oceania

She dreams of the ocean late at night and longs for the wild salt air.

[elizjjwold]

photo by Elizabeth Johnson-Wold

[marlycrosss-blog]

Fisherman’s Guilt || Teddy

[isaacapatow]

“It is beautiful. And majestic, and idyllic, and a score of other marvellous descriptors besides.” Teddy smiled at Marly, a genuine expression of pride and slight wistfulness as he spoke about his homeland. “And there’s terrible things about it, as well. just as in India, just as in the United States and I daresay many of the countries on this planet. Incredible beauty and appalling ugliness.” Teddy shook his head, dark curls tumbling. “I’ve been embodied for 166 years now, but I’ve existed in spirit since the River Thames was first carved out of the prehistoric glaciers. I’ve had time to learn to take the good with the bad.”

At the invitation to the aquarium, Teddy perked up from the somewhat dour subject matter. “I shall accept your invitation, dear lady,” he said, “and with great pleasure. How kind of you to offer!”

[marlycrosss-blog]

Teddy’s description of England as he’d known it made her want to go all the more. One of the first things she’d done when she’d come to land was read the Harry Potter series and after that she’d always wanted to go. Even if Hogwarts wasn’t real and she would just be seeing the locations of the films (of which she had also seen; more times than she cared to admit). The images Teddy constructed in her mind were of dark streets and smoggy skies, but it was all somehow beautiful. Like those movies that took place in the England that looked like that. And yet, Teddy made all of it sound beautiful. 

At his excitement at her invitation, she jumped up and said, “I do not work today, but I do not think my manager will mind if I show you around. He is always wishing we had more business.” She started off at a brisk pace back down the pier. After a moment, she turned to look at Teddy again and said, “It must have been fascinating to live for so long. And, perhaps, also very lonely.”

[sebastian-rowe]

book buddies || Bastian&Marly

Bastian finally had a day off from the coffee shop. He’d been working as many hours as he could before the Fall semester began, saving up his money. He knew he shouldn’t buy too much before he got his textbook lists, since they were always expensive even if he found them used. 

But on the other hand, there was a new Harry Potter book that he hadn’t read yet. This wasn’t something he could just get from the library, no, Bastian had to own the full collection. So he went to the bookstore, with his backpack that held his pelt secured on his shoulders.

As he looked through the shelves in the small shop, Bastian spotted a familiar face. “Marly!” he called out, then shushed himself as if it was the library and went over to her. “Hey. What’s up? Haven’t seen you around the caves lately.”

@marlycrosss

[marlycrosss-blog]

Marly loved the library. She always had ever since she’d come to Sumner. It was quiet and calming and no one spoke in a voice above a whisper. Maybe it was due to her upbringing, but upraised voices scared her or at least made her nervous. Especially when she wasn’t expecting them. 

Which was why she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice of Bastian, the selkie she’d met in the beach caves, calling her name. She turned and saw him cross the library to her. She smiled at him once her initial shock wore off. She liked Bastian. He was nice. And he reminded her a lot of herself. 

“Oh, nothing much is up, I guess,” she replied, going back to the books she was browsing. It wasn’t anything special. She’d come to the library with the intent just to browse. She already had a large stack of books she needed to read at home. She turned to Bastian, smiling. “Everything is as it has been. How about you?”

[marlycrosss-blog]

Who do you put first: yourself or others? Why or why not?

“I put others before myself. If I put myself first always, people would be hurt because of me and I do not want that to happen. There is a time and a place for being selfish, but I do not think it is always.”

[marlycrosss-blog]

Whats your least favorite movie?

“Oh! I do not think I have seen very many movies that would give me a good enough reply to this, but the one I have seen so far that I do not like is this independent movie called Ten Inch Hero. I did not care for the ending.”

[marlycrosss-blog]

What makes your character embarrassed?

Marly is easily embarrassed. She doesn’t know much about the human world and often gets things wrong and feeling embarrassed when she does so. By her thinking, she should’ve always known about all of these things in the human world and, despite the fact it was hidden from her, she finds it unfair that others have to deal with her lack of knowledge. 

[casefilesofelizabethbell-deacti]

Late Night Swim//Marly and Elizabeth

[casefilesofelizabethbell-deacti]

Elizabeth listened, back still turned to the woman as she emerged rom the water and dressed. She watched too the parking lot, just in case. It was still quiet. The quiet before the storm she couldn’t help but think. Behind her the woman started to walk away, but stopped. 

Elizabeth turned as the other woman spoke. She smiled almost softly. There were times that she felt like a protector. It was something she rarely put that particular name to, but it was often how she acted. Since she had already suffered there was no reason for other people to. “Not quite,” she replied, scratching behind Tink’s ears.  

[marlycrosss-blog]

Marly tilted her head to one side at woman’s question. Out of all of the people she’d met in Sumner so far, this woman had seemed the most normal. Maybe that was because she was a cop. Maybe it was because it was dark out and Marly just couldn’t tell in the dark, but for whatever reason this woman’s being something other than human surprised her. 

“You are?” Marly asked, moving slightly closer, her eyes the size of dinner plates as though that would help her see past the glamour to the person underneath. She bit her lip and looked away when she realized she was staring and was quiet for a moment. Then she looked up again and asked, “If you do not mind my asking, what is it that you are?”

[marlycrosss-blog]

Warehouse || Ephram

[ephrampettaline]

“Is it?” Ephram asked, astonished when Marly commented on the change in the water within the town’s limits. “That is weird. But then again this is Sumner and you never can tell what the heck you’re gonna run into in this town. For better or worse.” He’d seen some pretty bizarre things on the water too, whether at his pier, the one by his trailer, or the bigger beaches. Marly probably had a much more incisive sense for these things than he did.

Ephram grabbed a bottle of Coke from the case, but he paused in drinking it when Marly asked about the business he did. “Well,” he said, rubbing the back of his head, “it’s somethin’ of a combination between legit delivery and shipping services, and items that’re a lil bit harder to get your hands on. I take orders for those shipments.” Ephram didn’t elaborate any further than that, hoping that Marly would catch on that what he did wasn’t technically legal.

[marlycrosss-blog]

Marly listened with interest, barely touching the cup of warm coffee she’d made herself while Ephram talked about the warehouse. Once she’d finished with the coffee, she’d sat in a chair nearby and continued listening to him. It became pretty apparent that not everything they shipped here was legal, but Marly wasn’t sure she was supposed to know about that. However, at the same time, she figured that Ephram knew how to cover things up with his words and if she’d figured out what was going on, it was only because he’d let her. 

But then there was the tricky question of whether or not she was supposed to bring it up. Did Ephram want everyone knowing what it was that he did in this warehouse? Or maybe he just trusted her? Marly started into the dark depths of her coffee before. “Not everything you ship here is legal, is it.” It wasn’t a question and she looked up when she said it, feeling slightly nervous at what her blunt-ness might bring.

[marlycrosss-blog]

Shooting Star || Open

[hanarocksong-blog]

“Oh my god, that’s so cute.  You’re so cute,” Hana said with a rather fond smile.  She loved how open and friendly Marly was, how eager she seemed about forming friendships.  Maybe it was a product of her youth, or maybe it was a mermaid thing, Hana wasn’t sure.  All she knew was that Marly was, so far, a lovely person.  

“I’d like to be friends too,  But friends take each other out for food, and I love food, so.  How about after our first lesson, I take you out to lunch?”  Hana thought it would be a great way to get to know each other more, plus it wasn’t like Hana was hurting for money.  Curiously, though, she asked Marly,  “How old are you?  I’m - “  she smiled, somewhat abashed.  “I’m forty-two.”

Hana took back her cardigan, holding it in her hands and politely looking elsewhere as Marly got into her own clothes.  Hana hadn’t even seen it there -she’d assumed that Marly had just shown up randomly from the sea.  But she’d come from the shore, to go into the sea.  That was interesting.  “Do you have a home on the shore? I was just heading back, we can walk together if you like.”

She shook her head, appreciating Marly’s question and curiousity.  “I don’t know how much you know about gargoyles, but I was born into a family of gargoyles.  My father was - is - was a gargoyle, but my mother was a nymph.  Anyway, gargoyles are terrified of the water.  They instinctively turn into stone when they get submerged and they….they sink to the bottom of the ocean.  Have you ever seen stone people in the ocean?” Hana looked sadly at Marly.  “They’re probably gargoyles.  Still alive, but in hibernation and forced to be underwater for…for ever.”  A tear slid down Hana’s cheek, and she shook her head, wiping it away.  “Sorry.”

[marlycrosss-blog]

Marly couldn’t stop herself from blushing and smiling as Hana spoke. It was so nice to have someone be so nice to her. Most people in this town seemed to be kind, which surprised her, especially after coming from the background that she had. Even though she’d been in town for seven months, it still shocked her when people were so kind to her. 

At Hana’s mention of food, her grin widened and she clapped her hands together once, saying, “Yes!” as she did so. “Oh! But I should warn. I am a vegetarian. We will have to eat somewhere that does not have a purely meat menu if that is alright.” At Hana’s question, she tilted her head to one side, noticing for the first time just how much older than her the woman appeared. She shrugged and said, “I have been alive for twenty-three years.”

Marly pointed in a general eastward direction when Hana asked about her apartment. “I do live very close,” she said. “It is less than a block away. I would very much enjoy walking with you.” There was something about Hana that made Marly comfortable in a way that no one else had done so far. Like a mother, a voice said softly to her. She shook her head. She’d grown up fine without a real mother to love her. She’d done fine. She didn’t need one now. Right?

At Hana’s story about gargoyle’s and their fear of water, she froze, immediately thinking of all the stone people stuck at the bottom of the ocean for eternity. She wondered how many gargoyles had gone into water and never come out again. Scores of them clearly. She’d seen so many stone people underwater...

Marly shook her head as tears filled her eyes and said, “I am so sorry your people have been through so much suffering. It makes you wanting to learn to swim even braver. I will make sure you do not turn into stone.” She smiled at the promise. Then something occurred to her and she asked, “If I pulled the gargoyles in the ocean out of the water, would they come out of hibernation and be able to live again?”

[see--you-in-hell]

[marlycrosss-blog]

Fisherman’s Guilt || Teddy

[isaacapatow]

“I don’t believe I’ve ever visited the Sumner Aquarium, now that I think about it.” Teddy tugged his hat on tighter as the wind picked up, almost sweeping it off his head. “I should rectify that. I’ve a great fondness for museums and zoological exhibits and the like – that type of institution was quite popular in Victorian London, when I became embodied.” Especially among the class of educated gentlemen that Teddy had belonged to, who had access to such places of learning.

In Sumner, of course, Teddy expected that the standards would be much higher and more humane than they had been back in his time, particularly if seafolk were staffing the place. It was a pleasing thought, to be sure.

[marlycrosss-blog]

As Teddy spoke of...his birth she supposed, Marly began to wonder just how old this man was. He sure sounded like he’d been around a long time. And in turn that made her wonder just how long seafolk lived. It made her want to ask not only his age, but the answer to that question as well. However, since she was pretty sure that would be considered rude, she asked instead, “What is England like? I have never been, but I have heard that it is beautiful.”

She looked back towards the horizon from the pier. The sun was well above it now. Marly bit her lip, then turned back to the man and added, “You are welcome to come with me to the Aquarium. I would be more than happy to give you a tour of the place! We have so many wonderful exhibits!”

[marlycrosss-blog]

What is the most unusual meal you ever ate?

“There are so many of them on land! I think pizza is the strangest. It is shaped differently than any other food. Very odd, I think.”

[quotemadness]

We all create stories to protect ourselves.

Mark Z. Danielewski (via quotemadness)

[jeulianne-deactivated20240222]

Becoming June by Jeulianne

Follow me on deviantart where it’s only art stuff:

http://jeulianne.deviantart.com/

Check out my youtube for cute animation/art/fashion videos:

https://www.youtube.com/user/JeulianneLily

[marlycrosss-blog]

A Palace by the Sea || Bastian

[sebastian-rowe]

Bastian wasn’t shy about being naked, it was part of who he was; always in and out of his skin took away whatever modesty he might have had. It was normal to him, natural, to be naked outside of his seal form. 

“Mexico? Wow, I bet that’s warm.” Bastian had a hard time imagining what other places, other waters, might be like. All he knew was the East Coast. “I’m from Massachusetts, the waters there are a lot like here. The fur keeps me warm though, I don’t even notice it.”

Bastian smiled down at his pelt when she complimented it, reminded for a moment of his family who all had similar speckles. “Thank you,” he said softly, then changed the subject. “How did you get all the way out here? Are you a selkie too?”

[marlycrosss-blog]

Marly smiled at the boy’s comment about the warmth of her home. It was warm. Much warmer than Maine. Her smile faded slowly as she realized the reason she’d gone so far north to begin with was because she knew her family would find her were she any closer. She let out a sigh. They’d taken even the warmth from her.

“Massachusetts?” She asked finally. “That is very close to here, yes?” She looked around the cave as though she might be able to see the place from there. She stopped when she remembered otherwise and tried to keep herself from blushing.

His question made her look down at her hands. She ignored his first question instead, however, and answered the second: “I am a mermaid. I can swim very well with both my legs and my tail. I...mostly use my legs, though.” She looked away again.

[elizabethscorkboard]

Sumner Character Posters    ↳Marly Cross - Wondering Prophetess

[marlycrosss-blog]

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather || Sam

[samuel-floros]

Sam noticed that the girl had an otherworldly vibe about her–which certainly wasn’t uncommon in Sumner. She could be any sort of creature, and as he watched her admire the flowers Sam didn’t even have a guess. He could easily find out, a simply hand shake would be enough touch for him to sense exactly what kind of being she was. But that was too easy, and besides it wasn’t his business. 

He smiled at her when she finally acknowledged him. Her concern for the roses dying was endearing, he had to admit. There was something so sweet and innocent about it. “I actually put a spell on all my flowers to make them last longer,” he told her. “They still need water, but they’ll last weeks longer than flowers from a regular shop.”

[marlycrosss-blog]

The news that the flowers would live longer than any others she bought made Marly smile. She had a lot of flowers on her porch that she got from plant nursery’s that she took as good of care of as she was able - which considering she could leave hydrokinesis was much better than she really knew. Hearing that these flowers were magicked to be enjoyed longer she couldn’t help but glance back at the shop, wanting a bouquet of roses, even if they wouldn’t last forever. 

“Oh!” she replied when she turned back to the man in front of her. “Does that mean you are a witch?” She moved back over to a nearby display, gently touching the petals. She looked at the man again. “They are even more...” She paused to search for the word, not wanting to resort to mermish, before finally saying, “...fragrant and vibrant than other flowers as well.”