#They really do have nuclear missiles

[methinmycoffee]

I WENT TO A DVD STORE AND I FOUND THIS AND I AM DYING

They had a whole Trey Parker section (ignore the bottom row) it was under “Cult, “Parker, Trey” and there was Orgasmo and BASEketball and it was so fun. I will return one day and rent them all

[gay-jesus-probably]

Let me just preface this by saying everyone is allowed to have their own opinions, TOTK is a really fun game, and I'm glad that other people have been able to enjoy the story as well.

...But I'm being dead serious with my complaints about the narrative being 100% imperialist propaganda. And I'm getting really tired of people replying to those posts by saying it can't be imperialist propaganda, because imperialism is bad and the game says that Hyrule is the good guys.

Like, guys. That's not the argument you think it is. Yes, I am aware that the game tells us Ganondorf is a flat, one dimensional character with no ambitions, interests or motivations beyond destroying the entire world for the hell of it, and also it's totally not racist because he's green, not brown like literally every other member of his race. Unfortunately literally all of these things are kind of the entire goddamn problem.

See, the thing is, everyone trying to make these arguments is accepting the game at face value. Hyrule is the perfect and almighty nation chosen by the demigod Zonai, and whose royal family has the right to rule due to their divine heritage. The other races exist to serve the glory of Hyrule, and they're happy to do it. Ganondorf is pure evil and must be stopped at any costs.

But that's not how anything works. The story informing me that Hyrule is the ultimate good that has done nothing wrong is the whole goddamn reason why I don't trust Hyrule at all. There's always more of a reason than that. And the game fucking suggests there was more going on! Ganondorf mentions Rauru has repeatedly 'invited' the Gerudo to become Rauru's subjects, and let's be clear here, it doesn't matter how peaceful those 'invitations' were, when the guy who owns every single magical nuclear missile in the world repeatedly demands you surrender to him, there's always going to be an implied threat of 'do it or get magically nuked'. Just that power difference alone shows us exactly why Ganon would feel threatened enough to invade. It's because Rauru was holding a gun to his head, and Ganon was expected to just trust that he'd never pull the trigger.

And yes, even if it wasn't intentional Hyrule was always threatening to wipe out the other nations, considering the entire royal family walked around openly wearing their magical nukes as cute accessories. If they couldn't be safely hidden away, there wouldn't be four other secret stones sitting untouched in a vault until the last second.

But that's never acknowledged. Of course Hyrule is the only nation with the right to the secret stones; even if other races get to touch them, they can only have them if they swear eternal blind loyalty and servitude to the glory of King Rauru and Princess Zelda. Ganon wanting to have one magical nuclear bomb out of a stockpile of eight of them is proof that he's dangerous and evil. I mean my god, what if he just walked around all day wearing a magical nuke and using its power for his own benefit, that would be terrifying. It's only okay when Hylian royalty does it.

And you can't argue that Ganon betrayed his own people, considering we don't get to know fucking anything about his relationship with his people. He's shows as the leader of the Gerudo, we're told he's a hero to his people, he has soldiers that loyally follow him into battle... and then oh nevermind, they all hate him and will spend eternity trying to atone for sharing a race with him. How did the entire race do a complete 180 in the span of at most a few months? Who cares, what's important is that now they accept they exist to serve Hyrule so they get to be the good guys now and we don't need to know why they were following Ganondorf, or why they stopped following him.

Basically my point is that yeah, I fucking know how the game insists everything went down. That's the entire reason I think it's imperialist propaganda, because the entire story feels like Hylian propaganda to conceal and justify some horrific atrocities that caused all of this. I literally do not believe that I'm getting the story through reliable narrators, especially considering that the only people allowed to actually tell me the story are all the characters that have the most reasons to be heavily biased in favour of Hyrule.

When the game shows me protagonists that have a massive amount of power and control over the entire world, then says the bad guy doesn't like that system just because he's evil, and literally nothing and nobody in the game says anything to oppose that take, I have some questions about what the fuck the story isn't telling me. And I'd really appreciate it if people would stop trying to argue with me just by telling me to stop asking those questions.

[apas-95]

troops from many corners of the globe have been involved in afghanistan, iraq, vietnam etc but ppl dont call these world wars which is the only reason i singled out the imperial core, western europe in this case being under threat bc realistically thats why as far as i can tell ppl from the imperial core consider wwi and wwii to be “world wars” but not other global conflicts. like u just made fun of me for assuming by world war u meant one where the imperial core is under threat and then continued to talk about it as meaning just that? or am i misunderstanding lol. anyway sorry for sending on anon im just embarasaed by my uninformed opinions >//<

Don't worry, I'm not making fun of you. I apologise if my tone led you to believe otherwise.

The fact that many imperialist nations together invaded various poor countries does not make them 'world wars', just the same as the seven-nation alliance of european empires that invaded and looted China during the century of humiliation did not constitute a 'world war' - because these nations were all united in plunder, and, really, barely carrying out 'war' as much as simple banditry.

The world wars of the previous century were notable for being conflicts between empires - including, yes, the USA. The conflict between these empires does not necessarily need to manifest as a ground invasion of their territories, especially in this, the age of nuclear deterrence - and would much more likely appear as proxy conflicts in their imperial holdings, such as already occurs between French and Russian forces in Africa.

Nobody ever attempted an invasion of the US in the previous two world wars because it was impractical, and now similarly it is impractical to attempt an invasion of any given nuclear state - but the point of the inter-imperialist conflict is the acquisition of competitor's imperial territories, not necessarily the cannibalisation of the competitor itself.

Given modern military technologies and the conception of greyzone warfare, indirect fires against the imperial core could be carried out - so, cruise missile strikes, etc - but as has been demonstrated in the Ukraine, actual red lines tend to lean more towards a 'sustainable' type of war (whose existence is entirely uncertain at this point).

To summarise: firstly, world war generally refers to conflict between imperialist states, and between imperialist spheres of influence; secondly, world war does not necessarily mean invasion of the imperial core; and thirdly, you are my friend and I love you, do not be embarrassed.

[mllemaenad]

The thing about Fallout is ... I don't actually think Bethesda really broke the concept until Fallout 76. I have seen people wring their hands over the Nuclear Option quest in Fallout 4 being incompatible with Fallout's themes, but I don't really agree with that.

There's that tired, defeated sounding voice over at the start of every game, after all: "War, war never changes". And I remember: I remember having to blow up both the Mariposa Base and the Cathedral in the original Fallout; I remember destroying the Enclave oil rig in Fallout 2. That's three whole buildings with people in them, just like the Institute.

While they are role playing games with a lot of choice and consequence built in, the Fallout series does consistently railroad the player in one sense: you are inserted into the narrative at a point where the situation has escalated to the point where you have to go to war. There are many side quests that give you the opportunity to find alternative, peaceful solutions to conflicts – you can fix broken machinery and forge alliances or just shout at people until they calm down, and that all works – but in the main quest, the fight is inevitable.

And that makes sense. The ghost that haunts the narrative of every Fallout game is the morning of the 23rd of October, 2077, when everybody fired on everybody else at once. You ask yourself – "How could they do that?" The scale of the destruction, the sheer number of deaths, the absolute no-win scenario that created for every nation in the world makes it sound utterly unthinkable. But they did it.

You get a lot of historical backstory on how they got there, of course: the over reliance on fossil fuels, culminating in a last minute switch to nuclear power; the collapsing economies and failing institutions; the extreme ideologies embraced by the world's super powers; the horrifying disregard for human life that spread everywhere well before anyone launched those missiles. You see all the off ramps that weren't taken along the way.

But more importantly, you live it, every time. You never set out to fight a war or blow anything up. You're trying to find a damn water chip, a GECK, your father, the guy who fucking shot you, your son. But at the end of the day, you always find yourself recruited, and you always have to destroy something. Then you can see for yourself how it happens. The world had passed its point of no return the day you arrived in it, and you just have to deal with it. War never changes.

But with Fallout 76 ... I mean, it's the problem of a single player narrative in a multiplayer game. The premise is that you are one of many vault dwellers emerging into the world to rebuild, but in practice you are The Chosen One, all over again. The Vault Dweller, singular. If you imagine it as a single player scenario it's not that bad, although it is retreading old ground: the Enclave has another one of their delightful genocidal plans, and in the end you have to turn their weapons on their plague-ridden creations to stop the nightmare from spreading. It's a tragedy, because you are risking this little patch of unpolluted land, where crops can still grow and people can still live – but you're alone with only the resources you've been able to scrape together from the detritus of this fallen society, so what choice do you have?

Except. Well. You are not alone. Not even a little bit. In theory you should have a vault full of fellow geniuses to collaborate with. And unlike other games in the series, your fundamental issue is not that you are dealing with multiple groups of people with such different ideologies that they will never agree. Those people existed, but they are now dead or fled (At least originally; I am aware that expansions have since changed the situation). In theory you are now accompanied by a group of people who should, like you, be focused on doing everything they can not to destroy their new homeland.

And worst of all, because it's a multiplayer game everybody gets a bloody turn. You don't launch your weapons, battle the scorchbeast queen and then fade into a montage describing the literal fallout of what you have done. No, you do the whole thing over again for the XP and the loot. So now you are basically using nuclear weapons for post-apocalyptic big game hunting, and it drives me up the wall.

War never changes. Let's launch the nukes for fun.

[capicola323427]

THE LEGENDARY BATTLESHIP HALBERD IS SO SO SO FUCKING COOL!!!

Had this in the drafts for a bit....

Can we talk about the Battleship Halberd? I want to talk about the Legendary Battleship Halberd. To me, it's one of the best parts of Kirby Super Star and Super Star! You won't find a person who doesn't like RoMK. If you do, you're lying.

Here's a huuuuuge chart to help outline what I adore so much!

The Battleship Halberd has an entire hangar filled with several Meta Knight themed jets with bombs on palettes. I really wish we got to see them in action, I want to see those little jets fly. I don't think I've either seen fanart of it either. I should probably give it a shot and draw something using it.

I also love that the Battleship Halberd has a shitton of missiles, bombs, and nuclear bombs! I don't know why, but it's funny to imagine this warship in this cotton candy dreamy-weamy land having enough artillery and power to create a nuclear holocaust causing the Waddle Dee population's collective chromosomes to be rendered into a fine mush for decades to come. I want to see an AU where Meta Knight fucking does this. I want a fucked-up Fall Out esque AU where Meta Knight has launched Dream Land into a hyper authoritarian militarist state after bombing a good chunk of Dream Land. I'll have to think on this more. Anyways, it brings up a lot of questions. Mostly how and why the fuck does Meta Knight have so many different bombs, missiles, canon ammunition and possible nuclear weapons. How did he get any of this. You could say he had a lot of time to make it all but... I call bullshit. Did he buy it? With what money? How? Secondly, why would he need so much to take over Dream Land? Like, if Meta Knight wanted to he could have always just assassinated King Dedede and take the thrown during the resulting power vacuum. Slit the bloated greedy fuck's throat while he sleeps. Maybe he thought there'd be more of a collective fight from King Dedede's army? I mean, he does have a living airship but like... considering how much Meta Knight had and the sheer volume what he had did he expect King Dedede to have his own army with similar technological warfare? Given enough time I'm sure King Dedede could have something similar but definitely not during the RoMK era. It's just really funny, really confusing, and really interesting. I love the idea that Meta Knight is Dream Land and Pop Stars's sole military offense and defense force.

Something I noticed that wasn't used either, those weird looking robot machines with angler fish lights, drills, and a wrench. What the fuck are those? Why are those there?

I love that the Battleship has those satellites/sensor dishes, it really exemplifies the type of tech it has! It's probably meant to detect things coming at it in the sky but I do love the idea it can do limited interplanetary communications and full ground-based communication even more so when you see the land-line styled phones

Another thing I really love is that, even though it's mostly artillery and war stuff, there's little living space things! If you look closely you can see a large pantry with sacks of possibly flour or meal, large barrels filled with liquids that could be water or alcohol! We got brown beer bottles, large salt containers, two fridges and pots and plates. It's very nice, and if you scroll down you'll even see a barrack area. I'm not a huuuge fan of the whole "Meta Knight, Vul, Sailor Dee, Sword & Blade, and the Meta-Knights all live on the Halberd 24/7" because it invalidates the majesty that is Meta Knight's fuck huge military base! I want to pivot for a moment...

Images belong to RetroArchive

Look at this. Look at this.

This is a little pet peeve of mine, but I kind of hate that Meta Knight's military base doesn't get a lot of spotlight! I see a lot of derivative fan-content focused on The Battleship Halberd and its crew that seems to fall into this common trope that everyone sleeps, eat, pisses, and more on the Halberd! I see little focused on anything or even references to the fact that there's a huuuge base with large buildings and even a port! I just wish that got a little more spotlight y'know? I want to see more of that in fanworks! Also! I don't like Kirby OCs but I do want to see more implications that there are more people who inhabit the ship than just the main crew. It's weird that I have to say this and it isn't more common.

Anyways, back to the original topic. There's even a laundry room with a possibly Official Legendary Battleship Halberd uniform. There's a toilet too. Neat!

Anyways, to finish this post off I just want to list some headcanons I have regarding the Battleship Halberd and its inhabitants

Sailor Waddle Dee and Captain Vul are best friends till the end. They're surprisingly similar in a lot of ways and tend to work closely together when it comes to the battleship's upkeep and innovation.

Captain Vul is a heavy chain smoker of cigars and drinker of rum.

The Meta Knights are all regular enemies but are just wearing armor and taking up different weapons to look scarier and befitting of serving Meta Knight.

The Battleship Halberd doubles as Pop Star and Dream Land's form of defense both planetary and interplanetary. It makes most of its money as freights for hire, mercs for hire, or other misc. tasks at a high price. Despite this, they have a very strong moral code!

Meta Knight has a nice room on the Halberd and a personal apartment on his base.

Captain Vul views Meta Knight like a son. Despite Meta Knight being a eternal void-born being it's not weird because Meta Knight does act youthful in his ways underneath his persona of a cool suave knight this is not me fighting against 𝕯𝖎𝖘𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖑𝖞 𝕺𝖑𝖉 𝕻𝖔𝖘𝖙-𝖂𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝕸𝖊𝖙𝖆 𝕶𝖓𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖕𝖔𝖌𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖆 i'm not owned i'm not owned I am NOT owned

Meta Knight has ran and will continue to run very intense emergency drills for almost any and all situations. Him fighting his own ship would be considered a drill to make sure the Battleship Halberd is fortified enough to survive himself being possessed and deciding to attack his own ship and crew. (It failed...).

Meta Knight does play favorites.

The Battleship Halberd uses three different fuel sources. Oil, Kinetic, and Alchemic Anomalous Energy.

I like to imagine Sailor Waddle Dee and Captain Vul hosting a Battleship Halberd only radio show. It's very problematic in nature.

Thank you for listening to my ted talk about the funnie ship from kirby

[redpenship]

Do you think mobians should be supplied nuclear armaments to protect themselves against Eggman?

No.

There are a few reasons why this is non-viable:

The Mobian state is basically non-existent. The most expensive/annoying part of possessing nuclear weapons is the upkeep involved with them. Who's paying for this? Why does ANY government trust Mobians, given the closest thing to a government that they appear to have is the Restoration (run by teenagers that cannot be counted on to act rationally during nuclear escalation). It's a major risk for basically everyone involved--including the Mobians!

Moreover, in cases of nuclear sharing, what we see most often are states sharing knowledge. Is a country going to train Mobian scientists to build bombs? How to enrich uranium in a reactor? If this country is simply handing over the nukes, and if this is really just to protect against Eggman, then it violates what we know about extended deterrence. The reason the United States put nukes all over Europe and in Canada was make sure their own allies did not develop their own nuclear programs. For example, if Germany armed itself, the USSR would have gotten pissed, so the US worked very hard with Germany to convince them that a dual-key system (in which both the US and Germany would need to give approval for the nukes to launch) was viable to protect them from Soviet aggression. They made similar efforts with Taiwan during the first strait crisis. Do Mobians want an atomic bomb? If not, they probably aren't getting one any time soon.

They would not deter Eggman. The point of nuclear weapons is to promise retaliation in the form of pain. All a nuclear bomb will do is hurt his robots, which Sonic has proven just fine of dealing with on his own. As the saying goes, there is nothing you can accomplish with a nuclear weapon that an army cannot accomplish with ice picks. Why invest is big ass rockets when Sonic can do the same thing?

Further more, if both parties have nuclear weapons, this does not - necessarily mean they will have a 100% deterrence rate. Eggman has never attacked the islands with nuclear weapons. Even if the Mobians have them, he can still get away with using conventional weapons. This is a result of the stability-instability paradox: if the conflict falls below the threshold of threat, as in is not serious enough to require nuclear intervention, then a conventional war will continue instead. Sino-Soviet border conflict is an example of this.

Putting nukes on the islands could cause another Cuban Missile Crisis-esque episode between Eggman and whoever supplied them. Especially if they are close to his territory.

Eggman takes over the islands ALL THE TIME. If deterrence fails, and Mobians don't fire their nukes, then they will fall into his hands. He's capable of making them on his own, but it probably wouldn't be awesome for him to learn more about the inner workings of xyz country's missile launchers/bombers/whatever. It would just make things more dangerousl

I could probably get more into this but I am going to stop now. To summarize, it would be a giant waste of time and probably not help anyone.

(ty for the question!!! its very late here so I hope it is comprehensible, i am writing this while sleepy lol.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s2 episode 17 thoughts

whispers softly. man... i need a minute. shaky breath.

okay. i'll start at the top like always. AUGH THE TEARS. fighting them. okay. need to put on some sad songs to accompany the 45-60 minutes it will take to type all this up

so, i sat down ready to see where this was gonna go. in fact i noted that i was incredibly locked in. which i continue to believe that i was.

we see a submarine, which is a type of craft i just do not trust. even before all that went down last summer. too scary for me. but they see something giving off a signal. and despite being a cartographer ship, they have missiles. and they're gonna go towards the thing they see on the radar, because they were told to. which seems wrong.

but then all their power is knocked out!!! and they are ordered to surface. but how will they do that under a ton of ice?!?!

title sequence. i was expecting different than the usual "the truth is out there" but i guess it's just business as usual over here despite it all

back to where we left off: scully's on the phone with real mulder and fake mulder is in her room. she hangs up on real mulder and tells the fake one that it was a wrong number, which had to be confusing to real mulder.

she tells him to put his hands on the wall, and he makes some quip about being shot before and not caring for it, and for a minute i'm like oh shit, that's a very mulder thing to do- what if he is, in fact, real mulder, and it's fake mulder on the phone? but that theory didn't make much sense anyway and also it was quickly put to rest by the fact that he started beating the hell out of scully.

so time skip: real mulder shows up to the scene with his "sister", who says the alien hit man is gonna call and ask to make a trade: scully for his "sister", and yeah, quotes are verbatim, i was still not buying this whole family relation thing

but his "sister" says that she knows how to kill the alien hit man: you have to hit the base of his skull. maybe. she isn't 100% certain. and also you can't miss because their blood is toxic. which we actually did already know!

and he's getting suspicious. why won't she explain exactly where she has been all this time? and what's this deal with her "father"? he's yelling at her at this point and i get it because it's not adding up to me either

she says that the aliens have been trying to establish a colony on earth since the 1940's, and:

"it's their belief that the stewardship of the planet is being forsaken" <- okay yeah. can't argue there. some of us are trying, aliens. i am not one of the mega companies pouring nuclear waste into the ocean. but maybe y'all could do a better job. and she continues:

"and that by default they'll someday become the natural heirs" <- well hey. you were sounding reasonable but now you are not. have we considered that maybe the people already here could give it another go free from the shackles of the 1%? you're acting like it's an estate sale and buddy we're still living in the house. you lost me there, and i was willing to hear you out.

she says that all of the clones worked at abortion clinics to gain access to fetal tissue, so they could combine human and alien dna. which i imagine had to be a good pr boost for abortion clinics (heavy on the /s here)

and the killer is after them because their experiments with mixing alien with human dna were not sanctioned, so they're "diluting the race", which i guess seems like the thing they would be worried about.

he doesn't seem to fully buy it, because he says "that's a good story, but i've heard a lot of good stories lately" which is true!!! our old worstie ambrose chapel was a liar, remember? or at least someone impersonating him was doing some lying!

"i'm your sister, fox, you have to trust me" UM PROOF?? have we done a dna test??? you can't just show up like that!!!!!

skinner knocks at the door... but is it really him? or the shapeshifting hit man????

"why are the lights out?" skinner asks quite reasonably "orders from my ophthalmologist" he says, lying very easily for a man for loves the Truth. but it did make me giggle.

sister approves that it is really skinner! only after they set a trap to get him just in case it wasn't. again i ask why she can tell if it's the man or not but okay. we move past that.

he makes introductions: "this is my sister, samantha mulder" to which skinner replies "WHAT"

and yeah. i would react the same!!!!

(also weird to hear mulder used as a last name. to me that's just the guy. you know?)

NOOO his phone rings. it's scully calling from a payphone. "he says he's gonna kill me if you don't give him what he wants" oh. okay.

there's no time to explain to skinner what is going on so!!! just please trust me, he says!!! and he does. another point for skinner, who is like a strange uncle or cousin to me.

they go to do a hostage trade: "samantha" for scully. and is this the same bridge where they did the hostage deal for mulder at the end of s1? do they only have one bridge for hostage deals. might be a bit much to have 2 in one city.

skinner has a sniper in the bush, ready to shoot at the base of the alien hit man's neck during the exchange. okay save the day mister sniper please.

AUGH HOSTAGE EXCHANGE. it's so tense. i paused here to write how tense it was, which did not ease it in the slightest. the hit man has a gun to scully's head and it's recalling mulder's early trauma with hostage exchanges. they're waiting for the right moment to shoot....

scully's in the car!!!! but samantha tried to use the needle that kills the aliens and she MISSED and the sniper shot was messed up and then there's firing and is it the sniper? or is it the hit man? who is hit? it is very unclear!!!!! both hit man and samantha tumble into the cold water beneath.

he's still at the bridge, staring down into the place he last saw her. scully comes out to join him, and he says "you should be at the hospital" (she has gauze on her head and says she was just discharged)

he's staring into the water, trying to come up with different ways she might have lived

"why didn't you tell me on the phone that it was her?" "i couldn't tell you 'cause you'd never let me go through with it" AUGHHHHHHHHH.

(and knowing how the episode ends. i am glad this happened. but in the moment. this was a gut punch)

she asks how he knew it was really his sister (valid question, one i fear he should have asked as well) and he snaps about how could she ask that, and she's like, dude someone with your face and body just kidnapped me???? so the whole who is who thing is a little murky??

(she actually calmly explains this. without any judgement. judgement added was my own. but you can imagine that after this experience, hearing "he's an alien" might still be a bit of a hard sell)

okay, mr. mulder is on the scene. he has to tell his dad he lost his sister. I lost her, he says. emphasis on the I. as if it was an action that he took. fuck.

and his dad hits back with a "you LET this man take your sister?" and son mulder is CRYING. what the HELL this is too much. the man has suffered too much. i'm given flashbacks to the last time we saw him cry when he thought he lost scully forever.

PAUSE. i just know the actors were eating up these lines. ohhh i know they were sinking their teeth into them the way that good dialogue allows you to. when you tap into the soul of a character, a whole person who isn't even real, because the writing cuts to their heart. yeah yeah yeah i knowww they were rolling with it and it felt Good

back to the scene. his father is giving him a guilt trip about how his mother is going to deal with "losing her again". and he's apologizing and crying when his dad pulls out an envelope

"your sis- SAMANTHA" told me to give you this.

the implication that he lost the claim to be considered related to her????? is sooooo entirely messed up?? that is the kind of thing that ruins a person???? holy fuck??

he's sobbing while opening the letter, and it gives an address where she says they can meet up if they are separated... so maybe she's really still out there??? hope has been installed back into "she's not actually dead" camp

he rolls up to the address and parks in an area labeled "NO PARKING". grief will do this to a guy.

but just as he arrives, scully calls and says they found her in the river. NOOOOOO THE NEWLY RETURNED HOPE.... "whatever you're feeling, you can't blame yourself" she says, knowing that he must be putting his whole soul into Blaming Himself

but... her body is melting??? is it an alien body??? is the melting gonna turn into toxic gas?? scully don't stare at it you're gonna get all thick blood!!!!

back to mulder. this man is experiencing all stages of grief at once on the steps of a women's clinic. he goes in and pulls out a gun and boy i sure hope there are no women inside.

someone is in there. it's... someone with samantha's face??? saying that she knows "she's dead"????? "it was all a lie", he mumbles as he realizes he was played

YESSSS I KNEW IT. i knew that was NOT his sister. i knew it was too weird and coincidental to be true. this makes the grief of losing her dissipate entirely so i do consider this a win beyond me just being able to guess where the plot was going

and i'm thinking, how the hell is he gonna explain all this to scully? like, to mom and dad, you will have to play along with the whole "she died" thing, and while that is by no means easy, it is a concrete thing you can say and do. but scully??? how is she going to react to "someone pretended to be my sister and then got killed"

(i suppose mulder could tell his parents that DNA testing on "samantha's body" proved no relation, but that would still be complicated to walk through, because there was no corpse to prove that, you know, because she dissolved- maybe scully could make some paperwork to make it look real?)

back to the matter at hand: these aliens with the same face are saying that he must save their original source. and he says "i am not your savior" which- tea. set your boundaries king. in fact, had i been there, i would have done the opposite of protecting, and instead start blasting these aliens that pretended to be my long-dead sister.

but they have leverage... they know where she really is...... so he doesn't walk out....

hit man arrives!!!!! armed with his needle!!! and mulder goes to confront him, but he knocks him on his back, and sets a fire- mulder's weakness!!!!!!

scully is making a report. she cannot substantiate his claims of aliens. and she's got a cut on her forehead from hit man taking her. my poor queen :(

back to the fbi agent that died in the last episode. he has nasty cuts allllll over. like he was carved with designs. sorry for that imagery but i saw it and must describe it.

she thinks she can solve this case with the power of SCIENCE!!! what killed this guy, exactly? maybe if we can figure it out, the other pieces could fall into place

so the virus that causes the blood to thicken is inhibited by the cold.... which explains our earlier scene of mulder in the ice tub and her yelling about him needing to be cold...

DEEP THROAT 2.0 ARRIVAL? (sidenote does this dude have a real name? like while this was airing what were y'all calling him...)

he tells mulder that the last alien- the one who was sent to kill the clones, our shapeshifting hit man- has been tracked to alaska, and that you have to pick your battles to win the war. telling him not to go to alaska. can you imagine.

scully goes to his place and knocks but no one answers. and his newspapers on at the doorstep. so she busts out her keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey..... heart still melts that she has this.......

and HE KNEW SHE WAS GONNA INVESTIGATE???? he sent her an email..... and he's saying how he wouldn't let her risk her life... nooo don't you weaponize the earlier drawing a line thing, that was about chasing a very vague alien lead to an agent's death, not about investigating ur sister...........

she bursts into skinner's office. and then apologizes for doing so.

(i love this so much. such a tiny detail that tells us a lot about her character. that Need to be good and do the right thing and please those whom she looks up to. ohhhhh)

he asks to speak to her off the record, and it seems at first promising... but he won't help her get in contact with mulder. EVEN after she says please!!!! she is gonna cry!!!!!

skinner's bitching about mulder's actions being a violation of his oath, and she's saying that he saved her life, and he comes back with a "if he wanted or expected you to do the same, he would have told you where he was going"

skinner being a jerk... at this point i began to revoke the point i earlier gave him...

he looks deeply troubled though, and i was like, ohhh, mulder must have promised him to not tell her where he was going... i see into your plans, mulder (<- this is not what happened)

back at mulder's place. scully's searching for clues. there's an x taped to the window again, which must be something he just does sometimes. and there's ominous music.

she falls asleep on his couch, and i swear i actually felt my heart melting at this moment. the way she was curled up. subconsciously trying to hold onto a piece of him. only finding rest where he did. i can't even wax poetic about this because i can't put the words into the right shape. but it is gonna destroy me.

someone is knocking... but who?

DEEP THROAT 2.0?!?!

he tries to act like he just went to the wrong room, but she isn't buying it, following him and demanding to know where he really is

SKINNER IS HERE? GETTING ON THE ELEVATOR????? SKINNER ATTACKING D.T. 2.0??? the girls are fighting!!!!!!!

he makes deep throat 2.0 tell him where mulder is, even when skinner is pinned up and deep throat 2.0 is the one holding the gun, and he said "i've killed men for less", but skinner says that if you kill him, he'll be killing 2 men....... this gag seems to have worked

SKINNER is AT THE DOOR to mulder's place where scully is staying. and he is bleeding from MANY wounds. tells scully where he is without elaborating on the blood pouring from all over. okay skinner. you're real for that. you get that point i was tossing around back. and a bonus one, in fact.

so mulder's out on the ice, and usually him wearing a big jacket would spark joy in my heart. and i won't lie, it does a little. but there is also a LOT of tension going on, so it's very brief. feels wrong to rejoice in the simple pleasures of man in big funny coat when he just had to lose his sister and then learn it wasn't even her.

but he sees some sort of tower and he's going in!!! and a dead guy is spotted.

pause. at this point i am sitting here thinking, man, these episodes are good, definitely among the best i've seen so far. who let these men cook? can we get them back in the kitchen with more regularity?

someone is leading him deeper and deeper into the maze of this... station? sub? and i fear he is being led into a trap. but he finds a very very scared man and having a big man point a gun at him doesn't help with the fear, i'm sure. but is it really a sniveling coward... or the hit man???

and JUST as he almost had me fooled and wondering if mulder was gonna really shoot an innocent guy, BAM! hit man reveal.

mulder keeps asking where his sister is, even while being pummeled by this alien with super strength. and he says "she's alive. can you die now?"

mulder shoots at the alien and he misses the back of his neck, so his toxic blood is filling up the space, and things are not looking good at all. and the alien takes him out and drops him on the ice!!!!!

he's going to break the ice and let him freeze or hit him with the sub as it goes down, both very bad endings........

CUTSCENE TO WHERE WE BEGAN!!!!

scully is bursting in, telling this doctor that he has a virus that can only be slowed by keeping him cold, and he isn't buying it, but just as he tries to get her kicked out of the room, his heart stops, so she intervenes.

and she's calling all the shots- get 100 grams of this and that and a drip of this- and this doctor has had his shift hijacked by a better doctor. he implies that mulder might not make it, and she refuses to hear this out.

and she's.... gently stroking his hair... while this is going down........

and sitting by his bed while he's getting better...

(so are the counts for who has been in a coma now tied? justice is served)

and now she's doing the case conclusion:

"several aspects of this case remain unexplained, suggesting the possibility of paranormal phenomena" <- OHHH??? is this what makes scully a believer? are we gonna see some character changes?

"but i am convinced that to accept such conclusions is to abandon all hope of understanding the scientific events behind them" okay!!! we are getting a deeper look into her philosophy here. yes yes yes give me more. and more i was given:

"many of the things i have seen have challenged my faith and my belief in an ordered universe, but this uncertainty has only strengthened my need to know, to understand, to apply reason, to those things which seem to defy it"

and i love it. i love it so much. seeing how she understands the world, why she knows that there has to be an order to it all, and if it seems there isn't, it's just because she hasn't figured it out yet... and science did allow him to get better... the need to fight a good fight in the way she knows how... yeah... that's lovely...

and she's CRYING at his bedside and holding his arm when he finally opens his eyes. her smile. her gentle "hey". it's so innocent, seeing that he is okay, that he made it through the worst part of getting better.

"thanks for ditching me" aughhhhghhhhh.......

he says he didn't find what he was looking for, but he did find the faith to keep looking. ohhhhh. ohhhhhhh...

the way his faith was gone at the start of season 2, but now it's back, there's something worth fighting for, his sister is out there, there is a world worth figuring out..........

man.

at this point my friend was sending me texts and i was like queen i need a minute. i need a minute. to put these things in order. and honestly i STILL do!

it was an absolutely amazing duo of episodes. i truly loved the writing, seeing them pushed to the brink with each other and with themselves. seeing skinner come into fruition. seeing what motivates them both and how they see the world and how it is entirely different but still driven by hope and faith and a need to learn the truth. and the tenderness of it all. of her sleeping on his couch in his absence, thinking maybe he'll be home soon. of running her fingers through his hair while he was being revived. the fury of being blamed for the loss of his sister, the fury with which she screamed at deep throat 2.0 to tell him where he went off to, the fury of mulder realizing he had been lied to and that his sister had never come back at all. but there still being hope despite it all. because there are things worth searching for. and they can do it together.

man. it was a very good episode but your girl is gonna go watch a silly video because it definitely hit me right in the Feelings!!

[crownmemes]

Politician Sentences, Vol. 10

(Sentences from various sources for politicians and/or muses in political spaces. Adjust phrasing where needed)

"You know what? My offer just expired."

"This is a joke! We need proper leadership!"

"The people I work with are loyal to the end. Can you say the same?"

"Nobody is untouchable."

"How's a man supposed to get any rest with all these uncertainties?"

"You are my contingency plan."

"There's always some new little faction, isn't there?"

"What? No! When you put it like that, it sounds downright morally questionable!"

"I expect more from you than the polite appearance of cooperation."

"You always prove to be more resourceful than I give you credit for."

"Are you willing to make a bargain?"

"You're obviously not doing this out of the goodness of your heart, so what is it that you want?"

"Every war has a cost. This is just collateral damage."

"Hypocrisy is like violence in the movies; if you only let the bad guys use it, the bad guys win."

"You're becoming quite the celebrity!"

"Somebody's got to step up and bring some order around here."

"You wrote down what I said?"

"I don't trust any of them. Do you?"

"Nothing interests me less than impressing you."

"I see you didn't take me up on my offer to go see my tailor."

"I have little patience for small-minded bureaucrats."

"I like this suit. It's always been lucky for me."

"Such a display of loyalty! You don't see that much anymore."

"You're not someone I really want to work with."

"Nobody knows more about the burden of difficult decisions than I."

"You never did lose well."

"If you have something to offer, now would be the time."

"Have you deceived and betrayed anyone yet today? It is almost lunchtime, after all."

"This isn't a game."

"You're only going to work for me. Nobody else, do you understand?"

"If you think about it, this is quite the honour!"

"Are you saying that you actually want to fire a nuclear missile?"

"The reason I chose you is because you've got good instincts."

"I've dreamt about this moment for so many years..."

[zahri-melitor]

Full reaction to Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter: I get what Dennis O'Neil was trying for, but definitely has a giant Of Its Time stamp across it.

It's a very interesting series, in the context of riding the 1970s fascination for Asian martial arts craze. Because it certainly attempts to be progressive and fails in interesting ways.

The first thing I have to note is that three (3!) separate women, framed to be love interests, die in this 18 issue comic, and all of them are women of colour: Carolyn Woosan, Sun Ling Po, and Janey Lewis. If you want to talk about fridging, then the fact that Shiva makes it out alive from this comic is a minor miracle.

Ben Turner also manages to spend at least half this comic off panel unable to fight, despite technically being the main support character, between getting shot in the leg, ending up on crutches, getting poisoned and landing in hospital, and then being brainwashed by the League of Assassins. It's quite noticeable when he finally gets to turn back up and be on panel for a whole story rather than getting injured and relegated AGAIN.

One thing that really struck me though is that comparing what's on page in this and where Richard, Ben and Shiva end up, you find the narrative almost mythologised in later writings, both those from O'Neil and from people like Dixon and Rucka. Richard and Ben are the best students of the O-Sensei, but there isn't really the implication that they're the Best Martial Artists On The Planet. Shiva's here to avenge Carolyn's death and keeps turning up to help Richard because she gets bored easily and thinks violence and danger is fun, not because she's yet reached the level of boredom that has her challenging every 'serious' martial artist on the planet for a challenge to kill.

It's also very interesting in that most of the heroes and villains we meet are South East Asian characters - in fact they're all based in Japan for a while - however our protagonist in Richard is a white American (and Ben is a black American). It's just a very 1970s approach to progressive storytelling (and uh there are definitely a bunch of stereotypes still floating around).

I found it a very quick read, with less comic silliness than you might expect (nuclear missiles fired into volcanoes and removed by giant magnets aside), but I think unless you're interested in the histories of the characters, the understanding you get of all three simply from their later appearances and how this period is referenced is sufficient.

I will say the odd, almost wandering way I've read various Ben Turner appearances (the main ones being this, Suicide Squad 1987, parts of Justice League: Task Force, his couple of appearances in Batgirl 2000, Manhunter 2004, etc) means that I get pretty irritated any time anyone wants to pitch him as an assassin or particularly a member of the League of Assassins. He was brainwashed into doing stuff for the LOA and broke out of it pretty soon afterwards. He's not an assassin, he's an extremely skilled martial artist who can and does kill and just happens to have a bunch of connections with the independent martial artist communities of DC, all of whom are getting progressively subsumed into factions of the League of Assassins by DC writers who seem unaware of their complexities and differences.

[kaelio]

I do hc that there are human governments who know about the Anne Rice vampires; minimally I think they're known by the Five Eyes. And perhaps the Talamasca has dipped their toes into communicating with them or acting as an intermediary, but I don't think it's even necessary! As long as each vampire eats even about one person a day (and the ancient ones don't even seem to stick to their own backyard to hunt necessarily), the benefit of wiping out vampires due to the very likely cost or difficulty means honestly it's PROBABLY correct to leave them alone, on the brute math of it. I do think there are plans in place though that would have been executed on if, for example, Akasha's rampage had gone on and were probably gearing up.

But if you know that vampires can telepathically communicate, they're immune to most damage, they can hyponotize people, they're pyrokinetic, they can move super fast, and there are at times around 100... okay, that's 100 people a day, but that's globally. And if they cover their tracks even the slightest, it's pretty unlikely vampirism would ever be suspected. Weird medical events occur all the time, sucides occur regularly.

But say you go to war with vampires--certainly no individual decision-maker there is safe. If the UK orders a vampire strike, the PM can't really be protected individually. But vampires are very unlikely to kill a pope or a PM or whatever; they don't seek to be noticed. How many lives, and which, do you lose in a war with them, even if you win?

Like Rhoshamandes ponders killing half of humankind, but honestly the only way vampires get there is setting off a nuclear war, and sure, perhaps they could, but do they really want to? they seem pretty comfortable with things as they are. But certainly if they were ever about to lose an existential war, why not spellbind whoever is necessary at the missile silo to get those things in the air?

Certainly one or two vampires could easily overwhelm the crew of an Ohio-class submarine and set off a nuclear bomb solely aimed at say, Ft. Lauderdale, and then perhaps even hit a city we'd miss. But the amount of deaths even from a single act like that would really eclipse what they're doing to feed, which again, is not great, but not really moving the needle anywhere.

Also, for serial killers they are clearly an asset to local economies. Frankly, there are probably efforts to make vampires more comfortable; as long as Armand is comfortable in NYC, you know his business interests will reflect an inflow to the State of New York; he does canonically pay his taxes. Meanwhile, Maharet in Myanmar unfortunately might have provided some of the wealth necessary for unfortunate later political action. The matter of where vampires are is of economic and political interest and can be leveraged.

[edaworks]

Wasteland Survival Guide: The Institute, Fusion Reactors, and M.I.T.'s Actual Basement

It's that time again. Periodically I make unreasonable longposts about Fallout-related topics (it's a good way to keep track of fic research). Today I'm tackling nuclear fusion, the Institute, and the real-world Massachusetts Institute of Technology's basement.

Yeah, Yeah, M.I.T. is the Institute, We've All Seen - Wait, What Do You Mean, "The Vault Laboratory?"

M.I.T. - the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - is a highly exclusive research university with a well-deserved reputation for hosting brilliant minds.

It also got its serial numbers filed off in order to host the in-game Institute. Why? Probably because of all the very real research into robotics, artificial intelligence, and power armor (no really). And because M.I.T. is actually doing now what the Institute tries to do in-game with nuclear fusion.

And, of course, because of the vaults in the basement.

You know what? I'll just start at the top...Read on below.

I'll be focusing on fusion-related research in this post, and comparing in-game Institute work on fusion to what's actually happening over at M.I.T. (We'll get to the Media Laboratory and robotics and AI and the, uhm, power armor stuff in a separate post. Or three.)

all actual M.I.T. researchers/faculty/students and/or nuclear physicists have my sincere apologies, I don't know shit about shit but I'm doing my best

I Didn't Sign Up for a Physics Class, but Okay

Here's the thing about nuclear fusion generators - y'know...the ones powering nearly** the entirety of pre-war in-game America?

Including self-contained, miniaturized reactors (fusion cores, fusion cells, microfusion cells, Corvega engines, assaultron and robobrain power supplies, recharger weapons, G.E.C.K.s, etc.) and full-scale reactors (powering vaults, the Lucky 38, the Prydwen (and Rivet City before Maxson Happened), missile silos, etc.)...?

We don't have them yet.

Of course we have nuclear power generation, what are you talking about?

Yes - but nuclear power plants currently operating use fission reactors! Fusion reactors, though? Well...

For the pre-war in-game universe, even more than for us, that fuel-to-energy ratio would have been absurdly important. Companies rushed to implement fusion for damn near every possible use, but waited until the Resource Wars left them no other choice. "No more (viable) oil reserves? Well, shit. Fusion it is."

Because of this, by October 23, 2077, pre-war Western markets were still somewhat new to adopting miniaturized nuclear fusion reactors.

For instance, Chryslus' first fusion vehicles - intentionally reminiscent of the absolutely wild Ford Nucleon concept car dreamed up in 1957 - came to market in 2070, less than a decade before the nuclear exchange.

As for the other benefits of nuclear fusion...Atom knows the in-game universe could do with less radioactive contamination:

It is no wonder the Institute wants to get the reactor in their basement up, running, and running better than originally designed.

Real-life M.I.T. is no stranger to running fusion reactors - they've been at it since the late '60s - but as it turns out, they are currently also "building a better mousetrap," and if they succeed they will be achieving all the Institute would hope for in clean energy production - without the moral deficit.

If nuclear fusion is so great, why aren't we using this technology yet IRL?

Because - and I cannot stress this enough - we are attempting to levitate bits of the Sun inside a donut to make really hot things boil water* so steam will turn a fan attached to a dynamo to power light bulbs.

*(there are two other ways to generate power using this heat)

Naturally...this comes with some complications.

We know fusion reactors can be the most energy-efficient form of power generation - we just need better reactors. That's where M.I.T. comes in.

The biggest problem right now is efficiency:

TL;DR - as of April 2024, all fusion reactors as a matter of course still consume more power to run than they are able to produce (meaning they do not reach "breakeven"). Many cutting-edge reactors also require tritium (very rare) as well as deuterium (very common) fuel.

We did not even see a fusion reaction that reached "breakeven" for power production until December of 2022. That reaction occurred at the National Ignition Facility in California, and their results just passed peer review in February of this year (2024).

Several in-progress reactors aim to improve on this, including ITER (the combined work of dozens of nations) in France, and SPARC: the new reactor under development by Mass Fusion Commonwealth Fusion Systems and M.I.T.'s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC).

Another big problem with this technology is that it involves plasma.

Plasma, as a particular song reminds us, is what the Sun is made of and The Sun Is Hot. That means plasma carries some very real 'we're-losing-structural-integrity, the-warp-core-is-breaching' risks, and we must jump through all kinds of hoops to work with it.

Why are we shoving the Sun inside a donut, again?

The most well-funded, well-researched way of smashing atoms together involves plasma and magnetic confinement fusion.

This shit is beyond cool. It may also look very familiar:

In-game, the Institute is trying to get what appears to be a spherical tokamak reactor up and running.

Bethesda's choice of reactor was no coincidence: M.I.T. operated the Alcator C-Mod, a spherical tokamak, while Fallout 4 was under development - but that reactor could not achieve "breakeven" IRL, and per Shaun's in-game dialogue, the fictional Alcator C-Mod couldn't either. (Weird given the miniaturized fusion devices everywhere in-universe, but okay, Shaun.)

However, M.I.T. stopped operating that reactor in 2016, a year after Fallout 4's release. SPARC, their planned replacement reactor actually has the sort of power potential we see in-game - and they aim to bring fusion power to market in this decade.

M.I.T., right now, in real life, is doing exactly what you're asked to help the Institute do in-game: build a fusion reactor that surpasses "breakeven."

What the hell is a tokamak and why does it look like half of a Star Trek warp core?

Your typical tokamak reactor is a great big donut-shaped vacuum chamber (the torus), traditionally surrounded by AT LEAST three sets of electromagnets (sometimes many more). M.I.T.'s design for the new SPARC reactor is a bit different, but let's start with the basics.

Why so many magnets?

Because plasma, being Literal Sun Matter, cannot come into contact with the torus containment walls or it will instantly burn through. (This happened in France in 1975. Following initial "well, fuck"s and a couple years' repairs, the logical next step was to publish a paper about it.)

The magnetic fields work to heat the plasma and provide current drive (keep electrons moving in a consistent direction through the plasma and around the torus), while also keeping it from touching anything, preventing a "warp core breach." I'll take a stab at explaining it but the Department of Energy probably does it better.

Meet the magnets:

Toroidal field magnets (blue, above): These enormous D-shaped magnets wrap around and through the torus, conducting an electrical current. This creates a magnetic field that keeps plasma from drifting horizontally into the containment walls.

Central solenoid (green, above): Inside the "donut hole" sits a massive, stacked electromagnet that generates enough electromagnetic force to launch two space shuttles at once. This heats the fuel to about one hundred million degrees Celsius so that it reaches plasma state, and helps "drive" the plasma current around the torus. (Radiofrequency or neutral beam injection heating/drive may be used as well for reactor prototypes aiming for power generation, because current drive from just the solenoid isn’t practical for continuous operation.) The central solenoid also creates another magnetic field called the "poloidal field," which "loops" around the plasma like a collar to prevent it from drifting vertically into the walls. The strongest central solenoid in existence was made for the ITER reactor...by General Atomics.

Outer poloidal field magnets (grey, above): A third set of electromagnets "stacks" up the outside of the torus, and helps maintain and adjust the poloidal field.

Together these three sets of magnets force the plasma to "float" inside the torus, shape it, and provide current drive. The stronger the magnetic field, the higher the reactor's power output.

Okay, and then what?

Given sufficient heat and drive/stability, the plasma fuel mixture undergoes fusion.

Neutrons released during fusion have plenty of kinetic energy (the kind of energy a kickball has midair before it hits you in the face), but no electric charge.

Since magnetic fields only affect negatively or positively charged particles, neutrons completely ignore the fields, sailing straight through and slamming into a "blanket" of metal coating the donut's insides. Neutrons passing into the 'blanket" lose their kinetic energy, which is converted to heat and absorbed by the "blanket." (ITER's "blanket" involves a lot of beryllium, which...behaves a bit differently IRL than it does in-game.)

Heat captured by the "blanket" is then used to generate power. For instance, a water cooling system can bleed heat from the "blanket," regulating temperature and creating superheated highly-pressurized steam to run turbine generators.

I notice you described a "typical" tokamak above -what's the atypical option?

Check out SPARC.

Its huge design departure is that it uses new high-temperature superconducing magnets (most existing types have to be cooled to vacuum-of-space temperatures using something like a liquid helium system to achieve superconductivity, which is a huge power drain) to create a monstrous magnetic field - and its size is tiny in comparison to its projected power output.

Neat. So why did you refer to plasma as a problem?

Well...between the heat and the neutrons, the "blanket," the "first wall" and all plasma-facing surfaces inside the torus take one hell of a beating:

"Neutron degradation of wall surfaces-" "Energy is released in the form of the kinetic energy of the reaction products-" In practical terms, that just means countless neutrons are doing THIS:

...but to the containment wall and other surfaces inside the torus, instead of to Batshuayi's face. And so:

Basically, this stuff breaks fast enough - and the only materials that don't break quickly are rare enough - to create a real barrier to commercial use.

And THIS is one of the problems they're working on solving in M.I.T.'s basement.

Now we can talk about the Vault. FINALLY.

M.I.T. is home to the Center for Science and Technology with Accelerators and Radiation (CSTAR). CSTAR's splash page announces:

Linear plasma devices? You mean like -

No, not like plasma rifles. Instead of weapons, we're talking about tools being used to solve the "plasma fucking destroys everything it touches" problem.

How does CSTAR do this? They've got CLASS. ...No, really:

This field is called plasma-surface interaction science, and if you want a really long but very informative read on how CSTAR's work helps move it forward, check this out. It involves the DIONISOS Linear Plasma Device - a "let's shoot it with plasma and see what happens" tool.

CSTAR also works to better undertstand how materials handle radiation damage, and how they behave after becoming irradiated.

And to handle this sort of work, one needs a...

The Vault Laboratory for Nuclear Science "combines high-intensity particle sources, precision particle detection, and a heavily shielded experimental area to create a facility for nuclear research in high-radiation environments." It contains, among other things:

the DT Neutron Generator, which is used in a variety of experiments, including radiation detector development (pretty damned important) and characterization, fast neutron imaging, and material activation (stuff becoming radioactive).

the DANTE Tandem Accelerator, which was "originally designed to produce high neutron yields for use in cancer therapy research."

And that is what's actually going on in M.I.T.'s basement: truth is cooler than fiction.

The takeaways:

Yes, M.I.T. really is building a revolutionary fusion reactor with parts from Mass Fusion Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

Yes, there really is a secure underground facility where incredibly advanced research related to nuclear fusion, radiation detection, irradiated materials, and degradation of materials due to radiation exposure takes place.

Yes, I really would spend eight hours researching nuclear physics instead of doing more dishes. Shoutout to @twosides--samecoin for tolerating my absurd hyperfocus on researching this.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk on what M.I.T. is really doing in its basement.

Tune in next time for M.I.T.'s Media Laboratory, and how it is related to real-world power armor, plus: the relationship between Langley, P.A.M.'s IRL cousin, and Vault 101.

** (Fallout is wildly inconsistent re: how widespread fusion is in-game and when it was developed. I mean we're talking a two-decade spread of inconsistency! And somehow the technology - first available to the military - was then miniaturized and made available to the general public before becoming widespread for commercial power generation? And somehow we both do and don't have impossible cold fusion in game? It's a mess. I reject this reality and replace it with a fish, hence this post. Also, I hate fission batteries. don't talk to me about fission batteries, "fission batteries" are small fission reactors but they are definitely not "battery sized" - the "fission batteries" in-universe are so miniaturized that they are more likely another kind of atomic battery like a radioisotope thermoelectric generator and those are subject to a law of diminishing returns as the fuel decays/not producing a reasonably useful power output after over 200 years due to the isotopes normally used/can be VERY dangerous if the shielding is breached or removed, and - you know what, that's also a whole different post.)

[demon-of-the-ancient-world]

barely comprehensible ramblings under the cut, also spoilers for dune messiah

Figuring out in my head (with close to zero knowledge about nuclear physics & i'm too scared to research it because it scares me, your girl couldn't even watch Oppenheimer ok) how the stone burner in Dune Messiah works/what the hell it is. This likely will not make any actual sense, science side of tumblr please don't eat me.

What we actually know about it. 1) it's a weapon "powered by atomics" (what?) that is somehow barely legal within the in-universe laws surrounding atomic weapons 2) it "emits J-rays" (wikipedia did not elaborate) 3) it has just enough power to fuck up eye tissue of anyone in the vicinity but not enough to destroy skin, bones etc. The explosion itself like, levels an entire block of buildings though so there's that. Also, if "given too much fuel" it can also destroy an entire planet?

What we/I can infer from Dune: Messiah. 1) It's portable and at least somewhat concealable, or else the Tleilaxu not checking spelling on that i'm tired wouldn't have been able to sneak it into the city correct? 2) there are different "settings" or at least different fueling levels that can alter the level of destruction

What I'm not at all clear on: 1)what it actually looks like?? I have zero idea what I'm supposed to be picturing 2) how it's activated. Is it like a firework where someone's gotta run in and light it and then back the fuck away? is it remote controlled? is it a missile? no clue 3) similarly just...how it works?? clearly there's some kind of nuclear reaction going on but there seem to be suggestions that something external is going on too...once again I know Nothing about atomic weapons in our own world let alone this fictional sci-fi one but. it feels like it doesn't make a lot of sense ya know.

And honestly...it doesn't matter that much? I joke but I really don't mind that it's this sort of weird mysterious thing that isn't fully explained in the text. But I remain a very visual person, and it bugs me that I don't know what I'm supposed to be imagining. Also, I wonder how the hell they're going to depict it in the third film, assuming they do so, because while being deliberately vague about a piece of Weird technology can work in a book...in a visual medium that's a lot trickier.

(I've more recently wondered if Denis won't actually have a stone burner be a thing at all...while I'm convinced that, no matter how far from the book they might stray, they'll stick with Paul going blind, I almost wonder if they'll have it happen in a way that's similar but easier to explain just to get rid of the uncertainty around the tech?? Though I hope not bc I want to see what he comes up with)

So my conceptulization of it in my head as I was reading it, was like. Not something that probably makes any sense but I thought it was a cool visual and so tried to rationalize it??

I imagined something of a cross between a firework and a gas camping stove. Bear with me. I pictured something sort of tube-like in shape and a couple feet tall that houses...something radioactive. The "J rays" are the radiation that's released prior to the explosion itself and are somehow "inactive"/somewhat benign to begin with. Then then some kind of "spark" is set off remotely, and ignites at the top of the "radiation bubble", causing a chain reaction of ignition that "activates" the bubble and causes an explosion that remains within the specific radius and also causes the radiation to become dangerous.

So we have the hissing sound of the radiation "leaking" before the explosion, followed by the visual of the ignition spark rising slowly into the air and then sort of exploding downwards. Sort of like a weird firework. I am aware this is not at all how atomic weapons work.

@fuckyeahisawthat coming back to tag u in whatever the hell this is...

[pokidot]

MANDELA — twelve

wc: 1,473

“Get in. This is the last time I ever waste my time for some rando.”

Kuni was the first to exit the convenience store. He opened his vehicle door with a force strong enough that the rest of them were surprised it didn't fly off the handles.

You aided in his tyrant wake of destruction by pushing and nudging Hu Tao towards the door, leaving her to fervently panic. "Look, I can't say it out in public, alright?! This is a secret operation, and you're seriously going to blow my cover—”

"Cover? That's what you're worried about, a cover?" Kuni scoffed, "Your cover was to no avail once you got your tears and snot on my very expensive car."

"Did you have to add that it was very expensive?" You said, looking away with half-lidded eyes.

She strode mighty out of the convenience store, the welcoming beacon of neon lights clashing with the sunlight rising. "I can't believe you're the one triggered, I had to almost dig my eyes out with a spoon."

"Oh, we're complaining now? You can stay here, if you'd like. I'm sure you'll love scraping maggots off the floor in the back." But as the silence made emphasis, he grinned.

Hu Tao gasped, holding her manicured fingers towards her lips, her reddened eyes in slight fear. “Are you implying there’s dead bodies in there right now?”

“I’m implying that it’s an extremely unsanitary condition that only a rat would think to be around.” He replied. “Oh wait, I see some similarities now.”

"Okay, can we relax?"

Hu Tao gasped, backing up. "You used your hairspray-nuclear...practice missile thing on the wrong person, buddy. I feel like your dog is ten seconds away from turning me into a chew toy."

"You are really suspicious." You shrugged.

"I'm not!"

"Yeah, you are~ You little sussy-wussy, you." You said while poking at her cheek, swaying your shoulders humorously. “Just get in the car, he’s not gonna bite you. I am!”

You nudged the girl’s shoulder again, closer and closer towards the inside of the car, shutting the door behind her and looking towards Kuni again. Your eyebrows raised.

You knew he knew about suspicion, but in your eyes, suspicion was looking back at you too. “Stop scarin’ our livestock, Johnny. We ain’t gonna have none left.” You said to him in a country accent.

He shouldn't have been seething, but something about Hu Tao’s general disposition irked him. “She’s a creep. If you were alone I wouldn’t be surprised if she sold you to the Fatui.”

“I know, but we gotta lay low!” You threw your hands up. “We can’t just be outing our business to the entire wild west! You think word don’t spread around these parts?” You said while motioning towards the vast land of nothing besides the road and the tumbleweeds in the distance.

"Stop doing that voice. And don’t talk to me like I’m stupid.” Kuni’s eyes moved back towards the rest of the group. “We can’t afford to take chances when we have a pack of idiots with us.”

“Spoken as if I didn’t collaborate the pack of idiots.” You stuck your tongue out sarcastically. “If we’re really talking, I can’t afford anything.”

You drew closer to the rest of the group. “We’re going straight in. Ready?”

“You’re not listening to me.” Kuni’s voice drew out in a louder tone, his annoyance lingering on his tongue. "This is a really bad idea that will get worse, I'm warning you!"

“Damn, for some reason I hear a very annoying ringing! Hope it GETS BACK IN THE CAR SOON.” You responded, ending with a shout, that made Kuni's lip twitch in malcontent.

"...Wow." Kuni scoffed, ultimately listening and retreating back to the drivers seat.

Your head turned back to the group, grin slack on your face. “He’s so happy to be here.”

The group's faces held an air of expectation, but as they all exchanged glances, Heizou's gaze remained fixed. It was like a tapestry unraveled in his brain. "Question," He paused with uncertainty. "We're keeping a hostage with us because...?"

"Okay, chill out." You rolled your eyes. "She can't be a hostage if she attacked me first. Keep up."

"Keep up?!" Heizou's jaw fell slack. "Is your head on right? What if someone is looking for her? We led a paper trail to the rest of us. Then we have blood on our hands, we can't let anybody know we're going into Mori Grove!"

"It'll be fine! This is the best possible outcome." You grinned. "Plus, if I get what I want, we may have further investigation to look into."

"And you're happy?" Aether hesitated. "Like...with the risk?"

"Are you kidding? I'm so happy, I almost forgot I owe the government 500,000 mora." You chortled, the chuckle slowly fading as your face fell. "Almost."

"I thought you said that you weren't in debt?" Kazuha blinked.

There was a sudden tremor in your expression, begging Kazuha not to simmer the burn any further with your pleading eyes. The boy could only nod slowly. "Right...nevermind."

"Oh~ I love when cute people are financially vulnerable." Venti cooed.

"Oh my gosh, not here!" You dramatically replied, making a shooing motion with your hand.

"Well, this was a ridiculously unnecessary amount of time we wasted." Xiao's eyebrow cocked up in disdain. "You better have a good plan."

The car glided up the winding path heading to a cabin not too far from the village itself. It remained nestled in the ominous thicket of the forest, remaining eerie enough for the fog not to clear from the open acres of land. The road was beginning to close from the leeway, but thanks to Venti’s very convincing (and seductive) reasoning, the patrol let them through.

The headlights, like a piercing cat's eyes, provide fleeting glimpses of the ancient trees as it starts to stop along the pathway. There was something wrong with the atmosphere, and that itself was a reminder to Kuni that his stoic mood was necessary.

He turn the key out of the ignition, his eyes made a small glimpse at the sun that was no longer on the horizon before watching the second car with the others approach the other side of the pathway onto the grassy texture.

There was a noticeable sense of presence that was left, like an unseen spectator watching from the windows, their group unknowing that they were there. But before he was about to mention such, he was snapped out of his focus by Hu Tao's nervous chuckle.

There was an imminent silence amongst the three, before Hu Tao laughed nervously, eyes darting around the area. "Haha, well it's been a blast getting to know all of you within...two-ish? Hours, buuuuttt I really gottaaaa-"

"Shut up. You're not going anywhere." You cut her off, your hand reaching for the car door to open it and get out. "Kuni, watch her. I'll get the equipment."

Hearing a small sound of protest from the former, you grunted and shut the door, having felt your nerves on edge as soon as you got here. The home built out of wood stood tall, intimidating in its nature, being the lonesome home.

You wrapped the band of the camera around your neck, hooking on the gear and shoving the spare lens in your pocket, digging for spare handcuffs while the rest of the group approached you.

"Hold this. Can someone knock on the door? She said she would be here." You asked, putting a wad of paper towels and coins into Aether's hand.

"What are you- oh! okay!" Aether was met with anything he could have expected from you: a pair of handcuffs. "Where did you even get those?"

"Stole 'em."

Aether, looking extremely uncomfortable, gave a small cough. "Just a...heads up for next time would be good, okay?"

"Not kink stuff. This is for her." You motioned your head towards the girl who was coming out of the car, being stalked upon by Kuni, who didn't look too pleased either.

You quickly snapped the cuffs on each hand one at a time, to which Hu Tao's mouth dropped. "Handcuffs. Handcuffs? I think you're taking this way too far."

"Yeah? Should've thought about that when you lied to me."

"What, all because I can't tell you what I was doing?! I'm not trying to sabotage your investigation, I swear!" Hu Tao said in a slightly pleading tone.

"Pull your weight if you want out." You leaned closer to her with a hiss to your tone, causing her to draw back slowly. "You're going to wait until we're finished, and THEN I'll decide if I'm feeling generous enough to uncuff you."

You drew your finger back from her face, stepping back and heading towards the wooden door. Hu Tao was frozen in disbelief, along with Aether who slowly murmured towards her. "They didn't put me up to this, I swear."

Kuni, mildly proud of you as his eyebrows rose in delight, nudged Hu Tao and Aether towards the rest of the group. "Move it.”

prev | masterlist | next

NOTES || hey! if anybody saw the other one... no u didn't ! <3 PLEASE NO UYOU DIDN'T (but if you did then u know smth others dont oh well lol)

TAGLIST: @wisteriarain @akagism2 @murderisokayforme @aeongiies @d4y-dr3am3r @truck-kuns-gf @3lysiaa @ayoitsmarie33 @crucnhice @natsuscrustyscarf @dreamsofminnie @astreaa-express @goj0h @miraculin @xirthia @kylexzz @dollpoetwriting @dreamingkace @strawbxrrytiger @k1an4a @itzblazekun

[pixeljade]

I do keep seeing posts that say "whys Joe even funding Israel except that he loves Genocide" or "Why is there discussion of leaving NATO in the senate survey" and like. Here. Let me explain this to you. (DISCLAIMER: I hate Joe Biden I'm just doing this because understanding your opponents motivations makes it so you can more effectively fight them)

When you're President, issues are not just single simple issues. Theres a shitton of moving parts, and he cant be obvious about his awareness of all these parts for transparency's sake because that also gives his enemies (which would include those of us who want Both Parties Gone) an upper hand. Joe Biden views Israel as a necessary US base of operation in the middle east to defend the USA in case of an attack by China and (more pressing lately) Russia.

See, with Russia attacking Ukraine, Ukraine is thinking of joining NATO as a means of better defending itself. They've been talking about it for ages but really started getting the ball rolling when Putin attacked. NATO is a treaty organization which, if Ukraine does join, all the other members of NATO would be forced to come to its aid (i.e., literally all of them would be considered At War With Russia). On top of this, Russia has strong allies with a lot of anti-USA powers, including China. I wouldnt even be surprised if North Korea shows up. If this is starting to ring bells relating to the world wars in history class, good, because thats exactly what this scenario would entail. Another, open world war. Yes people scream 'world war 3' over the tiniest provocation but its just as foolish to claim its impossible. Add in that Putin has said he will gladly use nukes if he has to, and...well. you can put two and two together. It wont be a pretty picture.

Anyways, the middle east is, and has been, a central point in our proxy wars against Russia for ages. This is both because of the resources (oil) there, as well as its potential as a strong base of defense for the west against the east. Israel in particular is USA's biggest military defense resource, as they have a shit-ton of anti-ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) capabilities. Simply put, they serve as a bulwark against the forces of the east. They're also one of the biggest deterrants against all-out world war; because if anyone DOES try to send a nuke out west, we'll just blow it up before it hits us and then have Israel nuke them back, with far less time to defend.

So lets put ourselves in Joe's shoes knowing all of this. It starts to feel a bit like he HAS to keep giving Israel what they want in order to prevent world war 3 and/or nuclear holocaust, huh? This should also clarify why he said "If there were not an Israel in the middle east we would have to make one", and why he reportedly is very upset with all the Palestinean death yet still gives Israel weapons. Its a shitty appeasement tactic with an eye on global politics. (Side note: astute readers may also note that the actions regarding China are part of this, including the tik tok ban. They are correct.)

But does this make his actions correct? Fuck no. As many have noted Israel wouldnt even be able to continue existing without assistance from America, and Israel would likely be the first place to be destroyed by Russia if they seek to win, if it were weakened sufficiently. Meaning Joe could EASILY turn the tables on Israel and threaten to (or actually) cut them off and say "Fine, if you want to go that way then enjoy the hellfire that comes for us all, chuck." He could also decide to start rebuilding relations with China despite our differences, and therefore deprive Russia of allies in the world war 3 scenario. He could also build up these same defense systems in another middle eastern allied country (which I'd be against because colonialism is part of the problem). And that's simply taking it from the perspective of Joe, I, personally, do not think that America should remain in its current form. It has far more blood on its hands than just the Palestinean blood, and its destruction (preferably without nukes) could allow better things to take root.

Anyways, like I said, this is so that we might better defeat our enemies, so if you're wondering what the implications here are, I'd say start getting involved in politics at a local level. Not just protests, go to city council meetings! Its mostly boring stuff but once you get a hold on what it all means (and you will!) You'll start to see ways to shift the American culture away from this war-dependent fascistic society which has been surging so terrifyingly. You will start to see the glimmers of hope which shine through the sludge that it is American Politics.

Anyways if someone says this is a pro-Biden post im going to stab you with a million knives.

[thetruearchmagos]

Dunking On Some Fools

In Which I Whine About Star Wars, And Talk About Multi-Role Platforms (Mostly The Latter)

Yes, the none-awaited sequel to this post a few days ago has arrived! If no one reads this, I don't think I'd mind, but I am tagging @coffeexafterxmidnight since you asked and @theprissythumbelina because I vaguely recall you reacting positively to something star wars related a while ago.

Anyhow, more below the cut;

Now, the way I see it, a lot of the pro-LAAT arguments come from the perspective that using 'multi-role' vehicles, or 'platforms' to be technical, is inherently better than splitting those roles across multiple platforms in unison. These two comments, for example;

---

---

Now, I'm gonna start by saying that while I am a very big fan of most multi-role platforms (F-35 my beloved I never doubted you), I am of the opinion that the 'Low Altitude Assault Transport', or LAAT, is absolutely not a good example of one, and I'm here to explain why.

"Multi-Role' VS 'Multi-Form'

Basically, the way I see it is that it's a good idea to design one or a small number of platforms to be able to conduct a variety of missions as long as the ability to actually do that doesn't require making absolutely detrimental sacrifices in that platform's ability to fulfil its core functions.

Now, what does that look like?

This is a Nimitz-class nuclear powered aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, and in my opinion such platforms are an excellent example of what it means to be multi-mission right.

The base, structural form of aircraft carriers is basically a flat deck, a hangar beneath it, and all the engineering, navigational, and communications gear needed to make it go places and do things.

And what can an aircraft carrier do? Anything, depending on what you put on it.

Fight for and win air superiority? Launch fighters.

Bomb something? Send up some strike aircraft.

Hunt submarines? Sic anti-submarine helicopters on them.

And you don't even need to change the ship itself! There's not really a structural difference between a carrier that can 'do' air warfare VS one that can fight surface targets, and the same hold true in other domains. Modern missile cells on ships, or launch rails / bomb bays on aircraft, can store and fire many types of ordnance (if you've designed them to), allowing the platform with these systems to be easily re-tasked between various missions.

The exact opposite of this fortunate state of affairs can be seen when improving a platform's ability to do A actively weakens its ability to do B. This often happens when the structural components needed to carry out one task take up weight or volume while providing nothing to the platform's ability to do another.

Such as, say, having to have both a large transport compartment and all the lasers in the galaxy.

Where Does The LAAT Fit?

Now, to return to the vehicle that started all this.

I believe the LAAT is a flawed concept, and my proposition to replace it while retaining a similar level of 'orbit to surface assault' capability would be to divide the roles of 'fire support' and 'troop transport' between two separate platforms. Frankly, I'm more than a little sceptical of this whole doctrine to begin with, but I'm not gonna get into that.

The main problem here is weight. It shouldn't be controversial to say that in the air more than any other domain, weight is at an absolute premium, and speed is often your best protection. Just by stripping the basic hull of either the armament or the troop bay would give the resulting craft a good boost to speed or range, especially if you take the effort to make a more aerodynamic hull form. Alternatively, you could use the saved weight to cut back on thrusters / repulsors, or boost carrying capacity, armament (as if it isn't already armed enough), or shielding / armour.

A second point that I think is also relevant is that, by splitting these two conflicting missions and design requirements into different aircraft, you can now get away with adapting the new platforms into even more roles which their now non-contradictory frames might be better able to handle. The troop transport can also haul cargo or vehicles without wasting capacity on weapons, and on the flip side the gunship can carry out independent attack missions without subtracting from the transport fleet.

With these arguments made, though, I'd like to take some time to properly shoot the two YouTube commenters who started this right between the eyes. Their takes, I think, are dumb.

Take 1; 'Sequencing Bad, Actually'

Okay, well.

First of all, surely the idea of 'easily anticipated stages' applies equally to the approach best described as 'mass identical waves coming right at you'? Like, just using the LAAT is no less predictable the split idea? Military operations are always broken up into clearly defined stages for a reason, which brings me to my next point.

Let's say you send in the LAAT in your first, second, and third waves, as you'll need to because there's no way in hell you're getting a 'large' amount of troops down at once. The first wave will take the most fire since the defenders haven't been suppressed yet, and since the troop transports and gunships are the same, losing gunships while attempting to clear defences also condemns their passengers to dying with them.

Unless you mean to tell me you intend on dropping troops while the enemy's guns are pointing right at you. In which case, please watch Saving Private Ryan Opening Beach Scene on Holo-Tube.

On the other hand, breaking up the mission into discrete and sequential stages, and splitting attack and transport craft into separate roles, allows you to cut back on risk massively. Take the LAAT hull, leave the droops on ship, and replace all that weight with even more lasers (but preferably rockets or something), and now you have a craft for that 'first wave', which can hit defences with speed and firepower without risking a single ground trooper's life. Then, once and only once the Landing Zone is ready, you can send in the ground pounders to do their work.

Take 2; Muh Multi Role

Ah, screw me I guess.

Look, first of all, who the hell 'needs; to do so? Like, the video and commenter made a point of saying that there very much was no need to slap weapons on the blackhawk or Mi-8, so what exactly are you trying to say??

Also, the point about multi-role fighters is so stupid it spawned this whole post. In the modern day, where the divide between ground attack and air combat capabilities are summed up quite well by 'stick the bloody weapon on a launch rail and chuck it from beyond the horizon', the structural concessions you need to support both roles are much lower than having to accomodate, I don't know, a vacuum pressurised passenger compartment, and a absolute crap ton of lasers. So, yeah! You can't compare the two!

And with that... I don't feel like trawling through the video for more dumb takes. So, Arch out.

[skekilla]

i havent been posting stuff for my original stories lately but i think its about time i show off my girls! these two are Ange and Ella and they exist in post-nuclear breakdown America. this world is one where the Cuban Missile Crisis went horribly wrong, causing six major cities to become decimated nuclear wastes---now called RadCons and encased in big walls by the remaining fragments of the USA. these RadCons are isolated and extremely rough to be in, but the outside is only a little better. still, the hope of freedom and safety out there is enough to drive these twins out of the wreckage of New York City. theyre on a trip across the continent to Seattle to see the '62 world fair's space needle that they've seen ads about and dreamed of since they were born conjoined, sharing a six-chamber heart! and the trip is unpleasant :D

i do adore my girls very much, they have been through a lot!!! an essential fun fact about them is that when they grew up in RadCon-3 (New York) they were raised by this really nasty and gruesome gang that used to all just be a bunch of medical professionals in a women's hospital but overtime evolved into this crazed group. and Ange and Ella were kinda the group's prized possession, especially the leader! shes the one who kept the twins alive and made their heart work (as pictured below) but she also sucks :)

personality-wise, Ange is very firey but also empathetic, while Ella is more clever, quiet, and calculating. theyre 15---born just six months after the nuclear disaster, and mutated within their mother's womb because of the radiation around her

ive got so much more info about them and their story but thatll be for later if i decide to do more work on this story!