that my original story isn’t doing so hot and so I was trying to alert some of the people on FF that follow Songs Gone Unsung of the new stuff by posting a new omake/extra. Then put something in the authors note, because, you know. Hey. Original stuff.

Only what I ended up writing was a fucking start of a new series during shippuden and that felt douchey and fucked up to post without intent to follow through.

Anyway, looking for ideas for snippets that might answer questions and draw some of the old crowd but until then, have this accidental series starter.

#otrats #Of the River and the Sea #no follow through planned #accident #I am doing badly #thanks for asking

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