#like you could be cleaning up the beach or some river

[finsplurtz]

clear waters — megumi.fushiguro

— dom ! male.reader x sub ! Megumi Fushiguro

— contents : would this count as tsundere Megumi , beach day yayyy , nipple touch jaja , fucking in the water , edging , ahegao ‘gumi if you squint , probably a mix of degradation and praise

warnings : uhm yn kinda touchy idfk

✩°｡ ⋆⸜ 🎧✮

It was summer time, the sun was fucking hot as balls and everyone took the opportunity to travel.

So did jjk sorcerers. They work harddd and they don’t always get to have fun when exorcizing these curses, so a fun vacation would be nice.

They all joined in, like family! Fun little family trip to a beautiful river with clean water.

For some reason, Megumi seemed upset with a certain someone. I mean he always has a pissed off face but he was completely ignoring yn and instead talking with his other friends like Itadori and Nobara.

Some people had already gotten in the water while the others set up some towels and stuff. Megumi excused himself and headed to a bathroom near by.

He entered without looking if anyone was inside and once he locked the door he looked up to see yn looking at himself in the mirror.

“Megumi-“ The sorcerer quickly tried to get out but was pulled back into a bear hug.

“Baby…what’s wrong..? Did I do something wrong..” yn kissed Megumi’s shoulder making him go all flustered.

“I told you not to be obvious in public about our relationship. You…don’t listen.” Megumi stopped struggling and yn ran his hands over Megumi’s bare stomach and chest.

“It was a simple hug ‘gumi. I hug ita’ and Satoru..thought I could hug you….” Yn whispered tightening his arms.

“Mm..well you can’t. Not in front of others” Megumi squeezed out of yn’s arms and went over to fix himself in the mirror. Yn smirked and lazily wrapped his arms around Megumi’s waist.

He whispered about random things as his hands slowly massaged Megumi’s crotch making him squeak and push his ass back into yn, pushing him away.

“Stop doing..that..” He blushed finally leaving the restroom.

By now everyone was changed into their bathing suits, the guys in shorts, and practically already sweating due to the burning sun.

Yn had a towel where he put his, Yuji’s and Megumi’s stuff.

“YN CAN YOU PUT SUNSCREEN ON ME” Yuji asked, yn smiled and tapped on the towel.

He gently rubbed Yuji’s cheeks and nose with sun screen and he went to put some on his back.

Megumi watched as Yuji tilted his head relaxed as yn massaged his neck and shoulders.

He rolled his eyes and went to grab Yuji’s arm, he yanked him out of his spot and sat himself in front of yn. Yuji laughed and shouted a thank you before scurrying off.

“My turn” Megumi said.

“What do you sayyy…”

Megumi scoffed and was about to get up before yn held him down and told him to forget about it. He begun to rub some sunscreen onto Megumi who slumped a bit, he must be sleepy..

While no one was looking yn quickly flicked Megumi’s nipple who flinched and glared at his lover who just smiled innocently.

After some time of eating and messing around, they started to go into the water. some of the others were playing volleyball while Megumi just sat in the shallow water refusing to get himself anymore wet.

“‘Gumi ! Come into the water” yn called while the sorcerer ignored him. Yn sighed and went to sit next to Megumi.

“Afraid of the water?” He teased.

Megumi just grabbed some sand and threw it at the older who covered his face in time.

“So mean…fine I’ll leave ya alone” yn shrugged and went back into the water to attack his pink haired friend while Megumi glare, annoyed.

A couple minutes go by and yn is just watching the sunset all alone in the deep waters, feels nice:)

Megumi saw and sighed, he went into the water. Yn flinched when he felt someone grab his hand under water. He turned to see Megumi and smiled slowly leaning in before stopping when Megumi looked away flustered.

Yn looked around and dragged Megumi to where the others weren’t visible and they were still in deep water.

“Now no one can see us, hm?” Yn smirked while Megumi draped his arms around yns neck and hesitantly kissed him. Already it was a deep kiss.

Yn’s hands went into Megumi’s shorts and he dipped his finger into gumi’s hole making him wince.

“Wait- feels weird..”

“It’s still loose from last night…. quickie?~”

Megumi n opened his mouth to respond but no words fell. Yn took Megumi’s shorts off and placed it on a nearby rock.

With one hand he held one of Megumi’s legs up and prodded his dick at his entrance.

“Ngh-!” Fushiguro bit the inside of his cheek and rolled his eyes feeling yn completely enter him, he loved the that no matter how loose he was, he’d still stretch.

Fushiguro held onto yn by wrapping his legs around the his waist.

“Just like that and your mean act is gone…” Megumi couldn’t even snap back because he moaned at the feeling of yn pounding into him slowly.

“Haa..feels…” Megumi couldn’t finish his sentence as he covered his mouth with his hand. Yn had a tight grip on the guys hips and started thrusting into him at a faster pace.

“Mm! Mmmphh..~” Megumi’s pretty eyes fluttered shut as his prostate continued to get abused by yn’s bigger cock.

Yn wrapped his hand around ‘gumi’s cock and pumped at it making him whine and twitch.

“I-if you keep..unngh~ gonna c..come..” Just before he could release yn abruptly stopped and took his hand off Megumi’s cock making him cry.

“N..no…please, yn..”

“Please what…? Look at me ‘gumi baby..” Megumi’s face was crimson red as he nervously looked at yn.

“You don’t get to be a total bitch today..and expect me to give you what you want…I mean it’s only fair if I don’t, right?” Tears fell from Megumi’s eyes as he nodded pathetically.

“Don’t cry. You don’t have any reason to do so..” yn wiped away the tears holding back a smirk.

“That’s just how it’s gonna work” yn smiled and kissed the corner of Megumi’s lips.

He began fucking his pretty boy again who moaned into his ear. They kept going till Megumi’s was close again.

“Ugh- fuck please let me c-“ another stop, Megumi let out a broken sob as he dug his nails into yn’s shoulders.

“Hehe..you’re so cute ‘gumi..it’s insane how I can see parts of you no other person can… if only Yuji could see how much of a mess you’ve become just from my dick..” yn chuckled, Megumi felt his dick twitch and he was getting louder.

“Say sorry for today hon…” yn cooed running his hands over Megumi’s thighs.

“S-sorry…” Megumi said just above a whisper.

“For?”

“..for today…”

“One more time baby..”

“I’m s-sorry for today…” Megumi let out a small cry.

“Now what do you want?”

.

.

.

“Want you to f-fuck me…”

Yn wrapped his hand around the sorcerer’s throat and squeezed it a bit, he looked straight into his boyfriends eyes.

“That’s it..?~” he titled his head.

“Want y-you to fuck me till you cum d..deep inside my fuck-in’ boy pussy…~�� Megumi choked a bit on his words, trying his best to smile.

Yn roughly kissed the black haired boy and a loud moan ripped from ‘gumi’s throat when yn pounded into him like a fucking animal raa

“AGH-! MMPH S’ TOO M..CH~” Megumi tangled his fingers into yn’s hair as he let out whorish moans.

“Yeah?~ wanna cum my sweet boy..?” Yn could see hearts in Megumi’s eyes as he nodded.

“Pleaaseee~! Oh fuck ‘m so close..don’t stop please don’t fuckin’ stop- AUGH—“ Megumi clenched around yn’s cock as cum ripped out of his cock. His tongue lolled out, letting his shaky moans fall into yn’s palm who laughed nervously.

Yn nuzzled his face into Megumi’s neck filling him up with his hot liquids.

They stood still for a bit…

“Really hope nobody heard you, love…” yn kissed Megumi’s neck who hummed lazily.

Yn pulled out and he saw the water around them slightly turn white as his cum left Megumi’s hole.

They quickly cleaned up and Megumi put his shorts on. Yn held Megumi’s hand and took him back to where the others were.

They asked where they had been but yn just responded with ‘went exploring the deep ocean’ and he helped get Megumi out of the water.

They went to the bathroom where yn helped clean Megumi a little better.

“You did well, ‘gumi. My good boy..” yn littered kisses all over Megumi’s face, neck n body while he just tiredly let yn take care of him.

His mind was still hazy so everything felt like mush. He liked the feeling of yn’s bigger hands roaming his smaller body.

Once they got back yn just sat on one of the beach chairs while Megumi sat in his lap and fell asleep with his face hidden in the crook of his neck.

“Woah- is he okay ?” Gojo asked.

“Yup, he’s just tired from all the swimming” yn smiled gently drawing circles on Megumi’s skin with his fingertips.

They all decided to leave at like 8pm, it was pretty dark but they all enjoyed their time. They changed and got back in their bus deciding to stop by a random barbecue place to eat.

Megumi’s eyes were closed the whole time as yn fed him like a baby. Nobody was really paying attention, too busy bickering about whatever. Megumi was freaking out over nothing…

Once they got home they went straight to sleep all cuddled up.

And they fucked

a/n; ermmmm this is kinda cringe.. anyways megumi so cute whattt ALSO MANY YUJI FICS COMING ppl rlly like him

[viharbinger]

Hear me out. . . Jin Sakai + childhood friends to lovers 🩷

Childhood Friends to Lovers

pairings: Jin Sakai x gn! reader

a/n: hi I have school on July 1st imma kms tbh 🥹

warnings: nothing, mentions of marriage?

masterlist

The young lord Sakai was a timid boy growing up. He grew more brave over the years, of course, but you were the highlight of it— by chasing him with bugs and scaring him with stories you heard from adults like a bear roaming around the village.

You first met near a river by the village when you saw him climbing up a tree. Being a chilvarous child, you followed him up, scaring him down the process. Let's say a few broken bones appeared when you both accidentally fell down.

As innocent as you look, his parents and Yuriko could not even begin to resent you for breaking his bones on accident because of how well you were bringing him out of his shell. They love that their only son was finally out there making friends.

However, you don't know his family that well since they seem to always be somewhere else whenever you're around. But whenever you do get to visit, Yuriko will always be there handing out snacks and taking care of you like you're also part of clan Sakai.

She'd comb your hair so it was neat and tidy when she's finished with Jin's, clean your clothes when it's muddy after playing with Jin— you're practically family!

Over the years as you grew up, there was definitely some romantic tension around, almost kisses here and there, and definitely a lot of hand holding. Jin does sees this, but he doesn't do anything yet as he's simply too busy to advance further in your relationship. But of course, you're not going to let that slide.

Finally when the time was right, Jin was back at home in Omi village and had spare time. Let's say that you gave him a kiss or two and it all worked out. He was also uncharacteristically smiling the whole day after that, you'd think he was a different man.

The first kiss was honestly a test on the waters, you did it first to see if he was fine with it. He was surprised at first, speechless, in fact. It almost made you chicken out and started apologising for trying to make an advance on Lord Sakai. "I'm sorry. Keep going." He says, blinking out of the trance you put him in, cheeks flush. And you kissed him a second time. And another. And another one longer than that one. It's like you're teenagers learning to kiss for the first time. Which probably was true on his part.

Everytime you meet now, he's greeting you by kissing your hands, and caressing them softly. It's like your playful and messy friendship changed completely to a beautifully romantic one. Sometimes, you even get the surprise of Jin bringing you back a gift from his travels. Maybe a poem? Flowers? Or something you like?

The next thing he's thinking about is marrying you, honestly. You seem to be the only person to be able to capture his heart and keep it full, he's not gonna let you get away!

And when the samurais on Komoda beach fell and Jin barely came out alive, he went to you as soon as he could. He needed to know if you were okay. If his best friend and partner was okay. "Jin.. You're alive." You hugged him tightly, dropping the bags of goods on the floor.

"Of course." He whispers, hugging you right back, pressing a firm kiss to your temple. "But how? I heard every samurai died. I was about to prepare your funeral." You laugh cry, wiping the sharp painful tears away.

"I'm here now, just like always." He tucks a stray hair away from your face, watching as your expression changes from upset to happy. He's right, he has always been with you. Since you were just a little child, he's always been.

[thegreatestsandwich]

Hi! Could you write something for Namor? Like the reader is a witch or something and she always knew they would end up together? I love your fics so much!

I think I know where you belong (Namor x Soulmate!witch!reader)

Masterlist

Pairing: Namor x soulmate!witch!reader

Word count: 409 words

Summary: Just like every friday night, your soulmate decided to stupidly hurt himself, making you go to the same process.

Warning: Experience the hurt of Namor, plus you want to beat his ass, but other than that, everything's fine ;)

A/N: I almost done with the requests! Jesus, that was a long journey...more Xavier Thorpe?

Coments, Reblogs and Asks are happily received! I love to read your lovely coments :)

You closed your eyes as you felt the pain on your back it wasn’t the first time you were hurt, just half an hour ago your ankle began throbbing with pain, you didn’t even need to use your powers to know that your soulmate was terribly hurt. You couldn’t help but hissed at the severity of the burns on your back. Your hand reached back to gently touch one of the burns.

“Damn it.” You whispered tightly, walking towards the bathroom. “What did you do now, my love?” Your eyes kept looking at the mirror as your fingers began dancing softly through the air. “I swear to God that I will personally kill you myself if you continue being this reckless.”

The wounds began closing slowly and you hoped his were closing as well. After the last one healed you couldn’t help but sighed, turning off the light and walking to your room, keeling in front of your bed and taking out a box. Your hands quickly looked for a mirror, your shoulders relaxing when you took it out and stared at it.

He was slightly illuminated as he attended to his wounds and you couldn’t help but smile at how bad he was. You flinched when he applied something that resembled like a cream to his back. You hissed when he tensed. “What did you expect? You didn’t even cleaned if properly, Idiot.” You mumble with tenderness. You saw how he sighed, his dark eyes completely tired with whatever he did. You wanted to be there but it wasn’t time yet. “Don’t worry my love, only twenty-four days and we’ll meet.” Your fingers traced his face. “And I will beat your ass for everything you had put me through, you hear me?”

Sometimes you just pulled out your mirror to watch him, yes, it was a bit creepy but it was the only way to keep tabs on him, you didn’t know where he lived, he often appeared completely drench so you suspected he was closer to some sort of beach or river, perhaps a swamp. Plus, he being almost (completely, I mean, c’mon.) naked helped you to come up to that conclusion.

“Jesus Christ, you really suck at that…thank goodness you have a witch as your soulmate because you would be completely lost.” You laughed when he threw the cream across the room. Yeah, you will totally be happy to help him out…after beating his ass first.

[balkanradfem]

Since I found the youtube channel of a cool woman who identifies and collects rocks, I've been reading up on rocks, and I gathered some new knowledge! Maybe this is already commonly known but I just discovered it, so I got excited about it!

One of the first rock facts that I find super cool is that many rocks, that can be commonly found outside, are pieces of cooled down lava! Granite, for example, is an igenious rock, which means it was created from lava, and I had no idea, I didn't know I could hold a piece of tamed lava in my hands, it feels powerful and special. Reading more about igenious (lava) rocks led me to the information that 95% of the earth crust is cooled lava, and most of the oceanic crust as well! Floor is literally lava, the children are correct, we are all walking on tons of lava every day, nobody told me this?? Everything under the ocean floor is also lava? I am so close to lava at every point on my life. This is a cool lava planet.

Another cool thing I didn't know is how many awesome rocks you can find outside; I've found out that out of the rocks I've been collecting for fun, a few of them seem to be pieces of quartz! I'm not sure if they are, because I've only started to identify it, but they are white and half-transparent, if you shine a light trough them, you can see inside the rock, sometimes there's brown coloring inside as well. So quartz is cool because it's one of the hardest materials out there (7 on the hardness scale, diamond is 10); you can't scratch it with steel, but it is capable of damaging both iron and steel. To test this, I used a stainless steel pan I found in the river earlier, and I tried to scratch it – the quartz rock stratched it immediately! (don't worry, it wasn't a pan I use). Apparently because of this hardness, quartz can be used as a flint – if you rub it against steel, it will expose the iron inside, iron will react with oxygen, making a spark, and that's how you can start a fire. I've tried this with my pan, but found that the noise was so awful, I stopped before making a spark.

Okay so now that we know about quartz and how cool and transparent it is, nows the time for another very cool info – most of the sand out there is made out of tiny particles of quartz. This, to me, finally solved the mystery of how glass is made, because I knew it was made from melting sand, but that made no sense to me, why would sand become transparent in its melted state? It seemed illogical, BUT, if the sand itself is made from a transparent crystal, then it makes all kinds of sense it would become completely transparent when melted and cleaned out of all impurities. It also means glass is completely natural since it just comes from quartz, I was so happy to know this! Glass is chemically different from quartz, it's not as hard (5.5 on the hardness scale), can be scratched, so it's less cool, but more transparent.

Lots of rocks underground end up under high temperatures and pressure, and sometimes they melt and band together, making 'metamorphic rocks', which sounds made up, but it's what we called them! In specific examples you can actually see layers of different colors, seeing where they melted and banded together, and they're called 'agates', they look colorful, artistic and special. I didn't think you could randomly find something like that outside – turns out you can, if you live in a specific location, or you're close to a river which carries these types of rocks around! I've maybe found one that looks like that, but again, can't identify it for sure, it could be a type of a jasper.

Jasper is a reddish brown type of stone that is also extremely hard, cannot be scratched by steel, and is completely non-transparent, no type of light can shine trough it. It's very common and easy to find! I realized I had a few pieces that are probably jasper, that I liked because of their deep brown color and how smooth they are. If you found a dark brown or red rock on a beach, it could be a jasper. They can also come in dark green, but these are rare! Jasper is also somehow a type of quartz, which just feels wrong.

A cool info I found on youtube was that polishing rocks to make them super shiny and reflective of light, is done by imitating how nature does it; if you find a smooth rock in nature, it's likely been in the river or sea, brushed by the waves and currents against the sand and all of the other rocks, to the point where its surface became smooth and shiny. So people invented a method called 'tumbling', where they put a bunch of rough rocks, sand, water, and some extra material like porcelain in a bucket, close the bucket, then put it in a machine that turns it round and round for about a month! They're taken out every week to be cleaned, then put back into the bucket to get more shine. After they're done tumbling, the rocks become smooth and clean and shiny, looking much more beautiful and satisfying for humans to touch.

One thing I did not know before is that all of the gems that are popular, like amethyst, carnelian, citrine, are all just different types of quartz with some other minerals inside that give them the beautiful color. Quartz really is that cool, she gave us everything.

These are the cool new facts about rocks I now know! If I've said something terminally wrong, please be kind in correcting me, I've learned all this 2 days ago. Incredibly excited to be able to point my finger at a rock outside and say it's name if it happens to be one of the 3 rocks I can now name (jasper, quartz and granite). If you have more cool knowledge about rocks, or know a source to read about it, please give me the link I am drowning on wikipedia.

[runawaycarouselhorse]

I found a new (to me--it's actually quite old!) heartwarming collection of cute, collection of fables/fairy tale-esque children's stories anime, Fukuyama Gekijou: Natsu no Himitsu [Fukuyama Theater: Summer Secret]--I found it via Pinterest because look at this adorably sweet mermaid design!!!

It's by one of my favourite artists ever, Fukuyama Keiko, who painted those touching scenes used for the end of Pikachu's Summer Vacation (yup, the first Pikachu pre-movie short!) and a lot of old Pokemon postcards! Osamu Tezuka fans will also know her as the artist of the Melmo-chan reboot manga! It's where this super cute bunny came from!!! I used to mistake it as something from Chibi Maruko-chan! It used to make the rounds on tumblr a lot.

The intro/narrative frame of little mice reading stories gives me the same so-heartwarming-it-makes-me-teary nostalgic feeling as Maple Town. (Side-note: so many punny references to Fukuyama-sensei's name everywhere!)

The rabbits' story is just bunny propoganda, poor wolf!! He's as pitiful as Tom! But I am very amused at the catchy song just trying to get kids to eat the veggies. See, the wolf is ugly because he hated carrots, but the bunnies are smart, because they love carrots, fff.

The longest story is a silly, Flintstones-esque story about cavemen living among dinosaurs, namely focusing on an aspiring artist (Henoheno), trying hard to make it big, supported by his friend (later wife ♡) Pink and dinosaur friend Shiro (Shiro also ends up a mom to many, many little dinos, but the father amusingly isn't shown, Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Short, pfft.) Also, there's a famous established artist called (Moheji.) Yes, his and the lead's names are puns on the henohenomoheji doodle. As you can tell by the disclaimer, you are not to take this anachronistic story too seriously, it's just a sweet, funny, uplifting little story!

This little punk in the End of Semester Cleaning Contest story is very funny. Cute story. I did worry it'd take a dark turn when he fell down the stairs (they even had him wonder if maybe he died whe he fell), but no, it ended nicely... even if it's a little bittersweet.

There's some shorter stories that are mostly songs (another one about rabbits sung by a kindergartener and one song about yearning for love starring a little black dog named Kuro who does find a home!), and the last story is easily my other favourite after the mermaid story, and I'm so glad it was a longer one too... it's a very poignant story.

The Origami Princess is a little like Thumbelina, but very Japanese. A little girl, with her mother's help, makes an origami princess, but before she could go to the beach, she falls sick, so sends the princess in her place, floating her on a boat-shaped leaf down the river...

The princess is amazed by the beauty of the world and befriends a telescope goldfish (Kinguro), who was accidentally flushed while his tank was being cleaned, and he aids her as she seeks the sea, even as he warns her of the danger...

There's a dignity and grace in this story that's very beautiful.

(Also, tanuki statue spotted!)

[maddilynmuse]

The Midnight Snack Shack

In a shocking turn of events, I’m positing something on here before AO3… largely because I meant to write at least one other thing before this but oh well???? It’s fanfic, I can be a hedonist!

So let’s just consider it a Scriptfrin Saga Sneak Peak!

The gang are at Bambouch, and Mirabelle commits the sin of arriving late for dinner. There are no leftovers. As punishment for this offense, Siffrin does a little trolling on the way to seek out a restaurant.

Anyways, no real content warnings that I can think of, though tell me if you think I should tag one. That said, there are Spoilers for In Stars and Time. Please finish that before reading this! Also, while not necessarily required, this is technically part of a series.

Enjoy~

.

It’d been a wonderful day in Bambouch! Bonnie had (understandably) wanted some alone time with their sister, so that left everyone to wander about and do their own things. Mirabelle had had a lovely time talking to some of the other house maidens in the local house of change. One of them had taught her about this thing called surfing! She wasn’t very good at it yet, but it was still exciting! Even if being in the ocean was kind of scary? It was so big…

It wasn’t until the sun started to dip below the horizon that she realized how long she’d been out. Oh no oh no oh no! She had to get back to the others! What if she missed dinner?!

As she ran back, her worst fears were confirmed. She sprinted to Nile’s house only to see everyone cleaning up dishes…

“Crab- were there, um, leftovers?” she said, righting her bow upon on her head and trying to brush the salt off of her and suddenly very aware of the fact that she was dripping on the floor.

“No…” Bonnie said. “I thought you went to a restaurant or something. I mean, I always make some extra…”

“Buuuut I ended up wrestling some other dudes on the beach and worked up a huge appetite,” Isabeau said, flexing one of his arms.

“He is very good at it,” Sif purred, wiggling their eyebrows and putting a hand on Isa’s bicep.

Isabeau’s face darkened as he made a tea kettle sound. Huh, weird. Why would he get embarrassed about being good at wrestling? She could only assume it was a weird romance thing, but was wrestling romantic??? She hadn’t seen anyone propose via wrestling in her books (not that those were realistic), but…

Oh whatever. Boys will be boys.

“Well, that’s alright. I’ll figure something out, if that’s okay?” Mirabelle said. They had to have something lying around, right? If not, missing dinner wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t the worst thing that had happened to her. There might still be workarounds though! She could ask the neighbors or maybe the local house, maybe go fishing? She’d never fished in the ocean before, but it couldn’t be that different from fishing in a river, right?

(If she wasn’t quite so deep in thought, maybe she would’ve caught some of the sneaky smirks shared between her friends).

“Actually, I think I heard someone say that one of the restaurants here should still be open,” Siffrin said.

“Oh yeah! Is that still a thing, Nille?” Bonnie said.

“Unless it closed today, should be,” Nille said. “Think about eight thirty is when they change the locks.”

Mirabelle looked at the clock. It was around eight now, so that still gave her time! But it was getting pretty dark…

“Perfect. I think I remember where it is,” Siffrin said. “I’ll take you! Maybe I’ll get some dessert too~”

… she had no idea how to say nicely that she would prefer anyone but Siffrin to do so right now. She loved him deeply, but he had the memory of a goldfish sometimes. It was kind of concerning, actually??? She looked to the others in a desperate, silent plea for help, but apparently the exact opposite message got through.

“Great idea. You have the best night vision of all of us, after all,” Odile said.

“Yeah! And he’s, like, really great at finding stuff!” Isabeau added.

“I trust him completely to remember what I said before dinner,” Bonnie said with a grin. “No more telling needed!”

“Can you tell me anyways?” Mirabelle squeaked. Oh Change, please help her. As usual, her deity did absolutely nothing of note as Siffrin led her out the door.

“So… are you sure you know where you’re going?” Mirabelle said.

“Absolutely! I always remember everything.” He held his head high as he led the way.

“… not that I’m doubting you, but I think. This is. The way I came from?” The buildings looked familiar, and while she was not typically the navigator, she was pretty sure the setting sun being on the opposite side of her meant she was just heading backwards.

“And?”

“Siffrin, that’s the way to the ocean!”

“Yeah,” Siffrin said, not even missing a step.

Maybe this could still make sense? “Is the, um, the restaurant on the pier then?”

“Nope.”

…

“Siffrin. Why are we going to the ocean.”

“Thought you might want your clothes.“

Oh. Right, she was still wearing swim clothes! In her haste, she’d forgotten. How sweet of Siffrin- wait. “Siffrin, I-I mean, that’s very nice, so thank you! But we don’t have time! I’ll pay extra I’m sure they’ll forgive me dripping a little!” She’d chosen a one-piece that covered her well enough and even had a pretty skirt-thing, so it’s not like she was being indecent! “Besides, my clothes are at the house… I didn’t get changed on the sand in front of everyone…”

“Oh. Should we go there instead?”

Mirabelle’s eye twitched a little. “Siffrin! Restaurant!”

“Hehe, okay, okay.”

Hopefully that would be the end of it.

———

That was not the end of it. She loved Siffrin, she did. A lot of the time on their quest, his tendency to pick up random objects and inspect everything was useful! Vital even! And while a slight problem at times outside of questing, it was still endearing. But did he have to do that now? Sure, they hadn’t had any real sense of urgency in months, and she doubts he kept on his toes and rushed through every loop (she hopes he didn’t, that sounded exhausting), but she hadn’t realized you needed practice in it! Because why else would he be! So! STUBBORN!

“Hey look, this rock looks like a seashell!”

“Siffrin, that IS a seashell!” There were a million seashells! They were near the seashore!

“Oh. That makes sense!”

She was going to get… what did Odile call it? An ulcer. She was going to get an ulcer.

It didn’t help that people kept staring. One might think Mirabelle would be used to it by now, but this seemed more than usual??? The feeling of being watched put chills down her spine. The occasional whispering didn’t help either, but it was hard to hear over the occasional chatter.

Siffrin took a right and then stopped, turning to her, “Do you think anyone sells seashells?”

“Um, no? We’re by the seashore!”

“I think Odile could.”

“Even she can’t sell seashells by the she- um, sea sore- shore- SIFFRIN THIS IS NOT WHAT WE NEED TO BE DOING RIGHT NOW!”

Siffrin laughed and looked up at who knows what. “Oh, huh. It’s almost dark! We should get going.”

“Yes. Yes we should. Thank you, Siffrin.”

He decided to leisurely walk to wherever they were trying to go up until they got close enough to see someone by the door with her keys.

“NOOOOOOO!” Mirabelle moaned, running over. “Are you closed?! Were we too late? Oh please oh please tell me you have a few leftovers! I’ll pay extra!”

The person—a heavyset sort with skin a few shades lighter than Bonnie’s—gave her a sympathetic smile. “Sorry sweetie. No leftovers, I’m afraid.”

Her stomach chose then to grumble and she sunk dramatically to her knees.

The person locked eyes with Siffrin, both grinning, and chuckled, “We’re only just opening, a little early to have any leftovers!”

What.

Siffrin burst into laughter beside her. “Your face!”

WHAT?!

“Siffrin! Did you know?! Did you do did this on purpose?!”

“Mm hmm~!”

“Stars, you got her good, didn’tcha?” The woman said.

“SIFFRIN YOU- YOU…” she took a deep breath and LET IT ALL LOOSE, “YOU CRAB!”

“GAAAAAASP! BELLE SAID CRAB?!?!”

Mirabelle’s head snapped around. There, around the street corner, was…

“Bonnie?!”

“CRAB! GUYS! SHE SAW ME!”

“Aaaaand you just gave away everyone else,” Odile said as she also stepped out from the shadows. “A pretty good tailing session, I would say, but try not to be a sellout.”

“Oops,” Bonnie said.

“MADAME YOU’RE HERE TOO?!” Mirabelle said.

Siffrin was leaning against the wall he was laughing so hard. And the mystery person didn’t look much better.

“In my defense, I intended to see this supposed ‘Night Market’ with my own eyes,” Odile said. “Any amusement I got from watching you and Siffrin was simply an added bonus.”

Mirabelle stared into her soul, but Madame’s poker face remained as good as ever. “You knew.”

“Yes,” Odile said. “And I’m not going to be the only one to go down with this ship. Bonnie’s already sold us out. Show yourselves.”

Nille, Isabeau, and two strangers stepped from the shadows.

Mirabelle’s eye twitched. “HOW?! WHY?! WHY ARE YOU HERE AND HOW DID WE PICK UP MORE PEOPLE?!”

Nille held her hands up defensively, “I wasn’t letting Bonnie go out at night alone.”

“I wanted to feel included,” Isabeau said (and honestly that was so adorably earnest she couldn’t even be mad at him for it).

“Also, people saw us following you and called the defenders,” Bonnie said.

“Hi. That’s us!” One of the apparent defenders said. “So… you do actually know these people and are not passing charges on a group of stalkers?”

The other had become a few shades lighter. “Dude. I’m pretty sure these are the saviors.”

“What?”

To add further salt to the wound, someone else had come from inside the restaurant—a cook, presumably—and was surveying them all with a raised eyebrow and a chuckle. “Oh, they got you good good.”

“I think Sif’s dying,” Isabeau said jokingly.

Their rogue was on the ground absolutely wheezing, laughing so hard sound had stopped coming out.

“Death by laughter…” Odile said. “A new one, I take it?”

Siffrin made a hand gesture Mirabelle did not recognize at Odile, but did not stop.

Mira stared down at him. “Siffrin. You are my friend, and I love you. That’s why I’m giving you a three second head start to run.” She drew her rapier. “Three…”

That was apparently enough to make Siffrin hop up and start running, though he was still laughing so much he might as well have been drunk.

“Two…”

Almost immediately, he managed to trip on a rock and do an impressive cartwheel only to then hit a wall and scramble back up.

“One~!”

“DISTRACTION!!!” Bonnie shouted, tackling her.

“Oh! Bonnie! You wanted gotten too?” Mira said, smiling sweetly (knowing good and well she would never hurt them, or Sif for that matter, all in good fun!).

“CRAB!” Bonnie jumped off like she was a hot pan. “SCATTER! SHE CAN’T CATCH EVERYONE!!!”

The next few minutes were spent in the world’s most disorganized game of chase with the poor, baffled defenders trying to explain to passers by that it was just the saviors pranking each other which did somehow less than nothing to dissuade anyone from watching.

But eventually Mirabelle had to concede, leaning against the wall to catch her breath and, “Pfffff, hahahaha!”

“You laughed, so I’m off the hook~!” Siffrin said.

Mirabelle rolled her eyes, but was smiling. “Yes, yes. Okay, I’ll admit it, that was funny.” She stood up and brushed the dirt off the swim wear the best she could. “A little mean, but funny.”

The group congregated and laughed together. Siffrin in particular was absolutely beaming (it felt nice to see, more than worth it, even).

“Sorry,” Siffrin said, “But what can I say? I’m a professional little stinker!” They snickered. “Besides, it’s tradition to mess with unwary tourists!”

“Especially Vaugaurdians,” the person from before—the one who’d been at the door—said.

“Mm hmm! And tip well too,” Siffrin said. “I used to wait around the docks and do the same trick to people coming off the boats. Mom ‘officially’ told me to stop, buuuuut she’d sneak me some extra snacks when I lured them to the shop.”

Odile scribbled something down in her notebook, and Isabeau’s eyebrows went up…

But Mirabelle could only gasp. “Siffrin lore?! And! Using your mischief? For profit?! For shame!”

“What. I, um, you know I’m not getting paid for this, right Mira? I only just met… hmm. Sorry, pronouns?” They said to the person.

… what? Hmm. Well, it wasn’t the first time Siffrin forgot what he was talking about as they said it, though still concerning…

“I’m not picky, but eh, been leaning towards she/her lately,” the woman said. “Name’s Vivian, but Viv’s fine. Now then, weren’t you hungry, sugar? Let’s get you something nice and fresh. And hey, your friends can come too if they’d like! Honestly, that was enough of a laugh that I think you’ve earned yourself a discount. Oh, and being the saviors and all too.” She chuckled and waved them inside.

Siffrin was the first in.

————

And that’s it, hope you enjoyed! This originally was just supposed to be a small set up to introduce Vivian, but as you can see, it got wildly out of hand and now Mirabelle is living a comedy sketch. This was so fun to write.

I prefer tea, but buy me a Kofi?

[crazyforteyam]

Metkayina Tales (part four) - I Did It For You (Neteyam POV)

Neteyam x f!Metkayina reader summary : Neteyam will do everything to save the woman he loves. wc : 3,7k notes: I want to try something new so I write this part from Neteyam POV. And we're closer to the end (4/5) series masterlist

Since I saw Y/N for the first time, she always appears in my dream. 

"What's your name?" She asked, but damn, this is the first time I feel so hopeless and tongue-tied. Believe me, all my words are deep in my throat, ready to release. But she's like a charming witch, casting her spell every time she's around me.

"I will heal you, Neteyam," then she grabbed my hand, and took me to the beach, cleaning my wound. If only she knows how beautiful she is, with her eyes lightened in passion every time she heals people. 

"Neteyam, you're a fast learner!" She giggled in happiness when I succeeded in the spear lesson, and her laugh is the one view I could watch forever in rewind. Surely, she's owning my mind. 

Then suddenly her face turned into sadness, tears brimming in her eyes, hair strands on her forehead, covering a bit of her tattoo. 

"I failed to cure Ihaka,"

She looked miserable and I want to embrace her when all of sudden, she hugged me first. The feeling was flooding over me like a rushing tide. That's the first time I touched her. It feels so nice to feel her in my arms, and I know I'll do everything to make her happy.

"Neteyam, please, take me to my parents," now her breath is panted and she fainted, right in my arms. Her face slowly disappears, like a mist, and her body rises to the sky. I tried to grab her, but she is floating away in the air. Fear crawls over my body, prickling my skin. I run as fast as I can to chase her, but I am always beneath her, like a child chasing kites. I fell many times, my knees, elbow, and foot were bleeding but still, she was out of my reach, nowhere to be seen. 

"NOOOOOO!!" I screamed in pain as loud as I can. 

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

"Neteyam, wake up!" Suddenly all the view I saw before disappeared, and changed into Lo'ak's face. His eyebrow is furrowed with confusion, and his hand is on my shoulders. I woke up with a sudden movement, my breath was panting, and I can feel sweat dripping on my forehead. 

"You had that nightmare again, do you?" He asked again, his voice filled up with softness. I groaned and sit, with my hands running in my braids, trying to massage my own head. "Yeah, I think so,"

Lo'ak looked at me with worry in his eyes. He talked slowly, "Bro, if you still don't ready, you can do it tomorrow,"

"What are you talking about? I’ll do it today," my lips frowned, and I stood up, taking a few steps out of the pod, so I can see the sea. 

Today is the day. I'll go to the Deep Trench and collect the Red Seaweed, the only plant that can cure Y/N. I trained with Olo'eyktan in just 2 days. Actually, it was planned to be much longer, but Y/N's condition is getting worse every second. I took a breath deeply and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself.

Since Y/N is coma, I always had a nightmare, of losing her. These nightmares wrap their evil hands around my soul at night. It's not the first time I dreamed about her though, but obviously, my previous dream is much happier than this bloody nightmare. These dark thoughts may follow me, but I can’t let them win the fight. I won't let this nightmare turns into reality.

Life without taking chances is no kind of life at all. If I had to run, if I had to crawl, swim a hundred rivers, and climb a thousand walls, then I will do it all. I would find a way to save Y/N, I need her that much. There's no place that far when it comes to the life of the woman I love. 

I heard some steps that brought me back to reality. I turned around and found Tuk running towards me, and she hugged my waist. I bent to pat her head, while she said "Neteyam, we've been looking for you!" 

And suddenly, all the members of my family approached me.

"Neteyam," Dad called my name. He still has some wounds on his face, but he looks strong. He patted my shoulders, "Today it’s the day. Good luck, son. I'll be near you down there,"

"Thank you, Dad," I smiled at him.

Now my mom is kissing my cheek. I could feel the strength in her voice when she talked. "My son. I believe that you can do it today,"

"Mother, your support it's all I need," I whispered and she nodded.

Kiri smiled at me and I could see her eyes teared up, as she took my hand. “Brother, take care. I'll help you down there,” 

I squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Kiri,"

Lo'ak didn't say anything, but he hugged me tightly and gave me a reassuring look.

Then Kiri put her arm on my left shoulder and hugged me, while Lo'ak was on my opposite side. Mom, Dad, and Tuk joined, and we created a big family hug. 

"Sully's stick together," Dad said, and all of us joined him, chanting our family motto.

"Sully's stick together,"

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

After eating and getting ready, I went to the Olo'eyktan’s pod, as he and his family were already waiting. Yesterday, we made plans for my departure to the Deep Trench. Lo'ak had a suggestion about Payakan taking me there, and this idea was opposed by Olo'eyktan. 

But Payakan is the only Tulkun who knows the details of the location around Three Brother's Rock, the place where the Deep Trench was located, and finally, this plan was accepted. I'll be wearing a gill mantle later, to help me breathe underwater. 

I bring my fingers to my forehead, to greet all the Olo’eyktan family. They greets me back,  and Tsahik gave me a special potion, which will optimize the muscles in my body when swimming later.

When I finished drinking, Olo’eyktan approached me and asked, “Are you ready, Neteyam?”

I answered him with no fear. “I am, Sir,” But then, I remember Y/N. 

“Olo’eyktan, can I see Y/N in private before we leave?”

Tonowari looked at his wife, and she nodded. He smiled and pat my shoulders. “Of course,” Then he spoke to his family, “Let’s give him some privacy,” and they all left the pod, leaving just me and Y/N in the pod.  

I walked toward Y/N, who is still laying unconscious on the carpet. I felt my breathing suddenly speed up. Next to her, are all the Tsahik medicines and equipment, lying in a mess. Some of the medicine bottles were seen to have been opened without being closed again. The needles and loincloths just lay beside the bottles. 

My eyes looked at her body again, her hands folded on her stomach and her hair framed her face. There are dark circles around her closed eyes. Her face looked pale with no expression, without the beautiful smile she used to wear, or her ocean eyes. Her chest rose and fell weakly every time she breathed.

I knelt next to her and ran my fingers through her forehead, her hair, then down to her cheeks, which were starting to look gaunt. My eyes darkened with worry. Her absence only makes my heart grow fonder of her. She is my everything and I can't let her suffer like this forever. I must save her.

I kissed her forehead softly, with my fingers still caressing her cheek. Although she is in a coma, I believe that she can hear me, so I whisper to her ears.

“Stay here, Y/N. I’ll try my best to save you,”

The mission starts at midday. The gill mantle was already wrapped around my back. My father, Lo'ak, and Tonowari take me to the Deep Trench, riding on Payakan, so I could save my energy. They would stand guard above the trench, with some of Metkayina's best swimmers and healers, just in case. Next to them are Kiri and my Mom sitting on ilu, as they refused to be far from me. 

From the outside, Deep Trench appears menacing. It’s dark and filled with shadows that play tricks on your eyes. Even in the daytime, the trench looked sinister. But I won’t let fear rule me. There's no place that far when it comes to the life of the woman I love. 

I approached the Deep Trench, with Tsahik hand’s on my shoulders. She made a sign with her hand, a prayer for Eywa, for my safety down there. Then her fingers made several circular motions on my forehead, arms, chest, and legs, a ritual to get rid of any bad things that might happen. When it finished, she nodded at me, permitting me to enter Deep Trench. 

Before I entered the trench, I turn around and looked at everybody. They all looked tense, even Payakan didn't move a bit, as if he was frozen in the water. But then, my Dad smiled at me, like reassuring me. I smiled back at him and swimming down the trench, disappeared from his sight.

As they say, Deep Trench is dark and cold. Sunlight is not enough to illuminate this place. The Red Seaweed color would stand out, but it's hard to see clearly in this trench. I have to squint my eyes to make out what's in front of me. I blinked a few times, trying to focus. 

Suddenly, a group of small, glowing fish approached me and swam around my body, as if trying to help me see in the dark. Some of them swam in front of me, like guiding me. I smiled. This must be Kiri’s help.

It's not just the fish, it seems like several plants also glow in the dark,  making a path toward the Red Seaweed. I can see the plant now and picked some. Tsahik said that I better pick several, so I filled up my waist pouch with all of those plants. 

After that, I swam up. But suddenly, I feel dizzy. My chest hurt and my breathing was shallow, and instead of swimming up, I swam in a round motion. 

Then suddenly, I hear Y/N's voice inside my head.

Hey, don’t be so tense. You must be relaxed, otherwise, you’re not gonna make it.

I blinked. Have I gone mad? Her voice sounds so close, like guidance within me. Then I hear her voice again.

If you're a lover, you have to be a fighter. If you don't fight for your love, what kind of love do you have?

And that's it. I know I must fight for her. Her voice is like a push I need, suddenly I can focus again and swim up in a straight movement.

When I reached out the trench, a hand gripped my arm, helping me. It was Dad. He put me into Payakan's fin, and we reached the surface in a minute. 

I could feel all the Metkayina people staring at me. They were sitting on their ilu, tsurak, or just swimming on the surface. There were some amused expressions in their eyes when they looked at me, something very different from what I received before.

My family was all around me. Dad took me to his tsurak. Mom and all my siblings were hugging and kissing me and I was too tired to reply, so I gave them a smile and nod. Then both Tsahik and Oloeyktan approached me, and I gave them all the Red Seaweed in my pouch.

"This is the plant. Save her, please," I said when I gave them the plants. They both nodded, and Oloeyktan made his way toward the people, sliding in his tsurak, with me and my family following behind.

People were still keeping their gaze on me, and I got a little bit shy. And then Tsahik looked at me, as she smiled.

"Neteyam," she declared, "Now you are one of the Metkayina Tales!"

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

I walk back and forth in my family’s pod. It's been five hours since I gave the sacred plants to Olo’eyktan and Tsahik, but until now there is no update yet. I started to upset, what if I’m too late and the plants can’t heal Y/N? The view of that bloody nightmare appeared again in my mind, and I exhale deeply, trying to erase that. Although the sun would still shine on, my whole world would all be gone. I could not bear the thought of losing Y/N. 

Every little sound feels like it’s multiplying tenfold, and I can’t sit still. The rest of my family also waits in silence as they sat in a circle. Kiri hummed a prayer to Eywa, and Tuk followed her. My mother stood up and stopped me from walking, as she put her hand on my shoulders.

“Relax, my son. Y/N will be fine. You did a good job,” She tried to convince me.

“Mother, but there is no news yet. I’m scared. What if I’m too late? What if Y/N couldn't be saved?” I muttered.

“No, you come at the right time. Eywa will help Y/N for sure. What if you start to pray for her?” She suggested.

My lips parted trying to respond to her, but the sound of steps walking toward the pod stopped me. All people rise from their sit. Tonowari and Ronal enter the Sully's marui. I walked a flash toward them in a second and tilted my face, asking for an answer. 

“I and my wife came here for telling the news.” Tonowari began to speak. “We tried to give the sacred plants to Y/N. We created a paste from half of the plant and smeared it on her face, as the priest prayed to Eywa. We were so afraid of our daughter’s condition…” he paused, causing my heart to begin flutter loudly. 

“And how is she now?” I asked impatiently.

“At first, there was no change. But then, we realize that the dark circles around her eyes began to disappear. Her heart rate increased, and the color back to her skin. She is not awake yet, but she is stronger now.” Ronal continued and then she smiles, this news relieved everyone. My mom hugged me proudly as a smile finally created on my face. 

Finally, Ma’Y/N is saved. 

But I must be patient, she is not awake yet. Her health is my top priority now.

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

(two days later)

“Neteyam!” Tuk shouted while she entered the pod. She walked towards me in a rush and held my hand.

“What is it, Tuk?”

"It's Y/N! She woke up!"

It's like my body was shocked by an electric volt. My eyes widened, and I ran to the Olo'eyktan's pod as fast as I could. 

Tsireya and Ao'nung were in the front part of the pod, and I asked them hurriedly.

"Where's Y/N? Is she already awake?" 

"Yes, and she's inside," Tsireya smiled. 

“But Neteyam, please give privacy to my parents,” Ao’nung spoke, and his arms lifted in front of my chest, preventing me to enter the pod. “Wait here, until my parents are out. It won't take long, Y/N has woken up since this morning,”

I frowned but then sighed and nodded. Better not to make Olo’eyktan angry. So, I lean at the trees beside the pod and look at the sea. My fingers rubbed my head, and I can hear the sound of my breath. I feel so restless, every second seems like forever. 

Finally, a couple of minutes later, Olo’eyktan and Tsahik stepped out of the pod. They seems relieved, and Olo’eyktan eyes found me. I bring my fingers to my forehead to greet them and asked Olo’eyktan politely. 

“Sir, I heard that Y/N is already awake. Would you permit me to see her?”

“Yes, Neteyam. Y/N is inside the pod,” Olo’eyktan smiled at me. 

"And she's waiting for you," Tsahik continued, and I entered the pod instantly. 

I saw her crouching with her back to me, and her hands touching Tsahik's medicines and equipment, which had always been next to her when she was unconscious. Her wavy brown hair is now shoulder-length short and fell naturally without any hair ornaments. My eyes couldn't leave her body, and when she stood up, I called her name softly.

"Y/N," I called.

Her ears perked up when she heard my voice. She turned her body slowly, her hair swaying gently, revealing her face little by little. 

And finally, I can see her face, the center of my gravity. At last...my love has come along. My lonely days are over. The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of this meeting. Her ocean eyes blends beautifully with the tattoo on her forehead and glistened when she looked at me. 

We walked slowly closer, and it was like she had bewitched me, my eyes could not escape her face. There are no more dark circles under her eyes and her skin was no longer pale. My eyes checked the wavy pattern on her forehead, cheeks, arms, and legs, all around her body. All are still the same, she is still gorgeous as always.

A smile was engraved on my face as we held hands. My fingers touched her face, stroking her cheek gently. While her fingers touched my chest, right on the gunshot wound. Worry painted on her face.

"Neteyam," she finally spoke, and my name sounded melodious when she said it. 

"How are you?" she asked again, her hand still touching the wound on my chest. 

My fingers touched hers on my chest. "I've never been this good. You saved me, Y/N," 

She shook her head, then smiled and said, "It’s you who saved me, Neteyam,"

“I did it for you,” I answered her.

She smiled and approached me closer, her hands now curled on my back, and embraced me. I hugged her, my arms tightened around her body, my chin is on the slope of her neck, and her sweet scent fills up my nose. 

I hugged her tightly as if I would never see her again. Tears already welled up in my eyes and fell to her cheek. She saw it, and her fingers wiped out the tears on my face gently, as she smiled.

Now I held her head, patted it, and my fingers played with her hair. She looked at what I was doing to her hair, and she said, "Mom and Tsireya cut my hair to tidy it up. She said that while I was unconscious, my hair kept falling out. So they rearranged my hair. Do you like it?"

I smiled and said, "It's all right. I like it." 

Yes, she looked different with her new hair, but she is still beautiful to me. To be honest, my feelings for her are already deeply rooted in my heart, and her looks are only part of the reason. My fingers now touched her cheeks, which still look gaunt. I frown. Her health is much more important to me. 

"But, you look very skinny now. You must eat, I'll cook for you." I said. 

"Neteyam, I’m all right," she refused politely, but then a growling sound came from her stomach. I burst into a laugh, while she smiled sheepishly. 

"You can't lie to me, Y/N. You are hungry, indeed" I told her. 

I took her hand in mine and led her to her pod through the connecting part. She sat down in her pod, while I went to the kitchen, to cook her favorite food, grilled fish. Luckily, there was still plenty of food here. in between cooking, I stole glances at her. The feeling of excitement bubbled up in my chest, finally being able to be with her again. 

The emotion of our reunion sealed as a perfect photograph in my soul.

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

Since that day, I have been going to her pod every day. I asked Olo’eyktan and Tsahik for allowing me to be a helping hand to Y/N, and they accepted. So I take care of her, make sure she drinks her medicine, cook her food, and accompany her when she wants to go swimming. The rest of the clan rejoiced when hear about her condition, and two days later, Tsahik gave birth to the fourth heir of the clan, a handsome baby boy. 

Y/N's health condition has also improved, now she no longer needs to take medication. To celebrate this and the birth of Oloeyktan's fourth child, he announced that there would be a celebration at Hope Cove,  which would be held the next day at night. All the people of Metkayina were invited, and the whole village was busy with preparations for the celebration. And my family is no exception.

So here I am in my pod, with Lo'ak helping me as he put some glowing beads on my hair. We spent minutes in silence before he speak. 

"Bro," 

"Yes?" 

“I heard some Metkayina girl try to court you today,” Lo'ak raised his eyebrows and I could hear the disbelief in his voice.

Since Tsahik announced me as one of the Metkayina Tales, some girls are starting to give me presents and affection, especially when I'm alone. Well, some even try to cross the line. And I didn't like that. I sighed. “Where did you hear that?”

“It doesn’t matter. Did you accept her?” Lo'ak asked though I assumed he already seemed to know the answer.

"No," I answered firmly.

Lo'ak smiled. His hands took my necklace and slowly put it around my neck. "Then who is this girl that you are waiting for?"

I closed my eyes. "You exactly know who,"

“Of course,” Lo'ak chuckled. “Bro, tonight you should ask her. Anything could happen tonight. You must stick to her side. And ask the question, ask her to be your mate, before somebody else does and you'll lose her forever,"

The thought of losing Y/N forever entered my mind and brought back again the glimpse of the bloody nightmare I used to see. I opened my eyes, then I looked at Lo'ak with full confidence.

"You're right. Tonight, I will ask her,"

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

notes : to be continued soon! :D I'll be very happy if you leave a reaction, lmk what do u think of my fic!:) so sorry for late update, I'm sick :(

[rabbitcruiser]

World Rivers Day

They carve their way through the earth, providing a playground for adventure seekers and a peaceful refuge for nature lovers.

Almost every country around the world will have at least one river flowing through it. There are probably a number of other important waterways as well. To ensure that these important bodies of water are celebrated and appreciated as they should be, World Rivers Day aims to remind people about just how important all of the waterways around the globe are to us.

The very first World Rivers Day was celebrated in 2005 and since then it has been gaining in popularity with many events being organized around the world. In this same year, the United Nations also launched its Water for Life Decade, with the aim of increasing the awareness of the need for taking better care of the world’s waters.

World Rivers Day was launched alongside this new initiative, all thanks to a proposal that was put forward by Mark Angelo, who was already an international river advocate.

Learn about World Rivers Day

Rivers are the arteries of our planet; they are lifelines in the truest sense.

World Rivers Day is all about celebrating the waterways of the world. It is a day that highlights the importance of rivers, aiming to heighten awareness and encourage people to preserve our important and beautiful rivers.

There are a number of different things that we can all do in order to protect our rivers. This includes using earth-friendly body products and biodegradable cleaning products. After all, these chemicals all get washed down the drain, which means they end up going back into our rivers. Making a change like this can make a massive difference. Other tips include turning your tap off while you are brushing your teeth, timing your showers, and keeping a full load when you are using your dishwasher or your washing machine. Small changes like this can go a very long way.

History of World Rivers Day

You might be wondering why we need a World Rivers Day as everyone is already aware of numerous rivers around the world. That’s true; but what some people aren’t aware of is just how under threat some of them are.

There is a lot of human activity that causes pollution and damage to a number of the world’s important waterways, and this is dangerous for the people who regularly use the rivers as a source of water and transport, as well as the ecosystems that could be living in them.

The main aim of World Rivers Day is to ensure that everyone is aware of the importance of river stewardship and that we all do what we can to limit the threats that could potentially endanger our rivers.

So, you are probably wondering how this all started. Well, it began with the Water for Life Decade, which was launched by the United Nations in 2005. This was created in order to improve awareness regarding the need to make sure that we better care for our water resources. This ultimately led to World Rivers Day being created. This happened in response to a proposal that was initiated by Mark Angelo, a worldwide renowned river advocate.

How to celebrate World Rivers Day

There are so many ways we can all get involved with World Rivers Day. You might be able to find a local event, such as a litter clean or a beach litter pick. There are loads of different events that aim to get people out and about being active in helping to improve local rivers.

Some events even focus on the wildlife that lives in our rivers. One example is to take part in a fish enhancement program that some local river organizations might be running near you.

It’s also a really good excuse to celebrate your local river as well. For instance, some people decide to take to the water to go sailing, kayaking, or canoeing. No matter how you want to enjoy the rivers, there is really no better day to enjoy them than on World Rivers Day! You will be able to really appreciate what needs to go into keeping them clean and helping the local wildlife enjoy healthy habitats.

One of the ways that you can celebrate River Day is by planning an event. It is a good idea to select an event that is going to use local resources and expertise, and which will address local issues, customs, and interest. Events on these days can range from a single event, such as a clean-up of a creek section or a paddle down a creek to a big local festival with a number of different features and events going on.

It is a good idea to look to involve different organizations and groups from the community so that you gain participation and local support. Get in touch with local businesses, hospital foundations, the government, and local schools.

You can also contact local interest groups as well, including the likes of environmental groups, recycling societies, heritage societies, music societies, art societies, daycares, paddlers, and birders.

By getting help from a number of different groups of people, you are going to be able to diversify your event. This means that it is going to turn into a celebration of your local environment and the connections your community has with its rivers.

You can also head to the World Rivers Day website and sign-up for updates and alerts regarding the different events that are going on around the world. You never know, there may be something that is planned for your local area on this date.

No matter how you choose to spend the next World Rivers Day, we are sure that it will help you appreciate your local waterway a lot more than what you might do right now. If everyone did, imagine how clean our rivers could be!

Source

[britt-kageryuu]

The stream is apparently just running in the background as it just shows a live feed of the studio.

The guys are decorating the studio for the autumn holidays. Yes, not just Halloween, Dia De Los Muertos, Samhain, and the like.

Raph was moving various boxes in and out of storage that had most of the decorations that they planned to use. Then he helped move in the ladders to get to the upper areas of the studio. From there Donnie was directing him where to hang things.

In one area you can see Leo posing custom mutant turtle skeletons on the beach set. They were even dressed in the guys color-coded beach clothes, sunglasses, spare bandanas. Along with empty glasses for their drinks.

In what could be seen of the kitchen area, Mikey is putting out a pumpkin shaped cookie jar, taking out some spooky season molds, and some other themed kitchen decorations like hand towels.

Donnie was trying their best to not use his hover shell. Because he knows their streaming this, and he didn't want to explain to the audience why he had such tech. And if he tried to pull a 'experimental tech from work' it would just lead them to believe his battle shell was a potential product of Genius Built.

They hung autumn garlands along with spiderwebs, and Papel Picado. Then strung up Halloween fairy lights.

There was an ongoing argument on if they should put a fog machine in the studio or not, to go with a small graveyard off to the side. All while they were also setting up an Offrenda near the beach set.

The audience was kinda screaming for a zoom in feature, so they could see the pictures more clearly. Though the only one that was clear was one that also had black ribbon across the top of the frame, and none of the weirder creeps could find a match for this woman. Not even in a random stock photo.

Though some of the audience make a mote that the woman in the picture has popped up in multiple streams in the past, and was just called Gram-Gram by the Turtles. It was advised by the mods to mot dig into this, out of respect, and those who don't listen will be banned until after the New Year, and if they're a member it will be revoked ASAP.

The guys move on to decorating fake pumpkins.

During this time Shelldon and River were playing with themed toys and smaller decorations. They sometimes come near the camera and just say 'Hello' and maybe answer a question from the chat, before going off to ask what they could do to help.

A while later the guys are looking around the studio to look at their work.

"Do you think we went a bit overboard with the decorating?"

"Well, we should move some of the stuff on the floor, major tripping hazard."

Donnie then comes toward the camera, "We're going to end this stream now. Hope you enjoyed watching us decorate the studio." They look over their shoulder, "Did we ever actually come up with a signing off phrase, or did we decide it was not going to work?"

There was some jumbled answer, but clearly they never settled on an outro. Donnie just turns back to the camera.

"Sigh. Well either way. See you next stream Balemates!"

And the stream ends with an ending screen picture of them in a turtle pile.

------------------

Masterpost

We started to pull out our Halloween decorations, so I figured why not them just streaming themselves cleaning up the studio and decorating for the Autumn holidays.

[whatavery]

Malibu (Comm)

Stepping out of the car gave Mordecai a sense of relief he hadn't felt in months. The California heat was bad enough in itself, but it was like torture inside the car, even with the windows opened. Mordecai's driver didn’t seem to mind, but he was also dressed considerably lighter than he was. Despite the heat, Mordecai still dressed like a civilized man, though he had decided to opt out of wearing his jacket.

The car had come to stop by a strip next to a rocky mountainside, many cars parked all around them. Looking to the right of the road, Mordecai could see the ocean, hear the distant swooshing of the waves crashing up on the shore. The white beach was a nothing like the banks of the Mississippi River, the sky was more blue than he had ever recalled seeing it at home. People were walking on the beach, some were swimming, others were enjoying assorted frivolous activities on the sand.

Mordecai had rolled his sleeves up for his own comfort before he retrieved his suitcases from the back of the car and paid his driver. He turned the other way, gazing up at the hotel that was built into the mountainside. It was architecture like he'd never seen it before, which he found both strange and yet intriguing.

Once he'd crossed the road, Mordecai ascended the upwards sloping path leading up to the hotel where a sign with the hotel’s name greeted him – the Mariel Hotel. How wonderfully ironic. Perhaps it was Delilah's idea of a joke…. The hotel’s facade had the same color as the sands of the beach below. It wasn't a very tall building, and it was a far cry from the Maribel Hotel. Mordecai could hardly complain about that, given the feelings he'd come to associate with that place.

Each step up the path made Mordecai's heart beat faster; not from exhaustion, but from knowing he was being brought closer to her.

Once he'd asked at the front desk, Mordecai made his way to where her room would be – room 212. He climbed the steps to the second floor with bated breath. The building was nice, clean, and well maintained, the open windows allowed a lovely draft could keep it cool. Suitcases in hand, Mordecai's green eyes traced over the doors on the left side of the hallway.

202… 204… 206… He counted in his head, and by the time he stood in front of her door, his heart was racing. Mordecai hesitated for only a moment before knocking.

“COME IN, IT’S OPEN!” Mordecai gave a start, his fur standing on end when he heard Delilah shouting at the top of her lungs from within. Looking scandalized, Mordecai opened the door and stepped into her room. It was a quaint little space, though Delilah had left it in quite a state. Every chair there had a dress or other article of clothing draped over it. Did the idea of folding and storing her clothes elsewhere never occur to her?

“Mordecai?” he heard her voice from the closed door that no doubt led to the bathroom, accompanied by splashing.

“Yes, it’s me,” he responded as he put his suitcases down by the front door. He looked around her messy room.

“You’re here a whole two minutes after you said you'd be here – you’re startin’ to get sloppy,” he heard her calling in a playful voice as he set about tidying up. The wardrobe near the windows overlooking the mountainside would hold her dresses as he put them on hangers. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help himself.

“Actually, I arrived at the hotel before then,” Mordecai noted calmly. He still remembered being able to call her for the first time shortly after arriving in California. Hearing her voice then had been like a reunion in itself. Hearing it now through her bathroom door, as odd as it was, made Mordecai feel infinitely more relaxed.

“How was the journey?” Mordecai had settled near the window by the time Delilah made an appearance. The tuxedo cat turned and gave a start, immediately averting his gaze as she wore nothing but a towel around her body. He heard her chuckling as she went to get dressed. “What was it like to fly?”

“Long, tiring, horrendously unpleasant for the most part, actually… Especially flying…” he replied in his driest of tones, trying to purge the mental image of the lovely Siamese like that. Granted, he had seen her in rather… bold dresses before. He sighed and felt the corners of his mouth tug themselves upwards, despite himself. His heart skipped a beat as he almost gasped, “But it was worth it.”

---

Mordecai… did not like this. Sure, having Delilah by his side was nice, even if he wouldn't normally enjoy someone holding onto his arm this way. That wasn't even the worst part – the worst part was walking through the sand barefooted. He didn’t like the way the sand scorched the soles of his feet or the way the tiny grains got between his toes and stuck in his fur.

But for her, he'd put up with it.

Seagulls were sailing over the blue waves on thermal winds, and they had passed several people. The bright sand reflected the sunlight so much that Mordecai found himself squinting. Delilah had taken to wearing sunglasses along with a thin, red beach dress. It had a golden pattern on the front that reminded Mordecai of the details one might see on a circus ringmaster’s attire. He supposed it was fitting for her as a performer. A large, flowing sunhat rested upon her curly, red locks, whereas Mordecai hadn't changed attire, save for removing his shoes and socks at her behest.

“Is it always this hot out?” Mordecai asked as they passed another couple, who was playing around in the surf. Despite the cool ocean breeze, the sun’s merciless warmth was quite unbearable, given that there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Malibu truly was beautiful, even if he wasn't so sure he preferred it over St. Louis. He was no stranger to the sea, having lived on the East Coast, but beaches like this were new to him.

“It is on most days. I like it, though,” Delilah said, giving his arm a squeeze. Looking her over, Mordecai had to admit, she seemed to have adjusted quite nicely to the West Coast life. He supposed a southern girl would. She looked more at home here than in St. Louis. She seemed happier than he remembered her…

“And you’re staying in this hotel?” Mordecai cast a glance over his shoulder towards the Mariel Hotel in the distance. He wasn't sure he liked the idea of Delilah here all by her lonesome. He knew she could take care of herself, but a hotel hardly seemed like the most stable living conditions.

“Oh, it’s only temporary,” she reassured him, before guiding him along. “I’m saving up for something more permanent. I only do big shows now, Mordecai – not singing in hotels like I used to, or…”

“The other stuff…” They had never actually talked about that much, but Mordecai had known about her side business, thanks to her former boss. He didn’t like thinking about that more than he had to, but he just nodded. “Do you ever…?”

“No.”

“Oh. Good…” Delilah gave Mordecai a funny look when he responded. He felt his cheeks flushing under his fur, but he chalked that up to the heat all around. If he were actually blushing in this heat, surely he'd have a heatstroke… Despite himself, Mordecai gently relinquished his arm and instead took her by the hand. “You deserve better…”

Hand in hand, they continued down the beach, though Mordecai nearly dropped his shoes in surprise when the surf touched their feet. The sudden coolness of the water certainly made him jump, and gave Delilah a good laugh.

By the time they returned to the hotel, the sun had started to set finally. Walking up the beach with Delilah, Mordecai could swear the sun’s last rays seemed to make the red tones of her fur and her hair stand out all the more, like she was glowing.

Waking up beside Delilah was… a strange feeling. Though they simply slept, it was a feeling Mordecai didn’t think he'd ever get used to. He knew their time together was fleeting, but he tried to make the most of the few days they had together. The second day flew by, however. They drove into town together and spent the entire day there.

Over dinner at a restaurant, Mordecai realized that spending time with Delilah again was simultaneously the best and the worst thing he could think of. While he enjoyed their time together, just walking and talking, the knowledge that he would be leaving again soon…

Mordecai tried his best to push those thoughts from his mind. It wasn't until they went to bed that night that the thoughts came back to him again.

“Delilah?” he asked the darkness as he listened to the distant sound of the waves crashing up on the beach. It was faint, much like the sound of Delilah's breathing, but he could hear it clearly through the open windows.

“Mordecai?” she asked playfully. He could hear her turning on the mattress they shared. He turned to look at her in the dark, barely able to see her outline, hear her breathing, feel her gaze upon his own silhouette.

“What if… How would you feel about if I stayed for another few days?” When Mordecai didn’t get an answer, he felt himself panicking slightly. “I could just stay in town. I don’t mean to impede on your work, or get in the way, but…”

He stopped when he felt Delilah's kiss on his cheek, felt her barely clad form wrapped in the thin blanket press up against him. Words failed him as she took his hand in the dark. She said nothing, but he knew what that meant.

Mordecai didn’t fall asleep immediately, he stayed up, thinking. What if he did do it? What if he just stayed here and didn’t go back to St. Louis? Could they make that work? He could get a job here, surely… something more stable and proper than the work he did for Marigold, surely. But would she even want that? Did Delilah want him to throw everything he had away for her?

When they walked along the beach the next day, Mordecai grasped her hand so tightly he had to keep himself from accidentally hurting her. He felt like a young man again, a runaway on a train, trying to frantically put his mind at ease while sensing danger behind every turn. Today, he wasn't running from a person, but from time itself.

Whenever Mordecai gazed upon Delilah, he was both reminded of why he had come here, and why he didn’t want to leave. Traveling back and forth was a Herculean task that Mordecai wasn't sure he cared to repeat too frequently, though getting to see Delilah was more than enough to make up for it… but was it sustainable?

They didn’t walk far along the beach today. Mordecai guided Delilah to the water’s edge where the waves caressed their feet, the damp sand feeling considerably more pleasant than the warmer sand further up the beach.

When Mordecai finally found himself in the car, he felt as though no time had passed at all. He felt as though he had just arrived in Malibu minutes ago and was already leaving. Mordecai wished he had it in him to make a decision and tell her that he was staying whether she liked it or not. But who was he to say that? He had his own job, his own responsibilities… This had been but a small respite from all of that.

“Wait…” Mordecai told the driver, before he stepped out. Delilah hadn't gone anywhere, thankfully. He moved to her and embraced her, despite himself. Every instinct in his body was fighting him, but he wanted to show her this last act of warmth, before he left.

He knew this was the last chance he would ever get to say anything, but as he pulled back and looked at her, Mordecai noticed how shiny her eyes were. She was even trembling slightly in his arms, despite the warmth.

Mordecai couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He realized that saying nothing was showing her mercy; he didn’t want to make this harder than it already was for her. But even as he stared into those watery, blue eyes, he knew there was no need.

They both knew, even if neither of them had ever spoken those three words to the other.

[elvthron]

I haven’t been active spiritually lately and this had a backlash on how I was feeling in general. I felt somehow dirty and “muddy”, my energies were low and stagnant.

When a friend of mine invited me to a collective purification ritual I was skeptic at first, I’ve never been sharing something so personal and intimate as my practice is, but then I thought of how much I was carrying that and I could benefit from some external help. Could I, alone, clean up all the mess I’ve built up in this time frame?

We placed our collective altar near a river stream that flows into the sea, as our intent was to call upon aquatic spirits and nymphs to aid us into our cleanse. Everyone brought an offer, and I thought artemisia was the most fitting one, as a feminine and aquatic herb.

We were a group of 10 women who didn’t know eachother, but I still felt a feminine connection between ourselves, even if there were some strangers coming around I felt like our circle was our safe bubble that insulated us from the outside.

Arianna (the ritualist who organised this collective spell) started fumigating us while calling upon the spirit of the “sweet” waters of the river, then invited us to bathe into its cold waters. We then moved to the saline water to proceed with the second phase of the ritual, with Ariannas voice chanting loudly helping us to reconnect with the divine feminine.

I really have to add that the place chosen for this ritual is absolutely powerful: we were near the Circeo, the mountain where romans built a temple dedicated to Kirke, the powerul goddess and sorceress of which the Odyssey talks about, also in a mountain near the beach was standing the temple of Jupiter (Giove Anxur, you can slightly see it in the next picture).

What can I say if not that I’m blessed to be here?

[flowerbloom-arts]

"Moomin and its casual relationship with religion/Christianity is something that's truly understated by the fandom or forgotten about entirely and I think it's one of the more fascinating aspects to dive into. I dunno, I could ramble about for quite a bit."

Please do! I would love to hear it. If thou wished so. That is.

Okay SO.

I'm gonna elaborate in that I don't know what Tove's relationship to religion/Christianity is? I know she had a Jewish friend who had to flee the country in WW2 and she probably celebrated Easter and Christmas but otherwise I haven't read anything on her views of religion or what flavor of Christian she is, so I'm just going to base this entire post on what we see within the franchise and try not to speculate on what the Janssons believed.

But like, anyway, the subject of religion in Moomin is pretty subtle in that uhhhh

... maybe it's not too subtle... but I blame it on people not reading the books or comics and watching the 90s and 2019 series as it is almost clean of religious dialog or plot points except for, like, the existence of Christmas I guess.

And the existence of Christmas instead of, like, some unchristian equivalent to it in Moominland is telling in itself. What alot of people don't realize that despite all the magic and shenaniganery that happens in Moominvalley, Moominland is still a sort of.... slightly tweaked, absurdist portrait of the real world. In the books there are references to Mexico, America, Finland itself; Moomintroll mentions venetian curtains which implies the existence of Venice, Tarzan as a pop culture icon is referenced. In the comics the Moomins time travel to Wild West era southern USA, ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt, they wanted to travel to 18th century France but they forgot to switch the location, there are references to Soviet Russia and Australia gets mentioned and the Moomins travel to a Mediterranean beach town which is basically a fusion of 2 real life Spanish towns down to the combined naming (Although Majorca also still exists??), brands like Old Smuggler's and Lyle's Gold Syrup and Maxwell House and Lipton get shown directly on the pages... so many other things... point is, Moomin isn't a fantasy world separated from the real one and with all of this you can't argue about alternate origins of the Christmas holiday, it just is there as it is celebrated in the real world.

In Comet in Moominland, Sniff name-drops the Moses of the Bible in reference to Snufkin being found in a basket like him and the kids have a conversation about how dangerous it was to send a baby down a river:

‘Haven’t you got a mother?’ asked Moomintroll looking very sorry for him.

‘I don’t know.’ said Snufkin. ‘They tell me I was found in a basket.’

‘Like Moses,’ said Sniff.

‘I like the story about Moses,’ said the Snork. ‘But I think his mother could have found a better way of saving him don’t you? The crocodiles might have eaten him up.’

‘They nearly ate us up,’ said Sniff.

‘Moses’ mother could have hidden him in a box with air-holes,’ said the Snork maiden.

‘That would have kept the crocodiles out.’

Mr. Hemulen begs the heavens to protect and preserve him:

‘Heaven protect me!’ gasped the Hemulen,

(...)

‘Oh, heaven preserve me!’ exclaimed the Hemulen,

In Finn Family Moomintroll, Muskrat makes more tangible references to Heaven:

(...) the Muskrat gloomily sucking his moustache. 'The earth can crack and fire come down from heaven for all I care (...)

(...)

'(...) Well, I hope the Muskrat heaven is a peaceful place, because I shan't be here much longer.'

In Moominpappa's Memoirs, the Ghost name-drops Hell:

"By all the Hounds of Hell," began the ghost,

In Moominsummer Madness Mymble Jr believes they're going to die and euphemistically mentions Heaven while Little My whines about having to go:

‘That’s the very least,’ replied the Mymble’s daughter. ‘Try to be good now if you can find the time, because in a little while we’re all going to heaven.’

‘Heaven?’ asked Little My. ‘Do we have to? And how does one get down again?’

Emma the Stage Rat says rest in peace for her late husband:

‘Really, thank goodness,’ she cried, ‘thank goodness that my beloved husband, Stage Manager Fillyjonk (mayherestinpeace) can’t see you all! You don’t know a thing about the theatre, that’s clear, less than nothing, not even the shadow of a thing!’

In Tales From Moominvalley, Mymble says My wouldn't go to heaven if she keeps swearing:

‘If you say things like that you’ll never go to heaven,’ the Mymble started instantly,

Snufkin euphemistically uses Heaven while telling the story about his mother's aunt;

Her wonderful belongings gave her no comfort. On the contrary, they only made her think of the day when she’d go to heaven and leave them all behind her

And Sniff echoes this twice;

[Snufkin said] '(...) feeling rather like a balloon, a happy balloon ready to fly away…’

‘To heaven,’ Sniff observed drily. ‘Now, listen…’

(...)

‘I know, I know,’ Sniff said crossly. ‘You’re exactly like Moomintroll. I know how it turned out. Then one evening she gave away her bed too and then she went off to heaven and was so happy, and the right thing for me to do is to give away not only Cedric but everything I have and then hand in my spade and bucket on top of it all!’

And of course, Tales From Moominvalley has the entire short story about Christmas.

Of course, I could be missing or forgetting alot from the books but it paints a very clear picture, I think. And then in the comics...

The use of words like sin and damned and religious exclamations are used alot throughout the comic, and I can't even show all the examples I have collected because of the picture limit, but it's there.

The Black Prophet in Moomin Begins a New Life uses religious language and quite literally lives in a place called Puritan Street, he claims that any form of enjoyment or self-satisfaction is sin, such as looking attractive or eating food you like, and that one must live life in according to one's duty and the betterment of society as opposed to the hedonist view of the White Prophet to abandon all law and order and do only what one pleases.

The plot of the Lars comic Sniff Goes Good founds itself in the event of Sniff having an implied nightmare about going to hell and takes it as a sign that he should morally correct himself.

Moominpappa kept using the word damn (and damned and the blazes) throughout Moomin and the Sea.

The strange thing about the comics is that it uses alot of religious exclamations but replaces God/Lord or Jesus with Edward the Booble which is a really fascinating implication about Boobles in this world but that's beside the point, Groke is also used for more negative exclamations. Just about the only time I remember a character using God/Lord in the comics is that panel of Moominmamma saying Oh Lordy as shown above, otherwise references to God or Jesus themselves are very much missing, I don't know if it's something to do with newspaper censors or what (I could swear there was maybe a cross or a reference to the Devil somewhere in the Lars comics but I can't remember where).

None of the characters seem explicitly religious, atleast with their language, there's no church in Moominvalley or crosses thrown about, which...

Makes the 1969 Moomin series and its reboot, New Moomin, absurdly funny.

DO DO-DO-DO DO DO DOOOOO...

DUN-DUN!

DUN DUN!

DU-DUUUUNNNNN...!!

(yes that is a real church, part of a whole episode's plot, it has the cross and everything on top, I just couldn't get a better shot of it than this)

As someone who has watched the subtitled episodes available for each series I can say that it is... hilarious whenever it pops up. The usage of Christianity in such a heavy-handed way throughout the shows is very amusing but also fascinating.

It's important to consider that these are a japanese production, and these days, Japan only 1% of the population is self-proclaimed Christian despite the celebration of Christmas and the Christian-style weddings they perform. I couldn't get exact data on Japanese religion in the 20th century but it's doubtful that Mushi Productions, the studio that made these shows and is based in Tokyo, was particularly influenced by the religious colonialism of western Japan (please correct me if I'm wrong, I know I'm not a historian but this stuff fascinates me).

The absurd presentation of these elements feel like it comes from a fascination with the religion than any tangible experience on how mundane, rural European Christians act or believe? Like it's kind of parodying it to get across the fact that this is supposed to be taking place in Europe? The praying, the constant references to Heaven (unrelated to death), Hell, God or the Devil, Snufkin and Moomintroll compelling the Hobgoblin with the Power of Christ, the church that was never in the source material, it's all a bit tacky and I love it??

This element is less present in New Moomin probably due to criticism but it's still very much there. It's probably one of the stranger bits of the series besides the violence of Moomin 1969, but like the rest of the adaptation it feels like it's done in earnest despite its lack of adherence to the source material.

...

All this to say, there's probably a Moomin Jesus who died for their Moomin sins in canon and that is still absurdly funny to think about in an abstract sense after all this time.

[beardedmrbean]

Zooplankton—tiny aquatic animals known to graze on bacteria—are ineffective at removing fecal microorganisms from sewage-contaminated water, according to a new study.

The findings challenged the assumptions of the researchers that these tiny animals could act as natural cleaners by inactivating harmful pathogens in freshwater and saltwater environments.

The hypothesis was that zooplankton would consume or neutralize fecal microorganisms, potentially reducing the risk to human health after water contamination. But the results told a different story.

"I was expecting to see a negative effect associated with the plankton present, but if anything, we saw a very small positive effect from the presence of plankton for a few locations sampled, which suggests that the pathogens in some cases are actually protected while associated with the plankton," the study's corresponding author, Lauren Kennedy, told Newsweek. "That surprised me the most."

The team's research comes at a crucial time. A 2017 U.S. water quality report found that over 50 percent of rivers, bays and estuaries were unsafe for at least one use, with fecal contamination being a major factor.

This poses serious health risks when humans are exposed to untreated water, which can occur due to sewage leaks, inadequate water treatment or corroded infrastructure.

In their experiment, the researchers added two common proxies for fecal contamination—E. coli bacteria and MS2, a virus commonly found in sewage—to water samples from the San Francisco Bay area.

These samples contained both large particles, such as zooplankton, and smaller, dissolved materials like salt.

Surprisingly, they found that the zooplankton had little effect on reducing the presence of the contaminants. Instead, higher salinity levels were linked to greater inactivation of the harmful microorganisms. Ocean water taken from San Pedro Beach, for example, showed that the pathogens were inactivated.

However, as the study wasn't designed to specifically test the effects of salinity, it's not possible to attribute the trends with absolute certainty.

"Regardless, I think implications are that salinity is a complex but important factor that needs to be assessed, for example, when trying to predict how long after a contamination event there will be an elevated risk of swimming in the water," Kennedy said.

The findings are particularly significant for water quality management. Many areas across the U.S. face frequent sewage spills, and local governments rely on natural processes to treat water contamination when resources for intervention are limited. The assumption that zooplankton might help in this process, however, may no longer hold water.

Kennedy added, "In the U.S., we handle the issue of pathogen pollution by allowing people who put wastewater into natural water bodies a certain level of pollutant that can be detected in the water body per day to ensure a lower human health risk.

"These thresholds are difficult to calculate and heavily dependent on the environmental conditions in the water body. This study provides an example for how to assess the effect of large particles, including plankton, when attempting to calculate these values and demonstrates the importance of particle characterization in environmental water bodies."

Is there a health issue that's worrying you? Do you have a question about the sewage spills? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.

References

Kennedya, L. C., Mattisa, A. M., & Boehma, A. B. (2024). You can bring plankton to fecal indicator organisms, but you cannot make the plankton graze: particle contribution to E. coli and MS2 inactivation in surface waters. mSphere. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/msphere.00656-24

[polutrope]

Cirdan, polar bear swim?

Obviously Cirdan needs to go for a polar bear dip! MoonLord on AO3 requested this same prompt with Celegorm, Curufin, Celebrimbor, and Finrod. Have the actual final fill* in the holiday prompts series. ~1.2k words, rated G. On AO3. Beleria Cast of Characters

Celegorm woke to the sounds of cheerful humming, followed by the squeal of a kettle and Finrod muttering, “oh no no no, you be quiet!” at the appliance.

He rolled over, propping himself up on the arm of the couch.

“Oh, good morning,” said Finrod, pouring the boiling water over a coffee cone. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” Celegorm answered. Although he and Curufin hadn’t closed up the brewery until two a.m. last night, and although he’d slept cramped on his brother’s couch, he felt refreshed. He could not recall the last time he’d woken up on January 1st without an ache between his temples and a churning hollowness in his gut.

“What time is it?” he asked Finrod.

“Ten-twenty,” Curufin answered, coming out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. “You better clean that pillow,” he said, pointing, “you were drooling on it.”

Celebrimbor chuckled, drawing Celegorm’s attention to where he was hunched over his tablet solving some sort of puzzle.

“Happy new year to you, too, bro,” he said to Curufin, who waved him off — but a faint smile slipped across his features before he disappeared into his bedroom.

Celegorm cleared his throat and sat upright. Spending New Year’s Eve working hadn’t been as miserable as he’d thought — it was nice to be behind the bar, absorbing and facilitating the celebratory mood without having the evening slide into a drunken blur. All the same, he had the feeling like something was missing. The day demanded some kind of ceremony to kick off the year.

“Hey,” he said to the room, “what do you guys think of going down to the beach for a polar bear dip?”

“Absolutely not,” Curufin shouted from his room at the same time Finrod exclaimed, “Oh my god, yes please!”

“What?” asked Celebrimbor. “You mean jump in the ocean? It’s cold.” The kid crinkled his nose incredulously, suggesting he more closely shared his father’s opinion than Finrod’s… but was willing to be persuaded, perhaps.

“Yeah,” Celegorm said. “I used to do it all the time back in Valin, it was a big thing. You remember Curvo, the whole family would go down to the river! It was way colder there. Water here is practically tropical.”

“Hah,” Curufin said, re-emerging and crossing to the kitchen. “Tyelpe, you want toast for breakfast?” he asked.

“I already ate,” said Celebrimbor. “Uncle Fin made eggs.”

Curufin shot a glance around the partition wall. “He did, did he.”

“Yup,” Celebrimbor said, not picking up on, or at least not acknowledging, the spiteful tone of his father’s remark.

“I’ll go dip with you!” Finrod said, sipping his coffee. “You gonna come Tyelps?”

Celebrimbor pinched his lips together thoughtfully. “I’ll come watch,” he said after a moment.

“Better bring your swimsuit just in case, kid.” Celegorm winked at him. “Curvo, you coming?”

From the kitchen, Curufin groaned. “Fine. But only to document your idiocy. I am not going in.”

*

The first day of the new year was clear and sunny. Standing ankle deep in the ocean, his bare feet gradually numbing to the cold, Círdan inhaled deeply. He began every morning of the year this way — with a purifying, invigorating plunge into the womb of the world. Beneath the sea’s dark surface, where you could hear the heartbeat of the earth, was where Círdan found his faith.

All would be well.

Today he was not alone on this short strand of beach near Beleria’s downtown core. He watched the other swimmers stripping down to their swimsuits, elbows hugged close to their chests or protruding proudly from their hips as they feigned indifference to the cold. Splashing and shouts of “I can’t believe we’re doing this!” and “Don’t be a baby!” and, of course, incoherent shrieks carried over the calm water.

Círdan set his eyes on a group of four who were currently traipsing down the sand. At their head strode two blonds, one tall and broad-shouldered, already in nothing but his swim trunks and a towel thrown over one shoulder. He appeared from his animated gestures and cocksure gait to be boasting to the other, a smaller man still bundled in his winter coat, nodding along and seemingly unbothered. A handsome German shepherd wove around them, sniffing the sand.

Behind them walked a dark-haired man and child — ten or eleven, Círdan guessed — one a half-sized copy of the other. They might have been an uncle and nephew, Círdan thought at first, noting that the man looked quite young, still bearing himself with the uncertainty of youth. But no — there was something about how the child turned and looked at him, in the way of a young person seeking approval and permission from a parent, that told Círdan they were father and son.

The father nodded and gave the boy a push towards the two blond men, whose voices rose in a chorus of excitement when they noticed him running up to join them. The three of them stopped at a log near the water and began to undress. The two who had been clothed shivered and laughed. The young father pulled out his phone to film them.

The larger blond was the first to race towards the ocean, hollering and churning up the surf. The dog bounded after him. He dove in with a crash, emerging a moment later pink with cold and shaking out his hair. The dog paddled towards him and he urged him on.

The other blond stood at the water’s edge, hands on his hips. The child still hung back, as if reconsidering.

“Come on!” Círdan could hear the man in the water shout. “It’s fine when you get used to it!”

“Yeah right!” the man holding the phone shouted back. “You’re pink as a strawberry.”

The child laughed at that and turned to smile at his father.

“If you two don’t … throw you in!” came snatches of the reply from the man in the water.

Moments later, he cut his way back towards the shore with powerful strokes. The child shrieked — “Uncle Tyelko!” — as he was scooped into the man’s arms and carried into the water. The second blond man threw a broad grin over his shoulder at the one filming before he, too, ran into the sea and dove beneath the surface.

The child was already racing back to shore, expression shifting from panic to pride as his feet found the sand. His dad pocketed his phone, coming to wrap a towel around him. They sat together on the log while the other two attempted to outdo one another’s endurance in the cold water. The dog shook off his coat and barked from the shore, its efforts to summon the two men away from their self-imposed torment ignored.

Círdan chuckled to himself, imagining what ties, what histories, might have brought these four — no, five — beings together on this particular piece of earth. He spared a prayer for them, for a year as full of joy and laughter as the moment they were sharing now.

Then he waded into the sea himself and dove, silent and serene, beneath the surface.

All would be well.

[blackjackkent]

Tiefling party time!

I really do feel like we could have cleaned up the giant blood sigil left from Rakha's reign of terror before inviting guests over, but what do I know?

Rakha is definitely REALLY nervous about this whole situation. She remembers when Alfira came and what happened to her, and this is way more guests now. The beast is stirring irritably in her brain at the flood of relative strangers and she knows, all too well, that she is capable of slipping tonight just as she did then.

So she keeps to herself, at least at first, which is how she ends up on the beach at the edge of camp with Wyll.

She didn't entirely mean to follow him, at least not consciously... but she's aware that she feels the strain in her head relax when she realizes he's there. Somewhere along the line, of all the members of their little band, he became the point where she feels the most at ease - he answers her questions without judgment. He has guided her first fumbling attempts to stand against the beast's hunger.

Even her trust in Lae'zel, firm as it is, does not quite bring the same sense of... comfort.

For a little while, she stands and watches him silently. He seems lost in thought, staring out at the slowly rolling surface of the river. Finally she takes a step forward; her boot knocks against a small pebble, sending it clattering along the rocky beach into the water, and he jumps, spinning around.

"Agh. Hells," he mutters sheepishly. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice I was gone."

She raises an eyebrow. Why? she wonders. Does he think his presence insignificant? Does he think she thinks his presence insignificant?

"Are you all right?" she asks quietly.

He smiles ruefully. "Oh. I'm deeply proud of you. A touch less so of myself."

She stares at him. Proud? Of all the things she expected him to say, that was not one of them. She has come far enough in the time since the nautiloid to know that there is a battle to be fought within herself - that there is more to her than the beast if she is willing to find it. But she has not come nearly far enough to believe that battle is being won, not yet.

But he says he is proud of her. And the fact makes her feel... strange. Warm. As if she has crossed some milestone she was not aware of reaching for.

Thank you, she wants to say - but then she registers the second half of his comment, and gives him a questioning look. Not proud of yourself? Why?

(A/N: Look at his poor sad eyes. :( Wyll needs a big hug stat.)

"In truth, I don't feel in a festive mood," he says with a slight shrug. "And I didn't want to cast a grey cloud over the night."

She nods, thinking he means the recent revelations about his father - which would be understandable enough - but he keeps talking. "I'm a devil. I love the people from the grove, but I unsettle them deep down. As I seem to unsettle everyone nowadays."

His face twists with sudden anguish, and he turns away, looking out at the water. "You don't want a devil at your party," he mutters bitterly. "Horns this sharp will pop the balloons, you see. And the guests won't take kindly to scars quite so monstrous."

Ah. She listens in silence, taking in these new details, filing them away. Wyll's transformation makes him like those who drew the teeth-lings into the Hells in the first place. It makes him look like their enemy. Like many people's enemies.

But not like hers. "You don't unsettle me," she says. It's a blunt statement, matter-of-fact. "You know that." There is much worse in me than anything you have ever shown me. And you have looked at me without blinking.

His head lifts and he looks at her intently for a moment. She can't quite read the expression in his eyes, but his voice is low and heavy with some sudden intensity. "If only half the world had half the heart you do," he says softly.

There would be nothing left living, I think, Rakha thinks with her own surge of bitterness. But she doesn't say it aloud, because she recognizes the compliment, even if she doesn't agree with it. What does he see in her, that he keeps saying these things?

And why does he see so little in himself?

For a moment they both stand there, eyes locked; the air feels suddenly charged with electricity. She finds herself wishing, out of nowhere, that she could show him what Gale showed her the other night - the depth of the Weave, the peace of it. The magic he carries is something very different, something darker, tainted by Mizora... but perhaps he could still channel it as she did...

The thought of the magic connecting them, of the intimacy that went with that bond, makes her feel suddenly unstable in a way that she can't define. For a moment she is almost certain one of those wild surges of magic is going to burst through her without warning and set the whole place ablaze.

But she holds his eyes with hers, and though her heart has suddenly started to thump like thunder... her magic calms, and the beast quiets, and she simply breathes, and waits, and hears the water lap gently against the shore by their boots.

He draws back suddenly, a brittle smile flickering onto his lips, and the moment breaks. "But off with you. This is your day! Have a dance. Enjoy the music."

She looks over her shoulder, back towards the party, and she clicks her tongue with a disinterested expression. No. She feels much more comfortable here with him, and perhaps that was why she walked this direction in the first place. "Can't you tell why I really followed you out here?" she says, with a gruff tone unaccountably laced with a sense of indistinct embarrassment.

He blinks, snorts. "Clearly Mol has put you up to stealing my britches so you can turn them into a flag for her gang." A pause, and then he adds, "Not that I'd necessarily object." His lips twitch in a slight, cautious grin.

She laughs softly. It's a sound she's heard so rarely from herself that it startles her - hoarse, low in her throat... but amused. "Nope," she says. "Guess again."

His grin widens. "Let me think. Why are you really here?" He snaps his fingers, coming to a dramatic conclusion. "You must be Volo in disguise, out here to harangue me for some tales of the Frontiers." He leans back on his heels and shakes his head in mock-sorrow. "What a cruel disguise! My nerves started hammering the second I thought *she* was the one looking for me."

It takes her a moment to parse this joke. She, meaning me. Ah... The idea that she would have that effect on him, after everything she's done... it doesn't really make any sense, even as he's articulating it. "Keep trying," she says, and her voice feels suddenly thick, unwieldy.

He hesitates; she sees his cheeks suddenly darken and his eyes flick away from her, the playful air fading abruptly. "It's a long shot," he says softly. "But maybe you've grown fond of me. Gods know I've grown fond of you."

There it is. Spoken out loud - by him, because she had no words for it. Fond. It feels... inadequate, but also correct. At the least, it encompasses something of the sense of safety and guidance he is able to instill in her.

She remembers the hectic, ferocious night with Lae'zel - which was also built on something of the same foundation. But this is not where this is leading, she can already tell. This is something different, something she has no words for.

"Maybe just a little," she mutters.

He smiles. Perhaps he registers something of her uncertainty, because his tone lightens deliberately. "Then we share a similar affliction, for I've grown fond of you too. Though I can't say I've earned the honor. I haven't even managed to kill one measly devil. I'm hardly a prime catch."

(A/N: We have the option for a persuasion check to ask for a kiss here. It's honestly more verbally direct than Rakha feels just yet, I think - an impulsive kiss immediately without the words would feel more likely - and I checked and it's just the one kiss anyway and then he sends you back off to the party regardless. So we're going with the more slow-burn setup here.)

She snorts dismissively. "You don't need to be the 'Blade of Frontiers' for me. Just be yourself." She respects his cause as one of the things on which she can model herself in the battle against the darkness in her head. But she has little interest in judging him for whatever ideals he has stood up for himself. He has done her that credit in return many times over already.

He shakes his head sharply. "The Blade *is* my best self," he insists. "On my best days, I've even lived up to the name."

There is something else he wants to say, she can tell - but he shakes his head again, visibly putting whatever it is aside in favor of a firm, sudden smile. "Now - you've got a party to get back to," he says firmly. "Don't forget - tonight is about you."

He draws closer for a moment, rests a hand carefully against her arm, and his smile softens. "There will be another time for us," he says, his voice low. And then, before she can respond, he turns and walks away down the beach.

[bonefall]

Do you have plans to add more wildlife? I'm early in research for Forest Territory wildlife and God, did they miss out.

There's PONIES, Bonefall. PONIES!!!

(I've been looking at New Forest because that's what it's apparently based on, even if it's not I'm still using it as a base point)

I do have a couple plans to add more fauna! Specifically, wild boars are going to be largely replacing many of the fatal encounters with badgers and foxes. It bothers me how badgers act like small bears, cats ducking and weaving under their legs as if they're huge, when they're barely larger than a cat.

"Then the badger roared!!" Girl no it didn't. I'll SHOW you a roar,

[guy who's only ever played spore: "getting some serious spore vibes from this..."]

But yeah if you look into British ecology, you are going to find a lot of places that REQUIRE semi-feral wild livestock. New Forest in particular is a great example-- first the pigs are sent out for 'pannage' to clean up acorns and nuts, then the cattle, sheep, and ponies are turned out to graze.

This is because these environments have evolved with these animals in mind. Moorland in particular needs regular grazing and/or burning, else it will turn into sparse woodland. There's even talks of reintroducing the European Buffalo, but so far there's one place in southern England with 3 individuals (it might be 4 now, but they were delayed in importing a bull because of the pandemic last I checked).

I actually moved out of New Forest for my redux though! I'm up north, and my tail is in Wales. It matched the bizarre geography of canon a lot more, there's no mountains in that part of England. Here I marked us on the map,

"Why exactly DID you move, Bones?"

The sun sets in the west The TNP journey sent them west to the ocean, because they have to be standing on a west-facing beach to watch 'the sun drown'. Soooo.... they can't have gone to Bristol, because you will see Wales across the Bristol Channel, and the sun will not 'drown'. Does that mean they went to Somerset?? They CAN'T have gone to Somerset, because...

Southern England is flat as a board There is no mountain in that part of Somerset. The closest mountain is Exmoor, in Western Somerset/Northern Devon. Either way, that's a long ass journey which makes it even more ridiculous that cats can travel back and forth alone. (Btw you could make this work, but you'd need to make the Journey a lot longer and harder... or move the starting point further west. There is also a cryptid called the Beast of Exmoor which could have been Sharptooth. It is described as a puma-like cat.)

Northern England is generally better preserved There's more forest coverage and conservation the further north you go, generally. The rivers are healthier, there's less invasive species, more rare NATIVE species, etc. It's not perfect (ALL of England got decimated ecologically by the Victorians and the Postwar suburban expansion) but it does give me more breathing room.

Not to mention that the Lake Territory looks just like the Lake District. For real it even has the little meeting island. Look,