#sled island

[jonnyworld]

Had a great Saturday touring the Sled Island venues. ❤️🎸🎶

[veradune]

Only made it out to one night of Sled (giant local indie music festival) but it was pretty interesting.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Moro Carabao Sled on the Mindanao Island, Philippines

American vintage postcard

[stampstamp]

Otasune domestic headcanons hit differently to any other domestic headcanons and I can't explain why but I like how they make me feel. Especially when Otacon is doing something relatably nerdy and Snake is tagging along to keep him company.

[basslinegrave]

help i just yelled "spanakopita!" in my dream and almost everyone around me yelled it back that was so funny. the context was only slightly related to vbros as it was on a weird school trip at that point, next to the island? it made sense in the dream but yeah. basically half of the students and most of the strangers yelled it in waves. and the thing is that i dont even like it much im one of those fans that dont find spanakopita and brick frog that funny (maybe only ironically)

[call-me-casual]

So about a year ago some of us in @thedoctorlivesey ‘s discord server goofed around like “oh hey, what type of dogs would our ocs be?” and since then that idea has wormed its way into my brain and lived there rent free. I think about it way more often than I probably should.

And with Balto/the serum in general on the brain, I’ve been mixing that into a sled dog au for funsies

Plus I just like drawing Alistair as a dog. He is fluffy and funny with his lanky ass legs

(+No harness version)

[harveyspictures]

St Dunstan's Basilica Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island August 3 2022

[acmeoop]

The Mask: Animated Series Action Figures (1997)

[narrativelysignificantturtleduck]

the potential hakoda & aang friendship is so important to me. we know young hakoda loved riding animals and playing pranks but when we see him in canon he's a serious leader who had to leave his kids to do his Duty and i can't help but think about how aang took katara penguin sledding and made her feel like a kid again and how he could do that for hakoda too. aang felt like he had to choose between his duty and the people he loves (cosmic energy or katara, defeating ozai or maintaining his air nomad beliefs) but he found a way to do both, to claim his role as the avatar without letting go of his loved ones or dishonoring their memory. and by doing so, he ensured hakoda would never have to make that choice again. hakoda and aang ride the kyoshi island koi fish together and start a massive cross-national prank war because aang brought childlike fun back to a world that lost it

[the-badger-mole]

Uncharted Waters: To the Victor

Aside from the market place, which stretched along two miles of  smooth road, there was plenty to see of Gaoling within walking distance. Katara was determined to see as much as she was able, and so took the lead to every park, garden and historical site she heard of.

“I didn’t grow up around a lot of monuments,” she told Zuko. “Until I left home, the oldest building I’d ever seen was only about 40 years old, and it wasn’t much to look at.”

“What about parks?” Zuko asked. “Or hiking trails?”

“Hiking trails?” Katara scrunched up her nose at that. Zuko told her about the hiking trails that went through the woods and mountains of the Fire Nation where people would take recreational trips.

“People would do that for fun?” Katara asked dubiously. “Just walk up mountains and through woods for fun?”

“Some of the trails could be really difficult,” Zuko explained. “But a lot of them weren’t much harder than walking up a hill. And there were beautiful views. Depending on where you were, you could see over the ocean, or fields of flowers, or cliffs. I’m not doing it justice, but if you saw one of those trails, you’d get it.” Katara shot him a look which suggested that she very much doubted she would get it. Zuko seemed very enthusiastic about hiking, though.

“I guess if my only experience doing it wasn’t for survival, I’d enjoy walking through the mountains, too,” Katara conceded at last. “There are beautiful places to see back home, too, but the views were more a bonus than the point. There are some places, like the glacier fields where you might not return from if you go in. The ice can shift without warning. There are forests further inland, too. With hot springs where we go to celebrate…well, a lot of different things.” 

“There are forests?” Now it was Zuko’s turn to be incredulous. “I thought the Southern Tribe was all ice.”

“Nope,” Katara shook her head. “We have forests inland. That’s where we get wood for building our bigger boats. A lot of our rivers flow from there, too.”

“Why don’t you guys live there?” Zuko asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier?”

“Not really,” Katara pursed her lips thoughtfully. “The ocean is our connection to everything. All the animals we hunt have either live around the ocean or have to go there sometime. It’s also our connection to the rest of the world. And I guess calling what we have forests is kind of misleading. It’s not like….like the Foggy Swamp, or the island. There are trees, but not a lot of them. We have to be very careful not to overharvest them. We didn’t even really start using them for our boats until after the war. We don’t even use them for firewood unless we really have to.

“What do you use for fire then?”

“Driftwood, mostly. Dry grasses in the summer.”

“That sounds like such a difficult life.” Zuko frowned as he thought about what that life must have been like. No wonder Katara was so adept at living on the island.

“It was all I knew for most of my life,” Katara shrugged. “It works for us. And maybe we don’t hike for fun, but there’s still plenty to keep us entertained. We have penguin sledding, ice skating, and kayaking. There’s the story circle, and rock hopping-‘

“Rock hopping?” Zuko repeated. Katara’s face split into a wide grin as she described a dangerous sounding sport that had to do with leaping over crevasses and water onto whatever stone surface was close enough to reach. The further the stones a player could reach, the better they did.

“The best players tend to be our best hunters,” Katara told him. “It teaches you to be agile and light on your feet. I think you’d be pretty good at it, actually.”

“Well,” Zuko said shyly, “maybe someday I can visit and you can show me how to play.”

“It’s a deal!” Katara agreed.

Read the rest of the chapter here

[nethhiri]

Marooned: Chapter 1

Pairing: Kid x FemReader x Killer

Warnings: reference to suicide, terrible humor

Brief Summary: You have been surviving, not thriving, on an island. Was this divine punishment for the things you had done in life? When you have all but accepted your fate to die alone in this shitty paradise, your ticket to freedom washes up on shore, but is it wise to accept the ride? The real question is: would it mean trouble for you or for THEM?

Happy birthday, Kil! Sorry I made you half-dead in this.

First Light

You had a routine. Somewhat reminiscent of your old life, you woke up at the asscrack of dawn. Where it used to be a wake-up-call, now it was the sun's earliest tendrils prodding you awake. After being here for so long, you became sensitive to the natural rhythm set by sun. At first light, you woke up, and after dusk, you were fast asleep. And between those two mandatory meetings in your schedule, you had quite a few tasks that you'd given yourself, mostly to stay sane. Was it helping? Probably not.

Again, much like your old life, every day starts with a perimeter check. Except in your current life, that meant beach-combing. For others, it was a fun little hobby, but for you, it was your line to the outside. Today should be especially fruitful since there was a big thunderstorm just off the coast. After the last one, you had almost enough materials to start building the next section of your boat. With that promise hanging in the air, you threw on Frankenstein's minidress, your affectionate name for what was essentially an oversize T-shirt crafted from animal skin and the tatters of your original clothing, and carefully slid down the knotted vine connecting your ramshackle treehouse with the jungle floor. The shirt was more to protect you from the sun's rays than to protect your modesty. Who was gonna see you anyway? A whale? 

In the gentle purple-blue light, you found the handle to your sled and started off towards the beach. "It's going to be a really good day, isn't it, Mini?" You looked over into thick underbrush. A breeze rustled the leaves. You laughed, tugging the thing along the dirt. "I thought so." It took some effort to pull the sled to the beach. It was a large animal's ribcage with some kind of fronds lining the outside, to make it slide easier. 

You didn't really have a set time that you adhered to for your first task of the day, but it generally took 2-3 hours (or so you thought, you didn't have a watch) to circumnavigate the island, depending on what there was to find. It was taking longer today, which you had anticipated. And it had indeed been fruitful: A few jars filled with something that looked edible, some wooden planks, some blue and white thing that looked like it could be a weird colander, some buttons, a few scraps of fabric, some rad goggles, and an entire human man.

Wait... a man?  You did a double-take. You initially thought it was part of a crumpled blue sail. Oh shit oh fuck. Your heartbeat escalated. You hadn't considered this scenario. You hadn't seen another human being in... well a long time. What if he's dead?... or worse what if he's alive?  Your thoughts flashed to the gun you had hidden away, one of the few things that washed ashore with you. You didn't even know if it would still fire. And I only have one bullet that I was saving in case.... in case. There was no point standing there to ponder the possibilities. You looked to the treeline, "Standby, Mini." There was no answer. 

Cautiously, you approached the man. Long blonde hair was splayed around him and his clothes, a blue shirt and jeans, were soaked. You inched your big toe towards him. Gently, you poked at him. Nothing. Your body was on edge as you crouched down to inspect him further, placing your fingers on his neck for a pulse and watching to see if his chest rose. You jerked back. Alive! What do I do? He wasn't quite cold but he wasn't as warm as he should be. "And he definitely had a rough night," you said to no one in particular, gingerly taking inventory of scattered wounds marring his tanned skin.

You pushed things around in your sled to make a space for at least his upper half. "Sorry, blondie." There was no way to get him in there easily. You hooked your arms under his and used your legs to pull him into the sled the best you could. It was probably good he was wearing jeans since you were about to drag him through the forest. But you were no idiot. You weren't taking him to your base of operations. First things first, you had to wash him up and fully inspect the damage. You sighed, looking towards the forest again, "I don't mean to be crude, Mini, but I don't know if I even remember what a dick looks like." 

_________________

Next

Don't worry, fellas (gender-neutral). Killer will be okay and Kid is lurking somewhere...

Getting back in the writing game with my first multi-chapter fic (Go big or go home amirite). This story has become my daily intrusive thoughts and I need to get them out. Essentially this is the story of my OC (Ex-Cap't Krait Shenron), but it is made to be enjoyed by all (I hope) and "Reader"-friendly. Some of the more specific details are kept in since it pertains to plot. No posting schedule but I will probably word vomit this entire thing out and then who knows? Maybe I will start taking requests again (sweating).

I will also be uploading to AO3 if you prefer: Here

[buff-muffin]

A list of more things that happened in my childhood that totally fucking happened for the ASL brothers:

While they act all grown up and cool they still play games like tag and hide and seek, and usually Luffy being the youngest sucked at it. But once, he snuck into a crate in Dadan’s hut and they spent HOURS looking for him and each time Ace and Sabo left the hut frustrated he would poke his head out and giggle. The bandits were trying so hard not to give it away and Dadan was seconds away from bursting out with laughter.

Oh you can not convince me these fuckers didn’t go sledding all year round. We do know it snows on their home island. But they’re not gonna let the WEATHER tell them when they can and can’t sled. Luffy probably whined and whined till they grabbed some cardboard from the grey terminal found the steepest grassy hill and barrelled themselves straight down it. There were many face plants, grass stains, blood and broken cardboard but they certainly sledded.

I can’t help but think they still went swimming even if Luffy couldn’t, maybe they found something that floats well enough that he can join them in the deep end. But I can totally see them jumping off a certain cliff into the river trying to do flips and screaming. One of them also definitely belly flopped and had to lay still while the other two laughed their asses off. The amount of attempted drownings in those waters would be alarming

On the same topic as cardboard sledding I feel like they would also make other things out of the materials of the grey terminal. Like they found a perfectly good tire wheel and decided that’s their toy for the day. They got Luffy to climb in the centre and rolled him down a hill till he screamed and crashed into a tree. He did throw up but it was still funny. Maybe they made the dingiest saddest excuse for a go-kart to roll down those hills. Either way Luffy was the test dummy and always crashes.

These boys totally just had a day where they decided to just. Dig a hole. Luffy probably started it, Ace and Sabo said that’s stupid but after lunch they found themselves joining. They didn’t know why. It just looked fun. In the end they made a huge pit and not bothered to fill it back in Sabo turned it into a pitfall trap. They had fallen into their own trap too.

They spent a week fighting over a stump. Ace stood on it once and said something and all of a sudden Luffy and Sabo wanted it. It was king of the castle war until Ace and Sabo gave in cause it was suddenly ‘boring.’ they found a cooler stump.

[grison-in-space]

I know we're past this point, but I'm beyond exhausted with ARA mentality making its way into the public consciousness. Flaco being championed as a symbol of freedom, Dodo promoting anthropomorphism, celebrities backing PETA, fucking TIKTOK. I work with sled dogs and I don't know how many people per week accuse us of abuse because dogs should be free and not "chained up" and why do we "make" the dogs work. No matter what you say, they just twist your words and take your frustration as admission. Sorry for the rant, but it's getting beyond annoying! How do we combat the misinformation when they take your information and say that you can't read an animals mind, even when the animal's behavior suggest its content?

Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I'm right there with you! It frustrates me, too, especially because animal communication and signaling was a huge part of my doctoral work, so I have spent a lot of time thinking about how animals can encode and unpack information from signals and cues* to communicate and share information with one another.

What I will usually do if I run into someone like this is treat the comment that "you can't read an animal's mind" as pertaining to both of us. I sure can't read an animal's mind, and neither can you, friend! So how can animals communicate with us about what they want? How can we use evidence from the animal'l own behavior to indicate its preferences?

Well, when we give animals choices, what do they do? Matilda doesn't love harnesses for their own sake, but she knows that she doesn't come with me for the day if the harness isn't out. When she sees the harness, she approaches me and stares intently; if I don't pick it up and put it on her, she will sometimes move in front of my and block my path to the outside. Or take my mice. When we open the top of the cage for a behavior session for the mice in my lab (a noninvasive "game" that asks them to choose between one side or another in exchange for little squirts of watered down Ensure), it's common to see mice pop out of the cage and start racing around the rim, trying to climb onto a hand. Animals learn cues from us about what is going to happen next, and they behave accordingly. If they aren't enjoying a task, you can usually tell!

Okay, that's for small, easily understood time units. What about the big questions? Would a dog rather run free than run in harness with a human handler? Well, it's certainly hard to get an informed consent from an animal, because again, no language to communicate risks TO THEM. But you can also go, okay, what does freedom actually look like for free roaming wild animals? There's... an awful lot of bad deaths out there, it turns out.

Like, a lot.

Hey. You're a human who presumably prefers to live in society. If I told you that I had the offer of a lifetime for you, where you'd be released from all debts and obligations to human society and in exchange you could go live on a naked island by yourself in a hut with a bucket to drop waste in and no running water, and just enough food to keep you alive until you learned how to successfully forage for yourself, would you do it? Or would you keep your debts and your job in exchange for being able to rely on a society to prevent your neighbors from deciding to murder you for rations, construct safe and hygienic ways to handle drinking water and waste, and devise predictable and palatable things to eat? Would you like to be released into the world without a social group or any connections, or would you rather stay in a society even though you're not able to make any possible decision that might flicker into your head?

If they tell me "yeah I'd love that actually," ask why they're not doing it right now. Like, I'm assuming you work tourism in some capacity, Nonny; why are they shelling money out for this dogsled ride if their dream is to be free of Society? Living in a big collective group always entails some loss of freedoms (e.g. I cannot play big brass music at full volume at 10pm unless I want my housemates to riot), but the potential gains (increased comfort, lowered costs, rewarding long term relationships) outweighs those costs.

Which is why when my dogs do get out, they usually stay in earshot and return when they're bored with brief exploration or they hear our alarmed contact calls. If the great outdoors was that much better, do you really think so many domestic animals would come right back?

*Technically speaking, you can extract information from both signals and cues, but a signal is intended to transmit information to a receiver and a cue is a physiological byproduct of an individual's state. Think of it as the difference between a human making eye contact with you and then glaring versus seeing a human having a whole-ass meltdown directed at no one in particular on a park bench. This is a meaningful difference for animals, too: I did quite a bit of work on eavesdropping in the animal world, where messages intended for one kind of receiver can be detected, accessed, and unpacked by another, much less desirable party — like a competitor or a predator.

[tzifron]

I'm old enough to remember when the CBC bent over backwards to stress that the Qikiqtani Truth Commission's report proved that there was no conspiracy to destroy the Inuit way of life. It just so happened that existing policy was indistinguishable from an attempt to destroy the Inuit way of life.

And the report itself that the second CBC article was referencing (which was not linked in that article):

"The resulting RCMP Sled Dogs Report confirmed that hundreds and perhaps thousands of dogs were killed by RCMP members and other authorities in the 1950s and 1960s. However, as a detailed analysis of the resulting RCMP report prepared by this Commission points out, the RCMP took an overly legalistic approach to their investigation.37 Their investigators only looked for evidence of a government conspiracy or unlawful behaviour in the actions of the RCMP in killing qimmiit. Unfortunately, they did not go beyond these two concerns to consider other issues such as the inappropriateness of the law under which qimmiit were killed, or the many ways in which the killings were related to the relocations that were occurring at the time. The authors also dismissed Inuit memories of the killings as false, or arising from faulty memories, and condemned Inuit leaders who brought the incidents to public notice as being motivated by a desire for monetary compensation."

[sagesparrow394]

Headcanons for if JRWI characters ended up on the QSMP (aka Just QSMP With it)

Continuation of this post and this post! Other posts about this AU are on my blog under the tag #just qsmp with it

I think Chip is initially resistant to cooperating with the Order and the other islanders’ resistance against the Federation. He’s too concerned with just getting his ship fixed and trying to leave the island, making that his priority over whatever is happening on the island. It’s only once it properly sets in that there is no feasible way of leaving as long as the Federation is in control that he agrees to formally join the Order. He’s the last of the Riptide pirates to do so, Jay joining pretty quickly, and Gillion being recruited by Etoiles after expressing a keen desire to help free everyone.

While Gillion helps Pomme train and teaches her fighting skills, Pomme would absolutely return the favour by teaching Gillion French. I also think it’d be funny if Gill was inexplicably really really good at picking up the language. Bro’s almost fluent after a single month, able to have full conversations with Etoiles in French as the two spar.

Jay and Jaiden definitely become friends. Is this partially because their duo name would be Bluejay and that’s too good to pass up? Maaaybe. But I can see Jaiden initially trying to befriend Jay because hey, another woman, we’ve got three now! Girls gotta stick together! (going off the idea the Riptide crew arrive before the frozen islanders are thawed). And then they just bond further over their shared experiences with loss and grief. Jaiden’s death in Purgatory hits Jay pretty hard.

Runt doesn’t get recruited to the Order, she forces her way in. She tails someone and finds the secret entrance, spies in on a meeting or two, and then confronts Cellbit like “I know you’ve got a whole resistance thing going on, and I want in.” And so, not counting the eggs, she becomes the youngest member of Ordo Theoritas. Her first action after joining is to upgrade the Order’s security systems, making it more Cucurucho-proof.

Blink is recruited by Cellbit to the Order after Cellbit learns of his sheer power of bullshitting his way into places. Blink is specifically tasked with bullshitting his way into the Federation workforce. I mean, so far the only spies in the Federation are Fit (just a janitor), Foolish (playing both sides), and Cellbit (basically just a pawn Cucurucho likes to play with). Luckily, thanks to his powers of bullshitting and the Federation’s fondness for birds, Blink successfully is able to get the position of an A-Rank worker, becoming a vital informant for the Order (rip Blink x The Overseer, Blink x Cucurucho is the new ship /j)

At the end of Purgatory, Troy doesn’t leave Egg Island, choosing to stay behind for his egg Hope. Runt tries to convince him otherwise, but Troy just screams “I CAN’T FUCKING LEAVE HER”, refusing to move. Blink drags Runt away, both heading to the boat without him. Troy ultimately joins Baghera and Cellbit as the killers of Purgatory 2, developing a closer friendship with the two of them and exploding strangers with an extra super duper cool sled provided by the Watcher. Then Hope, Pomme, Richarlyson and Philza arrive on their rescue mission. Troy can’t help but feel a little hurt Runt and Blink don’t come too, but buries those feelings deep down. I mean, what was he expecting from the guys who left him to fight 28 guards alone, right?