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maxismatchccworld · 4 years

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Patch Notes

PC:1.69.54.1020 / Mac: 1.69.54.1220 Console: Version 1.35 Happy Holidays Simmers! It’s time to go back in to Create a Sim! Where in this update you will find 100+ new skin tones, customization sliders for skin tones and makeup, and three improved base game hairstyles! Every skin tone now has a value slider that allows you to change the light to dark value of that skin tone, unlocking a much wider variety of skin tone options for you to play with! You will also find that our skin tones are now filterable to warm, cool, and neutral tones (as well as miscellaneous that covers our occult skin tones).

The new makeup sliders add more choices and opportunities for you to customize your Sims, and express your Sim’s style! Hue, saturation, value or brightness, and opacity are now available to modify on the makeup. We have locked some of the sliders where it did not provide an optimal experience or make sense for the makeup. Expect us to continue our work on these issues into the future to provide you with more. In addition to the customization opportunities provided, you can also save custom swatches as you tweak your sliders to get the perfect look. When you click on the swatch (for skin tones and makeup) as you modify the sliders, you will have an opportunity to save your custom settings, so you can re-use it later without having to remember your perfect looks! Did we mention that we made some hair updates? We did - we updated a base game child hair (cfHair_BraidedPonyTail), and we added a second version of that hair that removes the baby hairs (cfHair_BraidedPonyTailPlain). And we updated a base game male hair that you may find difficult to recognize from the original hair (ymHair_flatTopTextured)!

We have updated the Main Menu!... Again! The idea behind this change is to create a more cohesive experience and give Packs a more proper space as we continue to grow our content lineup. As a nice bonus, we highlighted the Gallery in a more meaningful way to inspire you.

-SimGuruGnome & SimGuruRusskii

Now onto the fixes:

Sims 4

Sketching so much that the Digital Sketch Pad just quit on you? Never fear! Freelancer Sims that use the Digital Sketchpad will now be able to complete designs without being reset abruptly.

Happy Birthday to all! Sims will now properly Age Up. Adulting is hard but they will make it, don’t worry.

Fixed an issue in which Doors, Windows, and Arches had cutouts when being reflected in Mirrors. Rorrim Rorrim no eht llaw, ohw si eht tseriaf erutaef fo meht lla?

Sims that do not have the Fishing Skill, or have not been Fishing at all, will not get notifications about identifying Fish. THEY WERE FISHING WITH THEIR MINDS.

The following careers have added the “Take Vacation Day” option, yay!Editor Russkii note: I didn’t want to add each line in each pack for this fix, it would have looked weird and robotic so that is why I chose to do one bullet point for all in this section.

Child Sims will no longer forget they are in their Sleepwear when they go to school. Though in these times of Work and School from Home, I don’t blame them one bit.

The Sweet Escapes Country Toilet will no longer be Comfortable AND Uncomfortable at the same time… There can only be one!

Sims with the Best Selling Author Aspiration can now complete their task of writing 3 Best Sellers.

Fixed an issue in which resized objects would disappear when they were part of downloaded Gallery items.

We revised our Careers (Pack specific and not) and we made sure there were no Chance Cards that were repeated constantly.

We noticed we had added the option to Clean Up Toddler on kitchen and bathroom sinks for both Toddlers and Children by mistake, so we removed it for both age groups from the sink… but how would have they fit? Like… how? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Build Snowpal interaction is no longer available on non-natural ground (For Simmers that own Seasons and/or Snowy Escape). That's why it's called a Snowpal, not a Floorpal!

Gardener (Seasons)

Military (Strangerville)

Lifeguard for Teens and Conservationist (Island Living)

Law, Education, and Engineer (Discover University)

Civil Designer (Eco Lifestyle).

Get to Work

We made a clarification on the Xenophilia moodlet when interacting with Alien Sims. It should no longer say “From Discovering Aliens” but now it correctly reads “From Interacting with Aliens.”

Fixed an issue in which childbirth was not possible if Simmers changed the color swatches of the Surgery Tables. Now listen, I have heard about renting whole hospital wings for a birth in real life and other eccentricities, but this… was really something.

Get Together

Male Sims will no longer get Pregnant after receiving calls from NPC Sims.

City Living

NPC Sims will now text and call with invitations to Festivals. I personally welcomed the calm and quiet of my phone not beeping about constantly. But I can’t miss a Festival!

Sims rejoice! Yard sale customers will no longer invade their Home Lots and use Household objects. It is a Yard Sale… OUT in the yard, not an Open House.

Did you ever regret trusting some Sims enough to give them your apartment keys to constantly get visits from them for Milk and Juice? You can rest assured that they will no longer visit you for this purpose. I think some neighborly love is appreciated, but this went beyond the proverbial “May I have a cup of sugar?” type of situation.

Fixed an issue in which interactions to participate on GeekCon contests would not appear when interacting with objects.

We decided to give a bit more clarity when displaying the location of Festivals, so now it will display as “Near <insert location>” and not a distinct location that is not entirely correct. This is true for Festivals in Snowy Escape as well.

Cats and Dogs

Pets will no longer sleep in random places when told to sleep on their Pet beds. In my world they can sleep where they are most comfortable, my conspiracy… allegedly.

Seasons

Sims can now Shower in the Rain… Jury is still out on Singing and Dancing.

Sims will no longer “lose” their shovels when performing other autonomous activities while performing the interaction “Shovel Snow.”

Our friendly neighborhood Snowpal has been properly renamed to Chill from Chil. Everything I knew before was a lie… a LIE!

Ever felt like the Holiday spirit has just been too much to handle, and Father Winter starting to show up everywhere and not letting you do much of anything getting a bit… out of hand? Fear not! Father Winter will stop replicating himself* to spread holiday cheer. *Note this fix is not entirely retroactive, new saves should see this without issue. Existing saves will correct themselves over time.

Get Famous

Duck Security SCROO9E Super XL Smart Vault will no longer disappear after Sims Woohoo in it… you can say Woohoo can be romantic and magical, but maybe not to this extent?

NPCs from the Actor Career sometimes would never show on Set, making gigs impossible to complete. We've spoken with their union reps and everyone has agreed to stop this ridiculous strike. What were they striking about? Was there even a Strike? We may never know.

Island Living

Mermaids and other Occults should no longer be able to make hybrid occults. How were they making them? Oh boy, I'm not sure if it's appropriate for me to give you the mermaid-birds and spellcaster-bees talk.

Randomly generated Mermaid Sims will no longer be seen without some features in affected Simmer Saves. However this fix is not retroactive, so it should be seen fixed in new saves.

Pizza delivery to Lagoon Look Lot has been fixed to arrive promptly. This is Sulani Deep Lagoon Pizza, home of the 2x1 Mermadic Kelp Pizza and the Salty Llama Combo, may I take your order? <Descriptive Simlish on the line> Uh huh… uh huh… <Indescribable Simlish on the line> Yes, we now can ACTUALLY deliver to Lagoon Look… <Interrogative Simlish on the line> Yes, we told our delivery Sims that they need to deliver it there and not keep the pizza for themselves… like give it to the actual client. <Surprised Simlish on the line>

Discover University

Has this ever happened to you? Your Sim is ready to make an offering to the Sprites only to find a crystal stuck without being able to move it? No longer a problem, Sims now can remove offerings so all their rituals can resume. Sprites rejoice.

We fixed an issue for our Console Simmers that wouldn’t allow them to close the Humanoid Robot’s Behavior Module Menus correctly.

Fixed an issue that would cause items to be repossessed when loans were fully paid. That is NOT how it worked Repo Person… NOT how it worked.

Sims with Research & Debate Skill 3 or higher will no longer be able to “Convince to” with Toddler Sims.

Masquerade Secret Society Masks are now properly unlocked in Create a Sim when joining the Secret Society.

Fixed an issue in which Heckle animation was sometimes not being performed autonomously by Sims while playing Ping Pong.

Eco Lifestyle

Fixed an issue that triggered the Off-the-Grid notifications after traveling to different Lots in Evergreen Harbor, even when they are not labeled as Off-the-Grid.

We spoke to all Eco Inspectors, and they have agreed that they should NOT be charging the Energy efficient appliances fine if your appliances are fully upgraded to be super efficient and amazing. I mean all that work and still get fined? Not in this house!

Fixed an issue in which some placeholder text was showing in notifications after Dumpster Diving.

The Americana Station Speakers will now play Music… as the prophecy foretold.

When the We Wear Bags N.A.P is active, Grim Reaper will not be partially invisible when appearing on a Lot. Grim Reaper contributes!

Living the No Appliance lifestyle? We’ve got news for you! Sims will no longer be penalized for not having “Eco-Friendly Appliances.” No appliances, no fines!

Snowy Escape

Vending Machine Canned Soups and Drinks won’t spoil anymore. Time to stock up!

Sims can no longer go on Hikes while holding their Toddlers.

Space Heaters will now be able to be placed on Lots from Inventory. Sharing the warmth everywhere!

Fixed an issue in which the Shoe Removal Sign in 5-1-2 Kiyomatsu was not working properly. We also added Shoe Removal Signs in 5-1-1 Kiyomatsu and 2-4-2 Wakabamori.

Sims will now be more visibly furious when having the appropriate furious sentiment toward other Sims. “Yes, I’m mad!... No! This IS my furious face!”

Fixed an issue with some animations that would stutter while Snowboarding or Skiing. We also made sure that Sims with a high level of those skills would not always choose the Bunny Slopes.

Izzy Fabulous’ Star Simmi Rank was just too fabulous so we had to correct it to be one star less than displayed. Don’t worry Izzy, you are a full 4 stars in my book, you are that fabulous to me.

After much debate of whether it is the Cave Shrine or the Mountain Shrine for Hiking destinations we finally decided to just call it Mountain Shrine.

We revised the Snoop-Proof Bamboo Blinds and it is now possible to drop’em like they’re hot with the Thousand Words Window.

NPC Sims will no longer “take over” the Slopes for themselves for an indefinite period of time, now they will be sharing with all Sims the joys of the Slopes.

Fixed an issue in which Sims would get highlighted in the Sentiment Panel as if receiving new Sentiments every time traveling is involved.

Sims with Rock Climbing Skill 7, or higher, are able to autonomously climb the Tall Wall (Such tall! So much wall!). There is no need to not face what makes you uncomfortable… autonomously.

Had a chat with Yamachan and asked if he was ok, he seemed to start random conversations and then randomly say goodbye without reason. We are happy to report that he is OK now and will try not to do that. Give us a hug Yamachan.

Food Stalls at Mt. Komorebi Festivals won’t be closing shop randomly during Festival hours anymore. <guitar and piano intro> Closing time, open all the Stalls and eat all the food in the world...Closing time, turn all the lights on and let Yamachan greet you heeeere…

Create a Sim asset ymHat_EP10HelmetGoggles has been fixed to no longer display clipping around the neck area as well as we made sure no facial hair is removed when wearing this asset.

Dine Out

Experimenting with photo frames will no longer use the same picture of an Experimental Meal when displayed.

Hot Pot meals are now part of Restaurant Menus! I miss the times I would go to eat Hot Pot at a restaurant. One of my favorites has a conveyor belt that carries your fixings never leaving your table for a thing. *happy sigh*

Vampires

Vampire Sims will no longer be affected by temperature, so they won't be constantly obsessed with lighting fireplaces trying to get warm.

Post edited by EA_Leeloo at 6:30PM

Source: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/984647/december-7th-2020-patch-notes

#s4 patch notes

182 notes · View notes

thesims4blogger · 4 years

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The Sims 4: New Game Patch (December 7th, 2020)

There’s a new Sims 4 update available for PC/Mac and Consoles. IPC:1.69.54.1020 / Mac: 1.69.54.1220 / Console: Version: Console: Version 1.35

Happy Holidays Simmers!

It’s time to go back in to Create a Sim! Where in this update you will find 100+ new skin tones, customization sliders for skin tones and makeup, and three improved base game hairstyles! Every skin tone now has a value slider that allows you to change the light to dark value of that skin tone, unlocking a much wider variety of skin tone options for you to play with! You will also find that our skin tones are now filterable to warm, cool, and neutral tones (as well as miscellaneous that covers our occult skin tones).

The new makeup sliders add more choices and opportunities for you to customize your Sims, and express your Sim’s style! Hue, saturation, value or brightness, and opacity are now available to modify on the makeup. We have locked some of the sliders where it did not provide an optimal experience or make sense for the makeup. Expect us to continue our work on these issues into the future to provide you with more. In addition to the customization opportunities provided, you can also save custom swatches as you tweak your sliders to get the perfect look. When you click on the swatch (for skin tones and makeup) as you modify the sliders, you will have an opportunity to save your custom settings, so you can re-use it later without having to remember your perfect looks! Did we mention that we made some hair updates? We did – we updated a base game child hair (cfHair_BraidedPonyTail), and we added a second version of that hair that removes the baby hairs (cfHair_BraidedPonyTailPlain). And we updated a base game male hair that you may find difficult to recognize from the original hair (ymHair_flatTopTextured)!

We have updated the Main Menu!… Again! The idea behind this change is to create a more cohesive experience and give Packs a more proper space as we continue to grow our content lineup. As a nice bonus, we highlighted the Gallery in a more meaningful way to inspire you.

-SimGuruGnome & SimGuruRusskii

Now onto the fixes:

Sims 4

Sketching so much that the Digital Sketch Pad just quit on you? Never fear! Freelancer Sims that use the Digital Sketchpad will now be able to complete designs without being reset abruptly.

Happy Birthday to all! Sims will now properly Age Up. Adulting is hard but they will make it, don’t worry.

Fixed an issue in which Doors, Windows, and Arches had cutouts when being reflected in Mirrors. Rorrim Rorrim no eht llaw, ohw si eht tseriaf erutaef fo meht lla?

Sims that do not have the Fishing Skill, or have not been Fishing at all, will not get notifications about identifying Fish. THEY WERE FISHING WITH THEIR MINDS.

The following careers have added the “Take Vacation Day” option, yay!

Child Sims will no longer forget they are in their Sleepwear when they go to school. Though in these times of Work and School from Home, I don’t blame them one bit.

The Sweet Escapes Country Toilet will no longer be Comfortable AND Uncomfortable at the same time… There can only be one!

Sims with the Best Selling Author Aspiration can now complete their task of writing 3 Best Sellers.

Fixed an issue in which resized objects would disappear when they were part of downloaded Gallery items.

We revised our Careers (Pack specific and not) and we made sure there were no Chance Cards that were repeated constantly.

Build Snowpal interaction is no longer available on non-natural ground (For Simmers that own Seasons and/or Snowy Escape). That’s why it’s called a Snowpal, not a Floorpal!

Gardener (Seasons)

Military (Strangerville)

Lifeguard for Teens and Conservationist (Island Living)

Law, Education, and Engineer (Discover University)

Civil Designer (Eco Lifestyle).

Editor Russkii note: I didn’t want to add each line in each pack for this fix, it would have looked weird and robotic so that is why I chose to do one bullet point for all in this section.

Get to Work

Get Together

Male Sims will no longer get Pregnant after receiving calls from NPC Sims.

City Living

NPC Sims will now text and call with invitations to Festivals. I personally welcomed the calm and quiet of my phone not beeping about constantly. But I can’t miss a Festival!

Sims rejoice! Yard sale customers will no longer invade their Home Lots and use Household objects. It is a Yard Sale… OUT in the yard, not an Open House.

Fixed an issue in which interactions to participate on GeekCon contests would not appear when interacting with objects.

Cats and Dogs

Pets will no longer sleep in random places when told to sleep on their Pet beds. In my world they can sleep where they are most comfortable, my conspiracy… allegedly.

Seasons

Sims can now Shower in the Rain… Jury is still out on Singing and Dancing.

Sims will no longer “lose” their shovels when performing other autonomous activities while performing the interaction “Shovel Snow.”

Our friendly neighborhood Snowpal has been properly renamed to Chill from Chil. Everything I knew before was a lie… a LIE!

Get Famous

Duck Security SCROO9E Super XL Smart Vault will no longer disappear after Sims Woohoo in it… you can say Woohoo can be romantic and magical, but maybe not to this extent?

NPCs from the Actor Career sometimes would never show on Set, making gigs impossible to complete. We’ve spoken with their union reps and everyone has agreed to stop this ridiculous strike. What were they striking about? Was there even a Strike? We may never know.

Island Living

Mermaids and other Occults should no longer be able to make hybrid occults. How were they making them? Oh boy, I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for me to give you the mermaid-birds and spellcaster-bees talk.

Randomly generated Mermaid Sims will no longer be seen without some features in affected Simmer Saves. However this fix is not retroactive, so it should be seen fixed in new saves.

Pizza delivery to Lagoon Look Lot has been fixed to arrive promptly.

This is Sulani Deep Lagoon Pizza, home of the 2×1 Mermadic Kelp Pizza and the Salty Llama Combo, may I take your order?

Uh huh… uh huh…

Yes, we now can ACTUALLY deliver to Lagoon Look…

Yes, we told our delivery Sims that they need to deliver it there and not keep the pizza for themselves… like give it to the actual client.

Discover University

We fixed an issue for our Console Simmers that wouldn’t allow them to close the Humanoid Robot’s Behavior Module Menus correctly.

Fixed an issue that would cause items to be repossessed when loans were fully paid. That is NOT how it worked Repo Person… NOT how it worked.

Sims with Research & Debate Skill 3 or higher will no longer be able to “Convince to” with Toddler Sims.

Masquerade Secret Society Masks are now properly unlocked in Create a Sim when joining the Secret Society.

Fixed an issue in which Heckle animation was sometimes not being performed autonomously by Sims while playing Ping Pong.

Eco Lifestyle

Fixed an issue that triggered the Off-the-Grid notifications after traveling to different Lots in Evergreen Harbor, even when they are not labeled as Off-the-Grid.

Fixed an issue in which some placeholder text was showing in notifications after Dumpster Diving.

The Americana Station Speakers will now play Music… as the prophecy foretold.

When the We Wear Bags N.A.P is active, Grim Reaper will not be partially invisible when appearing on a Lot. Grim Reaper contributes!

Living the No Appliance lifestyle? We’ve got news for you! Sims will no longer be penalized for not having “Eco-Friendly Appliances.” No appliances, no fines!

Snowy Escape

Vending Machine Canned Soups and Drinks won’t spoil anymore. Time to stock up!

Sims can no longer go on Hikes while holding their Toddlers.

Space Heaters will now be able to be placed on Lots from Inventory. Sharing the warmth everywhere!

Fixed an issue in which the Shoe Removal Sign in 5-1-2 Kiyomatsu was not working properly. We also added Shoe Removal Signs in 5-1-1 Kiyomatsu and 2-4-2 Wakabamori.

Sims will now be more visibly furious when having the appropriate furious sentiment toward other Sims. “Yes, I’m mad!… No! This IS my furious face!”

Fixed an issue with some animations that would stutter while Snowboarding or Skiing. We also made sure that Sims with a high level of those skills would not always choose the Bunny Slopes.

Izzy Fabulous’ Star Simmi Rank was just too fabulous so we had to correct it to be one star less than displayed. Don’t worry Izzy, you are a full 4 stars in my book, you are that fabulous to me.

After much debate of whether it is the Cave Shrine or the Mountain Shrine for Hiking destinations we finally decided to just call it Mountain Shrine.

We revised the Snoop-Proof Bamboo Blinds and it is now possible to drop’em like they’re hot with the Thousand Words Window.

NPC Sims will no longer “take over” the Slopes for themselves for an indefinite period of time, now they will be sharing with all Sims the joys of the Slopes.

Fixed an issue in which Sims would get highlighted in the Sentiment Panel as if receiving new Sentiments every time traveling is involved.

Sims with Rock Climbing Skill 7, or higher, are able to autonomously climb the Tall Wall (Such tall! So much wall!). There is no need to not face what makes you uncomfortable… autonomously.

Food Stalls at Mt. Komorebi Festivals won’t be closing shop randomly during Festival hours anymore. <guitar and piano intro> Closing time, open all the Stalls and eat all the food in the world…Closing time, turn all the lights on and let Yamachan greet you heeeere…

Create a Sim asset ymHat_EP10HelmetGoggles has been fixed to no longer display clipping around the neck area as well as we made sure no facial hair is removed when wearing this asset.

Dine Out

Experimenting with photo frames will no longer use the same picture of an Experimental Meal when displayed.

Vampires

Vampire Sims will no longer be affected by temperature, so they won’t be constantly obsessed with lighting fireplaces trying to get warm.

It's here – and a day early! Today, a free game update brings you 100+ skin tones, customization tools for skin tones and makeup, three improved base game hairstyles, and a main menu makeover. Available now to all The Sims 4 players! pic.twitter.com/p7QIIkI74d

— The Sims (@TheSims) December 7, 2020

A huge thanks to @Xmiramira @EbonixSims @MiaZaff1 @RaonyPhillips & @catherinegYT for the candid conversations & constructive feedback! Their input, representing their viewpoints alongside their player communities, was instrumental to current & future improvements. #GameChangers !

— The Sims (@TheSims) December 7, 2020

Every skin tone now has a value slider, unlocking thousands of customizable options. In addition, we made improvements to both new and existing skin tones, including strengthening the quality of suntans and sunburns.

— The Sims (@TheSims) December 7, 2020

#news #the sims 4 #ts4 #sims 4 #game patch

44 notes · View notes

charlettebffxiv · 3 years

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Prompt #17 Destruct

“So, what happens when you can’t keep one?” Maxim stood with his hands on the handle of his rake, the pile of leaves they had been collecting having grown almost as tall as him. Autumn was arriving, and with it the leaves had started to tumble. Willow’s Heart, like most Gridanian-esque villages, was lined with trees all throughout the winding roads and flanking forest. Which meant, plenty of mulch to be found for the Greenhouse, and other projects, and lots and lots of leaves, seeds and nuts to trip, slip and fall into. Charlette had just finished raking a fine mess of them up to the second mountain they had built so far, looking up at Maxim as she wrestled it along. “What? You mean an aberration? Depends on what kind, really. They come in different forms. Enchanted items, crystals, magitek devices, aberrant creatures, ‘afflicted’ or ‘affected’ people.” One of Maxim’s white-blond eyebrows lifted, you could barely see it was there against his pale skin. “What’s the difference between ‘afflicted’ and ‘affected?” turning her rake over, and using it to scoop up the leaves, Charlette dumped them atop the pile, watching plenty scatter back down anyway. “It is simple, really. One is always a victim, the other’s condition was intentional.” Maxim walked around their autumn monument, cleaning up the edges, every leaf swept into it. Neat, orderly, Charlette approved of his technique. “So, like, if someone experimented on me and gave me, say, webbed feet and fingers against my will? That’s afflicted?” Charlette nodded “And if you intentionally experimented with forbidden magics to give yourself webbed fingers and toes, you would be affected. Not the words I would have chosen, but I didn’t write the manuals.”

“Alright, well then, what happens with all of those, if you can’t keep it? Say it’s just too dangerous, like it explodes if you sneeze too close to it.” Bobocufu’s Apprentice Botanist Dylan had pulled his chocobo cart round to their side, and the both of them were hauling their collection into the back of it as they spoke. Pitch forks swung back and forth, their rhythm quite in-sync. Their words were a little wheezy from the effort. “Well, enhanced items can sometimes be destroyed on sight. That is a common one when the item is too big, or too dangerous to transport. They teach a few useful techniques for it, depending on your team composition and specialty. Guardians, like me, learn how to neutralize aether in small areas, but with time and chance, we can completely neutralize an object. Revert it back to being just a bowl or knife or whatever it is. Same with crystals.'' Their work was finished quickly, Charlette and Maxim waving to Dylan as he nudged the chocobo into action and took away a twelvemoon’s supply of mulch. “And if you don’t have a Guardian? What then?” Charlette was not sure if she should be telling Maxim this, then again he is a Willow’s Heart native. Born and bred here. His family must know nearly everything by now, might as well help him along. “If you are an Arcanist of the Order, you may know a similar technique as Guardians, but more concentrated. Usually disposal falls to the Arcanists, so they are the most prepared for it. If this fails though, there is always option number two: destroy it.” Now Maxim was focused, the man having a somewhat worrying delight towards explosives and anything else capable of creating fire. “Arcanists can manage magic strong enough to melt metal, turn entire houses into ashes, burn trees to the ground, freeze constructs and shatter them to pieces. There is a wealth of options for them. If you are a trained Agent of the Order, you generally will know how to make some explosives. A large bomb is an effective ‘neutralizing’ method as well.” Maxim nodded, like he was agreeing with Charlette. She supposed this was a subject that at least he could be about as correct as she would. “What about creatures and people?” It was here that Charlette went quiet, just packing away their tools into their own cart. Hauling herself up into the driver’s seat, Maxim sitting next to her and taking the reins and getting the bo moving. Seems he was patient this sun. The cart trundled down the road, leaves shivering about in the back. Maxim finally turned to Charlette, nudging her with his elbow “Well? That’s long enough. Give up the gory details, do you have giant mouse traps for oversized, aberrant rodents?” That thought was a little horrifying “No, though that would be funny, and horrible. Can you imagine the clean-up for such a thing? Ugh.” She gave a short shiver. Maxim having evoked some all too similar memories of missions passed “With creatures it can sometimes be much the same, though if you use any kind of neutralizing techniques that involve stopping or removing their aether, they generally die. And it is not a pleasant thing to witness or inflict on anything living. It is slow, and they panic, slowly get more and more tired and weaker, they stop trying to run after a little while. Then they just lay down, and die.” Maxim’s brows had furrowed, and his mouth was in a comically deep frown, creasing his cheeks and chin. “That’s grim Charlette, you’ve ruined my good mood.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, then you should not have asked. I find I prefer a bomb, or pyrotechnics that do not waste time and get it over with immediately, but it is not always an option. Aberrations can be incredibly resistant, by design or by adaptation. Sometimes taking the aether is the only way you can harm them. The hardest part is simply that it is not their fault. Never, not when it is a beastkin, or vilekin, or any kin that is not, well us.” Her driving companion needed a little moment to think that through. The differences between their experiences showing a little in his moment of thought. His life in the village and surrounding forest was not devoid of violence, but certainly lacked in the kind Charlette had seen, and had to be a part of. Cruel pragmatism in the face of Conservationist Optimism. It was a strange pairing. “I suppose I can get it. Nature is cruel like that too, sometimes. There’s usually a sense to it though, a reason but without a selfish designer, you know? No insane Arcanist, or deranged Thaumaturge behind it all. No corrupt Conjurer or tempered Mage. Just The Shroud, the forest, keeping itself as it is.” Charlette’s shoulder bumped into his, but not from the sway of the cart. “You sound morose Maxim. Let’s talk about something else.” He looked at her and shook his head “Nah, I’m fine. Just one more thing to go anyway, what happens with the people?” She was hoping to avoid this one. Their arrival at the Greenhouse gave her a precious moment of distraction as they prepared to unload. Leaves hauled into the compost, Chocobo released from the cart and walked back to the stables and their tools set in the shed. Both of them pulled off their overalls and scrubbed the dirt from their arms and faces at the water trough. “People are the hardest part.” Maxim was tying back his long, now slightly damp hair into the tail he usually wore it in, Charlette’s words catching him with a little surprise “What? Oh, yeah. I mean, I thought they would be. Stuff is just stuff, and I guess we’ve all seen animals getting the short end of the stick at some point. What makes it so hard?” Charlette knelt over the trough, running her arm under the tap as water poured out, scrubbing from wrist to shoulder. “That it is never obvious what you need to do. If they are too dangerous to allow to be free, but can be contained, they are. Usually by local authorities if they are capable of doing so, or by us if it is an extreme case. No, I’m not telling you where or how.” That was an actual secret, and she also didn’t think he was ready to know about the stasis process. Few people are, she wasn't when she learned how to do it. “But if they are too dangerous to be contained, or allowed free again, and if they do not self-destruct in the encounter. Well, we kill them. In much the same way as the creatures.” Maxim was moving a little slower now, his thoughts taking precedence on his focus “That’s rather harsh, don’t you think? Afflicted and affected alike?” Charlette nodded, finally more or less clean, and pulled her shirt over her head. “There’s generally no choice when it comes down to that, they often force our hand, whether they meant to or not. It just needs to be done, despite it being a desperately unfortunate situation, it needs to happen. So we do it.” She turned around, her top needing a few laces tied at the back, which Maxim attends to easily. He’s quite nimble with his long fingers. “I’m sorry you have to.” “I am not. It’s a good purpose to have.” “So is Botany, you know. Making life, and you still get to end some if that’s all you’re after.” Once finished he pats her on the shoulder, both of them looking a sight better than before. She does need to wipe a soil stain from Maxim’s nose though, which she does so with spit and a hard rub of her thumb, to his annoyance. “I know. It is partly why I am not rushing them about the hearing. I have… rather enjoyed helping things live, instead of destroying them, for a change.” He was still wiping at his nose with a sleeve, making it look extra red against his pallor. “Yeah, well, you’re welcome to hang around as long as you want. I’m gonna miss you when you’re back to murdering for the good of us all.” “Please don’t call it that.” “Sorry. Fixing things? Sounds a bit better. Like you’re an engineer.” he winked, Charlette gave him what he wanted and rolled her eyes again, with a big sigh, then started walking back home. Maxim ran to catch-up with her. She liked that though, being a ‘fixer’. She had never thought of it that way, and you know what? It helped, with that sadness that hangs around it all.

#ffxivwrite2021 #ffxiv roleplay #ffxiv rp #ffxiv writing #elezen #duskwight

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kriscme · 3 years

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One Life to Live

Hi, so now we come to the end. The final two chapters. Thanks to everyone who’s been following this story. It can be read on AO3 too. My name is Kris22 there. As always, thanks to Ronja for allowing me to write fanfic of her Hunger Games fanfic “The Chance You Didn’t Take” available on AO3 and Fanfiction. And thanks to Loueze for her encouragement and support. Chapter 37 By the time the television crew was due to arrive, Peeta and I were as convincingly in love as two people could possibly be. Of course, it was helped a great deal by the fact that we actually were. Even so, we were hardly looking forward to our private lives becoming public again and cameras following us around as we went about our daily routine. We worried about how intrusive it might be. Cressida had promised it would be tasteful, but the Capitol idea of tasteful can be very different from the districts. I was afraid that it might be like that show I once saw on television about a houseful of people under constant surveillance. They couldn’t even shower in privacy. Would it be like that for Peeta and me? Would they follow us into the bedroom? Expect us to perform? Our one consolation was that we’d be left alone once filming had ended and we vowed to ourselves that we’d do nothing newsworthy for the rest of our lives. The day came. The house had been cleaned and tidied. Everything was where it was supposed to be to reflect a couple who lived together as romantic partners. Buttercup was bathed and freshly groomed. I had the scratches to prove it. Peeta, always considerate, had baked an assortment of breads for the crew, although I told him he shouldn’t bother. At 7 am everything was in readiness. 10 am came and went. And then 11 am. At 2 pm we were still waiting. At 4 pm we wondered if we’d got our dates wrong. It was 6 pm when Haymitch finally got around to telling us. They weren’t coming. At all. The video Remus took had violated victor media protection. I had been filmed without my consent, wasn’t engaged in illegal activity and hadn’t voided my own protection by taking on a public role or seeking publicity. Plutarch knew this but gambled that in our ignorance, we could be coerced into co-operating. And once filming had started, our media protection was automatically revoked, since we had clearly consented to it. It took only one phone call from Haymitch to President Paylor to have it sorted. I suppose it’s of some consolation that Plutarch was severely reprimanded and threatened with dismissal. And that he was also out of pocket for the purchase of the video and pre-production costs. As for Haymitch, I couldn’t decide whether to thank him or kill him. He had certainly saved us from our lives being turned into a media circus for a second time but he’d let us have the worry of it for a whole week. Peeta calmed me down and reminded me that it had brought us together. Haymitch’s defense was that he was sick to death of our crap and wanted an end to it. He thought that a week of living together would get us sort out our differences and he was proven right. I argued that it would have happened anyway, although I had to concede probably not as quickly. With that in mind, I decided to let him live. The year rolls around. Peeta doesn’t move back into his house. It was never discussed; it was simply taken for granted. We keep busy. Peeta still works at the bakery as a specialist cake decorator. He’s a partner now. The sign above the new premises reads “Carter and Mellark Bakery and Patisserie.” I teach at the school and on weekends I hunt. Marcus wrote to ask if I was interested in culling pest species such as wild dog and feral pig. I jumped at it. It seems you can be a hunter and a conservationist. Haymitch works at the council and raises geese, which he does a pretty good job of considering he’s inebriated most of the time. We attend two weddings and one toasting. Arthur and Lace don’t wait long before they tie the knot, or to be more accurate, thread the needle. Predictably, it was the source of much hilarity for Max, who was also invited. At least he refrained from making jokes until after the ceremony. I enjoyed catching up with Sateen and her husband Roy. They have a little boy. They called him Felt. Poor kid. The second wedding was Octavia and Thom’s. Octavia made a beautiful bride with her rich auburn hair and fresh complexion. Venia’s fear that their past as prep team to the Games would jeopardize their position in 12 proved needless. Everyone knew who they were. They’d seen them on television. Flavius’s bright orange hair and Venia’s facial tattoos made them easily recognizable. But people had moved on. They were tired of holding onto resentments – especially for three harmless beauty therapists whose former “victim” still willingly availed herself of their services. The toasting was ours. One day, we just did it. There was no planning, no prior understanding that we’d have one. It was the middle of winter. We were snowed in and confined to the house. Peeta got a roaring fire going and we picnicked in front of it using odds and ends from the pantry. We had some stale bread to use up and toasted it by the fire. He’d hold the toasting fork with a piece of bread to the flames and offer it to me when it was done. The significance of it entered our heads at the very same moment. It was just a look followed by a kiss. Nothing needed to be said. One day we might make it official, but for us we’re more married than any piece of paper or big party could make us. Johanna won the election for District 7 mayor. She’s kept very busy but we talk on the telephone regularly. She’s coming to visit 12 for a few days next month. Doubtless she’ll be as disruptive as ever. But sometimes we can use a little stirring up. That’s what Johanna says anyway. She takes full credit for getting Peeta and me back together and I can’t say she’s entirely wrong. And we had a visit from my mother! I had her possessions shipped to her home in District 4 and it seemed to have jolted something inside her, because soon after she was making plans to travel here. It was a short visit. She was nervous about coming here, of the memories it could evoke. But aside from the Village, there’s nothing left of the old Twelve. The debris from the bombs has long since been cleared away, new buildings have replaced the old, and the grass grows long and thick over the meadow. We had a long talk about her reasons for not joining me in Twelve after I’d been released from the Capitol. She feared being pulled down into a depression along with me. I understood. When you’re in the grip of it, you can see no way out. My mother, having recovered once, was deathly afraid that she wouldn’t recover a second time. And since misery feeds on misery, she would likely have only made mine worse. Peeta is somewhere in the house repairing the painting of the primrose he did for me. I don’t visit Prim in her room anymore except for that one time I when I wanted to tell her about my toasting with Peeta. She wasn’t there. She hasn’t been for a long time. It was then I realized that Prim doesn’t reside in any particular place. She’s with me every time I think of her. I took down the primrose painting from the top of the dresser. It belongs somewhere where I will see it every day. I had an idea for a book, similar to my family’s plant book. It’s to preserve the happy memories of the people we’ve lost. Lady licking Prim’s cheek, what Cinna could do with a length of silk. In my best handwriting, I carefully record all the details it would be a crime to forget and accompany it with a photo if we have one, or a sketch or painting by Peeta. There are photos of Finnick strewn across the dining table as I try to make my mind up on which one to use - a publicity shot that shows off Finnick’s sea-green eyes or a photo taken of himself and Annie at their wedding. “Katniss, I was looking for some kind of adhesive tape to fix the painting and I found this letter in one of the drawers in the study. It was addressed to me, so I opened it.” I look up, wondering what Peeta’s talking about. He holds the painting in one hand and a sheet of paper in the other. He leans the painting up against a wall and then pulls out one of the dining room chairs to sit across from me. He lays the letter down in front of him. I immediately recognize the handwriting on it as my own. It’s the first letter I wrote to him after the mayor’s party before I thought better of it and wrote a second. But not before putting it in an envelope and stuffing it in a drawer. I’d forgotten all about it. I try to snatch the letter away but he swiftly puts it out of my reach. “Dear Peeta,” he reads. “I’m writing to you because – ““You don’t have to read it. I know what’s in it,” I say. “Give it back.” I make another grab for it but he’s too fast. “. . . because I’m sure to get it wrong, or miss something important if I do this face to face.” He stops reading and hands me the letter. I take it from him, refold it, and slip it beneath the memory book, hoping against hope, that this will prevent any more mention of it. “Did you really want to break off all contact with me?” he asks, frowning. “I didn’t think it ever got that bad. When? Why?” I sigh. Why didn’t I throw the damn letter out? “It was after the mayor’s party. I was very upset when I wrote it. And then I had second thoughts and wrote you another. That’s the one I slipped under your door. I’d forgotten about this one.” He gives his head a shake. “I don’t understand. Nothing happened that night. Not between us, anyway. Did someone say something? Was it Max?” His lips thin in anger. “That – “ “No,” I say quickly. “It was nothing Max did.” I let out a breath, and plough forward. “It was something you did. You and Lace. It was when you sneaked off to have sex.” There’s a moment of stunned silence. “What?” “You know what I mean. I saw it all. Well, not all, but I did see the two of disappear through those swinging double doors only the staff used. And when you came back, Lace’s hair was all mussed. And if you didn’t have sex exactly, it was something close. That was really tacky, Peeta. Civilized people have more decorum than to do that. Civilized people wait until they get home. Civilized people – “ “Katniss, we didn’t sneak off for sex. Cass invited me to see the kitchens once the dessert course was over. That’s where we went.” Oh. I guess that’s a reasonable explanation. But that dream had been so vivid. “Then why was Lace’s hair messed up?” “Was it? I don’t know. I don’t remember anything different about her. We went to see the kitchen, Cass showed us around, and then we came out. Nothing else happened.” “But it was sticking out,” I insist. I know what I saw. The scene plays again in my head. I was at the bar with Haymitch and Max, sampling shots of whisky and getting drunker and more agitated by the minute. Agonizing over what they could be doing. Kissing, fondling each other, maybe even fucking. “And then you didn’t even look to see if I was still there when you came back,” I add in a small pitiful voice. It sounds so pathetic, saying it aloud. It’s a trivial reason for cutting someone out of your life. Just because they didn’t look for you when they came into a room. But after everything, that’s what tipped it over for me. What finally made me give up hope and decide to end it. He reaches across the table to take one of my hands. “Katniss, look at me.” I turn my face away, and he gives my hand a tug. I reluctantly meet his gaze. His eyes look earnestly into mine. “I can’t explain the hair, okay? But I can tell you what I do remember about that night.” He pauses, as if waiting for my approval before he proceeds. I shrug. “Go ahead.” He closes his eyes for a few seconds. “You, looking so beautiful in your Cinna dress. And me, assailed by memories of other entrances and other gowns. Being dragged around by Lace from one boring conversation to another, unable to resist looking around to see what you were doing. And Max, who didn’t leave your side for a minute unless it was to get you another drink. I was jealous of him without knowing why but attributed it to a fear of losing your friendship.” He pauses and adds, “At the time, you didn’t seem very happy with me.”I feel a twinge of remorse. He’s right. I was often moody and distant with him. The tape viewings weren’t going as I wanted and I’d recently learned of a pattern book he was making for Lace, similar to my family’s plant book. “You seemed to be having such a good time together, at dinner and on the dance floor. So, when we came back into the ballroom, I just didn’t want to be reminded of it. I kept my head down and headed for the nearest group of people. And then I did my best not to think about you. I’m sorry. I hurt you and used Lace to hide from my feelings. But that’s the truth, awful as it is.” But not nearly as awful as what I’d convinced myself of. I don’t know what to say. I feel so foolish. So much anger and pain for something that existed only in my imagination. And I’d also assumed that Peeta’s willingness to help me with the Marcus thing was due, in some part, to either empathy or guilt for having being in a similar situation himself. “No, I’m the awful one for jumping to conclusions. I thought the worst. You’d never be so crass as to do something like that. I owe you an apology. I should never – “ “You don’t owe me anything,” he says, interrupting me before I can go further. “In fact, the opposite is true. You wouldn’t have thought it if I hadn’t given you reason to.” He reaches across for the memory book and flips through the pages we’ve done so far. My father. Peeta’s father. Boggs. It stops on Rue. Peeta has drawn her poised on her toes, arms slightly extended, like a bird about to take flight. There’s a reason why I asked him to portray her like this. It’s how I want to remember her. You can’t change the past, but you can bring the best of it into the future. “Let’s make a deal. Only good memories for us from now on. Like this book you’re working on.” He walks over to where I’m sitting to pull me out of my chair. “Now come show me where you want this painting hung.” I take him into the living room. It’s the room we use most and where I’ll see it every day. As I decide where to place it exactly, Peeta comes to stand at my back to hug me from behind. I lean back against his broad chest and luxuriate in the strong arms that encircle me. My dandelion in the spring. The lullaby that Prim liked as a baby comes to mind. Here it’s safe, here it’s warmHere the daisies guard you from every harmHere your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them trueHere is the place where I love you. “I was thinking over the mantle? Or maybe on the far wall . . .” ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 38 Lace’s story: what happened on the night of the mayor’s party. It wasn’t fair! This was supposed to have been her night. She had been looking forward to it for weeks ever since Peeta casually mentioned it on one of their date nights. The mayor’s inauguration party was to be the biggest social event in District 12 in living memory. All the important and influential people in the district would be there. For ambitious Lace, it was invaluable in terms of creating contacts and securing the kind of clientele that could afford to buy her evening wear, a design niche she wanted to develop. Besides, she dearly loved a party and she hadn’t been to one in ages. The last one had been the district party where she had met Peeta for the first time. He didn’t remember it though. That was fortunate since she had come to District 12 for a new life and a new identity and didn’t want her past in District 8 compromising it in any way. Since she was to be her best advertisement, she put a great deal of thought and effort into her gown. She hadn’t much money saved but she splurged the lot on pale yellow satin and then spent many hours making it up. The final touch was a trip to the salon to have her hair colored and styled. It was an extravagance, keeping up the hair color. But she loved it and it formed something of a disguise as it was subtly different from the typical ash brown of the natives of her home district. As she entered the ballroom, Lace felt she was at the beginning of an exciting new phase. After a slow start, her business had gained momentum and she was making a steady income. A few family members had also made the move to 12 which added to her sense of security. But best of all, was the man on whose arm she clung. How did she get so lucky? Peeta Mellark! Her teenage crush. The romantic heartthrob whose posters had adorned her bedroom wall. The boy she had married in her dreams every night. What a fortuitus twist of fate it had been that day when he came into her shop to have a coat made. A flirtation had led to a date at a restaurant and then another, until she could now, without exaggeration, call him her boyfriend! True, he wasn’t quite what she had expected. He seemed a bit aimless, and he liked activities she had outgrown, like hanging out at the ice-cream parlor and the swimming pool, but he was Peeta Mellark! And he really was so sweet and considerate with his little romantic gestures and compliments to her beauty. He told her she was a wonder. And the more she kissed and flattered and stroked, the more wonderful she became. It was a mutual admiration society that she was more than happy to live in. The one blot on her happiness was Katniss Everdeen. Lace had mixed feelings about meeting her. Katniss was intimidating. Her reputation as romantic heroine, fearless symbol of the Rebellion, skillful warrior and (privately thought by most of the populace) savior from another Snow, preceded her. But most intimidating of all was her relationship with Peeta. He talked about her all the time. Not in a romantic sense, it was true, but it was clear she occupied a great deal of his thoughts. The Games had been mandatory viewing and Lace, like everyone in Panem, had watched Peeta gaze at Katniss with love in his eyes. But Peeta had an explanation for that. It had been an illusion. He thought he had been in love with her, but it turned out that he was in love with his idea of her, rather than who she really is. But now he thought of her as very good friend with whom he shared an unbreakable bond. As for Katniss, well, she had never loved him. It had all been an act on her part. That should have been reassuring. And it was. Sort of. But Peeta had lost many of his memories and what was left was distorted, so how could he be certain? But what gave her most pause wasn’t Peeta. It was Katniss. It was clear at the first meeting that Katniss didn’t like her. Katniss wasn’t rude, but she was cool, even giving her the once over when they were first introduced. And when Lace and Peeta discussed a housewarming gift from the two of them for Lace’s brother, a shadow passed over Katniss’s face. It was subtle but unmistakable. Katniss wasn’t as disinterested in Peeta as Peeta made out. That’s why Lace gatecrashed the tape viewings. If there was anything going on, she wanted to know about it. She didn’t trust Katniss one inch. Unfortunately, the second of the tapes triggered the memory of a traumatic incident for Lace and she reacted hysterically. Peeta asked her not to attend anymore and she had no choice but to do as he said. However, despite Peeta watching video tape of hugs and kisses and romantic slow dancing at Capitol parties, nothing changed between herself and Peeta. If Peeta had ever loved Katniss, it appeared that he no longer did. Even Leevy’s revelations in the salon that day didn’t worry her for long. So what if the star-crossed lovers had been real? It still aligned with Peeta’s version. What had happened in the Games and during the tours was before Peeta had realized his true feelings for Katniss. And she’d already guessed that Katniss was in love with him. The party was everything Lace had dreamed of. So elegant. The women in evening gowns, the men in dinner suits. Waiters with silver trays laden with flutes of sparkling champagne. The tables resplendent with starched white tablecloths and napkins and gleaming cutlery. She turned to Peeta to kiss his cheek. “Thank you so much for bringing me,” she said. “You really are the best boyfriend.” He brushed her lips with his and gave her a fond smile. “Only because I have the best girlfriend,” he replied. She beamed and squeezed his arm. She could hardly recall a happier moment. And then Katniss Everdeen arrived. Lace’s practiced eye immediately recognized her gown as haute couture. Cinna, probably. Deep blue, the bodice studded thickly with diamonds – were they real? – with a strapless sweetheart neckline and more diamonds scattered on the skirt. It dazzled and Katniss dazzled with it. Luxuriant dark hair cascading down her back in loose curls. Smooth olive skin, fine features and those surprising eyes. Silvery gray, the colour of storm clouds. She had a man for each arm. The school teacher Max Matson, who all the girls agreed was very good looking if you could get past his personality, and – it couldn’t be – Arthur! Lace’s friend who adored her since they were children together. She knew he was coming tonight but not with her! She felt the arm beneath her fingers stiffen and her glance swiftly turned to his face. Peeta appeared stunned, his mouth gaping slightly. There was admiration, certainly, but also something darker and more sinister. Recognition. A memory, perhaps several, had resurfaced. Lace’s happiness dimmed as if a cloud had passed across the sun. But she rallied, pulling Peeta quickly along to greet the new mayor and his wife who were momentarily on their own. Lace was in her element. She was a natural networker. She loved to interact with people and was always searching for opportunities. Peeta seemed a little distracted though. Looking around, not quite keeping up with the conversation. She followed his gaze, and it led directly to Katniss Everdeen, who, no surprise, was looking directly at him. They both looked quickly away, but that was of no comfort. It was clear that they were on each other’s mind. Meanwhile, she was pleased to observe, Arthur had detached himself from Katniss and was busy working the room too. Now there was a man with get-up-and-go. He didn’t let his natural reserve get in the way of achieving his ambitions. Lace waved him over and he changed direction to come to her side. Soon they were talking business, a fascinating subject for them both. She didn’t notice how restless Peeta was during the exchange. Dinner was announced and everyone made their way to their allocated seats. Unfortunately, theirs was a dull table and not even Lace’s pearly laugh could liven it up. A burst of laughter from nearby grabbed her attention. Arthur and Haymitch seemed to be at the center of it. It caught Peeta’s attention too. He seemed envious, it appeared to Lace. But whether it was over the entertaining company or because Katniss was seated there too, she couldn’t tell. After the food had been served, people resumed their mingling, moving from table to table. Peeta wanted to talk to Katniss. Ordinarily, Lace wouldn’t feel particularly threatened by this. Over the preceding weeks, Peeta had confided to her that Katniss seemed uninterested in spending time with him unless it was watching the tapes. And even then, she often seemed angry with him. Lace immediately guessed the situation. Katniss had grown frustrated with Peeta. He hadn’t responded as she’d hoped and she was distancing herself as a form of self-protection. As long as this status quo was maintained, Lace felt safe. But after tonight, she wasn’t sure of anything. Lace demurred. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea. Katniss appeared occupied and hadn’t he told her that she didn’t seem keen on his company lately? It was best to leave her alone. But Peeta said that they should, that it would look odd if they didn’t. So, when Max headed off in the direction of the bar, leaving Katniss on her own, Lace reluctantly let Peeta lead her to where Katniss sat. It was an awkward conversation. Lace embarrassed herself with her ignorance on what it meant to be a victor at the district parties and having to face the families of the dead tributes. Worse, she let it slip that she had been to a district party. Her story was that she’d been a factory worker in 8. Factory workers weren’t allowed to attend district parties. Fortunately, Peeta didn’t pick up on it, but Katniss appeared to sense that something was amiss. There was an awkward pause. Peeta broke the silence. “Are you going to let me talk to Katniss?” he said to Lace, pretending to be annoyed. She had intended to stay at Peeta’s side, but perhaps it would be better to leave before she dug herself a deeper hole. “Okay, okay,” she said, in mock surrender. “I know when I’m not wanted. I need to go to the ladies’ room anyway. Just stay out of trouble and don’t bug Katniss.” There, that would show Katniss who’s really in charge and hopefully plant a seed that Peeta wasn’t exactly happy in her company either. She stroked his hand and kissed his cheek, enjoying her Svengali-like effect, knowing that his eyes would follow her as she walked away. She went to the ladies’ room as she said she would and did the usual things women do there. She wanted to get the timing right and was gratified to see Peeta waiting for her at their table when she returned. The dancing started up soon after and Lace pulled Peeta to his feet. She loved to dance. Peeta didn’t. His prosthetic leg made it a chore rather than a pleasure and he had faint memories of dancing at Capitol parties. But he wanted to be a good boyfriend, so up he got, and shuffled dutifully around the dancefloor with her. But then Katniss and Max came into view. Max had Katniss pulled tightly against him and he swung her around in a series of fancy turns, almost lifting her off her feet. They were making fools of themselves, thought Lace. That’s no way to behave at a formal event. So undignified! So tasteless! She turned to Peeta, expecting him to be as unimpressed as she, but his face was hard, giving away nothing. Suddenly, he put his head close to hers and whispered words in her ear. She nodded and followed him through the double swinging doors the staff used to bring food from the kitchen. It had been pre-arranged. Peeta had told her about it. Cass from the bakery was to show Peeta around the kitchens. He had never seen a commercial kitchen before. While he marveled at the long row of ovens, the walk-in freezer, the huge storage room, Lace could barely stifle her yawns. So boring, and it was fricking cold in there after the warmth of the ballroom. But she stuck a smile on her face and did her best to appear interested but she was hardly in the mood to hear about the merits of blast chillers when her heart was breaking. Somehow, she had to widen the gulf between Katniss and Peeta. She had to ensure that any fledgling signs of a possible reunion between them was snuffed out before it could begin. And then she had an idea. Just as they were about to re-enter the ballroom, Lace ruffled her carefully styled hair and swiped the back of her hand across her mouth to wipe away some of the lipstick, smearing it a little. Let Katniss believe that she and Peeta had snuck away for some canoodling in a dark corner. Isn’t that what Peeta and Katniss did as star-crossed lovers? Sneaking off to be alone when they were at fancy events? It was in a fan magazine she’d read, anyway. With a bit of luck, Katniss’s mind would go straight there. She scanned the room and saw Katniss by the bar with Max and Haymitch. The hour was growing late and the crowd had thinned but there was a group of merry young people standing around nearby. She started to lead Peeta in their direction, but he seemed to have the same idea and led her. And when his arm went around her waist and he pressed a fond kiss to the crown of her head, relief flooded through her. Everything was as it should be. She turned in his arms slightly to look over his shoulder and managed to catch a glimpse of Katniss’s stricken but resolute face, just before her hasty exit with a startled Max close behind her. Satisfied, she leaned her head against Peeta’s shoulder and he squeezed her waist. She had worried over nothing. It was inevitable that as Peeta regained his memories they’d be focused on Katniss. They were, after all, the memories that Snow had meddled with. It didn’t mean that Peeta was wrong when he said his feelings for her had been an illusion. The real proof of who he loved was in who he chose to be with. And that was her, Lace Bomul from District 8.

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orokinarchives · 5 years

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The Business Dialogue

(Fortuna concept art – Yuriy Zadorozhny)

The Business can aid the Tenno in disassembling their caught servofish to extract the valuable components. He also offers a rotating stock of servofish components,and will gladly accept donations of whole servofish on behalf of the workers of Fortuna, in exchange for Standing with Solaris United. When the Tenno captures an animal out on the Orb Vallis, he rewards them with a tag, which can be redeemed at his shop for a floof depicting the animal in question. As one of the key members of Solaris United, he is heavily involved in their more subversive activities.

Idle quotes

These are un-subtitled lines that Biz says when he is not interacting with anyone.

"Intending to spend time out in the Vallis? Oh, it's a rare miracle, but death to the unwary. Tell me what you're fixing on, and I'll steer you true."

"Offworlder, I'm in the business of keeping you alive, your quarry too, tranq rifles and lures. Help me preserve the miracle of the Orb Vallis ecosystem."

"So, you want to help preserve this biosphere's unique fauna? Hmm, admirable. So, let's talk instrumentation."

"Looking to trap Stover? Well, they'll take a piece out of you, you come at them the wrong way. Vermink? Slippery little buggers, but we can fix that, don't you worry."

Greeting the Tenno

(if the Tenno has just completed the Vox Solaris quest) "Outworlder. You've altered the calculus in the Vallis to our favour. Thank you. A… pity… it took young Thursby's tragedy to… motivate… Eudico to take up the mantle of leadership once more… but she is the leader Solaris United needs… and tragedy is the unavoidable cost of progress. I'll make sure Thursby gets up on his new feet. I… owe it to him."

"Used to be, you had a problem, you came to me. Now… I just sell fishing gear. Little Duck told me I was going soft, but a quiet life isn't so bad. I recommend it."

"I've a soft spot for Fortuna. Good people dealt a bad hand. I try to help when I can."

"I wasn't always about the… preservation of life – more the… strategic deletion of it. Conservation… is my calling, now. The scales… need balancing."

"She looks peaceful out there. But she'll turn. Prepare for that inevitability."

(if the Tenno has just reached the rank Old Mate) "I think the time's come to dispense with formality, to meet eye-to-eye. This is who I am, friend. Pleased to meet you."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "Eudico lost a lot of friends that first time SU was crushed – blames herself. Zuud may be the one hearing voices, but Eudico… she's the one with ghosts. I'm glad you're here with us. We need you. She needs you."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "Legs makes me laugh. Anyone who can do that is twice as valuable as any soldier or saboteur. Look out for him. Kid deserves better than this."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "I was there when we lost Zuud's sisters. For a lifetime, they shared a sensorium, created as one. Losing them crushed Zuud, her universe narrowing to a single set of eyes, one pair of hands. The isolation broke her, remade her. A tragic figure, to be sure, and loved."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "I've trained many. None possessed Little Duck's aptitude for spycraft. But we differed in philosophy. That, ultimately, was our end. I don't regret much, but I regret that. I do regret that."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "Boon, Roky, and their assembled orphan tribe. Troublemakers, but they're just getting by. I don't begrudge anyone who has to live in the vents – though I do wish they had better taste in music. ‘Skeg' is it? Sounds like a bag of hammers being thrown down a flight of stairs."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "I prefer not to talk about myself. An old habit, from another time. You understand."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "Well, look who it is. Keeping warm, I trust? If you're heading out, we should have ourselves a talk."

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "Well, hello. How have you been keeping?"

(if the Tenno is rank Old Mate) "Well, well. Good to see you. Let's talk, you and I."

Browsing conservation offerings

"When we woke the Orokin terraforming engines, we also revived species long since extinct. I need your help to save these beasts from the Corpus' Feed and Research Division… 'scientists'. Track-and-tranq. Now: let's get you sorted out with a tranq rifle and echo-lure."

"Track-and-tranq: the basis of our conservation efforts. Now, what are you short on?"

"Track the beast, lure it out, then subdue it with a well-placed tranquiliser."

"You get paid, and we save something rare from Corpus… 'scientists'. Stay downwind, and aim true."

Purchasing a servofish trophy blueprint

"She's a bit of a mess at the moment, granted, but with a little attention, she'll be fit for the wall of a lodge."

"Mounting board's ready. Let's begin."

"Very good. I'll begin."

"Just a moment."

"Finished. Opinion?"

"And done. Majestic."

"Beautiful. She's all yours."

Exiting store with purchase

"Stay sharp."

"Keep your face to the wind, friend."

"All right. Travel safe."

Exiting store without purchase

"All right, well, be careful out there."

"Maybe later, then."

"As you were."

Selecting fish

(Common servofishes include Brickies, Echowinders, Sapcaddies, Scrubbers, and Tinks.)

(basic common servofish) "Hm. Simple. Stripped-back design. A bit primitive, but handsomely made."

(adorned common servofish) "Decent. Needs maintenance, but in good condition."

(magnificent common servofish) "Well, this specimen's quite complex. Heavily modified. Fascinating."

(Eye-Eye, Mirewinder, Kriller, Recaster) "I see this particular model quite a bit."

(Charamote, Tromyzon, Longwinder) "Hm. When did I last see one of these? The Orokin deployed automated cleaners, much as we do, their designs influencing the workings of much of our own. A rare catch indeed."

(Synathid) "Wait. Do you know what this is? An original Orokin custodial drone! Where in the world did you find this? Most people have only ever seen this fellow in pictures. Old pictures. He must have been down there for… centuries."

Dismantling servofish

"You don't seem to need help with that. Shout out when you're done."

"Good choice. I'll leave you to it."

"All right, have at it."

(afterwards) "I love what I do, but never quite get used to the smell. [sniff] Ugh, all those built-up toxins."

(afterwards) "Handily done, there. Nice outcome."

(afterwards) "A pleasure watching you work."

Providing servofish

"Making friends can be a simple thing: be kind. Fortuna's rig jockeys are in constant need of parts and repair, and many can't afford it. Share some of your catch. They'll remember."

"If you've a spare servofish or two, I can take the parts to those who need them. The Temple frowns on charity, so people are hurting."

"Part with some of your catch. We'll separate their components and distribute them to the needy. There's certainly enough of them."

(afterwards) "I'll find those who need the parts and have them seen to. It is a fine thing you do."

(afterwards) "Ah, wonderful. I know just who will benefit from this."

(afterwards) "Thank you."

Bidding farewell

"I'll be here, when next you return."

"Til next time."

"Eyes open, and face to the wind, friend."

Animal conservation on the Orb Vallis

Out on the Orb Vallis, animals such as Verminks, Kubrodons, and Sawgaws can be found, and captured with the right gear. Conservation requires a tranq rifle and an echo-lure (specific to the animal), both purchased from The Business. Pheromone synthesisers, specific to the animal, can also be purchased from The Business and are used to increase the chances of rare species appearing.

Once an animal trace is found, the tracks can be followed to an echo-lure point, where the Tenno can deploy an echo-lure to coax the animal out of hiding. Once it appears, the Tenno must hit the animal with a tranquiliser dart to subdue it, before calling for a drone to carry the animal away to safety.

Finding spoor

"Observe. Our quarry has marked their passing with more than… hm. Follow the tracks."

"They'll be nearby. Follow their trail carefully. We don't want to startle them."

"We're very close to them now. Follow that trail."

"They were here very recently, and departed in that direction. Follow."

"Good. Good good. We're very close. Pursue, but quietly."

"A tuft of fur. There will be creatures nearby."

"Our quarry was here very recently. As that trail of prints attests. Track them down."

"We've almost got you now, my little friend [chuckles]. They're very close by. Follow the trail."

"Fresh leavings, and… there. A trail. Follow."

"Scat! Mm, fresh, too. This is your chance to lure them in."

"Tracks. And fresh."

"Footsteps. A creature is near."

"Fresh tracks. Go."

Hearing a response to the echo-lure

(Pobber) "That is the call of a Pobber. Not the mightiest of beasts… but worthy of salvation nonetheless, despite the odour. Now, you must be stealthy: preyed upon by Sawgaws and Virmink, Pobbers will flee at the slightest hint of danger."

(Virmink) "The mating call of a Virmink. They're capable hunters of smaller prey, but will turn tail and run at first sight of something as formidable as yourself. You'll find Virmink loping across the plains or lying in wait amongst the giant fungi, stalking Pobbers. Now, where is it?"

(Sawgaw, variant) "That is the cry of a formidable raptor the Solaris call a Sawgaw. This crimson-faced bird of prey circles and stalks the cliffs and fungal forests of Venus, searching for rodent prey."

(Sawgaw, variant) "Being an avian, the Sawgaw prefers a high vantage point. Nothing higher than the oversized Vallis fungi."

(Sawgaw, variant) "Sawgaws and the giant Vallis fungi go hand-in-hand. Remember to look up. The little fellow could be eyeballing us right now."

(Sawgaw, variant) "The Gorgaricus fungi are preferred perches for Sawgaw. That's where we'll find them."

(Sawgaw, variant) "Sawgaw perch high up, the better to scan for prey undetected. Check the fungi."

(Borarola, variant) "Mountains, caves: these are things Bolarolas find… comforting. Craters, too, on occasion. Now, this species is all about defense. Their armoured plates protect their vulnerable undersides from predators, tucking and rolling to make good their escape. So, when it appears, while you can, target their belly and strike true."

(Borarola, variant) "Right. Nature's little tank, this one. Your only chance will be to target the soft underbelly."

(Borarola, variant) "A careless tranq shot will simply bounce off the Bolarola's carapace. It's the underbelly or nothing for this one."

(Borarola, variant) "Forget about targeting the Bolarola any-old-where. The underbelly is its only vulnerable spot."

(Borarola, variant) "Bolarola. Armoured. Except for the belly."

(Horrasque, variant) "A Horrasque. This hideous creature is terrible to behold, but will not attack unless provoked, preferring to be left to wallow and hunt in peace. When riled, however, its roar will shake the bowels of even the most steadfast trapper."

(Horrasque, variant) "The Horrasque are tunnellers. This one will surface, tentatively, and if he sees you… vanish. Lay low. Let him emerge. Then fire your tranq."

(Horrasque, variant) "The Horrasque will leave its tunnel only if it feels safe. So be quiet and careful, give it a moment, and then tranq."

(Horrasque, variant) "Alright. The Horrasque will tunnel towards the call, then poke its head aboveground. If it feels safe, it will emerge and wander. Then, you fire the tranq."

(Horrasque, variant) "The Horrasque will surface nearby. Give it a moment, let it emerge, and the tranquilise it."

(Stover, variant) "The Stover: a kind of proto-Kubrow. When grouped in a pack they are relentless opponents. I once asked, 'Why Stover?' and was told it was because they're dumb as a stove, run hot… and having one on top of you ruins your day. Remember this: if you walk into a cave system that feels too warm, get out. Stover den."

(Stover, variant) "Good news: Stovers are nearly blind. Bad news: they hear well enough to make up for it, don't like intruders, and will take multiple shots to tranquilise. So… don't mess about."

(Stover, variant) "Stovers: cave dwellers. Bad eyesight, excellent hearing, highly territorial. Hardy, so you'll need more than one shot to put them down. And they're aggressive. (cheerfully) Good luck!"

(Stover, variant) "Check the caves. Stover are near-blind but hear fantastically well and don't take kindly to intruders. And they're beefy as hell, so you'll need to tranq them more than once. Hopefully before you get mauled."

(Stover, variant) "Check the caves, and remember: they investigate sound. Also: you'll need to tranq the animal a few times before they go down. They're… impressively proportioned. They're basically a bicep with a face, if I'm honest."

(Kubrodon) "Ah. Yes. Well. This is interesting. You've managed to attract a Kubrodon. The apex predator of the Venusian plains. These massively framed beasts often travel in groups, claiming the whole of the Vallis as their domain. Needless to say: be careful. Especially when it gets dark."

(if the Tenno uses the wrong lure) "A mating call excellently performed… but… that's the wrong lure."

(if the Tenno uses the wrong lure) "Wrong lure. You'll need to match their call, if you want to get their attention."

(if the Tenno uses the wrong lure) "You've chosen the incorrect lure, Outworlder. Common mistake."

Successful echo-lure call

"Perfect. Alright. Shoulder your tranq rifle, and make the shot count." "Final stage. When the animal appears, aim your tranq well, and our work is done."

"A melodic response. And now, something equally gentle from us. Prepare your tranq, and let's carry this animal to safety."

"Stay downwind and hidden, until you have a clear shot with your tranquiliser."

"Now, we wait for the animal to approach."

"Yes. Come on out, little friend. A quick and painless tranq shot and it's off to safety with you."

"Here they come. Ready your tranq rifle, and prepare."

"Remember: Identify. Inhale. Exhale. And tranq."

"Ready your tranq and wait."

"Now, ready your tranq."

"Ah, the moment of truth. Ready your tranq rifle."

"Well done. Now, prepare your tranq rifle."

"Tranq rifle at the ready…."

When an animal appears

(Sunny Pobber) "A Sunny Pobber. Slightly less common than your garden variety. Lovely colouration though."

(Delicate Pobber) "Ah. A Delicate Pobber. A descendant of an Orokin domesticated strain. Less odorous, with a sweeter temperament, but far less hardy. A rare find."

(Subterranean Pobber) "My word. This little fellow shouldn't be up here. Note the near-white coat, the vibrant pink eyes. He's adapted to survive belowground, away from the claws of Sawgaw and Vermink. We may have found the first uniquely Venusian mutation of the Pobber genus. [gasps] Astounding!"

(White-Breasted Vermink) "A White-Breasted Virmink. Fairly common. Let's get him to safety."

(Dusky-Headed Vermink) "A Dusky-Headed Virmink, favoured by the Corpus for their pelts. She's lucky we found her first. A rare find."

(Red-Crested Vermink) "Is that…? Outworlder. That's a Red-Crested Virmink, a subspecies extinct since the age of the Orokin. It must have lain preserved here, revived along with the Orb Vallis. Dare I hope there are others? We must preserve this specimen! We must!"

(Flossy Sawgaw) "A Flossy Sawgaw. Pretty little thing… as long as you're not a rodent."

(Alpine Monitor Sawgaw) "The Alpine Monitor Sawgaw. Quite the alpha. Hardier and more formidable than the Common and Flossy varieties. This one would have their own little coterie around here somewhere. Perhaps we can find them, too."

(Frogmouthed Sawgaw) "Is that…? I hadn't dared to hope. Outworlder, I have managed – at great risk – to secure an exceedingly rare Frogmouthed Sawgaw in the hope of someday locating a breeding partner for it. You have just found that mate. Please, very carefully, tranquilise our little friend and bring it in. The future demands this of us."

(Spotted Bolarola) "A Spotted Bolarola. Happy little thing. Let's bring it in; there's plenty of friends waiting for it."

(Black-Banded Bolarola) "A Black-Banded Bolarola. Their appealingly laminated plates were sported for a time as part of Grineer formalwear. Which is why we don't often see them anymore. Well, if I have my way, that'll change. Let's bring it in."

(Thorny Bolarola) "That's an… unusual silhouette for a… oh my. Look at that. Iridescent laminate to its defensive bands… and what look like defensive barbs. Outworlder, this is a most unusual Bolarola! Bring it in, but carefully."

(Dappled Horrasque) "Oh, a Dappled Horrasque! What a handsome fellow he is. Let's bring him in."

(Swimmer Horrasque) "The Horrasque favour bodies of water, what with their mainly fish diet, but they're not especially good swimmers. This particular subspecies, however, is. A bit of a rarity. Let's keep him safe."

(Horrasque Stormer) "Would you look at that, Outworlder. A Horrasque Stormer. Hunted to near-extinction for the insulating properties of its fur. I never thought to see one again. We must bring this magnificent beast in safely."

(Sentinel Stover) "Sentinel Stover. Must be a den nearby. Bring it in. I'll send out a party, see if we can't find its packmates."

(Fuming Dax Stover) "A Fuming Dax Stover. Hardier and, frankly, crankier than your typical Sentinel Stover. They tend to boss the others around, ordering the den through brute force and intimidation."

(Fire-Veined Stover) "'Majestic' isn't a term I often reserve for something as dense and ungainly as Stovers, but for this magnificent creature I'll make an exception. I wonder why it's out here? Hm, let's not question this bizarre good fortune. Tranquilise it, and let's get it to safety."

(Brindle Kubrodon) "A Brindle Kubrodon, and quite a hardy specimen at that. Wonderful."

(Vallis Kubrodon) "Ah. This old fellow. I've encountered a few of these, but never outside the Vallis. As such, unimaginatively, I've named them the Vallis Kubrodon: our little planet's contribution to the genetic diversity of the Origin System."

(Kubrodon Incarnadine) "Now there's something to give the children nightmares. The legendary Kubrodon Incarnadine: the canine equivalent of the monster in your closet. Possessed of a particular malevolence, a dark intelligence, it kills not to survive, but for the raw pleasure of doing so. Nonetheless, I have tasked myself with preservation… so we will bring this devil in."

Call for recovery

"Hm. Quite young." / "Just a pup, this one." / "A juvenile." / "Fully developed." / "A fully-grown specimen." / "Mature."

"Male." / "Female."

(Sunny Pobber) "A Sunny Pobber. Slightly less common than your garden variety, but a happy little thing nonetheless."

(Sunny Pobber) "In no danger of extinction, this one, but a life is a life, is it not?"

(Sunny Pobber) "Fairly common, but lovely colouration."

(Delicate Pobber) "Ah. A Delicate Pobber. A descendant of an Orokin-domesticated strain. A rare find."

(Delicate Pobber) "An ancient Orokin legacy strain. Quite rare. I'll be sure to take extra-special care of our new friend. Yes I will, lovely."

(Delicate Pobber) "A Delicate Pobber! A rare breed! Just marvelous."

(Subterranean Pobber) "Mmm. Upon awakening the coolant towers, new life emerged. Genetic material, carried, I believe, in the coolant itself… interacting with some ancient, hidden component of the Orokin Vallis landscape. Life was seeded, quite literally, across its length and breadth. And here, now, we see the next stage of that emergence and evolution."

(Subterranean Pobber) "Note the adaptations for below-ground survival, away from the claws of Sawgaw and Virmink."

(Subterranean Pobber) Hello, my cute little friend, you're in good hands now."

(White-Breasted Vermink) "A White-Breasted Vermink. Fairly common. And lively!"

(White-Breasted Vermink) "A common variation. Such a noble bearing. Let's get them to safety."

(White-Breasted Vermink) "The White-Breasted is a popular pet, when they can be tamed. Not for this one, though."

(Dusky-Headed Vermink) "A Dusky-Headed Virmink, favoured by the Corpus for their pelts. Lucky we found them first. A rare find."

(Dusky-Headed Vermink) "A rare Dusky-Headed Virmink! Just look at the gloss on that coat! Gorgeous. Just gorgeous."

(Dusky-Headed Vermink) "Nef would have given quite a bit for your hide, my pretty little thing."

(Red-Crested Vermink) "The Vallis lifeforms emerged like memories, as Venus herself remembered who she was. This, here, is one of the most distant, most precious remembrances – an original Orokin strain, unseen for millennia. (angrily) And Nef would have it ground down to make nutrient paste. Another sacrifice to short-term thinking, to profit. To that, I say no. I say never!"

(Red-Crested Vermink) "I never thought, in all my wildest imaginings, I would behold a subspecies crafted in the gene forges of the Orokin themselves. But here it is. A Red-Crested Virmink. A miracle."

(Red-Crested Vermink) "A subspecies extinct since the age of the Orokin. Dare I hope there are others? This specimen will be tended with the greatest of care."

(Flossy Sawgaw) "The Flossy Sawgaw. Sometimes prized for its feathers. Safe now."

(Flossy Sawgaw) "While their vision is remarkable, when it comes to mating, the Sawgaw appreciate the tactile more than the visual. Delightful plumage."

(Flossy Sawgaw) "A Flossy Sawgaw. Very pretty. A fine catch."

(Alpine Monitor Sawgaw) "What Corpus or noble wouldn't give a fortune to have this magnificent avian confined to a gilded enclosure in some distant villa. You've preserved a rare and magnificent thing this day."

(Alpine Monitor Sawgaw) "Hardy. Formidable. Gorgeous."

(Alpine Monitor Sawgaw) "Just look at it. Magisterial."

(Frogmouthed Sawgaw) "A Frogmouth Sawgaw. I wouldn't have thought it possible, Outworlder. This species hasn't existed since before my grandfather was a boy. And yet, here it is. Miraculous."

(Frogmouthed Sawgaw) "Extinct for generations. And yet here it is, now… and Nef's first instinct would be to display it stuffed in his boardroom. I will treat this one with the utmost care and find a mate…if a counterpart exists anywhere on this planet. The future demands nothing less of me."

(Frogmouthed Sawgaw) "The Corpus ravage their populations in the name of short-term profit, yet here the rarest, most exquisite of them survives… albeit barely. The Frogmouthed Sawgaw. A thing I'd only ever seen in books!"

(Spotted Bolarola) "Spotted. A somewhat common subspecies, this one. Such a sweet face, don't you think?"

(Spotted Bolarola) "Ah yes, the Spotted Bolarola. Let's bring it in."

(Spotted Bolarola) "A Spotted Bolarola. Happy little thing."

(Black-Banded Bolarola) "Upon awakening the coolant towers, and the great geophysical upheavals that followed, new life emerged. This Bolarola, for example – a rare Black-Banded variant seen almost nowhere else. Fascinating. What this place must have been, once upon a time."

(Black-Banded Bolarola) "Feisty. We're lucky to have found this one before some wandering Sawgaw, or worse, did. These rare breeds need protection more than most."

(Black-Banded Borarola) "You don't know how lucky you are, my rare little friend."

(Thorny Borarola) "Plates, barbs, and an iridescent sheen to enhance mate attraction. Outworlder, you've found an exceedingly rare specimen here! Oh, this is fascinating! Well done!"

(Thorny Borarola) "Incredible. Just look at the way its defensive plating has evolved to include an offensive component! Not many have ever seen a Thorny Bolarola. Well done, Outworlder! Well done!"

(Thorny Borarola) "A species I've only heard tell of in legend. What a prize! Ha ha!"

(Dappled Horrasque) "The common Dappled Horrasque. Lovely. Let's bring them in."

(Dappled Horrasque) "Common subspecies. And quite a pleasing mottling to this one, don't you think?"

(Dappled Horrasque) "A Dappled Horrasque! You're quite the handsome specimen, aren't you? Yes you are. Yes you are."

(Swimmer Horrasque) "A rare Swimmer Horrasque. Not conventionally pretty, I'll grant you, but remarkably graceful in its chosen environment. Exquisite."

(Swimmer Horrasque) "They say Swimmer Horrasques don't make mistakes. I've seen one explode from beneath the water to take down prey twice their size. Terrifying, and yet… awe-inspiring."

(Swimmer Horrasque) "This one's a bit of a rarity. Let's keep them safe."

(Horrasque Stormer) "Ohh, the rarest of the rare. A Horrasque Stormer. I admit, I never thought to see one again. And we brought it to safety. I must secure it a mate as quickly as possible."

(Horrasque Stormer) "Unbelievable. Exquisite. A Horrasque Stormer. Outworlder, I wouldn't have thought it possible. Dazzling. Wondrous."

(Horrasque Stormer) "Hunted to near-extinction, the rarest of all Horrasques, yet it perseveres. Singular."

(Sentinel Stover) "Sentinel Stover. It would have been keeping watch for its pack. Look at it: such a proud bearing."

(Sentinel Stover) "Sentinel Stover. Must be a den nearby."

(Sentinel Stover) "Sentinel Stover. I'll send out a party, see if we can find its packmates."

(Fuming Dax Stover) "A Fuming Dax Stover. Rare. And angry. Special care will be taken transporting this one."

(Fuming Dax Stover) "A rare Dax Stover of the Fuming variety. I may have to use a sedative, unfortunately."

(Fuming Dax Stover) "Tough and cranky. A very lucky find!"

(Fire-Veined Stover) "This specimen would have been central to the entire den. Right now, the pack will be choosing a new leader, butting and roaring for superiority. Might help us find them."

(Fire-Veined Stover) "With this specimen secured, I have all I need to begin a new breeding colony. Today, we have safeguarded the future."

(Fire-Veined Stover) "How can you not admire such noble bearing, even in one so brutish? Wondrous."

(Brindle Kubrodon) "A Brindle Kubrodon, and quite a hardy specimen at that. Wonderful."

(Brindle Kubrodon) "The Kubrodon is misunderstood. They're no more savage than anything else. When home is threatened, it possesses the means to defend. They don't even like how we taste."

(Brindle Kubrodon) "Such dignity. A reasonably common variant of the apex predator, distilled to its purest form."

(Vallis Kubrodon) "Once an Orokin playground, perhaps, the Vallis is a discarded crown overgrown with fungus and flora, now home to little fellas such as this. The Vallis Kubrodon. Glorious."

(Vallis Kubrodon) "Spectacular. And with enough mandibular strength to snap your femur clean in half, had it a mind to."

(Vallis Kubrodon) "This one's a rare thing these days, and never outside the Vallis."

(Kubrodon Incarnadine) "The implacable hatred one species bears towards the other who usurped it positively radiates from this one. I shall be handling this particular specimen… carefully."

(Kubrodon Incarnadine) "We have captured a devil, Outworlder. Future generations may question our wisdom, but I have taken an oath."

(Kubrodon Incarnadine) "Monstrous, but worthy of life nonetheless. Thank your lucky stars it was we who found you."

Aftermath

"And, oh, I see now this one needs medical attention, and soon. You got to them just in time. I will see to this immediately."

"Easy now. Parasites, cracked footpads… nothing some attention and a good meal won't fix. Well done, Outworlder."

"Mmm. Clear-eyed and in good health. Excellent."

"Just a little worse for wear, but we can see to that. Nicely done."

"Now then. Vitals are solid. I'll take it from here."

"Easy now, sweet thing. We're going to take good care of you."

"Oh… they are beautiful."

"Settle down, little friend, settle down. We're almost done."

"You've caught us a wild one, friend. Quite a handful."

"You've done a noble thing here, friend. This one might be a little cranky, but they owe you their life."

If the animal escapes

"You've lost it!"

"Sorry, Outworlder, you've scared it off."

"You'll need to practice the Echo-Lure more."

"And there they go. Next time."

"Easy come, easy go. Still: we persist. They'll not evade us for long."

"We've lost them, Outworlder. Let's regroup… and try again."

"Curses. I can almost hear that little bugger laughing. Oh well. Next time."

"Vanished. You have to admire their resilience. Ah well. We'll be back."

"Failure. [sighs] Happens to the best of us. We'll have other chances."

"Ah, well. If the little fella wants to remain here that badly, we can't hold it against them."

"Outsmarted. Damn it all! Wily little thing."

"Not today, Outworlder. The field is theirs. Let's withdraw."

If the animal dies

"Enough! The intention is to aid these poor animals, not kill them!"

"Track-and-tranq! TRANQ! Do you understand?!"

"Do you perhaps think yourself on safari? We are here to capture and preserve. Outworlder! Holster your weapons."

The Business' story is told in the memory fragments scattered around the Orb Vallis. He ran the Fortuna ARG and was responsible for dispensing the intelligence uncovered during that event. He has additional dialogue in the Vox Solaris quest and the Profit-Taker heist bounties. He is mentioned in the dialogue of Eudico, Rude Zuud, Legs, Ticker, Roky, Little Duck, and Master Teasonai, and in the lore fragments of Eudico, Rude Zuud, Legs, and Little Duck.

[Navigation: Hub → Dialogue → The Business]

#warframe #dialogue #lore #the business #fortuna #orb vallis #solaris united #orokin archives

11 notes · View notes

sage-nebula · 8 years

Note

What would you have done to improve or to make the plot of Pkm SM more interesting, especially in regards to Lillie and Nebby? :]

Well, “interesting” is subjective. What’s more interesting to me might not be more interesting overall. However, some things that I do feel would pretty objectively improve the narrative quality would be:

Let Gladion actually have a real role in the narrative --- Gladion appears twice prior to the climax: once when you first meet him, and then again to give you a little warning about Lillie and Cosmog/Nebby as some not-subtle foreshadowing about the climax. The next time you see him is when it’s time to infiltrate Aether Paradise, and then once that segment is over he stops being relevant to the plot despite the fact that the entire story centers around his family.This is a mistake.Gladion should have been a far more involved character. This is his family, he should be there. To begin with, not only did severely reducing his screen time make his “development” rushed (and thus not really development at all---more like an unexplained flip to being somewhat nicer (i.e. kind of nice at all)), but it also gave the player no real reason to care about him if they didn’t already. I had a bias toward Gladion since the moment his character was announced, so of course I was thrilled to see him every time he showed up. But a player who didn’t have that prior attachment wouldn’t really have a reason to care, because they were never given a chance to care. Both of these things could be rectified by having Gladion show up more often, earlier on. They don’t have to introduce him on Melemele Island, but introduce him earlier on Akala Island, and have him make repeated appearances on Ula’ula Island as well. Let him battle the player multiple times. Let him show up to either stop or even assist Team Skull (given that he’s supposed to be an “enforcer.”) Show him interacting with Plumeria and give them a (platonic, but that shouldn’t be necessary to state) relationship, given that she’s supposed to look out for the younger members of Team Skull like her siblings. Let us actually see more of Gladion throughout the plot so that we have a reason to care, and show him slowly growing and developing to a point where he can start to trust others and form friendships, just like Lillie.And most importantly of all, have him present at the climax! Again, for fucksake, the plot centers around his sister and his mother. He should have been in Ultra Space. He had far more reason to be there than the player did. Let Gladion play the other flute! Have it be a twin duet, Lillie and Gladion playing the flutes in harmony after spending the game fixing their relationship and growing closer again after two years apart. Let that be a beautiful moment to represent via music just how much they’ve come together again, and have fallen back in sync. Let them confront their abusive mother together, lending each other strength, being there for each other. Let them hug, for fucksake, and let them to go to Kanto together, too. Don’t just ship Gladion off to Aether Paradise because you’re afraid some spotlight will be taken away from the PC. The PC doesn’t need any spotlight. The PC will be just fine watching these two siblings come together to support each other again, I promise.

Give Plumeria an actual role in the narrative --- Plumeria did fuck all for the plot, and as much as I love her, you could remove her and replace her with a generic Skull grunt and the game would turn out the exact same way. Plumeria should have been the one to confront Guzma at Aether Paradise, calling him out on the absolutely horrid way he treats the Skull grunts, and the way he sold them all---including her---out to Lusamine in order to be the Aether Foundation’s scapegoats and lapdogs. Show her calling him out on this, show her arguing with him about it, show them battling over it. Instead of having the player battle Guzma again, have Plumeria hold him off while the player et al go on to confront Lusamine. Plumeria was supposed to be a Skull admin and the “big sister” of Team Skull, but she was never allowed to do that, and that’s nonsense. Let her play the role she was literally created to play.

Let Hau develop as a character on-screen --- Hau was pretty static throughout the game, sadly, mostly just existing to be the cheerful, friendly rival that Nintendo has been giving us for over a decade now. And that’s fine---I have no qualms with cheerful characters---but it’s a bit disappointing because I would have liked for him to have a more fleshed out character arc. We get flashes of this in certain reactions of his throughout the game (e.g. his reaction to Gladion’s second appearance is very reminiscent of how a kid acts when his bully has just appeared, and he actually scowls when you beat him outside of the League in the last required battle), but for the most part we’re told about Hau’s development rather than shown it. This is even true when it comes to his goal of beating Hala. We know he finally beat his grandfather due to the fact that he’s a title challenger, but we don’t get to see it, and we don’t get to see a real effect on his character given that we only get a couple lines out of him and he still sees himself as weak because he can’t beat the almighty PC. I would have liked---and think the game would have benefited from---giving Hau his own subplot running throughout the game, ideally if it tied into the main plot (e.g. maybe Hau is drawn to the Aether Foundation because he wants to make a name for himself separate from anything his grandfather has done and “Miss Lusamine” has assured him that she can help him do that, and they seem like good guys so he believes them, and that puts him at odds with Lillie and Gladion when they try very firmly to tell him that their mother cannot be trusted, and it’s this whole huge emotional ordeal where Hau has to a.) realize what he’s done, b.) decide what’s important to him, c.) realize he can be strong on his own, et cetera. It could have been cool, but alas, Game Freak did pretty much nothing with Hau and let him be a mostly static character instead).

Professor Burnet should have been the professor with the most plot focus --- I don’t really have anything against Kukui, but his specialization is in pokémon attacks due to Game Freak’s need to heavily advertise their newest game mechanic. That has nothing to do with the overall plot, especially not when compared to his wife, who is actively studying different dimensions in hyper space. Professor Burnet should have been the one repeatedly meeting up with the player, investigating the plot happenings, and---ideally---confronting Lusamine later on, in order to deliver a hardcore “the reason you suck” speech in defense of the children, considering Lillie herself is the one who said that Burnet has been like a real mother to her (whereas Lusamine has not). Kukui’s subplot about wanting to revolutionize Alola is cool and all, and that can stay, but it’s really irrelevant compared to everything else going on, and reducing Burnet to just one main appearance and a handful of cameos after is a crime. She should have had much heavier involvement in the plot considering her specialization was actually relevant.

Overhaul the Aether Foundation, Team Skull, Lusamine et cetera completely --- There are too many things that I would fix here in order to just put it in one item, but essentially:

The Aether Foundation needs to have been founded by Lusamine, not by her father (or grandfather, whatever it was), because I’m goddamn fucking sick of women in this series inheriting their professions from their older male relatives. Good on Burnet for avoiding that pitfall (thus far), but she also had barely any appearances. Lusamine makes the second lady I can think of off the top of my head that did fall right into it (with the first and most conspicuous being Professor Juniper), even if we’re only told that via an NPC.

The Aether Foundation need to be indisputably the villains, pretending to be good, intentionally scapegoating Team Skull and using them as a smokescreen. None of this, “well, they were infected by neurotoxins!” nonsense, nu-uh. Team Skull are not good villains, the Aether Foundation have the potential to be perfect, and “well, they were really good all along save for a few bad apples, and Team Skull were really criminals” is boring and a complete waste of potential. Bad Game Freak, bad.

More focus---like, much heavier---focus needs to be put on scientific (and dare I say, alchemical) experimentation rather than “omg I just want pretty things ♥” We get a little taste with Type: Null’s creation and the experiments conducted on Cosmog in order to open Ultra Space, but I want the entire plot to be much more heavily drowned in the alchemy that we’ve been leading to for multiple generations now. In particular, the Aether Foundation being a scientific villainous organization disguised as a conservationist organization would be far more interesting than what we actually got. More to the point, Lusamine having actual universal goals beyond “I just want to exist with everything I deem beautiful ♥” would make her a far more frightening and interesting villain than what we got. I’m fine with her liking beautiful things, that can still be worked in, but villains such as Cyrus and Ghetsis got to have universal goals stretching beyond petty satisfactions. I would have liked the same thing for our first female Big Bad.

Make it really, really obvious that Team Skull is being scapegoated. To be honest, I feel like the pieces are all there---they steal from berry fields and are dirt poor, i.e., they are literally starving to death and yet Alolans are still calling them criminals, what the fuck---but it was brushed away in order to say “oh no, they’re actually criminals and need to be disbanded guys” instead of actually trying to help them and revealing that the precious and pristine Aether Foundation was really good all along. I would have really liked to see Team Skull get some help and attention, especially since Nanu is right there and could easily provide it if someone would just provide him with some help with his chronic depression. For godsake, someone really needs to do something about Ula’ula Island, for real. (And if anyone is wondering, no, I’m not surprised that the Alolan populace can see Team Skull suffering and still call them criminals, considering the fact that police officer and detective NPCs in the game repeatedly insist that there’s never any crime in Alola despite shenanigans like Team Skull’s/the Aether Foundation’s obvious villainy. Alola seems like a tropical paradise, but between their religious oligarchy, the fact that their resident professor wants to stage a political revolution, and their criminalization of underprivileged youth + lack of will to do anything about actual crimes in their community, they’ve got some problems, son.)

Lusamine should have died --- Full stop, I want the bitch dead. Nebby should have killed her outright. Pokémon has implied death before (see: Lysandre last gen), and they can do it again, especially when the person dying is a child abusing cow. At the very least, her children shouldn’t have been condemned to look after her. Neither twin did anything to deserve that awful fate. (“But she can’t atone for what she did if she’s dea---” Do I look like I care? Do I? No. I don’t. I want her to die, go to Hell, and then rot there. She had her chance to be a good mom the first time around, and she wasted it, and she doesn’t get another. The twins are going to be adopted by Kukui and Burnet and that is that.)

Lillie should have been the one to catch Nebby --- This speaks for itself and I’ve talked about it before, so I don’t need to go into detail here. She was robbed for the sake of the player, and I think that was a mistake.

Lillie and Gladion should have gone to Kanto together --- Again, I’ve talked about it before, don’t need to do it again. (Also, must they go to Kanto? Johto is better, I’m js.)

#long post for ts #meta #blue-analytic

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fairyhaven13 · 4 years

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Why is it that on every wholesome post on the internet, be it Tumblr or Reddit or what have you, there always has to be some putzes turning it into a ridiculous fight?

And, no, I don’t meant things where an animal is obviously being abused and needs to be called out. At the moment, I’m frustrated with a cluster of “moral vegans” that invaded a cute clip of a puffin looking at a camera.

Look, I get when people have to go vegan because they’re allergic to meat, or to the way meat has to be cooked, or even if they’re squeamish about where meat comes from. But don’t take a stand of moral superiority over people who do eat meat. Eating meat is not evil. Killing animals for food is not evil. And I know this is a tired topic, long ranted about, but I’m frustrated and I want to vent.

Not every vegan is like this, I know, but the way every group of people works is that the negative ones are the loudest, so that’s who I’m referring to, not to the majority that are sensible. But, the first thing the loud ones always say is, “plants give you all the protein you need, you don’t need meat!” and list a bunch of vegan-biased nutritionalist articles saying so. They ignore the fact that plant based protein does not, in fact, come in the same form as meat based protein, and that this actually is specifically what kills animals. Cats go blind without it, iguanas get intestinal poisoning with it. Humans are creatures like any other that need specific nutrition, and we need meat protein.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/animal-vs-plant-protein#section2

That’s an article describing how meat based protein has already been processed into amino acids, and is “complete” while plant based is not, and does not have all the amino acids our bodies need. Additionally, vitamins B12, D, and DHA, Heme-iron, and Zinc are all much more prevalent in meats than plants. There are indeed some few plants that have them, which vegan-biased sites will list emphatically, but they are more obscure and harder to get a hold of than just eating some fish or chicken.

The article also says that there are plenty of plants that have nutrition that meat does not have. Which is why you eat both of them. This is not a debate of meat vs. plants, but a complete diet of meat and plants vs. eating only plants and hoping to stay healthy.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/ann-hathaway-talks-eating-meat-after-being-vegan-what-diet-experts-think

https://medium.com/@rachel.inberg/why-i-returned-to-meat-after-16-years-of-vegetarianism-c6936077f44c

There are tons of articles like these two, tons, with vegans having to go back to eating meat for a number of reasons and suddenly, magically, feeling human again. Their skin clears, they have more energy, they get sick less often, etc. Moral vegans will often say that people have lower risk of health conditions by eating vegan, but as the previous article (and many like it) conjecture, this is more likely correlated to their actual lifestyle than what they eat, because most vegans also switch to exercising more and meditation as part of their diet. People who do that and eat a complete diet of both meat and plants reportedly feel much better by doing so, and almost every time I have heard of a vegan going back to eating meat--unless they had a previous health condition that made meat make them sick, as I said before--has said they felt alive again.

The second big point that moral vegans give is the treatment of animals. One guy on Reddit linked me the documentary, Dominion, which is an absolutely horrific film that I do not recommend you watch. It’s about the awful conditions many farms will put animals under, akin to Concrete Jungle. As if every single livestock farm in existence is like this. As I said before, in any group of people, the negative will be the loudest and most visible, and that is how it works for groups of livestock farmers as well. One article I read said that grass-fed free-range cows are “worse off” because they “produce more methane” than confined, grain-fed cows. Seriously? They’re worse off because they’re farting more?

Near my house, which is in the Ozarks, I have dozens of neighbors with chickens. The chickens have a coop and generally have free reign over the yard. They don’t keep many chickens at a time so that the roosters don’t fight and the hens don’t peck each other to death or cannibalize due to stress. This is normal here. Yes, there are tons of animals being abused in the industry, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to do it. If you think that there’s no way to keep animals as livestock without abusing them, then that shows poorly on your part.

https://certifiedhumane.org/

http://ethicalfarms.org/

These companies makes it their mission to survey farms and safeguard humane practices in the care of animals. They help route out farms that mislabel “cage free” as a big box of dying chickens and try to keep those ones from giving the rest a bad name.

The bad reputation thing is a big problem, because so many of the vocal negatives have put up articles about the bad ones, which absolutely need to be dealt with, that the good ones are getting no publicity or support. The good ones need support in order to share their practices with other farmers. Whatever you do, do NOT ascribe to PETA’s hyper-biased sites. PETA is notorious for their radical slaughter of animals they deem “tainted” by humanity, but this is not about them. If you want a giant list of PETA’s evils, there are tons of articles out there with tons of sources.

https://www.fws.gov/refuges/hunting/hunters-as-conservationists/

https://www.npr.org/2018/03/20/593001800/decline-in-hunters-threatens-how-u-s-pays-for-conservation

http://magazine.outdoornebraska.gov/2017/08/109097/

These articles are why hunters are necessary, how much of the conservation funding that programs use to protect wildlife and animals comes directly from hunters, and how a decline in hunters leads to a rapid increase in environmental decline and dying and starving animals. PETA (again, they’re vile, don’t ascribe to them) tells you that the suffering of wildlife is necessary to ensure “only the strong animals survive.” Which is exactly what hunting does, but without the suffering part.

This, combined with the nutritional articles above, shows hunting as a necessity because we need food and the animals need that part of their food chain. Moral vegans will tell you that “the world has survived for thousands of years without us,” which is not true, because we aren’t aliens. Humans are of the Earth. We are part of the environment, we are predators like any other predator out there, just with sentience and thumbs. Our sentience does not make us any less part of this planet. Unless you think that, again, the suffering of animals is better than us doing our part.

That’s not to say there aren’t disgusting poachers out there, that trophy hunting isn’t bad, or that humans have not had an extremely negative impact on the environment. There are, it is, and we have. But, we cannot take the opposite radical extreme and say “let’s remove ourselves from the planet!” We are not aliens. We are not parasites. We have problems, but we also have an obligation to the planet, to fix our problems, and to protect the environment. And, once again, as someone who lives in the Ozarks, I can see this impact. The years when people have not been able to hunt as much are the years when we find many more diseased deer, starving and sick deer, and deer that run out and get hit by cars. Hunting does not eliminate them or drive them to extinction, that’s why we have rules. That’s why we have seasons. That’s why we have limits. We are meant to be responsible.

And, once again, if you are uncomfortable with all this, that’s one thing. You are allowed to be squeamish and not want to eat meat. You are allowed to have health conditions. Acknowledge that plenty of other people have health conditions, too, that plenty of people are allergic to nuts, legumes, or gluten, or a variety of other plants, and sometimes meat is one of the only things readily available for them to eat. Acknowledge that not everyone has the resources to dedicate their lives to not eating any animal products. Acknowledge that not all livestock farming or hunting is evil. Acknowledge that we are human, too, and stop trying to say you’re morally superior. You aren’t. Humans are omnivores for a reason. Please, just let us have our meat without screaming about how evil we are.

And to the vegans who this doesn’t apply to at all, to the ones who are sensible and respectful of other people’s lifestyles and opinions: I respect you, too. You guys are my bros. More power to you. That’s how all lifestyle choices work. We respect each other’s opinions, respect that other people are not me and have their own lives, and we all get along.

#vegans #rant #sources #meat #vegetables #farming #hunting #i just get really tired #of people going onto a cute animal video #and saying #this is why we should never kill an animal #and debating so rudely #and acting like everyone else is a villain for disagreeing #just please stop it

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shirlleycoyle · 5 years

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Stop Blaming Instagram For Ruining The Great Outdoors

In one of the first Instagram posts by the popular account @publiclandshateyou, spray-painted graffiti is scrawled across a cliff face at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a protected landscape in Arizona.

“People need to earn the right to visit the world’s beautiful places,” the post declares, admonishing the perpetrators as “numbskulls.”

The vigilante Instagram account sprung up last year, and has quickly been joined by many others like it, all of which shame people for bad behavior outside. Influencers, geotagging, selfies—these are the enemies of our public lands, they say. The thinking is that, by posting some beautiful wilderness on Instagram, influencers are inspiring people to take trips to the same Insta-worthy spots, which inevitably become overrun by the masses. A slew of articles have hit the internet in recent years, all making the same argument: Instagram is ruining the great outdoors.

The New Republic put it bluntly:

“Instagram users who love the outdoors have a habit of ruining the wild places they touch—a perverse irony that seems lost on them. It is now axiomatic that a locale of stunning natural beauty will quickly degrade into a morass of crowding once it is posted on the platform as a pristine image. The herd instinct kicks in, and other users who also want to be photographed in those same lovely landscapes converge with their own cameras and Instagram accounts and followers—ad infinitum, ad nauseam.”

It’s tempting to blame social media for the degradation of public lands. And it may play a part: Instagram and other platforms are likely contributing to the increase in visitation at many of America’s (and the world’s) most beautiful, formerly secluded spots. Even if every hiker is well-behaved, the increase in visitation is taking a toll on some of these areas.

But popularity-via-social media is only one of the many challenges facing public lands in an age when humans have explored nearly every corner of the planet. Instead of blaming lakeside selfie takers, we should confront the real problems facing public lands: adjacent land use, extractive activities like mining and oil and natural gas drilling, an air of exclusivity, a hostile presidential administration, lack of funding for conservation and protection, climate change, and a lack of education about the aforementioned challenges.

Social Media Makes The Outdoors Less Exclusive

Many of the public faces of the environmental movement are white and wealthy. Many of these people grew up taking weekend trips to natural areas. It’s easy to believe that it’s cheap and easy to just go outside, but there are many barriers to entry for outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing, skiing, kayaking, etc.: gear is expensive, many natural areas are inaccessible via public transit, and it can be hard to know where to go. Instagram has made the last challenge a bit easier to overcome. It’s easy to scroll an Instagram hashtag or geotag for inspiration about where to visit, which is of course core to the Instagram-is-ruining-the-outdoors argument.

But Instagram has also allowed people who have traditionally been excluded from the outdoor community to find others who look like them enjoying public lands. Users such as @pattiegonia, a backpacking drag queen focusing on inclusivity outdoors, have thousands of followers. Pattie uses her platform to teach her followers how to treat public lands, but does so in a way rooted in positivity rather than shaming.

Organizations have also sprung up to spread inclusivity and stewardship on social media. One prominent Instagram account is @latinooutdoors, which uses social media to encourage Latino families to go outside and get involved in conservation.

Last year, the Forest Service released a paper outlining how Latino Outdoors is increasing diversity on public lands using social media.

“Latino Outdoors promotes a shared diverse narrative in the conversation about the nation’s changing meaning of outdoor experiences within an increasingly diverse society,” the Forest Service report said.

Christian La Mont, the social media coordinator for Latino Outdoors, said Instagram is a powerful tool for conservation. Even if people overcome financial barriers to going outside, many traditionally marginalized people often don’t feel welcome. A passion for conservation starts with a passion for the beauty of the outdoors, and a photo on social media can spark that passion.

“You start with the connection and then you work on the stewardship aspect,” La Mont said. “Did you feel it? Did you connect? Now, what can you do to protect it?”

Dana Watts, the executive director of the Leave No Trace Center for Environmental Ethics, agreed that social media can be used to teach stewardship. To meet the challenges of a social media era, Leave No Trace released social media guidelines last year, helping people share their experiences outside in a responsible way.

Danielle Williams, founder of the blog and Instagram @melaninbasecamp, said that we should focus on “calling people in, not calling them out” on Instagram, using the platform to invite rather than shame new hikers.

“Conservation needs conservationists” Williams said. “We need the next generation, and they happen to take selfies. Please don’t try to shut them out.”

Social Media Isn’t To Blame—Lack of Support for Public Lands Is

Steve, the pseudonymous creator of @publiclandshateyou, said that what he and some other long-time outdoor enthusiasts worry about is that their favorite spots will be “ruined” by hordes of oblivious people. Places that used to be secret local spots are now being overloaded without the ability to properly manage the influx.

Steve said that he spends most of his time online calling people out privately on Instagram. Most of those interactions, he said, are amicable.

“It’s okay for people to go out and make mistakes, I’ve made plenty of those,” Steve told me. “I don’t have a problem if someone admits that they’re wrong and tries to self-correct.”

For those with a lot of followers who don’t “self-correct,” Steve feels comfortable calling out their actions on his account. Though Steve said he wants his account to focus on accountability, some accuse him of facilitating bullying, as some of his followers have threatened or harassed the influencers he’s called out. As his account has grown, Steve set guidelines for proper use online, blocking people he sees engaged in such bad behavior.

The tricky balance between encouraging visitation and prioritizing conservation isn’t a new concern—it’s always been central to the mission of public lands. That mission is being jeopardized now more by understaffing and a lack of funding than by Instagram posts.

According to Sheila Faalasli, social media manager at the National Parks Conservation Association, many park services are in disrepair due to budget constraints, and it would cost almost $12 billion to fix them all. These necessary repairs have been deferred for years because of lack of funding. On top of that, the Parks are working with an estimated 14 percent fewer staff and accommodating approximately 14 percent higher visitation from 2011 to 2018, Faalasli said.

“The Park Service is being stretched thin,” Faalasli said in an email.

Faalasli said that social media, rather than causing bad behaviour on public lands, is making it easier to see the waste and degradation already plaguing our parks.

When posts on platforms such as Instagram highlighted that trash had piled up in some national parks during the last government shutdown, Faalasli said that many volunteers showed up with trash bags.

How Land Managers Are Responding To Instagram

Faced by an unprecedented array of challenges, these parks require creative solutions from land managers. Some particularly Instagrammable locations are already finding ways to deal with the influx of influencers. One controversial solution is encouraging people not to geotag their Instagram posts, meaning their exact location isn’t posted to Instagram.

The “Keep Jackson Hole Wild” campaign encourages visitors not to geotag specific locations. Instead, the park created a generic geotag that reads “Tag Responsibly, Keep Jackson Hole Wild.”

The campaign was a response to a surge in visitation to Delta Lake, which is found at the end of a steep, unmarked trail that includes trudging through a boulder field. It’s a hard, dangerous hike, and land managers were worried that inexperienced people would get injured or otherwise have a negative experience if they tried to get there.

“We want people to have an intentional, meaningful experience,” said Kate Sollitt, executive director of the Jackson Hole Travel and Tourism Board. “We find that positive experience more common when people seek local knowledge rather than following a pin.”

She emphasized that the campaign isn’t designed to be exclusive, and they want as many stewards of public lands as possible.

Others, though, see these anti-geotagging efforts as an extension of the kind of gatekeeping that kept people of color out of parks for so long.

Williams wrote a piece arguing that everyone should keep geotagging specific locations. If people are concerned about a fragile ecosystem, she said, they should include conservation information in their posts. Or they could not share it on Instagram at all, instead of “playing keepaway” by advertising its beauty but not its location.

Jennifer Lindenauer, who works on social media and inclusion at the major outdoor retailer REI, falls somewhere in the middle of the geotagging debate. She says that the organization generally tags the park rather than the specific trail in social media posts, but freely shares additional information if anyone asks.

“It’s not our job to be the gatekeepers and decide who gets to go outside and where,” Lindenauer said. “We don’t want to presume to know who is and isn’t taking care of that land.”

Others advocate for expanding the permit system, controlling how many can visit a given destination any day. Hanging Lake, a picturesque destination in White River National Forest in Colorado, is trying this tactic. It, too, has exploded in popularity in the last few years, a boom that rangers partially attribute to social media.

What used to be a local favorite was seeing upwards of 1,200 visitors a day, according to ranger Aaron Mayville. There is just one tiny parking lot, and it got so crowded that people were getting in fistfights over spots, Mayville said.

This year, the park rolled out a quota and permit system, requiring people to pay and reserve their trip in advance. Now, only 615 people are allowed each day.

“The future of visitation is only growing. It’s forcing land managers like myself to really look at our tools,” Mayville said. “Rather than trying to push people to other places or trying to discourage use, we’re trying to educate people.”

Whose Lands?

For much of American history, we’ve been happy to pave our cities and dump ash into the air, so long as we could escape to a pristine mountain pass on the weekends. This lifestyle is antithetical to the ideal of stewardship-focused societies, in which all land is respected and used sustainably.

America’s long-standing experiment with public lands has been among our most well-intentioned, but most mainstream environmentalism ignored that those parks were built on stolen land.

“Conservation did not start with the Antiquities Act,” Williams said, referring to the first legal protection of natural resources in the United States. “You need to have indigenous people involved in these conversations too.”

That’s another reason she supports geotagging: it can help determine whose land you’re standing on. An app called Native Land uses your geolocation to tell you what tribe owned that land before the U.S. government did.

You don’t need to “earn” the right to visit public lands—that’s the entire reason for their existence. Public lands belong to everyone. Now that social media is inviting more people into the outdoors, we need to grapple with how to make a parks system that really works for everyone. That starts with funding and a focus on stewardship, not with shaming.

“When I was explaining the problems to my mom, she said ‘es tu parque, cuídalo,’” La Mont said. “It’s your park, take care of it.”

Stop Blaming Instagram For Ruining The Great Outdoors syndicated from https://triviaqaweb.wordpress.com/feed/

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biofunmy · 5 years

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Poachers Are Invading Botswana, Last Refuge of African Elephants

In September, conservationists in Botswana discovered 87 dead elephants, their faces hacked off and tusks missing. Poaching, the researchers warned, was on the rise.

The news had international repercussions. Botswana had been one of the last great elephant refuges, largely spared the poaching crisis that has swept through much of Africa over the past decade.

The country is home to some 126,000 savanna elephants, about a third of Africa’s remaining population — plentiful enough that they are increasingly in conflict with villagers in the northern part of the country.

Following the announcement in September, Botswana’s ministry of the environment denied that there was a poaching crisis of any sort, and in May the government lifted a ban on trophy hunting that had been in place for five years, provoking worldwide condemnation.

Even some scientists wondered whether the illegal ivory trade really had found its way to Botswana. Now, the researchers have published data in the journal Current Biology that seems to confirm their initial findings.

Based on aerial surveys and field visits, the authors report that fresh elephant carcasses in Botswana increased by nearly 600 percent from 2014 to 2018.

Samuel Wasser, a conservation biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle who was not involved in the research, said that “there’s no question” about the authors’ findings.

“The work was exceptional in every way,” he said. “There were so many features they carefully and meticulously documented. And they also looked at alternative hypotheses, and none were supported by data.”

Such careful documentation of poaching is sorely needed across Africa, Dr. Wasser added: “This is an example of how to do it right, and hopefully others will learn from it.”

Reached by phone, Cyril Taolo, director of research at Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks, said that he and his colleagues “are still interrogating this paper and coming up with a response” to the concerns raised by the conservationists.

The survey was led by Michael Chase, founder and director of Elephants Without Borders, a nonprofit conservation organization based in Kasane, Botswana.

Squeezed into a fixed-wing Cessna, Dr. Chase and his colleagues crisscrossed 36,300 square miles of habitat, counting and photographing all living and dead elephants they spotted 300 feet below.

They recorded 156 carcasses they believed to be poached, clustered at five hot spots.

One criticism of the earlier report had been that an elephant’s cause of death is impossible to determine from the air. Scott Schlossberg, a data analyst at Elephants Without Borders and co-author of paper, disagreed: “When an elephant’s face has been chopped off, you can often see that from the plane.”

But to assuage such concerns, he and his colleagues used a helicopter to make field visits to 148 carcasses. About half were fresh, the rest at least a year old.

With close inspections, the researchers confirmed that recent carcasses were exclusively poached animals; roughly 80 percent of the older carcasses had been poached, as well. Older bulls accounted for all of the remains that the scientists were able to age, indicating that poachers, for now, are targeting individuals with the largest tusks.

The findings revealed a 593 percent increase in the number of freshly killed carcasses, compared to survey results from 2014. Extrapolating the numbers, the researchers estimated that a minimum of 385 elephants had been poached in Botswana between 2017 and 2018.

“Those scientists and colleagues who cast doubt on our initial findings I hope now find that the science and evidence that we describe in our paper is indeed convincing,” Dr. Chase said.

The results of this “state of the art” study speak for themselves, putting to rest any doubt that Botswana has a poaching problem, said Keith Lindsay, a collaborating researcher at the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, a nonprofit research group in Kenya, who was not involved in the study.

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“The few people who did speak against Mike’s original results were researchers who have a history working in Botswana and who want to be seen as supporting the government,” Dr. Lindsay said. “My own interpretation is that they wanted to support their future position in Botswana.”

While 400 elephants killed out of a population of 126,000 does not sound like a lot, the study authors warn that the situation could quickly escalate. Small increases in poaching — similar to the rates now being seen in Botswana — have preceded dramatic elephant declines in other places.

“Poaching doesn’t go away on its own,” Dr. Schlossberg said. “Based on scenarios from other countries, it starts small and gets bigger and bigger.”

From 2009 to 2014, Tanzania’s elephant population fell by 60 percent, while Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve lost 78 percent of its elephants over the same period. The illegal trade in ivory is driven by nearly insatiable demand in China and elsewhere in Asia.

Conservationists have been warning for years that poaching would eventually reach Botswana, said Mary Rice, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, a nonprofit group in London that has worked to combat illegal ivory trade for decades.

“My feeling is that this has been a long time coming and that Botswana is still not taking the information seriously,” she said. “A country won’t be judged by the fact that it has a poaching problem, but it will be judged by how it responds to the problem.”

At the end of June, poachers killed at least three more elephants with poison, the government confirmed. More than 500 endangered vultures that fed off the carcasses also died — the largest mass poisoning of vultures in Africa, Dr. Chase said.

Arrest records and seizure data indicate that poachers behind the recent elephant killings in Botswana mostly originate from Zambia. But while organized criminal networks may be established outside Botswana, Ms. Rice pointed out, poachers cannot operate in isolation.

“Usually there’s local support,” she said.

For rural villagers in Botswana, the temptation may be rising. Unsafe conditions in neighboring countries have caused elephants to gather in the north, increasing conflict and breeding animosity, said Neil Fitt, an independent conservation consultant in Botswana.

Recently, he said, three Botswanans were killed by elephants in one week.

“I’m not saying that poaching is O.K., but whilst we have these problems, it is difficult to get the communities on board to assist in protecting wildlife,” Mr. Fitt said. “Addressing poverty and unemployment in the rural areas would go a long way in protecting our wildlife.”

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I live a healthier life now I’m free of the trappings of modernity | Mark Boyle

Being healthy is not just physicians, ambulances and technology. I use natural methods to keep my organization in balance, writes Mark Boyle, the Guardians Life Without Technology columnist

When beings learn of my decision to reject modern complex technology in favour of older, slower, forgotten ways, their first direction of investigation typically involves healthcare. Debating the great importance to “peoples lives”, this is hardly surprising. Yet because of its emotive quality- which of us, after all, doesn’t have friends or pedigree require glasses, hearing aids, stents or prescription drugs?- it seems difficult to have a tranquilize, objective discussion on the subject.

The more concerned and strange inquirers often ask me what I would do if I got seriously ill. While the long refute is complicated and nuanced, frankly, I don’t know. It’s easy to live by your values when times are good, any more difficult when you’re having a stroke or succumbing of cancer.

One thing I can say with greater confidence is this: if we are still seeking this political dogma of mass industrialism- which has given us ambulances, dialysis machines, wheelchairs and antidepressants- is not simply will we continue to harm our physical, emotional and mental health( to move to even more people needing such things) we’ll too sweep away much of life on Earth.

Industrial civilisation, itself only 200 years old, is already effecting the sixth mass extinction of species of the last half billion years. What’s that got to do with an ambulance? Well, both nothing and everything. The ambulance itself undoubtedly saves lives( including my dad’s ). Yet deconstruct a single ambulance- with its plastics, oils, liquids, copper, acids, glass, rubber, PVC, minerals and steel- and I’ll demo you how to lay waste to the very thing all our lives depend upon: the planet.

Big picture aside, most of what afflicts us today- cancer, obesity, mental illness, diabetes, stress, auto-immune ailments, myocardial infarction, along with those slow gunmen: meaninglessness, clock-watching and loneliness- are industrial ailments. We establish traumatic, lethal, unhealthy lifestyles fuelled by sugar, caffeine, tobacco, antidepressants, adrenaline, discontent, force boozings and fast food, and then represent the political ideology that got us fixed on these events in the first place. Our sedentary enterprises further deplete our physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, but instead of candidly addressing the root cause of the illness we exert ever more exertion, force, genius and coin trying to treat the evidences and contain the epidemics.

We’ve developed Stockholm syndrome, sympathising with the very organisation that has economically impounded us hostage since the 18 th century. Industrialism, along with its partner in crime, capitalism, has even persuasion us that, in order to save ourselves and loved ones from the repugnances of infection we should spray every surface with substances, deter children’s sides out of the grunge and goo, and try to sterilise our whole world. With our immune methods endangered as a result, multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical companies then exchange us products to fend off what our bodies should be able to fight off naturally.

In their cleverness they have even influenced us to pop analgesics for events that hardier generations would balk at. My own approaching to healthcare won’t fill the commentators, the advocates of this strange situation announced advancement that seems to have us all more accented and less content. And that’s OK; I’m not trying to tell people what to do, and I’ve got no product to sell. I share it exclusively because my writer tells me it’s the most common online inquiry.

In doing so I’m very is conscious that I’ve been sanctified to be born without any serious long-term health problems, and that at 38 I’m relatively young. That said, I’m not convinced that it’s necessary to fall into such good physical determine, as civilised publics tend to do. My father is virtually 73 and he can still repetition 150 km before dinner, plainly because he has never stopped looking after his health.

The philosophy underlying my approaching is that of any herbalist: keep the vitality in your torso strong, and be mindful to do it every day. When it leads out of affluence and into malady, use the suitable weeds- the original root of numerous industrial medications- to bring your figure and mind back into equilibrium, and to restore optimal functioning. Your person is always proposing for equilibrium and health, and listening to it is one of best available acts you can do. Illness is feedback- the sooner you heed it and reinstate your vitality, the less likely it is you’ll develop more serious problems.

I find it impossible to describe my approach to health without describing my approach to life. I wouldn’t dream of suggesting that this is a prescriptive solution for anyone else; but with the exception of a voluntary vasectomy, I haven’t seen a doctor or wet-nurse for 20 years.

I pick my own fruit and vegetables from the garden and hedgerows, and eat them as fresh, raw and unwashed as is optimal. I round 120 km each week to reservoirs and flows, where I then expend three nights of that week relaxing and catching the following day’s dinner. I work outdoors, get sweaty and soiled doing things I enjoy. I shaped the tough decision to live in the natural environment so that I could breath clean breeze, drink pure water and establish life that allows others the same. I shower with water, and water merely. I use no compounds inside or outside the members of this house. I wear as few invests as I necessitate, I use nothing electrical- no fridge , no screens , no phone. I eschew sugar, caffeine and stress like the plague.

Sleep comes and goes with the light- I find six hours of peaceful respite ample. If and when I do feel ill or out of balance, my girlfriend Kirsty( who exemplifies these articles and is educating herself herbalism) recommends a bush from our herb spot and I slowly feel vital again. She’s currently drying yarrow, horsetail, silverweed, self-heal, calendula and chamomile for the winter months.

I’ve suffered from hay fever- something becoming more common as CO 2 tiers in the atmosphere increase- since I was a child. These daytimes I ingest a handful of plantain leaves- a natural antihistamine- three or four times a day, and that sorts it. Plantain comes out just before hay fever season and goes to seed shortly afterwards, and is a common in the fissures of city pavements and lawns as it is in the countryside.

I appreciate that this may sound unrealistic to numerous. When I was driving 60 hours a week in a low-paid task in the City, 10 years ago, it did to me very. I only managed to do it by depriving away modernity’s bullshit, reading to live with the estate, and increasing my legislations down to zero. Simplicity in these times is hard won, but I’ve found that it’s worth it.

I is simply speak for myself, and I subscribe everyone’s decision to care for their health as they see fit. Eventually, we’re all going to die and I wish to go out like the American writer and conservationist Edward Abbey: by taking off to the wilderness, where wildlife can feed on my dead body just as I have done on theirs. It seems only fair.

Two events, in this regard, I find important. One is that like Henry David Thoreau formerly remarked, I do not safely contact death and” have found that I had not lived “. Second, that I don’t cling to my own fading light so desperately that I extinguish it for everything else. Like all good guests, it’s wise not to overstay your welcome.

* Such articles was written by hand and posted to an editor at the Guardian, who typed it up to go online. Get in contact with Mark Boyle, the Guardian’s Living Without Technology columnist, here or in the comments below, a selection of which will be posted to him