#snapsnap is a little small here

[creature-beast]

A young diskonian handing kel a package 📦 ✨️

[rantsandeepthoughts]

Being taken advantage of

Being taken advantage of - comes in many different forms.

I won't list all of them, I just wanted to list the one that is making me so so furious right now.

Since childhood, I've had to become responsible. It all began with my parents having more children than they can afford, more children than they can manage. So I became a parent before I even turned 10.

It all begins quite minor enough. Help with this, help with that, always always having to help. And always having to help myself. Because no one would help me. Not really. And it all starts small.

It builds up to a point that by the time I turned 13, the basic chores like laundry and especially ironing were all on me. No wait... I did all the ironing at 10 years old. I can't remember when exactly the rest all started. When exactly it all began loading up onto my shoulders. But they did.

I remember being depressed when I was 14, trying to fit in with friends at school, but never being able to because of the tyrannical rules. I had to lie, and lie a lot I did, just so I could be normal, and spend some time with my friends after school.

Throughout, the loading of responsibilities, chores, errands and what not gradually built up.

By the time I was 17, I was fully self-dependent. I worked for my own lunch money, my fees were covered by organizations, obviously, financial assistance schemes were a breeze to get with only 1 income from my father and way too many children to divide it by.

I'm missing the whole point.

The whole point of which. Responsibility has more or less been ingrained in me. Some things you learn the hard way, and this is one of them. It's been ingrained through sheer pressure, fear and force that now - that I'm much much older and very much an adult. I cannot switch this off.

Obeying orders and simply taking responsibility and taking ownership of various tasks that I know needs to be done because I have foresight and initiative - both of which I had to learn the hard way, for when I was a child, when I lacked initiative or such things, I would be punished and screamed at harshly. Abuse not just verbally, but many times also physically, psychologically. everything.

You learn to avoid being hurt. You learn to predict, you learn to do before being told, you learn all the little things, all the ticks, all the nuances. In all that, you gain initiative too. But you also gain the inability to say 'no'.

You gain the inability to stand up for yourself. You lack confidence and self-esteem despite being able to perform well and beyond, because, when you've done well in the past it was never enough. Because perfection was the only thing accepted. And there was no way you could be perfect.

Even now, there's no way a person could be perfect. and yet, Perfection is what has always been demanded.

So if you do a task, and you were scored 80/100. It would still feel like I failed.

I digressed again.

Responsibility. Some years back, being taken advantage of was something that always happened to me. And I did not even realise it. My parents throughly took advantage of my maturity, wisdom and high level of responsibility and raised their expectations to a ridiculous degree. I became the parent to my siblings. I became the go-between, messenger, peace-keeper between my parents. I became the errand girl for all the tasks and errands for my relatives because my mother offered me - she volunteered me - without my consult. Because I was never allowed to say 'no', and I never learned how to.

I fell into depression again. Oh mind you, me, depressed, I still had to get up and work and do all the shit. I was just a zombie on auto-pilot, eternally exhausted, and nothing made me happy. I was depressed. Maybe a bit suicidal - but that's another pandoras box to unpackage.

Not that anyone cared I was depressed. They likely never noticed. Because I was always the "Good and Quiet" one who knew how to be "completely obedient".

So all those years, more than a decade, two decades I suppose... or more. I was completely taken advantage of. And I did not even know it.

I was just miserable. so so miserable, I wished I never woke up. I wondered, If i fell of from a high floor, maybe I'd suddenly discover I could fly, develop a super power, to save myself. I wondered if maybe a superhero would come and save me.

I developed certain unhealthy addictions to cope. Addictions that I still struggle with today, though I'm glad they're not as bad as they were.

and most importantly, I feel.

I somehow, managed, to save myself.

I thank my friend, who urged and encouraged me to further my studies. (I had stopped the moment I had the lowest possible certificate to work, and worked). So I decided, I had to go, study further. Like what all my friends had already done. All of them, didn't have to worry about money. I did.

I worked for years. I lived like a pauper, while paying for all the things for the household that my parents couldnt or wouldnt because well (they're horrible examples of adults. let alone 'parents') saved up. and I decided to study Psychology. Of course, nobody understood why I wanted to. Even I myself, did not quite understand why I wanted to.

To understand - was definitely a driving factor. Just, to understand. What exactly I didn't know. But I knew, somewhere in my mind, that all this wasn't right.

Studying Psychology, saved me. Having access to the free psych clinic on campus saved me more. (I thank my course mate, who told me about it, and encouraged me to go for counseling as she was going to.)

I learned so much. Invaluable. Priceless. Lessons that would help me, lifelong.

I also learned that, I was being taken advantage of. Amongst many other things. I learned that I could say 'no'. Actually saying 'no' took years of practice. But I'm more able to say 'no' now, than I was when this self-awareness journey started.

So now. When I am being taken advantage of - yes, it still happens. One simply does not so simply escape 3 decades++ of abuse and malicious conditioning just like that -snapsnap-. It takes a long time.

However long you were abused and hurt, that is however long you need to heal. This is what I tell myself, because I will be kind to myself, and not stress over the fact that healing is taking a long time.

There are various other factors like the whole financial shit show.

So now.

NOW. when I get taken advantage of. I come here and rant. because I'm angry. I'm angry that this sense of 'take it upon myself' is so ingrained, I still do it like on auto-pilot, and I only realise belatedly that 'hey, why am I doing this? that person should be the one doing it!' - but it's belated so yeah. I get angry. I get angry at everything and everyone, then i get angry at myself, then i get angry at the monster and demons that caused this conditioning in my mind to happen. Then I reel back and breathe, and understand that just stewing in anger isn't healthy for me. I understand that I need an outlet.

I come here and rant, because, friends cannot always be your outlet. There is only so much you can rant and pour out to your friends before they too cannot take it anymore.

So I come here. On anonymous platforms where I am safe. Where I can say whatever I want to say, with no repercussions, as no one knows who I am. (A hacker could find out my email but heh. whatever).

I come here, and I let the anger, and the sadness, and the self-pity, and the words all come out. here.

There it is. It's all out now. I can breathe a bit more easy.

[theincredibledash]

Schoolyard Fight Club || The Fast & The Furious

Dash bumps into Ariel and Spinelli at school... [Dated: December 11th]

@ariel-the-rebel​, @tough-girl-spinelli​

[tw: violence]

ARIEL: Ariel hadn’t woken up that morning with murder on her mind.

That morning, she was only focused on the last few band practices she’d have before it was time for the break. They had a performance to prepare for - Christmas themed, of course - and she was already going over her part in her head. It was really the only thing on her mind that day, and she was zoning out of class. Even walking out with Spinelli, on her way to practice, she was twirling one her drumsticks, the other tapping quietly against her thigh as she listened to her friend. It had become much more common than usual for her to zone out like this - though it’s unclear if it’s to distract herself from the werewolf incident on Halloween or she was just really into the concert this year.

It was just another day, leading into another cold winter break - until she snapped out of her zone outside when she smacked into someone outside as they both came around the corner at the same time. She yelped, dropping her drumsticks and taking a step back from the other.

“What the hell! You can’t just stand…” She started but stopped upon inspection and sirens went off in her head. Oh, not this guy again. “If it isn’t the electrifying let down from Town Hall. Do all Americans just stand in doorways waiting around?”

DASH: Dash regarded his first few weeks of school as a success. He had made a somewhat good impression with the Ashley’s, made friends with the other track kids, and was keeping up with his classes just fine. He had his reservations about moving all the way to England, but it seemed to be working out just fine. Surprisingly enough, his usual bullying was down from his previous school. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t solidified himself as a true “popular kid” yet, or that he was just getting to know who was who in the school, but he didn’t really feel the urge to go knocking nerds’ heads around .

That was until he rounded the corner and slammed into the redhead. 

He instinctively growled, “Watch it!” before he registered who he had run into. It was that bitch from town hall! He recognized her in an instant, but her shitty attempt at an insult confirmed that it definitely was the Mudkip-loving asshole. The girl next to her, though, he did not recognize, but he didn’t need to know who she was to know she was probably some shitty friend of hers.

“Do all Brits not look where they’re going?” he retorted, his lips curling into an angry sneer. He started to step forward, but his foot brushed up against the drumsticks. Payback. With a ‘tch’, he stepped on them, but not hard enough to break them. Yet.

“Drumsticks? You a band nerd or something?”

SPINELLI: Like Ariel, Spinelli had not woken up with murder on her mind. She might have let the shitty manners slide had he simply grumbled his protest and let them pass, but the second the blonde American sleazeball took a menacing step towards her best friend, stepping on her prized drumsticks, that all changed.

In an instant, Spinelli was in his face—she didn’t touch him. Yet. But her fists clenched at her sides and her expression twisted into a baleful glare that promised a world of hurt if he made a wrong move. 

Honestly, if looks could kill, this boy would be a goner.

“What did you just say, blondie?” she growled in a low voice, not even a little intimidated by the slimy prick towering over her as she cracked her knuckles.

DASH: Dash tried to hold back his laughter as the brunette squared up with him, but it burst from his chest, boisterous and loud. Was this a joke? The nerds of this school were feisty weren’t they? And was that a hint of a New York accent? Seemed like he wasn’t the only American around. His gaze focused back on his original target as his laughs died down.

“Can’t fight so you have yourself a little guard dog, huh? Isn’t that cute,” he mocked, his smirk stretching longer across his face. He directed his sneer back down to the indignant girl in front of him, his shoulders moving back and chest puffing out a little as he continued with his insults. “And are you trying to be intimidating? Because you’ve got to grow a few inches if you are.” 

ARIEL: It was like a siren had gone off the moment he touched one of her drumsticks. She took a step forward as well, but Spinelli was already moving in front of her and up into the guy’s face. Still, Ariel glared over her friend’s shoulder.

“Well maybe you should grow up and quit picking fights everywhere you go!” She huffed. Seriously, how long had this guy even been in town? He had no right to be running around trying to challenge anyone. Especially Spinelli. “Or are you set on getting your ass kicked?”

SPINELLI: Was this douchebag for real?! Seriously?! He was mocking her! Even Kyle Henry, the biggest, stupidest, meathead bully in school had more sense than this guy. 

Spinelli didn’t break eye contact with the kid as Ariel spoke, responding with a snarl as she grabbed fistfuls of the guy’s shirt in both hands and yanked him down so he was forced to hunch over and look her in the eye. 

“You must be new around here,” she added, her voice a low, angry growl, “so I’m not going to knock your teeth out—yet. I don’t know who you are, aside from the fact that you’re a disgusting bully who’s been picking fights with too many of my friends now, but I’m warning you now to watch your step or, as Ariel said, you’re going to wind up getting your ass kicked, do I make myself clear?”

DASH: It had been a while since someone had chosen to tousle with Dash. The familiar pull of his shirt usually brought him up instead of down, but he wasn’t about to discount this girl just because of that. She had that fury in her eyes he knew well, - it always came up when he struck a nerve - and she wasn’t backing down. 

Though her little monologue had him confused. He hadn’t picked fights with anyone in the school yet. She must have had him confused with someone else. He couldn’t help but look a little puzzled, but that quickly turned into a taunting grin as he grabbed both her wrists.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about, but thanks for the credit anyway,” he claimed, refusing to back down, even after her threat. “And I’d be more worried about your ass getting kicked. You don’t know who you’re messing with.” 

He ground his foot harder into the drumsticks, and they strained against his sneaker and the ground. How much more would it take to snap them? 

ARIEL: Maturally, Ariel stuck her tongue out at the guy as her friend basically growled at him. That should scare him enough…

Or so she thought.

Her eyes went to her friend’s wrists as he grabbed them, then down to her poor stick. “Hey, hey, hey!” She shouted, pushing her way between them with her much smaller form, trying to remove the guy from her friend’s space and off her property. “Careful!”

While she’d love to see this guy get decked into next week by one of Spinelli’s signature moves, she also didn’t want her getting into another fight. Especially on her behalf. Or her stuff being broken. So she kept herself planted between them, glaring up at him from between his arms.

And in that moment, she was not a fighter. Never had been one, and she had just placed herself essentially in No Man’s Land.

SPINELLI: Spinelli wasn’t phased one bit by the kid grabbing her wrists. Like, seriously? A quick flick of her wrists would have her free to take him down and leave him talking like a little girl for the next month.

But then Ariel jumped between them, planting herself in the very small space between herself and the jerk she was ready to pound. It felt like her stomach had turned to ice. With Her wrists were still trapped, and Ariel so close, Spinelli couldn’t do anything but glare without risking hurting her friend. So she let go of the guy’s shirt, trying to shove him away, but not quite managing to break his grip.

“Right,” she scoffed over Ariel’s shoulder, rolling her eyes. “Like you’re going to kick my ass. I’m sure your mother would be so proud to know her son was threatening girls half his size.” She laughed humorlessly, raising a challenging eyebrow and added, “Just like the headmaster will be when he finds out.”

DASH: Dash smirked as the redhead got between him and his target. She didn’t want her precious drumsticks broken, huh? Well that all but made up his mind about it. He stared down at her, ready to lock eyes and snap the pieces of wood beneath his feet, but her friend’s voice shifted his gaze to her. His foot lifted slightly.

And then the haughty smirk was wiped from his face. 

No one used his mother against him. The sarcasm oozing from her words made his blood boil. His mom was proud of him and he was going to keep it that way! Sure, he’d get in trouble for picking a fight, but he’d explained away so many in the past, and it’d be well worth it to put this bitch in her place. 

His lips curled, baring his teeth in a snarl. His grip on her wrists tightened before he shoved her away from him and let go. His eyes glared daggers at her as he shifted his weight back.

Snapsnap!

ARIEL: “Dude!” Ariel gasped, immediately dropping to the ground to pick up the poor remains of her treasured sticks. Thankfully, this wasn’t the pair that Finn had given her for her Birthday - but every pair she did have was special to her. Because she was sentimental (and a hoarding mermaid).

She wasn’t going to cry, totally not. But her particularly watery eyes turned up to him with a sharp glare.”You piece of shit!” 

Again, Ariel was not a fighter. In that moment though, she wish she was. She wished she could throw a strong punch like Spinelli and knock this guy’s lights out. The disrespect towards her, her friend, and her property was really pushing her towards a violent desire. 

Or at least, the urge to act on one.

SPINELLI: She’d tried. Really, Spinelli had put forth an effort to not, in fact, knock this loser’s lights out. It was almost Christmas and she wanted to make to the end of the term without getting yet another detention. Honestly, she deserved a medal for how long she’d managed to not hit the guy.

But between the snapping of Ariel’s sticks and her friend’s tearful face, Spinelli’s hold on her self control snapped like a twig. “Bloody prick!” she shrieked, seeing red as she lunged, throwing her shoulder into his stomach and tackling him to the ground.

The crowded school hallway around them erupted into chaos around them as students gasped and shouted. “Fight! Fight!” they chanted and called out from the sidelines, running to see who exactly was getting pounded this time.

Spinelli ignored this, completely used to being a spectacle—her mother was going to murder her. But she didn’t care. This prick needed to be taught a lesson. She used her small frame against him, sitting on his chest and pulling back her fist, readying to throw a punch straight to that pretty face of his as she leaned in to hiss, “I tried to warn you, but like all of the stupid pricks around here, you didn’t listen.”

DASH: The redhead had distracted him. That’s what Dash told himself as he crashed to the floor. Her little tears over her precious drumsticks gave him that sweet satisfaction, but they also had him looking away. And now he was at a disadvantage underneath the short, fighty bitch. The chants around them were an old tune he’d heard before, and they put him in the right headspace. He wasn’t about to let her get the upper-hand here. 

The bitch shouldn’t have taken the moment to insult him. It was precious time lost for her and his to gain as he reached up toward her fist and grabbed it, twisting her arm out painfully. The other hand went to her head and shoved her in the same direction as her twisted arm. He forced her off as he pushed himself up, snarling as the fire from her earlier insult still burned with fury in his chest.

He wasn’t one for words anymore. He was focused on the fight now.

SPINELLI: Spinelli roared in pain as her arm twisted at an odd angle away from her body. Fuck! That hurt! As she was forced to the ground, she managed to shift her weight so she made it to her back. She couldn’t reach him with her fists, so it was time to get creative.

Not taking the time to get up, she waited for him to get to his feet—whimpering like the poor little girl the prick probably assumed her to be before swinging her leg behind his knees, sending him crashing back to the ground where he landed on his back. Good. She rolled and was back on him in a flash, her twisted arm still smarting but not out of commission by a long shot. 

This time, she wasted no time in getting her punches in—to his chest, his shoulder and a particularly savage punch to his eye. 

DASH: For a moment, Dash felt like he had won. A whine escaped the girl on the ground and he started to smirk, the sense of success already coming to him. But she surprised him. His hubris was to blame for his distraction now as he fell to the ground, the back of his head smacking the floor with an audible thud! 

Dazed, he didn’t register her getting on top of him again until he felt her punches. It was too late to defend himself as the assault continued, but the blow to his face snapped him out of it. He cried out as the pain shot through his eye. 

That was it. He was done holding back. He knew how severe the consequences of revealing his powers were, but only being a little bit faster wasn’t going to get him found out.

As another fist came down at him, he caught it in his hand, gripping it tight. Before she could bring down her other fist, he clenched his free hand and punched up in quick succession. One-Two-Three-Four. He wished all of them had hit her face but his head was still swimming from earlier. There were glancing blows to her shoulder, but he had gotten a good swing at her nose.

ARIEL: The fight erupted before her eyes. She hadn’t even blink, and Spinelli and the jerk were on the ground, laying into each other. As chants and other students surrounded them, she felt her heart rate pick up as she panicked for her friend.

Don’t get it wrong. Spinelli was a badass in her eyes. No one could take her, and she wasn’t pushed around so easily (like Ariel clearly was). But as the boy started getting punches in as well, the worry invaded her senses and she realized she just should have ducked her head and kept walking if this was going to be the result.

“Stop it!” Was all the redhead could shout before she dove in as well, trying to stop him from punching her friend. Unlike him though, she couldn’t just grab someone’s moving fist out of the air.

DASH: Before Dash could detect any retaliation from his assault, a different pair of hands came into view. It was that fucking redhead bitch! He hadn’t heard her cry to stop, so immediately assumed she was trying to start fighting him too. In that moment, his rage peaked. Two against one? Now that was just plain unfair!

His fist reeling back from his last punch, he twisted his body just enough to angle it and throw it right back out again, but this time straight into the interfering girl’s stomach. In the next moment he had grabbed a fistful of her shirt closer to her chest, and twisted his body in the other direction, pulling her into her friend and trying to knock them into each other. Two birds with one stone.

SPINELLI: Though her rage spiked when he grabbed her fist, Spinelli held her own for the first three punches—one, two, three punches to the shoulder. She smirked, a taunt on the tip of her tongue when her head snapped back, accompanied by a crunching sound and a searing pain throbbing in the center of her face. Fuck! The asshole got her in the nose! 

Rather than deter her, it fueled her on. And she was ready! Still sitting on his chest, she lunged forward to grab his free hand and stop it from swinging—maybe she’d break it on principle—when another pair of hands entered the fray. 

Oh shit! Ariel had come to her aid. Spinelli panicked and hesitated, not wanting her friend to get hurt. The hesitation cost them both as the prick punched Ariel right in the stomach, attempting to knock her into to Spinelli. But she dodge and lunged again with a howl of rage on behalf of her injured friend, ready to strike when a hand grabbed the back of her shirt with a shout, pulling her off of the boy.

“That will be quite enough Ms. Spinelli!” Ugh. It was Ms. Finnster, the stodgy old hall monitor and general distributor of punishments and consequences. In her rage, Spinelli had tried to wrestle from her grip to rush back to get Ariel away from the guy, but several other teachers had dashed from their nearby classrooms to break up the fight. 

Ms. Finnster glared at her and sighed, “Again, Spinelli? What are we going to do with you? Just—go to the nurse—”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re bloody nose suggests otherwise,” Ms. Finnster snapped, adding, “And then, straight to the Headmaster’s office. They’ll be expecting you. Now go.” 

Spinelli wasn’t going anywhere without Ariel—she hurried over to her friend, looking her over and completely ignoring the boy. “Hey, you ok?”

ARIEL: Ariel really wasn’t trying to fight! But of course, a blow hit her right in the stomach, and she was knocked back onto the ground from the fight. It had her buckled over, unable to defend herself if the kid started swinging her way again.

Instead, something much worse happened - Finnster’s arrival. Uh oh.

As the older woman pulled the two kids apart, she only spared Ariel a glance as she stood on her own. She hadn’t gotten a bloody nose from the fight after all, so she was hardly a sight to bat an eye at compared to her friend. Who she was more worried about than herself.

“Yeah...I’m not the one with blood on their face though…” She admitted with a small huff and hand on her stomach. “I know you’re no stranger to it, but you got to stop throwing your face in front of fists.” It was an attempt at teasing despite the trouble they were in. And also her way of ignoring the boy.

DASH: Fuck.

Dash had lost his chance to gain the upper hand as his human projectile was dodged. He saw the rage in the girl’s face and heard her scream. His arms tucked in close to his body, fists by his face, ready to protect and defend himself, but he blinked and suddenly she was getting pulled off of him. On some level, he was thankful for the fighting to be over, but on another, he just wanted to keep punching her face in.

The shrill tones of the hall monitor pierced his ears and made his head ring something awful. He stood slowly, reorienting himself with that of an upright world, and realized that most students had been shooed off. And that a teacher was closing in on him. This is what he hated about school fights. All of the nagging and tongue-clicking and head-shaking on the march to the principal’s office (or the headmaster’s or whatever they called it here). 

But he knew that wasn’t the worst part. The worst was yet to come.

He glared daggers at the two girls as he was ushered away. He felt accomplished for having busted her nose, but it wasn’t enough in his opinion. As much as he had gained some respect for her fighting skills, he still wanted to flatten her out. Maybe he’d get the chance to in the future, but for now, he stood tall as his footsteps echoed through the halls.

SPINELLI: In spite of her now throbbing blood covered face, Spinelli laughed, sensing that the boy was now walking away, but choosing not to acknowledge it. “Pfft. This? I’d do it again in a heartbeat. My nose will stop bleeding in the next few minutes, but his eye will be purple for the next week.”

She looped her arm through her friend’s and they started down the hall towards the nurse’s office. Though she was the picture of ease and nonchalance, her mind was racing. First point of business was the make sure everyone knew that Ariel was completely innocent. She’d feel awful if her friend ended up in detention because of Spinelli’s hot head. 

Secondly, she had been in a lot of fights over the years and she’d never met anyone who could punch like that––he’d hit her, what? Four times in a row? How had he done it? Punched so fast and hard so many times? What was his story? Aside from being an arrogant, hot headed prick, of course.

Before all of that, she had to face the nurse. Hopefully, she’d keep the fussing and glaring and lecturing to a minimum. Spinelli was certain there would be plenty of that in the headmaster’s office. Until then she’d keep her head high and face whatever was to come. 

[did-i-fucking-stutter]

Florida: The perspective of not a retiree living a comfortable life Part 1: The environment

*cracks knuckles* Let's begin.

Florida: Known worldwide for its sunny beaches, fun places to vacation, wonderful tropical climate, beautiful wildlife and other things. The lightning capital of the world, the “Sunshine State” and honestly a paradise to some.

Before anyone throws a limestone rock or a ball made of sandspurs at me- let me tell you about myself briefly:

I am a girl born into a Hispanic-American family who lived in North Fort Myers for 18 years. Born and raised. My mother moved here from South America and my father from Michigan in the early 1980s. They both graduated from a local high school, the same one I went to, at a time when the area was starting to grow-  there were small businesses all over. Not the safest place, but we managed. This state is the only home I have ever known and I love it dearly- but man... some people have really ruined a beautiful state home to some really beautiful wildlife.

Like the goodest water mooer - Manatee

In Fort Myers every winter, these adorable chubbubbles gather near the water treatment plant right off of the Caloosahatchee River to get some warm water and nom on some good grass nearby.

The biggest swamp kitten - Florida Panther

These precious pouncers have been around for a long time and if you ever visit the Everglades, you might get to see one.

The big ol’ snapsnap - American Crocodile

These smiley jumbo snappers can be found all throughout Florida and it is really cute to see them laying in the sun napping to sun themselves. Swimmy lizard boy can also go pretty fast on land ‘ww’

And even some plants too:

like the fuzzy minty flower - Conradina Glabra (Shinners)

and their droopy spotty cousin the Conradina Brevifola (False Rosemary)

But here’s the thing: All the species listed above are endangered and, thankfully, under federal protection since the passing of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 with the help of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA (the people who everyone remembers during hurricanes).

The reason these species are endangered includes a long history of land acquisition that boomed during the early 1900s. In other words: people saw that land in Florida was cheap and they could use it to start their businesses, so they started buying it all up.

Over time this had a major impact on the natural wildlife and messed with the delicate balance of the Everglades. Why don’t people shut up about the Everglades? Well not only is it a pretty neat place to visit, but its survival revolves around brackish water - a delicate combination of both fresh and salt water. The Everglades used to extend much farther up the state, but because of aforementioned reasons, it now rests in the tiny little area below Southwest Florida.

By the way, that first bump where that little blue line runs through? That is the Caloosahatchee River. The river that divides Fort Myers into the part that people care about (Fort Myers), and the part that nobody really cares about except its residents. My home town, North Fort Myers- but I’ll save that rant for another time

(Side note: If you search for SWFL in the Urban Dictionary, you will find the most accurate description of us I have ever heard)

Now let’s talk about the thing that everyone loves about Florida: The beaches

This topic hurts my heart to be honest.

So I know I provided information that is absolutely credible earlier- but for this section you will have to trust me and my narrative which I know is hard to do these days and you shouldn’t trust what people say on the internet unless its a credible source.

I used to go to Fort Myers Beach pretty often when I was little aka: the early 2000s. It was a pretty beautiful place and kinda like how everyone describes. We would go there for a bit, build some sand castles and grab some ice cream on the way home at, frankly, the -best- ice cream place in town- Love Boat. Quick intermission, if you are ever near Fort Myers Beach on San Carlos Blvd, check out Love Boat’s homemade ice cream! They’re a great local business you can support on your drive through!

Over the course of a few years, as people started to move to Fort Myers and go there for vacation more frequently as Miami started to grow its nasty reputation. So, like any popular beach- it started to become littered with trash and we couldn’t stay too long because of the strange and shady people that started to roam there after dark, so we migrated to Naples beach until it started to get littered and shady over there too. Sure enough, over the years, stories started to pour in of crime and environmental damage to the beach:

2018 News alone:

83 y/o man murders woman and then commits suicide in FMB

A woman kills a friend in FMB after murdering her husband in Minnesota

Fatal two-car hit and run in FMB

don’t even get me started with the drug busts

Polluted runoff from storm drains is increasing

The longest wave of Red Tide began in October and is now causing the death of hundreds of animals along the coast of SWFL

Granted, these days the counties have arranged annual beach cleanups and smaller organizations including school clubs, scout troops, and nonprofit organizations are doing events like this throughout the year. I haven’t been to either beach in a few years and can’t vouch for what they look like now, but that doesn’t mean that it’s “good enough”. We, the citizens of Southwest Florida and you, the tourists from other places need to keep up after yourselves and others around you because let’s be honest there will always be those people who won’t and help protect and restore our lovely local beaches.

- Fort Myers Beach

-Naples Beach

-Captiva Island

-Cayo Costa State Park

As one last note, I can safely bet that a lot of people don’t know about Lake Okeechobee. Yes, that big blue spot in the middle of Florida. Our biggest lake from where all of South Florida’s water flows.

Good old Lake O.

“What about this lake is so important that you had to include it”, you may ask. Remember the map from earlier? The one that showed how the water used to flow into the Gulf?

This is one of the dams that regulates the flow of water to south Florida. It’s one of the prettier pictures that tends to obscure an ugly truth:

Lake Okeechobee has been polluted for years by chemical runoff from agricultural crops and it hasn’t stopped. In 2016 it got to the point where an algae bloom was so bad that it killed of hundreds of creatures living in the Lake.

In fact, there is a dead zone that has formed in the lake and it kinda works like this:

What frustrates me is that in order for change to happen, political figures must get involved, which I will rant about next time because recently our government discussed setting aside $10.5 million to help restore the lake and repair a rotting dike over the next 20 years- but due to politicians not agreeing, this portion of the budget has slowly disappeared from discussions in the Florida legislature.

Read more about this frustrating situation here in a report by the Weather Channel.

Next time on Rant by a Florida-Grown Teen who is fed up With a lot of Things and can’t Sleep: We will tackle the mess that is the Florida Government, and specifically the trainwreck that makes every idiot jealous: Lee County.

[calix-daesyn]

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What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?

Unguilty pleasures: definitely throw sex under here. He is very much unapologetic about how much he enjoys himself in that respect and doesn’t see any reason to feel so even if a random grey mage calls him a slut.

*snapsnap*

Calix doesn’t generally feel too guilty about his pleasures - he embraces them pretty fully. Probably the only thing I would say is that whole danger kink he has going on, since he continuously insists that it’s more of a...thrill thing and that he just so HAPPENS to tend to be with dangerous people. And I mean, come on - compared to him there are a lot of dangerous people out there okay and he makes sure to have trinkets and little enchantments you can buy on him so that he can protect himself if he needs to and sure several of his lovers are strong and dangerous enough to have such trinkets only have a small effect probably but look it’s fine okay he just so happens to get along well with them and it’s not a danger so much as -

ahem.

That would probably be the closest.