#i miss my reef tank

[beanibon]

I see you’ve got requests open and your Mermaid AU has me hooked 👀 Could you write about Mer!VashOr Mer!Knives with an s/o that’s part human (whatever the other part is can be up to you :})? literally go nuts with this request tbh-

Oml yesss!!! Also I have to stay true to my mermaidness, so reader is gonna be half-mermaid!

So reader essentially is human appearance, but with colourful webbed fingers and feet to help swim, and when they're in the water gills will open on their necks. This is how Mer!Vash and Mer!Knives children would look like in their respective lil headcanons (not saying that reader is their children, let this be separate from those ones xD)

TW: none really, just mating bites, a little suggestive in Vash's :3

You were a bizarre sight, unlike the other humans who overlooked him and his brother. You had a kind of aura that intrigued Knives, that seemed oddly familiar as you went about your work, following Rem as you assisted her in regards to the brother's.

The moment you revealed what you actually were, as Knives dragged your unaware body into the freezing depths, pausing as gills opened along your neck.

Curious chirps sounded as Knives squinted at you, flipping you this way and that as he studied your now prominent mermaid features.

You were patient, laughing as the usually aggressive mermaid circled you, poked and prodded you in his confusion. Not to mention Rem had made no effort to help you, the woman remaining at the observation pools edge.

When his own webbed hands grabbed your webbed hand, Knives huffed. Boredly swimming away, he made his presence scarce around you since then.

It wasn't until weeks later, being informed the news of a severely injured Knives who got into a scuffle with another of his species, defending Vash who 'stole' a prized shell, that you had to look after him.

No one else was allowed in the recovery tank, Rem tried at times but Knives' aggression was too much for her this time, and she didn't want another oxygen tank exploding within the tank and shattering it. That's where you came in.

Entering the tank, you slowly approached the injured Knives, flinching at his high-pitched shriek. It wasn't until you replied with your own did he simmer down, reluctantly allowing you to treat his wounds.

This continued on for a couple weeks and each visit resulted in Knives slowly looking forward to your visits, so much so he'd curl around you while you just kept him company, updating him on his worried brother.

The moment he could return to the ocean, Knives missed you already, knowing you couldn't visit as often now that he's recovered. So he gives himself minor injuries, pathetic scrapes, or even purposely slapping a sea urchin or two onto his tail and presenting it to you with no evidence of it hurting.

Rem was quick to catch on, offering you longer breaks to be with Knives so he'd stop injuring himself no matter how minor the wound was it was making other employees wary whenever he appeared. And Knives couldn't be more happy when Vash dragged him away from a toxic jellyfish to you, instantly having the larger twin latch onto you with excited chirps and purrs.

Eventually Knives and you marked each other, sealing your mateship as he nuzzled contently into you, purring non-stop while you combed his hair.

Vash tends to wander, his favourite place is a large reef just a few kilometres from the observatory, where he collects shells, avoids getting into fights with other mermaids and just harasses the local fish.

That's where he bumped into you, literally. You were diving along with some close friends, friends that knew what you were and made sure to keep you safe. So you can imagine their surprise when a curious mermaid collided into you chasing a parrot fish.

Vash startled very quickly, hiding between some coral when he realised the group was staring at him, you were rather curious going to follow only to stop when Meryl stopped you. She signed it probably wasn't a good idea, but you at least wanted to apologise for startling him.

Approaching his hiding place, you gained his attention by sliding an iridescent shell between the spines of coral, to which the quivering mermaid chirped, revealing himself as he studied the gift. You gained Vash's attention, frowning as you chirped back at him, broken merfolk language in form of an apology.

You were very inexperienced with your father's tongue, but you knew enough to form small conversations.

The look Vash gave you was full of astonishment, eyes sparkling as his lips formed a massive smile. Placing his shell into his seaweed satchel, Vash spun you around, tugging you upside as he admired your legs. You yelped when he innocently spread your legs, trying to communicate how inappropriate it was, only this new friend didn't listen. Not until your closest friend, Wolfwood stepped in.

The overly friendly mermaid screeched at the burly man putting him in a headlock, signing if you were okay. Of course you were, just startled this curious creature was so forward.

Asking Nicholas to free the distressed mermaid, he obliged yelling as Vash hid behind you, rapid chirps and shrill clicks shot his way. You knew they were a lecture of sorts, with some colourful language that made you snort, but that's how Vash made a friend of you.

You frequented the reef often, as it was home to your father before he was poached, now the reef was under protection of the observatory a little further out. So you often visited Vash, allowing him to appropriately admired your legs and any other features he took interest in.

He'd bring you colourful shells and pearls as gifts, whereas you'd bring him either food or items he'd be allowed to keep in the ocean. It became a small tradition, one that lead to Vash making a bold move on his part.

It was another day that your friends took you for a dive, also befriending the blonde mermaid. It wasn't until you entered the water, instantly seeing Vash making a beeline for you. You were happy to see him, yelping as he collided with you, growling the moment his fangs sunk into your shoulder.

Your friends had never seen you be aggressive, not in your mermaid half way at least. When your eyes slitted, teeth forming sharp points as you screeched at the mermaid, causing Vash to return the sudden aggression as he felt justified in his actions.

Nicholas and Meryl tried separating you two, but when you surged forward sinking your own teeth a little too painfully into Vash's neck. Only then did the two settle, Vash's annoyed pouting and clicks turning into happy wiggles and nibbles of your flesh.

You still held a small grudge to being marked without warning, not that you opposed the idea, a heads up would've been nice. Now you endured endless teasing from Nicholas, proudly showing your other friends Vash's mating mark with no shame.

[witcheroftheslothschool]

Red Rising Re-Read: Mentions of Mustang and Darrow’s Relationship in between Red Rising and Golden Son

I’m sure I’ve missed a few, but here are all quotes I collected, I desperately need a fanfiction of their time between Institute and Academy.

But I miss the kindest of them. The one who asked me to stay as I bid her and Mars goodbye on her balcony almost a year ago. Mustang. I gave her a horse-crested gold ring as a parting gift, and she gave me a razor. Fitting. The taste of her tears grows stale in memory. I have not heard from her since I left Mars. - Golden Son

I’m reminded of the warmth of her flesh, the mischief in her voice, the smell at the nape of her neck, the kindness of her heart. I stare so hard I almost miss her escort. - Golden Son

When I feel dirt, I honor Eo. And when I see fire, I remember the warmth and flicker of the flames across Mustang’s skin as we lay in our chamber of ice and snow. - Golden Son Note: Could also be a hint at their time in the cave during Red Rising.

I remember the warmth of Pax’s blood. The chill of Lea’s pale face in the cold morning after Antonia butchered her. The grainy red smear of haemanthus blossom. Mustang’s bare hip as we lay by the fire. - Golden Son

She’s never pried. She’s never asked about Eo, not when we shared time together after the institute when I was a rising lancer. Not when we rode horses at her family’s estate or walked through the gardens or dove in the coral reefs. I thought she must have forgotten I whispered the name of another girl as I lay with her in the institute’s snows. How stupid of me. How could she forget? How could it not linger there inside her, forcing her to wonder, as she lay with her head on my chest listening to my heart beat, if it didn’t belong to another girl, a dead girl. - Golden Son

I’ve sunken into memory, where this Golden game ones seemed so easy. What has changed? Mustang. “You’re more than this,” she whispered as I left her for the Academy. Tears swelled in her eyes, though her voice did not waver. “You don’t have to be a killer. You don’t have to court war.” “What other choice do I have?” I asked. “Me. I’m the other choice. Stay for me. Stay for what might be. At the institute, you made followers of boys and girls who have never known loyalty. If you go to the Academy, you abandon that to be my father’s warlord. That’s not what you are. That is not the man I…” She did not turn, but her face changed as her sentence trailed away, lips drawing a hard line. Love? Was that what we built at the year after the institute? If so, the word stuck in her throat, because she knew, as I knew that I had not given her all of me. I had not shared all that I am. Greedily, I kept secrets. And how could someone like her, someone with so much self-worth, bare herself and throw her heart at a man who gave so little in return? So she closed her golden eyes, showed the razor into my hands, and told me to go. - Golden Son

A vision of her is spawned in the darkness like so many before it- a girl riding away from me across a field of green, twisting in her saddle and laughing for me to follow. Hair rippling as would summer hay fluttering from a farmer’s wagon. - Morning Star

But I’m a world away from her, my friends. Lost in memory. I’ve been to the Hive before with ArchGovernor Augustus and Mustang. He brought the lancers to meet with Society economic ministers to discuss modernizing the moon’s infrastructure. After the meeting she and I snuck away to the moon’s famous aquarium. I’d rented it out at absurd cost and arranged a meal and wine to be served to us in front of the orca tank. Mustang always liked natural creatures more than Carved ones. - Morning Star

+ The Society gossiping about their relationship:

“It’s your constant presence on HC talk shows.” “I’ve never gone on the HC! I don’t even watch it!” “Oh, please. You relish our own celebrity. Even though they mock you, you bathe in the limelight and cloak this house with shame. We know your datapad search histories. We see you preening at yourself on the HC as though it were your personal mirror. The stories run on you and the ArchGovernor’s daughter-” - Golden Son

He grips my shoulder desperately, his hand weaker than I remember. “Tell me about your life. What the Academy is like. Tell me everything. Are you still lovers with that delectable Virginia au Augustus?” He frowns suddenly. “Oh, of course you’re not. She’s with-” - Golden Son

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Day 5: Submerged

(Disclaimer: one of the characters in this story belongs to me. For more information on Parker, go here. For my personal headcanons on Murdock, who belongs to the Markiplier Cinematic Universe, go here. And if you’d like to learn more about the mob these guys work for, go here.)

(As usual, I got tons of help with developing the main character of this story from the amazing @sammys-magical-au ! Please go check out their blog and stories!)

(Trigger Warnings: blood/gore, implied murder/death, implied drowning, implied violence, water/the ocean, descriptions of illegal business, descriptions of decay, aquatic insects, strong language. Please let me know if I missed anything.)

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 6 Day 7

___

Parker rolled his shoulders, still not quite adjusted to the straps that connected the tank to his back. They were good and secure…which, of course, was code for pinching and scratching against his skin. 

He’d been swimming ever since childhood; he was more than strong enough to free-dive if he chose. (In fact, if that wasn’t the case, then he’d probably have a few more questions about reality than he already did.) 

Even so, personal skill did nothing to change how the reef he was swimming towards—he could never remember its actual name, so he always just called it Ocean’s Nine-And-A-Half—grew about a hundred feet below the waves.

Fortunately enough, that also meant the reef was outside of almost every legal jurisdiction. In a technical sense, at least.

As often as he visited those sea-caves clustered by one side of the local beach, he typically never swam deep enough to need professional gear like this.

Hell, he usually made sure to keep his head above the water…unless he was out on a job and happened to see unfamiliar figures in the dark.

Unless he had to duck under and hide, peering up at the surface and feeling the breath he had to hold writhe around in his lungs until he was sure any potential witness had moved on.

Yeah, the salt stung the eyes like a bitch, so sometimes he’d take a mask on his exploits (kinda funny, considering the carmine-colored facemask he always wore on land)—but then, that was a simple type. One that wasn’t designed with inner mechanisms that whirred and hissed in time with his breathing. 

The stretchy, rubbery material of each flipper clung around his ankles, almost as though they’d been suctioned to his skin. (And that was the reason he was so grateful that a dive like this didn’t technically require an entire wetsuit rather than just his bleach-dyed swim trunks.) 

Parker shook his head, reminding himself to focus on the water. 

The water was cold. Not the freezing type that forced its way into your bones—not to him, at least. To him, it just felt perfectly cool. Maybe just a few degrees cooler than the water inside sensory deprivation chambers.

(Fine, there was a layer of goosebumps prickling along his skin. But he still adjusted quickly, and the collection of colorful tattoos he’d gathered on his arms through the years helped to sort of cover them, so shut up.) 

The water was dark. Not a gaping, pitch-black abyss that most thlasssophobia-havers probably had intrusive thoughts about whenever they went to a public pool—not to him, at least. More like a deep sapphire. Plus, even as the sun was actively setting, plenty of its rays still filtered down through the surface.

The way it swirled all around his arms, his legs, his torso…it almost reminded him of musical notes. The way music could feel almost tangible if you were feeling angry enough to burrow into the sound.

Sometimes the only way to calm down was to wait and listen and play until you could physically feel each of those notes crawling through your brain. 

It took a moment or two for Parker to actually enter Ocean’s Nine-And-A-Half, but that didn’t mean he stopped swimming. He maneuvered himself around an organ pipe coral and kicked off further, careful to avoid scraping against algae-covered rock formations.

Anemones clung to stone at higher angles, their long, vivid green polyps slowly swaying to and fro.

A small octopus with bulging, pale eyes that honestly made it look like a C- Arts & Crafts project clambered along the sand, staring up at him as he passed by.

A pair of mandarin fish fled from the ripples he sent through the water. 

A banded krait slithered out of a crevice, its sinuous body waving like a ribbon as it slowly-but-surely made its way for the surface.

(Parker made a mental note to bring that up with Azalea the next time he saw her. She’d mentioned her work-collection running a bit low on certain snake venoms during The Pentas Family’s latest meeting.)

He’s gotta be somewhere close, he thought. We were just a few miles away from the city’s buoys when we stopped to drop him…

Although, as he turned a corner in the reef, he was caught in a nearly neck-snapping doubletake when he spotted a cluster of small, sock-shaped creatures clinging to a rock on that very corner.

Sea squirts were basic filter-feeding invertebrates; sure, they came in a variety of colors and shapes, but that was pretty much it. 

These ones, however, seemed to be more on the overachieving side.

They each boasted a strange stripe pattern underneath their translucent skin. Aforementioned pattern was white, save for a trio of little black dots on the part where a face might have been. This might not have sounded like much at first, but when you realized how the stripes really did resemble a tiny spine flanked by tiny ribs that raced up toward a tiny skull with tiny sharp teeth. . .

Parker found himself unable to help but pause—without the regulator connected to the oxygen tank, his mouth probably would’ve fallen open.

Despite all the things he’d done in his career so far, somewhere deep inside him was a tiny kernel of something that demanded an occasional dose of whimsy.

And it’d been a hot minute since he'd gotten some whimsy, and there was some fresh whimsy right-fucking-here. 

So, he had to take a moment to circle around these creepy-yet-cute, strangely skeletal-looking sea squirts.

In fact, aforementioned sea squirts ended up being the key to his little conundrum. 

Because on his third time circling then, he caught something else out of the corner of his eye: a very odd shape that sat about ten-or-so feet away. 

…Well, sat wasn’t the right word. Hovered would be more accurate, considering how a thick, sturdy rope was coiled around the end of it, connecting it to a cinder block that was partially sunken into the sand. 

Adrenaline reaching a boiling point, Parker surged toward the shape. Even with the supply of oxygen literally strapped to his face, his heart and lungs felt as though they were crystallizing from the inside-out.

As he grew closer and closer, he realized that the shape didn’t appear dark or blurry due to the water; no, that honor went to all the creatures that were currently pushing and shoving to nip at it. A few dozen schools of tiny fish all gathered around the mass, truly seeming to move as one, their little scales glinting in the dim light. 

Thin, misty veils of something drifted out from between all of them, slowly-but-surely drifting upward, only to fade into the water before they had a chance to reach the surface. 

Of course, once Parker got within potential touching distance, the tiny fish all darted away before he could even blink. Almost like a magic trick. 

A generous amount of crabs stayed, either not noticing their sudden watcher or not caring about his opinions on their dietary choices. They clambered along what was left of the shape’s clothing—even that thick jacket he’d been wearing those three days ago had already been reduced to a pile of shredded rags. 

Parker tilted his head, feeling an unhinged smile etch its way across his features. 

He knew from experience that decomposition typically took longer underwater than it did on land, but there simply wasn’t much left of his latest target. 

His rotting flesh was an awful combination of loose and taut, desperately clinging to the bones underneath. Not a single square-inch of tissue was unmarked by jagged wounds that were oh-so-clearly strange little bitemarks. His mouth hung open as if in a silent scream, revealing that his tongue was gone and probably not coming back anytime soon. 

Both of his cloudy eyes (such a departure from the dark brown shade they’d been before. They’d been so dark that Parker had barely even seen the way his pupils had constricted as he thrashed and howled through the water) still remained in their sockets, but they’d taken on a definite sag.

Even with his disturbing satisfaction, an icy chill dripped down Parker’s spine as he watched a sealouse scuttle up the target’s neck and along his withering jawline before squirming its way through the space between the right eye and its papery-looking lid. 

Just like before, Parker swam a few circles around the corpse. Only this time, his movements were more relaxed, maybe even a bit lazy, calm. A cacophony from the past tapped its rhythm through his eardrums. 

Screams laced with threats and profanities that eventually bled into gagging and wretching and pleading, which themselves had bled into unintelligible gurgles after a few long, hard-fought moments… 

With that, Parker finally looked up and began wading toward the surface. Toward that dark, rectangular shape that gently bobbed against the water, waiting patiently for him (he wasn’t sure the same could be said for its owner, though).

While he didn’t look back down, part of his couldn’t shake the feeling that the corpse was somehow staring after him as he swam further and further away. 

Another part of him hoped that the corpse was watching him, because it would only cement the fact (if Caliban was here, he would’ve gotten a kick out of that) that the dead fucker wasn’t going anywhere. He would have to sit at the bottom of that reef and think about what he’d done, about how he’d fucked around with Parker and his peers one too many times. 

As always, the surface looked like wobbling glass right before Parker’s head broke through it. The cool air practically slapped him in the face, but that didn’t stop him. He paddled his way around to the bow of the houseboat, hissing through clenched teeth as one of his knees collided with the ladder that hung in the water.

Parker hefted himself onto the deck, shrugging off the oxygen tank right after pulling the eye-mask and regulator away from his face. He then sat back on his haunches, leaning against a nearby lower beam. The burning, aching sensation that slithered through him almost made the muscles in his arms and legs seem to be vibrating. 

Even so, it wasn’t a bad kind of ache. That was just how you knew you’d had a good, effective swim-time. 

Footsteps thudded from down the very short corridor that led into the main reason why this structure was called a houseboat. By the time he looked over in their direction, a purple blur came flying over to crash-land directly into his face. Considering how soft, fuzzy, and obviously harmless this blur turned out to be, Parker didn’t immediately fly into a defensive rage. 

Instead, he simply yelped and fumbled with the towel, pulling it down to see Murdock leaning against the nearby threshold with a patented smirk on his face. 

“Well?” The hitman asked, his deep baritone oozing up from his lungs and into the air. “How’s that buddy of ours doing?” 

“Oh, good,” Parker answered, voice dripping with sarcastic humor. “Totally good. He’s made a bunch of new friends down there.” 

He raised the towel over his head, quickly drying his hair; it wasn’t quite as long as Murdock’s, but it seemed an even darker shade of black in the right light. 

Murdock nodded, chuckling. “And do you think there’ll be anything left of him later in the week?”

“Probably. But even if someone comes across him, they won;t be able to recognize him. Let alone find any fingerprints.” 

Deciding that his face was now dry enough, Parker pulled himself onto the very bench he’d been leaning against. He pushed the towel aside in favor of rummaging through the duffel bag he’d brought when he;d stepped onboard an hour ago. 

Sooner or later, he found his prized facemask, the straps of which soon returned to their place behind his ears, hiding everywhere below his eyes from the world. 

“Well, alright then!” Murdock proclaimed, the beautiful mixture of orange and pink and violent on the horizon reflecting in his black-tinted shades. “Job’s officially done.”

He shifted in place, making to turn on his heel and head back to the control-room positioned right beside his bedroom…only to pause, his eyes lingering on his fellow contract-killer. 

Parker raised an eyebrow. “What?” 

“Nothing, nothing.” Murdock offered a coy shrug. “Just thinking about how you’d drowned that idiot in one of the sea caves before you’d dragged him through the water and onto the same spot you’re sitting now.”

Parker snorted, smirking. “That’s what we call efficiency, isn’t it? I couldn’t have just left him to float over by the docks; someone would’ve found him in the next hour.” 

“Oh, I’m not doubting that,” Murdock reassured. Another bout of quiet snickers seeped through his lips as he traipsed down the hall. 

In just a moment, the houseboat’s engine roared to life. 

Parker instinctually held onto one of the nearby support bars, admiring the way the sunlight glimmered against the water. It almost felt like the scene was so pretty because the elements themselves were actively trying to hide what he and his accomplice had done. 

And as the houseboat began to turn in the water, its bow now pointing toward all those glowing buildings that loomed near the Cove Port Inlet’s beach, Parked began humming to himself.

He would be dropped off back home in an hour; he wondered if he’d have enough time to sneak over to the studio and polish up that song he’d been struggling with lately…

@sammys-magical-au @th3w00ds @flaming-dolph16 @nwtbobsessedemo

[tauforged]

time for a reef tank update !!! not the most glamorous shot but i’ve got a lot on my plate today so it’s what you’re getting lol

everything is going smoothly so far !!

finally set up the dosing pumps yesterday! current daily supplement regime is 1ml each of brightwell aquatics’ NanoCode A+B (staggered to prevent precipitation as they react with eachother), 1ml of brightwell KoralColor, and 5ml daily of a 1:1 mix of brightwell’s ZooPlanktos-M and PhytoChrom plankton suspensions, with the dose spread out equally over the entire 24hr period. ideally i would have done less, but this pump system has a minimum dose amount that i had to work around, and it’s all in such small increments that i doubt it will contribute too much to the bioload. these are the same supplement volumes i’ve been using before, but now dosed at a specific time each day and measured out by the pump rather than by me eyeballing with a grad cylinder ^^; going to see how alkalinity/calcium/magnesium levels shake out after a few days of the new setup and then modify from there. I’m also still manually dosing brightwell Restor (had to choose between this and the koralcolor as the dosing pump system only has four bottles, i’ve only got 2/3rds of my 250ml bottle of restor left as the koralcolor was a more recent purchase) and red sea reef energy AB+ (needs to be refrigerated, so wouldn’t work with the dosing pump), and i’ve got bottles of brightwell borochrom, liquid reef, and coralline accelerator that i bought back when i first started the tank up to cover all my bases but haven’t played with yet as i’ve been trying to take things slow on the dosing front. the borochrom i likely won’t be touching until i can find a boron testing kit that’s at least somewhat reliable before i do anything with it since it’s not something we have the capacity to test for in the lab at work.

corals are all overall looking good! the grinch porites has been looking a tad pale lately and might benefit from relocation, but i just did a water change yesterday so i’ll leave it be for now to see if that helps it perk up any… my other sps (rainbow pocillopora) is doing fantastic so i don’t think it’s water chemistry related, could be light/flow or nutrients. this frag gets covered in brown film algae despite my best efforts on a regular basis, so that probably isn’t helping -_-

the aiptasia on the pink bloomer zoa frag came back once again, so while i had the pump and heater shut off for the water change yesterday i blasted them with some aiptasia-x again. it was all gone by this morning, you can still see a little bit of white residue but i caught the shrimps picking at it last night ? so maybe they cleaned it up because i applied it very liberally. this frag has been thru the wringer and has had aips on it for the entire time, even after a really strong peroxide dip for GHA and physically scraping off all the anemones i could get to with a toothpick and blasting the remnants off with tap water in the sink immediately after, they just keep coming back… the good news is that the zoas are equally hardy. they seem mostly unbothered by the aips, but they were starting to get big enough to sting my purple death palys and that little baby disco mushroom so they had to go.

no pics, but i did finally lose that enchanted finger sinularia… it was never especially robust the entire time i’ve had it, but it never showed any signs of dying either. woke up a couple days ago to it gray and decaying, though, so i siphoned out everything i could get and the rest of the frag got chucked. bit of a shame, but i was honestly never a huge fan of it, mostly because of how sickly it always looked — i miss my toxic green capnella and the blue cespitularia that i lost during the major tank crash much much more :(

i’ve got another order in the works though — still in talks with ASD about the inverts, i’d tried to get some anemone shrimp as well but they had some issues so we’re waiting on them to get more livestock in. got my corals locked in in the meantime, though! aside from a handful of zoas still on my wishlist, this will probably be it for frags unless something major happens. or i finally snap and set up another tank. we’ll see…

[fimbry]

Howdy! Can I ask how the eels are doing? I love morays and was thinking about them recently.

I swear I posted an explanation before, but I am failing to find it. More than a year ago I had a tank disaster/crash due to a freak accident and the heater. Everything died, it was horrible. I miss them so much. I'm taking a break from eels for a couple years which is just the most unfortunate thing for me considering I've had them nonstop since I was 14, but it is what it is.

I did restart the tank earlier this year in May, and it's a very cute reef now with a clown and a goby. My zoa garden is beautiful, and watching the coral growth is lovely.

[sagehaubitze]

I honestly.. don't want it to be trans day of visibility tomorrow lol. I'm so tired of the pressure of the arbitrary selfie. I'm struggling with body image issues anyway. I failed my self imposed running task of taking one (1) actual self portrait per year. I just can't do it, I can't stand it.

I'm tired of fighting to exist, I'm tired of seeing dehumanizing shit every day on social media or the news being on in the background somewhere. I'm tired of going out of my way to piss in the woods when I'm out and about because I feel it's the safer option, rather than because I like to. I'm tired.

Even just with something like body image issues, it's a fucking fight. It is so hard to find any sort of positivity for transmasc bodies unless you're 110lbs and look androgynous regardless of what the fuck you do (or don't do). No one prepares you for the fact that if you got a lot of reassurance about your body pre-transition, maybe you got compliments on a regular basis, or had a group of friends you bounced outfit ideas off of, or whatever; that goes the fuck away when you transition! Maybe it doesn't for everyone, but it sure as fuck did for me.

I'm just... I'm *tired*. Granted, today has been a very bad day regardless. The reef tank pump died for good, the PVC plumbing cracked and shot water everywhere and I can't fix it. I missed getting to go hang out with people I wanted to. Nothing wants to go right or work or behave. My depression is rough. Shit just sucks!!

I'm done bitching I guess. For now. Fuck.

[justcallmecj]

A Scheme With Levi

MASTERLIST ~~ PREVIOUS ~~ NEXT

        Levi let go when he had finally pulled both of us in. He pushed his back against the bedroom door and held it closed, like he was worried someone may try and break in, even when he had checked to make sure no one was in the hallway. After a couple moments of awkward staring at each other, he backed off the door.

        "Soo, uh, what was that all about?" I asked. He tried to hide the quick glance over his shoulder back at the door, but I saw it.

        "...What's that now? You want to know why I looked around to see if anyone was watching before I closed the door?" he tried to confirm. Honestly I was talking about the panic against the door, but that answer works too.

        He stepped past me and further into the room. I finally took the time to see my surroundings. The room was fucking massive. Shelf after shelf filled the walls, all filled to the brim with all sorts of figurines, manga and video games. I immediately saw at least 20 different gaming consoles. A notable things was the lack of a bed. There was no bed, not in any corner of the room. The only thing of the like being a lone bathtub. But the most breathtaking part of the room was that one of the four walls wasn't even a wall, it was the glass to a massive fish tank.

        Inside the tank was sand, coral and plenty of other decorations that made the things look like an actual coral reef. The only thing missing was...fish. I couldn't spot a single fish inside that tank, which is usually what filled tanks. In my opinion though, the best part was what the tank did to the room. The tank left a blue tint over everything, like looking at something with sunglasses that have a blue filter on them. I felt like I was underwater.

        Levi's voice brought my back from the multitudes of dreams I've experienced that take place underwater.

        "- it obvious?! Imagine what would happen if someone saw me inviting you into my room! A human who doesn't even look like an otaku, but a normie! You know what people would say, right?!" His hands flailed a little. Clearly he was someone who spoke with his hands and was trying not to.

        They'd probably say 'Yay for Levi! He finally has a friend!!', because the amount of lonely energy you're giving off is astounding.

        "Are you worried that people might gossip?" I opted to say more nicely, only just barely managing to stop a teasing smile from spreading on my face.

        Levi's face filled with blush again. Just how easily flustered is this guy? His left hand came up to block some of his face from my view as he looked away with a pout.

        "Of...of c-c-c...of c-c-course not! Th...th-that's crazy!" How many c's was that? "There's only room in my heart for only one person, and she's animated! I'll always stay faithful to my dear, sweet Ruri-chan, always!" Levi finished his words with a slight stop of his foot. His face went from embarrassed flush to upset pouting.

        I stared at Levi with the most deadpan, astonished face I could manage. Had he really just went on about only loving an anime character? Forever and always? I've seen people be like that, but not the same why he felt. I can practically feel those same emotions roll off of him.

        Levi looked at me once again. "Why would people gossip?! I mean, me and some non-otaku- some normie?! And not only that, a THREE-DIMENSIONAL one from the real world?! It's insane, that's what it is!" Jeez, he is not relenting with this non-otaku and normie shit. Did he not hear me when I said I'd been collecting things since I was a teenager??

        Opting to ignore any further insults, I looked around the room again, hoping to  grab that same feeling of being underwater again. This time around, a certain cluster of books caught my attention. The bookcase was full of hick, hardcover books as big as encyclopedias. I managed to get a better look of the title on the spines.

        The Tale of the Seven Lords: The Lord of Shadow Awakens one spine read. It's a title I've never heard of before, basically confirming my suspicion that the Devildom has it's own literature among other things.

        I felt when Levi's eyes fell on me. As if he could tell something had caught my attention, he asked, "What is it, human? What are you looking at?" I stayed staring at the books. His eyes followed my own and he spotted what had me so intrigued.

        Happiness sprouted from him as his mood increased significantly. "Wait, that looks like...The Tale of the Seven Lords. Are you a fan of that, too?" He moved so he could get a better look at my face. Deciding to be truthful and wanted to have my curiosity satisfied, I answered.

        "Huh? Never heard of it." I finally tore my eyes away from the books and back to Levi. He stared at me like I had just grown three extra heads, which I have seen happen before in dreams. Not that surprising anymore. He then looked at me with genuine concern.

        "...Excuse me? You don't know TSL? And you call yourself a human?!" Levi looked like I just offended his entire bloodline. Also, how does this tie into me being human??? "Just how clueless ARE you?! How could you not know?! Just the fact that you don't know TSL alone is proof that you've been wasting your life!"

        "Um, excuse me? Wasting my life? I have too many things to do in my average life to be 'wasting my life'," I shouted back at him. Have you ever lived as an anime character in someone else's dream, because that is much more fun than watching or reading it.

        Levi's face changed to look like that instead of offending his entire bloodline, I had just killed them. He quickly changed up again and smiled. A smile somewhere in between smirk and smug.

        "So, I'm going to do you a favor and teach you about TSL. Make sure you pay attention!"

        Levi then went on a ramble. Basics of the series are, it's a series of fantasy novels. Written by Christopher Peugoet. There are138 volumes of the damn thing. Most widely read fantasy series in the world. Theatrical versions, animated series and feature films. Translated to 182 different languages.

        Honestly, he was spewing out too much information for my to actually retain. I vaguely recall Levi speaking about a version that was a disaster for some reason. Then a remake that was far better for reasons I didn't care about. I also think he said the name Henry and a not needed female lead?

        I truly stopped listening when he went onto the Seven Lords. Until he mentioned that they were all brothers. Like the seven brothers?

        "The oldest is called the Lord of Corruption. He doesn't come across as being so bad at first, but he's always plotting something in secret." he said. Could that be like Lucifer? "The second oldest is the Lord of Fools, a scumbag who'll do anything for money." Like Mammon, or so I hear. "The third oldest is the Lord of Shadow, a brooding recluse." Levi.

        "The fourth oldest is the Lord of Masks. He masquerades as a high status, upstanding citizen of society, but underneath it all, he's an inhumane monster." I could've sworn Lucifer mentioned something about Satan having a pretty smile that's just covering some act.

        "The filth oldest, the Lord of Lechery, only ever thinks of sex." Asmo. "The sixth oldest is the Lord of Flies, and he only ever thinks of food. Beel, most definitely. "Then there's the seventh oldest, called the Lord of Emptiness." Levi stopped speaking for a moment. I felt a wave of uncertainty wash over him. "He's weird... you never know what's running through his head!" he said while wringing his hands together. That must be the last brother, the one I have yet to meet.

        Strange how each of the Seven Lords matches with a demon brother. Could this be foreshadowing at its finest?

        I then tuned Levi out again, only catching bits of fanboying over the protag, Henry, and the Lord of Shadow.

        There it is again. That itchy feeling of a Dreamer. I feel it more clearly now. The Dreamer isn't far, but the connection is muffled, blocked. Like something was physically standing in between me and their dreams. Honestly, it was annoying. The itch is there but with no way to satisfy it. Antagonizing if you ask me. I'll try and investigate tonight.

        "-I wish I could be like the third lord. I may be a recluse like him, but we're totally different, because he's got an amazing friend like Henry." I snapped back, only slightly irritated with the far feeling of a Dreamer. Not anything I can't ignore.

        Levi turned around- when did we even end up sitting on the floor??- and faced the fish tank wall. His smile became soft and loving as he pointed at a small blob in the water. When my eyes focused on it, I spotted a little fish I hadn't seen upon my first inspection.

        "Check it out. See that goldfish in the fish tank there?" As if sensing we were talking about it, he fish turned and stopped in front of the glass, staring right at us. May be a smart little thing.

        "He's actually names Henry! I love TSL so much that I couldn't help naming him after the main character. But I can't really high-five a goldfish, can I?" Okay, that was actually pretty cute. Even though it ended with a bummed out Levi, it's really sweet how much he adores TSL and the little goldfish. And I totally haven't named things after favorite characters myself! Nope!! Not at all!! Heheh...

        Levi spoke of being jealous of humans because the TSL author is human, we have services to watch anime on anytime, things like that. He mentioned humans' concept of pleasure coming from demons, but I didn't really care. I let Levi keep talking while letting my brain wonder off again, but he didn't realize. I've perfected the art of pretending I'm there when I'm not. Nods and hums in all.

        When I noticed he finished, I didn't know what to say. But apparently, my subconscious did. Without thinking I blurted out, "Right! Screw all the normies! Who needs 'em?" that seemed to be the right response because Levi immediately cheered up and with a fist pump into the air, yelled out "Yeah, screw 'em!"

        Way to go brain, we did it again! Who needs to actually think when you have a brain like mine? Definitely not me!

        And just as quickly as that happiness appeared, it disappeared just as quick. His shoulders went slack and a frown overtook the once bright smile. It kinda made me sad to see it.

        "...All right, enough. This is starting to depress me." he sighed. And honestly? Same.

        "Anyway, I didn't bring you here to tell you about TSL." he said. I kinda figured, but I was hoping you'd let me leave now. Guess that was to much to ask for.

        Levi propped his hands in his hands, which were situated on his lap. Realizing we may be talking for a while, I got more comfortable in my spot on the floor, leaning my back against the glass of Henry's fish tank.

        "I don't think there's any harm in just coming out and saying what you already know is true: Mammon is a complete and utter scumbag." And we're back to this. Why the hell do his brothers keep insulting him like this? At this point, especially after feeling how it effected Mammon, it's starting to piss me off! I huffed an annoyed breath, one Levi didn't seem to notice.

        "It's very important that you understand this. So I'll say it one more time." he continued. Oh I swear- I'll punch you! "Mammon is a hopeless,". Don't test me.

        "worthless,". Don't do it!

        "scumbag." I was ready to start a fight, consequences be damned. Jeez, when did I become so protective of Mammon? Probably because it wasn't the first time I've seen this before. Plenty of dreams are re-callings of memories. In my adventures, I've seen lots of people fall victim to the words of the people around them, especially those of their family. Too many times have I seen someone do drastic things because of it.

        But that's neither here nor there, not now at least. I need to stay here for the time being, until I can get closer to these people and handle things from there.

        I looked back to Levi since I had apparently looked away in thought. His face was scrunched up in anger, clearly remembering some past events, supposedly between him and Mammon. Without me asking him, which I planned to do, he continued with his story.

        "I lent that scumbag money, and now I want him to pay me back. But being the scumbag that he is, he won't do it." I recalled the conversation between the two brothers earlier in the foyer. Levi wanted back money, but it was money Mammon didn't have. Again, sucky how he hasn't payed Levi back in 200 something years, but paying someone something is basically impossible if you physically don't have the money in the first place.

        "I wish I could force him to, but despite what a rotten waste of space he is, Mammon's still the second oldest. As the third oldest, no matter how hard I try, I don't stand a chance against him." Levi said with a bummed sigh. He twiddled his fingers on the textures of the floor.

        So there's a hierarchy among the brothers? The older the brother, the stronger the power. Alright, noted. I have the slightest hunch on where Levi was taking this, but I needed more story before I could definitely say something, so I just asked.

        "So...how did you and Mammon become enemies?" Probably not my best choice of words, but whatever.

        Levi stopped twiddling and looked up at me, slight interest gleaming in his eyes. "You say you want to know how Mammon and I first became enemies? well, it's a long story, but sure. I'll tell you, human." As if to emphasize how long it'll be, he leaned back on the glass like I was.

        Knowing this was going to be long and potentially boring, I once again let my brain do the work and my consciousness do what it pleases. I did leave just a tad more of my consciousness behind so I'd actually be able to get the story later.

        Again, the Dreamer itch stayed there, but, it did change. Sometimes they were more awake, other times they were in a deep sleep. I tried what I could to focus on it, to see if I could get even a little sneak peak into what the dreams were about, but that damn muffling wall was in the way. It put a barrier between and the Dreamers mind. Tonight, when I go to bed and I'm at my strongest, I try again.

        Levi talked for a good twenty minutes, going on and on about his enemy origin story with Mammon. When he was done, I went over the basics in my head, going whatever my brain could tell me when my consciousness returned. Mammon accidentally won a Seraphina figurine and only kept it to spite Levi. In hopes of "saving" her from what were no doubt "terrible conditions" under Mammon's care, he snuck into Mammon's room one night and found Seraphina on the floor. Levi was so angry he attacked the sleeping Mammon. Mammon, faster than Levi had ever seen him moved, slammed him onto the floor(reasonable reaction). Apparently, Mammon sleeps in the nude. Levi then passed out.

        Interesting story to hear your own mind tell you after being frustrated, and I had to use all my willpower not to burst out in laughter. I saw as Levi focused his attention fully on me.

        "You've seen just how fast he is yourself, haven't you? No one aside from Lucifer and Beel has that kind of speed" he asked. True, Mammon had been incredibly fast when he ran from Levi earlier, and he appeared within seconds after Lucifer started counting down on the phone, and who knows how far he could've been from the counsel room at the time.

        Reining in my focus again, I caught sight of the mischievous twinkle in Levi's eyes. He had a plan brewing in his head, and I was honestly a little nervous to find out what it was. Something told me I'd be the main focus of this plan.

        "But if, say a human made a pact with Mammon, and bound him to their service..." Levi went silent in thought.

        I know plenty about pacts. A long time ago, I met a very gentle demon named Zir, a succubus who I stumbled upon the dream of when she was making a visit to the human realm. She told me about them during one of our routinely talks. We talked about them and the conditions pacts mean not only for whoever holds the pact but also for the demon it belongs to. That conversation lead to some other things, and now I have permanent access to her Dream Gate. Remembering it made the skin on right shoulder itch.

        Levi spoke again.

        "...then he'd have to do whatever that human told him to." He smiled wide, getting excited at his idea. This went exactly where I thought it was going to. "Which means that of you make a pact with Mammon and then ordered him to give me back my money...he wouldn't have a choice but to do it." Levi giggled to himself in pure glee.

        Now, I wasn't comfortable with this. I don't want to force Mammon into a pact just for something as stupid as getting back some cash. But, at this point, I could tell Levi wasn't going to take no for an answer. I guess I'll just go along with his plan to see where it goes. My guilty pleasure is sticking my nose where it shouldn't be after all. I wouldn't actually force Mammon to do it, even if I did manage to get a pact with him, but going along with Levi would give me the time to figure out how to get out of this situation. But until then, I need Levi to think I'm just like any other human, which means I need to act stupid.

        "What's a pact?" I asked, raising my brow in question. He stopped to think for a moment, looking confused by the fact I wouldn't know what a pact it.

        "A pact, with a demon...Haven't you seen that in movies and such?" Again, he looked concerned at my lack of knowledge, no matter how fake it may be. I shrugged my shoulders to sell the act. He sigh in defeat and decided to explain.

        "The demon lends his strength to a human to make their wish come true in exchange for their soul." Because of Zir, I know the conditions of a pact, meaning I knew Levi was leaving out information considering my soul was still mine, but I had a role to play.

        "I don't want to give up my soul!" I shouted in feigned fear. Seeing this, Levi rolled his eyes at me and placed his head back in his hands. For some reason, we're still sitting on the floor. For a moment, Henry swimming around the tank in front of us caught my attention.

        "That isn't always necessary. It depends on what's in the contract." he explained. There, now he's said everything. He grumbled to himself. "But, well, you need to give SOMETHING to the demon to make it worth the exchange, so it's pretty much inevitable." Levi propped up again. "If you don't want to give up your soul, then I'll tell you how you can negotiate with Mammon."

        I'd be lying if I say Levi hadn't caught my interest. I was curious to find out what Mammon may consider an equal exchange considering how strong he is compared to his younger brothers. As if he saw my intrigue and wanted to sweeten the deal to try and hit home, he added something else.

        "Also, I'm sure it would be useful having him as your servant. I mean, despite how awful he is, he's still a powerful demon. But I bet you feel worried, being dragged down here to the Devildom and all. So I don't think it would end up being a bad deal for you, either. Don't you agree?" I watched him hold back a laugh. Now, as much as I dislike the word servant in this context, he was right. Having Mammon in my corner would help me a lot, since I'm in a completely new world and none of my Dream Hopping abilities can translate into the Waking Realm like that of a sorcerer or witch.

        Fine then. I'll work to get Mammon into a pact with me. BUT! I will still try and find an alternative to the whole money situation. I don't want to force him into doing something he doesn't, or as far as I'm aware, can't, do.

        Levi was waiting, watching me. He wanted to see as the human in front of him fell right into his trap. That was a satisfaction I didn't want to give him. So, I played the round-about game.

        "How would I go about doing that?" I asked. Levi still hadn't explained to me how to convince Mammon. As if only now realizing that, his face drooped, but he didn't relent.

        "I take it this means you think this plan of mine could work, right? Excellent." He didn't even let me answer." You may be a human, but still...you show some promise!" His face went serious with not a care in his eyes. "Regardless, if I'm being honest, I don't really care what you think. What's more important is that I have a plan, and I'm going to explain it to you now. So, shut up and listen."

        I'm gonna punch him, sooner or later. If I can get him in a situation where I won't be caught, imma deck him.

        Levi told me that Mammon would never agree if I just asked, which is fair. He said I'd need a bargaining chip, something to persuade him. And that chip needed to be something that Mammon couldn't resist. And I was about to find out just what that things is.

I made an on the spot decision to add in an OC of mine, Zir. Is the original Zir technically an elf I wrote for a short story? Yes. Will I continue to use her here? Also yes. Lemme know if you can tell the little thing between Zir and Y/N. Anyway, the next chapter I will completely dedicate to Dream Hopping, that way you get to see it and see what happens when Y/N goes to find that Dreamer, as well the certain demon they accidentally meet while they're at it.

[015friends]

pov swap prompts — and also in the sea

Taehyung forgets, sometimes, that he’s bigger than Jimin.

He’s bigger than most things, true — bigger than every creature in this tank except the whale sharks. If he stretches himself out, finger to flukes, he’s as long as the smallest female. He’s longer than Jimin by a handspan or two, but Jimin is so —

Jimin is bright, and flashy, and puffs himself up like any good reef-dewller when he’s threatened. And he’s always threatened here, by humans above and around them. He spends most of his time awake trying to look bigger than he is. Trying, Taehyung knows, to make himself look unafraid.

And now, with the shame of apology, Taehyung is trying to make himself smaller.

I’m sorry, he says with his mouth, and gives Jimin his regret and sadness and guilt. I miss you.

He’d thought — he can’t remember why, but the blur of fury at the story Jeongguk read him had taken over in a way it hasn’t in what feels like endless seasons. He’s just so tired, so sick of the false lure of freedom, so outraged at the mockery of his label. Unreleasable. And he hadn’t wanted to inflict it on Jimin, and he’d wanted to wallow in the bitterness he’s accidentally cultivated in himself, and for half the night all he could think was that his mother would be so, so ashamed of him.

He’d dreamed of her, like he does sometimes. He dreamed of the sea, like he does every day. He’d woken up from a short span of sleep, and seen Jimin, curled in his nest, looking achingly small.

And then Jimin is holding him. He seems bigger again, even though Taehyung can still see his ribs, even though his eyes are sunken and his fins flutter nervously. Taehyung tries not to cling, tries not to latch on too tight after pushing him away for no reason. No good one, anyway. Only his own fears, and his own shame, and an anger that he knows well enough that Jimin shares and understands.

Mine, Jimin presses into him, and pulls him in tighter. They roll in the gentle current; Taehyung’s tail pressing up against Jimin’s. Jimin’s teeth pressed up against his neck.

It’s a feeling, not a word. A pulse of possessiveness that comes with flashes of Jimin’s siblings. Of his territory. Of days carved into rock, and fleeting memories of hands and scales and flesh. Taehyung’s not low on air, shouldn’t need to breathe for a while yet, but his lungs tighten when Jimin bites in harder, more intentional. He thinks he makes a sound, but can’t pay attention when his fists are buried in Jimin’s hair, when Jimin’s deadly canines are pressing almost-punctures into his skin.

It’s a bite that doesn’t take Taehyung back to the open ocean. It’s a bite that makes him wish, desperately, that they weren’t always being watched.

And it lasts an eternity. Long enough that Taehyung settles back into the embrace, scraping the blunt nails of one hand along the scales that pattern up Jimin’s spine, feeling the brush of his dorsal fin along his forearms. He’s buzzing on that thrum of possession, of Jimin’s unwillingness to let him go.

Keep you here, Jimin promises him vague and incomplete, and doesn’t mean to share it. Keep you mine.

Taehyung doesn’t respond, but when Jimin lets him go, he offers out the mussel with a promise to himself.

send me a scene from my fics and i'll write the other pov

[copperbora]

Just a few weeks before my mom passed away my 23+ year old female leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularis) Diego died too. Ever since I have been trying to figure out what to do with the enclosure that she left behind, and here are some of the ideas that I have come up with:

- Turn it back into the aquarium that it originally was; it could make for a rad freshwater species aquarium of zebra danios and beautiful blue freshwater shrimp, or it could be a second saltwater tank. Right now the thought of entering into another expensive-to-equip aquarium adventure makes me mentally hyperventilate though, especially when I still have yet to finish stocking my Fluval Evo reef tank which I've dubbed Purrling Reef. Sure the thought of a seahorse tank or an angler fish is fun but do I really want to enter into another aquatic pet like that at this time? Probably not!

- Get a small (male) snake! This is the original thing that I wanted to do but my mom wasn't on board with snakes. My dad? He's fine with it. So far the most likely species for me is the Plains Hognose (Heterodon nasicus,) Rosy Boa (Lichinura trivergata,) or the Anthill/Pygmy Python (Antaresia perthensis.) I am really not interested in Kenyan Sand Boas (Gongylophis colubrinus,) and I like that hognoses and rosy boas are both from North America - in fact the plains hognose is native to a few Canadian provinces! (Thankfully not mine though which means that hognoses are completely legal where I live, yay!) Rosy boas are unfortunately hard to find here, and so are pygmy pythons (which are from Australia, and not from the Perth region as their name seems to suggest.) Hognoses are easy to find - but only if you want a fancy colour morph, which I don't. I love the regular wild type morph of hognose but so far I haven't seen any available in Canada. (The fancy morphs are considerably more expensive, like $200+ more at least.)

Considering my hiking hobby a snake who as an adult only needs feeding once every 1-2 weeks and a clean, topped up water dish is pretty ideal. Top entry enclosures like mine aren't ideal for snakes (reaching down to grab them is too much like a bird of prey swooping down on top of them,) but I just need to check myself over how I reach for the snake friend. All three species of consideration are relatively docile, with the hognose being likely the best. Considering Clint's Reptiles and Wickens Wicked Reptiles' enclosure size recommendations I feel confident that Diego's 20 gallon long enclosure would be just fine especially for a male hognose (which is twice the size of the 10 gallon that some recommend.)

A garter snake would fit too however a larger enclosure would be better, especially so that I could keep more than one as unlike most other snakes, garter snakes are social beings who appreciate having garter snake friends.

Why specifically a male snake? Male snakes are significantly smaller than females.

I'm not interested in a tricolour hognose (Xenodon pulcher) as they do not live long enough. (5-8 years at best is ow, especially for an animal that would cost $400+ here. Nope, hard pass.)

- Get another lizard, but not a leopard gecko (nothing against my beautiful late Diego but I simply don't want another leopard gecko.) So far my favourite option for this is the completely gorgeous Schneider's Skink (Eumaces schneider.) At first I really wasn't considering another lizard but watching Reptiliatus' videos of feeding his tokay geckos made me realize that I actually really miss feeding Diego and watching her hunt her crickets. Skinks tend to be personable and friendly; I'm still researching what other options might exist.

Bonus points for ease of care for my dad whenever I'm away. He's probably more comfortable dumping a bunch of crickets into a lizard's home than feeding dead rodents to a snake if I am gone for a long time as I would be should I succeed someday in returning to Scotland to finish the Scottish National Trail (and potentially hike the Hebridean Way.)

- Stow away the 20 gallon and get a bigger enclosure for a larger reptillian friend. I'm not going to lie, a Ball Pythons (Python regius,) would be awesome and their particularly slow metabolism would be ideal for my thruhiking hobby (some adults only eat once every three weeks.) I also really like Pueblan Milksnakes (Lambropeltis triangulum campbelli,) and Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes (Lambropeltis pyromelana)! In fact, a Pueblan Milksnake is probably my dream snake - I'd feel happy every single time that I looked at that thing.

Alternatively I could adopt a tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) because they are not only beautiful but hilarious but since they are vocal geckos I'd probably have to keep it in my room.

Downside to an animal requiring a whole bigger enclosure: I'm not... financially well at the moment. This will change eventually, but right now? Right now things are hard.

But building an enclosure from scratch woukd also be really fun!

Wait, aren't fish really high maintenance? No, not really, not when you have automated systems in place like I do already and plan to add. An automatic feeder will eventually give my fish a daily breakfast meal of mixed pellets (currently a blend of Vitalis, Piscene Energetics, Fauna Marin and Northfin carnivore/clownfish diets,) an Automatic Top Off system guards my salinity against evaporation, my lighting is programmed with a full day/night cycle and an Inkbird temperature controller regulates the temperature of my water. My USB air pump will keep running and oxygenating my water for up to 36 hours in the event of a power outtage. All the coral species which I plan to keep are photosynthetic so they don't need to be fed actual food for their survival while I am away. My fish won't get any tasty frozen food when I am gone but they will have the pellets to munch on as well as the tiny live copepods which also call my reef home. For maintaining water chemistry I have extensive rockwork and porous media for biological filtration and I will soon be introducing macroalgae to one of my filter compartments. (Plants are the original filters and will - along with my future corals - lap up my nitrates and phosphates like greedy puppies.) Additionally, I have other plans for autominously maintaining other properties of my water and I will be purchasing a chiller before next summer (because fans suck at cooling aquarium water.)

If I do adopt another reptile I will be giving it UVB as well as a bioactive setup just like Diego had. Due to Keplar's very strong prey drive and my tendancy to deeply bond with my pets rodents are not on option for me as pets. I will be fortifying the terrarium similar to how I have fortified my reef tank against Keplar being a pest to my other animals.

I also have vague plans to build or buy some taller, better stands so that he can't go nose-to-nose with my non-feline pets anymore.

(Keplar is so cute but he is such a pest to non-feline organisms.)

[ratsoh-writes]

"Pftheheheh! The little guy made himself a home in there huh? Do you have a tank so we can drop him in there or should we return him to the ocean?" She picked up the jewel that was supposed to go into the hole. "Hehe, well at least we found the case of the missing jewel that was suppose to be there."

Fisher picks up the crab who’s valiantly snapping its claws at him

Fisher: pff I do, hold on it’s in my room-

He shortcuts and comes back with a little fish tank holding a few small reef fish. He puts the crab in and named it “sir courageous”. The crab keeps making snapping motions at you two from inside the tank, not even trying to hide lol

Fisher: don’t worry I can release him later, unless you wanna keep him?

[thebrackishtank]

Okay with that last ask in mind, let me give my personal rundown on keeping crustaceans in community tanks:

Shrimp: Can work, provided that you don't keep with any other organisms big enough to eat them. There are a few exceptions - the genus Macrobrachium (Long Armed Shrimps) can often be terrors.

Hermit Crabs: The smaller species are usually good in fish only systems, unless you keep puffers, triggers, burrfish, Snowflake Eels, or other crustacean eaters. Keeping in reef systems is hit or miss as even smaller species can prey on your cnidarians. Blue Leggeds and Blue Cortez are often safe bets. Your biggest hermits of 6 or more inches across are unsuitable for keeping with fish or cnidarians.

Lobsters: Putting aside the "real" Lobsters which are just about unsuitable for keeping period, the Reef Lobsters are at best inconsistent. Smaller ones may work for you but a rule of thumb I've been told is not to trust any lobster above 4 inches. I think that's sound advice.

Crabs: The vast majority of Crabs are poor choices for keeping in community settings. Fiddlers are universally fine from a perspective of not hurting your fish, Thai Micro Crabs are fine too, and Pom Pom Crabs are usually safe. Minus a few other exceptions, I'd avoid them all.

Crayfish: Crayfish are heavily armored, armed to the teeth, and aggressive. I don't trust them with fish or plants or other inverts. One exception is the genus Cambarellus, which is small and usually safe with fish. But only small fish as they are very easy for mid-sized fish to eat.

Mantis Shrimp: separated into "smashers" or "spearers" on whether they specialize in hunting mollusks or fish, neither are safe in communities. They are opportunistic and I wouldn't keep with other tank life you are attached to (maybe aside from some Starfish species).

[theshrimpfather]

What dose do I need?

What dose do I need?

In tank keeping there are three categories of dosing. You have dosing to give your tank something that is missing such as carbon or magnesium. Then you have dosing to fix something such as getting ride or ammonia or ick on fish. Then finally you have dosing to feed, some coral and plants need fertilizer and other chemicals added to the water so that they can eat and grow.

I Hate Sick Fish

When fish get sick or when your coral are not doing well it is sad. Often times months or years of progress feels as if it is slipping from your hands. Luckily for you there are ways to treat sick fish and to bring coral back from the depths. To heal coral most of the time it is easy as doing a coral dip. A coral dip is really as easy as the name sounds. Remove the coral from tank and place it is a Dip solution and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

Now when dealing with sick fish often times you run into one of two issues. That is either ick or velvet. Both are death sentences for the fish if not treated right. To treat velvet, you must place the fish in a hydrogen peroxide solution then hope and pray it kills it off.  Often times a fish may have velvet when you buy it, and the stress in the bag and a new tank causes it to come out and kill the fish[1]. The same can be said to ick, but in this case ick sometimes will live in the water as a form of bacteria. Most fish always have some level of ick in them, but stress and other factors can cause it to manifest into a full blown infection.

Dang These Coral are Hungry

Coral and some colored plants often leach a lot of nutrient out of the water. They require these nutrients to grow and form there structure. For coral it is most common to see a lack of calcium and magnesium in the tank. Most SPS and LPS style coral need a lot of calcium to grow there pretty and intricate structures that we see. The same can also be said for plants that have a lot of red in them. The red color in plants requires a high level or nutrients to support the plants photoreceptors.

Coral also need to be fed. Unlike plants that receive there food from the “sun” aka a light. Coral need a secondary source of food as well. This can come in many forms. I personally use something called Reef Roids. This is a powder to which you add water then dose the tank with the slurry that was just made. While these may not be the best on the market they work extremely well for my application.

Don’t Over Do It

At the end of the day you have to dose to make the tank perfect, that being said you can over do it. Adding too much of a good thing can throw off other values. For example, if you were to overfeed your coral you would more than likely have a nitrite spike later on in the day. Finding the right balance that works for you is key.

[1] https://www.thesprucepets.com/velvet-in-aquarium-fish-5248622

[kkbarksdale]

Day 4-  St. Thomas Excursions

Tuesday, May 2nd, 2023

Day 4 was when we met up with Cody’s friends Austin and Natalie, and had 2 excursions planned in St. Thomas. We started our morning with our usual routine of walking down the hill to Lattes in Paradise, and then working out back on the deck of our villa. We had an 11 am SeaTrek excursion awaiting us at Coral World. This was one excursion that we signed up for pretty last minute, because we weren’t sure if we wanted to do it or not. We finally decided to bite the bullet because why not. Here is a link to the Coral World website so that you can see what we were doing: https://coralworldvi.com/experiences/sea-trek/ 

We headed over to Coral World early to check out the park and figure out parking. The towing sticker on our Jeep the day before really freaked us out. The area around Coral World was pretty local aka sketchy, and also busy. We were very worried about our belongings and car, but Coral World itself was very safe and secluded. We had to sign a scary waiver and we headed in to explore Coral World and wait for Austin and Natalie. Coral World is fairly small but it is a sanctuary for rehabilitated animals and also the coral reef. There were iguanas all over the park, and this was Cody and I’s first time seeing them! Coral World had multiple big sea turtles, an aviary cage, a shark tank, and multiple other exhibits that we did not get to check out. We met up with our friends and headed over to the Sea Trek experience. All of the dive instructors were so helpful, reassuring, informative, knowledgable and professional. Many of the women in the group confessed to being nervous about the claustrophobia and he guided us through how to handle that. I felt safe knowing that I wasn’t the only person who was nervous.  They gave us crocs to wear on the sea floor, and locked our belongings in a safe place. We headed down to enter the water.

The SeaTrek helmets were 75 pounds when above the water  and 15 pounds when under the water. Also long as you stood upright, the helmet would not obtain water. If you did end up tilting your head and water came in the helmet, you just had to stand back upright and the water would level out. When descended into the 20 foot deep water by a ladder. It was an unreal experience that feels hard to describe unless you are experiencing it for yourself. Being that submerged underneath the surface makes you feel weightless. It was important to hold onto the railing so that you did not wander into the reef. There were 2 guides in the water with us, so there was no stress about safety. The helmets felt like large fishbowls on our heads and the peripheral vision did hinder your sight. You could breath very normally, and I would say that the only downside was the pain of the elevation change in our ear drums. It personally took me half of the experience to adjust my ears from the pressure. It was such a cool experience and we all were reeling with awe at the excitement of being on the ocean floor. There were fish all around us and many pretty pieces of coral. We saw so many cute, colorful fish, and even got to hold a sea star. He was very squirrely and was missing a leg. My favorite fish that we saw was a pretty light blue color. He was about a half a foot long. The experience only lasted about 20 minutes as we just circled around a small coral reef, however it was surprisingly plenty of time. We all had so much fun doing something so unique that the time under water didn’t even matter. When we all surfaced, we all bonded over how cool and exciting the SeaTrek was. In our group, we had an older couple and also a younger couple who were honeymooning. The older couple was so sweet and friendly. They gave us some wedding advice that I appreciated. They said that your spouse will change over time, and it is important that you know you are vowing to be with them during every person they become. We all checked out the gift shop and pictures that were taken during our SeaTrek excursion. I purchased some gifts for my neices and Natalie ended up gifting us the SeaTrek pictures! After Coral World, we headed 2 minutes down the road to Coki Beach. 

Coki Beach was the local beach and boy, was it lit. The parking lot was jam packed, and the bars were blasting rap music. They had a beach bartender that we ordered drinks from. There were local people selling all sorts of items, including an array of drugs. We were very worried about the safety of our belongings at the beach upon arriving, but once we left, we realized that the locals were just trying to make money and weren’t any sort of threat at all. It was around this time during our trip that we started to realize that St. Thomas was a pretty safe place and most threats of theft or vandalism were actually irrational. Cody and I enjoyed catching up with our friends Natalie and Austin, and we hung out in the sun and water for a while. We finally decided to part ways for dinner. I was very sad about the end of Cody and I’s alone time/the first leg of our trip, so we decided to get dinner on our own. Cody made some pan fried scallops that were quite tasty! After dinner, we still ahd 1 more excursion to attend with our friends-night kayaking!

Night kayaking was such a cool excursion and ended up being my favorite thing we did! The excursion was at the Marriott Frenchman’s Cove at 8:30pm. This was the latest Cody and I had stayed up yet on our trip. Cody and I were pretty mesmerized when getting to the Marriott. This was the first time we had been on one of the nice resorts. We recieved the craziest directions from the man at the gate. Needless to say, not only did Cody and I get a little lost but so did Austin and Natalie. It was fun wandering on the Marriott. It was karaoke night and all drunk poolside guests were having a blast. Cody and I hung out in a hammock for a bit, and it was so peaceful. We had a great view of Charlotte Amalie at night, and it was so pretty. Our tour guide was named LeighAnn, and she was a student at the University of the VI. She was such a character. She was looking to get her master’s and specialize in octopus behaviors. She made our excursion so much fun and I learned so many fun facts from her that I will never forget. The night kayaking had LED lights underneath the clear bottoms of the kayaks. This not only lit up the ocean floor but the lights also attracted plankton and bait fish that further attracted the predator fish such as tarpon. We pretty immediately saw a few big, shiny tarpon underneath our boat. LeighAnn ended up telling us later that they name all of the animals and the tarpon following us around was named Terry or Terrance and that he was the most consist for her. 

We paddled over some reefs and ended in a lagoon. Natalie spotted our first big animal, a brown stingray! We learned that this species of sting ray has the same skin as humans and will actually tan and get burnt just like humans. Getting sunburnt will actually kill them if severe. This sting ray was named Lasagna and was part of a whole family of sting rays in that bay. He is part of litter from his mom Ramona, and has a sibling named Ravioli. Another fun fact we learned was that if you step on or get stabbed by a sea urchin, you shouldn’t go to the hospital. In LeighAnn’s words, they will laugh at you and take your money. Apparently, sea urchins have a toxin that is uncomfortable to humans but it is not dangerous or poisonous. The toxin just makes humans uncomfortable. You also shouldn’t pull the spine out, as they are of a ceramic substance. Pulling the spine out could result in it shattering. The only thing you can do to assist with a sea urchin stab is to soak the body part in a ammonia based substance such as vinegar to aleviate the pain. We then paddled back over to the over side of the lagoon to look for turtles! LeighAnn educated us about sea turtles and their habits, and said they were multiple that lied in that area. While looking for the turtles, I spotted a beautiful, bright red conch shell. Around this time, LeaighAnn spotted our first and only turtle. He was a little guy about the size of your palm, and his name was Lewis Jr. He was so cute! He was the only turtle we saw and he was well worth it! After seeing our one and only baby turtle, we spotted Ramona’s baby pup! LeighAnn asked us if we had any name suggestions for the baby sting ray. I had 2 suggestions: Spaghetti and Meatball. We all agreed that Meatball was a cool name, so LeighAnn coined that his name! We ended our night kayaking with 1 more cool thing. We hung out in our boats by the pier and waiting fr the tarpon feeding frenzy. Apparently there are tons of bait fish by the pier and hanging out there with the LED light will cause them to accumulate. This causes the tarpon to go into a feeding frenzy. They have a learned behavior from the night kayaking tours. They will dart really fast at the LED light which will stun the fish, making them able to eat more fish! It was pretty wild watching the tarpon dodge really fast right at our boat. All the while, little Meatball sat under our kayak watching. This excursion was one of my favorites due to how unique the experience was and I felt like I learned alot. This pretty much concluded our day and we were now ready to see all of friends and family coming in on Wednesday!

[tauforged]

What’s your favourite thing about fish

i really really love how many fishes can trans their gender, either due to environmental pressures or just as part of their life cycle. did you know all clownfish are born as males and will only transition into a female if there isn’t one already present in their current territory, as female clownfish are generally super aggressive and territorial? it’s really fascinating. they’re also very protective parents. one of the marine biology books i’ve been reading lately, the world beneath by dr. richard smith (really wonderful read btw, the photography is phenomenal) recounts an incident where a particularly aggressive female repeatedly attacked and chased a human diver who had stumbled onto her host anemone. they’re stubborn little bastards

we had a fancy clownfish at my old job - pretty sure she was an off-morph wyoming white, but came in as an ‘assorted fancy’ - who was an absolute menace. she was still very small but was the largest of the three she had shipped in with, so we assumed she might be a female and kept an eye out to make sure she didn’t bully anyone - within a few days she had killed all the other fish in her tank. i caught her in the act once - the other clown was minding its own business and she snuck up behind him, latched onto his underside right below the gills (basically went for the throat) and thrashed him like a rag doll. in the few seconds i’d ran to grab a net and opened the tank lid to try and separate them so i could move him somewhere else, he was already done. we called her michael myers and she was a mean little fucker. she used to bite my hands every time i cleaned her tank - not little curious nibbles like other fish did, either. she would open her little jaw as wide as she could and charge at me full speed and clamp down with all the muscle in her little body. she hated everyone so much and it was awesome.

we ended up selling her to a very chatty older man who came in one day looking for just one clownfish for his nano reef - we informed him that she had to be kept solo for the foreseeable future because she was a cold blooded killer and he grinned and was like “perfect! i love when they’ve got big personalities!” and proceeded to tell me stories about his previous clownfish, a big old ocellaris who taught herself how to spit water at him in order to beg for food. i quit not long after this happened for unrelated reasons, and a few months later i ran into him again during my stint working at trader joe’s and he was so happy to see me again. he’d been buying frozen shrimp “half for me, half for the fish”.

that’s my second favorite thing about fish is that the most fascinating kinds of people keep them. i had a lot of problem customers over the years at petco, but i met a lot of really cool people too. probably the only thing i miss about that job tbh

[lunasilvis]

I don’t shop jewelry or fancy clothes anymore, I shop colorful corals and anemones from Timor Sea regions :~) 🌏🦪

[celesticadream]

maaaan after going to a marine biology high school and caring for a 300 gallon coral reef tank for years there, conducting coral propagation for conservation purposes in a report that got presented at a natl conterence, and studying corals irl in bermuda, i really regret not going to college for it sometimes.

i miss science, esp marine science, so fucking much i cant even tell you