#event: landfall.

[ysabelmystic]

Y’all in the American SW and west Mexico better check the national hurricane center and your weather for this weekend and next week.

Hurricane Hilary is about to make landfall and that whole desert area is supposed to get a years worth of rain or more. Death Valley is supposed to get twice the annual rainfall. Severe winds, massive flooding, and landslides are all strong possibilities.

This is gonna get ugly. Please spread the word. This is a majorly anomalous event and people may be unaware of the threat headed their way.

EDIT AUGUST 19th

Hilary will hit the Baja peninsula this evening at a category 2. It will arrive in southern California as a tropical storm on Sunday evening before weakening and moving into Nevada as a tropical depression.

THAT SAID: for the Americans here, even if the storm is “weak”, I want to emphasize that the main danger is rain. We are most concerned about flooding. If you are in an area at risk for flooding, take appropriate precautions as per your city or state officials’ or the noaa’s directions. Even if you end up only being mildly inconvenienced, it is better to be prepared. Go to a friend or relatives house if you live near a body of water or a very low-lying area. Make sure you have water bottles and nonperishable foods. Keep your pets indoors. Don’t wade or drive into puddles.

Anyways, here’s some maps from the NHC

And here’s a link with information in Spanish.

AUGUST 20 FINAL UPDATE

Updated info from the NHC website.

Newsom also issued a state of emergency for parts of Southern California. Widespread flooding is expected.

Good luck y’all

[theaologies]

spinning my chair around and sitting in it backwards: GOOOOOD MORNING CLASS

FIRST AND FOREMOST: this is not a panic post. It’s an informational preparedness post. Don’t panic. Just be prepared for this like you’d be prepared for an earthquake but you know it’s coming and it’s wet.

I’m 30, lived in Central Florida for the first 26 years of my life, and have experienced more hurricanes and tropical storms than you can imagine. Never in my life did I think I would have to discuss HURRICANE SAFETY again after moving to LOS ANGELES from FLORIDA and yet HERE WE ARE-

(This information is accurate as of 8/17 at 9am PST)

SO models are still early but it seems like as of last night, Pacific Hurricane Hilary is rapidly intensified AND has shifted its track pretty severely inland. Originally SoCal was predicted to get some bands off the coast but this does NOT seem to be the case anymore

As our good friend Jim Cantore mentioned above, if Hilary DOES make landfall in SoCal, it will be the first tropical storm to do so since 1939. Fucking yikes.

THE GOOD NEWS:

It isn’t looking like Hilary will make landfall anywhere as a strong hurricane. If it makes landfall in central Baja it looks like it’ll be a Cat 2 which isn’t great but still- better than the Cat 5 it’s currently strengthening to.

As for SoCal, we’re not predicted to get anything over a Tropical Storm. And mountains tear up tropical cyclones like crazy. It’ll (probably) be weak and, wind wise, no worse than the Santa Ana’s

THE BAD NEWS:

Our Cone of Uncertainty is currently pretty wide- this fluctuation matters as it determines which side of the storm hits us. Is this significant? Yes. The right side of a Hurricane is considered the “dirty” side- it’s the side that is most likely to produce severe weather, such as severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. It’s still too early to determine what side will affect us the most but it’s something to keep in mind.

Also, I can’t speak for the rest of SoCal, but I would not bet on the LA infrastructure doing well even with a weak tropical storm. Which is why I have brought you here today, to run down the IMPORTANT HURRICANE CHECKLIST

NOTE: I made this several years ago for FLORIDA so not all of it will be accurate to SoCal. Most of us live in apartments and have no say over tree trimmings and the likes. If the storm is feeling like it’s going to get bad, I would recommend moving important things and electronics away from windows and hanging out in areas of the apartment that have the least amount of windows. I don’t think boarding up windows or anything will be necessary but here’s information if you need/want it

ANOTHER NOTE: if you have the means, please check up on your unhoused neighbors and immediate community groups that do so, as well. As always, they will be the ones most affected by severe weather. Tarps, anything that rises up off the ground, waterproof bags, etc would be good to grab for them. I am not an expert here and would recommend following the lead of your community groups that work with your unhoused neighbors to find out what will be needed most.

I don’t at all think we’ll see any shutdowns so if the rain does get bad be prepared for dangerous driving conditions. I know it’s dangerous to drive any time it rains in LA but, you know. The Weather Channel isn’t predicting a TON of rain at the moment (for LA) but, just like our winter/spring this year, be on the look out for flash floods.

And again, this is all JUST IN CASE. It’s better to be prepared than not. SoCal’s infrastructure is not at all prepared to handle a tropical event so who knows! Anything is possible. If I was in Florida I wouldn’t at all be worrying about this but I’m not anymore and our wet winter absolutely fucked our roads in LA so I’d rather everyone be safe than sorry.

I’m sure it’ll all be fine and now you just have more safety information, which is never bad! Because frankly climate change is very real and I would not be surprised to see this happening more and more in the coming years. And it does have me worrying that El Niño this year is going to be worse than we imagined.

[drdemonprince]

Hi, apologies in advance if this is something you've already discussed or addressed, but I was wondering about whether there is any kind of correlation between autism and increased sensitivity to tragic global events? Maybe I'm just burnt out, but the past couple weeks of turmoil and tragedy in Israel/Palestine has me completely immobilized with anxiety and despair. I don't have any profound connections to the region, Israeli citizens, or the Palestinian people, but my heart aches from it all, especially with the ongoing devastation in Gaza.

I had a similar experience in 2017 from Hurricane Maria, but I had lived for a year on the island where it first made landfall in PR, so I was personally invested and it was a place with which I was familiar. Asking other autistic friends if there's a higher chance of being hyperfixated on or extra sensitive to coverage of international tragedy, I was told my own personal history with trauma and violence/tragedy may just make me more empathetic to others' suffering.

How, as an autistic person, do you find ways to pull yourself out of despair for the state of the world and the suffering of others?

Many people find it compelling to draw a link between Autism and heightened empathy or sensitivity to matters of injustice, for understandable reasons, but the reality is far more complex.

In research, we see that Autistic people are more morally consistent than other people -- we are more likely to sacrifice resources or social standing in order to stand up for the things in which we believe. Because of masking pressures, many of us become highly attuned to the emotions of others -- or what we presume those emotions to be, because of course no person is a mind-reader. We can appear stubborn, to others, in holding steadfastly to our beliefs even when doing so is risky. We are also highly traumatized and thus suffer from hyper-vigilance, trauma triggers, and many other symptoms that may register as us taking emotional blows particularly hard.

It would be comforting to tell ourselves that such traits make us more connected to global events, or actually more morally or ethically invested. But that isn't necessarily the case. Having a strong moral consistency doesn't mean that a person's morals are the correct ones, being willing to make a sacrifice for a cause doesn't mean it was the right cause, and being highly sensitive to the plights of others doesn't mean we actually understand them or are feeling their feelings at all.

For myself, being Autistic is associated with being far less emotionally impacted by such global events than other people. I have very limited empathy, and in situations like these what empathy I do have is entirely cognitively mediated. Global catastrophes and massive injustices don't really emotionally affect me the way that I see them affecting other people -- I don't cry about such things or feel devastated by them, I just think about them a lot in a relatively dispassionate way, and many of the gestures people find moving surrounding such issues do nothing for me.

It doesn't mean I don't care. I actively make the choice to care because of my belief system and values. I have to decide intentionally to dwell on the emotional reality of what is happening. I have to force myself to imagine what others might be feeling, and what others are going through, in order to understand it. Otherwise, to me it is more of an intellectual abstraction, and my focus immediately goes toward what I think the logical solution or means of response might be.

This doesn't make my conclusions any better than anyone else's, mind you. Just because I'm thinking analytically doesn't mean I have the correct information or frame of reference -- in fact, in such matters it often leads me to be oblivious to what others need or what others would consider the morally right thing to do. There's a whole spectrum of human experience I can't access, and while I used to think it made me evil, it's doesn't. It just makes me different.

My friends and loved ones who are more emotionally open-hearted are the ones that remind me to pause, to honor people's grief, to make sense of the emotional and social needs of the moment as well as the ones that strike my numb self as more supposedly practical. My knee-jerk reaction to such situations is to try and jump into problem-solving mode, and I have had to learn from experience that I need to slow down, humble myself, and make space for the enormity of people's feelings and the horror of the things are happening that my body just cannot touch. Very emotionally obvious things, by the standards of other people, completely fly past me.

Still, I am also often frustrated and confused by the reactions other people have to crises -- as a very general rule, humanity tends to reach for means of addressing such events that are symbolic and emotionally satisfying but might not align with their professed ideologies or any kind of articulated strategy. The safety pin thing after Trump was elected, for example, or the blackout squares at the height of BLM. These movements felt good, I guess, to people who were in a state of genuine panic, but they actually did more harm than good.

It's difficult to be what often feels like the sole voice asking whether what the collective is doing really makes any sense. If often makes me seem like I am heartless, which I guess I am, but I am still highly invested in the side I believe to be just winning, and in my annoying fault-finding I'm simply trying to aid in that.

There's benefits and drawbacks to both approaches, is what I'm saying, and there are many routes to caring about an issue and many ways in which caring isn't the same thing as being helpful.

All of this is a bit ancillary to your question. Is it an Autism thing to be sensitive to global genocide? I think that's quite a human thing. Many Autistic people take such matters very very seriously, but some of us do so in ways that aren't as emotional as what you describe. Others are incredibly emotionally impacted by such matters, like you are -- and so are many non-Autistic people. It hardly matters whether it's normal or not though -- this is what is happening for you, and it matters, and you certainly aren't alone in it.

I wish I had advice that came from personal experience, but my experience is somewhat of the mirror image to yours. I find that when people care deeply about an issue, whether it's intellectually or emotionally, they compulsively consume information and upsetting imagery about the issue to a degree they find debilitating. I do this, and you probably do it as well, even if what happens to me is analysis paralysis and fault-finding and what happens to you is probably more like horror and despair.

I believe limiting one's intake is necessary. I believe humility is too. We are not the stars of this story, and we are not so important in the world as to expect ourselves to be experts or saviors. I find that stepping back and gaining historical knowledge places things in perspective. I have learned much by studying the political movements of the past. I have had to develop a true understanding of how the social change I desire really works -- thanks to historical reading, discussion with people I respect, and by consuming leftist theory.

I think it is vitally important to be able to disagree with people, at least in the privacy of your own mind and in your own conduct, so that even if someone is ringing an alarm bell and saying that a certain action is necessary, you have the power to determine if you actually agree. I think it's important to not constantly consume information. We have to learn to know which voices to completely disregard, by asking ourselves what belief system drives a person's claims, and whether they are positioning themselves as an expert for their own self-enrichment and betterment rather than for a just cause.

I think we can't just be moved by the emotional panic of the situation, because we are very easily manipulated, drained of energy, and led astray, and disempowered if we are. But I also think we can't be detached from the human emotional reality of the moment either -- no matter what I think is the rational course of action, the only way humans are ever going to organize and take that action is by speaking with one another, crying with one another, eating together, laughing together, and believing in something better together.

I don't know how to do any of that stuff. I only know tactics and history and theory and fault-finding. There is a place for me in the struggle. There is a place for you in it too. But we are small, and we have to make peace with our smallness and flaws and build a movement that accounts for them, and for a wide variety of gifts and perspectives.

[theaguanzon]

THE HURRICANE WARS makes landfall in the U.S. in ten (!!!) days and I am so excited to invite you all to the virtual launch hosted by Novel Neighbor 💖 Join Ali and me as we discuss my debut romantasy and the knotting, I mean knots, that tie us together. It’s probably going to be very chaotic, so I apologize in advance 💃🏻 ALSO, if you preorder your copy from Novel Neighbor, you will receive a signed bookplate *and* this gorgeous art print of Alaric and Talasyn, our belligerently star-crossed couple, by my supremely talented sis Gwendy Delos Santos 🔥

Register for the event here!

[saywhat-politics]

Ron DeSantis began a whirlwind media tour around the launch of his 2024 presidential campaign with an interview on Fox News on Wednesday evening when the governor outlined his misconceptions about climate change.

Mr DeSantis was speaking to former congressman Trey Gowdy, a conservative Republican who himself is a climate change denier, in an interview with the conservative news network following his disastrous Twitter Spaces event minutes earlier with Elon Musk.

Gowdy began the conversation on the topic by bluntly noting that Florida had experienced “a number of hurricanes” — a statement of the profoundly obvious — before asking the governor for his views on climate change and the government’s role in addressing it.

Mr DeSantis responded by correctly noting that Florida was not experiencing an increase in the number of hurricanes making landfall, and referred to the existence of those storms as a “fact of life” in the Sunshine State. He then swerved into denialism with his next remark, however, quipping that “people said when we had [Hurricane] Ian, it was because of climate change”.

[coldgoldlazarus]

I just realized something potentially hilarious in Metroid Prime. Probably not intentional, but it would make a certain amount of sense...

So we know a few things:

1. We know the Space Pirates were the ones to install a lot of the doors between rooms on Tallon IV, given some of the logs about their difficulties with native wildlife getting around them. Presumably not all of them, given that would raise questions about how they never found some of the Artifacts, but any differences between theirs and the Chozo originals are negligable. It's even entirely possible they just copied those door designs from the ruins and spread them around everywhere else on the planet? Idk.

2. The pirates have doors with energy shielding corresponding to all four of the beams Samus uses in the game, despite some of those beams themselves also being stuff the Chozo stored away for Samus to find, and the Pirates never had direct contact with those.

3. Either in response to the fall of Zebes, or during the actual events of the game in response to Samus showing up, they developed the four Beam troopers for her to fight, who make their debut when she gets to the Mines. As people have poked fun at plenty before, the beam troopers boil down to color-coded enemies who still all fire the same yellow bolts. They can only be attacked with the specific beam they correspond to, but there's a distinct gameplay/narrative split where their actual firepower is concerned.

But here's my crack theory - what if it isn't a contradiction at all?

Okay, so here's the scenario. Samus makes landfall on Tallon IV, right around the same time as the Frigate Orpheon crashes from orbit. (Which is itself amusing as a non-event one would think should be more noticeable, but whatever lol) The pirates are shitting their pants, because this is the same woman who took out their Zebes base and associated leaders, and now she's come for them as well.

So the local command goes to Science Team, and tasks them with reverse-engineering Samus's recorded aresenal ASAP, before she reaches the mines and wipes out their operation. They don't have anything to reverse-engineer from, but Command makes it clear saying no isn't an option. Cue the decidedly unsuccessful Morph Ball experiments.

Samus kicks Flaghraa's ass and takes the geothermal station in Magmoor. Command is sweating a little bit now, pushes Science Team to move on to something else. Why not her beams? Best defense is a good offense, after all. Thankfully for a bit Samus seems preoccupied with ping-ponging back and forth between Phendrana Drifts and the Overworld, so they're trying to recreate her beams from grainy security footage from Zebes, but without any actual physical devices to work with, it's just not going anywhere. Best they can come up with is a loose appoximation of her basic Power Beam.

Then Samus sweeps through their labs in Phendrana and takes down the Project Titan they hadn't been able to tame, and it's only a matter of time before she hits the mines, now. Command is breathing down Science Team's necks, demanding those Beam recreations now. They can't deliver, and the recent demise of the Power Dynamo Maintenance guys is hanging over their heads.

So, one bright soul gets the idea, what if they at least make it harder for Samus to kill their soldiers? They can take the technology for the door shielding, which they do know how it works, and integrate it into armor? Everyone wears that, Samus has only one of four ways to do anything to them, and if it's randomized from Pirate to Pirate, they have a shot at fighting back successfully while she's adjusting. So that's what they do.

Unfortunately, Command asked for troopers with her beams, not troopers with selective immunity to her beams, so they still have to pitch this concept as the expected Beam Troopers. They at least use the Power Beam lookalike they'd whipped up, and basically gaslight Command, like "sure they look and fire the same, but they're totally distinct in their effects, see? This target has scorch marks, while this one has electrical burns, it's totally legit!"

And thankfully it works, and the Beam Trooper armor and weaponry gets hastily mass-produced. (For a given value of 'mass' anyway.) The grunts assembling them don't have the context to question why the guns are all the same. Also, since part of the concept's selling point is psychological warfare of Samus seeing them using her weapons, the armor sets all get color-coded appropriately, thus undermining any real chance at confusing her. The problem is exacerbated when Command has the beam troopers group up by type to patrol, instead of one of each per team.

And that's how we end up with the so-called "beam troopers" as the Space Pirate bureucracy and overinflated expectations once again shoots themselves in the foot. And then Samus arrives at the mines and wrecks shop.

[pushing500]

The transport pod crash survivor Purple Shark is volunteering to be food by trying to squeeze between Vasso and Laursen. If he pushes any harder, I'll feed him to Salvatore (the cat).

There's nothing like being compared to a tarpit to get you in the mood, though, amirite??

Then Randy Random sent a space battle event, which would have been frustrating if this were still The Animist Alliance. Fortunately, the Children of Ecthuctu are a little less charitable and a little more hungry than my last colony.

We did rescue two people, one is a catgirl highmate named Duchess who looked interesting, and one was a man named Carello. A slave caravan came through soon after, though, and Carello's brother happened to be amongst the merchandise, so we sold Carello to them, and now they're reunited. How lovely! We kept Duchess, though. I'm going to try and convert her.

And then, FINALLY, Charlon Whitestone called to tell us where we can find a ship. We're going to research pemmican and survival meals, then head off and set up a new temporary base a few tiles closer to the ship. We'll inch our way there, no matter how long it takes!

Here is a helpful map of S-2 Media (the planet) showing the distance from Landfall (our current settlement) to the crashed ship. It's going to be quite a trek!

First | Next | Previous

[markrosewater]

When designing cards for two-color draft archetypes, are they supposed to be event distributed? Or can they lean towards one color? (For example, if RG is landfall but red has 2 common landfall cards while green has 4) And if they sometimes lean towards one color, is that decided since the inception of the archetype? Or do the chips just fall where they may?

We roughly make the archetypes balanced. If it’s too unweighted, it will warp the draft.

[cannabiscomrade]

SUNDAY AUGUST 20, 2023: Southern CA, AZ, and Southern NV/UT friends, Tropical Cyclone Hilary is bringing a tornado risk today, as well as severe gusts.

Have your emergency alerts on. Be weather aware. Storm chasers in the Midwest will chase under a 2% risk. Reed Timmer is in California as we speak.

Do not downplay the risk of this weather event because that seems statistically low. It is not. That is the probability of a tornado within 25mi of ANY point in the outlook.

In the Phoenix area, which is not taking a direct hit, we are expecting gusts of 40-50mph or more. We are still getting tropical storm force winds hundreds of miles from landfall.

[neopoliitan]

Volume 3, Volume 8, and Stakes

So I’ve always been vocal about my criticisms of Volume 8, and I thought I’d hone in and focus specifically on the Fall of Beacon vs the Fall of Atlas, and why the former sticks the landing when the latter doesn’t.

By rights, the destruction of two cities and the displacement of their citizens should be the higher stakes finale of the two, but for some reason RT’s description of V8′s final episodes as “traumatic” don’t stick to me. I find that this is for multiple reasons.

Lack of Stakes

The primary reason Volume 8 seems to fall flat is its lack of stakes. Volume 3 was a truly ‘traumatic’ event in the series, whilst Volume 8′s finale mostly pays lip service to the concept but doesn’t fully commit. Let’s break down exactly what was lost from the protagonists’ angle in each climax:

Volume 3:

Pyrrha, a character who had been in the show from the start and was one of the immediate secondary cast.

Penny, another character who had been in the show, since late volume 1.

Yang’s Arm, temporarily robbing one of the primary characters of their health and/or ability to fight.

Team RWBY, with the team fully disbanded by the end of the Volume.

Ozpin, the headmaster and protector figure - with his loss there’s an increased vulnerability for the cast.

Beacon, the primary setting and safe place for the cast.

The Fall Maiden

Volume 8:

Penny, while a popular character, had already died once reducing the stakes and impact of her demise.

The Relics, which are important but ultimately MacGuffins and the villains already had one of them.

Vine Zeki, one of the Ace Ops, arguably the one with the least focus and a rival force to the heroes up until an episode before the finale.

Atlas and Mantle. Like Beacon they were the primary setting, but were constantly portrayed as a troubled society - leaving the question of whether they are worth saving in the back of the viewer’s mind. Robyn even refers to them as a ‘chunk of land’.

“Team RWBY & Jaune” - almost not even worth putting on the list as the viewer instantly knows these "deaths” are moot and won’t stick.

It’s clear that Volume 3 cut much deeper with its choice of character deaths & repercussions, while Volume 8 took a much lighter path, killing off a character who had already died once (Penny) and another who had barely any presence in the show to begin with (Vine). V8 also committed to things telegraphed from a mile away such as the relics. Let me stress that I believe in sticking to your guns even if fans predict it, but it does neuter the impact somewhat - and do fans really care about the relics most of the time?

Plus no one really predicted Beacon to fall so violently, while we all knew that Atlas would drop the minute we found out A) it was a floating city and B) the staff of creation was holding it up.

Antagonists

To start, let’s do the same thing as before, except with what the villains lost.

Volume 3:

Cinder - though there was a big, bold question mark over her fate.

Roman Torchwick - A popular but obvious arc villain who outright states how small-time he is.

Volume 8:

James Ironwood - Volume 8 makes the decision to triple down on making James an unlikable antagonist to the point he’s the primary threat despite Salem having made landfall. By the time his death arrives, I’m pretty sure a lot of viewers are sick of his rapid decline and him overall.

Arthur Watts - One of Salem’s top lieutenants, killed unceremoniously like Ironwood.

Hazel Rainart - Another of Salem’s top lieutenants, killed off after a wobbly ‘redemption’ arc.

Monstro - Salem’s secondary base of operations and the crux of her invasion.

Emerald Sustrai - Switches sides (to me her arc feels heavily truncated and a little unearned, likely due to how much v8 threw at the wall)

The Hound - Supposedly the biggest Grimm threat and slasher villain in the show so far, killed almost comedically by a statue.

Jacques Schnee - With ne’er an actual confrontation between him and Weiss.

Neopolitan - Betrayed by Cinder and cast into the void, though like RWBYJ her supposed “death” is transparent.

Volume 3 is almost a unanimous victory for the villains, and what losses they do have are nixed by the introduction of Salem at the end of the finale - her arrival implies that anything her side suffered is small-time now that the Big Bad is here.

Meanwhile, Volume 8 significantly trims down a bunch of long-standing major antagonists to the point Salem only has three lieutenants left. Where the losses are weighted on the heroes’ side in Volume 3, Volume 8 has a much more even balance. Compounded by the severity of Salem’s losses compared to the protagonists’, she basically came off worse.

Now let’s consider the lack of consistency on who’s supposed to be the villain of the volume. Here’s a sheet of who the main antagonist is of each episode in Volume 3 contrasted with 8:

While Volume 3 has Cinder as a consistent primary villain practically the entire time - Mercury, Emerald, Roman and Adam all working to fulfil her plan even when they’re focused upon - Volume 8 has no less than three antagonists battling for control of the narrative. Salem, who is supposed to be the main villain of the show, is killed nine episodes into the volume. She gets better, but taking her out for so long and posting Ironwood and Cinder back into the position of primary villain makes it feel like the series could just as easily function without her.

It’s clearly a method to A) Have Emerald switch sides, B) Kill Hazel instead of doing anything with him, C) Reveal the power of Ozpin’s cane, but I can’t help but find the concept of killing off the Main Villain of the Entire Show In Episode Nine So You Can Focus On The Secondary Villains For The Climax utterly ridiculous. There’s no world in which it shouldn’t have been the opposite way around.

And while Volume 3 kills off a villain like Roman whose role in the show was effectively complete and introduce a roster of more threatening ones in Volume 4, Volume 8 can’t wait to sweep Hazel and Watts under the rug - leaving them both feeling like characters the writers made, promptly decided they wanted to do nothing with for four years, then killed off callously when they had potential to make Salem’s team a true threat.

I’m running out of steam now, but that’s my general thoughts on why specifically the finale and ultimate outcome of Volume 8 fall flat in comparison to Volume 3′s, and why this synopsis for Volume 9 feels... unjustified at best:

[twothpaste]

finally took some notes to iron out whatever the hell is going on with fuel's mom & nana's parents in the 2thpaste cinematic universe. dropping 'em below the cut in case anyone's curious

-

Fuel's mom is Lisa. She and Lighter had an affair before Nichol & Richie were born, it was a whole disastrous awkward scramble. Stuff like infidelity wasn't supposed to happen in Tazmily - it rattled their utopian fantasy, and perhaps threatened to shatter it. In an effort to preserve the peace (read: the impossible illusion of a forever perfect happy town where nothing unpleasant ever happens), Thomas & the rest of the villagers agreed to sweep it under the rug if Lighter raised the kid. Unspoken tensions lingered nonetheless. Lighter still carries some shame over it, Thomas might still hate Lighter's guts, lmao. Despite the accidental circumstances of his single fatherdom, Lighter rises nobly to the occasion, and turns out to be a great dad. Nasty rumors may have circulated on the downlow when he was little, but Fuel's affable, upstanding, hardworking nature earns some respect back for both him and his father.

Fuel isn't exactly ashamed of how he came into the world, but he's got an understated complex where he feels like his mere existence creates burdens for others. :( The events of the game reinforce this, as he unwittingly holds up the search for Hinawa, blames himself in part for Lucas & Claus losing their mom, takes up useless space on the sidelines while the kid who's been through worse saves the whole goddamn world, and so on, and so forth... He also feels guilty when he contrasts his motherlessness with the twins'. Thinks he's got no right to wish he'd had a mother in his life, when his situation was just a socially unacceptable blunder on his parents' part, rather than something gruesomely traumatic. Fuel had a very distant and awkward relationship with Lisa growing up. Only spoke to her as briefly and politely as he could manage, despite bein' friends with his half-siblings. Graciously, he & Lisa make an earnest effort to reconnect at some point postgame, and are on good terms by the time he's an adult.

-

Nana's mom is Betsy. Her dad's name was Jensen Ketch, and he actually adopted her. Jensen very much wanted a kid, Betsy n' Jackie had an unwanted pregnancy, they gave him the baby. In postgame retrospect, they recall Jensen's dearly beloved wife had died while pregnant on the White Ship. He'd always yearned for another chance to raise a child, but could not bring himself to remarry, even with his memories being wiped. He and Nana were very close. He adored his eccentric autistic transgender daughter, and raised her with far more care than any of his neighbors (or even her blood parents) probably would've.

Jensen's amnesia began coming undone when Nana was 9 or 10. He was plagued by strange dreams, and envisioned a world beyond Nowhere, somewhere past the horizon. (The villagers now rumormonger that, aside from him bein' a generally odd dude, it's 'cause he lived right by the ocean, on the far edge of town. Perhaps the waves sung louder, to him, than Leder's bell.) Troubled and captivated by the sea's uncharted mysteries, he built a sailboat, left Nana with Betsy & Jackie, and departed on a solo survey mission. It was only supposed to last a couple weeks. He sent letters home via pigeon. The last was lovingly poetic, enamored with the beauty of the sun and the sea, eagerly telling Nana he hoped one day she could see it for herself.

(There's a quiet horror in Jensen's fate. He either died at sea, in bright-eyed pursuit of a past that would've mortified him - or really did make landfall on some destroyed continent, succumbing to the inhospitable terrors of the world he'd left behind.)

When his letters stopped coming, the villagers, unable to comprehend such a soft and dubious loss, assured Nana he'd be home any day. She became more reserved in his absence. Before they could start to get too doubtful, Hinawa's death threw everything off the rails. Most folks sorta forgot about Jensen & Nana as the village modernized. She and Lucas lowkey relate deeply to one another, even though her tragedy was so comparatively subdued, folks hardly even acknowledged it.

[evolutionsvoid]

Lilyi's emergence from the sea put the whole world into full blown paranoia. We thought the terror was over after the fall of the leviathan, but it seemed that the deep still held its secrets. Everyone had been so focused on Melalo, that they didn't bother to look anywhere else. After an entire city was swallowed by Lilyi's slime, no one was taking any chances. The oceans were packed with sensors, subs and sonar, ready to detect the slightest hint of trouble. No country wanted to be caught off guard like that again, as we all saw the price of it. We would have our eyes and ears everywhere, and our guns close by. Though the slaying of the titan and the attempts on the two kaiju cost a lot of resources, humanity showed our frighteningly quick ability to pump out even more weapons of war. Everyone scurried to stock up munitions and have all their war machines locked and loaded. The second another beast reared its head, we would blow it clean off. Though we had wished these preparations had been for naught, that the two would be last of the terrors, our efforts proved successful. Upon another coastline, opposite of where the beast perished, sounds of something big could be heard. It was moving towards land, and we knew what that meant. Thankfully, it appeared to move at a slow pace, giving the country's forces enough time to mobilize and gather round. We could see where it would make landfall, save for a severe change of course, and had armed this stretch of coastline to the teeth. When it emerged, we would unleash hell upon it. Submarines were already taking shots at it with torpedoes, hopefully weakening it before the big event. These attacks also made sure it stayed its course, so that it would bumble right into our kill zone. The first thing to rise from the waters was a jagged spire, and we almost jumped the gun. Everyone was so nervous, that we nearly unloaded everything into that simple spine. Command was quick to regain control and keep our troops in line, as we could not afford to waste our shots on anything save for vital organs. Eyes, orifices, joints and torso was what we were looking for, weak points that would slow the beast and leave it open to our attacks. When the kaiju fully emerged from the ocean, showing its true form, we were all speechless and confused as hell. The sudden question was: what the hell do we shoot?   The kaiju that would eventually earn the title of "Tculo" was nothing more than a hardened ball of spikes. A giant sphere of holes and spines, almost looking as if it was carved of solid stone. It awkwardly rolled onto land, its twisted, broken spires gouging huge trenches in the earth. Our orders to target weak points left us befuddled for a moment, as what was there to even hit? Eventually the conclusion was the rounded body, as that had to be where all the vital parts lie. The order was given, and the combined forces unleashed everything we had against the bizarre beast. Missiles, shells and mortars pounded and blasted away at the beast, looking to obliterate it before it even realized it was in danger. Hope swelled in our hearts when we saw spikes snap off and the shell crack under the assault. Soon we would expose its vulnerable core and finish it off. Then the wretched thing started to rumble. From the openings, we could see some gelatinous substance quiver and quake, perhaps in fear. Then suddenly a low droning sound came from the goop, sending vibrations through the whole area. Everyone prepared for some kind of sonic attack, perhaps a weaponized quake. But these vibrations did little to our tanks and aircraft, instead it was focused on itself. From our assault, numerous shards of the creature's shell and spikes had fallen off, littering the battlefield. This debris was paid no mind, until it started to feel these vibrations. When the droning struck these shards, they rattled and shook like an out control paint mixer. Just as we took notice of this reaction, they exploded. Suddenly these lost pieces became deadly shrapnel, spraying far across the battlefield and shredding everything in its path. They fragmented into the tiniest slivers, and each of these pieces sliced through flesh and metal like butter. A chunk of our ground forces fell silent and still, as the soldiers and operators were torn to pieces. Tanks ceased firing, as the people inside them were reduced to bloody ribbons. In a moment, the one sided assault was now turning into a losing battle.

Tculo did not wait long after the first explosion, as a portion of its shell opened up and revealed more of its horrid innards. What slithered out were gelatinous tendrils, seemingly made more of slime than flesh and blood. These spiny tentacles hummed and throbbed with that drone, and started lashing out at the remaining forces. Some stuck with merely swatting planes out of the air, or crushing ground troops under its gooey weight. Others started throwing forth more spines and pieces, using their hum to detonate them. Chunks were tossed up into the air, so that their spraying shrapnel could pierce through our jets and copters. Though these explosives were obvious to see, the resulting spines were impossible to avoid. It only took a single sliver to punch a hole through a plane, and that was often enough to doom it. Despite the agility and skill of the pilots, our aircraft started to fall from the sky as fuel lines, electronics and engines were turned into pin cushions. A single shard tore through everything, and that sometimes included the pilots themselves. As our forces scrambled to escape these tendrils and spiny bombs, Tculo took advantage of our waning firepower. The damage to the spines and shell started heal up, erasing our efforts in minutes. Even when our missiles made it into that gooey center mass, the resulting detonation did nothing but spray some crimson goop. Tculo hardly seemed bothered by it. It just generated more of these horrible shards and used its tendrils to direct its hum towards perfectly placed spike bombs, shredding more and more of our forces. Within the hour of our assault, we were in full retreat. Our weapons were failing to do real damage against the regenerative shell, and its terrible spines were tearing through us like paper.    

As we fled, we swore we wouldn't let Tculo get the last laugh. With more knowledge on our foe, we figured we could get together a new strategy and best this titan. Surely we had the right tools and weapons to take down this beast, we just had to know how to use them. It never happened. That first skirmish with Tculo remained the only interaction with the entity for a long time. The horrible loss caused many to lose faith in our plans and tactics, and the unity that came from taking down the leviathan was starting to fracture. Countries started to focus on their own survival, unwilling to give up anymore resources that they could use to keep their borders safe. This was three times now that we failed to stop these kaiju, so why would they waste anymore on this failed venture? It wasn't a full blown collapse at this point, but the cracks were starting to show. This doubt and debate caused delays in dealing with Tculo, and more observation of the creature caused more folk to question our "solutions." During all this, Tculo just rolled themself across the land, with no real path or plan in sight. Sometimes it would use its tendrils to drag itself, but still the direction was aimless. Each journey saw its spiny shell shredding the landscape, and any town it happened to bowl over. With no real weakness of Tculo determined yet, it was almost useless to try and stop them. All we could do was evacuate, and hope that some buildings still remained after the entity was gone. Unfortunately, we soon found out that the danger Tculo possessed was not just in their presence. What was left in their wake proved to be almost as deadly, as the landscape was littered with shards and slivers of its shell. With no drumming song, they would not detonate, but that wasn't their only purpose. This material proved to be impossibly sharp, naturally creating a super fine edge that could slice deep with little pressure. Stepping on a fallen piece was enough to cause these shattered blades to cut right through your boot and into your foot. You couldn't pick one up without the strongest of gloves, or else it would bite into your fingers and palm. These cuts were nasty, but that wasn't the worst of it. This razor material was seemingly had a poisonous property, which seeped into every cut and nick. Even the smallest wound led to some horrible infection, as these toxic shards leeched into the bloodstream. The site of the injury would turn black and crusty, while the veins throbbed and darkened. Small cuts would not lead to death, but it would cause misery for weeks and scars that would last a life time. Those that really sliced up an arm or a leg would probably have to have these limbs amputated, as the infection would threaten to spread to the whole body. With this threat realized, it soon dawned upon us that the Tculo's travels were leaving minefields in its wake. The land would be filled with these shards, and we had no way to properly clean them up. You couldn't get enough people together to scour every inch of the area to collect every piece. Heavy duty operations could possibly break these pieces and make it an even bigger nightmare to clean up. It certainly gave us plenty of samples to study, with the hope of unlocking its secrets and finding an exploit. However, it also raised the question of what would happen if we shattered Tculo's armor and finally killed it. The land where it perished would have to be abandoned, as it would be a wasteland of toxic blades. A troubling thought, but one we should only bother with once we actually figure out how to kill it. So far, we got nothing.     It unfortunately was not until much later when we discovered the source of these mutations: the flesh and blood of the fallen leviathan. Those who fed on or had contact with these substances usually sickened and died, but a rare few had this horrid reaction. The problem was that we had already started demolition on the carcass, spraying mutative juices and pieces everywhere. Not to mention the battle from sea to land that fell this beast, which dumped blood into the ocean and onto the streets. We found that Melalo and Lilyi were scavengers that mutated after feeding on this carcass, but Tculo's origin showed something more terrifying. They had been no simple beast before, instead it appeared that they came from phytoplankton. Researchers guess that they may have been a kind of Coccolithophore, but it is difficult, if not impossible, to truly confirm. The terrifying thing, though, is that phytoplankton are not scavengers, they get their energy through photosynthesis. That means that this organism didn't even eat the pieces of the leviathan to undergo the mutation, they were merely exposed to the bloody waters. Add to the fact that it was this small speck that wound up becoming a titan, and you see the cataclysmic implications. The land and surrounding sea have been infected, and who knows how many organisms have been exposed. How many of them will mutate? How many will die? Of the many that perish, what will feed on them? Bio-accumulation is already a serious problem when it comes to pollutants, but what of this unknown mutagen? It is in the plankton, in the fish and who knows what else? With all the time that has passed before we realized this horrible consequence, how far has this spread? By destroying the carcass and slowly hauling off the pieces, we thought we would be able to contain this outbreak. What we have found here, is that it is not so easy. In fact, it may be already too late. ------------------------------------------------- Certainly one of the weirder ones out of the bunch!

[honnojis]

I know that Tesla offers us a place to stay during the events of the game, but is there a place in Akuwa town for the MC? Nancy says we're going there after we make landfall in Gearen, and I find it hard to believe that we wouldn't have a place to stay there after moving regions.

i wonder about that...

[canyouhearthelight]

The Miys, Ch. 219

Soooo.... as much as I love @baelpenrose, @writing-with-olive, @quantumizedinsanity, and many others for creating and beta reading this, I want to give a super extra special shout out to @lwgph and @freakfagot for very kindly letting me know that I completely skipped chapter 219 when I posted 220 last week.

And since 220 actually references events that happen in this chapter, I am looping around and posting it this week. Thank you both, so so much, for catching that.

Parvati still had not returned to work two days later, and I had just received a message that morning from Xiomara that she was requesting a leave of absence.  As worried as I was, I probably would have done the same thing, so the leave had been granted, open-ended.  There wasn’t much work to be done, anyway - all of the focus currently was on preparing for landfall, and jobs were locked in.  Hannah and I could handle living space allocations, easily.

All of which did absolutely nothing to calm my worries as I poked at a vegetarian curry in one of the mess halls.

“I am reasonably certain it has given up fighting back,” a deep voice rumbled from behind me. 

I turned halfheartedly to greet Jokul and invite him to take a seat. “Got a lot on my mind and no convenient crisis to distract me,” I admitted.

“Such is normally the human condition. Or so I am told.” He winced as he chewed a mouthful of pasta. “That is not what squash should feel like.”

“Apparently we ran out of food stock on butternut squash really quickly.” I sighed and gave up, pushing my food toward him. “Appetite’s off.  It’s gobi masala, help yourself.”

He shook his head gently. “I do not enjoy cauliflower, but thank you.” After a moment of consideration, he set his fork down. “Would you like to talk about it?”

“Wish I could,” I sighed. “But it’s not my story to tell. A friend of mine is going through a lot right now, and wants some space. Given what they just confided to us about their past, I don’t blame them and it isn’t a situation where I can really push, you know?”

“I take it this friend is not of the variety to spar? I have not seen any new faces lately.”

“Definitely not the sparring type,” I confirmed. “That’s kind of what set everything off.”

He nodded in realization. “The situation with our escorts, I take it.”

I groaned and dropped my forehead onto my hands. Peeking between my fingers to see his reaction, I asked in defeat “Do you think we made a rash decision?”

“From what I understand, no.  They believe we are inferior and wish to force us into that mold, correct?”

“Mm hmm.”

“We lack the martial capacity to fight directly, and allowing them to remain would instill sufficient paranoia that they need not take any action to divide us. But that is simply my belief.  I take it that your friend believes differently.”

I nodded, head still propped on one hand as it had been so frequently lately. “They want us to find a more peaceful solution, or at least try something else before we go straight into the splodey parts.”

“Did they have such a solution to suggest?”

“No one has, as far as I can tell. That’s the problem. And with this person, it’s more complicated because of their past.”

“Not a cryptic phrase at all,” he teased gently before trying another bite of the pasta. “It is less objectionable when congealed, which is a terrible realization.”

That at least got a snort from me. “Some foods are like that. But we’ll have fresh food again before too long. They’re trying to conserve root stocks of everything that we are going to be growing on Von, and rather than waste everything else, we are using it up the best we can.”

“This cannot be the best use of these ingredients. I refuse to believe such blatant deceit.”

Another snicker. “That filling probably came from the console, if the texture is that bad. We were just talking the other day about how most console vegetables have the wrong texture. It doesn’t help - like, at all - that everyone likes them to be cooked to different degrees.  From what Miys told me, the console basically takes an average and uses that.”

“A case in which no one wins,” he sighed dramatically. “But it does explain whatever this is.”

“Not everyone likes curry as much as I do,” I pointed out. “Otherwise, that would be the perfect solution.”

“You are correct. I rescind my objection, although I am going to strongly recommend they do not use the five tons of beets I have been harvesting as borscht.”

“Five tons? That’s…. A lot of borscht.”

“It could likely be better used as a reasonable amount of borscht, roasted beets, and a substantial amount of sugar,” he stated firmly.

I wasn’t going to argue. Instead, I flicked open my datapad and made a note to contact Grey and Xiomara about the idea. “Noted. And thank you. I like the resource distribution side of you, by the way.”

“I am certain Farro has made it clear: an unfortunately large part of being a warlord in the After was gathering and managing resources. It is all well and good to have someone attend to it for you, but one should always have a close eye on everything to avoid abuse.” As if to make his point, he shook a ravioli at me. “Beets are easy, everyone likes sugar. Making war is harder.”

His statement brought me back to the reason I was sulking as far from my office as I could get. “I already know what Arthur would do in this situation: he made it very clear to Charly that he only suggests we wait until we are on planet so that the GC doesn’t feel the need to send new escorts. But what would you do, knowing that not everyone agreed with a decision?”

“Anyone in our settlement was allowed to object to any decision we made, provided they were able to suggest an alternative. And then everyone would vote, in most cases. The only exception was generally when a decision needed to made quickly, such as a disaster or an attack.”

I blinked several times, skeptical. “It can’t be that simple.”

“Truthfully, it is not. Wrong decisions can still be made, but emotional ones were less likely when the person objecting had to provide the alternative rather than just objecting.”

“Thank you. For that, and for the beets.” I stood, picking up my half eaten food. “I’ll talk to the Council, see about opening a poll to the Ark.  It will need to have a time limit on it - we land sooner rather than later.”

“Our people need opportunity, not time,” he shrugged. “If I have learned anything, it is that.”

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[xipiti]

The aerosol fallout from wildfires that burned across more than 70,000 square miles of Australia in 2019 and 2020 was so persistent and widespread that it brightened a vast area of clouds above the subtropical Pacific Ocean.

Beneath those clouds, the ocean surface and the atmosphere cooled, shifting a key tropical rainfall belt northward and nudging the Equatorial Pacific toward an unexpected and long-lasting cool phase of the La Niña-El Niño cycle, according to research published today in Science Advances.

Aerosols from wildfires are basically fire dust—microscopic bits of charred mineral or organic matter that can ride super-heated wildfire clouds up to the stratosphere and spread across hemispheres with varied climatic effects, depending on where they’re produced and where they end up.

In the new modeling study, the scientists quantified how aerosols from the Australian wildfires made clouds over the tropical Pacific reflect more sunlight back toward space. The cooling effect was equivalent to switching off a 3-watt light bulb over every square meter of the ocean region. And that cooling, their data showed, shifted the cloud and rain belt called the Intertropical Convergence Zone northward.

Combined, the effects may have helped trigger the rare three-year La Niña, from late 2019 through 2022. The impacts of the La Niña rippled around the world, intensifying drought and famine in Eastern Africa, and priming the Atlantic Ocean region for hurricanes, as 2020 became the most active tropical storm season on record with 31 tropical and subtropical systems, including 11 storms that made landfall in the US, including four alone in Louisiana.

More at link

[boltlightning]

8 & 21 for the writer ask game please!

8. that hurt my own feelings to write

ah. so much. everything and all of it. allow me a throwback to a niche destiny fic from 2022, safe harbor:

“And most of all,” [Petra] interrupts, her tone swift and true as a blade, “I’m sorry you have to bear this alone. You are not alone, but you might as well be.” [...] “It is my duty,” says Wolf. She reaches out a hand, then hesitates; she swallows her pride and tentatively cups Petra's face, brushing her thumb across her cheekbone. “As Regent-Commander is yours. I owe my people this. You must understand.” Petra rests a hand on Wolf’s arm. It is not a refusal of the touch, but a gentle acknowledgement. “I do. But it doesn’t make your circumstance any easier.” “Nor yours,” she agrees. Petra says nothing to that — there is nothing left to say.

21. that i liked but had to cut

the original first chapter of landfall was fully from jack's POV, long before i decided only dragon riders would be POV characters. reading it back now, this draft was EXHAUSTIVELY explanatory of the movie events, but i did enjoy parts of it:

“On your feet,” the green-coated man says, quiet but firm. The marines in his wake quickly surround Jack. No good deed, and all that, Jack thinks sourly, as he slowly stands. One particularly well-dressed civilian goes to help the drowned woman to her feet, and fussily puts his coat around her shoulders. Based on the wig alone, Jack figures he is important, but his profile is awfully familiar — he realizes, belatedly, this is the governor of Port Royal, Governor Swann. “Elizabeth!” Swann exclaims. “Are you alright?” “Yes, yes, I’m fine,” she says, almost impatiently. Swann looks at the stay torn on the dock, then to Jack, and says, “Shoot him!” “Father!” Elizabeth objects. She turns instead to the captain in green with the medal. “Captain Norrington, and — Tempest!” she calls, raising her voice for the dragon’s benefit. “Is this necessary? Do you really intend to kill my rescuer?” Everything clicks together, to Jack’s horror. It appears he has the wonderful luck to roll into town the day of a ceremony for the Caribbean’s premiere dragon captain and his fearless steed, and instead of traipsing through undetected, he has made himself a spectacle by rescuing the governor’s daughter from impending death. Jack gives Elizabeth a close-mouthed smile, if only to keep himself from screaming at the coincidence of it all. Tempest stops lashing his tail, but his eyes do not leave Jack. Norrington watches Jack with a similar sort of suspicion, though not the same scorn. He sheathes his sword, offers Jack a hand and no smile at all, and says mildly, “I believe thanks are in order.”

excerpt asks!