#both of my most detested machines in this game in one spot

[hzdtrees]

New growth

[aaluminiumas]

Old Junk

        They didn’t meet often.

        In all honesty, Heisenberg himself didn’t know what he was waiting from those meetings: Julia couldn’t teach him any specific techniques, nor was she able to give him a piece of advice that may come in handy in the future, but somehow her decrepit hut on the outskirts of the village turned into a temporary shelter, a haven where he could conceal himself from Miranda’s omniscient eye and Dimitrescu’s stupid jeers.

        Julia barely spoke; in fact, she preferred to express herself by gestures and smiles as if she were mute. Unlike the secretive Donna, who'd rather stay aside and never mingle with the crowd, this particular woman never failed to be understood – touches and glances helped her reach her goal. Conversations were not her forte, but she didn’t need them anyway: something within her lukewarm brown eyes mildly directed the discussion, and Karl felt at ease. Albeit he rarely warned her about his visits, she seemed to be always waiting for him – and, spotting the familiar bulky figure clad in an old coat, she tended to stare at his swarthy face. Sometimes she brushed her hand across his hand and tenderly dragged him into the room. She beamed, literally. Why did he keep coming anyway?..    

        Heisenberg couldn’t remember where and how exactly they encountered: Julia had appeared in his life long before the factory, and, evidently, owing to her modest taciturnity, this manufacture was finally outlined and constructed. Fed up with Moreau’s mourn wailing, Alcina’s commanding tone, and Angie’s shrills, he set off to the shabby shackle on the riverbank and got down to his drafts. Julia never diverted his attention – she kept knitting, humming an ancient lullaby under her breath while Karl was trying to recall whether he’d heard the melody before. Someone had sung it in the past, but he failed to recollect who exactly did it.  Or maybe it was an illusion, and he’d caught the lyrics just because of the brief visits. Every once in a while he sneaked a look at her askance, from beneath the dark glasses:  gaunt and tiny, she practically dispersed in the ugly fuscous-colored sofa that creaked and squeaked so loudly that drove him crazy in a matter of seconds. Karl had offered to throw this monster away and get a new one, but Julia, laughing quietly, shook her head. She always loved old junk. Old junk like him.  

         Actually, Heisenberg wasn’t prone to nostalgia at all, as his reminiscences had always fallen apart in fragments; however, Julia's visage was printed to the back of his brain. If anything, she became the only person who wasn’t afraid of him. Her surprisingly smooth hands cautiously slid across his scars on the back and the chest, scrutinizing them and lingering on the blemishes that once had been the most painful wounds. She even dared touch his face and carefully took off his glasses. Did she think he wanted to show off and tried to evade her stare?..

        Putting the glasses aside, Julia tenderly took his visage in her hands.

        “I can’t quite grasp the color of your eyes,” she explained with a smile, “they are constantly changing.”

         Her fingertips soared over his nose bridge and flew over to the mark on the cheek, then lingered on the thick lips and softly ambled towards his chin and neck. The odor of car exhaust and cigar smoke didn’t scare her away; she still wanted to stay by his side. Till this very day, he racked his brain about her behavior: did she ever care about her life knowing she was crossing the line?..

        And then – Miranda, of course. A presumptuous witch with a local goddess’s manners. Called on him, invited him to visit her – and for the first time, he was there alone, without that sarcastic super-sized bitch.

        “What?” Heisenberg frivolously leaned over his hammer and lit his cigar. “Problems?”

        “Yes, Heisenberg,” replied Miranda revealing her holier-than-thou attitude, her pale eyes glued to him. “Problems indeed. And one of them is you.”

        The engineer saluted her jocularly.

         “At your disposal! As a matter of fact, I was sure that was the crux of your, ahem, system.” 

         “Don’t be a clown,” she snapped, “You perfectly understand what I am talking about. And you must get rid of her.”

         “What’s the point?” the glasses glimpsed from beneath the hat, his face imperturbable and slightly disinterested. “Lycans are going to take care of it anyway.”

         “Did you hear my order, Heisenberg?” Miranda repeated, completely ignoring his answer. 

         “I did,” he extinguished his cigar. “I’m on it.” 

         Arrogant bitch. He grabbed his hammer and left.

        “Just don’t hurt me too much,” Julia pleaded quietly, “I’m afraid of pain.”

        He couldn’t wrap his head around it. What was it like, to be afraid of pain? His entire like was somehow entangled with it, but he barely remembered those bits; he could count the highlights by the fingers on his one hand. First off, The Cadou, obviously; and the cold caused by the medical instruments – somewhere in the bowels. Then that goddamn steam machine that exploded in his hands. Thanks to it, his hands are now covered in scars. Details that flew off under pressure, a broken cyborg – something had almost blinded him, but luckily, all went well: the

only repercussion that remained was that his eyes were sore when the light was too bright.

         He killed her that night. Well, he didn’t like that – unlike the atrocious, brutal Dimitrescu, Karl didn’t see any point in regular, commonplace slaughter. Of course, he had little patience with intruders and those who got in his way, but the majority of the villagers rarely ventured to stick their noses outside, let alone confronting any of the lords. But Mirada obviously, hated this non-committal relationship of his: her “children” belonged solely to her. They must guard her and her interests. Advocate her. No one had the right to compete with her or to rebel against her. And Heisenberg, who had managed to avoid her omniscient eye, did fall into the category of the mutineers, even though he initially denied the mere idea of revolution. She loathed his independence and free will, she detested his attempt to break away from the others, and she showed her teeth, thus involuntarily revealing her intentions.

         Heisenberg gave his workshop an apathetic look, then glanced at his contorted reflection. Grinning to his doppelganger in the old sooty mirror, the engineer fished a cigar out of his pocket, fumbled with it, and lit the tip. The gloves and the coat were saturated with odors of oil and tobacco – that must be the reason why both the witches, Miranda and Dimitrescu, sniffed at his sight. Prigs. Useless creatures ready to slit anyone’s throat for power, butchering those who dared impinge upon what never truly belonged to them. He did not belong to them; but Miranda, that crazy bitch concerned about her own safety, held a different view and amplified her positions. Julia’s death – or Dimitrescu’s so-called daughters', – did not mean anything to her. In the former case, she found a quiet insurgent in those short meetings: they undermined her authority and monopoly over her ‘son’. As for the latter… she simply didn’t give a shit. Winters’ intrusion may have ruined her entire game, but his resolute resistance and Bela, Daniela, and Cassandra’s murder just proved his abilities and evinced his fighting qualities. He was a rival to be cautious about. Alcina’s feelings were never a thing to her.

         Go to hell, he thought. Instead of dealing with the problems on her own, Miranda keeps them on a tight leash impelling to clean things up after her. The villagers believed in her piety while their reputations got distorted and finally sullied. In the end, they were demonized to the extent that only the Duke dared speak to them. Well, there’s nothing to complain about, though: his cigars significantly dropped in price.

        Heisenberg leaned back in his chair and smirked under his breath. We’ll see what’s next. Not all his drafts had disappeared – the abysmal factory preserved a variety of secrets that would eventually help him overthrow this viper. Just you wait – and the decision will come by itself. Every minute counts: Ethan Winters has already got disposed of Donna and Moreau.

[lokispettigerr]

In The Flesh (Part 2): Darkest Depths- Loki x OFC

Word Count: 2,825

Timeline: The Avengers movie

POV: Original Female Character- First Person POV

Fic Summary: The OFC that Loki dreamt of in Part one is confined within S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters because Nick Fury wants to use her and her abilities. While in her prison cell, she receives a dream from the Tesseract about Loki. The Tesseract (represented by a serpent) implores her to find Loki, because he is the only one that can help her.

Warnings: Angst, Violence, Blood, Self-harm

A/N: Loki’s POV pops back up later. Please note OFC has a number for a name because I suck at name creation... It will happen later. I really hope you all enjoy this. 

Taglist: @njavezan @arttasticgreatnessoftheawesome77

I could feel a cold gaze penetrating the glass walls of my cage, and I shielded my eyes with my scarred and bloodied arm to see through the harsh buzzing lights to out beyond my confinement.

I knew who was there, but out of hope or habit I looked anyway.

His voice interrupted my thoughts, “Have you given anymore thought to my offer #140278, and your return to freedom” Nick Fury asked.

I am a number here, #140278. I have no name here, and I don’t mind. In truth, I prefer it.

“And what is ‘your offer’, exactly?” I asked. “You haven’t given me a straight answer, or perhaps you want more than you are able to say…” I said with a smirk, licking my lips.

Fury. It was always him, and no one else. I had grown tired of his greed, and bored with his empty visits. I needed something exciting, and a game of cat and mouse would do the trick. Except who ever heard of a cat in a cage? I leapt up, the chains that bound me rattling. I stood, stretching, my long hair the only thing that covered my naked body and began stalking towards him, my bare feet gliding over the cold floor.

My gaze locked with his, “World peace, Fury? A team that assembles whenever you pucker your lips together to sound a whistle without them ever even asking for a bone?” I purred.

My eyes sized him up, and I tilted my head to the side, a smile playing on my lips “But no, that isn’t what you want. Is it?” I continued faster now, “That’s what you tell people you want because you know that’s what they want to hear.” I took a finger and gestured at him, “What you want is a weapon Fury. A war machine that instills fear and loyalty in the hearts of men, giving you all the power.” I continued, “A weapon that—“ I paused searching his face for the answer, “listens to you.” I chuckled. “What kind of weapon would it be then?”

Fury didn’t say a word, he stared at me, unblinking. “What is it Fury?” I asked, “Cat got your tongue?”.

“You know very well how this will end Fury. I will never be free. I have never been free.” I was now standing directly in front of him, the glass the only thing that separated us.

He sighed, “You’re right, witch, if that is even what you are”, he spat, “more like beast, monster. You have continued to disappoint me. You could be so much more.” He shook his head and turned on his heel, his trench coat tails catching the air as he turned to walk away.

“Until next time then #140278” he called over his shoulder, his voice fading as he continued down the hallway and out of the room.

When he was gone I shrank back down exhausted from the encounter, and my present circumstances.

I continued to stand there, thinking. It didn’t matter what I wanted. I should be here; locked away for all eternity to pay for my crimes. His treatment of me did not matter, or how I felt about this place. I deserved all of this, I deserved even less after everything that I had done.

I stuck out my index finger, and brought it down quickly striking the soft flesh of my forearm with enough force for the skin to tear. It left a red, weeping tear there, and I let out a hiss through my parted, red lips, my eyes shutting, rolling back. The sudden sting from the wound sent ripples of ecstasy rolling through my body. I threw my head back exposing my neck, a smile whispering on my lips, pride washing over me. I deserved that too. I wanted the outside of me to mirror what was under the surface.  

I backed away from where I stood at the front of my cage to return to my corner, and slid down the wall. My hair fanning out behind me.

My blood trickled down my arm, to pool down around me, and I smiled.

Everything was quiet again. My mind slowed and I began to dream—something that I lived for in my confinement. It was my only reprieve, and the only way the world would to remain safe while I walked it.

There was a snake, a giant serpent, larger than me. Her scales had an unusual, unnatural color—ice blue, with a ghastly glow. She looked like some magical, otherworldly, age-old stone—something timeless. The serpent’s body had a shine to it from the sunlight pouring down, and its voice was an odd rasp; somehow I could understand what it was saying. Rather than understanding with my ears, I understood with my mind. The giantess’ body was surrounding me, circling me all the while impeding any movement. Even as this serpent trapped me, blocked me, I wasn’t afraid. She was a queen, something terrifying yet beautiful to behold. And her raspy voice whispered in my mind, her voice tendrils stroking me.

“She sees you are having a hard time child, and she knows the way” she blinked at me, willing me to understand. She began to move then, her coils turning around and around me, making me dizzy.

“There he is to help you. She knows Loki. She knows him to help. Loki desires you—to help you, child” she climbed her own coils, her face coming closer to me, reaching my eye-level. I could see the iced sapphires she had for eyes. Her pupils were not elliptical like most venomous serpents, not even round like their non-venomous counterparts. No, they were shaped like a cube—an ice blue cube in a sea of sapphire. This was something both perplexing and disturbing to me.

“You want to live child”, she stated. She must know something that I do not.  “If you want, you go to the water edge and find him. Loki waits, child.” She said this moving her head to the side looking into my eyes with one of hers to see if I was understanding her.

“You need him, and you must child, if you desire” … she paused, “to live.” Her eyes blinked at me.

The serpent closed her eyes then as if she was listening to someone. While she looked with her eyes closed, I studied my surroundings. The sun heated my skin and poured into my eyes where I had to squint to make anything out. While the space surrounding me was fairly open, there were pines, giant, towering pines here and there. They threw shade around, swaying in a breeze. Surrounding the grassy land that I was on was a cool, sandy bank—the only thing cool to the touch, but at the same time cooling the air. There was a murky, dark river or lake surrounding the land, swallowing us.

“She hears he likes the shade, for now.” The serpent spoke again, blinking, intrigued by me, almost scrutinizing why she was having to share this information with me.

“You want to live child” she nods, almost like she knows my answer would be yes—she doesn’t expect an answer, that much is clear. “Go”, she urged, forceful now. “She sees. Find Loki in the shade at the water” She continued, “He goes by many names, titles, but for now he is Loki, he has been waiting… for you”.

“Do not give up… child”. To this I wasn’t sure what she was saying. Was she telling me to not give up on searching for him—whoever he was? Was she telling me, perhaps, to not give up on my life. Suddenly, I could feel the tendrils on my mind let go. She reared her head back away from me turning, uncoiling herself from around me.  The only sign of her left was her otherworldly blue glow, which soon faded from my view.

I took my first step; to what I knew not. The tall grass allowed me to continue on, engulfing my feet and legs not wanting me to turn back. Everything there was urging me on, who knows what they would do if I turned back.

At the water’s edge I used a tall pine next to me as an anchor, partly because the footing at the water’s edge was slippery. In truth, I needed something to steady me because I was deathly afraid of open bodies of water after being nearly drowned as a child at the hands of a caregiver.

I slowly picked my way closer, going deeper into the shade at the water’s edge, looking for the man the stone-serpent sent me to find. The water was dark and murky. There was no sign anywhere of Loki. I began to wonder if he had grown tired of waiting for me, and had decided to go for a swim. I stood up on my tiptoes scanning the water, detesting even the idea of wading out into the mysterious, dark depths of the river. Finally, I spotted someone a few yards out. A head popped up out of the water. He moved towards me, but at a slow pace, letting the small current of the river push him to me. I was growing impatient. I parted my lips to shout out to him when I noticed that there was something peculiar about the head bobbing over towards me. The head was the color of the mud beneath my feet, and was turned at an odd angle, I looked past it, scanning the rest of the water. The head out in the distance was not alone. My back went rigid, and chill bumps spread along my spine. It occurred to me then, the head coming towards me was not Loki—it belonged to a corpse, one among many.  

My eyes grew wide, and I backed away from the water, my back hitting the pine tree behind me, a let out a squeal. ‘Only a dream, nothing more’, I thought to myself. I pushed off from the tree with the heel of my hand, biting my lip and shaking my head, hoping the image of the corpses would soon stop haunting me.

I continued checking each shady spot at the river as the Serpent had ordered. Each time I searched and waited for the man the stone-serpent told me about, with no luck. The more I searched, the more I was certain that Loki was at the first place I went to—the darkest depths of the river that was filled with death…

My eyes snapped open, my pupils growing smaller against the overly-bright lights. I ruminated on my dream, the stone serpent, the corpses, and Loki—Loki most of all. If he was at the water where the corpses had been, what did that mean for me?

I wondered then just how badly I “wanted” to live, and drifted back off into a restless sleep.

I awoke to the sound of footsteps approaching, more than one set. My eyelids snapped open and I rolled over, moving into a low crouch position.

“Knock, knock”, Fury’s voice called out as he approached my cage. “Seeing as you like to play games, and seeing as you are non-compliant I thought you might enjoy a play-mate.” He gestured to a large brute next to him.

“Richard here, is going to take good care of you #140278, and make you nice and comfortable in your new home”. I glanced at Richard, and he smiled at me, cracking his knuckles. I did not take this as a good sign.

While I wondered what game Fury was playing at, he continued, “I don’t have any use for you in your current mental state, so I gathered a team of masters to create a gas that will come into your humble abode through those vents there”, he pointed, “and there as well”.

I looked up towards where he gestured at the ceiling at two sets of vents on each side of my cage.

“This gas should weaken you enough for Richard here to do what needs to be done” he rubbed his hands together.

“Any questions?” he asked, only pausing for a moment before continuing, “No?” He clapped his hands together then, “Good, well Richard,” he looked at Richard made a sweeping motions towards me, as if handing over a one trick pony, “#140278 is all yours”.

Fury bowed, the grin never leaving his lips, he turned and began to walk away, and I spoke out, my voice ringing in the glass confines of my cage.

I stood quickly. “You think you can hurt me Fury?” I called after him. He continued walking, without acknowledging that he heard me. I raised my voice “This is nothing I haven’t already been through before!” I finished my jaw clenching, my eyes burning with hatred and unshed tears.

Fury waved his hand at me as, batting away my words—like he was hushing a child throwing a tantrum. His footsteps echoed as he retreated.

A loud beep rang out and the vents began to hiss and spit their toxins. It was no use trying to hold my breath so I stood there, in the corner, the walls to my cage the only protection I had.

Within moments my head was swimming and my vision began to blur, I swayed and placed my slender hand on the cool glass to steady myself.

I looked for Richard, hoping to judge his reaction to see if I was responding the way he expected me to with the gas pouring into my confines. Richard approached the door of my cage and strapped on a gas mask, his arms going behind his head to tighten it. The door slid open and the chemical mist from the vents spilled out into the hallway.

Richard began stalking towards my corner and I stood, blood rushing to my head, my chains rattling and rubbing loosely at my ankles.

Richard never said a word, but as he got closer his hand shot out and grabbed my hair. I tried to move away from his grasp, but the gas had slowed me tremendously. He swept me off my feet, and I immediately tried to tap my rage, my power, but nothing happened. He should be screaming by now, falling to the floor, curling up begging for his mother or for it to stop, crying out to his “God”. I got no such response, and felt only my own pain.

He dragged me to the center of the cage, while I was kicking and trying desperately to loosen his grip on me. Everything was futile. His boot met with my skull and I stopped momentarily as everything went black. “Ppu—Please” I mouthed, tasting blood on my lips. In response to my plea, he gave a sharp yank to my head. I began to scramble trying to get up to fight him or stop him, but he threw me across the room. I slid across the floor only to be drug back again to the center by my chains. As I reached the center he knelt down to where I was on the floor and straddled me, he began to hit me then, beating my face from one side to the other as my legs continued kicking and my hands clawed at him.

He paused, and my eyes shot towards his face, expecting another hit to slam into my jaw, but instead he was wiping blood from his nose. It was just a few drops at first, but the more pain I experienced the more profuse his bleeding became.

Richard’s enthusiasm outweighed his fear or concern for his own safety, and he continued, his blood spilling and mixing with my own.

He struck me with less force now, and my head slammed to the side again. There, in the hallway outside of my cage I saw a man. He was dressed in a brown and green leather suit with a long green cloak, fastened to his shirt by two metal clasps. He had shoulder length, inky, black hair. He was surrounded by several guards of S.H.I.E.L.D., I imagined they were the same guards that brought me here. He spotted me and stopped abruptly, his body tightening, and his green eyes darkening as if a thunder cloud had moved overhead. My view at the stranger was broken when Richard struck my head again. I spit blood and turned my head quickly to catch another glimpse of the stranger. He was continuing down the hallway, his back to me. He never once looked back in my direction, but I could feel something settle on my mind. A comforting caress mingled with pure rage and despair. I held onto it, until I lost consciousness. One thought came to my mind before, one word escaped my bloodied lips, in a raspy whisper, “Loki”.

   ****If you would like to be on the general taglist OR the taglist for this fic please leave me an ask in my ask box. I will make it happen and would be happy to do it! You all make me so very happy! If you enjoyed this, please comment, like, and/or reblog. I love hearing from my readers and LOVE reblogs because it helps me out so much! Thanks friends. Until next time!

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Peace,

Loki’s Pet Tiger

[jayhe]

Post Visit Evaluation and Analysis

Before visiting Beihai Park, I was pretty enthusiastic about the trip, since I wanted to see the cultural and historic buildings and structures of China, which were pretty hard to find elsewhere. Moreover, one of the key concepts that I had before the trip to Beihai Park was that the Park would be a peaceful place, and visitors would be calm after visiting the destination. Furthermore, before the trip, I was also speculating that there would be a food extravaganza at Beihai Park. Overall, my expectation associated with the Beihai Park was wholesome as I thought the place would be fun, exciting, and a pretty healthy natural environment and my perceptions regarding the people were that hosts would be welcoming and the fellow tourist would be joyful, and happy.

Moreover, another crucial aspect of our visit was the online experience that convinced us to visit the place. Firstly, talking about the details, information and data available on the park, it can be identified that there was sizeable information regarding the Beihai Park on several different online websites. Moreover, the information was rich and detailed which helped in planning which was suitable for us. Secondly, the website of Beihai Park was also well developed, designed with rich information regarding several different buildings, and structures inside the park, which allowed the visitors to understand the core message, history, and concepts behind each one of them and identify which are the most crucial for a visitor. However, a downside was that the information regarding customer services was not quite adequate, although, the information regarding different services was available in abundance, the quality and management of these services was not discussed which left me and maybe many other visitors in doubt.

A major flaw was that there were many private trip advisors and agencies, which provided these details, which cannot be completely trusted, because the sources were private and they have interests in our trip, which can be a reason behind manipulated and false information regarding customer services to attract customers. From an online search, it was pretty evident that the hosts to the visitors, which include the local community around the Beihai Park were welcoming to the visitors as they embraced foreign people coming and getting close to their culture. It was also clear that the local community stood against any kind of discrimination, which we observed during our trip as none of us became a victim of religious, ethnic, or gender discrimination etc. Moreover, I observed that if any kind of discrimination is shown from the foreigners the local community detested that act and tried to stand up for the victim. From the latest studies, it can be identified that the Chinese government is putting a lot of emphasis on the tourism and development section of the country. I observed that tourism and development strategies used by the Chinese government for attracting more tourists. For example, in 2000, Beijing gained many foreign investments and the numbers increased to around 80 per cent from the previous year. The foreign brands and different local developments in transport and accommodation were some of the most crucial factors that attracted me as these brands, and facilities were pretty helpful for me during my tour and according to my observation, many tourists felt the same.

Based on personal experience, organisations operating in the Beihai Park can initiate events at the park to attract a larger crowd. These events can mostly be related to the historic and cultural aspects of Chinese culture. However, in Beihai Park, no organisation organises any event and I witnessed it. This indicates that organising events is not one of the primary strategies of Beihai Park, which is a shame because if there would be events organised in the Beihai Park the, number of visitors would significantly increase; thereby increasing the sales and profits of the Park. It can be argued that the destinations are a good place for corporate meetings, and incentive travelling. Although there are no exclusive facilities provided for these kinds of meetings, yet the standards facilities provided are enough to accommodate a large of group people who have come for a corporate meeting or incentive travelling. Moreover, the restrooms of different varieties can also be utilised for these people to take rest and relieve stress.

The environmental factors that I witnessed pre-visit and during the visit were that the Beihai park is full of adventure, and livelihood and believed it was even better at the park, when I saw it from my own eyes. There was very less pollution in the air, and it was fresh and pure in such a way that it was a joy to breathe. Moreover, it was evident that the management has put a lot of work into the infrastructure and the pathways, structures, and buildings were built in an immaculate way and old-fashion, yet fascinating designs and also maintained pretty well. Furthermore, the place was a heaven for someone who likes to connect with the culture and arts of civilisation. Almost every structure or building I visited, there were sculptures, items, art pieces, and drawings that shed light on the rich history of the Forbidden City at the time of different Emperors. Moreover, every building carried a message within itself, which conveyed to the visitors once they take a deep look and surf through those buildings.

When it comes to tourist infrastructure and transport system for Beihai Park, it can be reflected that there are some positives and some negatives aspects. Firstly, what I experienced was that the accommodation was adequate and accessible, but the price was relatively higher, yet the quality was good enough in the 3-4 star hotels. However, if someone wants to go for luxury accommodation, the prices are drastically higher, which is a downside. Moreover, if the transport system is considered, it is evident that the public transport is available, but the time it takes to reach the park from key areas of the city is long, and according to Sharpley (2009), this long travel time duration frustrates the visitors. I preferred taxi over the public transport of Beijing because the fares were not extraordinarily high and the time consumed reduced drastically.

Although, there are quite a few negative impacts of tourism on the Beijing city for example contribution to pollution, traffic, and disturbance in the eco-system and some of these are pretty hard to control (Boniface, 2021) However, the efforts of the government to reduce these effects are commendable. Firstly, there are bike-sharing systems, which contribute to a reduction in pollution and traffic, as a bicycle does not produce pollution and do not cover much space on the rods (Ruan et al., 2020). Moreover, the online house rentals services allow tourist to reduce the efforts in finding adequate houses for rent and book them easily when they want (Ruan et al., 2020). Throughout the trip, what I experienced was that both inside and outside the Beihai Park, the use of efficient machines were preferred and encouraged and the low-carbon emission technologies were utilised to carry out several practices which contributed to the reduction of pollution through access activities from tourists.

There some pretty adequate visitors’ facilities all over Beijing, which helps the tourists in navigating their way around the city with efficiency, in addition to the provision of details regarding common tourists’ spots. Although Beijing is a technologically advanced city; however the destination of Beihai Park presented a very detailed interpretation of Chinese history and culture, so it cannot be denied that the city is developed in terms of science and technology, yet there are destinations like Beihai Park which allows the tourists to get attracted towards authentic historical developments and Chinese cultural history. Visitor management was another key aspect of Beihai Park. The visitors are first made to uniformly pass the check-in at the gates to ensure that they have tickets etc. Moreover, there are guide groups for the international visitors yet due to enough information available on the internet and from the Beihai Park enquiry counters, most people opt to visit personally without a guide and explore the destination. I also preferred the personal touring option as it allowed me to go wherever I wanted at any time, rather than being bound to move in a pack and report at certain places to ensure the group is still intact. Personally, I observed no particular sustainability issues around the tour to the whole Beihai Park and I found everything I wanted at the right place with great ease.

However, one particular issue that I and many other tourists faced was that sometimes due to the language barrier, visitors are unable to explain their requirements to local business personnel or Beihai Park workers. Moreover, the accommodations for tourists were pretty encouraging in my opinion. For example, the hotel in which I stayed, there were comfortable rooms with good quality beds. Moreover, the place looked immaculate with great room service. The food was also pretty good, and the hotel allowed the tourists to play indoor games in their facility. All these factors contributed to increasing motivation in the tourist to travel more as they felt relaxed and pleased with their accommodation (Golden-Romero, 2007). There are three major types of accommodation near Beihai Park. Firstly there are small hotels which people use for only sleeping purposes and these hotels are good enough for visitors to stay for the night eat and go out (Jones et al., 2016).

Moving forward there are a bit more luxurious hotels with better facilities and more spacious rooms. At the highest level, there are 5 or 7-star hotels with top-notch services and rooms and a large area for the guest to move around. It can be identified that these hotels provide customers with almost everything they desire during their stay (Clarke and Chen, 2009). It is quite oblivious that the prices also increase with luxury. Although Beihai Park is doing pretty good at the moment yet some of the key challenges that the Park is facing and can face in the future are that firstly after a certain time people can get bore of the place if they visit it more than 3 or 4 times as they will get to know every part of the place. This happens due to a lack of interactive events and festivals at the destination (Van der Wagen, 2010). Moreover, the language barrier also plays a big role in de-motivating visitors to participate in certain activities because it feels awkward to be unable to understand and make others understand the language. Another key challenge is that the use of public transport is pretty hectic for tourist as the time taken to reach the destination is pretty high. An exclusive transport service for Beihai Park can help to resolve or eradicate this issue.

References

Boniface, B., 2021. Worldwide_Destinatination.

Clarke, A. and Chen, W., 2009. International hospitality management. Routledge.

Golden-Romero, P., 2007. Hotel convention sales, services and operations. Routledge.

Jones, P., Hillier, D. and Comfort, D., 2016. Sustainability in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Liu, K. and Ma, J., 2016. 3D-Scanning and Computer Reverse Engineering Technology to Preserve Inscriptions at Beihai Park. International Journal of Simulation: Systems, Science and Technology, 17, pp.38-1.

QIN, H., 2015. Restoration of Plant Landscapes in the Building Complex of Chanfu Temple and Wanfo Tower in Beihai Park. Journal of Landscape Research, 7(3).

Ruan, W., Kang, S. and Song, H., 2020. Applying protection motivation theory to understand international tourists’ behavioural intentions under the threat of air pollution: A case of Beijing, China. Current Issues in Tourism, 23(16), pp.2027-2041.

Sharpley, R., 2009. Tourism development and the environment: Beyond sustainability?. Earthscan.

Shuai, Z.H.A.N.G. and Xiong, L.I., 2012. Appreciation of the landscape gardening art of Beihai Park. Journal of Hunan Agricultural University (Natural Sciences), p.S1.

Van der Wagen, L., 2010. Event management. Pearson Higher Education AU.

Williams, S. and Lew, A.A., 2014. Tourism geography: Critical understandings of place, space and experience. Routledge

[coneygoil]

“Snapshots of a Broken Life”, wreck-it ralph fic

Writer’s note: I have no clue where this rip-your-heart-out angst came from, but here it is! Ummm...enjoy XD

“I wanna be a soldier.”

“One slip up and its game over.”

“I don’t care. What’ll I have to lose?”

“I wanna be a soldier.”

She knows he isn’t joking; Wreck-It hasn’t cracked so much as a smile since the unplugging. Calhoun understands. They’re living the same hell, thrust into a nightmare they can’t wake up from. 

“One slip up and its game over.” The warning is pointless. He knows the great risks of fighting in Hero’s Duty; maybe that’s why he wants to gamble with his life. Sometimes she wishes she had that option. 

“I don’t care.” Wreck-It shrugs in defeat. “What’ll I have to lose?”

She finds herself watching his back, keeping him from becoming cy-bug chow. She convinces herself she doesn’t care what happens to the human wrecking machine, but she’s lying to herself. Ralph is the last link to her husband – the unspoken brother, you could call him; she can’t allow that to die alongside the handyman. So, she watches his back.

Wreck-It may be a clumsy mess of muscles, but he surprisingly turns into a dedicated soldier. He isn’t the greatest with a gun, and where his aim fails, his fists make up for the shortcomings. That’s one of the reasons Wreck-It stays off-screen working along with Markowski.

The two oafs have a lot in common. As awkward as their first encounter was, Wreck-It and Markowski put it behind them and Calhoun notices a buddy-type friendship beginning to form between the two men. At least one of them isn’t alone.

Ralph’s grief is as deeply rooted as Calhoun’s, but he finds ways to live with the heartache. He drinks more, mug after mug stuck in his hand. He can hold an ungodly amount of beer in his system, and the little white lie Felix told the Nicelanders about him being passed out in Tapper’s washroom still makes him shake his head.

Felix did have to go find him once. That night was one of Ralph’s lowest; he’d lost hope that his colleagues would ever see him as more than just the bad guy. He’d haunted Tapper’s, as he usually did, but when he left the bar, he couldn’t bring himself to enter the outlet of Fix-It Felix Jr. The wrecker sat on a bench outside his home game, and hung his head.

Felix, in a frantic flurry, found him there. He’d urged Ralph to come on, but when the wrecker stayed put, Felix paused.

‘I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Felix,’ Ralph had said.

The handyman drew closer; cautious but closer. ‘Buck up, Ralph. We all have our doubts about how well we do our job. You’re very good at wrecking, so you have nothing to worry about.’

Felix had misunderstood, but the little guy was trying to be encouraging and that’s why Ralph went back that day. Ralph figured Felix had told the lie about him being passed out to save him from embarrassment of exposing his mistaken self-doubt. But honestly, the lie probably made things worse.

Ralph thought the little speech and insight into his feelings was a small breakthrough for him and Felix. Things went back to the normal grind, and it would take the drastic measure of the going turbo incident to finally open Felix’s eyes to his colleague’s plight.

Ralph forgave him. They’d become as close as brothers afterwards, and that’s what made it even harder when Felix disappeared forever.

What reminds him the most of Vanellope is the absence of weight on his shoulders where she used to ride. She’d perch there like she had the best seat in the house; the width of his shoulders wide enough for her to walk on or lay down. She’d occasionally hug his neck or pull his hair like she was tugging the reins of a steed. He complained about her being there, but it was all in good-nature with a smile.

The cookie medal stays safe in his bunk during work hours, but when he’s not fighting cy-bugs, he keeps it close to his heart. If he ever lost the heart-shaped medal, he’d surely lose the tiny part of himself that remains. In some ways, he wishes the homemade medal was gone, so he could stop fighting to exist.

But there is one person left that needs him. She’s never voiced it, but he knows she does because he needs her just bad.

When Brad was killed, she still had a purpose for living. Vengeance on the filthy virus of her game kept her going; shooting cy-bugs to bits delivered an uncanny sense of comfort for her grief.

But this is a whole different monster. No viable source to focus on, no revenge, nothing to deal mercilessly with; just a vacant void where there used to be life. She’s as dead as the ones who departed.

Wreck-It keeps an eye on her. He may not notice she sees him watching her, and she’s not going to tell him she knows. As much as she detests pity, she can’t bring herself to call him out on it. They both lost their closest companions, and Wreck-It is really the only one who understands how deeply the loss cuts.

Sitting out on a bench inside of the Hero’s Duty outlet is where he finds her. She doesn’t want the company, but she doesn’t turn him away. She catches the alarmed glance Wreck-It gives to the pistol clutched in her hand as he occupies the space beside her.

The eerie quiet inside the outlet is deafening as they sit there together. The pistol weights heavy in her grip, but not as heavy as the weight she’d carried on her heart since the unplugging. “You know, Wreck-It,” she says, leaning elbows on her knees, displaying the pistol better for him to see. “Sometimes I wish I could take this and put it here,” she raises the barrel to her temple, finger itching to squeeze the trigger as she finishes through gritted teeth, “and end it.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Wreck-It’s hands hovering ready to snatch the weapon from her. But he doesn’t move. “Sarge,” his voice quivers, thick with fear, “Don’t do this.”

He knows the stakes. If she pulls the trigger, it’s game over. For good.

“We were supposed to be together the rest of our lives.” Her and Felix made that promise to each other on their wedding day. She’d vowed to keep him safe, but she failed the most important mission. “I’ve lost the love of my life and a friend who was like my own kid.” Her hand begins to tremble as she squeezes her eyes closed, wanting to shut out the world.

“I lost them too, Sarge.” She hears Wreck-It shift as he exhales a heavy breath. “I lost my game; my home. I lost my best friend; the one person I would die for a thousand times over just to keep her safe. I lost the person who became like a brother to me. They’re gone, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

Calhoun swallows around the lump in her throat. Wreck-It sounds like he needs the pistol as much as she does, and she wonders why he hasn’t let an errant cy-bug get the best of him. She lowers the weapon, slowly holstering it at her side. The tension that had built up between them eases.

“What now?” she asks. There is no answer that will bring any lasting comfort.

Wreck-It jerks a thumb to the tunnel of Hero’s Duty. “There’s a whole platoon of guys in there that need you. They may not say it, but every one of them cares about you. They need their leader.” He never touches her, but for this one time, he gently cups her shoulder. “I need you too, Sarge.”

Life in the arcade carries on, whether you’re hurting or not. Her and Wreck-It’s unspoken pact will last as long as one of them is alive; secretly, she hopes to be the first to break it. Until then, there’s an army to lead and cy-bugs to obliterate. It will have to be enough.