#is this a new republic thing?

[wantonlywindswept]

but like why. why ‘blue boy’ tho

man was wearing bright orange

paz are you colorblind

[decolonize-the-everything]

Why are they mining so much right now?

Cobalt has become the center of a major upsurge in mining in Congo, and the rapid acceleration of cobalt extraction in the region since 2013 has brought hundreds of thousands of people into intimate contact with a powerful melange of toxic metals. The frantic pace of cobalt extraction in Katanga bears close resemblance to another period of rapid exploitation of Congolese mineral resources: During the last few years of World War II, the U.S. government sourced the majority of the uranium necessary to develop the first atomic weapons from a single Congolese mine, named Shinkolobwe. The largely forgotten story of those miners, and the devastating health and ecological impacts uranium production had on Congo, looms over the country now as cobalt mining accelerates to feed the renewable energy boom—with little to no protections for workers involved in the trade.

The city of Kolwezi, which is 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Lubumbashi and 180 km from the now-abandoned Shinkolobwe mine, sits on top of nearly half of the available cobalt in the world. The scope of the contemporary scramble for that metal in Katanga has totally transformed the region. Enormous open-pit mines worked by tens of thousands of miners form vast craters in the landscape and are slowly erasing the city itself.

[...]Much of the cobalt in Congo is mined by hand: Workers scour the surface level seams with picks, shovels, and lengths of rebar, sometimes tunneling by hand 60 feet or more into the earth in pursuit of a vein of ore. This is referred to as artisanal mining, as opposed to the industrial mining carried out by large firms. The thousands of artisanal miners who work at the edges of the formal mines run by big industrial concerns make up 90 percent of the nation’s mining workforce and produce 30 percent of its metals. Artisanal mining is not as efficient as larger-scale industrial mining, but since the miners produce good-quality ore with zero investment in tools, infrastructure, or safety, the ore they sell to buyers is as cheap as it gets. Forced and child labor in the supply chain is not uncommon here, thanks in part to a significant lack of controls and regulations on artisanal mining from the government.

[...]When later atomic research found that uranium’s unstable nucleus could be used to make a powerful bomb, the U.S. Army’s Manhattan Project began searching for a reliable source of uranium. They found it through Union Minière, which sold the United States the first 1,000 tons it needed to get the bomb effort off the ground.

The Manhattan Project sent agents of the OSS, precursor to the CIA, to Congo from 1943 to 1945 to supervise the reopening of the mine and the extraction of Shinkolobwe’s ore—and to make sure none of it fell into the hands of the Axis powers. Every piece of rock that emerged from the mine for almost two decades was purchased by the Manhattan Project and its successors in the Atomic Energy Commission, until the mine was closed by the Belgian authorities on the eve of Congolese independence in 1960. After that, the colonial mining enterprise Union Minière became the national minerals conglomerate Gécamines, which retained much of the original structure and staff.

[...]Dr. Lubaba showed me the small battery-operated Geiger counters that he uses in the field to measure radioactivity. He had begun the process of trying to find and interview the descendants of the Shinkolobwe miners, but he explained that tracing the health consequences of working in that specific mine would be difficult: Many long-established villages in the area have been demolished and cast apart as cobalt extraction has torn through the landscape. His initial inquiries suggested that at least some of the descendants of the Shinkolobwe miners had been drawn into the maelstrom of digging in the region around Kolwezi.

In her book Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade, historian Gabrielle Hecht recounts the U.S. Public Health Service’s efforts to investigate the effects of uranium exposure on people who worked closely with the metal and the ore that bore it. In 1956, a team of medical researchers from the PHS paid a visit to Shinkolobwe while the mine was still producing more than half of the uranium used in America’s Cold War missile programs. Most of their questions went unanswered, however, as Shinkolobwe’s operators had few official records to share and stopped responding to communications as soon as the researchers left.

[...]“Don’t ever use that word in anybody’s presence. Not ever!” Williams quotes OSS agent Wilbur Hogue snapping at a subordinate who had said the mine’s name in a café in Congo’s capital. “There’s something in that mine that both the United States and Germany want more than anything else in the world. I don’t know what it’s for. We’re not supposed to know.”

[spursthatjinglejanglejingle]

[protosymphonette]

snackrolling the mojavelicious fillmost caramakel you satiswish for a nuclear whunger!

[psykersomatic]

[cowboybuddie]

bethesda seem to really struggle with towns/cities period!! their creative choices tend to be pretty interesting (e.g white run is everyone’s fav city for a reason, diamond city and good neighbour aren’t bad either) but a lot of them feel empty, without purpose. if they do have a purpose, it’s one singular thing like fishing or chems. some of the “cities” in skyrim are downright villages, with maybe one quest and then nothing. in fallout, there is still rubble in settlements, lived in places where people eat, sleep and shop- there is just piles of rubbish everywhere. like, can you imagine a settlement like vault city or shady sands in a modern fallout game? it would look insanely out of place. an equivalent of the imperial city in skyrim? a fever dream!

as cool as some of bethesda’s concepts are, it seems like logistics defeat so much, especially in fallout. i want farms, water pumps, explanations for their clean water, NEW factions, reuse of actual buildings, fishing, hunters, scavengers, washrooms, armourers. if the ncr can print posters and make flags with professional quality, society’s doing pretty okay. even the shadiest and least developed parts of fallout 1 and 2 had more of a semblance of society than the majority of 4.

rest in peace ncr, ur incompetent but ur flag is really cool bro

[froglover7789]

ok so the obv follow up to luke skywalker getting eloped at somepoint and not telling anyone is leia doing some serious meddling. like. shes bossy as fuck and at some point post rotj decides that shes sick of luke bothering her all the time (hes just annoying) and tries to set him up with someone.

imagine it please. please imagine with me. itd be so fucking funny. she'd keep trying to introduce him to people at galas or be like "ive got this friend i think youll like him" and luke has not a clue whats going on bc hes stupid and too busy thinking about the hottie hes banging. i love star wars. the sequels shouldve been leia getting increasingly frustrated that luke doesnt realize hes on a date/ being asked out until (insert your favorite luke ship here) tells him. and luke still doesnt believe it. and continues to go on the terrible dates leia sends him on. bc why would his sister send him on dates when she obv knows hes been married for forever? (she does not know this. no one knows this. luke is a fool)

it finally stops when luke tells her he cant visit with whatever mystery man of the week it is bc its his fifth wedding anniversary with (insert your favorite luke ship here) and theyre renewing their vows! isnt that so exciting leia! and he shows her their rings and starts yapping and leia promptly bangs her head on her desk bc how could she have missed that

[mirialanist]

" I shall not fear, for in fear, lies death... "

( for @official-enttaeuschung! )

[rooksunday]

thinking about the narrative of clones “being made for the jedi” and there has to be a nonzero number of them that take the idea of ‘okay fine who is the diametric opposite of the jedi because stuff that’ and that’s how the lost battalion become the most fervent sith-sniffer-outerers in the galaxy. just turn up at dooku’s doorstep like, hi hello we’re your army let’s smush those jedi xoxo

and otoh this is playing into his master’s plan! wonderful discord!

otoh now he has two thousand badly socialised ten year olds tromping around his house and gardens what are you— would you put that DOWN— that’s not the right fork would you— okay everybody new plan, it’s time for the fine sith art of sitting very quietly while daddy deals with his headache okay

[dyingd3adgirl]

sedmikrásky (1966)

[mayhaps-a-blog]

I’ve seen a few people asking why Thrawn would attack the New Republic – shouldn’t he join them and fix the system from the inside, or just go back to the Ascendancy? Why would he destabilize the galaxy further?

But if you think about it

Really, the only reason Thrawn needs is to believe that the New Republic is a threat to the galaxy. Which, well...

Thrawn joined the Empire to oppose the Grysk, because Thrawn believes in a strong military. Thrawn’s not good at politics, and deals with everything in military terms – remember the Lioaoin's economic issues? That’s why he got along with the Empire, and why he put up with all their crap. In Thrawn’s head, big military = big victory = stop bad guys = good.

Enter the New Republic.

What are they doing? Disarming. While there are still pirates, the Hutts, Imperial Remnants, and, of course, the Grysk nipping at their heels. In the midst of a tumultuous time, they are deliberately weakening their ability to meet the challenges ahead, and opening the galaxy to invasion. Says Thrawn.

It doesn’t even matter if they’re Grysk influenced or just stupid – it’s the same result. The galaxy loses. His people lose. Says Thrawn.

What do you expect him to do? Join them? Of course not – he at least knows he’s terrible at politics. And the New Republic is all politics – it would put him at a disadvantage, in a fight he cannot afford to lose. And it would open him to attacks on fronts where he has no power: trials for war crimes, possibly leading to execution – or worse. The Mind Flayer.

You think Thrawn would risk his mind?

Besides, better to ask forgiveness than permission, as they say.

And if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Conquering the New Republic would be better for everyone, Thrawn says. It would save the galaxy from annihilation, allow him to turn the resources of the Empire against evil, bring peace and order to the galaxy and beyond. He would keep all the good of the Empire, Thrawn says, while getting rid of all of the bad, Thrawn says – whatever that means to him.

For the greater good, Thrawn says.

Everything he’s done has always been for the greater good, Thrawn says.

The tragedy is that he believes it.

[dykedvonte]

An independent Courier would actually hate being in charge or enforcing standards in New Vegas. At least in my mind.

They made Vegas independent but I feel like that playthrough/style so clearly makes it apparent it isn't for them. They are making Vegas a place where people can live freely, like how House genuinely didn't care what people did but without the behind-the-scenes Big Brother surveillance he did. Having every family, faction, and other influence group or person comes to them about alliances or rules would be draining, and boring, one note.

In an independent Vegas, The Courier is also Independent. They like getting rid of lines and borders that impede freedom, they like to help give people the tool but I don't believe they want to be the one to shape it.

[number1yisuchongfan]

Okay I have two AUs flicking about in my brain and it both deals with the same situation happening:

“What if Norm was left behind by Hank when he went to go get his kids from Shady Sands? Leaving him with Rose and Moldaver because Hank saw no reason to keep him around.”

Norm as part of the NCR:

NCR!Norm has been raised by Moldaver and the rest of those who survived Shady Sands, growing up knowing his mother’s fate and growing to hate his father and Lucy in some extent. He gets to go to Vault 33 with the raiders and Moldaver, getting to see what woman his older sister has grown into, and finally gets to meets his father again. And he’s disgusted, he’s horrified, and most of all, he’s PISSED because Hank made Lucy believe that Norm never even existed.

So he joins in on the raid, but unlike most of the other raiders, he’s not fighting because though he’s been hardened by the life he’s lived under Moldaver; he’s not going to kill innocent people. He hacks doors, takes down security, helps make the bomb, and finally gets to tell his dad off for abandoning him as a baby.

He works with computers, helps Moldaver with her projects and research, beats everyone in the NCR headquarters at arcade and video games, and is still quiet, but now he’s a bit brasher, a bit more of a fighter, and definitely much more depressive. He also wears Rose’s necklace

Moldaver tells him to calm himself, to rather prepare himself to go pick up Wilzig and CX404 from Ma June’s, and he reluctantly agrees. Leads him to go get Wilzig, realizing he’s already left, and then getting tangled up in some BoS bullshit. He’s forced to tag along, seeing how they’re the only people who can help him track them down, and soon learns to let himself get away from all the anger and bitterness that has plagued him for his whole life.

Norm in this AU is a bitter, young man who has gained the confidence and courage he desperately wanted in the show, but at the loss of those around him and the community he desperately craves.

Norm as part of the BoS:

BoS!Norm ended up in the Brotherhood’s care around the same time as Maximus, Rose giving him up for his own safety and leaving him just with her necklace

Norm is a scribe, he never wanted to be a scribe but they put him as one either way, and he’s one of the youngest scribes on the base. He mainly gets coffee and cleaning duties, but sometimes he just likes watching the Aspirants dueling and doing their jobs. He finds it a nice escape away from how boring being a scribe is.

He watches them from afar, wanting to be like them so badly, but this is the job he was assigned and he’s not gonna fuss. Norm likes the safety that just working with numbers and computers bring him.

His name isn’t Norm in this AU, the Brotherhood gave him a new name, Philo (Greek name derived from the Greek word Philos which means “Lover” & “Friend”), and he takes his job very seriously. He’s also got the biggest, fattest crush on Thaddeus, even after seeing him being a bully, and personally requested to join him on his journey with the other man.

He’s idealistic and truly believes in the BoS’s mission and goals but finds himself miserable and disillusioned with the poor leadership and twisting words of its mission for committing  atrocities.

He meets Lucy near the end, and he’s completely taken aback that she recognizes the necklace, and that’s when he learns that she’s his older sister, that he does have family, and then realizes he was left behind and given up. Lil man goes through an entire identity crisis over this realization as Lucy is so awkward cuz she was told Norm died with their mother during the famine. Also I have some art of Norm in his BoS scribe outfit!

In both, Norm is still lonely, the black sheep, the person who constantly questions, but at least he feels wanted and needed within his communities. In the NCR AU, he’s Moldaver’s son and second-in-command despite his age, and in the BoS AU, he’s a scribe who does his part for the Brotherhood and finds peace with it.

He’s just so fascinating to play around with lol

[parasocialqueen]

currently alternating between reading soft andreil/kandreil fics while working my way through the emotional mammoth that is the dragon republic by RF Kuang

[bishyofskye]

Sci-Fi/Post-Apocalypse

[tvckerwash]

you know a neat little bit of subtle world building I've always liked in the recollection trilogy + freelancer saga (that gets forgotten about in later seasons) is how the bgc + the freelancers (sans ct and lina) were the only characters to wear mark VI (or in caboose's case mark V) helmets. all other freelancer personnel and the UNSC in those seasons either wore ODST armor/helmets or marine armor, and idk I just think it was a neat little detail that showcases some level of consistency with the greater halo canon.