#I included the link to the video cause none of my friends had apparently seen it

[its-a-beautful-day]

These slugs are gay and there's nothing you can do about it 🏳️‍🌈🐌🏳️‍⚧️

This valentine card references the unique mating habits of leopard slugs (video can be found here)

[findingjoynweirdstuff]

Dream SMP Recap (March 1/2021) - Breaking Point

Sam has been unable to find a cause for the security breach, leaving Tommy trapped. A heated argument in the cell escalates to a horrifying end.

As the rest of server mourns, the Eggpire celebrates. With their biggest obstacle in the way of their objective gone, it’s time for the next step.

It’s the start of the Final Stage.

---

VOD LINKS:

HBomb94

Ponk

Tommy

Tubbo

Ranboo

Jack Manifold

Connor

Badboyhalo

Captain Puffy

---

- HBomb hosts Foolish and Jack Manifold’s episode of L’Cast!

---

The Prison Stream

(This portion of the recap will be more detailed than normal since it’s one long conversation and there are many important lines here, including a couple that were hard to hear during the stream)

---

- Tommy’s stream starts with him making sounds and singing “Roadtrip.” Dream tells him to stop, he’s trying to write a book.

Tommy: “What are you writing, Dream? What are you writing?”

Dream: “None of your business.”

- There’s a little gray and white cat sat on the chest. Tommy says it’s annoying.

Dream: “No he’s not...he’s actually the best thing that’s happened to us.”

Tommy: (Trying to lead the cat away) “Come with me, come with me...you know what I named him, don’t you? Pussboy, Pussboy!”

- The cat returns to its spot on the chest

Tommy: “Oh, Pussboy, you are so ugly.”

Dream: “C’mon, you’re being mean!”

(Tommy punches the cat)

Dream: “Tommy! Stop!”

- Tommy starts singing “Roadtrip” in autotune. Dream tells Tommy that if he can be quiet, he’ll give Tommy more potatoes.

Dream: “I think that...the cat is the best thing that’s happened to us.”

- Sam joins the call to say hello and ask how it’s been going. He’s come to drop more food into the cell. Tommy also picks up a new clock.

- Tommy asks to be let out, but Sam says he still hasn’t found out what the security issue is. Dream asks how long Tommy will be in here for. Potentially for a while, but not forever.

- Tommy protests about how bad the prison has been. He threatens to get lawyers on Sam, he knows Big Law.

Tommy: "Sam...you know I don’t deal very well in...close quarters situations for a long time, Sam. Sam, you remember when you visited me in exile, Sam? Alright, this is worse than that, Sam...let me out. I don’t like this. Let. Me. Out. Sam.”

- Sam insists he’s doing the best he can and leaves.

- Dream tries to say that it’s not that bad. He’s been in there for a long time, but now it’s better! Tommy writes a book to Dream, signs it and throws it to him.

Dream: “I have company. I have a cat -- I mean, technically it’s not my cat, technically it’s your cat, but still! It’s just as good, keeps me company when I write and everything, we talk sometimes -- ‘cause you’re annoying a lot of the time--”

- Dream throws away the clock in the lava, saying they don’t need it. Tommy punches the cat again.

Dream: “Tommy, hear me out, hear me out...what if...we get out together, okay?”

- Tommy is not a fan of the idea, Dream shouldn’t be let out too. He goes over to the cat and shouts at it for being in his spot. He punches Pussboy twice.

Dream: “Tommy...TOMMY, STOP!”

Tommy: “Excuse me! Come this way, come this way, excuse me Dream I’m trying to right-click Pussboy--”

(Dream moves to get in front of the cat)

Dream: “Tommy.”

Tommy: “Come here, come here! Do you like this cat, Dream?”

Dream: “Yes, I do.”

Tommy: “Why?”

Dream: “Because he -- Tommy, he keeps me company --”

(Tommy punches Pussboy again and leads him towards the lava)

Tommy: “Pussboy, this way. Pussboy, this way. Let me show you the light--”

Dream: “He’s probably low, he’s probably low!”

Tommy: “Oh what, you love him? Do you love him? Do you love him?”

Dream: “Yes, I do...Tommy, he’s made things better in here -- okay listen! When you leave, can you sit him down and leave him here?”

(Tommy goes over and punches Pussboy again. He tries to lead Pussboy away again, but when the cat doesn’t come he punches Pussboy twice more, killing him)

Tommy: “Yeah. And that’s what happens when you love something, bitch.”

...

Tommy: “See, now when I leave, when I leave, you’ll have nothing! ‘Cause you are lonely, and you’re m-m-manipulative, you’re a fuckin’ twat, and I mean that.”

Dream: “Tommy...I’m gonna get out! And you just motivated me -- you motivated me all the time, you just -- that was hope, right? The cat was hope -- the cat was hope that I could live a nice life in here--”

Tommy: “And now it’s dead, now it’s dead.”

- Dream insists that he’ll get out, and when he does, he’ll get his revenge on everyone who wronged him. Tommy asks if he’d kill Tubbo. 

- The subject goes back to Dream’s plan of escape.

Dream: “I have a plan. And the thing is, Awesamdude’s never gonna believe you that I have a plan because he thinks it’s unbreakable, unescapable--”

“I have a plan. And you know, there’s a certain someone who owes me a favor, but -- that might be a part of it, but...I do have a plan.”

- They argue about the conditions of the prison again. 

Dream: “I’ve been in here a for hundred times longer than you, and you sit there trying to tell me that it’s so horrible, that it’s so bad -- yeah, it was! But guess what, we have each other to talk to, and we had a cat until you fucking killed it!”

Tommy: “Dream...Dream, and listen to this -- fucking engrave this on you, write this into your arms, Dream...You don’t have me. You’ll never have me. We don’t have each other, alright? I am me, and you are this fuckin’ loser who goes around manipulating people, lying to get what he wants. You are a fuckin’ no one, man, alright? And when I’m going to leave here, you’re not! You might have a favor -- you think, who is it, Technoblade’s gonna be able to come in here to let you out -- Technoblade, he doesn’t like governments, but he likes self gain! You think he wants to piss off the owner of the most POWERFUL building on the entire server, just so that he can get a video that BARELY scrapes the five million view mark -- NO, Dream, alright? You’re a fuckin’ asshole, you’re deluded, you’re delusional, and I fuckin’ hate you.”

Dream: “Okay...yeah, but I have something Techno would want, so...it means knowledge, alright?”

- Dream says that even when he’s in here, he’s more powerful than Tommy outside. Tommy replies that if he wanted to, he could kill Dream right now. The only reason he doesn’t is because they need the revive book.

- Dream says that he will never use the revive book to help Tommy or his friends. Ever.

Dream: “So kill me. Go ahead, come on.”

- When if Tubbo dies, Dream says, they’ll come begging for Tubbo to be revived, and Dream will ask to be let out.

- Tommy then says that this isn’t worse than exile, because in exile, Tommy thought Dream had all the power, and Tommy knows something...he thinks the revive book isn’t real. Jschlatt was just a drunk, why would he have this book?

Dream: “Jschlatt gave me the book -- why else would I switch to Jschlatt’s side?!”

...

“I’m not lying! Jschlatt gave me a revive book after...before he died....because...he said--” (he cuts off here)

- Dream asks why he would be lying about that.

Tommy: “You’re a liar! You’re a liar, and really, through your Netherite armor and skin, I look at you and you know what I see? I see a sad little man who’s insecure about the fact that this server has gotten so far ahead of him that his only little glimpse of power in this world is gone. And I see an insecure, sad little man. So fuck off. You stupid green lad.”

Dream: “Your life...is literally in my hands. Does that piss you off? Does that make you mad? Does that make you so mad that I -- if you kill me -- I MIGHT AS WELL BE A GOD, TOMMY! YOU CAN’T KILL ME, AND I CAN KILL YOU! So what does it mean, that you can’t kill me because of the revive book -- what does that mean? If you can’t kill me, does that make me some kind of god?”

Tommy: “No Dream. I could kill you right now. If I wanted to.”

Dream: “Okay. But you won’t. But you won’t! I could kill you if I wanted to! I could kill you right now, actually.”

...

Tommy: “I don’t think this revive book is real. Schlatt? He’s fuckin’ dead. I’ve seen his grave! His grave is real, his corpse is there!”

Dream: “Okay...Why don’t you go see him then?”

Tommy: “NO -- stop it stop it stop it st--”

--- ---

CANON DEATH: TOMMY

Cause: Punched to death

--- ---

End of stream.

---

- Tubbo, Ranboo and Jack see Tommy’s death message in game chat.

- They go to the prison and Sam is there to tell them what happened. Sam couldn’t get there in time. He didn’t think Dream would actually kill him. They’re all in shock. 

- Tubbo and Ranboo think Tommy will be back. There’s no way he’s actually dead, right? 

- Jack Manifold is in celebration. He got what he wanted! He thought Dream would want Tommy alive, and killing Tommy himself would be an extra jab in the chest for Dream, but apparently not? And now he has a hotel!

- He decides to check on Tubbo and makes sure he’s okay. 

- Jack walks down to the shore and looks up at the prison, and...it hits him. He’s spent months plotting to kill Tommy. Jack realizes his victory feels hollow. Even now, Tommy and Dream have managed to take away this from him. 

- Of Ze Haus, he says that this place no longer means anything to him. He gets a flint and steel and sets it alight, watching it burn.

- He passes by Tommy’s house and finds Ranboo planting red and white flowers outside.

- Jack switches into his L’manburg uniform and walks along the Prime Path.

Jack: “I remember the day I joined the server. The day after the first war. L’manburg was still a big hole, and we built it up. And Tommy invited me to join. And I betrayed him (laughs), so really this has all come full circle.”

“Maybe I was always really just upset because I always felt like he cared more about the discs than...anyone. And I guess I just enjoyed it when we were friends...and...I’ve not really had any friends...since...then, really. Never really wanted any.”

- Jack later speaks with Foolish and tells him that Tommy’s never coming back from prison. Foolish didn’t know him too well, but he’s still a bit sad. When anyone passes, it’s sad.

- Jack heads back out into the wilderness, wandering to the beach area at the edge of the forest where Quackity had his argument with Badboyhalo a while back. There’s something just beyond the hill.

- Quackity meets him there and escorts him back home, telling him he was heading too close to something, could have gotten “a nice view of it.”

- He’s been thinking of writing up a draft of their contract. He also sees the new McPuffy’s.

- Jack tells Quackity that Tommy’s not in the prison anymore. Quackity says they need to talk to him and make sure Jack keeps his hotel. As the rain pours, Jack tells him. Tommy didn’t make it.

- Quackity and Jack have a moment in front of Tommy’s house. Though upset, Quackity says it’s time to get back to work.

Quackity: “Jack...don’t let this affect business. The train doesn’t stop.”

Jack: “No, it only goes faster.”

- Jack also speaks with Antfrost. Antfrost gives his condolences, and says he’ll put together a celebration “of life.”

Ant: “Bad and Sam will be happy...to attend, of course!”

- Afterwards, Jack heads down into Karls nightclub and ends stream there.

- Connor speaks with Sam Nook at the hotel.

- Bad meets Ant at the Holy Land. Ant asks if the church would be a good place for a celebration. Ant sits Bad down to tell him. Bad is overjoyed. 

- Bad says that now, they don’t even have to do any preparations: 

They can move into the Final Stage.

- They get milk for the cake and decide to throw the party at Tommy’s house!

- They meet with Sam at the prison entrance. He sounds dejected.

Sam: “I didn’t think Dream would ever actually...try and kill him”

Bad: (laughs) “Is this the same Dream we’re talking about? It’s Dream, Sam.”

Sam: “I mean...Dream had...I thought I had...broken the will out of him, to do something like that. But he...he did.”

- He says they need to find out what it was -- he wandered around the prison several times and couldn’t find any sign that someone had done something.

- Ant and Bad try to reassure Sam that Tommy signed the waivers, he went to see Dream, and Sam shouldn’t blame himself. Sam doesn’t see it that way.

- They say they’ll talk to Sam later and leave the prison. They see Sam Nook at the hotel. Sam is excited about the new upgrades for the hotel! Tommy will be so excited to see them!

- They return to Tommy’s house and speak with Punz as they make a party floor and sing the Crab Rave song in dudududus.

- Meanwhile, Captain Puffy is grieving, feeling like she failed Tommy. As she logs on, Bad and Ant decide that Puffy might want to join them for the party! 

- Punz meets them there, and they tell him that Tommy’s dead. Punz isn’t sure how he feels, it’s bittersweet.

- Puffy arrives and angrily tells them to leave. What’s wrong with them?!

- The Eggpire sees Sam Nook at the hotel and goes up the floors to find a place to party. Puffy comes up and tells them to find another place to party. They argue again.

- Foolish arrives to visit his room in the hotel. Puffy leaves them. They quarrel about who has the room for the night.

- Puffy mines down the Eggpire’s meeting room. She’s noticed that being a hero hasn’t worked. Sparing people, being merciful, it hasn’t worked. She might need a change of perspective. 

- The Eggpire decides to visit the Egg and break the news to it. They see the wreckage, but Puffy is in the Nether by the time they get there.

- Puffy visits Logsted.

- The Eggpire goes down to the Egg Room and finds the pathway blocked up with obsidian...is this why the Vines have been slower to grow lately?

- They break the barrier and find the Egg drenched in water. They wake up the Egg and it speaks.

“This world is mine. It belongs to me.”

“No no no, I know, but we’ve got something to tell you!”

“I see all...I...am...all...”

“Oh so you--”

“I know all.”

“You know then! Guess -- well, we’ll tell you anyway in case you don’t know -- but guess what? Tommy’s dead! Dream -- the green guy, you met him -- killed him in the prison! I guess Tommy got stuck there, and Dream killed him! Are you happy?"

“Feed me...I require nourishment.”

“No no no, don’t worry -- that’s coming soon! We’ll take care of that! We’re already gonna begin the preparations, right guys? Yeah, we’re gonna begin the preparations, and we’ll send out the invitations, we’ll let everyone know...and the final stage can commence! This is wonderful!”

- Once on the surface, Bad announces that with a little more preparation, they’ll all get exactly what they want. The final stage is about to commence. 

The day of celebrations, the day they’ve been preparing for, the day the Egg has been preparing for, is about to happen...

- Bad goes down to the Egg Room one last time and stands at the Egg to give a final speech.

“Everything leading up to this point, EVERYTHING, all the way going back to the discovery of this...beautiful, luxurious Egg, okay...we had it all planned. As soon as we found it, we knew what was gonna happen. We knew the objective...”

“We may have forgotten what it was, forgotten the ultimate goal as soon as we boxed the Egg up in obsidian. But guess what -- that didn’t stop the Egg! Boxing it up only made it STRONGER, and LARGER, and more powerful! And the Egg’s been storing up that energy, okay? You may have been thinking the Vines have not been spreading...but that’s because we haven’t WANTED them to spread. We have been working, storing energy, storing power...in preparation for the final plan. The final objective. And there were only a couple people getting in the way. But guess what? One of the biggest obstacles -- Tommy -- is no longer in the way...now that he’s not in the way, we can commence with the final stage...the final party...before it all comes to a conclusion...”

“Brace yourselves...everybody on this server, prepare. Anyone who is anti-Egg...you guys better get ready, because we know who you are. And at the end of the day, the Egg is gonna be victorious. And there’s nothing ANYBODY can do to stop it.”

“Good luck.”

[handguns-4-hearts]

Coming to Terms with Marilyn Manson as an Abuser

TW- Rape, Domestic Violence, Abuse, Intimate Partner Violence 

“If you can’t hear the whole truth, you will never know true empathy, and I believe that if we have to live through it, you have to hear it.”  - ERW

Today, I saw this video of Evan Rachel Wood offering testimony to support a bill called the “Survivor’s Bill of Rights.”

Listening to her testimony caused tears to stream down my face, and my entire body to shake like an autumn leaf. Her story struck me so deeply because it reminded me of my own abusive relationship. For a moment, I was transported back into that state of indescribable fear, desperation, and helplessness that created the fabric of my reality from the years 2012-2014.

“I had no idea what to do to change my situation so I went numb. And soon I couldn’t feel anything, I wasn’t alive. My self esteem and spirit were broken. I was deeply terrified and that fear lives with me to this day. What makes me more hurt and more angry than the actual rape and abuse itself, was that piece of me that was stolen that altered the course of my life.” - ERW

It is impossible to explain to someone who hasn’t been abused what it’s like, but ERW does quite a good job. These words echoed through me, it felt like they were reverberating off my bones. When I think back on my abusive relationship, it’s hard not to believe that it ruined my life. It’s hard not to believe that it ruined me. The person I was before that, and the person I am now, are incredibly different. I have still not fully rebuilt my self esteem and spirit. I still constantly question what I think and feel because my abuser manipulated and gaslighted me to a breaking point in which I lost the ability to believe myself, and believe IN myself. Although I have made significant recovery, I know that I will never be the same.

Hearing this testimony was difficult because of my experience, but what makes it even more difficult is my certainty that she was abused by Marilyn Manson. Marilyn Manson. My everything. My greatest teacher. The person who made me who I am today more than anyone else in my life.

You see, my experience in an abusive relationship was narrated by MM. I fell in love with my abuser at a MM show. Our connection was based around our mutual love and understanding of MM. The albums Eat Me, Drink Me and THe High End of Low played on repeat throughout our time together. It wasn’t until after I began to understand my relationship as the abuse that it was, that I began to notice the abusive aspects of Marilyn Manson within these albums and some of the interviews and videos surrounding them. I began to notice a bubbling of discomfort with my love of Marilyn Manson. I saw so much of him in my abuser, and so much of my abuser in him, that sometimes I would look at the posters of him on my walls and feel a confusing mix of adoration, love, and fear. The same things I felt for my abuser. I wasn’t able to listen to the those two albums for about 2 years after I ended my abusive relationship. I recultivated my love of Marilyn Manson, appreciating him for everything that he has done for me, telling myself that MM is the one thing that no one can take from me, and promising that nothing he could ever do would change the positive things he has already done for me.

As time passed, I began to speak out about my views regarding Marilyn Manson’s abusive characteristics. But much like the ways in which victims and survivors of violence are often treated, I was met with disbelief, anger, and attempts to discredit me. “You’re not a real fan,” “there’s no evidence,” “he was never found guilty of anything.” None of these people knew that Marilyn Manson is my everything, regardless of these thoughts I had of him. I learned FROM HIM that I should always be critical. That no one is perfect. That I am my own God, so I refuse to put anyone up on a pedestal be worshipped as hero while knowing that they are also human. I was only doing what he had taught me to do. I repeatedly stated that if these fans knew anything about abusive dynamics, if they had a deep understanding of his music, if they PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT HE HAS SAID, they too would see these abusive characteristics. I’ve never quite broken down all of the pieces that led me to believe that MM was an abuser. But ERW’s story was the last link in what I felt I needed to know that what I believe about MM is true. Here it is.

“My experience with domestic violence was this: toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse that started out slow, but escalated over time including threats against my life, severe gas lighting and brainwashing, waking up to the man who who claimed to love me raping what he believed to be my unconscious body. And the worst part, sick rituals of binding me up by my hands and feet to be mentally and physically tortured until my abuser felt I had proven my love for them. In this moment when I was tied up, being beaten, and being told unspeakable things, I truly felt like I could die, not just because my abuser said to me “I could kill you right now,” but because in that moment, I felt like I left my body and I was too afraid to run, he would find me.” -ERW

What most sticks out to me here is the threats against her life, the necessity of him needing her to prove her love for him, saying the words, “I could kill you right now.”

Devour, the opening track on EMDM defines MM’s view of love and death and sacrifice that she shared with ERW.

“Manson touched on the song’s inspiration and subject matter briefly in a June 2009 interview with Revolver: “It’s kind of a murder-suicide story based on the reality of my life that day. The record maybe saved me, and the person I would have killed also. If somebody says they want to be with you until they die, I take that kind of seriously. It became a song…luckily.”

The song was written 3 days before what was planned to be a dark Romeo and Juliet murder suicide. He had planned to kill himself and his lover. In a 2009 interview with Shockhound,he revealed the “would be” tragedy, explaining the situation with mild detail, quoting that he had said “I’m going to kill you first, because I don’t trust you.’

I believe that this dynamic of “until death do us part” began with this this experience between Marilyn Manson and ERW:

‘Manson says he was finally uplifted by a close friend’s morbid gesture of devotion. "She picked up a butcher’s knife and said, ‘Here, you can stab me,’” he says. “When someone was willing to drown with me, I really didn’t want to drown anymore.’”

To represent this event, in the video for Heart-Shaped Glasses off the EMDM album, after it shows a short sex scene between him and ERW, the video pans to a scene in which ERW and MM are in a car where Marilyn Manson is taking photos of ERW posing with a butcher knife. The EMDM album is widely recognized as an album similar to a diary, with the songs appearing on the album in the order they were written. The beginning of the album marks the ending of MM’s marriage with Dita Von Teese, and right after “Just a car crash away,” “Heart-Shaped Glasses” begins which introduces MM’s passionate, inflammatory relationship with ERW.

What I speculate happened here is that within the cycle of abuse, ERW finally decided to try to leave, and in response MM threatened her with murder and his own suicide because of what he perceived as loyalty and devotion within a promise to die if he died. Marilyn Manson was in such a dark place within his own mental health, that he wanted to die without her. She saved him from his suicidal ideations and deep depression with her gesture to go down with him, and now that she was leaving, he wanted to hold her to her promise.

He comments more on this dynamic in the song “15”:

“this time I won’t hesitate    to kill to protect what I believe in    this time I won’t hesitate    to kill to protect what I believe in        i can get by now    I’m not really dead    but I really needed someone to save me    leaving me alone to die    is worse than having the guts to kill me”

At this point, ERW is gone, and throughout THe High End of Low, Marilyn Manson’s bitterness over ERW is apparent. These lyrics within 15 represent another veiled threat on her life, as well an attempt to cause her to feel guilt over "abandoning" him in his pain. This bitterness, and expression of abusive characteristics, is also seen in the song “WOW” and in the video for “Running to the Edge of the World.”

“i was happy for 'awhile’ and i stopped being scared and ashamed to say what’s on my mind.    but you thought that I’d change after 'awhile’ and said,    "you better treat me different, or else!”    "or else" seems like a stupid,    fucking thing to say to someone like me    someone like me?

i am worse    than what you think you’d catch from me    'complicated’ is understated.    did you stop and take a look at who you fell in love with?    at who you fell in love with?”

-”WOW” by MM

WOW was probably the most difficult song on the album for to hear because it so perfectly illustrates MM’s complete lack of accountability for the ways in which he treated ERW. It smacks of victim blaming - ERW “should have known better” - how could she ever expect MM to change his behavior? She knew who she was falling in love with, and chose to fall in love with him.Because an 18 year old girl has it all figured out, right? And the 47 year old man she is dating is the one being taken advantage of. The video for WOW is a loop of ERW dropping a strap on a dress she is wearing.

The story continues with the video for “Running to the Edge of the World.” The lyric “Together as one, against all others” is a throwback to the Heart-Shaped Glasses video where at the end, MM says “Together as one” and ERW responds with “Against all others.”

There is one specific verse in Running that I looked back on after exiting my abusive relationship that helped me find some clarity:

“And everyone    turned their backs    because they knew    when we held on tight    to each other,    that we were something    fatal    that fell into the wrong hands.”

These words represented to me how my abuser and I’s relationship was so intense, so tightly knit, and so clearly toxic, that everyone tried to turn their backs (or they tried to help me in very wrong ways). My abuser and I were in it too deep. I couldn’t get out, our love was passionate and all-encompassing, but it was so very, very fatal. I could actually listen to this song and mourn the ending of a relationship in which I had loved more passionately than I ever had, even though it had destroyed me.

But then there was the video.

“It opens with Manson, dressed in a white shirt singing the song to a camera while partially concealing himself with a curtain. As the bridge and outro of the song play, he beats a woman to death, speculated to represent Evan Rachel Wood, played by Kelly Polk.”

The Manson fandom was quick to absolve Marilyn Manson of any wrongdoing. People denied that the woman in the video was ERW. People said that the video was fine because he didn’t actually hurt ERW in it. People said that it was probably a good thing that MM made this video instead of actually hurting ERW in real life. As if ERW deserved to be hurt for “breaking his heart” and “abandoning him” when actually she was just a young woman who had been scrambling in and out of the relationship for 4 years. You know, it takes approximately 7 times leaving for someone to stay left when they are trying to leave an abusive relationship.

So here we have the story, the evidence I have seen, that caused me to believe that Marilyn Manson is an abuser. ERW’s description of being afraid for her life is literally representative of what MM openly shared in his music, videos, and interviews about their relationship. It doesn’t get much more clear than that for me. I very well may be wrong about some of this. All of this. But it really doesn’t feel like it. 

The question is, what do I do with this? I am a Mansonite. A Feminist. A survivor. How do I manage to live while being all of these things? How do I live with the fact that my greatest teacher committed acts of violence against a young woman similar to what were committed against me? The fear in ERW’s voice during the proceeding was palpable. It danced with my own fear that I still carry. It brought up a memory I have of my abusive partner joking around about tying me to the bed and lighting the house on fire. They said that it was a joke. But it didn’t feel like one. Marilyn Manson taught me about duality, about light and dark. At the age of 19, I realized that I was a walking antithesis. I still feel this way, and it’s because I accept that there is no overcoming the light or the dark, that they must always exist together. If you try to extinguish one, you’re ultimately being disingenuous to yourself. Which is funny to me, since people believe that I’m being disingenuous because they don’t get how I can be a comfortable combination of things that are seemingly opposite of each other.

 In the song, “I Have to Look up Just to See Hell”, MM says “The light shines in the darkness/but the darkness will never understand it.” In this way, I feel like the pupil has outshone the teacher because I have come to know that the darkness and the light can understand each other, but only if you learn that you’re made of both, simultaneously and continuously. Your darkness and light will only understand each other if you accept that idea.

 As a result of this concept, I have realized that although my heart aches because of what I know my greatest teacher has done, I also know that Marilyn Manson grapples with his light and his dark. I am disgusted knowing that he could hurt someone the way my abuser hurt me. Perhaps his actions are unforgivable, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever look at him the same way again. But unlike the many fans who refuse to see him as something less than a hero or a God, I will see him as the person he is. A damaged, sad, lonely man who is a victim of his own traumas. A man who sometimes does terrible things and makes mistakes. What I won’t do is forgive him, what I will do is hold him accountable through expressing my ideas through the rest of his fan base. I can only hope that he will come to some sort of realization in which he accepts that what he did was abusive and wrong - my abusive partner did.

 But in the meantime, I will try to ignore the spiral heart on my abdomen that I wear as a reminder that “Love is the only thing strong enough to destroy me” (as MM said in an interview during the EMDM/THEOL era). Perhaps I’ll turn it into a flesh removal one day instead to represent the strength I have rebuilt over the years that will not allow me to ever be destroyed by “love” ever again. And I will continue to see my triptych tattoo and my Golden Age of Grotesque era M’s as representative of the times in my life in which I learned the most about myself, through the art of this man who has meant everything to me. I will coexist within my dark and light feelings surrounding Marilyn Manson because that is what I have done for the majority of my life. That is what he taught me. 

[wolfhoarder-blog]

The Curious Case of Orion Williamson

Whenever I read lists or watch videos about topics such as "The Most Mysterious Disappearances", I'm always confused as to why they never mentioned this guy. Don't get me wrong, the mysteries in the videos and lists are very compelling, but they usually spew out the same subjects over and over again. At times I don't mind rereading a good mystery, but I always hunger for more. I know, I'm morbid, but it fascinates me. It stirs up my huge and wild imagination; What happened to these people? Where did they go? Will we ever find them? Anyways, back to the subject. Orion Williamson, what a cool name right? Especially for a farmer back in the mid 1800's. The event took place sometime in July of 1854, near Selma, Alabama. Orion was sitting on the porch with his family that morning, his wife and young child, when he decided to get up saying, "I think I'll bring the horses in." His wife watched as he moseyed his way across their yard and into the field, picking up a small stick on his way and swishing it idly through the ankle deep grass he walked through. At the same moment, a horse drawn buggy made it's way down the road on the other side of the Williamson's field carrying Armour Wren and his son James home from the nearby town of Selma. When they noticed Orion walking in their direction they stopped their carriage to wave at him, since they were in no particular hurry and had time to visit a neighbor. It was in that moment that it happened. While the Wrens watched on from their buggy and his family watching from the porch, Orion vanished. One second he was walking through the field, the next second the field was empty. Not believing what they had seen, the Wrens jumped from their buggy and ran across the field to meet Williamson's family on the spot where they last saw him. There was no trace of Orion, even the stick he had been holding disappeared with him, along with the grass that had been growing on that spot. Armour Wren had dropped to his knees, running his hands over the barren earth while repeatedly saying "Impossible!" He had been hoping to feel something, anything to clue him in on what happened to his friend, but there was nothing. The ground wasn't disturbed and there was no sign of struggle. Even then they couldn't believe that he was simply gone, so all four witnesses to the event spent the next two hours scouring the field with growing disbelief, confusion and then panic when they came up with nothing. No clues, ideas or anything to link with Orion. At that conclusion, Mrs. Williamson broke down. The Wrens took her to the hospital in Selma, and when they explained what caused her breakdown, the news spread like wildfire in town, bringing around three hundred men from their everyday jobs to a new one - searching for a man who had suddenly and mysteriously vanished. The men gathered at the field, forming three rows of men an arm's length apart, then moved across the field. They searched long and hard, closely examining the ground, running their fingers through the grass to overturn each stone. The search continued on all afternoon, until it seemed as though that they had examined every inch of land, but to no avail. But that didn't stop them. They continued on into the night, using torches to light their way, and even bringing bloodhounds to aid in their search. By morning, the news of Orion's disappearance spread further from Selma, and soon the local searchers had company. Hundreds of curious onlookers came, some feeling alarmed at the situation while others had their own explanations on what happened. A hidden well, a cave in and even sinkholes were suggested. But no evidence was found of those suggestions. After several weeks the search was officially given up, though that didn't stop curious onlookers from sticking around. Those people had spotted something new about the field, on the spot where Orion had vanished was a circle of dead grass about fifteen feet across. Upon questioning, Mrs. Williamson claimed that her husband was invisible, and that his voice had stayed behind. For two weeks she heard him calling out for help from the circle of dead grass. The voice grew weaker each day until it stopped completely. Many people were still drawn to the mysterious event, even after years have passed. Those people included scientists that studied the event and came up with their own theories, none of which have been proven. The theories I've looked up were pretty interesting, which include UFO's and magnetic fields. The magnetic field one being particularly interesting because apparently walking into one can throw you into another dimension. I mean how cool would that be? Well, except for the family and friends he left behind. Especially the process of it, that upon walking into one would disintegrate a person. Sound familiar? To me it sounds like an alternate version of the original 'The Fly' movie. You know, where the scientist uses his son's pet cat as a test subject and accidentally scatters the poor pussycats molecules? Yeah, poor poor Dandelo... Now you may be thinking, how did they know it wasn't some sort of sinkhole or hidden well? I'll relay to you what I have read and leave you to ponder that. There was a geologist report stating that there was no way of Williamson could of wound up being buried beneath that field. They had even dug up the field at one point, but all they found was solid rock a few feet below the surface. There were no holes, crevices or cave-ins to explain the mysterious event. There was not a lot I could find on the original story, at least anything solid, but I still find it compelling because things like this have happened before, but we still can't explain it. Hopefully one day humans will find the answer to these sorts of questions, and not hold back on them either like the government does. I mean seriously, all the things they keep from us is probably staggering, and I can't wait till someone leaks them all out like Black Widow did with Shield. Anyways, that concludes my first Obscure Mystery post. What do you think happened to Orion Williamson? Feedback is appreciated and questions welcome. My main sources for this article include random google searches and a book I own called "Lost... and Never Found" by Anita Gustafson. Ciao Amores!

[terresdebrumestories]

stop. sexualizing. the. friendship. of. real. people. (anti-gross Scömìche bullshit forever). it baffles me how you all think they approve of this stuff because of a little teasing.

Youknow, I was gonna go for a flippant reply but you haven’t beenquite as insulting as the previous anon I got on the topic, and Ifigure putting my thoughts on this in order can’t hurt, so you geta long answer under the cut.

Preface:while I have written a couple of RPF fics before, including a coupleof shippy ones, I am not involved deeply with the RPF community andintend to keep it that way. Also, I will not get into the question ofwhether or not Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi really are dating ornot, because I believe it is ultimately irrelevant to the discussionat hand and to the writing of RPF fic in general.

(Inany case, it’s completely irrelevant to my shipping, and I tend tothink the contrary would demonstrate an unhealthy levelof investment, but that may just be me.)

Withoutfurther ado (but with apologies to the tag for the unnecessary drama)let’s get on with:

Fanfan’sthoughts about RPF

So.‘Gross Scomiche bullshit’. There are two ways to read this:either you’re implying that RPF is gross in general and onprinciple (which I disagree with) or you’re saying that implyingthat these two guys, who are both part of the LGBTQ+/MOGAI/Queercommunity, could be in a romantic relationship is gross, which I alsodisagree with except with a lot more passion.

I.‘RPF is gross!’

Thisassumes that I (can’t speak for other RPF writers, obviously) writeabout Scott Hoying and Mitch Grassi as actual people, the way I could(but personally wouldn’t) write about a neighbor or a classmate.I’m writing about them as characters, by which I mean I am writingabout the fictionalized version of their persona they present throughtheir work with Superfruitand the various videos, interviews and live chats they’ve given asmembers of Pentatonix.

Here’sthe thing, we don’t actually know anything about what they are aspeople. What we see is a facsimile designed to imitate their lives,but whatever we see—and this is even more the case now that theyhave actual notoriety and actual PR to think of—is always releasedwith the knowledge that thousands of people will see it, analyze itand judge it, meaning it is notthe same as what they’ddo when unwatched.

Howmuch the two differ, I have no idea and, in any case, I don’t thinkit’s my business. They get to decide what they put in the publicsphere, and they get to decide whether the stop line moves, how far,etc.

However,once they put something up on YouTube or wherever fans can see it, itbecomes part of this semi-fiction that are public relationships. (1)I mean, I get why people don’t want to dig into that aspect offandom. Some people prefer to keep more distance with thenarrative—because, again, itisa narrative—because they can’t dissociate it from the peoplebehind it, just like some people can’t dissociate a movie characterfrom the actor who plays them, and that’s fine.

Ijust find it disingenuous to pretend like people shipping or writingRPF is the causeofthat dissociation when it is inherent in the very principle ofcelebrities sharing with the public. (Whether or not thatdissociation is a good thing or pronounced/obvious enough is aninteresting conversation, but it’s neither here nor there.)

Now,I won’t pretend there aren’t any problems with RPF. The fact thatcelebs get tweeted/mailed/forwarded links at RPF isa problem.They have a right not to be unwillingly exposed to stories writtenabout their fictional personalities, which I know can feel weird. (2)

Ialso acknowledge that sometimes things go far enough to weird meout—conspiration theory exists in every domain, apparently, and itlooks odd everywhere. There’s also the…oddly entitled tone thatsome anti shippers such as the anon I got a few days ago, who soundedalmost offended that Scomiche wasn’t an actual thing, like it was abad show plotline. (3)

Thatbeing said, I would also like to point out that I have, as of yet,never seen or heard of an artist sending links to their works(especially not their erotic work) to celebrities themselves. In myexperience, celebs getting linked to RPF usually comes in threeflavors:

A friend/acquaintance of them somehow found the RPF and sent itforward, presumably out of a ‘this shit is hilarious and they haveto see it’ sentiment

ATV/radio host went on a ‘I need something to laugh at and thesestupid delusional fans are the perfect target’ binge

Theceleb themselves went ahead and read fic, but those are usually awareof fanfiction beforehand, imo, should know better than to go lookingif they’re not ready to handle the levels of whackadoo-ing. (4)

However,none of these problems are inherently tied with the fact that thesubjects are actual people: they come from how people treat the ficthemselves. Actors and actresses have similar problems with beingshown fanart of their characters (which have their faces so I doubtthe weird effect is entirely absent there) and fans who write regularfanfiction are also mocked for what they do.

Soif you don’t like RPF, honestly, it’s your prerogative. You couldalso not have a problem with RPF but find certain fics gross, whichis alsofair. Heavenknows I’ve noped out/away from enough fics not to blame people whodo the same.

ButRPF isn’t inherently gross, any more than regular fic is, and whilethere are things to pay attention to in writing it (just like thereis in any kind of fictional writing) I honestly think the systemicproblems lie more with how people handle it than with its existenceas a whole.

II.‘Ew why can’t two guys just be friends?’

Thesecond possible reading of your ‘gross Scomiche content’ commentis that you basically find the possibility of them having a romanticrelationship gross which, well. You do realize how saying that to alesbian isn’t exactly the most polite thing, right?

Imean, honestly, I don’t want to spend hours on that part. Therehave been thousands upon thousands of words written about how the‘let them be just friends’is often mostly a newway of saying ‘keep thegay out of myface!’. Now, maybe you are LGBTQ+/MOGAI/Queer person, in which caseI apologize for the assumption of lingering homophobia.

Honestlythough, the only pairings that get more ‘ew, just let them befriends instead of making them all gay’ than white males are peoplewho are even more marginalized (lesbians, trans people, women ofcolor, you name it) so forgive me if I’m not exactly receptive tothat line of thinking, especially given the fact that, again, ScottHoying and Mitch Grassi are both somewhere on the rainbow spectrum ofsexualities.

Toput it succintly, that second possible reading of your commentstrikes me as either really bad wording or a frankly gross sentiment,and while I’m hoping for the former, the fact that I’ve literallynever seen or heard of similar comments for het-RPShipping makes mefear it’s the latter…and if it really is the latter I don’treally have any answer to the sentiment than a giant, rainbow-coloredfist-shaking.

(1)As an FYI, when I say PR is a fictionalized version of the truth, itdoesn’t only apply to celebrities. For example: two days ago, thenew French Ambassador of Cambodia visited my workplace. We werewarned several days in advance, and the whole place got scrubbedfloor to ceiling in preparation. Then, about 10-15minutes before thelady came in, one of my bosses made sure none of the teachers wereeating in the teachers’ lounge and told us, verbatim ‘pretend tobe working’.

Whenthe Uber-boss and the regular boss noticed I was looking at a boardgame in the corner, they hurried to explain that I teach children soyeah, this is totally work.Which it was, the ambassador just didn’t get to see that I was alsowatching Superfruit vids in between preparing activities for my kids.

Whatwe presented that day wasn’t a completefiction: I really am a teacher for kids and we really do work in theteachers’ lounge. But also we eat, we banter, we have fun, none ofwhich fits with the accepted workplace fiction of everyone being 100%at work all the time…which is why we had to create a facade. It wasclose—very close—to reality, but it still wasn’t real.

Celebritieswho are paid a lot and work very hard to make us think they’rehaving so much fun it’s almost like their don’t work, and alsolike there’s nothing they’d rather be doing than to meet a bunchof us and have the same four or five conversations over and overagain, probably get a bigger difference between their actual livesand their public persona. But I digress.

(2)Fun fact, @talysalankil once got an anon ask that shipped ustogether (I can’t remember if it was a friends ship or a romanticship) so I can confirm the thought of seeing stuff about beingshipped with someone myself was a strange one. I’m fine with it aslong as I don’t see anything (if there is even anything to see,lbr, it’s not like I’m actually famous, even on Tumblr) but Ialso acknowledge that I would probably not feel very comfortableabout seeing that potential material.

Thatbeing said, imagining there were any content to be found about me(again: highly unlikely) all I have to do is not go see it andeveryone can be on their merry ways because no one gets hurt.

(3)Full disclosure: my personal opinion, given the recent material I’veseen, is that these boys are either really, really unsubtle abouttheir love life and its current state, or they’re pushing the PRgame quite far indeed. Neither outcome is going to prevent me fromwriting RPF about their fictionalized lives if I damn well want to.

(4)Like, for example, I haven’t watched the Superfruitvid where they read RPF yet (I’m going through their channel inchronological order, sue me) but I do know Mitch mentioned being ontumblr all the time so I’d be really surprised if he didn’texpect at least someweirdness going in. Sometimes you get more than you bargained for,it’s true, but basic self preservation is a thing, guys.

[batenchantingcollectorsong]

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana—Dawn over the Gulf Coast revealed initial damage from Hurricane Laura, which hammered the region hours after making landfall overnight in the tiny parish seat of Cameron as a Category 4 storm.Winds of up to 150 mph put it among the most powerful storms yet to hit the U.S. Officials initially feared an “unsurvivable” storm surge that was forecast to push a wall of water an unthinkable 40 miles inland. Laura was later downgraded to a tropical storm.Gov. John Bel Edwards announced four fatalities linked to Laura, all caused by falling trees. A 14-year-old girl and a 60-year-old man were among the victims. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he’d received unconfirmed reports of one death near Sabine County.“We do expect that there could be more fatalities,” Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for Edwards, told reporters.Images from the city of Lake Charles showed entire skyscrapers with their windows blown out as winds well over 100 mph whipped the city beloved as a travel destination. Police reportedly spotted a casino that floated away. The National Weather Service issued several warnings for tornadoes in the area, but none have been confirmed to have touched down.In Delcambre, near the coast south of Lafayette, Jacob Lombas said Thursday morning that his own house was just inches away from flooding and his neighbors’ had already done so. “It was a crazy night. I barely got any sleep. The wind was the worst I’ve ever seen,” he told The Daily Beast, adding, “We had to go next door to my dad’s. His house is raised up.”> Breaking news major damage in Downtown Lake Charles many skyscrapers have blown out winds. > Some of the building may be total losses. > Many roof off massive flying debris. @NWSLakeCharles lawx HurricaneLaura pic.twitter.com/s9EgeDtz43> > — Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) August 27, 2020At least 700,000 homes and businesses were without power, according to the website PowerOutage.Us.NOLA.com reported the highest wind gusts were recorded at the Lake Charles airport, 132 mph, and at the Emergency Operations Center in downtown Lake Charles, according to Joshua Schroeder, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Brownsville, Texas. The outlet reported the Brownsville office was backing up its Lake Charles counterpart, which was forced to evacuate.Schroeder told NOLA.com the NWS had lost contact with radars at Lake Charles and Fort Polk overnight, likely due to “equipment issues” in the raging storm.Storm chasers on social media posted videos of heavy rain and swirling winds, which meteorologist Reed Timmer reported was “gutting buildings” around Lake Charles as the eye wall of Laura moved through.> BREAkING! Buildings gutted in Lake Charles LA in powerful eye wall of HurricaneLaura @RadarOmega_WX @ChasinSpin pic.twitter.com/wP3fPyREIZ> > — Reed Timmer (@ReedTimmerAccu) August 27, 2020As of Thursday morning, more than 500,000 people had lost power in Louisiana and Texas, with many more outages expected.“Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes,” the National Hurricane Center said ahead of the storm’s arrival. “This surge could penetrate up to 30 miles inland from the immediate coastline.” Later advisories pushed that threat to 40 miles inland.> Even after nightfall, we have the tools to keep watch, and issue the life saving warnings to keep you, your family and friends safe. We're going to be watching Laura all night, thinking of those of you facing the brunt of the storm.https://t.co/VyWINDk3xP for the latest. pic.twitter.com/heSYqX0kyQ> > — National Weather Service (@NWS) August 27, 2020Edward Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, told The Daily Beast exactly what the term “unsurvivable” means.“At its worst, the storm surge will reach from 15 to 20 feet, with waves riding on top of that,” he said. “I cannot imagine what that means to any human who is in the line of that water. Any human or structure.”Footage from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aircraft Operations Center showed its Hurricane Hunter pilots struggling in heavy turbulence squarely in the eye of the hurricane.> OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO - Aug. 26, 2020. Heavy turbulence leaving the eye of Category 4 Hurricane Laura on @NOAA WP-3D Orion NOAA42 Kermit. Credit: Lt. Cmdr. Doremus, NOAA Corps. Our thoughts are with all in this storm's path. FlyNOAA pic.twitter.com/m7Bc3Gttnn> > — NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (@NOAA_HurrHunter) August 27, 2020Officials in Texas and Louisiana ordered more than 580,000 people to evacuate, including those in areas severely damaged during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. At least 6 million people in Louisiana and Arkansas were also under a flash flood watch. Arkansas has also declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm, setting aside $250,000 for relief efforts.As many departed, an ominous signal of the storm’s strength appeared on the Mississippi River, which was forced to flow backward as Laura approached, an anomaly seen only during the strongest of hurricanes that have raked the Delta. The Texas Hurricane Center on Wednesday issued evacuation warnings to more than 385,000 residents from several areas, including Beaumont, Galveston, and Port Arthur. Ten more Texas cities and counties issued voluntary evacuation orders, including parts of Houston, as officials stressed residents should remain vigilant and prepared. All told, about 60 Texas counties were under a disaster declaration. “If you decide to stay, you are on your own,” Port Arthur, Texas, Mayor Thurman Bartie said at a press conference. “I will not put my people in harm’s way. If you stay, it is you and God.”> Only a couple of hours remain to protect life and property! Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes lawx txwx HurricaneLaura pic.twitter.com/eYTEH89rGu> > — NWS Lake Charles (@NWSLakeCharles) August 26, 2020In Louisiana, about 200,000 people were ordered to leave Calcasieu Parish and parts of Cameron Parish—low-lying coastal regions that were already seeing flooding hours before the storm was set to make landfall. Social media posts on Wednesday showed rising waters along southeast Louisiana and even parts of coastal Alabama. The City of New Orleans Emergency Medical Services on Wednesday said they were sending their ambulance bus to southwest Louisiana to further aid evacuation efforts.> Here’s the current state of LA 1 below the Leon Theriot Lock in Golden Meadow. The highway remains closed and this area remains under a mandatory evacuation. Laura pic.twitter.com/p5OkD7t0wN> > — Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office (@LafourcheSO) August 26, 2020Among the evacuees was Fabienne Celestin, who found herself stuck in Lake Charles without enough money to get out of town, and had never been in an emergency evacuation situation, especially not while facing a monster like Laura. A Florida native, she moved to Lake Charles in late 2010. So she missed the devastation of Katrina and Rita in 2005 and the double whammy of Gustav and Ike in 2008. And she was desperate to get out of town with her children—Roodson, 16, Jayden, 10, and Moisha, 4—before Laura came ashore.“I didn’t have no gas money, no transportation,” she told The Daily Beast Wednesday night. “I have one special-needs child. He was crying. I have no help, but at the last minute a friend sent me some gas money so I was able to make it to Lafayette.”The desperation of being trapped made Celestin frantic. To top things off, her boyfriend was arguing with her about the decision to evacuate, she recalled: “I was scared because I never took the highway before.” Even with her own emotions on edge, she had to keep things together—especially for Roodson.“It is a scary situation,” Celestin said. “My special-needs son didn't understand, so he was asking a lot of questions.”Emergency workers had already been in Lake Charles for 48 hours, helping people in need like Celestin find shelter out of the storm’s path. When storms approach, the state’s Department of Children and Family Services coordinates transportation for thousands of evacuees.Gov. Bel Edwards said in a news conference Wednesday that Hurricane Laura had the potential to bring storm surges that residents had not seen seen since 1957. He added that Louisiana had activated its entire National Guard, something it hasn’t done in “many years.” “This is a very serious storm,” he said. “In the five years I’ve been governor, I don’t believe I’ve had a press conference where it was my intention to convey the sense of urgency that I am trying to convey right now.”The storm coincided with the Republican National Convention, where the danger it posed received little attention. CBS reported that President Donald Trump had been briefed only once on the impending storm as of Wednesday afternoon. He tweeted Wednesday, “Hurricane Laura is a very dangerous and rapidly intensifying hurricane. My Administration remains fully engaged with state & local emergency managers to continue preparing and assisting the great people Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Listen to local officials. Listen to local officials!”Bonnie Lee, a Lake Charles resident for 40 years, saw her home ravaged by the storm while her neighbors were pretty much untouched, she explained in an interview on Thursday. Among other damage, she said the chimney had been completely taken off, roof shingles were gone, and that there was “a hole in the roof like an alien ship came down and put in a new skylight.” Bizarrely, she explained, her potted plants were fine: “Apparently an asparagus fern can survive a hurricane. It’s unscathed.”It was a marked contrast with some of the more notorious storms to roll through the area in previous years.“During Hurricane Rita, we had no damage at all,” Lee told The Daily Beast. “This one got us.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast hereGet our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/32vzkxk

[tendance-news]

LAFAYETTE, Louisiana—Dawn over the Gulf Coast revealed initial damage from Hurricane Laura, which hammered the region hours after making landfall overnight in the tiny parish seat of Cameron as a Category 4 storm.Winds of up to 150 mph put it among the most powerful storms yet to hit the U.S. Officials initially feared an “unsurvivable” storm surge that was forecast to push a wall of water an unthinkable 40 miles inland. Gov. John Bel Edwards announced four fatalities linked to Laura, all caused by falling trees. A 14-year-old girl and a 60-year-old man were among the victims. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he’d received unconfirmed reports of one death near Sabine County.“We do expect that there could be more fatalities,” Christina Stephens, a spokesperson for Edwards, told reporters.Images from the city of Lake Charles showed entire skyscrapers with their windows blown out as winds well over 100 mph whipped the city beloved as a travel destination. Police reportedly spotted a casino that floated away. The National Weather Service issued several warnings for tornadoes in the area, but none have been confirmed to have touched down.In Delcambre, near the coast south of Lafayette, Jacob Lombas said Thursday morning that his own house was just inches away from flooding and his neighbors’ had already done so. “It was a crazy night. I barely got any sleep. The wind was the worst I’ve ever seen,” he told The Daily Beast, adding, “We had to go next door to my dad’s. His house is raised up.”> Breaking news major damage in Downtown Lake Charles many skyscrapers have blown out winds. > Some of the building may be total losses. > Many roof off massive flying debris. @NWSLakeCharles lawx HurricaneLaura pic.twitter.com/s9EgeDtz43> > — Jeff Piotrowski (@Jeff_Piotrowski) August 27, 2020At least 700,000 homes and businesses were without power, according to the website PowerOutage.Us.NOLA.com reported the highest wind gusts were recorded at the Lake Charles airport, 132 mph, and at the Emergency Operations Center in downtown Lake Charles, according to Joshua Schroeder, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Brownsville, Texas. The outlet reported the Brownsville office was backing up its Lake Charles counterpart, which was forced to evacuate.Schroeder told NOLA.com the NWS had lost contact with radars at Lake Charles and Fort Polk overnight, likely due to “equipment issues” in the raging storm.Storm chasers on social media posted videos of heavy rain and swirling winds, which meteorologist Reed Timmer reported was “gutting buildings” around Lake Charles as the eye wall of Laura moved through.> BREAkING! Buildings gutted in Lake Charles LA in powerful eye wall of HurricaneLaura @RadarOmega_WX @ChasinSpin pic.twitter.com/wP3fPyREIZ> > — Reed Timmer (@ReedTimmerAccu) August 27, 2020As of Thursday morning, more than 500,000 people had lost power in Louisiana and Texas, with many more outages expected.“Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes,” the National Hurricane Center said ahead of the storm’s arrival. “This surge could penetrate up to 30 miles inland from the immediate coastline.” Later advisories pushed that threat to 40 miles inland.> Even after nightfall, we have the tools to keep watch, and issue the life saving warnings to keep you, your family and friends safe. We're going to be watching Laura all night, thinking of those of you facing the brunt of the storm.https://t.co/VyWINDk3xP for the latest. pic.twitter.com/heSYqX0kyQ> > — National Weather Service (@NWS) August 27, 2020Edward Rappaport, deputy director of the National Hurricane Center, told The Daily Beast exactly what the term “unsurvivable” means.“At its worst, the storm surge will reach from 15 to 20 feet, with waves riding on top of that,” he said. “I cannot imagine what that means to any human who is in the line of that water. Any human or structure.”Footage from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aircraft Operations Center showed its Hurricane Hunter pilots struggling in heavy turbulence squarely in the eye of the hurricane.> OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO - Aug. 26, 2020. Heavy turbulence leaving the eye of Category 4 Hurricane Laura on @NOAA WP-3D Orion NOAA42 Kermit. Credit: Lt. Cmdr. Doremus, NOAA Corps. Our thoughts are with all in this storm's path. FlyNOAA pic.twitter.com/m7Bc3Gttnn> > — NOAA Aircraft Operations Center (@NOAA_HurrHunter) August 27, 2020Officials in Texas and Louisiana ordered more than 580,000 people to evacuate, including those in areas severely damaged during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. At least 6 million people in Louisiana and Arkansas were also under a flash flood watch. Arkansas has also declared a state of emergency in preparation for the storm, setting aside $250,000 for relief efforts.As many departed, an ominous signal of the storm’s strength appeared on the Mississippi River, which was forced to flow backward as Laura approached, an anomaly seen only during the strongest of hurricanes that have raked the Delta. The Texas Hurricane Center on Wednesday issued evacuation warnings to more than 385,000 residents from several areas, including Beaumont, Galveston, and Port Arthur. Ten more Texas cities and counties issued voluntary evacuation orders, including parts of Houston, as officials stressed residents should remain vigilant and prepared. All told, about 60 Texas counties were under a disaster declaration. “If you decide to stay, you are on your own,” Port Arthur, Texas, Mayor Thurman Bartie said at a press conference. “I will not put my people in harm’s way. If you stay, it is you and God.”> Only a couple of hours remain to protect life and property! Unsurvivable storm surge with large and destructive waves will cause catastrophic damage from Sea Rim State Park, Texas, to Intracoastal City, Louisiana, including Calcasieu and Sabine Lakes lawx txwx HurricaneLaura pic.twitter.com/eYTEH89rGu> > — NWS Lake Charles (@NWSLakeCharles) August 26, 2020In Louisiana, about 200,000 people were ordered to leave Calcasieu Parish and parts of Cameron Parish—low-lying coastal regions that were already seeing flooding hours before the storm was set to make landfall. Social media posts on Wednesday showed rising waters along southeast Louisiana and even parts of coastal Alabama. The City of New Orleans Emergency Medical Services on Wednesday said they were sending their ambulance bus to southwest Louisiana to further aid evacuation efforts.> Here’s the current state of LA 1 below the Leon Theriot Lock in Golden Meadow. The highway remains closed and this area remains under a mandatory evacuation. Laura pic.twitter.com/p5OkD7t0wN> > — Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office (@LafourcheSO) August 26, 2020Among the evacuees was Fabienne Celestin, who found herself stuck in Lake Charles without enough money to get out of town, and had never been in an emergency evacuation situation, especially not while facing a monster like Laura. A Florida native, she moved to Lake Charles in late 2010. So she missed the devastation of Katrina and Rita in 2005 and the double whammy of Gustav and Ike in 2008. And she was desperate to get out of town with her children—Roodson, 16, Jayden, 10, and Moisha, 4—before Laura came ashore.“I didn’t have no gas money, no transportation,” she told The Daily Beast Wednesday night. “I have one special-needs child. He was crying. I have no help, but at the last minute a friend sent me some gas money so I was able to make it to Lafayette.”The desperation of being trapped made Celestin frantic. To top things off, her boyfriend was arguing with her about the decision to evacuate, she recalled: “I was scared because I never took the highway before.” Even with her own emotions on edge, she had to keep things together—especially for Roodson.“It is a scary situation,” Celestin said. “My special-needs son didn't understand, so he was asking a lot of questions.”Emergency workers had already been in Lake Charles for 48 hours, helping people in need like Celestin find shelter out of the storm’s path. When storms approach, the state’s Department of Children and Family Services coordinates transportation for thousands of evacuees.Gov. Bel Edwards said in a news conference Wednesday that Hurricane Laura had the potential to bring storm surges that residents had not seen seen since 1957. He added that Louisiana had activated its entire National Guard, something it hasn’t done in “many years.” “This is a very serious storm,” he said. “In the five years I’ve been governor, I don’t believe I’ve had a press conference where it was my intention to convey the sense of urgency that I am trying to convey right now.”The storm coincided with the Republican National Convention, where the danger it posed received little attention. CBS reported that President Donald Trump had been briefed only once on the impending storm as of Wednesday afternoon. He tweeted Wednesday, “Hurricane Laura is a very dangerous and rapidly intensifying hurricane. My Administration remains fully engaged with state & local emergency managers to continue preparing and assisting the great people Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Listen to local officials. Listen to local officials!”Bonnie Lee, a Lake Charles resident for 40 years, saw her home ravaged by the storm while her neighbors were pretty much untouched, she explained in an interview on Thursday. Among other damage, she said the chimney had been completely taken off, roof shingles were gone, and that there was “a hole in the roof like an alien ship came down and put in a new skylight.” Bizarrely, she explained, her potted plants were fine: “Apparently an asparagus fern can survive a hurricane. It’s unscathed.”It was a marked contrast with some of the more notorious storms to roll through the area in previous years.“During Hurricane Rita, we had no damage at all,” Lee told The Daily Beast. “This one got us.”Read more at The Daily Beast.Got a tip? 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