#tw: disasters

[thedoomedhometown]

Doma Castle from FFVI: Magical, Chemical, or Both?

The event: In FFVI, when the Gestahlian Empire decides to invade Doma Castle, a castle situated on a river moat with water running under it, Kefka decides to poison the entire castle via the water supply rather than engage in combat, therefore engaging in an act of chemical warfare.

The water of the river changes color (at least as well as we can see in pixel art), and people begin to succumb to the poison, with those closest to the river - the guards and such - falling first. Those in lower levels of the castle itself proceed to die, with effects ascending quickly but also dissipating quickly outdoors, while collecting indoors: the king is fatally poisoned, but a guard walking down through it survives long enough to die and, when the character Cyan runs downstairs, he seems relatively unaffected in that he doesn't show effects.

The analysis: First, let's just get the simplest Occam's razor out of the way, because that's not the point of this kind of analysis, but I'll acknowledge it once again for the sake of those who somehow missed the pinned post, the description, and everything else, to save you the effort of leaving such a low-effort comment and looking like a troll

Simplest Occam's razor: "It's only a game, a Wizard Did It , it was just magic, and Cyan had plot armor because him dying would have meant the end of the game."

Bad-faith Occam's razor: The above, but add "and it says SOMETHING about you that you'd put this much thought into it"

I am fully aware of both arguments, and I recognize the validity of the first as a possible and indeed probably the most likely interpretation. (it is, indeed, a game and a piece of fiction, the writers probably didn't care or if they did didn't expect anyone else to, it was just magic to advance the plot).

That said: if you're still here reading this, I assume you came for the deeper analysis. Then join me below the cut, to take apart the events of Doma Castle, as described above.

The geography alone is the first clue we would be looking at here: a moat of water likely connected to a water system of some sort, and the water color was changed. This would point to whatever substance/action was involved being capable of reacting with water. While the pixel depiction is purple, we'll just assume the color change could have been to any color because depicting simple muddiness or cloudiness would not have been able to depict well.

That contact with the poisoned water or consumption of it was not necessary to kill points to the next point: whatever went into the water had to be a substance that converted to a toxic vapor when combined with the water, or that displaced breathable air and created dead air.

Also, the deaths progressed inward and upward, yet dispersed quickly. The only character that died from exposure at the highest point indoors was the king, who was already older and weaker, and Cyan was either unaffected or less affected. This shows that whatever was involved was something that collected at ground level, blew through the castle, and dispersed with ventilation as it did, only strongly affecting weaker persons indoors once it reached height.

Generally, this would mean the substance either created dead air at low heights but didn't wholly displace oxygen the higher up and more indoors the characters were - similar to carbon dioxide in the real life disaster of [TW: graphic descriptions of real human death due to asphyxiant gas exposure] Lake Nyos's limnic eruption

OR

was a chemical substance that reacts with water, similar to the chemical "accident" due to utter negligence at [TW: graphic and very traumatizing depictions of real human death due to toxic chemical exposure, racism, corporate greed so bad it is indistinguishable from malice, enraging content] Bhopal, India involving the reactive chemical methyl isocyanate. [Interestingly enough, I wonder if, seeing with the name of the character involved, Cyan, this was actually partial inspiration if any of the canon writers knew of it? Although that is super speculative, and I do not have any proof of it!]

And this brings me to something to a theoretical way the characters could have survived the disaster -aside from having gas masks or other proper PPE - if you want to do an alternate take - those at the top of the castle should have moved indoors and sealed off the outside as much as they could immediately, and those already indoors should have moved upward and inward to the last of the safely breathable air for the time being, waiting for the concentration to disperse enough that moving down and out away from the water would be safer.

The geography was also probably what helped contribute to the survival of anyone who made it out and downward after such as Cyan - the flowing water and wind would have both contributed to dispersing either carbon dioxide and restoring survivable oxygen levels and/or dispersing MIC to a survivable level of immediate exposure, which, as time passed, would have made the source area that he ran past safer than the inside of the castle for a long period of time, where confined spaces would have remained "dead space" or toxic levels of MIC would have collected in less ventilated areas. By choosing evacuation rather than continuing to hole up in the castle once the outdoor amount had dispersed to a less-fatal level, even if inadvertently to go join the fight against the troops following up after the poisoning, he likely saved his own life.

So one takeaway I want to offer here is that even sometimes just the few smallest clues in your writing of a disaster can indicate what it is, what caused it, and what it does. You don't need to do an entire infodump like this analysis - just pick a few consistent things, a few consistent threads that can be picked out under examination. For example, the detail that the water changed color pointed out water reactivity as a component and that the guard near it died first followed how exposure generally works - e.g. had the king died first, or characters at distance died first like some random on the other side of the planet, that would have made this just "who cares, a wizard did it" rather than something that, the more you look at it, becomes an even deeper and more horrifying thing just because even a few, possibly research-informed, details were included, just enough to make it make a degree of sense.]

And because I want to offer some advice that might help you if you ever are unlucky enough to suffer a Bhopal or an East Palestine or [TW for lots of descriptions of human suffering and death] any of the other innumerable chemical accidents that have happened in the real world (since in the real world, you are FAR more likely to be the victim of corporate greed and unsafe practices than a psychopathic clown supervillain who won't stop at anything) OR if you're writing the survival or aftermath of a chemical-related disaster in a story of your own: If you see/smell something unusual or see a mist or fog or smoke - especially after a nearby explosion or fire or in a closed, confined space - and/or if you feel suddenly, overwhelmingly ill, or you see other people who seem unconscious or dead especially in a closed confined space or near it - Move as far away from the dead/dying/more severely ill as possible, do not go to help them because you will likely join them rather than be of any help. ideally upwind and into the closest, tallest indoor space with clean air, turn off HVAC systems, and wait for instructions on when/if to evacuate.]

[promisecitymoments]

What is Promise City? An Examination of the Modern Lie

It was the middle years of the 21st century. As the world fell deeper into disorder and chaos, a resolution was passed by the UN - build impenetrable fortress-cities, one for each region of the world. Sworn to perpetual neutrality and serving as a grand, living repository for all cultures and peoples, Promise City is the jewel of the United Nations Megacity initiative, and home to upwards of eighty nine million people.

It is called home by people from every corner of the world, who speak every language, making it a wildly diverse place. The City was planned from the ground up, fanning out from its centre in the First District, now called the High Rise. 

The City is divided into 13 Districts, each of which serves a different purpose. From the desolate and collapsing streets of the Basilissa Exclusion Zone to the highly pedestrianised and narrow backroads of Nihonmachi District, the purpose and peoples of the City can change on an almost street-to-street basis.

Most of the Districts are partially built on or straddle the river Vitae, a huge estuary which has been artificially widened as the years have passed to accommodate the continuous traffic going to and from the City's major industrial centres and the ports of the world. It didn't start with the name, but was rechristened when its expansion began, for from the beginning it was intended to be the City's primary artery, the vein that pumped its lifeblood to its heart.

The dream of Promise broke under the weight of the modern world as the global scene made slow steps towards order and peace and a new agent of governance emerged. It took cues from the chaebol conglomerates of the Korean republic, the zaibatsus of the new Japan, the oligarchic kleptocracies of Russia and the runaway monopolies of America.

It became something new, with power transcending that of national governments. It became the modern multinational corporation, an organisational and logistical superstructure with fingers and operations all across the globe, their origins swaddled in mystery and their servants in the hundreds of thousands.

The concept of the nation-state is now a joke, a foreign idea taken seriously only in corners of the world that the average metropolitan never needs to think of. And the worst part? The people of the ever-shrinking middle class were more than keen to look the other way, as long as the wages were good and the abuses were just out of sight.

In Promise City there emerged three corporations of supreme importance.

The first was Byzantion Security Systems, an electronics, military technology and communications magnate. It was the first among equals, the largest company in all the world.

Second to it were two, ÆSIR Arms and Machinery and Tlalocan Ltd., companies which both survive on the military-industrial complex that has ripped the third world asunder. Each was like a kingdom, an empire unto itself, their CEOs like Gods among men. Their employees numbered in the indirect millions, in every corner of the earth, in every business imaginable. In the modern age, it is almost impossible to do business without crossing one of the Three, or, failing that, without crossing another of the major corporations in the world.

Their positions as the leaders of the world seemed unshakeable. They could not be touched, no matter what resistance was mounted against them. Public or private, it seemed like nothing could be done to halt the corporations.

Then came October 21st, 20XX. Judgement Day.

The City ground to a halt that cold autumn afternoon, forced to watch as a monstrous machine brought entire blocks down in its rampage. Thousands were killed in the District of Paxtonville and the High Rise almost immediately, and further thousands were displaced all across the rest of the City.

With the sudden and violent dissolution of the Byzantion Group by its former CEO/CSO Alexios Konstantinatos, a power vacuum unlike anything as seen in living memory was suddenly created in every corner of the globe.

Infrastructure totally broke down wherever Byzantion’s influence could be felt, the company’s assets were suddenly fair game to anyone who could scrape up the funds and hundreds of thousands of people, involved with the corporation at every level of production and distribution, were suddenly without work.

The world economy quickly crashed with this essential link in the global chain removed. It’s been a year and though the company’s rivals have moved fast, they are only now starting to put the pieces of the world back together.

Trade is still limited to short distances through motor convoys and trains, with international shipping having all but ceased except in cases of extreme duress, such as the humanitarian crisis and complete breakdown of civil order faced here.

In the rubble, the UN has stepped in to revive the now-paralyzed City authorities and rebuild the City’s domestic law enforcement unit, the Promise City Police Department (PCPD). However, their influence is far from absolute - running the streets are gangs of every shape, size and stripe, from typical criminal groups preying on vice and need to organised groups of political agitators and to fringe sects of complete extremists.

There is no more global order. Stability is a myth, a thing of the past. Rubble and seemingly endless corpses have done nothing to stymie the ambitions of pushers and hustlers, those obsessed with status and wealth. At the end of the day, there are still plenty of jobs out there that need doing, and plenty of people willing to risk it all to do them. The world is rudderless, the City insane…

… and in this madness there exist chances one can only dream of.

[koolaidashley]

THATS HIS BABY ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[colorstrike624]

Warning: Some Blood!! (not graphic but still)

This came to me while I was watching Monster's Inc. and Sulley said "Did you lose weight? Or a limb?"

I can imagine that in a situation like this, joking about it would be Leo's way of trying to calm down both himself and those around him.

I can also imagine that if Donnie wasn't there or had no way of knowing what happened at the exact moment, he would be absolutely floored to see that not only has his brother lost an arm......but he's making jokes about it If only he had heard even half of the ones Mikey had to hear on the way back

Also I could be totally wrong on that 7 lbs (3.1 kg) thing that was a big guesstimate

[idiot-mushroom]

happy 4/20

continuation is here 🎉

[kylorenscar]

"...and I have to live with that. Forever."

[iridessence]

considering the fact that the memorials I’ve seen have been a number of black folk who don’t seem wealthy, if your take on LA burning has been “well that’s what those rich people get,” you should feel bad. i hope you feel very bad

[sara-the-wizard]

Two Hearts Beat as One

T.W Some Blood

Me: Gotta get the burning question, 'Is Mikey okay?' out of the way...

Everyone Else: BUT WHAT ABOUT LEO?!?!???!??!!!

Last =+= Next

[torchflies]

I crave to see our ‘86 flyboys in a natural disaster…

Imagine it: just another day at the beach, the guys are playing volleyball and periodically playing in the water and sand with baby Bradley as Carole sunbathes. 

When the ground suddenly trembles a bit under them… Hollywood’s a mountain Cali boy and he thinks nothing of it. He's felt some awful earthquakes in his day and that was nothing. Slider’s from the middle west and Mav’s from Kansas so unless it starts sounding like a runaway train in a green sky he isn't going to be of much help. Carole’s from Tennessee so she's in the same boat as Mav. Chipper and Sunny went up to buy lunch for everyone so they can't ask them, whereas Wolf’s from Texas and this ain't a hurricane. 

The only one who stops is Ice. 

Ice, who turns when he hears shouts from the small beach crowd a minute later and he sees the ocean start to recede. 

Everyone watches all the color drain from Ice’s face in one go and suddenly he's RUNNING. He grabs Bradley and snatches up Carole with a yelp, he's screaming at the top of his lungs at the flyboys, telling them to RUN. 

He practically throws Bradley at Mav and starts hauling the smaller pilot up the beach at full tilt, heedless of the fact that Mav’s feet are barely touching the ground at this point.

He's also screaming back at the crowd, bellowing at them to MOVE. 

Why you might ask? 

Ice is from Hawaii. 

He knows damn well what a tsunami looks like. 

[grey-viridian]

Based on hollow mind by @crows-murder

Thanks for the inspiration and a lot of pain)

Here is a version without a shield (it doesn't make sense but I just like it. You can see the fear in Leo's eyes much clearer>:3)

Aaand the original sketch (which I also like so I'm showing it to you)

[kaysdenofchaos]

can you see them where you are now? they're pretty. i hope you're seeing them too

[reagi-df]

Bifractured time branch

CW blood implied death

Not matter what you do, sometimes you can’t save everyone

Kinda follow on of this

[lover-of-mine]

#good thing dude said almost

[wombywoo]

dry drowning

[miniar]

(Nov. 10. 2023) The blue lagoon in Iceland is currently closed (for a week) due to a high risk of a volcanic eruption within a kilometer (0.8 miles) of the popular tourist location.

When the gathering magma breaks the earth's crust, anyone visiting the blue lagoon will have (best case scenario) approximately 20 minutes to make it to safety.

If there are people sleeping in the adjacent hotel or gods forbid in the lagoon itself, the worst case scenario is the magma breaking surface beneath the lagoon.

The only truly realistic way to avoid serious casualties here is for the resort, hotel, and lagoon yo remain completely closed until the danger passes.

There are currently icelandic people calling for a 2/1 deal (or cheaper) on blue lagoon tickets for Icelandic people on twitter.

Do Not Go To The Blue Lagoon Until The Danger Has Passed!!

It's a lovely experience but it's absolutely not worth boiling alive or burning to death.

[destielmemenews]

"Its dangerous eye and eyewall could come ashore anywhere from Cedar Key at the north to Naples at the south – including possibly in the Tampa or Ft. Myers areas.

It’s only been 10 days since Helene scoured Florida’s Gulf Coast with storm surge and slammed into the Big Bend as a Category 4. Now, officials are asking residents – still in recovery mode – to evacuate or prepare for another life-threatening storm."

source 1

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