#How Do You Hook Up A Solar Panel

[myownwholewildworld]

Just thinking about that old man lazily fingering you while he's reading some book/manual. Like he's trying to figure out how to build something and ofc he's multitasking.

listen... i've been (horny) thinking about this the whole damn day. joel would definitely do that, wouldn't he? and the bastard would pretend like what was happening had nothing to do with him... please joel wreck us 🧎‍♀️

more old man!joel miller (with his reading glasses on) filth under the cut 👇

Your fingers weren’t Joel’s. Ever since that old man touched you, you could swear he’d broken your pussy—in more ways than one. It just didn’t hit the same now. If you insisted you were sure you could come on your own, but why suffer through it when you could just get him to do it for you? Throwing the duvet cover off you, you jumped out of bed. It was around midnight, crickets chirping outside through the open window. The light summer breeze rustled the curtains, the night quiet and peaceful. And Joel wasn’t anywhere to be seen. When you went upstairs, Joel had promised he wouldn’t be long. Liar.

Huffing, you readjusted your panties and put on Joel’s green flannel shirt before you stomped down the stairs, only to find he wasn’t in the dining room where you had left him. So you headed towards the main door. It was ajar, the yellow light of the porch filtering through the crack.

Peeking outside, you found Joel on a rocking chair with his reading glasses on, immersed in a book titled “Beginners Guide to Solar.”

“What are you up to, gorgeous?” you purred, making yourself comfy on his lap.

You spread your legs open over his thighs, your back resting on his chest, and Joel threaded an arm between your waist and elbow, his palm gently resting on your lower belly—the tips of his fingers stroking your covered mound mindlessly.

“Just doin’ some reading. Found some solar panels and I’d like to hook them up to the electricity supply here at home. I just worked out our power usage, but then I need to figure out if the batteries we have are compatible to run off the grid. See, if the specs are right, then I just have to…” Joel babbled, but your mind had already drifted off to other topics.

You loved him when he got all nerdy about this stuff. Just the sight of him with some manual in hand and his reading glasses on had you in heat.

“Mhm. Interesting,” you compelled him to keep on talking, his deep, throaty voice making your pussy tingle.

Biting down your bottom lip, you covered the back of his hand with your palm and guided his touch under your panties. Joel didn’t even flinch, still speaking out loud about how to get the solar panels to work. You led his thick fingers past your mound and pushed his ring one in your damp slit.

You were so fucking wet, his finger sliding down your velvety cunt produced the most beautiful, squelching noises. You then guided him to your throbbing clit, and Joel pressed some deep, tight circles on your nub, your jaw hanging wide open while the back of your head rested on his shoulder. You pussy beat in unison with your racing heart, gushing for him, melting under his touch.

Joel flicked your overexcited bundle of nerves, and you mewled in reply, grinding your ass on his bulge. He wasn’t immune to you despite how his voice kept a steady tone—his growing erection firmly pressing against your buttocks. And you really liked it when he pretended like this.

When the hot coil began tightening in your dripping pussy, Joel dropped his hand further down and stuffed his middle and ring fingers in your slippery hole without warning, down to the knuckles. Your hips bucked up and then down, your fingers harshly curling around the armrests of the rocking chair.

“Oh, f-fuck—” you gasped, eyes fluttering shut. “So, uh, the… the finge— batteries… are they… uhm… the right size— I mean, type?” you stuttered, your concentration scattered all over the place while Joel fingered you in deep, smooth thrusts.

“Yeah, they are sealed ones. But I think I’mma need an inverter so I can convert the direct current of the battery into alternate current, otherwise it won’t be enough voltage for the appliances,” he explained with a calm demeanour, as if he wasn’t fingering you stupid out here in the open.

“Uh-huh… I see…” you mumbled, breath hitching in your throat, not a coherent thought in your brain.

Joel pumped his fingers in and out of your cunt with ease, hooking them inside to expertly rub your anterior wall, the roughness of his palm pressed against your crying clit for extra friction. His words made no sense anymore, filling your ears like the buzzing noise of a broken TV.

By that point you were squirming and whimpering, drool pooling in your mouth, slick sliding off his fingers, wetting his wrist now. Your inner walls suddenly clenched, squashing his fingers tight—but that didn’t stop Joel, who made a point of sinking them deeper. And the coil inside you was so very ready to snap, your muted sobs growing louder.

“Quit whimpering, I’m tryna focus ‘ere, sweetheart,” he scolded you, the crease between his brows more pronounced, his hand building a faster pace between your thighs.

The moment Joel stuffed a third finger and bottomed out, you just lost it. Wailing on his lap, your fingers clutching around the armrests, holding on for dear life, you finally let go… all the while Joel kept on talking about something to do with charge controllers. Your pussy clamped down on his thick digits, fluttering and squeezing harshly, while you got to the highest climax possible. Just to then uncontrollably come crushing down like a rock off a precipice because Joel kept on fingering you throughout your orgasm.

Your stiff body suddenly relaxed, finding the bliss you’d unsuccessfully been going after on your own. Joel tapped your pussy a few times with his wet palm and when you were done, his hand stayed there, gently buttering your puffy lips with your sticky arousal.

“So… are we installing the solar panels tomorrow then?” you finally asked when you found your wavering voice.

“Did you not hear a thing of what I've just told you, darling?” Joel tsked.

“Nope, sorry,” you giggled, peppering kisses on his jawline.

“You’re incorrigible,” he rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes, the ghost of a sly grin on his lips.

“So correct me, baby.”

[neolithicsheep]

Ok so you're looking at the aftermath of Helene and you're thinking "shit, how would I keep my phone charged? What about my neighbors?" and you have some outdoor space and some cash. Your friendly formerly off grid sheep farmer is here to help.

You need this set up right here:

To that you will need to add:

Y connectors:

The 100aH (amp Hour) deep cycle battery of your choice - lead acid AGM will be cheaper, lithium (LiFePo) is more expensive but lasts much longer.

Finally, you need a small pure sine wave inverter like this one: https://a.co/d/70vRd79

Plug the panels into the Y connectors then into the single wire to run to the charge controller. They are now connected in parallel. Take them outside to a sunny spot and face them south and prop them up at about a 45 degree angle. This isn't perfect but it will be good enough.

Connect your battery and charge controller. Connect the panels to the charge controller. All of the places to do this are labeled and all you need is a Phillips screwdriver. I recommend doing it once in a non-disaster situation so you know you can do it but you'll be fine. Boom, you are getting electricity from the sun!

The inverter draws power even when it's not running so don't leave it hooked up when you're not using it. When someone needs to charge their phone, put those alligator clips on the matching color battery posts, turn the inverter on, and plug in the phone/radio. Voilà! A single 100aH battery is not going to run a bunch of things but it will help keep cell phones charged without using up the gas in your car.

The panels are weatherproof but everything else needs to be protected by the way so you'll need to set this up in a shed or garage or in the house. Lead acid batteries can produce hydrogen gas when being charged but just having one isn't a big risk.

FAQ:

Yes, you can permanently mount the panels to your roof if you own your home etc. They're designed for that!

It is true that places sell "solar generators" - those are a charge controller, battery, and an inverter in one box at a very high price point. When a component goes bad you will be unable to replace the component and must replace the entire $1000 box. They are also not upgradeable or expandable, this is.

You do not have to buy Renogy, I recommend them because they kept me in electricity for the years I was off grid.

You do not have to buy the kit, you can buy the components of it as and when you can afford them!

Remember to keep your battery on a trickle charger.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How to screw up a whistleblower law

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me THIS WEDNESDAY (Apr 17) in CHICAGO, then Torino (Apr 21) Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

Corporate crime is notoriously underpoliced and underprosecuted. Mostly, that's because we just choose not to do anything about it. American corporations commit crimes at 20X the rate of real humans, and their crimes are far worse than any crime committed by a human, but they are almost never prosecuted:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/12/no-criminals-no-crimes/#get-out-of-jail-free-card

We can't even bear to utter the words "corporate crime": instead, we deploy a whole raft of euphemisms like "risk and compliance," and that ole fave, the trusty "white-collar crime":

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/07/solar-panel-for-a-sex-machine/#a-single-proposition

The Biden DOJ promised it would be different, and they weren't kidding. The DOJ's antitrust division is kicking ass, doing more than the division has done in generations, really swinging for the fences:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Main Justice – the rest of the DOJ – promised that it would do the same. Deputy AG Lisa Monaco promised an end to those bullshit "deferred prosecution agreements" that let corporate America literally get away with murder. She promised to prosecute companies and individual executives. She promised a lot:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/22/reality-distortion-field/#three-trillion-here-three-trillion-there-pretty-soon-youre-talking-real-money

Was she serious? Well, it's not looking good. Monaco's number two gnuy, Benjamin Mizer, has a storied career – working for giant corporations, getting them off the hook when they commit eye-watering crimes:

https://prospect.org/justice/2024-04-09-reform-groups-lack-of-corporate-prosecutions-doj/

Biden's DOJ is arguably more tolerant of corporate crime than even Trump's Main Justice. In 2021, the DOJ brought just 90 cases – the worst year in a quarter-century. 2022's number was 99, and 2023 saw 119. Trump's DOJ did better than any of those numbers in two out of four years. And back in 2000, Justice was bringing more than 300 corporate criminal prosecutions.

Deputy AG Monaco just announced a new whistleblower bounty program: cash money for ratting out your crooked asshole co-worker or boss. Whistleblower bounties are among the most effective and cheapest way to bring criminal prosecutions against corporations. If you're a terrified underling who can't afford to lose your job after narcing out your boss, the bounty can outweigh the risk of industry-wide blacklisting. And if you're a crooked co-conspirator thinking about turning rat on your fellow criminal, the bounty can tempt you into solving the Prisoner's Dilemma in a way that sees the crime prosecuted.

So a new whistleblower bounty program is good. We like 'em. What's not to like?

Sorry, folks, I've got some bad news:

https://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/news/200/stephen-kohn-on-the-justice-department-plan-to-offer-whistleblower-awards/

As the whistleblower lawyer Stephen Kohn points out to Russell Mokhiber of Corporate Crime Reporter, Monaco's whistleblower bounty program has a glaring defect: it excludes "individuals who were involved with the crime." That means that the long-suffering secretary who printed the boss's crime memo and put it in the mail is shit out of luck – as is the CFO who's finally had enough of the CEO's dirty poker.

This is not how other whistleblower reward programs work: the SEC and CFTC whistleblower programs do not exclude people involved with the crime, and for good reason. They want to catch kingpins, not footsoldiers – and the best way to do that is to reward the whistleblower who turns on the boss.

This isn't a new idea! It's in the venerable False Claims Act, an act that signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. As Kohn says, making "accomplices" eligible to participate in whistleblower rewards is how you get people like his client, who relayed a bribe on behalf of his boss, to come forward. As Lincoln said in 1863, the purpose of a whistleblower law is to entice conspirators to turn on one another. Like Honest Abe said, "it takes a rogue to catch a rogue."

And – as Kohn says – we've designed these programs so that masterminds can't throw their minor lickspittles under the buss and collect a reward: "I know of no case where the person who planned or initiated the fraud under any of the reward laws ever got a dime."

Kohn points out that under Monaco, the DOJ just ignores the rule that afford anonymity to whistleblowers. That's a big omission – the SEC got 18,000 confidential claims in 2023. Those are claims that the DOJ can't afford to miss, given their abysmal, sub-Trump track record on corporate crime prosecutions.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/15/whistleblown/#lisa-monaco

[jazzsstash]

@transingthoseformers

Summoning you over here so I don't derail the post.

The basics of the idea are that the Constructicons probably feel the Itch that any bot does, to fulfill their function. But all they've really got to do around the base is general repairs, as well as Hook helping with medical. I think that could stave off the Itch, but not fulfill it.

Then, they find something online. A human in a town, thoroughly irritated with the lack of response from local government, saying that they'd welcome the Constructicons themselves if it would get their bridge fixed up to code. (Inspired partly by this) And, well, they don't really have any missions right now, and construction is construction.

They show up, barter a deal that the humans procure the materials and give them fuel, and the bridge is fixed up. They're kind of disappointed by how fast the job goes, if they're being honest.

"Hey, so, right now, the electric here is really spotty. Do you think you could fix up the grid, same deal?"

Well, they still don't have anything better to do, and the deal beats scrapping with Autobots for a fraction of the fuel, or fixing the same links for the dozenth time.

They fix the roads and the water, the electric and the internet. They help set up a park for the kids, and update the school. A community center, a new water treatment plant, solar panels. They even start building new housing, when it becomes clear that the Constructicons have successfully instrastructured the town into such a nice place that people are moving in, rather than away.

There's always a new project around, and the humans genuinely appreciate them. The kids cheer and clap for them, and the adults tell them that they love the new utilities, and the elders confide that they never thought the town would be revived, that they thought it would die when the last of them refused to move to a city.

The Autobots definitely hear about it at some point, and dispatch someone to check. Jazz figures that they don't seem to be hurting the humans, and is in fact pretty sure that the Autobots would be facing shotgun fire if they tried to remove the Constructicons. He still gives the mayor a direct line in case the Constructicons do try something, since they're frequenting the area. It never rings.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞

I love this fic just so much! 😍

Ah yay thank you!

105 for 🪞:

---

“I-I tried to be extra good,” she cries. “I really like living here.”

“Extra good?” Buck asks. 

She nods. “So you wouldn’t be mad at me.”

“Why would I be mad at you?” He asks. 

“I don’t know,” she sobs. 

Buck thinks. Really thinks about it. How polite she’s always been. Such good manners. Refusing to ask for anything. Lying to cover up little things she was supposed to do but messed up or forgot. Shutting down when he tried to correct the behavior. 

She’s been trying to avoid anger he’s never even shown. This whole time. 

“Oh, Dove,” he whispers. “Look at me. Can you do that?”

She nods, gulping, and looks at him.

“You’re not going to get in trouble for no reason. If I’m ever mad, I promise I’ll explain why. And I promise I won’t send you away.”

“Really?” She sniffs. 

“Really,” Buck says. “And if you make a mistake or are nervous about something, you can tell me. I got in trouble all the time as a kid. It’ll take a lot to upset me.”

“You did?” She asks.

“Oh yeah,” Buck nods. “You can ask Maddie all about it.” 

Dove takes a deep breath. 

“I can stay? Really?”

“Really,” he nods. “I’m going to do everything I can to adopt you.”

“Adopt me?” She asks. 

He nods. “Yep. So that even if we aren't related by blood, you’d be my kid.”

“Your kid,” she echoes.

“Is that okay?” He asks. 

She nods quickly. “Yes, please.”

Buck smiles. “Cool. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

“We’re on the same bed,” she says. 

Buck chuckles. “It’s a saying. It means, we want the same thing.”

“Oh,” she thinks this over. “We do.”

Buck reaches over to wipe a tear off her cheek with his thumb. 

“Can I get you a cup of water? You must be thirsty now.”

She nods. “Yes, please.”

He goes to get the water and when he comes back, she still looks a little wary. Knees tucked up to her chest, holding Chomp. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks her. 

“Um…” She frowns. “Can I say I love you too?”

Buck’s heart skips.

“If you want to,” he tells her. “You don’t have to. I won’t be mad. But if you love someone, and you want to tell them, it’s a good thing.”

“I love you, Buck,” she says in a very tiny voice. Like she’s not quite confident. 

He grins at her, throat tight. 

“I love you, too,” he says. “And I always will.”

He hadn’t thought about that before. But he knows it’s true. He’s going to love her for the rest of his life. 

iii.

She’s sort of a new kid after that. 

Buck is kind of in awe of it. How resilient kids are. Mara is proof of that too. Going from nonverbal and shut down to a veritable ball of sunshine. So he shouldn’t be surprised that Dove comes right out of her shell, too. But he sort of is? He’s sort of surprised he was able to accomplish it. Without much outside intervention. But he did. And it’s kind of amazing. 

They tell each other they love each other every day. More than once a day. It’s like now that’s been given the permission and security she’s just overflowing with it. All the love she’s never had an outlet for. 

When Eddie comes over to carve pumpkins, it’s clearer than ever. 

“Eddie!” She greets him. “Guess what!”

“Dove! What?” He asks. Probably expecting something to do with jack-o-lanterns.

“I love you!” She proclaims proudly. 

Eddie nearly drops his carving kit. 

“Wow,” he says, bending to give her a little hug. “That’s so sweet, Duckling. I love you, too.”

When she pulls out of the hug, she looks back at Buck and grins so wide he’s convinced she’s been hooked up to a solar panel. 

“Good job,” he tells her, giving her a little thumbs up. “Go put on a tee shirt, okay? We don’t want to get your sleeves covered in pumpkin guts.”

“Okay!” She says, then runs towards the stairs, eager to get the ball rolling on pumpkin carving. 

“That was… Unexpected?” Eddie says when she’s gone. “But adorable?”

[fleet-of-fiction]

Jake Kiszka // Female Narrator

Part Three

After a blinding light eradicates mankind, you're left in a desolate and empty world. A year of solitude eliminates all belief that anyone else was left behind. Until a chance encounter on the side of the road. Jake is injured and fighting for his life, but his presence brings a renewed sense of hope. Touch starved and lonely, you need him. And undoubtedly, he needs you too.

"It would be the last man on earth that would end up being mine..."

Explicit sexual content Sex (penetrative & oral) /Foreplay /Blood / Injury / Hunting. / Intense emotions / Death.

Day 410 ~ Jake

Her eyes drifted up from the board. An air of concentration furrowed between her brows and the tip of her tongue which sat delicately at the edge of her teeth.

"Check mate!" She announced, knocking my piece off the board with a look of devilish satisfaction.

"Beginners luck." I replied, sending a hand to my ribcage to rub an ache I suspected would always trouble me from now on.

The snow had fallen in earnest. A blanket of dazzling white covered the ground, powdered flakes falling off the canopy of trees around us made for a spectacle when the sun peeked out from behind clouds. It was the first real beauty I'd taken note of in what felt like a very long time.

"And what if I told you that I was a secret master? That I'd been dumbing down my abilities all this time just so that I didn't demasculate you over a game of chess?" She gloated, raising an eyebrow as she waited for me to make my next move.

She reminded me of a sunset. With a touch of copper in her hair and those damned freckles on her nose. She had all the hope of a beautiful end and that it would bring something as equally beautiful in the morning.

"I didn't have you down as a liar." I replied, scanning the board for something that would knock her off her winning streak.

She folded her hands beneath her chin and leaned her elbows onto the edge of the kitchen table. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Jake."

I didn't doubt that. But I was sincerely grateful for the things which I had learned over the past few days. She'd carefully guided me around the entire place, shown me how everything worked and where the source of all the power came from. How to maintain all the power sources and what to do in the event of any of them breaking down.

There was a bank of solar panels on the cabin roof, flanked by a couple of small turbines. They were hooked up to a battery which powered the entire place. There was a small out house around the back, a few old generators were sat in there gathering dust in case of an emergency but she assured me the solar and wind provided more than enough for the entire place to run off for another decade.

These were things that I felt as if I should've known. Things that felt fundamental to survival. As if somehow it'd been wrong to live in a house that was attached to a network that relied on manpower to keep going. The foolishness of it.

Even the polytunnels where the vegetables grew made me feel as if I'd been missing the point entirely every time I'd walked into a grocery store. There were chickens kept in a coop, and there were two horses in a small stable on the other side of the trees. Because, apparently, someday the fuel was going to turn bad. She talked at great length about how she had no idea how to get the horses to mate, in the event of their untimely deaths she didn't want be left without transportation.

These were things I hadn't considered. Things which made me feel a little stupid when she pointed them out to me. My eyes widening in slight horror at the sheer expanse of pickled foods and canned goods kept in what she liked to call the "store". It was a small shelter, dug into the ground and covered in mossy earth to the untrained eye. But inside there was every non perishable and medical supply you could think of. Put there by her Grandma, in the event of the government falling to into it's own pit of destruction, or so her Grandma explained it.

The stark realisation that my life had been filled with convenient privilege was not lost upon me. I watched her muck out the horses and feed the chickens, tend to her plants and make sure the store was stocked up making mental notes of each little thing she did. Hoping that when the time came, I'd be able to be of some use to her.

"I know you're not a chess master." I hummed, tipping over her Bishop with my Queen. "Check mate?"

She leaned back in defeat. Chewing on the inside of her cheek as she tried not to react. The board looked a little chaotic now, with pieces in places I had no idea what to do with. I had minimal knowledge of the game and I suspected she was trying in vain to keep it going.

"You're a dark horse." She ruminated, trying to step over the impasse we'd arrived at. "I can't imagine we'll complete this before sunrise."

What did it matter? Time was our greatest thief. And yet, it was slowly becoming our greatest asset. We had time to sit and play chess, time to sit and read. Time to take walks in the woodland and drive into the empty streets of Roanoke to go in search for supplies.

The world was gently eroding back to nature. Something I'd barely noticed over the passing of the last year. Maybe I'd been so hell bent on finding another living soul that I'd forgotten to take in what was around me. With Amelia, it was starting to feel like I had woken up from a deep and dreamless sleep.

I was about to consider my next move when she shoved the board aside.

"How about that whiskey?" She asked, a flash of mischief in her eyes that I'd never seen before. "You're done with your antibiotics now."

The wind howled outside. Another flurry of snow in the air. The animals were fed and watered. I felt a churn of something deep within, like the stirrings of Christmas morning as a child. Like everything was precisely as it should be.

Everything was ok.

"You might not like me when I'm drunk." I warned, allowing a hint of playfulness to slip out. "I have this terrible penchant for speaking in a British accent."

She grabbed a bottle of something dark from the cupboard beneath the sink. Hooking two small glasses between her fingers from the cupboard above.

"That's the alcohol influencing the broca's area of your brain." She explained, pouring out two generous shots. "The part which perceives speech is impended. Although the accent thing is weird, I'd quite like to hear it."

There was a little curl in her lip as she clinked her glass against mine.

"You're so smart." I told her, "You make me feel like I was just travelling towards a destination with my eyes closed."

Immediately she brushed a dismissive hand through the air. Curling up her legs to sit with them crossed in the little dining chair, nursing her glass as she watched the brown liquid roll around the crystal edges.

"I think we were both entirely different people before." She said warmly, "If we had known what was to come, would we have lived our lives any differently?"

I sank my drink and leaned my hand out for a refill. "My life wasn't ordinary, even back then."

There'd been so many reasons why we hadn't talked like this before. Her initial reluctance had taken time to thaw. The silence we'd become accustomed to seemed so much safer to dwell in.

I was starting to lose count of the days I'd been with her. I was entirely distracted with surviving and being of service to her. Getting myself well enough to pitch in and not be a burden. The way she had given me purpose again made me want to live in this empty world. It made me not want to be anywhere else, with anyone else.

"I guess we haven't really touched on that, yet." She replied sheepishly, almost as if she didn't want to go there. "It almost seems irrelevant, doesn't it?"

She sank back another shot. Wincing as the burn slid down the back of her throat. Her nose wrinkled, all those freckles converging. For a moment I could forget that once there'd been another woman in my life.

"We both lost people we loved." I countered, taking the bottle for myself and pouring my glass almost full. "It's not relevant now, but I still miss them. I don't know how to stop missing them."

She didn't say anything for what felt like too long a period of silence. Where usually it was solidly comfortable, I could feel her unease at the presence of the ghosts of those we loved. Their names on the tips of our tongues.

"I don't think we're meant to. I think we're meant to miss them for the rest of our lives. Maybe that's our cross to bear. For whatever this life now brings." She replied, our mutual sadness at that thought evident in the way her eyes glossed over.

I didn't want her to cry. I couldn't bear to see her cry. It made me want to throw all my resolve away and take her into my arms whether she would have me or push me away. It made me want to make a fool of myself.

"I don't think we should play chess anymore." I suggested, "It makes us melancholy."

I clocked the bottle and it was already half empty.

"I don't think it's the chess." She slurred a little, gesturing to the snowy expanse outside. "I don't think I've seen this much snow for this long in my life, ever."

I could feel the heat of the whiskey in my blood as I stood. Taking my time to stroll over to the kitchen window. Trying to make myself appear steadier than I felt.

"Maybe the climate is changing."

Her face remained still. It took me a moment to notice that she wasn't responding. When I chanced a glance over at her, she was chewing the inside of her cheek. Lost in a thought I couldn't follow her into.

"What is it?" I dared to ask.

"They won't be here to see it." She replied quietly, a solitary tear betraying her. "They won't be here to see any more sunrises. Or the way that grass is starting to grow in all the pot holes that were left. And they'll never see the snow on the ground again. I hope..."

She swallowed hard, taking the bottle and foregoing the glass entirely. Swigging it back, like she couldn't stand to measure it out anymore.

"What do you hope?" I asked.

There was a longing there in her face that wasn't there before. Subsequent tears spilling down her red cheeks. Her skin all blotchy from the drink and the roaring fire.

"Wherever they are..." She sobbed. "I hope there's snow."

If we didn't speak their names, how could we honour them? If I was doomed to spend the rest of my life missing them, their names would never be forgotten anyway. They deserved to be spoken. They deserved to be memorialised. If they were dead, we couldn't go to their graves and weep. If they were alive, there were no roads we could find that would lead us to them. Speaking of them was all we had.

"Josh loved snow." I offered, returning to the table as slowly as I could. "We used to get a lot of it in winter where we grew up. Our parents used to make us go out back and chop wood and we'd have these huge bonfires and burn all the crap we didn't need for next summer. When we got a little older, our little brother Sam would have to come with us and we'd make him do all the hard labour. And he'd stand there and complain that it wasn't fair and we'd spin him a yarn about how he used to get to sit in the house all nice and warm while we did it and he wasn't a baby any more. Our sister never had to it, though. Her name was Veronica. She would sometimes come outside and hang out with us, though. She was cool like that."

I hadn't said their names in so long it was like resurrecting them. When I looked up from my faraway gaze, she wasn't crying anymore. There was this look of inherent surprise. Like she hadn't expected me to offload a childhood memory so freely. I could see a glimmer of hope where the tears had once been.

"Josh was your brother?" She ventured.

"Twin." I nodded, "He and I were the eldest. Then Veronica. Then little Sammy."

I probably shouldn't have, but I let her slide the bottle over towards me. Enough left for one more sip. I could feel myself on the fringes of being drunk, I knew one more would tip me over the edge.

"I had two brothers." She sniffed, wiping her cheeks with the sleeve of her t-shirt. "I was the middle child. My older brother, Deacon, he was like eight years older than me. I'm not sure my parents planned on having more than one but I guess nothing really goes to plan in life, does it? My little brother, Charlie, he was only two years younger."

Charlie. The little toy chest in my room still had his name carved in it. For her, they weren't just names to be said in remembrance. They were real, solid echoes still bouncing off these walls. I felt this uncontrollable need to close the distance between us. To hold her like I had when she'd screamed in the night.

"It didn't stop us from fighting, though." Her eyes lit up. "Deacon would always have to be the voice of reason, but every now and then he would come down to our level and bicker with us about something until our Dad had to step in. Our Mom was always a little more laid back, I think it was because she was raised here at the cabin. My Dad grew up in Silicon Valley. He had vacations in Europe and country club memberships. My Mom had yearly road trips to Virginia beach in a beaten up Volkswagen my Grandpa drove into the ground. Deacon was the first person in her family to graduate college."

And just like that, the fire went out again.

"So your Dad was rich?" I poked at the embers, hoping to see the spark in her come back.

She shrugged. "His family were. All surgeons and lawyers and ceo's. I think he probably would've lived that textbook rich white guy life if he hadn't met my Mom. She kept him grounded. We were never allowed to exploit our wealth, we had to do volunteer work and give generously to charities. We had to go to college and get our own jobs and careers, there were no hand outs. But I guess you could say we were privileged. But never spoiled. Not when we used to spend summers here, with our Grandparents."

I could have listened to her all night. "What was that like?"

She uncrossed her legs and inspected the empty bottle. Her eyes were half closed, lids fluttering up and down slowly in a drunken haze.

"It was like fucking Disneyland." She smiled, then. "My friends all went off to ski in Aspen or whatever. We got sent here to hunt squirrels with my Grandpa and bake pies with my Grandma. And toast marshmallows on the fire every night. They'd let us go swimming in the lake until sunset, taught us everything we needed to know about living in the woods. And every time we had to go back to California, it always felt like I was stepping back into something I didn't really feel a part of."

She looked up at me from her inspection of the empty bottle. As if she'd forgotten that I was sat there at all.

"What was your life like?" She asked, scuttering off to the cupboard under the sink, falling almost as she slinked off the edge of her chair.

She waved a bottle of red wine at me, her lips flattening into a straight line as she settled on the floor.

"We don't have any wine glasses." She said flatly, "Can't drink wine without a wine glass."

I would have gone to her and picked her up off the ground. Helped her back to her seat, made her laugh if I could. Let her fall asleep on the couch in a delicious drunken heap, wrapped in the blankets she'd left me in when she'd saved my life. But she stumbled to her feet, giggling softly as she realised how quickly the whiskey had gone to her head.

"You need some help, there?" I asked, reaching out my hand for her to take.

"No, I'm good." She lied, "You just tell me your life story while I pour."

She filled our little crystal glasses to the brim, taking care to leave enough space at the top to allow for spillages. All regard for needing a wine glass dissipated.

"I was just a boy with a guitar from Michigan."

She stared at me with those hooded lids. Keeping her drink propped against her mouth, like I was weaving the most interesting tale she'd ever heard.

"Where's your guitar now?"

I hadn't anticipated how much that question would sting. I knew she noticed the way I backed away from it. She reached over the table and placed her palm on my forearm. Her thumb making soft movements against the scar which ran down the centre of my flesh.

"No...not without Josh..." I stammered, "I can't play..."

There was a real sympathy in the way her brows knitted together, squeezing my arm a little in silent comfort. She stayed like that, touching me innocently, as I tried to compel myself to bring together the story of my life. It felt like I was entirely detached from all of my memories somehow. As if recalling it from something I'd watched rather than experienced first hand. Like a fever dream.

One thing I knew for certain. One thing that struck me as the alcohol coursed through my veins. It didn't matter how many thousands of people I had played to. It did matter how many awards I'd won. None of it mattered a damn thing without my brothers. And I'd sworn never to play without them again.

Day 413 ~ Amelia

The rain began that night. Lashing against my bedroom window, forcing the snow to retreat. A part of me was relieved. That the snow would wash away and all the earth beneath it would be able to breathe again. Bringing a renewed hope for the coming spring. But it kept me awake. The deafening pitter patter against the old glass felt as if it was break at any moment. The rattle of the wind like ghosts through the cracks in the old wood.

Jake had been a formidable drinking partner. My head still aching somewhat from a hangover that had lasted three days. I bore no regret from it, though. The whiskey and wine had afforded me a courage I couldn't have found on my own. And the nightmares had been kept at bay too. Sleeping far too deep for any of those demons to penetrate.

My mouth was dry. Frustrated by the noise and the insomnia and the lingering consequences of my booziness I crawled out of bed and slipped into my robe. On soft tiptoes I crept out into the hallway, certain that the wind and rain would shroud my movements. But staying quiet just in case.

Down the hall Jake's bedroom door was ajar. A shard of low, golden light striking the hall in half. I'd expected him to be asleep, coming to know his sleeping habits in the days he'd been here. He was a night owl, often hearing him slip into bed hours after I'd retired. It was almost dawn, but still pitch enough that it felt like the dead of night.

It was in my mind to go downstairs and fetch a glass of water, to mind my business and leave him be. But the soft whimpers that cried out above the din of the wind called out to me. And I crept on silent feet down the hall, moving against all the intricacies of the floor boards I knew would creak and alert him to my presence.

It sounded like he was in pain. The way he'd recovered so quickly had been unusual, part of me had wondered if he'd tried to save face. If, when in private, he'd allowed himself moments to feel the pain of his healing injuries where I couldn't see him. But it wasn't pain.

It was pleasure.

I stood in the crack of his door. Sinful sounds coming from the bed. A rush of blood to my head made me weak at the knees. His hand was moving vigorously beneath the bed sheet. The sound of his voice, like that of a man who had known truly how to love a woman.

I closed my eyes and began to imagine hearing those melodic moans above me. A reminder that I'd long forgotten what it felt like to simply be a woman. In survival mode, there was no allowances for arousal. It had been gone from me, the desire to even touch myself. Every night I'd laid my head down and tried to rest until the sun came up. Never allowing myself to fall into that trap of desire. I was forever alone. There was nothing but grief each time my hand had travelled across my breasts. So I'd abandoned it. All hope that I'd ever feel want again.

Despite my eagerness to uphold his dignity, I couldn't find it within myself to move. Even when he grew too heated under the covers, kicking off his blanket to reveal the line of his body. I held my breath. Took note of the way his chest moved as he breathed harder, his stomach rising and falling. And the way he wrapped his hand around himself. Making gentle strokes that pulled on his shaft, revealing the flex of the muscles in his forearm.

I had no right to see this. I was the worst sort of voyeur. The sort that never made their presence known. If he had known would he have been angry? Humiliated? I couldn't tear my eyes from him. It was wrong, and it troubled me. The way I stood there and allowed the sight to make my core begin to throb. A heavy beat making me wet and swollen.

I stood there until he came into his palm. An agonizing groan signalling the end of his endurance. I watched the white, sticky mess spurt from his tip and spill down his fist. My hand pressed against my mound, not daring to trespass further. Not even underneath the fabric of my pyjama shorts. I was quietly hyperventilating, almost light headed from it as I watched him drag a hand towel down his softening cock and the back of his hand.

And just like that, he flicked off the lamp at his bed side and plunged the room into darkness. And I felt my own shame begin to rise in my cheeks as I stood there peering into the pitch black. Allowing the thunder which gathered overhead to shroud my footsteps as I retreated back up the hall way.

It was still raining when the sun came up. It drenched the daylight in a darkening grey and it didn't really feel as if the sun had come up at all. I busied myself with throwing down some chicken feed into the coop and gathering up some of the eggs which had been laid. I mucked out the horses and let them roam a little while I put down fresh bedding. Trying to keep my mind from returning to the thing I had done that morning.

He was a man who had been alone as long as I had. Clearly with a thirst which begged to be quenched. I was throwing down the bedding far more aggressively than I ever had before, torturing myself with thoughts that were unwelcome.

I didn't want him to kiss me, but why hadn't he tried? I didn't want him to fuck me, but why hadn't he tried? Why hadn't he even hinted at it? Or was his own hand a more preferable means to an end? Did he find me unattractive? Did I find him unattractive?

I cursed him as I shovelled the last of the bedding in, throwing my spade down as it clanged against the stable door. I hated myself for thinking such despicable things. All we had to do was survive. Nothing more. What did it matter if he satisfied himself behind a door I wasn't meant to be standing behind?

"There you are."

I spun on my heels. His hair was dripping, his shirt so wet that I could see right through it. A curious look on his face, like he'd been searching everywhere for me.

"Oh, hey." I replied, as nonchalantly as I could.

He looked into the clearing at the horses milling about, with no regard for the rain. They seemed to be enjoying being out of their confined space. And by all accounts, so did he.

"I woke up and you weren't there." He said, rain dripping off the tip of his nose.

"Yeah, I had stuff to do." I had already done it all, but I tried to make it appear as if I was still busy.

He watched me for a moment, his hair sticking to his collar bone and that stomach of his concaving as he breathed against the drenched shirt.

"Is it terrible that I didn't like it?" He asked, "I've grown fond of seeing you there drinking coffee at the kitchen table every morning."

How had I let this happen? This thing I swore I'd never let happen? How had he become so necessary to me and I to him? When he couldn't even bring himself to kiss me? Was it nothing more than a platonic fondness borne of this unwanted necessity? Was I a replacement for his mother or his sister?

"I've got shit to do, Jake. I'm sorry." I dismissed him, passing him as coldly as I could to fetch the horses in.

He would wonder why my temperature towards him had dropped. But I couldn't help it. I wanted to rid myself of this gnawing churn in my stomach that was forming each and every time I looked at him. Least of all now, when I knew the curve and shape of his cock and how he liked to stroke it so perfectly gently and firmly.

"Amelia..."

He would have one kind word from me.

"Jake, I don't have time for this nonsense." I spat, leading the other horse into shelter. "We're running low on fire wood and I need to do a supply run for toilet paper. There's two of us here now, you understand?"

I'd been initially standoffish and he could forgive me for that. We didn't know each other or our intentions. But it was clear I'd let my guard down somewhat, and I knew the way I spoke to him was a bolt from the blue. He couldn't understand my switch.

"You know I'll do anything to help." He said so apologetically my heart almost broke in two. "I can do more, now. I'm starting to feel stronger every day. And I promise... soon you won't have to do all this stuff on your own. I'll pull my weight. I'm sorry..."

I couldn't bear it. The way he looked at me. A solemn pleading in his eyes as I latched the stable door shut and we stood in the pouring rain staring each other down like a duel at high noon. The rain hit the canopy above so hard it sounded like static when the tv didn't have any signal.

"Why are you staying here, Jake?" I demanded, raising my voice above the crescendo of rain. "What is it for? Are you afraid to be alone again, is that it?"

He blinked at me. Water rushing so hard it even poured off his eyelashes. Torrential and hard, we stood there like statues letting it shower over us like it wasn't even there.

"Of course I'm afraid to be alone again, aren't you?!" He snapped back, drinking rain as he spoke. "But that doesn't mean I'd rather be with anyone else?! I don't want to go back out there and carry on looking, I've found what I was searching for! Don't you get that?!"

Someone to take the edge off his solitude. Nothing more and nothing less. And why should I be anything more to him? I didn't want him crawling under my skin any more than he already had. We would ride out this error in humanity's timeline. Help each other to survive. That was it.

"I don't know." I confessed, " I was fine before. I was doing just fine! And then you came along, literally crashed into my life! Like I needed the distraction? The pull on my resources?!"

I didn't mean it. I could feel myself filled with regret even as the words came out. He was shaking his head, his hair so wet it barely moved. The dark circles beneath his eyes seemed deeper somehow. And I knew that I'd hurt him by the way he couldn't seem to get his words out. He could only look at me and feel the knife in his back that I put there despite standing right in front of him.

"If you want me to leave I will leave."

And now because he wanted to. He would leave because I wanted him to. And now I wanted to scream at him and fall into his arms and throw away all my pretence and beg him to kiss me. Beg to know why he hadn't kissed me before. I hated feeling like this, I had never felt like this before. Not for a man, not for anyone. He stole all my resolve and I hated him for it. Hated myself for allowing him the strength to take it.

I could feel the sting of tears begin to spill over my lashes. The salty warmth of them in stark contrast to the cool rain.

"If you stay, you'll only grow to hate me." I sobbed, "You'll see that I'm not capable of letting you in."

"That's not true, Amelia." He replied, taking a bold step forward, reaching out for me before pulling back in case I rejected him. "I've seen your warmth and compassion. You're not cruel. I don't understand where all of this is coming from?"

I backed away. "I can't do this, Jake...I wont do this."

I retreated into the trees. Running through the mud and rain, letting it lash against the backs of my legs. I could scarcely see in front of my eyes, but I knew the way back blind. I could hear him calling out my name, unable to keep up with me. But he pursued me, regardless. With his healing bones, he ran behind me Begging me to stop.

"Amelia! Please!!!" He called, his voice fading out beneath the falling rain. "Stop! Please, don't do this!"

I reached the clearing at the front of the cabin. My body burning from the exertion and my breath caught in my lungs. Before I had chance to regain my composure, I felt his body against mine. Wet and solid. Heaving breaths as he spun me around, forcing me to look at him.

"Don't you run away from me like that again!"

He was furious. A rage the likes of which I'd never known could exist burning in the delicate tremble of his lip. I was too weak to protest.

"If you ever do that again I will always follow you, do you understand me?!" He shook me, hands wrapped around my shoulders as I gazed at the fire in his eyes. "I swear it, I'll follow you to the ends of the earth woman!!!"

Still, he wouldn't kiss me. Just let the rain fall upon us as he held me close. Breathing into my parted lips. Our shared breath turning to vapour in the freezing cold air.

"Because there's no one else to follow?" I said, my mouth desperately close to his.

"No." He replied harshly, turning his head to get a better look at me. "I had a girlfriend before all of this. We lived together in Nashville. She travelled with me when I had to go on tour. We were together for years. Maybe I would have married her, if I'd been given the chance."

"Why are you telling me this?!" I didn't want to hear it, I didn't want to hear about the way he had loved another.

"Because." He swallowed hard, "Even if she came back, even if she appeared to me right now like none of this had ever happened....I would still follow you."

I couldn't feel my fingers, or the tip of my nose. A flash of lightening streaked above, illuminating the darkness on the ground. For a moment his face lit up and I could see the conviction there.

He meant it.

But still, I wouldn't have it. "You don't know what you're saying."

"Oh, don't I?" He clenched his jaw. "You don't know a damn thing about what I know. You don't get to tell me how I feel. I might be afraid to be alone, but I'll do it if that's what you truly want. I'd leave just make you happy."

Nobody had ever held me like this. So securely. So aggressively soft. Like he could shake the life out of me if he so desired, but wouldn't.

"You wont even kiss me." I replied so pitifully, speaking so quietly a part of me hoped that he wouldn't hear me over the mounting thunder.

"And have you slap me across the face for taking such a thing?" He replied, almost laughing at me. "Would you have kissed me back if I had? I might not have kissed you yet, but I've imagined it. At night, when I know you're on the other side of that wall. And in the morning when you're sat at that table. I wanted to kiss you the other night when we got drunk and I could have used it as an excuse. Every time you wrinkle that nose and those freckles connect I want to kiss you. When you curl up by the fire to read, I want to kiss you. When I see you going out there to make sure the animals are safe, I want to kiss you. Ok?"

"Ok." I breathed, not an ounce of fight left in me.

He kissed me in the rain. In the storm that was brewing. His lips covered in raindrops and mine in tears. A kiss so desperate, so forcefully full of need I let him wrap his broken body around mine. I let him clutch me to him, whether it would hurt him or not. The heat of his tongue against mine was like the lightening had descended from the sky above and struck me where I stood. The gentle murmur of his whimpers in harmony with mine. I could feel his palm against my cheek, his thumb trespassing a slow stroke across it. I'd never been kissed like this before. Like I was in a black and white movie, my knee bent just a little to keep me from falling. He kissed me like he was starved. With gentle intention, but intensifying pressure as his tongue slipped further into my mouth. Until I was sucking on it, grappling at his shirt to tear it from his flesh.

"Fuck, ahhhh..." I stopped myself. "No, no... we can't..."

He was panting as he pulled away, his lips a little swollen from the pressure of being against mine.

"We don't have to, just don't push me away. Please? Don't do that... Sssshhh, come here..."

My eyes flitted over towards the store. Of all the medical supplies I'd sequestered, none of them included birth control. Something I never would have given any credence to before. But now I was dulled with the thought and the fear of him spilling inside me and putting a baby where there didn't need to be one. Not now.

"No, it's not that..." I clung to him. "I stopped taking my birth control. I didn't think I needed it..."

His face washed over with realisation. "Oh."

His smile was going to lead me down a murky path. I knew it. I would've died for the way he smiled at me in that moment. Like I was the sweetest thing alive.

"Not tonight, then." He whispered, his mouth moving against my ear. "Tonight, we can do other things."

.

.

.

@caprisunsister @thewritingbeforesunrise @takenbythemadness @katuschka @its-interesting-van-kleep @lvnterninthenight @writingcold @jakekiszkasbuttsweat @edgingthedarkness @velveteencatch @lyndz2names @nina-23-45 @itsafullmoon @vikingisthenewsexy

[thecrazygamingzombie]

You ever realize how well suited Pelican town would be to survive a full on zombie apocalypse?

I mean think about it:

Your Grandfather's farm can produce a virtually endless supply of crops and animal products, more than enough to feed the entire town if you really maximize the overall output. So long as you have enough seed makers, you can endlessly replenish your seed stockpiles long after Pierre's own supply runs out.

the nearby mines are filled to the brim with all sorts of useful minerals that could be forged into weaponry and armor for the residents, something resident blacksmith Clint has demonstrated to be more than capable of doing at the Stardew Valley fair.

Robin's construction skills are perfect for building fortifications around town. If she works together with the farmer and a few other able bodied residents, she could get a massive zombie proof wall circling the town perimeter within a day or two.

The resident Wizard could add an extra level of mystical protection to the town, making it even more difficult for the undead to get anywhere near you. To say nothing of his potential to boost food production if necessary. (the dude probably knows how to make fairy dust, he could hook you up in a survival situation)

Between experienced combatants like Kent and Marlon, aspiring warriors like Abigail, and the farmer who slaughters monsters wholesale. There's plenty of individuals capable of managing security for any unwanted guests that come near the town, who are also likely capable of training others in town.

Solar panels are a thing, which can be crafted from resources easily found in the nearby mines. Taking care of the electricity issue with enough of them scattered about.

And if the town DOES fall, Willy's boat provides an excellent escape route to ginger island which not only has a similar self sustaining farm, enough space to establish a new settlement, and the same mineral resources as the mines but it also allows for farming year round rather than being a slave to the seasons. Which isn't even getting into the fact that it's literally an island in the middle of the ocean.

The only real problem would be the winter season where food production would take a massive hit, limiting the crop production to what can be grown within the greenhouse. Forcing a split between feed for the animals and food for the humans, but some decent stockpiling in the prior seasons and some smart fishing tactics could help offset that disadvantage; deep sea fishing with Willy's boat could prevent the town from exhausting the lakes and rivers of it's fish population.

It's really the perfect place to set up shop if the dead begin to rise.

[redwyverndht]

if you are going to do any stuff with relativistic velocities, i highly recommend looking into rapidity. it's a measure akin to speed but it keeps the addition rule.

so if, say, i'm in a spaceship traveling towards a planet at 0.2c and i've just shot at it with my railguns which have projectile velocities of 0.9c and i wanna know how fast they'll impact the planet, i can just convert to rapidity, add, then convert back.

so that'd be a ship rapidity of atanh(0.2)≈0.203 and a projectile rapidity of atanh(0.9)≈1.472 for a total rapidity of 1.675 and a speed of tanh(1.675)=0.932c

and lets say i wanna fuck up a bunch of the satellites in orbit around the planet instead of removing an island or two from its surface. so in place of using tungsten, osmium, or ekaroentgenium¹ slugs as ammo, i load the railguns with bags of quartz dust (cubes 25µm on a side, with a packing density of 64% that's about 41 gigagrains per liter) and place a stick of tnt in the middle of it hooked up to a timer. if i'm 15 ksec away from the planet and the tnt will spread the sand out at 100m/s, and i'm piloting an outdated craft with only 1 liter of railgun projectile volume, and i want on average 100 grains of dust to hit each satellite, which we'll say is 1 square meter of cross section. then that means the dust can be dispersed up to radius of about 11.5km, aka detonate the tnt almost two minutes before impact. so how can i use rapidity to determine what i should set the timer to?

in my frame, i am 3 light ksec away from the planet when i shoot the sand, and my projectiles are going 0.9c at the target which is going 0.2c at me, so i think they'll hit in 2,727 seconds. time is moving at 43.6% speed (=1/cosh(atanh(0.9))) on the projectile, so i should set the timer to around 1069 seconds (= 2727 * .436 - 120).

but will 100 particles of dust per satellite be enough? each dust particle is about 41.4ng at rest, and they're traveling at a rapidity of 1.675, hyperbolic cosine of rapidity is (1 + KE) in units of rest mass, so each grain has (cosh(1.675)-1) = 1.717 times its rest mass in kinetic energy, or about 6.4 MJ or 1.53 kg tnt equivalent. yeah that should be more than enough against satellites if they're like what earth has currently.

(sidenote: if instead i used the same mass of payload spread over a radius of 9000km (enough to cover all satellites in low-earth orbit that aren't in the planet's shadow), then the energy density is still 0.25mg tnt per m^2, likely enough to break sensitive electronics (since it's delivered via high energy particles) and ruin solar panels)

sorry this ended up being so long, the example got away from me at a pretty high rapidity.

¹ Eka-Roentgenium aka unhextrium or element 163, the element below Roentgenium on the periodic table. its predicted density as a metal is 47g/cc - over twice that of osmium. take a look at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_periodic_table there's some serious scifi materials inspo in there (also, i swear i remember there being a page somewhere on wikipedia that went up to element 999 and mentioned various interesting landmarks along the way but i cant find it ):

WOH

Ngl, the concept of a way to measure speed above the speed of light kind of breaks my brain, ESPECIALLY based around hyperbolic trig of all things. definitely looking into it further

[argumate]

raginrayguns said: photosynthesis reaches a certain max rate, typically in pretty low light, so it’s “efficient” in low light and “inefficient” in bright light (that is, working at the same rate, whichis a smaller fraction of incoming light)

raginrayguns said: but yeah it’s doing something completely different, it looks pretty bad if you compare it to a solar panel but it looks pretty good if you compare it to a solar panel hooked up to electrochemical carbon fixation (let’s say CO2 to ethylene, since we can use that to make polyethylene, like how plants can use glucose to make cellulose)

raginrayguns said: of course the real victory of plants is in the capital costs

it would be funny if we were having this discussion of the pros and cons of plants from an engineering perspective in the context of a society that hadn't invented agriculture yet, so we're getting gungho about covering millions of acres of land with bioengineered grasses that can provide us with edible grains and planting trees that can be harvested for building material against the obvious opposition that this would ruin the aesthetic and amenity of the wilderness

[pirateswhore]

oh hook would be SO into medicine ans science. Blood types weren't discovered until the 20th century during wwi really so maybe he loses some blood doing something and he's like well, I've seen enough people die of blood loss to know this is the end, only to find out about blood types and blood transfusion and loses his fucking mind

he would be a science bro through and through.

Henry or Emma come down with a cough or flu, and killian is immensely worried about them (because he's seen people die from TB within days) but the hospital just gives them some meds and they're better in like a day or two. he's like ?? WOW ?

and then he finds out ab organ transplants ?? and cancer treatment ?? and all the ways medicine and science helps people ?? (he probably cries when he finds out about actual, WORKING prosthetics)

it would probably start with him just trying to learn about modern technology so he can better adapt to living in the world, but then he goes down ADHD hyperfocus rabbit hole, and suddenly, he's all about nuclear power and green energy. he talks Emma's ear off about a recent cancer research breakthrough. he has them install solar panels on the roof (you mean you can make power from the sun ?? for free ? fuck YEA). he makes sure Henry and hope are up to date with their shots (hell he reminds snow and David to vaccinate neal regularly). one of the dwarves make an "earth is flat" or "climate change is fake" comment and he rolls his eyes at their stupidity. suddenly he's gone from not understanding how any technology works to correcting people when they get facts wrong.

i just feel like it'd be very heartwarming to have seen him be absolutely amazed at how far the world has come (as shitty as this world is, I'd argue the quality of life is immeasurably better than in the 1600s) and all the technology that people take for granted.

[chiclet-go-boom]

okay, i may be in trouble. in space. well, on a planet. but in space.

let me paint you a picture since i left my screenshots at home (not that i took any because i was kind of trying not to die, but… okay. hang on. i will sum up.)

i am down to maybe eight or so achievements to do on the current No Man's Sky expedition. one of which is "scan a creature with blood temperature higher than 60°c". do not ask how this creature survives, merely understand that it exists and you need to find one. that kind of temperature means finding a planet full of firebal… uh, firestorms and try not to die to Mega Hot Heat while you run down the wildlife to take a picture of it.

now up front i admit this - i tried to skip corners. i tried to go fast like a fool. i felt like at this point maybe i could cheat a little? you know - as a morning treat to go with my coffee. instead of actually doing the work of finding a planet that matched the criteria and hoping to get lucky, i hit up the internet for anybody that's already completed this step and got myself a nice, handy planetary address which i dialed in to the nice handy portal.

so i send my atoms to said new planet, coalescing in the middle of stranger buddy's base. i step outside and yup, heat waves the size of skyscrapers and a nice fat little firestorm going on. i sit out the worst of it in the base in my little redneck space suit, pop out when the ground is less likely to melt underneath me and start taking scans of every creature i can see. within a couple of minutes, wham, achievement reached. i beetle back to buddy's base to cool off.

this is where it goes so, so wrong. buddy has built a nice little base about 4 tiles x 8 tiles where one of the short ends is backed into a sheer cliff (he's built it out like a deck). inside this big empty space is a Base Teleporter that is currently flashing No Power. well, that's no good. I fly up to the roof and buddy has two generators and two solar panels sitting there technically collecting power, but NONE OF THEM are hooked up to the base itself. The juice, it is going nowhere. And its not like i have base edit rights to fix this, do i?

well, no problem! where the hell did my ship spawn in? i'll just take the long route of launching into space and hitting up the local station.

nope. my ship is currently marked as "behind" the base, the marker is pointing into the hill. so. fine. i run halfway around the hill, realize that There Is Too Much Heat To Be Walking In This Weather so i grab my terrain tool and just dig into the hill, heading up to the top where i assume my ship spawned in. since it didn't park itself nicely on the base roof but behind it, it's gotta be on the top of the cliffy-hill thing right on some nice flat bit.

i dig up to the top and pop out like some sort of kevlar covered gopher and… no ship. nada. nothing here but me and the heat. i run around, looking for the ship marker, digging into the ground where needed to cool off and finally triangulate the damned marker to be INSIDE the hill as best I can tell.

did… did my ship glitch into an underground cavern or something? because base building guy figured a sheer cliffside residence couldn't possibly be an issue for anybody? i run around a bit more and yeah, the marker is apparently pointing right down into the ground as its certainly not on top where it can be found.

i dig down where the marker is pointing and, of course, i hit the Thou Shalt Not Dig Here Unregistered Non-Base User warning. i can't dig at the marker, its technically inside the base privileges.

i go back back to base, did i miss some sort of cave opening underneath or a dug out launch base because buddy thought to get cute? nada.

okay, FINE. i duck outside again and go "summon my trusty ship, o vortex thing on my gear tool wheel!" and gear tool wheel echoes back "your ship has no fuel, o lord, and cannot come to you no matter how you wish for it."

i boggle. what do you mean 'out of launch fuel'? i just fueled it… like, six planets ago, oh hell.

so the ship is stuck somewhere in the hillside. the base has no working base teleporter. i cannot summon my ship. i'm on a landscape made of a slice of hell with tissue paper protection because this is an Expedition and that's all they give you.

so i think. jesus, what a pain this is turning out to be. okay. i can… uh. okay, i can run in a single direction until i get out of the base circumference, plop down my own base and… build a little structure, get some resources and build my own Base Teleporter? can i do that? no idea but it seems like a reasonable idea.

so i get as cool as i can in base, pick a moment that is not a firestorm outside and start booking it across the landscape, over mound, under dell.

NOW THE SENTINELS SHOW UP.

this entire time they've been nowhere but not only is this place a million degrees, apparently the sentinels are all Frenzied. amigo, me too. this heat, it would get to anybody.

so into the ground i go in a panic to lose the red jerk machines, punch into a cavern somehow that apparently has an entrance somewhere because THEY FOUND ME and now i'm fighting sentinels underground and trying not to trip over Hostile Flora as i needle them down with my little mining gun.

THEN i realize its THREE MINUTES before i have to leave for work. i break out in a cold sweat, dig another sideways tunnel that thankfully the little red assholes couldn't get into, i'm finally far enough way to build a little Save Point somehow and actually had the materials in my suit to do it, so now little adventurer me is hunkered in a tunnel crouched over a lonely save point on a world that is trying to eat me and all because i tried to cheat my way to an achievement point.

i hope to GOD when i log in tonight my ship is unglitched and sitting on top of me, i really do. i have learned my lesson! i'll do the rest of the long way 'round, i swear.

[msbarrows]

Hello! I'm still a little bit new to how No Man's Sky works (I have about 60 hours logged but over half of that is grinding, lmao) so I have a question or two. One, I found and fixed a sentinel ship, are those any good long term? Two, if my base is having energy problems, do I need to add more batteries or more solar panels? I'm using like 350V and making 375V. Three, if my new settlement is on an extremely toxic planet, the collective happiness is at 12%, and everyone is in a near constant panic at the storms, should I just, like, ditch them? Is that colony worth it? It's dragging itself out of debt like a corpse from a grave, but progress is being made.

The interceptors are very nice, especially once you have them fully levelled up to S class and with complete sets of S-class technology augments. Also the ability to hover at 0 airspeed is really nice when you're, for example, on a mission that only brings you to the 'approximate location' of a goal - you can come to a stop in mid air and do slow spins to try and spot your goal by eye instead of having to run around on the surface or making short surface hops to get to it. I tend to grab the first one I find, use it without levelling and with mainly augmenting the cannon and shields, at least until I find one I like the look of. At that point I can swap the technology to the new ship and salvage the old one.

Sounds like you probably need at least one more each of solar panel and battery. You want to have sufficient production to fill enough batteries to last through the dark, if you haven't built in range of a power hotspot. For a small base that only has a few powered lights and a portal hooked to a proximity switch (so it's only running when you're close to it), one solar panel and one battery is more than enough. For a mining base with a mineral and/or gas extractor, I generally aim for about 3 each of panels and batteries per extractor plus at least one more for the base's lighting/portal. For extensive bases, especially ones using powered base modules, always try to locate them near a power hotspot. or you will need so many panels and batteries.

The settlement's debt situation will improve over time as you make settlement/building decisions, but the extreme weather (especially if it storms frequently) combined with sentinel attacks can get very annoying for you as the player (why yes the first couple of times I claimed settlements they were on extreme planets, why do you ask...). I'd definitely recommend keeping an eye out for a planet with mild weather (and aesthetics you like) and starting over with a settlement there instead. You do have to pay to switch, iirc it's based on the race of the system and will be the rarer of the two racial collectibles (so geknip, convergence cubes, or daggers). I think it was two or three of them? It's been a while :)

Have fun, and feel free to ask more questions!

[wadav333]

Stay Powered Anywhere with the BuzzTV Power Station

In today’s connected world, we rely on our devices for just about everything—from staying in touch to working remotely, navigating the outdoors, and even powering essential home appliances. But when the power goes out or you're on the move, access to electricity can become a challenge. That’s where the BuzzTV Power Station comes in—a portable, reliable, and efficient way to keep your life powered, no matter where you are.

What Is the BuzzTV Power Station?

The BuzzTV Power Station is a compact, high-capacity portable power solution designed to keep your devices running when you're off the grid or during unexpected outages. It’s more than just a battery pack—it’s a full-featured backup power system. With multiple output options including AC outlets, USB-A, USB-C, and DC ports, it can charge or power a wide range of electronics, from smartphones and laptops to drones, lights, fans, and even small appliances.

This makes it a go-to tool for campers, travelers, remote workers, and anyone looking for peace of mind during power outages at home.

Power That Goes the Distance

Don’t be fooled by its compact size—the BuzzTV Power Station delivers serious power. Depending on the model, it offers enough capacity to charge a smartphone multiple times, run a laptop for hours, or even power small medical equipment in an emergency. And with its pure sine wave inverter, you get clean, stable electricity that’s safe for sensitive devices.

The lightweight design, built-in handle, and intuitive interface make it incredibly easy to use and transport. Whether you’re heading out on a weekend camping trip or preparing for a storm, this power station is ready to go wherever you do.

Multiple Charging Options for Total Convenience

What makes the BuzzTV Power Station truly flexible is how you recharge it. You can plug it into a wall outlet at home, charge it via your car’s power port while on the road, or hook it up to a solar panel (sold separately) when you’re completely off-grid. This versatility makes it an excellent option for both short-term and long-term power needs.

Plus, it runs quietly and without fumes—so unlike gas generators, it’s safe for indoor use and ideal for apartment dwellers or anyone wanting an eco-friendly backup option.

Why Choose BuzzTV?

At BuzzTV, we’re committed to delivering smart, dependable tech solutions that fit your lifestyle. The BuzzTV Power Station is a reflection of that mission—offering a powerful yet portable energy solution you can rely on. Whether you're prepping for emergencies or living life on the move, BuzzTV has your back. And to make your purchase even more rewarding, don’t forget to use a buzztv coupon code 2025 by wadav at checkout for exclusive discounts and offers available on our official website. We’re proud to offer quality products and great value to our customers.

Final Thoughts

The BuzzTV Power Station is more than just a backup battery—it’s your portable lifeline when power isn’t guaranteed. From outdoor adventures to power outages at home, it delivers peace of mind and practical performance. Stay connected, stay charged, and stay ready—with BuzzTV by your side.

[lightshubcanada]

Turn Your Backyard Into a Cozy Retreat with Outdoor Curtain Lights

Ever look at your backyard or balcony and feel like it’s missing something? Not quite sure what it is, but you know it could be cozier, more inviting, maybe even a little magical?

Let us introduce you to a game-changer: outdoor curtain lights.

Here at Lights Hub Canada, we believe lighting isn’t just about seeing where you’re going—it’s about setting a mood, creating an experience, and making memories. And outdoor curtain lights? They do all that and more.

So, What Exactly Are Outdoor Curtain Lights?

Imagine a gentle waterfall made of tiny lights. That’s basically what outdoor curtain lights are—a set of string lights that hang vertically to create a curtain effect. They’re beautiful, subtle, and instantly change the vibe of your space.

You can hang them on a fence, across your balcony, under a pergola, or even as a backdrop for a little outdoor dinner setup. They’re super versatile and seriously easy to work with.

Why People (Including Us!) Love Them

We’ve seen a lot of outdoor lighting styles, but outdoor curtain lights continue to be one of our favorites. Here’s why:

They just look amazing. Whether you’re going for romantic, rustic, or modern, curtain lights add instant charm.

They’re surprisingly flexible. You can use them in all kinds of places—small balconies, big patios, or even for special events like weddings and garden parties.

They’re energy-friendly. Many of our options at Lights Hub Canada use LED bulbs or solar panels, so you don’t have to worry about big energy bills.

Built for Canadian weather. Snow? Rain? No problem. These lights are made to hold up year-round.

Where Can You Use Outdoor Curtain Lights?

Honestly, almost anywhere. But here are a few ideas we’ve seen (and loved):

Drape them across your pergola or gazebo for a romantic evening glow.

Line your fence or wall to turn a plain space into a backyard feature.

Hang them behind a patio table to create the ultimate dinner party backdrop.

Use them on your balcony railing to add warmth and personality—even in a small space.

They’re perfect for making everyday evenings feel a little more special.

Easy Tips for Hanging Them Up

Worried about installation? Don’t be. Setting up outdoor curtain lights is actually pretty simple:

Plan your space. Measure where you want to hang them so you get the right size and number of strands.

Use the right tools. Outdoor clips or hooks will make your life easier and keep your lights secure.

Choose your power. No outlet nearby? No problem—solar-powered versions are great (and eco-friendly).

Keep it safe. Make sure all plugs and connectors are designed for outdoor use.

Why Shop at Lights Hub Canada?

We’re a Canadian-owned shop that truly cares about quality, style, and making lighting simple for our customers. When you buy outdoor curtain lights from us, you’re getting:

Free shipping on orders over $99

A 30-day money-back guarantee

Tough, weather-resistant designs

LED and solar-powered options to save energy

Friendly service from a team that actually gets outdoor living in Canada

Whether you’re in Vancouver, Toronto, or way up north, we’ve got lighting you can count on.

Ready to Make Your Outdoor Space Shine?

If you’re looking to make your backyard feel like your own private oasis—or just want to cozy up your balcony with a little sparkle—outdoor curtain lights are the way to go.

Check out our collection at Lights Hub Canada and find the perfect set for your space. Trust us: once you hang them up, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them.

[lightshubaustralia]

DIY Garden Lighting Ideas to Brighten Up Your Outdoor Haven

Garden lighting can transform your outdoor space into a magical, inviting haven, but you do not need to spend a fortune on expensive fixtures. With a little creativity and a few simple materials, you can create stunning DIY garden lighting that adds warmth, charm, and personality to your garden. In this article, we will explore some creative DIY garden lighting ideas that are budget-friendly and easy to make.

1. Mason Jar Lanterns

Mason jars are a classic and versatile choice for DIY garden lighting. Here’s how you can make your own:

Fill a mason jar with battery-operated fairy lights for a soft, twinkling glow.

Use a wire hanger to create a handle for hanging the jar from tree branches or hooks.

For a rustic touch, wrap the jar’s neck with twine or ribbon.

Hang several mason jar lanterns around your garden to create a magical, starry effect.

2. Recycled Tin Can Lanterns

Turn empty tin cans into charming lanterns with this simple DIY project:

Clean the cans thoroughly and remove any labels.

Use a hammer and nail to punch decorative patterns (like stars or flowers) into the sides of the can.

Paint the cans with weatherproof spray paint in colors of your choice.

Place a tea light or battery-operated candle inside for a warm glow.

Hang the tin can lanterns along your fence, porch, or trees.

3. Fairy Light Wrapped Trees

Fairy lights are one of the easiest ways to add a magical touch to your garden. For a whimsical effect:

Choose warm white or multicolored fairy lights.

Wrap the lights around the trunks and branches of your garden trees.

For a more dramatic look, use curtain fairy lights to create a cascading effect.

4. Wine Bottle Tiki Torches

If you love upcycling, turn old wine bottles into stylish tiki torches:

Clean the wine bottles and remove any labels.

Fill the bottles with tiki torch fuel.

Insert a tiki wick into the bottle’s neck, ensuring it is snug.

Light the wick for a beautiful, flickering glow.

Use these DIY torches to light up your garden paths or seating area.

5. Glowing Pebble Path

Create a magical, glowing garden path with luminous pebbles:

Purchase glow-in-the-dark pebbles from a craft store or make your own by painting small pebbles with glow-in-the-dark paint.

Line your garden path with these pebbles for a subtle, magical glow at night.

For best results, ensure the pebbles receive enough sunlight during the day to charge.

6. Hanging Lanterns from Tree Branches

Create a charming canopy of light by hanging lanterns from tree branches:

Use a mix of mason jar lanterns, small metal lanterns, and string lights.

Hang the lanterns at varying heights for a whimsical effect.

This setup is perfect for outdoor parties or a cozy evening in the garden.

7. Solar-Powered Light Jars

Take advantage of solar technology with DIY solar- powered light jars:

Purchase small, inexpensive solar lights.

Remove the solar panel and light portion from the stake.

Attach the solar light to the lid of a mason jar.

Place the jars in sunny spots during the day, and watch them glow beautifully at night.

8. DIY Paper Lanterns

For special occasions, create a festive atmosphere with paper lanterns:

Cut decorative patterns into colored paper or parchment paper.

Fold the paper into a cylinder and secure the edges with tape or glue.

Place a battery-operated tea light inside for a soft glow.

Hang the paper lanterns around your garden for a fun, colorful display.

Final Thoughts

With these DIY garden lighting ideas, you can transform your outdoor space into a warm, inviting haven without breaking the bank. The best part about DIY lighting is that it allows you to express your creativity and personalize your garden’s ambiance. So gather your supplies, get creative, and let your garden shine with beautiful, handcrafted lights this season.