Biogeochemical cycle of rainforest
peak phosphorus
2016.11.18 11:01 widermind peak phosphorus
The Peak Phosphorus Reddit
2013.04.18 21:41 usernick Rivers
Rivers
2024.05.14 17:41 AEDyssonance The Biome Chart for Wyrlde
TLDR: i posted some things previously about how I was developing out my biomes, and thought I would share the chart that came out of it.
So, here is the revision to the overall biomes I did, as part of the larger project of determine the number and type of larger life forms present and how they all fit into the broader ecology of Wyrlde.
The chart lists the Biomes that are present (revised from even my prior note), and organizes them according to the latitude that they exist in (or how they affect the surrounding biome, in some cases).
It then gives the Biomass for that region (which is "grams of carbon per cubic meter over a year net"), the general temperature range information, the amount of rainfall, and then, because I not only am using the world fro an active game, I also like to roll dice when writing so that I have the sense of randomness for certain things, it also includes a relatively random chance for an encounter with a "Critter" or large lifeform, as well as the chances for the storm. I use a 30 sided die for this, because I like to work in 3's, and the die is decent enough.
Frigid These biomes are always very cold, and are based in altitude or proximity to the Arctic Circle. Note that passes in Wyrlde through Mountains are often in Alpine areas.
Arctic501-20-30-15-10011 Alpine5004-40-50-30-20-10105 Taiga34023025404538754 Tundra140120-20253038102
Steppe Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Steppes. These are generally rough country, hilly, rocky, and windy; transitional areas.
Moor1,00095040505060502 Scrubland1,100105545586070603 Chaparral1,200106555687080603 Veldt1,300117565788090603
Grassland Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Grasslands. They may have small thickets or stand alone trees near riparian areas or where water is easily reached.
Heath1,500123020305060452 Prairie1,750143525506070653 Meadow1,800150-10406575854 Savanna1,6501370607580901106
Forest Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Wooded biomes. Wyrlde does not appear to have any temperate rainforests.
Timberland340230254045381754 Woodland1,25011423249556520012 Rainforest2,00018706070809027518 Jungle2,50021706070809032523
Wetland Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Wetlands.
Bog1,500125040556070704 Fen2,000185545606575756 Marsh2,500216050687590805 Swamp3,000256555738095905
Sylvan Sometimes called Mediterranean, these are areas where the weather is much kinder to the needs of people.
Arcadian1,480122525505565453 Bucolic1,750143525506070453 Idyl1,750143525506070454 Sylvan1,980184535506575455
Sheltered Small pockets where the unique terrain creates a distinct microbiome.
Glen78066050606070252 Dale96586050606070252 Vale1,327116050606070252 Cove1,480126050606070252
Riparian Where water meets the land, the biome is always different fro the area around it.
Stream1,80015-10-15-5-2+5---- Lake2,00017-10-15-5------25 Oasis1,75014-10-15-5-2+5---- Shoreline1,85015-10-15-10-5-5252
Deserts Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Arid regions, divided bytheir underlying nature.
Barrens201-40-50-30-20-1021 Badlands40145407010011051 Aridlands30150457595120102 Sand Sea10140357310513061
Croft Areas settled and impact by the presence of people.
Agrarian2,000-5-------5------ Range1,560-2-5-----10------ Settled650-7--+3+5+3+3---- Ruined1,100+1-5----+2+2----
Agarthan Underground Spaces
Caverns650+26555656575---- Agartha1500+3706580100110--1
Oceanic Surface and below, by general climate.
Ocean, Littoral, F5004-10-15-10-5-5252 Ocean, Littoral, C125010-10-15-5-4-4504 Ocean, Littoral, W160014-10-15+5-3-3758 Ocean, Littoral, H225018-10-15+5-2-210016 Ocean, Benthic, F5004-10-15-10-5-525-- Ocean, Benthic, C125010-10-15-5-4-450-- Ocean, Benthic, W160014-10-15+5-3-375-- Ocean, Benthic, H225018-10-15+5-2-2100--
Now, I did things this way because as I go through the animals, I am generally seeking to establish a few broad "types" of animal, and then demonstrate a bit of variation according to the latitude of the biome. What that means is that I want to have "foxes" -- so there will be a version of a fox that exists in most of the biomes, adapted to the particular biome (so I have a larger speciation profile).
That will carry over in a lot of ways, across trophic levels and throughout the foodwebs, which are also being created as a whole. For the food webs, i am going to use a variation on the larger model, with a 20 part web and 5, 7, or 9 trophic levels.
For those wondering what the hell those are, well, a foodweb is "the circle of life" -- what eats what, in a cycle. The parts are based in that, and I will have 20 creatures in each foodweb and at least three foodwebs in most biomes. The trophic level is the stuff that gives us Predators and prey, and where they sit within a foodweb -- the apex predator concept comes from that. Also, I am not an ecologist, so if an ecologist corrects me, they are probably right, but I am doing this for world and this is how it works there.
Since my world is a fantasy style one, I also have magical creatures and assorted horrible stuff out there, and this is going to help me to determine when and how they appear, as well, so that I have a stronger sense of how the ecology of the planet works, even with the disruptive influence of these problem critters.
I know it’s boring, but I just feel really good about, so thought I would share.
submitted by AEDyssonance to worldbuilding [link] [comments]
The chart lists the Biomes that are present (revised from even my prior note), and organizes them according to the latitude that they exist in (or how they affect the surrounding biome, in some cases).
It then gives the Biomass for that region (which is "grams of carbon per cubic meter over a year net"), the general temperature range information, the amount of rainfall, and then, because I not only am using the world fro an active game, I also like to roll dice when writing so that I have the sense of randomness for certain things, it also includes a relatively random chance for an encounter with a "Critter" or large lifeform, as well as the chances for the storm. I use a 30 sided die for this, because I like to work in 3's, and the die is decent enough.
Biome Chart
BiomeBiomass ProductivityEncd30Avg Yearly LowMax Yearly LowAvg Yearly TempAvg Yearly HighMax Yearly HighAvg Yearly RainfallStorm D30Frigid These biomes are always very cold, and are based in altitude or proximity to the Arctic Circle. Note that passes in Wyrlde through Mountains are often in Alpine areas.
Arctic501-20-30-15-10011 Alpine5004-40-50-30-20-10105 Taiga34023025404538754 Tundra140120-20253038102
Steppe Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Steppes. These are generally rough country, hilly, rocky, and windy; transitional areas.
Moor1,00095040505060502 Scrubland1,100105545586070603 Chaparral1,200106555687080603 Veldt1,300117565788090603
Grassland Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Grasslands. They may have small thickets or stand alone trees near riparian areas or where water is easily reached.
Heath1,500123020305060452 Prairie1,750143525506070653 Meadow1,800150-10406575854 Savanna1,6501370607580901106
Forest Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Wooded biomes. Wyrlde does not appear to have any temperate rainforests.
Timberland340230254045381754 Woodland1,25011423249556520012 Rainforest2,00018706070809027518 Jungle2,50021706070809032523
Wetland Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Wetlands.
Bog1,500125040556070704 Fen2,000185545606575756 Marsh2,500216050687590805 Swamp3,000256555738095905
Sylvan Sometimes called Mediterranean, these are areas where the weather is much kinder to the needs of people.
Arcadian1,480122525505565453 Bucolic1,750143525506070453 Idyl1,750143525506070454 Sylvan1,980184535506575455
Sheltered Small pockets where the unique terrain creates a distinct microbiome.
Glen78066050606070252 Dale96586050606070252 Vale1,327116050606070252 Cove1,480126050606070252
Riparian Where water meets the land, the biome is always different fro the area around it.
Stream1,80015-10-15-5-2+5---- Lake2,00017-10-15-5------25 Oasis1,75014-10-15-5-2+5---- Shoreline1,85015-10-15-10-5-5252
Deserts Cold, Cool, Warm, and Hot Arid regions, divided bytheir underlying nature.
Barrens201-40-50-30-20-1021 Badlands40145407010011051 Aridlands30150457595120102 Sand Sea10140357310513061
Croft Areas settled and impact by the presence of people.
Agrarian2,000-5-------5------ Range1,560-2-5-----10------ Settled650-7--+3+5+3+3---- Ruined1,100+1-5----+2+2----
Agarthan Underground Spaces
Caverns650+26555656575---- Agartha1500+3706580100110--1
Oceanic Surface and below, by general climate.
Ocean, Littoral, F5004-10-15-10-5-5252 Ocean, Littoral, C125010-10-15-5-4-4504 Ocean, Littoral, W160014-10-15+5-3-3758 Ocean, Littoral, H225018-10-15+5-2-210016 Ocean, Benthic, F5004-10-15-10-5-525-- Ocean, Benthic, C125010-10-15-5-4-450-- Ocean, Benthic, W160014-10-15+5-3-375-- Ocean, Benthic, H225018-10-15+5-2-2100--
Now, I did things this way because as I go through the animals, I am generally seeking to establish a few broad "types" of animal, and then demonstrate a bit of variation according to the latitude of the biome. What that means is that I want to have "foxes" -- so there will be a version of a fox that exists in most of the biomes, adapted to the particular biome (so I have a larger speciation profile).
That will carry over in a lot of ways, across trophic levels and throughout the foodwebs, which are also being created as a whole. For the food webs, i am going to use a variation on the larger model, with a 20 part web and 5, 7, or 9 trophic levels.
For those wondering what the hell those are, well, a foodweb is "the circle of life" -- what eats what, in a cycle. The parts are based in that, and I will have 20 creatures in each foodweb and at least three foodwebs in most biomes. The trophic level is the stuff that gives us Predators and prey, and where they sit within a foodweb -- the apex predator concept comes from that. Also, I am not an ecologist, so if an ecologist corrects me, they are probably right, but I am doing this for world and this is how it works there.
Since my world is a fantasy style one, I also have magical creatures and assorted horrible stuff out there, and this is going to help me to determine when and how they appear, as well, so that I have a stronger sense of how the ecology of the planet works, even with the disruptive influence of these problem critters.
I know it’s boring, but I just feel really good about, so thought I would share.
2024.05.14 14:56 Sweet-Count2557 Costa Rica With Kids
 | Costa Rica With Kids Hey there! Ready to embark on an unforgettable family adventure? Look no further than Costa Rica with kids!We've got you covered with all the best activities and attractions that will make your trip truly magical. From exploring breathtaking waterfalls and national parks to thrilling outdoor adventures and relaxing hot springs, Costa Rica has it all.And don't forget about the educational and cultural experiences along the way. Get ready to create lasting memories and experience the freedom of exploration in beautiful Costa Rica!Key TakeawaysCosta Rica offers a wide range of nature escapes and national parks for families to connect with nature and create lasting memories.The country provides endless opportunities for adventure and outdoor activities, such as surfing, zip-lining, and wildlife tours.Hot springs in Costa Rica, like Tabacon and Baldi, offer a tranquil oasis for relaxation and rejuvenation, with various health benefits.Educational and cultural experiences, such as the Chocolate Tour and wildlife rescue centers, allow families to learn about Costa Rican culture and environmental issues in a fun and engaging way.Waterfall and Nature EscapesWhen it comes to exploring Costa Rica with kids, one of the most exciting subtopics is Waterfall and Nature Escapes. Costa Rica is known for its breathtaking natural beauty, and there are plenty of opportunities for families to immerse themselves in the wonders of waterfalls and nature.Two must-visit attractions in this category are the La Fortuna Waterfall and the Arenal Volcano Hike.The La Fortuna Waterfall is a true hidden gem. Located near the Arenal Volcano, this stunning waterfall cascades down a 75-meter cliff into a crystal-clear pool below. The hike to the waterfall is relatively easy and suitable for families with children of all ages. Once you reach the base, you can take a refreshing swim in the pool or simply relax and take in the magnificent surroundings. It's a truly magical experience that will leave your kids in awe.Another must-do activity is the Arenal Volcano Hike. This exciting adventure takes you through the lush rainforest, where you'll have the chance to spot exotic wildlife and learn about the area's geological history. As you make your way up the volcano, you'll be rewarded with breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape. It's a great opportunity for your kids to learn about volcanoes and the importance of preserving our natural resources.Both the La Fortuna Waterfall and the Arenal Volcano Hike offer unique experiences that combine adventure and natural beauty. They provide the perfect opportunity for families to connect with nature and create lasting memories. So, if you're planning a trip to Costa Rica with your kids, make sure to include these incredible attractions in your itinerary.National Parks and WildlifeExploring the National Parks and Wildlife in Costa Rica is an incredible experience for families. The country is known for its abundant biodiversity and commitment to conservation efforts. Here are some highlights of what you can expect when visiting the national parks and encountering wildlife in Costa Rica:Wildlife encounters: Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of animal species, including monkeys, sloths, toucans, and colorful frogs. As you explore the national parks, keep your eyes peeled for these fascinating creatures. You might even have the opportunity to spot sea turtles nesting on the beaches or witness the majestic humpback whales during their migration.Conservation efforts: Costa Rica takes great pride in its conservation initiatives. The national parks are carefully managed to protect the fragile ecosystems and ensure the long-term survival of the wildlife. By visiting these parks, you not only get to enjoy the beauty of nature but also contribute to the conservation efforts that help preserve these habitats for future generations.Educational experiences: Many of the national parks offer guided tours led by knowledgeable naturalists. These experts can provide valuable insights about the wildlife and the conservation efforts in place. They'll help you and your kids learn about the importance of protecting the environment and the role each of us can play in preserving it.Exploring the national parks and encountering wildlife in Costa Rica is an adventure that will leave lasting memories for your family. It's an opportunity to witness nature's wonders up close and personal while also supporting the conservation efforts that ensure the preservation of these incredible ecosystems. So pack your binoculars and get ready for an unforgettable journey into the wild!Adventure and Outdoor ActivitiesWe can enjoy a variety of adventure and outdoor activities in Costa Rica with our kids. Costa Rica is known for its stunning landscapes and diverse ecosystems, making it the perfect destination for outdoor sports and family-friendly adventures.One popular activity is surfing, and Tamarindo is the place to be for beginners. We can take surf lessons together as a family and ride the waves of the Pacific Ocean. It's an exhilarating experience that will create lasting memories.For a thrilling aerial adventure, we can visit the Arenal Ecoglide Park. Here, we can zip line through the rainforest canopy, getting a unique perspective of Costa Rica's natural beauty. The park offers various zip line courses suitable for all ages, ensuring that everyone can participate.If we want to explore the waterways of Costa Rica, we can take a Tamarindo Estuary Boat Tour. This guided tour will take us through mangroves and provide opportunities to spot wildlife such as monkeys and crocodiles. It's a fantastic way to connect with nature and learn about the local ecosystem.For animal encounters, we can visit the Club Rio Outdoor Center. Here, we can interact with friendly animals like sloths, toucans, and monkeys. We can also enjoy activities such as horseback riding and tubing down the river. It's a great place for the whole family to have fun and discover Costa Rica's wildlife.Costa Rica offers endless opportunities for adventure and outdoor activities. From surfing to zip-lining, there's something for everyone in the family to enjoy. So pack your bags and get ready for an unforgettable journey filled with excitement and exploration in the beautiful landscapes of Costa Rica.Hot Springs and RelaxationWhen it comes to hot springs and relaxation in Costa Rica, two popular options are Tabacon Hot Springs and Baldi Hot Springs.Tabacon offers a more natural and serene setting, while Baldi is known for its larger pools and family-friendly atmosphere.Both options provide a range of activities for kids to enjoy, such as water slides and swim-up bars.Tabacon Vs. BaldiOne option for hot springs and relaxation in Costa Rica is Tabacon. Nestled at the base of the majestic Arenal Volcano, Tabacon boasts natural thermal springs surrounded by lush rainforest. The warm waters cascade into picturesque pools, creating a tranquil oasis for the whole family to enjoy.Another option is Baldi, located in La Fortuna. Baldi features a series of pools with varying temperatures, providing a range of options for relaxation. The highlight of Baldi is its exciting water slides, perfect for kids and thrill-seekers alike.Both hot springs offer unique experiences for families seeking rejuvenation and fun. Whether you prefer the serene ambiance of Tabacon or the thrilling water slides at Baldi, both hot springs offer a memorable experience. So, take your pick and soak in the natural beauty of Costa Rica's hot springs!Hot Springs BenefitsOur family's favorite way to relax and unwind in Costa Rica is by enjoying the benefits of hot springs. Not only are they incredibly soothing and rejuvenating, but they also offer numerous health benefits. Hot springs are known to improve blood circulation, relieve muscle tension, and promote a sense of calm and relaxation. They can also help with stress reduction and improve sleep quality.When it comes to the best hot springs in Costa Rica, two options stand out: Tabacon Hot Springs and Baldi Hot Springs. Tabacon is famous for its natural thermal mineral springs, surrounded by lush rainforest. It offers a variety of pools with different temperatures, waterfalls, and even a swim-up bar.On the other hand, Baldi Hot Springs features a whopping 25 thermal water pools, slides, and a kid-friendly area with shallow pools and water games. Both options provide an unforgettable experience for the whole family to enjoy.Ideal Relaxation ActivitiesFor our family, the hot springs in Costa Rica offer the perfect opportunity to relax and unwind, as well as enjoy quality time together. The benefits of relaxation are undeniable, and what better way to experience it than in the soothing waters of these natural hot springs?Here are some of the best relaxation spots in Costa Rica:Tabacon Hot Springs: Nestled at the base of the Arenal Volcano, Tabacon offers a luxurious and tranquil setting with a variety of pools and cascading waterfalls.Baldi Hot Springs: Located near La Fortuna, Baldi boasts a network of thermal pools of varying temperatures, providing a rejuvenating experience for the whole family.Ecotermales Hot Springs: This hidden gem in Arenal offers a more intimate and peaceful setting, perfect for those seeking a quieter relaxation experience.After indulging in the hot springs, it's time to explore the educational and cultural experiences that Costa Rica has to offer.Educational and Cultural ExperiencesWe thoroughly enjoyed the immersive cultural experience of the Chocolate Tour in Costa Rica. This educational tour allowed us to learn about the history and production of chocolate in the country. We got to see the entire process, from the cacao bean to the delicious chocolate bar. The tour guide was knowledgeable and engaging, making the experience fun for both kids and adults. We even had the opportunity to make our own chocolate treats, which was a highlight for the whole family.Another cultural immersion experience that we highly recommend is a visit to the Museo de los Niños, or Children's Museum. This interactive museum is designed specifically for kids, with exhibits that encourage learning through play. From science experiments to art workshops, there's something for everyone. We spent hours exploring the various exhibits, and the kids were fascinated by the hands-on activities. It was a great way to learn about Costa Rican culture while having fun.In addition to the educational tours, we also enjoyed the opportunity to observe and interact with wildlife at the Wildlife Rescue Center and Curi Cancha Reserve. These experiences allowed us to learn about the importance of conservation and the efforts being made to protect the country's diverse flora and fauna. The kids were thrilled to see sloths, monkeys, and colorful birds up close, and it sparked their interest in environmental issues.As we move on to explore the beaches and coastal attractions of Costa Rica, we look forward to the opportunity to relax and enjoy the natural beauty of the country.Beaches and Coastal AttractionsExploring the beaches and coastal attractions in Costa Rica offers a chance to relax and immerse ourselves in the natural beauty of the country. Costa Rica is known for its stunning beaches and diverse marine life, making it a perfect destination for families seeking a beach getaway.Here are a few highlights of the best family-friendly beaches and the opportunity to explore marine life in Tortuguero National Park:Tamarindo Beach: With its golden sands and gentle waves, Tamarindo Beach is a popular choice for families. Kids can enjoy building sandcastles, playing beach volleyball, or learning to surf. The beach is lined with restaurants and shops, offering a variety of dining options and souvenirs.Manuel Antonio Park: This nature reserve not only features beautiful beaches but also offers guided tours where families can spot monkeys, sloths, and a variety of colorful birds. Kids will be fascinated by the diverse wildlife and the opportunity to explore the tropical rainforest.Tortuguero National Park: This park is famous for its sea turtle nesting grounds, providing a unique opportunity for families to witness these incredible creatures up close. Take a guided tour to learn about the conservation efforts and the life cycle of sea turtles. Exploring the marine life in Tortuguero National Park is a truly unforgettable experience.Costa Rica's beaches and coastal attractions offer something for everyone in the family. Whether you prefer lounging on the beach, exploring the rich marine life, or embarking on guided nature tours, there's no shortage of activities to keep everyone entertained.Frequently Asked QuestionsAre There Any Age Restrictions or Requirements for the Ziplining Activity at Arenal Ecoglide Park?Yes, there are age restrictions and safety requirements for the ziplining activity at Arenal Ecoglide Park.To ensure the safety of all participants, there's a minimum age requirement of 8 years old. Additionally, participants must weigh between 45 and 264 pounds.The park provides all necessary safety equipment, including harnesses and helmets, and trained guides are there to assist and guide you throughout the experience.Can You Swim in the Natural Pools at Rio Celeste Waterfall?Yes, you can swim in the natural pools at Rio Celeste Waterfall. However, it's important to note that there may be swimming restrictions in place at certain times due to safety reasons or water quality concerns. It's always a good idea to check with park officials before swimming.The water at Rio Celeste is known for its beautiful blue color, which is caused by a chemical reaction between volcanic minerals and the river's water. It's a unique and memorable experience for the whole family!Are There Any Guided Tours Available for the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve?Yes, there are guided tours available for the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. These tours allow you to explore the stunning beauty of the cloud forest while being accompanied by knowledgeable guides who'll provide you with interesting information about the flora and fauna.It's a great way to learn and appreciate the unique ecosystem of the reserve. So if you're looking for an educational and memorable experience, a guided tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is definitely worth considering.How Long Does It Take to Hike to the Top of Arenal Volcano?Hiking to the top of Arenal Volcano can take around 3-4 hours, depending on your pace and fitness level. The difficulty level can vary, but it's generally considered moderate.It's best to start early in the morning to avoid the heat and have clear views of the stunning landscape.This hike offers an exciting adventure for the whole family, with opportunities to learn about the volcano's history and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.Are There Any Nearby Accommodations or Restaurants Near Cahuita National Park?Yes, there are nearby accommodations and restaurants near Cahuita National Park. There are several options for lodging, ranging from cozy bed and breakfasts to family-friendly hotels.You can also find a variety of restaurants serving delicious local cuisine, as well as international dishes. Whether you're looking for a relaxing place to stay or a tasty meal after exploring the park, you'll find plenty of options to suit your needs near Cahuita National Park.ConclusionIn conclusion, exploring Costa Rica with kids is an adventure that will create lasting memories for the whole family.Did you know that Costa Rica is home to over 5% of the world's biodiversity? This means that your children will have the opportunity to witness incredible wildlife up close and personal, fostering a love and appreciation for the natural world.So pack your bags, grab your little ones, and get ready for an unforgettable journey through the vibrant landscapes and diverse ecosystems of Costa Rica! submitted by Sweet-Count2557 to worldkidstravel [link] [comments] |
2024.05.11 23:53 QueenofPentacles112 I Love the Rain
 | I know the view from my porch-deck isn't spectacular, especially since they put up 2 new apartment buildings in front of mine and cut off my view of the mountain tree line, but I just love sitting out here when it's raining. I love being out here on many different occasions, but I have always been a lover of rain. submitted by QueenofPentacles112 to WitchesVsPatriarchy [link] [comments] Since I was a little kid, I just love when it rains. I grew up in a wooded area. The leaves and branches of trees dripping rainwater, the way everything becomes so green and vibrant during and after some good rain, the cozy and safe feeling you get when you're in a nice dry warm car or home while it's raining outside, all of it. Mostly I love how much it connects you with nature. There is something about being present while the Earth takes a big, healthy drink. It's also really cool how it all connects with the bigger picture. How the rain water you feel on your face likely came from somewhere far, far away (in my case, I believe the Amazon rainforest is the biggest source of my rain, however I'm not a meteorologist and would LOVE some of you science Goddesses to enlighten us on cool rain facts!), how that rain goes not just into the ground and trees and plants, but runs off into our creeks, and then rivers, and then the ocean; where it all cycles back to eventually become our rain again! Every little drop is important, matters, and has a purpose- just like every other natural entity of our universe. There is also data that supports the fact that running water is naturally soothing and calming. Watching water fall, hearing it. It is used in feng shui and is the reason fountains in homes are a thing. Which reminds me of Falling Waters by Frank Lloyd Wright, which I happen to live relatively close to (sorry, random tangent!)! Anyways, sitting on my porch today with my coffee, my book, my cannabis... I am at peace. I feel nourished by the rain. I give gratitude to the universe. I am happy to live in an area where rain is mostly abundant, with many natural water sources so close to me at all times. I love my local creek and grew up with it. I know it's current is raging right now. To those who suffer from weather-related and sun-related depression, I hope you feel better! And I hope that maybe the perception I shared with you can help you through this hard time. I love you! And on the other hand, I am sending my energy towards the rain clouds clearing up by tonight so maybe I can catch a rare glimpse of an Aurora borealis! Because I can have my cake and eat it too, right?! 😉 |
2024.05.10 15:50 cats64sonic The Great Gatsby: A Literary Lens On Ecosystem Ecology and Human Impacts on the Environment
Introduction:
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby," is a classic work of American literature that explores themes of love, wealth, and the pursuit of the American Dream in the Roaring Twenties. While the novel is primarily a social commentary on the excesses and disillusionments of the Jazz Age, it also offers insights into ecosystem ecology and the interconnectedness of human activities with natural systems. This essay examines the intersections between "The Great Gatsby," ecosystem ecology, biogeochemical cycles (specifically the hydrologic, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles), and human impacts on the environment.
"The Great Gatsby": Wealth, Excess, and Ecological Disruption
"The Great Gatsby" is set in the wealthy enclaves of Long Island, New York, during the 1920s, a time of unprecedented economic prosperity and cultural upheaval in the United States. The novel follows the story of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire, and his pursuit of the American Dream, as narrated by his neighbor, Nick Carraway.
At its core, "The Great Gatsby" is a story about wealth, excess, and moral decay in American society. The characters in the novel live extravagant lifestyles, characterized by lavish parties, opulent mansions, and reckless behavior. However, beneath the surface of this glittering facade lies a world of moral ambiguity, social inequality, and ecological disruption.
Ecosystem Ecology: Interactions, Dynamics, and Feedbacks
Ecosystem ecology is the study of how living organisms interact with each other and their physical environment to form self-regulating systems. Ecosystems are comprised of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components that interact and exchange energy and nutrients through various biogeochemical cycles.
In "The Great Gatsby," the ecosystem of Long Island is depicted as a microcosm of the larger American landscape, characterized by human activities such as urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural expansion. The interactions between human society and the natural environment have profound effects on the health and stability of local ecosystems.
Biogeochemical Cycles: Hydrologic, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus
Biogeochemical cycles are pathways through which elements such as water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are exchanged between living organisms, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (water bodies), and the lithosphere (rock and soil). These cycles play a critical role in regulating Earth's climate, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem functioning.
The hydrologic cycle describes the movement of water through the atmosphere, land, and oceans, driven by processes such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. In "The Great Gatsby," the characters' extravagant lifestyles and excessive water use contribute to the degradation of local water resources, such as the polluted waters of the Long Island Sound.
The carbon cycle describes the movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms through processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition. In "The Great Gatsby," the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and gasoline, contributes to atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and global climate change, as depicted by the smoky industrial landscape of the East Egg.
The nitrogen and phosphorus cycles describe the movement of these essential nutrients through the atmosphere, soil, water, and living organisms. In "The Great Gatsby," agricultural runoff from nearby farms leads to eutrophication of water bodies such as the East Egg Bay, resulting in algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and fish kills.
Human Impacts on the Environment: Urbanization, Pollution, Deforestation, Climate Change, and Habitat Destruction
Human activities have significant impacts on the environment, including habitat destruction, pollution, deforestation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. In "The Great Gatsby," these impacts are depicted through the lens of human society's excesses and moral decay.
Urbanization and industrialization lead to habitat destruction and fragmentation, as natural landscapes are converted into urban developments, roads, and industrial zones. Pollution from industrial activities, such as coal mining and factory emissions, contributes to air and water pollution, as depicted by the smoky, polluted skies and waters of Long Island.
Deforestation and agricultural expansion lead to loss of biodiversity and habitat destruction, as natural ecosystems are cleared for urban development, agriculture, and timber extraction. Climate change, driven by human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, leads to global warming, sea level rise, and extreme weather events.
Conclusion
"The Great Gatsby" offers valuable insights into the interconnectedness of human society and the natural environment, highlighting the ways in which human activities impact local ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles. By examining the intersections between literature, ecosystem ecology,
biogeochemical cycles, and human impacts on the environment, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics of human-nature interactions and the importance of environmental stewardship and sustainability in shaping our collective future.
As we navigate the challenges of the 21st century, it is essential to recognize the ways in which our actions affect the health and stability of ecosystems around the world. By promoting conservation, sustainable development, and responsible stewardship of natural resources, we can work towards a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable future for all. Just as the characters in "The Great Gatsby" grapple with the consequences of their actions, so too must we confront the ecological realities of our time and strive to build a better world for future generations.
submitted by cats64sonic to DecreasinglyVerbose [link] [comments]
F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, "The Great Gatsby," is a classic work of American literature that explores themes of love, wealth, and the pursuit of the American Dream in the Roaring Twenties. While the novel is primarily a social commentary on the excesses and disillusionments of the Jazz Age, it also offers insights into ecosystem ecology and the interconnectedness of human activities with natural systems. This essay examines the intersections between "The Great Gatsby," ecosystem ecology, biogeochemical cycles (specifically the hydrologic, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles), and human impacts on the environment.
"The Great Gatsby": Wealth, Excess, and Ecological Disruption
"The Great Gatsby" is set in the wealthy enclaves of Long Island, New York, during the 1920s, a time of unprecedented economic prosperity and cultural upheaval in the United States. The novel follows the story of Jay Gatsby, a mysterious millionaire, and his pursuit of the American Dream, as narrated by his neighbor, Nick Carraway.
At its core, "The Great Gatsby" is a story about wealth, excess, and moral decay in American society. The characters in the novel live extravagant lifestyles, characterized by lavish parties, opulent mansions, and reckless behavior. However, beneath the surface of this glittering facade lies a world of moral ambiguity, social inequality, and ecological disruption.
Ecosystem Ecology: Interactions, Dynamics, and Feedbacks
Ecosystem ecology is the study of how living organisms interact with each other and their physical environment to form self-regulating systems. Ecosystems are comprised of biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components that interact and exchange energy and nutrients through various biogeochemical cycles.
In "The Great Gatsby," the ecosystem of Long Island is depicted as a microcosm of the larger American landscape, characterized by human activities such as urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural expansion. The interactions between human society and the natural environment have profound effects on the health and stability of local ecosystems.
Biogeochemical Cycles: Hydrologic, Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus
Biogeochemical cycles are pathways through which elements such as water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus are exchanged between living organisms, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere (water bodies), and the lithosphere (rock and soil). These cycles play a critical role in regulating Earth's climate, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem functioning.
The hydrologic cycle describes the movement of water through the atmosphere, land, and oceans, driven by processes such as evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff. In "The Great Gatsby," the characters' extravagant lifestyles and excessive water use contribute to the degradation of local water resources, such as the polluted waters of the Long Island Sound.
The carbon cycle describes the movement of carbon between the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms through processes such as photosynthesis, respiration, and decomposition. In "The Great Gatsby," the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal and gasoline, contributes to atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and global climate change, as depicted by the smoky industrial landscape of the East Egg.
The nitrogen and phosphorus cycles describe the movement of these essential nutrients through the atmosphere, soil, water, and living organisms. In "The Great Gatsby," agricultural runoff from nearby farms leads to eutrophication of water bodies such as the East Egg Bay, resulting in algal blooms, oxygen depletion, and fish kills.
Human Impacts on the Environment: Urbanization, Pollution, Deforestation, Climate Change, and Habitat Destruction
Human activities have significant impacts on the environment, including habitat destruction, pollution, deforestation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. In "The Great Gatsby," these impacts are depicted through the lens of human society's excesses and moral decay.
Urbanization and industrialization lead to habitat destruction and fragmentation, as natural landscapes are converted into urban developments, roads, and industrial zones. Pollution from industrial activities, such as coal mining and factory emissions, contributes to air and water pollution, as depicted by the smoky, polluted skies and waters of Long Island.
Deforestation and agricultural expansion lead to loss of biodiversity and habitat destruction, as natural ecosystems are cleared for urban development, agriculture, and timber extraction. Climate change, driven by human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation, leads to global warming, sea level rise, and extreme weather events.
Conclusion
"The Great Gatsby" offers valuable insights into the interconnectedness of human society and the natural environment, highlighting the ways in which human activities impact local ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles. By examining the intersections between literature, ecosystem ecology,
biogeochemical cycles, and human impacts on the environment, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics of human-nature interactions and the importance of environmental stewardship and sustainability in shaping our collective future.
As we navigate the challenges of the 21st century, it is essential to recognize the ways in which our actions affect the health and stability of ecosystems around the world. By promoting conservation, sustainable development, and responsible stewardship of natural resources, we can work towards a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable future for all. Just as the characters in "The Great Gatsby" grapple with the consequences of their actions, so too must we confront the ecological realities of our time and strive to build a better world for future generations.
2024.05.09 22:46 hoggersbridge Engines of Arachnea: A Science Fantasy Epic [Chapter 8: Apex]
On iridescent wings she soared, borne aloft by the wild thermals sweeping up the sides of the valley. To the west the setting suns were orange yolks dipping into the hard, stony crust of the horizon. A sheer thrill ran through Zildiz’s body; it was time once more to fulfill her glorious purpose.
Among the glittering, pebbly shores and hissing reeds of the wetlands far below, prey-forms emerged into the cooling dusk. Thick clouds of winged kester-gnats jostled fiercely for their mating rights, each one as long as her forearm. Meanwhile, tall water dancers rowed across the surface of the placid lakes and estuaries, their oar-like limbs sending them jetting forward, keeping just ahead of the schools of carnivorous nerids which splashed after them, sleek silver bodies flashing through the air.
Zildiz tracked one such school through the bulging set of compound eyes that took up most of her face, tucking her limbs and two pairs of wings and plummeting into a steep dive. Catching this prey-form required absolute precision as she streaked so close to the surface of the water that she felt the tips of her toes getting wet. Pulling up at the last millisecond, Zildiz shot out with her legs and snatched a nerid right at the apex of its leap, her clawed feet piercing through its armored exoskeleton to fix it in place while the other kept its thrashing mandibles from reaching up and disemboweling her. Quick as lightning she reached down with her mouth and bit into the base of its head, wrenching it off in one quick motion and then squeezing the sides of its abdomen so that its guts turned inside out like meat from a sausage casing.
Zildiz gobbled down the juicy morsels and flung the empty casing aside and immediately began casting about for more. Her exomorph’s two pairs of wings were each more than seven meters in length and granted her omnidirectional flight. She flitted back and forth and side to side, snatching nerids wherever she went and strewing their empty shell casings in her wake.
Like most of the aerial caste, hunting took up most of her day. The sheer amount of calories burned per minute of flight meant that she had to feed incessantly throughout the small window of time afforded to her in the hours of dusk. But far from being a nuisance to her, Zildiz exulted in her role in the order of things. What better way to serve the Vitalus than to trim the excess within the system, filling her belly all the while?
It was only these precious moments of opportunity that she felt truly alive, sheer exhilaration accentuating her natural desire to prove herself. For though her adolescent body had yet to grow into its prime, Zildiz did not believe in taking things slowly.
Feeling a sudden hankering for larger prey she zipped after one of the water dancers, darting right between its tall legs and hovering in place right below its abdomen. The beast mooed and lowed like a buffalo and tried to row itself clear. With a flick of her wrist Zildiz unsheathed her mantid limbs, the jointed blades unfolding from her beneath her forearms, serrated teeth sharp as razors.
With a single swipe she severed the water dancer’s twiggy limbs and seized its falling body with her teeth, dragging it ashore on one of the mudbanks surrounded by tall bamboo thickets. Since it was too heavy to carry in the air she folded her wings and climbed up the sturdy grasses, the water dancer clamped firmly in her jaws. Perched on the top of the swaying bamboo, nibbling daintily on the still-twitching carcass, Zildiz watched as the sky turned bronze and then a deep russet, the first evening stars peeking shyly behind the thinning clouds.
She let out a contented belch and reclined among the branches. It felt good to look upon the perfection of the All-In-One and to know she had a place within Its holy design. She was a Gallivant, the apex predator at the very pinnacle of the food chain.
But they were more than just that. Gallivants were the greatest creations of the Vitalus, partners and protégés in the never-ending effort to perfect the living systems of Arachnea. It was the Gallivants who pruned the tree of evolution, shaving off the excess species while shepherding others in their mutual struggle to survive. It was flattering to think how much faith It placed in them and how indispensable they were to the great scheme of things.
She was still musing on this when the All-In-One decided to disabuse her of such delusions.
The first she felt of the attack was a powerful tug on her leg that sent her toppling from her perch. In hindsight, the only thing that saved her was the half-eaten body of her prey which became lodged between the bamboo shoots, and which she held onto for dear life as a barbed tongue covered in adhesive slime wrapped itself around her ankle. Looking over her shoulder in alarm, she saw ferns and fronds on the water’s surface pushed aside to reveal an enormous horka toad, fanged mouth gaping wide to receive her.
Knowing she had only seconds to act before the monster swallowed her whole, Zildiz swung her mantid blade at the grasping tongue, only for the leathery flesh to turn it aside. Feeling the hot flush of terror she sawed at it with the teeth of her blade and was rewarded with a geyser of blood. Croaking in agony, the horker toad gave another terrific yank, wrenching so hard that the carcass she was hanging onto like grim death came apart in her hands. Zildiz fell to earth in an ungainly heap, a startled cry loosed from her lips as the beast bounded in for the kill. At the same moment she sawed through the last of the tongue and ripped herself free, then kicked off the ground with both legs, wings shuttering at blinding speed to enable a vertical takeoff, the toad’s jaws clamping shut inches away from her toes.
“You forget your place within the All-In-One,” Zildiz told it.
“Ribbit-ribbit,” it replied, hopping after her and pawing at the severed stump of its tongue. Recovering her poise, she darted in and to the side of its face, and before the amphibian could turn to face her, rammed her clawed feet into its swollen eye, gouging and tearing. The horka toad flopped back into the shallows, blood and vitreous fluid muddying the waters.
But Zildiz was far from finished. Her blood was up, and she was angered by its impertinence at interrupting her reverie. She hovered in close, baiting the creature to spring for her again, presenting her shimmering wings like a matador spreading his red cape for the bull, her intention being to put out its other eye. Once blinded she could then take the creature apart at her leisure. She would carry home chunks of the quivering flesh for the brood grubs back home—the children were always hungry. Besides, she would be doing the biome a favor by putting it out of its misery. The All-In-One had designated these horka toads an invasive species which had wandered in from the northern flood plain habitats. Their predations threatened to unbalance the delicate equilibrium of the wetlands, and the sooner they were dealt with, the better.
With its one remaining eye the horka toad fixed her in its malevolent glare. She saw its hind legs bunching up for a final spring and smiled, preparing herself for the kill.
Yet for the second time that day came the unexpected. The water all across the wetlands began to quiver and shake, a million tiny ripples radiating outwards to lick at the pebbly shores, the product of an immense ground tremor which flattened the banks and crumbled tons of sediment into the wavelets, clouding the tides with silt. Frightened, the horka toad beat a hasty retreat and dove into the safety of the cloudy waters.
Was it an earthquake? Zildiz wondered. But it couldn’t be. The All-In-One had not made arrangements for seismic activity or volcanic degassing during this cycle. In the rainforest far to the east she could hear the crash of rotten timbers giving way and ripping through the canopy. Turning her gaze to the south towards the karst canyons she heard the awful grinding of rock slipping along fault lines and the thunder of distant avalanches.
To gain a clearer picture she switched from the mosaic-like imagery of her compound vision to her pair of simple eyes. A rising plume of dust obscured much of the region, reaffirming her hunch that a volcano had erupted. Squinting hard, she could just barely make out familiar landscape of the Amit mounds, each one as tall as mountains and crowned with jagged spires, the feeder towers which regulated the atmospheric conditions of the subterranean lairs of the Amits.
Zildiz blinked. Was it her imagination, or had she just seen a shadow moving behind that veil of dust? No, that couldn’t be right. A trick of the light, perhaps? Sure enough, the debris soon settled to reveal the same familiar peaks that she’d looked upon her entire life.
Except there was a new mountain jutting out among the brown crags of the central massif. Grey and glinting in the dying light of day, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. Except, that was not entirely true. It had two arms, two legs and something that vaguely resembled a head, but the absurd immensity of it made her reject outright the possibility that it was humanoid.
Just a trick of the light, Zildiz told herself desperately.
But then before her very eyes the mountain walked, and everything came crashing down.
Link to 1st chapter here: 1st chapter on HFY
Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
submitted by hoggersbridge to HFY [link] [comments]
Among the glittering, pebbly shores and hissing reeds of the wetlands far below, prey-forms emerged into the cooling dusk. Thick clouds of winged kester-gnats jostled fiercely for their mating rights, each one as long as her forearm. Meanwhile, tall water dancers rowed across the surface of the placid lakes and estuaries, their oar-like limbs sending them jetting forward, keeping just ahead of the schools of carnivorous nerids which splashed after them, sleek silver bodies flashing through the air.
Zildiz tracked one such school through the bulging set of compound eyes that took up most of her face, tucking her limbs and two pairs of wings and plummeting into a steep dive. Catching this prey-form required absolute precision as she streaked so close to the surface of the water that she felt the tips of her toes getting wet. Pulling up at the last millisecond, Zildiz shot out with her legs and snatched a nerid right at the apex of its leap, her clawed feet piercing through its armored exoskeleton to fix it in place while the other kept its thrashing mandibles from reaching up and disemboweling her. Quick as lightning she reached down with her mouth and bit into the base of its head, wrenching it off in one quick motion and then squeezing the sides of its abdomen so that its guts turned inside out like meat from a sausage casing.
Zildiz gobbled down the juicy morsels and flung the empty casing aside and immediately began casting about for more. Her exomorph’s two pairs of wings were each more than seven meters in length and granted her omnidirectional flight. She flitted back and forth and side to side, snatching nerids wherever she went and strewing their empty shell casings in her wake.
Like most of the aerial caste, hunting took up most of her day. The sheer amount of calories burned per minute of flight meant that she had to feed incessantly throughout the small window of time afforded to her in the hours of dusk. But far from being a nuisance to her, Zildiz exulted in her role in the order of things. What better way to serve the Vitalus than to trim the excess within the system, filling her belly all the while?
It was only these precious moments of opportunity that she felt truly alive, sheer exhilaration accentuating her natural desire to prove herself. For though her adolescent body had yet to grow into its prime, Zildiz did not believe in taking things slowly.
Feeling a sudden hankering for larger prey she zipped after one of the water dancers, darting right between its tall legs and hovering in place right below its abdomen. The beast mooed and lowed like a buffalo and tried to row itself clear. With a flick of her wrist Zildiz unsheathed her mantid limbs, the jointed blades unfolding from her beneath her forearms, serrated teeth sharp as razors.
With a single swipe she severed the water dancer’s twiggy limbs and seized its falling body with her teeth, dragging it ashore on one of the mudbanks surrounded by tall bamboo thickets. Since it was too heavy to carry in the air she folded her wings and climbed up the sturdy grasses, the water dancer clamped firmly in her jaws. Perched on the top of the swaying bamboo, nibbling daintily on the still-twitching carcass, Zildiz watched as the sky turned bronze and then a deep russet, the first evening stars peeking shyly behind the thinning clouds.
She let out a contented belch and reclined among the branches. It felt good to look upon the perfection of the All-In-One and to know she had a place within Its holy design. She was a Gallivant, the apex predator at the very pinnacle of the food chain.
But they were more than just that. Gallivants were the greatest creations of the Vitalus, partners and protégés in the never-ending effort to perfect the living systems of Arachnea. It was the Gallivants who pruned the tree of evolution, shaving off the excess species while shepherding others in their mutual struggle to survive. It was flattering to think how much faith It placed in them and how indispensable they were to the great scheme of things.
She was still musing on this when the All-In-One decided to disabuse her of such delusions.
The first she felt of the attack was a powerful tug on her leg that sent her toppling from her perch. In hindsight, the only thing that saved her was the half-eaten body of her prey which became lodged between the bamboo shoots, and which she held onto for dear life as a barbed tongue covered in adhesive slime wrapped itself around her ankle. Looking over her shoulder in alarm, she saw ferns and fronds on the water’s surface pushed aside to reveal an enormous horka toad, fanged mouth gaping wide to receive her.
Knowing she had only seconds to act before the monster swallowed her whole, Zildiz swung her mantid blade at the grasping tongue, only for the leathery flesh to turn it aside. Feeling the hot flush of terror she sawed at it with the teeth of her blade and was rewarded with a geyser of blood. Croaking in agony, the horker toad gave another terrific yank, wrenching so hard that the carcass she was hanging onto like grim death came apart in her hands. Zildiz fell to earth in an ungainly heap, a startled cry loosed from her lips as the beast bounded in for the kill. At the same moment she sawed through the last of the tongue and ripped herself free, then kicked off the ground with both legs, wings shuttering at blinding speed to enable a vertical takeoff, the toad’s jaws clamping shut inches away from her toes.
“You forget your place within the All-In-One,” Zildiz told it.
“Ribbit-ribbit,” it replied, hopping after her and pawing at the severed stump of its tongue. Recovering her poise, she darted in and to the side of its face, and before the amphibian could turn to face her, rammed her clawed feet into its swollen eye, gouging and tearing. The horka toad flopped back into the shallows, blood and vitreous fluid muddying the waters.
But Zildiz was far from finished. Her blood was up, and she was angered by its impertinence at interrupting her reverie. She hovered in close, baiting the creature to spring for her again, presenting her shimmering wings like a matador spreading his red cape for the bull, her intention being to put out its other eye. Once blinded she could then take the creature apart at her leisure. She would carry home chunks of the quivering flesh for the brood grubs back home—the children were always hungry. Besides, she would be doing the biome a favor by putting it out of its misery. The All-In-One had designated these horka toads an invasive species which had wandered in from the northern flood plain habitats. Their predations threatened to unbalance the delicate equilibrium of the wetlands, and the sooner they were dealt with, the better.
With its one remaining eye the horka toad fixed her in its malevolent glare. She saw its hind legs bunching up for a final spring and smiled, preparing herself for the kill.
Yet for the second time that day came the unexpected. The water all across the wetlands began to quiver and shake, a million tiny ripples radiating outwards to lick at the pebbly shores, the product of an immense ground tremor which flattened the banks and crumbled tons of sediment into the wavelets, clouding the tides with silt. Frightened, the horka toad beat a hasty retreat and dove into the safety of the cloudy waters.
Was it an earthquake? Zildiz wondered. But it couldn’t be. The All-In-One had not made arrangements for seismic activity or volcanic degassing during this cycle. In the rainforest far to the east she could hear the crash of rotten timbers giving way and ripping through the canopy. Turning her gaze to the south towards the karst canyons she heard the awful grinding of rock slipping along fault lines and the thunder of distant avalanches.
To gain a clearer picture she switched from the mosaic-like imagery of her compound vision to her pair of simple eyes. A rising plume of dust obscured much of the region, reaffirming her hunch that a volcano had erupted. Squinting hard, she could just barely make out familiar landscape of the Amit mounds, each one as tall as mountains and crowned with jagged spires, the feeder towers which regulated the atmospheric conditions of the subterranean lairs of the Amits.
Zildiz blinked. Was it her imagination, or had she just seen a shadow moving behind that veil of dust? No, that couldn’t be right. A trick of the light, perhaps? Sure enough, the debris soon settled to reveal the same familiar peaks that she’d looked upon her entire life.
Except there was a new mountain jutting out among the brown crags of the central massif. Grey and glinting in the dying light of day, it was like nothing she had ever seen before. Except, that was not entirely true. It had two arms, two legs and something that vaguely resembled a head, but the absurd immensity of it made her reject outright the possibility that it was humanoid.
Just a trick of the light, Zildiz told herself desperately.
But then before her very eyes the mountain walked, and everything came crashing down.
Link to 1st chapter here: 1st chapter on HFY
Link for all the chapters available here: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
2024.05.05 18:01 Accurate-Broccoli-77 The Canines, anthropomorphic dogs, and their role on Earth and beyond.
 | submitted by Accurate-Broccoli-77 to LumenUniverse [link] [comments] Canine in the Canidae Grasslands The Canidae, commonly known as Canines, are a sapient species that evolved on Earth from domesticated and wild dog ancestors. Canine society is structured around strong pack hierarchies and fierce territorial instincts. Despite their quadrupedal ancestry, Canines have adapted to be able to walk bipedally when needed to interact with other sapient species, though moving on all fours remains their preferred mode of locomotion. Their civilization is roughly equivalent in technological sophistication to 19th century humanity. Etymology and DefinitionThe scientific name for Canines, Canis sapiens, is derived from the Latin "canis" meaning "dog" and "sapiens" meaning "wise". Thus the name translates to "wise dog", reflecting their sapient intelligence that emerged from canine ancestors.Evolutionary HistoryCanines evolved relatively recently, diverging from Earth's dog species in the early 4th millennium due to a combination of natural evolution and genetic manipulation by human scientists. This clandestine bioengineering project, retrospectively known as Project Ascendancy, imbued various species including canines with sapient intelligence around the year 4280. Adapting to Earth's post-cataclysmic environment, proto-Canine packs gradually developed complex social structures, tool usage, and language - key traits of their civilization.SubspeciesCanine subspecies have adapted to thrive in different environments across Earth:
Canine-Elder HybridsRare hybrid Canines also exist, mingling traits of Canines with the mysterious Elders:
BiologyCanines retain the same biological fundamentals as their ancient ancestors, being fur-covered, warm-blooded mammals. However, their physiology has adapted to enable more dexterous tool manipulation and a greater range of vocalizations for language. Brain size and structure has expanded to accommodate higher cognition. Physical attributes vary between subspecies but commonly include keen senses of hearing and smell, swift running speed, and formidable jaws.IntelligenceWith intelligence roughly comparable to 19th century humans, Canines are fully sapient and capable of complex reasoning, language, culture, and technology. However, their cognition remains rooted in their evolutionary past, specialized for thinking and problem-solving in terms of pack social dynamics, hunting, territorial mapping, and other dog-relevant contexts. Canine intelligence combines wild instinct with civilized ingenuity.SocietyCanine society centers on the pack as the core social unit, characterized by strong cooperative bonds, fierce loyalty to packmates, and wariness of outsiders. Complex pack hierarchies based on familial ties, merit, and ritual determine leadership and responsibilities. Territories have well-defined borders that are communally patrolled and marked.Packs coalesce into intricate societies at wider levels of Bands, Regions and Nations that together make up the entirety of Canine civilization. Governance occurs through dominance hierarchies and councils of elders practicing collaborative but resolute decision-making. Laws derive from long-standing traditions and the guidance of revered ancestors. Canine society retains an intimate, sacred connection to the natural world. The changing of seasons, lunar and solar cycles, and the migrations of prey hold immense cultural weight. Hunting is as much a bonding ritual as an economic necessity. Stewardship and respect for the environment is a core Canine value. CultureThe oral tradition reigns supreme in Canine culture, with revered Lorekeepers and storytellers passing on history, mythology, and practical knowledge to younger generations. Most Canines do not read or write. Communication places great emphasis on body language, pheromones, and other subtle cues that convey richer meaning than words alone.Howling features prominently as an art form, with ceremonial howls and chants used for spiritual expression, social bonding, and long distance messaging. Rituals celebrating ancestral pack heroes and spirits of nature are the cornerstone of Canine spiritual life. Ceremonies are often timed to astronomical events and season changes. The ethics of "pack first" loyalty, honor, and devotion to duty permeate all aspects of culture. TechnologyThough very intelligent, Canine technology remains less advanced than contemporary human capabilities due to their non-industrial society and cultural focus on tradition over innovation. Much Canine technology consists of elegant but pre-industrial stone, wood, and bone tools supplemented by repurposed scavenged artifacts.However, in the realms of biotechnology, such as selective breeding, pheromone communication, and herbal medicines, Canine capabilities are extremely sophisticated. With the careful guidance of Lumen mentors, some Canine groups are beginning to adopt early industrial technologies and scientific theories, signalling a potential for rapid future advancement. Relations with Other SpeciesCanines have limited experience interacting with other sapient species beyond the Lumen guides who discreetly oversee their development. Small scale encounters and cultural exchanges with Cephalopods, Felines, Sus and others do occur, but many Canines remain wary of outsiders. As a young civilization, they are only beginning to navigate the complex realities of interspecies diplomacy. However, the forward-thinking leadership of the Canine Intergalactic Nations and Factions suggests the potential for the Canidae to take on a greater role in the galactic community in the future. Canine in the Canidae Grasslands |
2024.04.30 12:22 shiroukotomine When you think about it Hexxus in Ferngully could have saved the environment by consuming pollutants generated by humans. He may have been part of a symbiotic system that the fairies mistakenly sealed with magic.
Basically as I laid out in this post, in the movie Ferngully : The last rainforest, the main villain is Hexxus, a supernatural being that feeds on the byproducts of environmental destruction either caused by humans like pollution or by nature like volcanoes.
In the movie it's shown that he originally appeared from the below the Earth through some kind of volcanic eruption and thrives by feeding on smoke, sludge and slime made by all that until he was sealed inside a tree by fairy magic.
He was only released later by modern humans who cut the tree that let him enter the vehicle, and then control it to take revenge on the inhabitants of Ferngully who inprisoned him and fed on its smoke.
But when you think about it, this guy is the perfect solution to most of both humanity's and the environment's problems if he only needs to eat released pollutants. Imagine if this guy could be persuaded to live in the human world in factories where he could eat all that stuff forever.
Humans can then then burn fossil fuels in industries without causing environmental damage and Hexxus gets to have an all you can eat buffet without hurting anyone. It could have been a symbiotic relationship.
Honestly Hexxus' existence might have been nature's solution to humanity and by sealing him the fairies might have inadvertently removed the thing that could have prevented the holocene extinction.
In the intro it shows that humans lived alongside fairies until they were forced to leave due to the volcanic eruption scaring them off and making the fairies think they went extinct and vice versa.
Maybe like in the Monsterverse where Godzilla, Mothra and ancient humans were part of a symbiotic relationship maybe in an alternate universe, humans, fairies and Hexxus could have coexisted in a similar way.
Like maybe fairies help nature grow with creation magic, humans destroy parts of nature when there's overgrowth with technology and industry, and Hexxus cleans up after the humans by eating their byproducts resulting in a mutually beneficial symbiotic cycle that helps maintain a healthy planet.
submitted by shiroukotomine to FanTheories [link] [comments]
In the movie it's shown that he originally appeared from the below the Earth through some kind of volcanic eruption and thrives by feeding on smoke, sludge and slime made by all that until he was sealed inside a tree by fairy magic.
He was only released later by modern humans who cut the tree that let him enter the vehicle, and then control it to take revenge on the inhabitants of Ferngully who inprisoned him and fed on its smoke.
But when you think about it, this guy is the perfect solution to most of both humanity's and the environment's problems if he only needs to eat released pollutants. Imagine if this guy could be persuaded to live in the human world in factories where he could eat all that stuff forever.
Humans can then then burn fossil fuels in industries without causing environmental damage and Hexxus gets to have an all you can eat buffet without hurting anyone. It could have been a symbiotic relationship.
Honestly Hexxus' existence might have been nature's solution to humanity and by sealing him the fairies might have inadvertently removed the thing that could have prevented the holocene extinction.
In the intro it shows that humans lived alongside fairies until they were forced to leave due to the volcanic eruption scaring them off and making the fairies think they went extinct and vice versa.
Maybe like in the Monsterverse where Godzilla, Mothra and ancient humans were part of a symbiotic relationship maybe in an alternate universe, humans, fairies and Hexxus could have coexisted in a similar way.
Like maybe fairies help nature grow with creation magic, humans destroy parts of nature when there's overgrowth with technology and industry, and Hexxus cleans up after the humans by eating their byproducts resulting in a mutually beneficial symbiotic cycle that helps maintain a healthy planet.
2024.04.29 09:19 grandpardowntown Things to Do near Granville Street
Centrally located in downtown Vancouver, Granville Street provides convenient access to a diverse range of attractions and activities within close proximity of many centrally-located hotels. Spanning Burrard Inlet, the iconic Granville Street Bridge connects visitors on foot to the colourful shops, artisan markets and stages of Granville Island for culture and entertainment. Nature lovers can explore the botanical gardens and open park spaces of VanDusen Botanical Garden and Queen Elizabeth Park for calm respite. Thrills and recreation await at Stanley Park's coastal rainforest trails and the Vancouver Aquarium. No matter your interests, Granville Street serves as an ideal home base with hotels to rest your head after experiencing the best of what Vancouver has to offer each day.
For those seeking accommodation in close proximity, Granville Street offers a plethora of hotels, ranging from budget-friendly options to luxurious retreats. These convenient lodgings not only provide easy access to the Orpheum Theatre but also place guests within walking distance of numerous other attractions, restaurants, and nightlife hotspots. Whether attending a captivating show or simply admiring the theater's grand facade, the Orpheum remains a cherished highlight for anyone exploring the vibrant cultural tapestry of Vancouver.
submitted by grandpardowntown to u/grandpardowntown [link] [comments]
Granville Street Bridge
Spanning nearly 1500 feet over the waters of Burrard Inlet, the iconic Granville Street Bridge connects downtown Vancouver to the west. Often mistakenly referred to as the Granville Bridge, its official name pays homage to the street it draws thousands of people to each day. In addition to providing a vital transportation route, the bridge has become one of Vancouver's most iconic landmarks since its opening in 1954. Visitors can stop halfway across to take in panoramic views of the North Shore mountains, English Bay, Stanley Park, and the glittering Vancouver skyline from elevated vantage points. On warm summer evenings, the bridge is also a popular spot for locals and tourists who walk or bike over to admire the sunset colors reflecting off the water. It's the perfect photo opportunity to capture the heart of Vancouver from above the scenic Burrard Inlet.VanDusen Botanical Garden
Located just a few kilometers from downtown hotels on Granville Street, VanDusen Botanical Garden offers a tranquil retreat amidst a stunning 57 acres of landscape. Wander the thematic gardens where different plant collections are shown off to their best advantage, from the traditional English Garden to the vibrant blooms of the Asian valley. Visitors can also relax by Picnic Pond or stroll under the shade of mature tree collections from around the world. Seasonal highlights include abundant camellias in late winter, colorful azaleas in spring, fragrant lilies in summer, and changing foliage hues in fall. Knowledgeable gardeners are often on hand to answer questions from guests. As one of North America's most extensive collections of ornamental trees, shrubs and flowers, VanDusen Botanical Garden provides a scenic green escape just a short drive or bike ride from hotels in the heart of downtown Vancouver.Queen Elizabeth Park
Located high above Vancouver with expansive views of the city skyline and Burrard Inlet, Queen Elizabeth Park can be easily reached via a scenic 15-minute drive from hotels on Granville Street. Sprawling over 70 hectares, the urban oasis features extensive gardens and open green spaces ideal for picnics or informal games. Families frequently come to let children burn off energy on the playground or water features while admiring the surrounding vistas. Joggers and dog-walkers also enjoy the park's paths winding through expanses of native foliage, and many visitors take a leisurely stroll to read interpretive signs highlighting the different plant collections. With such close proximity to downtown, Queen Elizabeth Park serves as a welcome natural escape for hotel guests looking to enjoy Vancouver's beauty from new perspectives high above the bustle.Stanley Park
Located just minutes from many hotels along Granville Street via car or public transit, Stanley Park offers a variety of attractions and activities for visitors of all ages. Sprawling over 1,000 acres, the urban rainforest is a scenic sanctuary amidst Vancouver's bustling downtown. Guests staying at hotels on granville street accommodation options often begin or end their day in Stanley Park, with miles of stunning seawall paths ideal for walking, jogging, or cycling amongst the towering trees. Other popular destinations include the Totem Poles detailing First Nations heritage, the Vancouver Aquarium showcasing marine wildlife, and parks for picnicking with views of the North Shore mountains. With so much natural beauty accessible directly from centrally-located hotels, Stanley Park has long been one of Vancouver's most cherished green spaces attracting residents and travelers alike.Granville Island
Located just south of downtown Vancouver and accessible by foot traffic over the charming Granville Street Bridge, Granville Island has developed into one of the city's most popular urban destinations. The former industrial lands have been transformed into a vibrant cultural and recreational hub bursting with character. Visitors from Granville Street hotels can spend the afternoon browsing the Public Market for artisan foods, sampling tastes from diverse cafes and restaurants, or exploring the shops selling eclectic gifts and souvenirs. Numerous street performers entertain passersby throughout the lively plaza areas. Arts aficionados will also find top-notch galleries and theaters showcasing the work of local talents. A stroll along the docks offers scenic views back toward Vancouver's glistening skyline. Granville Island's compact size makes it ideally suited for leisurely days without needing transport.Orpheum Theatre
The Orpheum Theatre, a magnificent vaudeville palace dating back to 1927, stands as a resplendent architectural gem along Granville Street. This opulent venue, with its ornate rococo interior and grand proscenium arch, transports audiences to an era of lavish entertainment. The Orpheum's storied history has seen it host a multitude of acclaimed performances, from Broadway musicals and classical concerts to comedy acts and film screenings. Today, it remains a premier cultural destination, attracting both locals and visitors alike with its diverse programming and unparalleled ambiance.For those seeking accommodation in close proximity, Granville Street offers a plethora of hotels, ranging from budget-friendly options to luxurious retreats. These convenient lodgings not only provide easy access to the Orpheum Theatre but also place guests within walking distance of numerous other attractions, restaurants, and nightlife hotspots. Whether attending a captivating show or simply admiring the theater's grand facade, the Orpheum remains a cherished highlight for anyone exploring the vibrant cultural tapestry of Vancouver.
Conclusion
From scenic bridges and gardens to vibrant neighbourhoods and urban forests, the diverse choices within walking distance of Granville Street hotels guarantee something new on every visit. Whether enjoying world-class performing arts, browsing local artisans or appreciating Vancouver's natural beauty up-close, this bustling downtown core provides the perfect starting point for making endless memorable experiences. With so much beauty and character encapsulating this vibrant city, travellers will surely dream of returning time and again to Granville Street to uncover more of what makes Vancouver such a unique Pacific destination.2024.04.27 18:20 ImpressiveBaker2146 The rhythm of life in the rainforest is dictated by the cycles of nature and the interactions of its inhabitants.
submitted by ImpressiveBaker2146 to u/ImpressiveBaker2146 [link] [comments]
2024.04.27 15:19 Adventurous_Poet_315 It All Finally Adds Up For Me: Endless Summer
ATTENTION: HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven't read the series, please skip that post. It contains spoilers from all the 3 books.
After reading ES for like 20 times, I've finally realised the following:
So we know in ES how the last chapters of Book 2 shows the literal end of the world with the magma everywhere right? But as we can recall, this apocalypse has been ongoing since the group landed on La Huerta as the world was covered in lava, the island alone stayed safe. The storm through which they flew in was them entering the protection bubble at the exact moment Mount Atropo erupted and plunged the world in the prehistoric era. That, we know at least.
An interesting observation I've made now is that the constellations seen by MC and Sean in the Observatory is a reflection of the ones formerly visible at a time when the crust was still cooling; when the earth was being formed. So, they weren't seeing a projection but rather the real sky above their heads as it was billions of years ago and that is why in the last chapter of book 1, those ancient constellations are being referenced as the key to finding Rourke's password. That is because there is no longer any other constellations as the ones we know are now lost with the apocalypse. The sky has thus always been like this, despite their desire to go back to their own country, they were still living in the end of times and book 1 just depicts that there is no way they can go back to that former world. They have always been living in the apocalypse, they just didn't know it. The radio transmissions they heard were from the present, not the future.
La Huerta itself is a massive concentration of energy that can destruct the whole world. This concentration, reaching a climax through Mount Atropo, thus entailed that catastrophic eruption which was a gigantic burst of energy which altered time and space. The crystals are just small sources of that energy which is the very essence of the island and it caused the world's doom through the eruption.
There is another theory that's about the Endless. Given that they landed multiple times on the island which is stuck in a time loop, the 2000+ times she had been resetting that time loop led her to do that until the end of the world. There's a theory that the world hasn't actually ended the day they came on La Huerta, like the very first time they arrived, out of the time loop. This is why it is mentioned that the cycle is broken; the start of chapter 1 is actually the last time The Endless has brought them back in time to save them as the world has already ended. Taking them back in time one more time would be physically impossible as Hartfeld would already be on fire.
So, it's very likely possible that the Endless created several versions of MC who have all died while only he/she has remained alive with the time crystals. If we analyse that correctly, we would see that The Endless did exactly what Rourke did in terms of exploiting the use of the glowing crystals-- she has harnessed them over and over again to save our friends.
And my guess is that The Endless found out about the crystals on the day they went to search for the shelter in Chapter 2 or 3. It is mentioned that all of them died during the first time, that is what we can see through the Andromeda amber idol as she is burying them. As she has been walking in the rainforest, she must have them discovered those "glowing flowers, sizzling with radiation" which could actually be the formation of the crystals on the island. This is how she learned to reset the time and create her armour based on that substance to resist the effect of the time loops she's creating until the end of times and until the new version of themself get all the choices right.
He/She was then unaware that he/she was using the Island's power and spirit, just like Rourke was. This is what weakened the Island's heart, which conserved the soul of Vaanu. That is why MC is the missing piece as he/she is the embodiment of that power that created him/her. In reality, this same spirit is what possessed Quinn, it was Vaanu all along who's been residing in her. When in the last chapter of Book 2, she let out that energy while in Jake's helicopter towards Arachnid, she had actually forced out Vaanu's spirit out of her. Hence, this is why she no longer feels the connection to the island's spirit afterwards, and why they start physically seeing Vaanu in an ethereal form in book 3 as he was no longer possessing Quinn. He feels drawn to help our friends and thus reflects MC's purpose in life: to help all of them. Because MC could only bring back the way it was by fusing with Vaanu, and that choice can only be made when he/she would have finally developped an unconditional love and affection towards all of them.
Rourke's password reflects this perspective that everything does add up. In fact, he's the true mastermind behind everything. He knew the true power of La Huerta, the inevitability of the world ending and the time loops issue which would be put in place by The Endless, hence why he went into that pod. Since he needed MC's power to activate Project Janus, that is why he waited and waited till the end of the world for their arrival, for all the 2000 time loops to happen and for the cycle to be broken. His password mirrors the stance we'll develop at the end of the series, that we would see everything making sense and after 4 years of reading ES 4-5 times per year, it finally does.
And let me conclude by saying that those who wrote that masterpiece are absolute geniuses. Such a complex storyline can only be 100% understood after reading it numerous times, over and over again while learning something new each time. PB really outdid itself with such a chef-d'œuvre which is worth a television series ❤️
submitted by Adventurous_Poet_315 to Choices [link] [comments]
After reading ES for like 20 times, I've finally realised the following:
So we know in ES how the last chapters of Book 2 shows the literal end of the world with the magma everywhere right? But as we can recall, this apocalypse has been ongoing since the group landed on La Huerta as the world was covered in lava, the island alone stayed safe. The storm through which they flew in was them entering the protection bubble at the exact moment Mount Atropo erupted and plunged the world in the prehistoric era. That, we know at least.
An interesting observation I've made now is that the constellations seen by MC and Sean in the Observatory is a reflection of the ones formerly visible at a time when the crust was still cooling; when the earth was being formed. So, they weren't seeing a projection but rather the real sky above their heads as it was billions of years ago and that is why in the last chapter of book 1, those ancient constellations are being referenced as the key to finding Rourke's password. That is because there is no longer any other constellations as the ones we know are now lost with the apocalypse. The sky has thus always been like this, despite their desire to go back to their own country, they were still living in the end of times and book 1 just depicts that there is no way they can go back to that former world. They have always been living in the apocalypse, they just didn't know it. The radio transmissions they heard were from the present, not the future.
La Huerta itself is a massive concentration of energy that can destruct the whole world. This concentration, reaching a climax through Mount Atropo, thus entailed that catastrophic eruption which was a gigantic burst of energy which altered time and space. The crystals are just small sources of that energy which is the very essence of the island and it caused the world's doom through the eruption.
There is another theory that's about the Endless. Given that they landed multiple times on the island which is stuck in a time loop, the 2000+ times she had been resetting that time loop led her to do that until the end of the world. There's a theory that the world hasn't actually ended the day they came on La Huerta, like the very first time they arrived, out of the time loop. This is why it is mentioned that the cycle is broken; the start of chapter 1 is actually the last time The Endless has brought them back in time to save them as the world has already ended. Taking them back in time one more time would be physically impossible as Hartfeld would already be on fire.
So, it's very likely possible that the Endless created several versions of MC who have all died while only he/she has remained alive with the time crystals. If we analyse that correctly, we would see that The Endless did exactly what Rourke did in terms of exploiting the use of the glowing crystals-- she has harnessed them over and over again to save our friends.
And my guess is that The Endless found out about the crystals on the day they went to search for the shelter in Chapter 2 or 3. It is mentioned that all of them died during the first time, that is what we can see through the Andromeda amber idol as she is burying them. As she has been walking in the rainforest, she must have them discovered those "glowing flowers, sizzling with radiation" which could actually be the formation of the crystals on the island. This is how she learned to reset the time and create her armour based on that substance to resist the effect of the time loops she's creating until the end of times and until the new version of themself get all the choices right.
He/She was then unaware that he/she was using the Island's power and spirit, just like Rourke was. This is what weakened the Island's heart, which conserved the soul of Vaanu. That is why MC is the missing piece as he/she is the embodiment of that power that created him/her. In reality, this same spirit is what possessed Quinn, it was Vaanu all along who's been residing in her. When in the last chapter of Book 2, she let out that energy while in Jake's helicopter towards Arachnid, she had actually forced out Vaanu's spirit out of her. Hence, this is why she no longer feels the connection to the island's spirit afterwards, and why they start physically seeing Vaanu in an ethereal form in book 3 as he was no longer possessing Quinn. He feels drawn to help our friends and thus reflects MC's purpose in life: to help all of them. Because MC could only bring back the way it was by fusing with Vaanu, and that choice can only be made when he/she would have finally developped an unconditional love and affection towards all of them.
Rourke's password reflects this perspective that everything does add up. In fact, he's the true mastermind behind everything. He knew the true power of La Huerta, the inevitability of the world ending and the time loops issue which would be put in place by The Endless, hence why he went into that pod. Since he needed MC's power to activate Project Janus, that is why he waited and waited till the end of the world for their arrival, for all the 2000 time loops to happen and for the cycle to be broken. His password mirrors the stance we'll develop at the end of the series, that we would see everything making sense and after 4 years of reading ES 4-5 times per year, it finally does.
And let me conclude by saying that those who wrote that masterpiece are absolute geniuses. Such a complex storyline can only be 100% understood after reading it numerous times, over and over again while learning something new each time. PB really outdid itself with such a chef-d'œuvre which is worth a television series ❤️
2024.04.24 12:48 LeagueDefiant5382 UPSC
 | Sedimentary cycles are geologically driven , I guess ?? This is forum answer key ? Please help submitted by LeagueDefiant5382 to UPSC [link] [comments] |
2024.04.08 19:24 2639enthusiast rate my grades
 | For context I’m a freshie Idek why I’m posting, I know they’re an 11/10 smh 🙄 submitted by 2639enthusiast to school [link] [comments] |
2024.04.07 15:09 LastWeekInCollapse Last Week in Collapse: March 31-April 6, 2024
The world is gearing up for War—and they might get one.
Last Week in Collapse: March 31-April 6, 2024
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter compiling some of the most important, timely, useful, soul-crushing, ironic, stunning, exhausting, or otherwise must-see/can’t-look-away moments in Collapse.
This is the 119th newsletter. You can find the March 24-30 edition here if you missed it last week. You can also receive these posts (with images) every Sunday in your email inbox with Substack.
——————————
A 7.2 earthquake struck Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 9, injuring hundreds, and displacing thousands. A hailstorm in Pakistan killed at least 10 people. A tornado in India killed 5 and injured hundreds. Thousands of Russians evacuated after a dam burst due to snowmelt.
Australia is reportedly heading for multi-decade Megadroughts, or so a study in European Geosciences Union claims. The study claims that these Megadroughts may happen even without manmade climate change, as the region is trending to become drier.
A blistering heat wave is sweeping across Southeast Asia and the Philippines, where thousands of schools canceled classes because of the heat. In central Myanmar, temperatures reached 44 °C (111 °F). In part of the Philippines, where temporary pools were set up, it got to 42 °C (108 °F). Far away, in Burkina Faso, temperatures got higher, as much as 45 °C (113 °F), setting a record for a heat wave. In Togo and Benin, and other parts of West Africa, new records were set, monthly and/or all-time. A heat wave also scorched Morocco, with temperatures as high as 39 °C.
Austria experienced its earliest 28 °C day ever, beating the old record by 20 days. Germany finished its warmest March on record, as did Poland. Moscow set a new daily record for heat as well. The three top most “heat-trapping gasses” (CO2, CH4, and N2O) achieved record concentrations last year; so says a NOAA report on greenhouse gasses.
A group of scientists tested “marine cloud brightening,” a fairly controversial attempt at solar geoengineering, on Tuesday. The process involves spraying a salty solution into the air, in the hope that the particles will reflect solar radiation, and thereby cool the planet—or at least offset some of our record CO2 emissions. Analyzing the impact will likely take years, and the pioneers of this method estimate that 1,000+ such machines might be necessary to do much.
Experts claim that 10 football/soccer fields worth of forest are lost every minute—an area that is annually comparable to the size of Switzerland. A study on earth’s “energy imbalance” concluded that surface warming will continue to accelerate as this century drags on.
Malaga olive oil production is way down due to Drought, sending prices higher. Zimbabwe has declared a state of emergency because of Drought plaguing southern Africa and reducing harvest sizes. Mexico is allegedly in breach of a water treaty with the U.S., reducing irrigation to southern Texas farms. Micronesia is aproaching a water crisis within a few months, too. Drought in Suriname.
Lima, Peru, the world’s “second-largest desert city,” (pop: 11.5M) is experiencing a worsening water crisis. 1.5M residents in the capital megacity lack access to fresh water, and the city’s total water reserves will only last a few months in a worst-case scenario. Its river, the Rimac, is terribly polluted as well, leaching toxins into their dying soil.
The 8-page “2023 Disasters in Numbers” Report was released last week, and it claims natural disaster-related deaths (~86,500) were up about 33% when compared to the 20-year average—yet the total number of disaster-affected people is far lower than the 20-year average. The report says that 2023 had more earthquakes than average, as well as “mass movement (wet),” storms, and wildfires, yes experienced fewer Droughts, extreme temperatures, and floods. The dollar cost of all disasters was slightly up in 2023, accounting for about $203B (half related to storms, and a quarter related to earthquakes).
The iceberg codenamed A23a is being tracked as it drifts northward into the Atlantic Ocean. A couple week ago, the Arctic hit peak sea ice for the year—and it’s “below average.” Some industry experts are excited for the potential to lay new data cables after more Arctic ice melts. Rising polar temperatures are prompting scientists to label the temperature phenomenon, here to stay, a “regime shift,” better defined as “an abrupt change in the state of a system, which may or may not be associated with an irreversible change (i.e., tipping point).”
Extinction Rebellion’s co-founded Roger Hallam was sentenced to 18 months in prison for leading a drone protest which temporarily disrupted Heathrow Airport; the sentence was suspended because of the protest’s non-violent nature.
——————————
The American conglomerate 3M will begin paying out $12.5B as part of a court settlement over contaminating drinking water sources with PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.” A wide-ranging study of bandages also found PFAS in 65% of tested brands.
The Collapse of a complex system isn’t necessarily a simplification. The Lancet published a 14-page report00021-4/fulltext) on the intersections of global health threats, climate change, and biodiversity loss. For example, malaria spreads more in areas prone to flooding. Permafrost melting increases the risk of reactivated anthrax. Drought leads to greater foraging distances for bee species, putting them at risk of certain parasites. Storms and warmer weather endanger sea urchins. Fungal infections kill some trees, resulting in less carbon sequestered, topsoil depletion, and the destruction of animal habitats. Climate change worsens bird flu. And so on.
Tensions grow in Canada over a modest carbon tax—adding $0.033 cents (CAD) per liter on petrol. A 13-cent petrol-tax was imposed on Alberta as well. This tax is, among other things, threatening to sink the Liberal Party next election.
Cocoa and coffee continue surging in price. Sperm counts are dropping as temperatures rise; high temperatures are also affecting women’s egg viability. Although energy prices in Europe have dropped, analysts claim the cost of living crisis is far from over.
A study on PFAS and their subgroup chemical, PFAAs, determined that “there's a boomerang effect, and some of the toxic PFAS are re-emitted to air, transported long distances and then deposited back onto land” on shorelines across the world. Waves end up depositing PFAS chemicals onto coastlines after time spent polluting the oceans.
Zambia’s worst cholera outbreak continues—over 20,000 infected in the last 6 months. Russian authorities are reportedly trying to conceal the extent of a cholera outbreak in occupied Mariupol. The megacity Bengaluru (pop: 14M), in India, is also experiencing a cholera surge.
Dengue-stricken Argentina is finding itself lacking a must-have item: mosquito repellent. Add it to the prepper list. A Texas dairy worker contracted H5N1, and scientists are sounding the alarm yet again that a Human-to-Human transmissible variant of bird flu would be unimaginably dangerous…do you think countries would be able to contain such a pandemicif when unleashed?
For 30 years, the top causes of death in the United States were unchanged: heart disease, cancer, accidents, stroke, and respiratory illnesses (in no particular order). And then came COVID, taking the silver medal for deaths in 2021.
Antarctic krill are being poisoned by microplastics. The unintentional introduction of microplastics to archaeological sites is threatening to alter the soil composition and spur breakdown of ancient remains.
——————————
Puntland, a state within Somalia, has withdrawn its recognition of the Somalia government following constitutional changes allegedly made without their approval. Puntland, rich in oil, is distinct from Somaliland, a breakaway state which made a deal with Ethiopia and recently inflamed tensions in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is expelling Ethiopia’s ambassador. Ethiopia’s armed forces are also being accused of war crimes over a January massacre in Amhara.
Lebanese attacks have now displaced tens of thousands of Israelis living near the Israel-Lebanon border; tens of thousands of Lebanese have been displaced as well, after attacks and counterattacks continually interrupt what was once a fragile peace. Lebanon has now gone 17 months without a President; their billionaire PM is under investigation for corruption. The revelation that Israel is using AI to help target militants is a portent of how machines are influencing the targeting cycle, and what the future of machine-assisted warfare might look like.
As famine grows in Gaza, pressure for a ceasefire grows, and limited humanitarian aid is going to the powerful few with the resources and will to direct the flow of resources. The killing of 7 aid workers is reshaping government (and citizens’) positions on this conflict, though the weapons will continue to flow to Israel. The Rafah Offensive still looms near in the future, a city in southern Gaza housing 1.4M people who are abandoning hope. The displacement of so many, coupled with a ground invasion, may serve as the bloody finale to this iteration of the Israel-Palestine conflict; the War on Hamas turns 6 months old today.
A series of Russian strikes slew 8 in Kharkiv, injuring more. A Ukrainian drone strike reportedly destroyed six Russian planes near Rostov. Many more Ukrainian drones were shot down, according to Russian spokespeople. Reports are also emerging of Russian forces using chemical weapons, namely various gasses, against front line forces, another violation of international laws.
On NATO’s 75th anniversary on Thursday, a Kremlin spokesperson admitted that NATO and Russia are in “direct confrontation.” The Czech Republic posted record arms sales. Ukraine is also running low on air defence missiles, because Russia is waging a kind of economic/supply warfare: it’s cheaper to make missiles than to stop them. Germany has proposed reforms to its army, the Bundeswehr, to be implemented by October. The American Secretary of State claimed that, one day, Ukraine will join NATO.
Myanmar rebel forces launched two drone strikes against the junta-controlled capital. Later in the week the rebels seized an important town on the border with Thailand, capturing hundreds of junta soldiers.
Violence is tearing apart the remnants of Haitian society; the country has become an “open-air prison” for its nearly 12M inhabitants. 18 Balochi “terror group” militants killed 10 Iranian soldiers in southeast Iran over opposition to the Iranian regime, before being killed. Armenians continue to worry over a potential Azeri invasion to secure a road through Armenian territory to their large enclave. A mayor of a Mexican city (pop: 1M) was shot & killed while dining at a restaurant.
Cyprus’ interior minister said the country is reaching a breaking point because of Syrian migrants coming from Lebanon, mostly young men. Tensions between Cyprus and the long-Turkish-occupied half of the island have been inflamed a bit after the UN Secretary-General extended efforts to mediate the 50-year old conflict.
Ecuadorean forces raided the Mexican embassy in Quito to capture the former Ecuador VP, an incident which has caused Mexico to break off diplomatic ties with Ecuador. Protests happened in Argentina over the cutting of 15,000+ jobs and other government spending.
The Philippines is preparing for an escalation with China, concerning several thwarted Filipino attempts to resupply the BRO Sierra Madre, a rusty Filipino landing ship deliberately grounded 25 years ago on a contested shoal in the South China Sea.
——————————
Things to watch next week include:
↠ The European Court of Human Rights is set to rule next week on whether, and to what extent, governments have obligations to protect their people from the damaging effects of climate change. If the ECHR determines that the right of life is infringed by the consequences of fossil fuels, etc, it could mean a turning point in international lawfare—or provoke a backlash against the Strasbourg-based institution. Some governments are already turning against the Court over disagreements with its (theoretically) binding judgments.
Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:
-Nurses are another profession on the front lines of Collapse, judging from this cross-posted thread from nursing. The comments, including one referencing the doomy subreddits professors and teachers , portrays a cross-section of a society well into breakdown and atomization. If children are our future….look out.
-The birth of a desert in Romania is a fairly quick process, and this weekly observation, with some informative links, blames monocultures, mismanagement, and deforestation more than climate change. Some officials claim that Romania’s climate will become like Greece’s within two decades.
-Coping with Collapse is not easy for everyone—this thread crowdsources wisdom on how to emotionally handle the breakdown of civilization and environmental integrity.
Got any feedback, questions, comments, complaints, upvotes, manifestos, source recommendations, seed planting advice, etc.? Check out the Last Week in Collapse SubStack if you don’t want to check collapse every Sunday, you can receive this newsletter sent to your (or someone else’s) email inbox every weekend. What did I miss this week?
submitted by LastWeekInCollapse to collapse [link] [comments]
Last Week in Collapse: March 31-April 6, 2024
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter compiling some of the most important, timely, useful, soul-crushing, ironic, stunning, exhausting, or otherwise must-see/can’t-look-away moments in Collapse.
This is the 119th newsletter. You can find the March 24-30 edition here if you missed it last week. You can also receive these posts (with images) every Sunday in your email inbox with Substack.
——————————
A 7.2 earthquake struck Taiwan on Wednesday, killing 9, injuring hundreds, and displacing thousands. A hailstorm in Pakistan killed at least 10 people. A tornado in India killed 5 and injured hundreds. Thousands of Russians evacuated after a dam burst due to snowmelt.
Australia is reportedly heading for multi-decade Megadroughts, or so a study in European Geosciences Union claims. The study claims that these Megadroughts may happen even without manmade climate change, as the region is trending to become drier.
A blistering heat wave is sweeping across Southeast Asia and the Philippines, where thousands of schools canceled classes because of the heat. In central Myanmar, temperatures reached 44 °C (111 °F). In part of the Philippines, where temporary pools were set up, it got to 42 °C (108 °F). Far away, in Burkina Faso, temperatures got higher, as much as 45 °C (113 °F), setting a record for a heat wave. In Togo and Benin, and other parts of West Africa, new records were set, monthly and/or all-time. A heat wave also scorched Morocco, with temperatures as high as 39 °C.
Austria experienced its earliest 28 °C day ever, beating the old record by 20 days. Germany finished its warmest March on record, as did Poland. Moscow set a new daily record for heat as well. The three top most “heat-trapping gasses” (CO2, CH4, and N2O) achieved record concentrations last year; so says a NOAA report on greenhouse gasses.
A group of scientists tested “marine cloud brightening,” a fairly controversial attempt at solar geoengineering, on Tuesday. The process involves spraying a salty solution into the air, in the hope that the particles will reflect solar radiation, and thereby cool the planet—or at least offset some of our record CO2 emissions. Analyzing the impact will likely take years, and the pioneers of this method estimate that 1,000+ such machines might be necessary to do much.
Experts claim that 10 football/soccer fields worth of forest are lost every minute—an area that is annually comparable to the size of Switzerland. A study on earth’s “energy imbalance” concluded that surface warming will continue to accelerate as this century drags on.
Malaga olive oil production is way down due to Drought, sending prices higher. Zimbabwe has declared a state of emergency because of Drought plaguing southern Africa and reducing harvest sizes. Mexico is allegedly in breach of a water treaty with the U.S., reducing irrigation to southern Texas farms. Micronesia is aproaching a water crisis within a few months, too. Drought in Suriname.
Lima, Peru, the world’s “second-largest desert city,” (pop: 11.5M) is experiencing a worsening water crisis. 1.5M residents in the capital megacity lack access to fresh water, and the city’s total water reserves will only last a few months in a worst-case scenario. Its river, the Rimac, is terribly polluted as well, leaching toxins into their dying soil.
The 8-page “2023 Disasters in Numbers” Report was released last week, and it claims natural disaster-related deaths (~86,500) were up about 33% when compared to the 20-year average—yet the total number of disaster-affected people is far lower than the 20-year average. The report says that 2023 had more earthquakes than average, as well as “mass movement (wet),” storms, and wildfires, yes experienced fewer Droughts, extreme temperatures, and floods. The dollar cost of all disasters was slightly up in 2023, accounting for about $203B (half related to storms, and a quarter related to earthquakes).
The iceberg codenamed A23a is being tracked as it drifts northward into the Atlantic Ocean. A couple week ago, the Arctic hit peak sea ice for the year—and it’s “below average.” Some industry experts are excited for the potential to lay new data cables after more Arctic ice melts. Rising polar temperatures are prompting scientists to label the temperature phenomenon, here to stay, a “regime shift,” better defined as “an abrupt change in the state of a system, which may or may not be associated with an irreversible change (i.e., tipping point).”
Extinction Rebellion’s co-founded Roger Hallam was sentenced to 18 months in prison for leading a drone protest which temporarily disrupted Heathrow Airport; the sentence was suspended because of the protest’s non-violent nature.
——————————
The American conglomerate 3M will begin paying out $12.5B as part of a court settlement over contaminating drinking water sources with PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals.” A wide-ranging study of bandages also found PFAS in 65% of tested brands.
The Collapse of a complex system isn’t necessarily a simplification. The Lancet published a 14-page report00021-4/fulltext) on the intersections of global health threats, climate change, and biodiversity loss. For example, malaria spreads more in areas prone to flooding. Permafrost melting increases the risk of reactivated anthrax. Drought leads to greater foraging distances for bee species, putting them at risk of certain parasites. Storms and warmer weather endanger sea urchins. Fungal infections kill some trees, resulting in less carbon sequestered, topsoil depletion, and the destruction of animal habitats. Climate change worsens bird flu. And so on.
Tensions grow in Canada over a modest carbon tax—adding $0.033 cents (CAD) per liter on petrol. A 13-cent petrol-tax was imposed on Alberta as well. This tax is, among other things, threatening to sink the Liberal Party next election.
Cocoa and coffee continue surging in price. Sperm counts are dropping as temperatures rise; high temperatures are also affecting women’s egg viability. Although energy prices in Europe have dropped, analysts claim the cost of living crisis is far from over.
A study on PFAS and their subgroup chemical, PFAAs, determined that “there's a boomerang effect, and some of the toxic PFAS are re-emitted to air, transported long distances and then deposited back onto land” on shorelines across the world. Waves end up depositing PFAS chemicals onto coastlines after time spent polluting the oceans.
Zambia’s worst cholera outbreak continues—over 20,000 infected in the last 6 months. Russian authorities are reportedly trying to conceal the extent of a cholera outbreak in occupied Mariupol. The megacity Bengaluru (pop: 14M), in India, is also experiencing a cholera surge.
Dengue-stricken Argentina is finding itself lacking a must-have item: mosquito repellent. Add it to the prepper list. A Texas dairy worker contracted H5N1, and scientists are sounding the alarm yet again that a Human-to-Human transmissible variant of bird flu would be unimaginably dangerous…do you think countries would be able to contain such a pandemic
For 30 years, the top causes of death in the United States were unchanged: heart disease, cancer, accidents, stroke, and respiratory illnesses (in no particular order). And then came COVID, taking the silver medal for deaths in 2021.
Antarctic krill are being poisoned by microplastics. The unintentional introduction of microplastics to archaeological sites is threatening to alter the soil composition and spur breakdown of ancient remains.
——————————
Puntland, a state within Somalia, has withdrawn its recognition of the Somalia government following constitutional changes allegedly made without their approval. Puntland, rich in oil, is distinct from Somaliland, a breakaway state which made a deal with Ethiopia and recently inflamed tensions in the Horn of Africa. Somalia is expelling Ethiopia’s ambassador. Ethiopia’s armed forces are also being accused of war crimes over a January massacre in Amhara.
Lebanese attacks have now displaced tens of thousands of Israelis living near the Israel-Lebanon border; tens of thousands of Lebanese have been displaced as well, after attacks and counterattacks continually interrupt what was once a fragile peace. Lebanon has now gone 17 months without a President; their billionaire PM is under investigation for corruption. The revelation that Israel is using AI to help target militants is a portent of how machines are influencing the targeting cycle, and what the future of machine-assisted warfare might look like.
As famine grows in Gaza, pressure for a ceasefire grows, and limited humanitarian aid is going to the powerful few with the resources and will to direct the flow of resources. The killing of 7 aid workers is reshaping government (and citizens’) positions on this conflict, though the weapons will continue to flow to Israel. The Rafah Offensive still looms near in the future, a city in southern Gaza housing 1.4M people who are abandoning hope. The displacement of so many, coupled with a ground invasion, may serve as the bloody finale to this iteration of the Israel-Palestine conflict; the War on Hamas turns 6 months old today.
A series of Russian strikes slew 8 in Kharkiv, injuring more. A Ukrainian drone strike reportedly destroyed six Russian planes near Rostov. Many more Ukrainian drones were shot down, according to Russian spokespeople. Reports are also emerging of Russian forces using chemical weapons, namely various gasses, against front line forces, another violation of international laws.
On NATO’s 75th anniversary on Thursday, a Kremlin spokesperson admitted that NATO and Russia are in “direct confrontation.” The Czech Republic posted record arms sales. Ukraine is also running low on air defence missiles, because Russia is waging a kind of economic/supply warfare: it’s cheaper to make missiles than to stop them. Germany has proposed reforms to its army, the Bundeswehr, to be implemented by October. The American Secretary of State claimed that, one day, Ukraine will join NATO.
Myanmar rebel forces launched two drone strikes against the junta-controlled capital. Later in the week the rebels seized an important town on the border with Thailand, capturing hundreds of junta soldiers.
Violence is tearing apart the remnants of Haitian society; the country has become an “open-air prison” for its nearly 12M inhabitants. 18 Balochi “terror group” militants killed 10 Iranian soldiers in southeast Iran over opposition to the Iranian regime, before being killed. Armenians continue to worry over a potential Azeri invasion to secure a road through Armenian territory to their large enclave. A mayor of a Mexican city (pop: 1M) was shot & killed while dining at a restaurant.
Cyprus’ interior minister said the country is reaching a breaking point because of Syrian migrants coming from Lebanon, mostly young men. Tensions between Cyprus and the long-Turkish-occupied half of the island have been inflamed a bit after the UN Secretary-General extended efforts to mediate the 50-year old conflict.
Ecuadorean forces raided the Mexican embassy in Quito to capture the former Ecuador VP, an incident which has caused Mexico to break off diplomatic ties with Ecuador. Protests happened in Argentina over the cutting of 15,000+ jobs and other government spending.
The Philippines is preparing for an escalation with China, concerning several thwarted Filipino attempts to resupply the BRO Sierra Madre, a rusty Filipino landing ship deliberately grounded 25 years ago on a contested shoal in the South China Sea.
——————————
Things to watch next week include:
↠ The European Court of Human Rights is set to rule next week on whether, and to what extent, governments have obligations to protect their people from the damaging effects of climate change. If the ECHR determines that the right of life is infringed by the consequences of fossil fuels, etc, it could mean a turning point in international lawfare—or provoke a backlash against the Strasbourg-based institution. Some governments are already turning against the Court over disagreements with its (theoretically) binding judgments.
Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:
-Nurses are another profession on the front lines of Collapse, judging from this cross-posted thread from nursing. The comments, including one referencing the doomy subreddits professors and teachers , portrays a cross-section of a society well into breakdown and atomization. If children are our future….look out.
-The birth of a desert in Romania is a fairly quick process, and this weekly observation, with some informative links, blames monocultures, mismanagement, and deforestation more than climate change. Some officials claim that Romania’s climate will become like Greece’s within two decades.
-Coping with Collapse is not easy for everyone—this thread crowdsources wisdom on how to emotionally handle the breakdown of civilization and environmental integrity.
Got any feedback, questions, comments, complaints, upvotes, manifestos, source recommendations, seed planting advice, etc.? Check out the Last Week in Collapse SubStack if you don’t want to check collapse every Sunday, you can receive this newsletter sent to your (or someone else’s) email inbox every weekend. What did I miss this week?
2024.04.07 13:25 mixedmartialstoner April 8 is REAL. I repeat. April 8 is REAL. No action is required at this time.
This is real.
I got clued in initially through previous research. I'd read the book The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom, then listened to the slow staged disclosure when he went on Joe Rogan. I have not been able to look at any conspiracy the same again - from the Pyramids, to 9/11 to JFK to more recently Covid.
Massive power shift - the coronation of both a new King and the new international Powers that Be. This happens every 12 years all behind closed doors (the real election cycle). 2024, 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952, 1940. If you are not new to Conspiracies/Apolocalyptic predictions, I am sure you can draw connections to fears around global conflict/war, climate catastrophes and just a general sense of "the world is about to end" around these specific years.
I would also look less at symbology and divine cosmic activity (though it may trigger a time - space shift too). Cheers, CERN and the Higgs Boson (the God Particle). The Higgs field was first observed in 2012, and is effectively a forcefield/accelerator on other matter around it that could put our planet into warpspeed orbit, similar to how time would change depending upon how close or far away to the Sun we are. It would be fascinating to learn what happens when the Sun is obscured during the daytime heat, at the exact moment another Higgs Boson particle is created.
Zombies? Planet of the Apes? Mirror portals and black holes? Sea serpents? Meh, perhaps.
Ultimately, I would focus my attention on the curious activity all around us. From beneath the soil with insects uprising and tectonic plate shifts to entities that lurk under the ocean and the creatures among us. I would also keep an eye on animals, human behaviour, Antarctica and Elon.
The unstable weather events around every country right now just provide the perfect moist/humid conditions for such a fungal colony to thrive in. In any and all organisms.
Beware of what lurks beneath. For the Earth's yeast may just be activated into tidal shifting filaments from within the Earth's mantle.
It seems the Elites of mankind are just eager to get us there even faster than nature intended by adopting a Luciferian mindset and causing external and internal disorder across the globe.
April 8 is not the end, it is just another catalyst moment, continuing to steer the Earth's cycle from start to end.
It is what is it is, effectively.
EDIT: Less than 24 hours and it has been downvote bombed despite holding strong on controversy.
For those curious, you will never see the "Allegory of the Cave" shown in its most purest form than on this thread and the comments below. Bravo, gents.
submitted by mixedmartialstoner to conspiracy [link] [comments]
I got clued in initially through previous research. I'd read the book The Lucifer Principle by Howard Bloom, then listened to the slow staged disclosure when he went on Joe Rogan. I have not been able to look at any conspiracy the same again - from the Pyramids, to 9/11 to JFK to more recently Covid.
- The Lucifer Priciple explained the less talked about relationship among genetics, human behavior, and culture. It argues that “evil” is a by-product of nature’s strategies for creation and that it is woven into our most basic biological fabric. I believe the Elites have this Thanos-like philosphy underpinning their actions when creating internal and external disorder and we are once again at the end stage of a reset.
- Research has been done to study the impact of solar eclipses on microbes such as the Staph and E.Coli bacteria, as well as fungi. It can have potentially evolution-shifting impacts on things like our shared virtual reality within our time and space like Matrix, Inception, Dont Worry Darling (mass delusional psychosis), a zombie uprising (cordyceps mushrooms in Last of Us) or even a planet of the apes type scenario (the Stoned ape theory).
- The COVID vaccines consisted of SM-102 (lipid nanoparticles) which contained luciferase-encoding mRNA) and was injected into millions of people world wide.
- Fungi are also studied for their glowing properties during eclipses (including lunar eclipses). Their glow is tied to the precursor for the bioluminescence substance - “Fungal luciferin” (the 9th known luciferin in the molecular world). It works closely with the enzyme luciferase to create this greenish-bluish light.
- Both words are derived from the Latin word lucifer, meaning "lightbearer"
- The largest organism on Earth is a fungus. The giant Armillaria ostoyae (found in white button mushrooms) has the title of the world's largest known organism (the size of 1,665 football fields).
- A. ostoyae is perhaps the world's oldest living organism too - estimated anywhere between 2,400 to 8,670 years old. It causes root disease and usually destroys conifers in many parts of the U.S and Cananda
- The fungus primarily grows along tree roots via hyphae, fine filaments that mat together and excrete digestive enzymes. Armillaria has the unique ability to extend rhizomorphs, flat shoestringlike structures, that bridge gaps between food sources and expand the fungus's sweeping perimeter ever more.
- A combination of good genes and a stable environment has allowed this particularly ginormous fungus to continue its creeping existence over the past millennia.
- An Armillaria individual, or A.I as I call it, consists of a network of filament, collectively referred to as the mycelium which is not measurable with our modern day science
- Cordyceps (zombie-ant fungus) infect insects such as ants or spiders. They drain the host completely of nutrients before filling its body with spores that will let the fungus reproduce (sending toxic spores blooming from the dead ant’s head).
- The jump from insects to people is currently implausible, but not impossible. Under the right conditions, a flux in sunlight and the right temperature (via heat energy emitted from space rockets/particle accelerators and spikes in satellite signal activity) could suddenly “activate” these spores.
- Fungi already have easy host access to animals and insects (they are known to manage Rainforest overpopulation by targetting certain animals)
- Animals have been behaving erratically recently. We had a monkey attack a man in Hong Kong and recorded a rare human to animal transmission. No current vaccines exist. Since it was first identified in 1932, the B Virus has only been documented in 50 people and 21 have died.
- Crows (often depicted alongside the Grim ReapeAzrael) have been disturbing and attacking grave sites at cemetries in countries like Australia.
- Elephants have also suddenly been attacking humans in African countries which is also quite uncommon. I am sure there are a lot more animal anaomalies as of late, but this is what I have just incidentally heard about that stuck in my mind.
- The 2010 study of solar eclipses on fungi explained:
Thus morphologic change contributes to increased pathogenic potential of fungus. This transitional change has also been recorded by molecular studies. There seems to be various environmental stimuli which may enhance a switch between yeast and filamentous growth patterns. The capacity to switch the pattern of growth in response to an environmental change is termed as dimorphism. - During the Vaccine rollout, there were fears that Morgellons disease (multicolored filaments that lie under, are embedded in, or project from skin) would explode among people and there were even chilling videos showing Morgellons on covid swab tests.
- MD is currently transmittable from plants to insects to humans. For many decades, it was treated as a 'mass delusion' and people were called crazy for believing they had symptoms
- Symptoms include filament growth under the skin, fatigue, joint pain, cardiac complications, cognitive difficulties, and neuropathy (mirroring Lyme disease). Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat Lyme disease.
- This would indicate that through the Vaccine and testing process required to continue functioning or participating in society, they maxxed out the distribution among the population. For those who have already passed away, either from the Vax or the disease Covid, well they would be mostly the elderly wouldn't they?
Massive power shift - the coronation of both a new King and the new international Powers that Be. This happens every 12 years all behind closed doors (the real election cycle). 2024, 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964, 1952, 1940. If you are not new to Conspiracies/Apolocalyptic predictions, I am sure you can draw connections to fears around global conflict/war, climate catastrophes and just a general sense of "the world is about to end" around these specific years.
I would also look less at symbology and divine cosmic activity (though it may trigger a time - space shift too). Cheers, CERN and the Higgs Boson (the God Particle). The Higgs field was first observed in 2012, and is effectively a forcefield/accelerator on other matter around it that could put our planet into warpspeed orbit, similar to how time would change depending upon how close or far away to the Sun we are. It would be fascinating to learn what happens when the Sun is obscured during the daytime heat, at the exact moment another Higgs Boson particle is created.
Zombies? Planet of the Apes? Mirror portals and black holes? Sea serpents? Meh, perhaps.
Ultimately, I would focus my attention on the curious activity all around us. From beneath the soil with insects uprising and tectonic plate shifts to entities that lurk under the ocean and the creatures among us. I would also keep an eye on animals, human behaviour, Antarctica and Elon.
The unstable weather events around every country right now just provide the perfect moist/humid conditions for such a fungal colony to thrive in. In any and all organisms.
Beware of what lurks beneath. For the Earth's yeast may just be activated into tidal shifting filaments from within the Earth's mantle.
It seems the Elites of mankind are just eager to get us there even faster than nature intended by adopting a Luciferian mindset and causing external and internal disorder across the globe.
April 8 is not the end, it is just another catalyst moment, continuing to steer the Earth's cycle from start to end.
It is what is it is, effectively.
EDIT: Less than 24 hours and it has been downvote bombed despite holding strong on controversy.
For those curious, you will never see the "Allegory of the Cave" shown in its most purest form than on this thread and the comments below. Bravo, gents.
2024.03.31 03:50 benjemons D&D world that's tidally locked with huge axial tilt
So I'm creating my own world for my d&d group and I like the idea of a tidally locked planet.
I've done a bit of research and I guess the more a planet is locked the less it's axial tilt. But let's say "because magic" the north pole is always facing its star and is rolling around the star instead of a normal spin. And we'll say the planet rotates at the same speed and is the same size and mass of earth. The idea was to give it and axial till about the same as earth's so that there could still be a day/night cycle at the equator.
I've heard that a planet like this would be sun blasted on one side and frozen over on the dark side. I read that the extreme heat would create super strong winds on the north side, but also there wouldnt be much weather besides that because the hot side would be to hot for liquid water and the wind would blow all the moisture to the cold side where it would just freeze.
From what I can tell tidally locked planets usually don't have moons so I'll just "magic" that in, moon goddess and all that.
The variation in axial tilt, I was hoping, would create weather, the day time and warm winds would melt the ice and glaciers causing rivers and maybe even oceans. The heat and water would probably create frequent hurricanes on the north end of the equator. But on the equator itself and south of it I think you could have more earth like climates. Tropical closer to the heat, rainforests further in, followed by forests plains, Tiaga, and tundra.
So I guess I'm asking if I'm missing anything climate-wise.
P.S. hopefully I've explained what I'm trying to accomplish the right way.
P.P.S. I hope I've posted this in the correct way and place, I've never posted anything here before. More of a lurker kind of person.
submitted by benjemons to worldbuilding [link] [comments]
I've done a bit of research and I guess the more a planet is locked the less it's axial tilt. But let's say "because magic" the north pole is always facing its star and is rolling around the star instead of a normal spin. And we'll say the planet rotates at the same speed and is the same size and mass of earth. The idea was to give it and axial till about the same as earth's so that there could still be a day/night cycle at the equator.
I've heard that a planet like this would be sun blasted on one side and frozen over on the dark side. I read that the extreme heat would create super strong winds on the north side, but also there wouldnt be much weather besides that because the hot side would be to hot for liquid water and the wind would blow all the moisture to the cold side where it would just freeze.
From what I can tell tidally locked planets usually don't have moons so I'll just "magic" that in, moon goddess and all that.
The variation in axial tilt, I was hoping, would create weather, the day time and warm winds would melt the ice and glaciers causing rivers and maybe even oceans. The heat and water would probably create frequent hurricanes on the north end of the equator. But on the equator itself and south of it I think you could have more earth like climates. Tropical closer to the heat, rainforests further in, followed by forests plains, Tiaga, and tundra.
So I guess I'm asking if I'm missing anything climate-wise.
P.S. hopefully I've explained what I'm trying to accomplish the right way.
P.P.S. I hope I've posted this in the correct way and place, I've never posted anything here before. More of a lurker kind of person.
2024.03.27 20:10 plsstopprocreating Some Mostly Glowing Nui Cobalt Reviews
Hello all, I'm back with some more extremely wordy reviews, this time for Nui Cobalt!
I am a super taster (and probably super smeller) and sometimes I smell things *oddly.* In particular, lots of things tend soapy or plastic-y for me.
I've already learned that my opinons on scents here can be very different from the consensus.
Therefore, YMMV when it comes to these. I'm just telling it like it is for my particular(ly odd) nose.
On to the reviews!
Fragrance: Astrophilia
Notes: A shimmering constellation of iced white tea, bergamot, diamond musk, clary sage, ginger ale, cold conifers, and mint.
Initial Thoughts: Ooh, this is a COLD one. I don’t think I’ve tried anything with a mint note, and this one is all up in my face. It is assertively minty, and a little herbal from the sage and white tea - like an herbal blend with bergamot, sage, ginger, and mint. There’s something very laundry detergent-y about this scent, it is super clean. I can’t decide whether this is a pro or a con.
Drydown: Unfortunately this turned into laundry detergent, and it definitely isn’t what I wanted. It is a nice clean detergent smell, I just don’t want to smell like laundry detergent.
Rating: 4/10 Too detergent-y, a sad destash.
Fragrance: Bryophilia
Notes: A soothing bouquet of green suede, rainforest fern, Caribbean teakwood, river stone, oakmoss, and ancient fallen mahogany.
Initial Thoughts: I have never seen a perfume that looks like this. It’s the color of root beer! However, it smells so green in a deep, almost rotting way. It is woody and mossy, like the inside of afallen log colonized by ferns and mushrooms. Deep and a little dank, more of a cold slimy green. The color makes perfect sense, given the scent itself.
Drydown: This stays weird, which I love. It isn’t a pleasant, sparkly green. It evokes slippery moss and fungi, dripping with water, and rotting wood. It has the same something sharp and almost minty that Thalassophilia has, which makes it more of a cold green. It smells like the air deep in the forest where the sun never reaches the ground through the canopies of the old growth evergreens overhead.
Rating: 10/10 Gloriously green and creepy, I am a HUGE fan. Already bought a full size.
Fragrance: Hybristophilia (free inclusion)
Notes: Ebon cashmere, guaiac wood, storax, myrrh, syrupy vanilla pipe tobacco, a whisper of grey suede, and a trace of green lavender.
Initial Thoughts: Warm and syrupy sweet, almost a little fruity although I can’t find anything in the notes that would explain the fruitiness. A little spicy and herbal as well, and woody but really well blended so none of the components of it really stick out.
Drydown: I can’t place what this smells like, but it is SO familiar to me. It is extremely well blended and although the individual components are there, they combine to become something more than the sum of their parts. It smells expensive and sexy. I have no cohesive descriptors unfortunately.
Rating: 10/10 I am OBSESSED. I placed a second order right after my first arrived, to get a FS of Bryophilia. This was my free sample with that order, and now I have to buy a FS of it too…. Send help, I’m caught in a cycle of infinite orders!
Fragrance: Sacred Space
Notes: A misty, moss-covered glen, a simple wooden pagoda, steam from a cup of black tea, a tendril of incense smoke.
Initial Thoughts: Opens very similarly to Astrophilia, with notes of tea, wood, and something herbal. It isn’t as cold or sparkly though - more like a chilly morning at a zen retreat, smelling the cup of tea you’re holding. The wood and green-ish notes are restrained and more like a topiary garden than a forest. It has the same minty cool note as some others but not in an overwhelming way.
Drydown: Tends a little towards laundry detergent, which isn’t surprising based on how similar it smells to Astrophilia. However, it is much less detergenty, and very pleasant! The zen garden image sticks around, and the herbal tea notes really blossom. This is lovely and relaxing, and evokes the sensory experience of a very light green tea in one of those clear teacups.
Rating: 8/10 Very nice and spring-y, I think this will become a favorite once things start turning green here.
Fragrance: Sunroom
Notes: Persian lime, styrax, damp moss, Hawaiian sandalwood, Peru balsam, rain, and green patchouli.
Initial Thoughts: This is a warm, humid green. Truly smells like walking into a greenhouse and getting hit with a wall of maybe just slightly musty GREEN. The wood and rain in this give the impression of wet wood beams supporting the glass panels of the greenhouse.
Drydown: Warm and sweet, the pungency of the green fades out into what is still a really nice muted greenhouse smell. Much more contained, less like overgrown and chaotic plants and more like an organized greenhouse that is growing sprouts that will later be planted outdoors on a farm. The woodiness comes through in a really pleasant way, and this is wearable without feeling at all like a perfume.
Rating: 9/10 My ONLY gripe is that I wished it stayed just a little more bright green. FS-ing ALL these lovely greens.
Fragrance: Tall Dark Stranger
Notes: Clean suede, earthy bronze whiskey, superior green sandalwood, dry fig, syrupy cedar resin, top-shelf patchouli, and a wisp of smoke from a fine Meerschaum pipe.
Initial Thoughts: Immediately I get cigar smoke, cedar shavings, and whiskey. Like someone has been chain-sawing wood all day and then came inside to have a drink, probably out of a glencairn, and a cigar. It is sweet and a little syrup-y, with more than an incidental amount of smoke.
Drydown: Where did it go?? I applied this, typed up the first chunk of this review, and then went back to sniff again and it was gone. Reapplied, sniffing more frequently, and now 10 minutes later it is gone again. My skin just sucks this one up. I get a tiny whiff of suede and maybe fig now, but over 90% has gone.
Rating: 8/10 for the first 10 minutes, but it has to be a 0/10 I wish this stuck around…. I love whisky scents. But I’m not going to wear something that I have to reapply 6 times an hour :(
Fragrance: Thalassophilia
Notes: Fresh basil, ambergris accord, moringa, salt mist, vetiver, azure musk, summer spruce, cucumber water, and petitgrain.
Initial Thoughts: Cold and green, a little floral but more of a green bud kind of floral than an actual *flower* scent. This is salty and crisp, and the greens in it are very bright, deep green. I was expecting more of a “deep ocean” scent based on the name, but this is very cloudforest-y. Like walking along a coastal trail in the PNW right after a hard rain.
Drydown: There’s something cold and minty in this that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of breathing in slightly chilled forest air, I’m obsessed. It gets some herbal notes from the basil and cucumber, and stays vibrantly green and forest-y. This evokes so many good memories for me.
Rating: 10/10 I FS-ed this hoping I’d love it, and I’m obsessed! This and Fyrinnae’s Black Squall are probably my fave blind buys so far. What can I say, I LOVE ocean-y atmospherics.
Fragrance: Venus Derceto (free inclusion)
Notes: Smooth sandalwood, tonka bean, marzipan, fresh coconut, and neroli, subtly spiced with ginger root, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
Initial Thoughts: Right off the bat this smells like almond extract. Or amaretti biscuits. VERY almond-forward, and also spiced by the ginger, cinnamon etc. I don’t get anything woody or coconutty, mostly just the amaretto/amaretti/marzipan that is overpowering everything else.
Drydown: The almond stays as the primary note, although it becomes less overwhelming as it sits. I like the spicy notes, it smells like an almond croissant and a cup of chai tea. Missing the coconut and sandalwood, which I think would make it a little better balanced.
Rating: 6/10 Which is extremely high for an almond scent - I’m not normally a fan at ALL.
Fragrance: Voyeur
Notes: Wet Bulgarian lavender, lemon verbena, old books, oakwood, and tweed.
Initial Thoughts: The lavender and lemon verbena together have distinctly tea-ish vibes. This smells like a nerdy, attractive, but slightly creepy professor’s office. Mugs of tea, old books, slightly musty formal clothes. The scent of dark academia, in a way that is both appealing and a little off-putting.
Drydown: This fades into something ozonic and a little woody. I lose the lavender and lemon in the drydown, but it still smells like an academic office in an old, wooden building. Currently reading If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio and the descriptions of the old dorm the characters live in fits perfectly with this scent.
Rating: 8/10 I wish the herbal tea notes stuck around but I am a big fan of the vibe of this one.
Summary/House Impressions:
WOW WOW WOW WOW These are incredible, so unique and well blended. Both of my orders shipped incredibly quickly, I was very impressed. All the scents have something *special* and indescribable to them. Everything feels very professional, if I was blind smelling them I'd probably assume they were very expensive and from some fancy brand. Better quality than some luxury brands I've smelled. Nui Cobalt is an IMMEDIATE favorite for me, I am obsessed.
submitted by plsstopprocreating to Indiemakeupandmore [link] [comments]
I am a super taster (and probably super smeller) and sometimes I smell things *oddly.* In particular, lots of things tend soapy or plastic-y for me.
I've already learned that my opinons on scents here can be very different from the consensus.
Therefore, YMMV when it comes to these. I'm just telling it like it is for my particular(ly odd) nose.
On to the reviews!
Fragrance: Astrophilia
Notes: A shimmering constellation of iced white tea, bergamot, diamond musk, clary sage, ginger ale, cold conifers, and mint.
Initial Thoughts: Ooh, this is a COLD one. I don’t think I’ve tried anything with a mint note, and this one is all up in my face. It is assertively minty, and a little herbal from the sage and white tea - like an herbal blend with bergamot, sage, ginger, and mint. There’s something very laundry detergent-y about this scent, it is super clean. I can’t decide whether this is a pro or a con.
Drydown: Unfortunately this turned into laundry detergent, and it definitely isn’t what I wanted. It is a nice clean detergent smell, I just don’t want to smell like laundry detergent.
Rating: 4/10 Too detergent-y, a sad destash.
Fragrance: Bryophilia
Notes: A soothing bouquet of green suede, rainforest fern, Caribbean teakwood, river stone, oakmoss, and ancient fallen mahogany.
Initial Thoughts: I have never seen a perfume that looks like this. It’s the color of root beer! However, it smells so green in a deep, almost rotting way. It is woody and mossy, like the inside of afallen log colonized by ferns and mushrooms. Deep and a little dank, more of a cold slimy green. The color makes perfect sense, given the scent itself.
Drydown: This stays weird, which I love. It isn’t a pleasant, sparkly green. It evokes slippery moss and fungi, dripping with water, and rotting wood. It has the same something sharp and almost minty that Thalassophilia has, which makes it more of a cold green. It smells like the air deep in the forest where the sun never reaches the ground through the canopies of the old growth evergreens overhead.
Rating: 10/10 Gloriously green and creepy, I am a HUGE fan. Already bought a full size.
Fragrance: Hybristophilia (free inclusion)
Notes: Ebon cashmere, guaiac wood, storax, myrrh, syrupy vanilla pipe tobacco, a whisper of grey suede, and a trace of green lavender.
Initial Thoughts: Warm and syrupy sweet, almost a little fruity although I can’t find anything in the notes that would explain the fruitiness. A little spicy and herbal as well, and woody but really well blended so none of the components of it really stick out.
Drydown: I can’t place what this smells like, but it is SO familiar to me. It is extremely well blended and although the individual components are there, they combine to become something more than the sum of their parts. It smells expensive and sexy. I have no cohesive descriptors unfortunately.
Rating: 10/10 I am OBSESSED. I placed a second order right after my first arrived, to get a FS of Bryophilia. This was my free sample with that order, and now I have to buy a FS of it too…. Send help, I’m caught in a cycle of infinite orders!
Fragrance: Sacred Space
Notes: A misty, moss-covered glen, a simple wooden pagoda, steam from a cup of black tea, a tendril of incense smoke.
Initial Thoughts: Opens very similarly to Astrophilia, with notes of tea, wood, and something herbal. It isn’t as cold or sparkly though - more like a chilly morning at a zen retreat, smelling the cup of tea you’re holding. The wood and green-ish notes are restrained and more like a topiary garden than a forest. It has the same minty cool note as some others but not in an overwhelming way.
Drydown: Tends a little towards laundry detergent, which isn’t surprising based on how similar it smells to Astrophilia. However, it is much less detergenty, and very pleasant! The zen garden image sticks around, and the herbal tea notes really blossom. This is lovely and relaxing, and evokes the sensory experience of a very light green tea in one of those clear teacups.
Rating: 8/10 Very nice and spring-y, I think this will become a favorite once things start turning green here.
Fragrance: Sunroom
Notes: Persian lime, styrax, damp moss, Hawaiian sandalwood, Peru balsam, rain, and green patchouli.
Initial Thoughts: This is a warm, humid green. Truly smells like walking into a greenhouse and getting hit with a wall of maybe just slightly musty GREEN. The wood and rain in this give the impression of wet wood beams supporting the glass panels of the greenhouse.
Drydown: Warm and sweet, the pungency of the green fades out into what is still a really nice muted greenhouse smell. Much more contained, less like overgrown and chaotic plants and more like an organized greenhouse that is growing sprouts that will later be planted outdoors on a farm. The woodiness comes through in a really pleasant way, and this is wearable without feeling at all like a perfume.
Rating: 9/10 My ONLY gripe is that I wished it stayed just a little more bright green. FS-ing ALL these lovely greens.
Fragrance: Tall Dark Stranger
Notes: Clean suede, earthy bronze whiskey, superior green sandalwood, dry fig, syrupy cedar resin, top-shelf patchouli, and a wisp of smoke from a fine Meerschaum pipe.
Initial Thoughts: Immediately I get cigar smoke, cedar shavings, and whiskey. Like someone has been chain-sawing wood all day and then came inside to have a drink, probably out of a glencairn, and a cigar. It is sweet and a little syrup-y, with more than an incidental amount of smoke.
Drydown: Where did it go?? I applied this, typed up the first chunk of this review, and then went back to sniff again and it was gone. Reapplied, sniffing more frequently, and now 10 minutes later it is gone again. My skin just sucks this one up. I get a tiny whiff of suede and maybe fig now, but over 90% has gone.
Rating: 8/10 for the first 10 minutes, but it has to be a 0/10 I wish this stuck around…. I love whisky scents. But I’m not going to wear something that I have to reapply 6 times an hour :(
Fragrance: Thalassophilia
Notes: Fresh basil, ambergris accord, moringa, salt mist, vetiver, azure musk, summer spruce, cucumber water, and petitgrain.
Initial Thoughts: Cold and green, a little floral but more of a green bud kind of floral than an actual *flower* scent. This is salty and crisp, and the greens in it are very bright, deep green. I was expecting more of a “deep ocean” scent based on the name, but this is very cloudforest-y. Like walking along a coastal trail in the PNW right after a hard rain.
Drydown: There’s something cold and minty in this that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of breathing in slightly chilled forest air, I’m obsessed. It gets some herbal notes from the basil and cucumber, and stays vibrantly green and forest-y. This evokes so many good memories for me.
Rating: 10/10 I FS-ed this hoping I’d love it, and I’m obsessed! This and Fyrinnae’s Black Squall are probably my fave blind buys so far. What can I say, I LOVE ocean-y atmospherics.
Fragrance: Venus Derceto (free inclusion)
Notes: Smooth sandalwood, tonka bean, marzipan, fresh coconut, and neroli, subtly spiced with ginger root, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
Initial Thoughts: Right off the bat this smells like almond extract. Or amaretti biscuits. VERY almond-forward, and also spiced by the ginger, cinnamon etc. I don’t get anything woody or coconutty, mostly just the amaretto/amaretti/marzipan that is overpowering everything else.
Drydown: The almond stays as the primary note, although it becomes less overwhelming as it sits. I like the spicy notes, it smells like an almond croissant and a cup of chai tea. Missing the coconut and sandalwood, which I think would make it a little better balanced.
Rating: 6/10 Which is extremely high for an almond scent - I’m not normally a fan at ALL.
Fragrance: Voyeur
Notes: Wet Bulgarian lavender, lemon verbena, old books, oakwood, and tweed.
Initial Thoughts: The lavender and lemon verbena together have distinctly tea-ish vibes. This smells like a nerdy, attractive, but slightly creepy professor’s office. Mugs of tea, old books, slightly musty formal clothes. The scent of dark academia, in a way that is both appealing and a little off-putting.
Drydown: This fades into something ozonic and a little woody. I lose the lavender and lemon in the drydown, but it still smells like an academic office in an old, wooden building. Currently reading If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio and the descriptions of the old dorm the characters live in fits perfectly with this scent.
Rating: 8/10 I wish the herbal tea notes stuck around but I am a big fan of the vibe of this one.
Summary/House Impressions:
WOW WOW WOW WOW These are incredible, so unique and well blended. Both of my orders shipped incredibly quickly, I was very impressed. All the scents have something *special* and indescribable to them. Everything feels very professional, if I was blind smelling them I'd probably assume they were very expensive and from some fancy brand. Better quality than some luxury brands I've smelled. Nui Cobalt is an IMMEDIATE favorite for me, I am obsessed.
2024.03.27 03:25 shokatjaved 10 Awesome Turtle Facts You Will Love to Know
 | Turtles are fascinating creatures with a rich history and unique characteristics that have captivated humans for centuries. From their ancient lineage to their remarkable adaptations, there's no shortage of interesting facts to learn about these beloved reptiles. In this article, we've compiled 10 awesome turtle facts that will delight and amaze both new and seasoned turtle enthusiasts. submitted by shokatjaved to PetsProGuide [link] [comments] Check Complete Article about: Awesome Turtle Facts https://preview.redd.it/mcc2l0hjesqc1.png?width=2000&format=png&auto=webp&s=b984f2c97f401d8c3917eebc31c2b6531668932b 1. Fact: Turtles Have Existed for Millions of Years Turtles are among the oldest reptile groups, with fossil evidence dating back over 220 million years. These resilient creatures have survived multiple mass extinctions and continue to thrive in diverse habitats around the world. 2. Fact: Turtles Have Protective Shells One of the most distinctive features of turtles is their protective shell, which consists of two parts: the carapace (upper shell) and the plastron (lower shell). The shell provides vital protection against predators and environmental hazards, allowing turtles to retreat into their shells for safety. 3. Fact: Turtles Are Cold-Blooded Reptiles Like other reptiles, turtles are ectothermic, meaning they rely on external sources of heat to regulate their body temperature. They bask in the sun to warm up and seek shade or water to cool down, depending on their environmental conditions. 4. Fact: Turtles Have Long Lifespans Many turtle species have impressively long lifespans, with some individuals living for several decades or even centuries. The Galápagos tortoise holds the record for longevity among turtles, with some individuals exceeding 100 years of age. 5. Fact: Turtles Are Found in Diverse Habitats Turtles inhabit a wide range of habitats, including oceans, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and terrestrial environments. They are highly adaptable creatures capable of thriving in various ecosystems, from tropical rainforests to arid deserts. 6. Fact: Turtles Have Unique Feeding Adaptations Turtles have evolved a variety of feeding adaptations suited to their specific dietary preferences. Some species are herbivores, feeding on plants and algae, while others are carnivores or omnivores, consuming a mix of insects, fish, and vegetation. 7. Fact: Turtles Have Excellent Navigation Skills Despite their seemingly slow and deliberate movements, turtles are skilled navigators capable of undertaking long-distance migrations with remarkable precision. They rely on celestial cues, Earth's magnetic field, and environmental landmarks to navigate their way across vast distances. 8. Fact: Turtles Can Breathe Through Their Cloacal Openings In addition to breathing air through their nostrils, some turtle species can absorb oxygen through specialized tissues in their cloacal openings, allowing them to remain submerged for extended periods without needing to surface for air. 9. Fact: Turtles Are Important Ecosystem Engineers Turtles play crucial roles in their ecosystems as both predators and prey, helping maintain ecological balance. They contribute to nutrient cycling, seed dispersal, and habitat creation, influencing the health and diversity of their environments. 10. Fact: Turtles Are Symbolic in Many Cultures Turtles hold symbolic significance in various cultures around the world, representing longevity, wisdom, and protection. They feature prominently in mythology, folklore, and spiritual beliefs, serving as revered symbols of strength and resilience. Conclusion Turtles are remarkable creatures with a wealth of fascinating traits and adaptations that make them truly extraordinary. By learning more about these beloved reptiles, we can deepen our appreciation for the diversity and beauty of the natural world. For more information on turtle care and conservation, visit Pets Pro Guide. |
2024.03.24 22:29 Still_Performance_39 An Introduction to Terran Zoology - Chapter 34
Credit to for the NOP universe.
Hello all, I hope life's treating you well.
We return today to a catch up with Bernard and one of his students, who has a question for him some might find funny and others may hate that I brought into this future setting, let's find out!
A thank you to all the authors who I asked to let me reference their stories for this chapter, Troublemakers by u/SepticSauces, Living in Harmony by u/Awesomesauceninja, and Letter of Marque by u/Liberty-Prime76. Also thanks to u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for being generally cool with references to Tarlim from The Nature of a Giant and so much more, he's just ubiquitous with NOP and it's well deserved.
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Memory transcription subject: Dr Bernard MacEwan, Professor of Zoology
Date [standardised human time]: 7th September 2136
"Ahhh, what a gorgeous day."
Wandering through the winding pathways and occasional green spaces that made up the patchwork exchange grounds, I took in the day's air with a contented sigh. As always the ever present Sun of Venlil Prime shone down upon the world below; its rays melding with a light breeze to hit that delightful sweet spot of comfortable springlike warmth.
Pleasant as it was, I did have to be mindful of the sunlight itself unfortunately.
Despite many a joke having been made to the contrary, thanks to my home's overcast and drizzly climate, Scotland's inhabitants were not in fact vampires at risk of bursting into flame at the slightest exposure to sunlight. This particular Scotsman though, as pale as I was, needed to be careful. I had neither the time nor patience to deal with sunburn of any degree; regardless of whether it was a simple irritation of the skin or an actual painful burn. Therefore, along with routinely applying a reasonable amount of sunscreen, I had taken another sensible precaution to protect myself from the light that shone down 24/7.
Or would that be 20/5 for the Venlil? Hmmm.
My musings on a Venlil equivalent for the common idiom were abruptly interrupted as my new sunhat got caught in the branch of a low hanging tree, the wide brim snagging and pulling my head back as the toggles around my neck went with it.
“OH! Damn it!”
Coming to an unceremonious halt at an uncomfortable angle, I quickly freed myself from the clutches of my arbour assailant, straightening myself out and glancing around in the hopes that no passersby had witnessed my fumble.
“Okay. The large brim is good for shade but not so good for visibility. Just like it was in the Amazon.”
Chuckling at the recollection of several similar incidents from the time I spent traipsing around the rainforest in search of Pygmy Marmosets, I went back to absentmindedly observing the world around me. I was eager to see if I could spy another native animal that might frequent the hustle and bustle of city life. Anything would do because, quite frankly, I could do with the distraction.
I guess it was too much to hope for peace in the end.
War was on the horizon, if not already in full swing. After Marcel and Slanek returned, bringing with them the brutal reality of how humans would be treated by anyone other than the Venlil, the whispers of conflict had grown into a full chorus calling out for retribution for the cruelty visited upon the poor man.
Of course I agreed that those responsible for the monstrous acts must be held accountable, but a full fledged interplanetary war? Against a species with centuries of battle experience fighting an enemy as merciless as the Arxur?
I knew full well that we humans loved to paint ourselves as fairly tough, but I feared we may be biting off more than we could chew if it came down to a true all out clash. The amount of suffering such an engagement would ultimately cause scarcely bears thinking about.
So many people are going to suffer because of this. Tragically, it’ll likely be the most vulnerable amongst us that bear the brunt of it all.
I huffed forcefully, trying to shake my thoughts free of the depressing weight of my worries, "Enough of that Bernard, think of brighter things to match the sunny day, hm?"
Indeed I had many options to choose from to help take my mind off such dreary concerns. Most notable among them were recent reports from the team at Sands Edge, composed of Doctor Mei Khan, Atama Oliver, and Lance Cross. Accompanied by a group of Venlil researchers, the trio had been tasked with taking a first look at the aquatic ecosystems of Venlil Prime. From what little I’d seen it was clear they’d already made astounding progress with their initial surveys.
The fact that the Venlil themselves had never made the effort to investigate the watery reaches of their home still boggles my mind. But on the plus side, it meant that there was a veritable wonderland of the unknown beneath the waves just waiting to be explored.
Aside from a brief introduction with Doctor Khan over video call on the second day of the programme, I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting them all in person. Her reputation had preceded her at least. An expert in the field of animal behaviour and psychology, she held a position as a professor at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. I was greatly looking forward to hearing any insights she may have about discoveries made during her time here.
Mr Oliver and Mr Cross were unfamiliar names but even a brief look at their qualifications, coupled with the handful of snapshots displaying the specimen samples they’d retrieved, had me very impressed, as well as giddy with excitement to see what else they might fish from the depths.
Disappointingly their efforts had been waylaid in the last week thanks to the increasing tension brought on by the Gojid’s aggression. It wasn’t so bad for humans like myself who were stationed in large cities close to UN facilities, but the Sands Edge team were way out in the sticks and had therefore been restricted to their small compound out of fears for their safety, should a Venlil with less sense than lighter fluid get any unsavoury ideas about what humans may get up to when under intense stress.
As my mind slowly began to creep towards yet more unsettling thoughts I was grateful to be distracted by an alert from my phone. Checking it, I saw that Alejandro had messaged me.
While I found it odd that Alejandro was asking for a meeting on a day he knew I had off from my official duties, I certainly wasn’t opposed to his request. On the contrary, having not made any plans for how I was going to spend my day, aside from relaxing, I was more than happy to have an impromptu chat with him.
He’s always come across as such a genuinely kind person. Tolim is lucky to have him.
I smirked at the thought, finding the reminder of my silent promise to secrecy about their relationship rather comical in retrospect. While they hadn’t gone as far as to openly declare their budding romance to the world they hadn’t been particularly sly about it either. It’d swiftly become the worst kept secret on campus, with most people easily clocking the consistently smitten expressions adorning both administrators whenever they were in one another's company.
Still smiling beneath my mask I typed up a brief response, saying I’d be delighted to catch up and confirming that we’d meet in his office at the requested time. With that settled, that still left me with roughly half an hour to continue my stroll before I’d have to head over.
Sadly I didn’t catch sight of any unfamiliar local wildlife during the next 30 minutes. I was momentarily accosted by a small flock of flowerbirds at one point, who spent some time darting around me loudly tweeting demands for seeds I didn’t have. Much as I’d come to understand why the Venlil saw the little feather balls as annoyances, I couldn’t help but find the bird's attitude humorously endearing.
Watching the fearless brightly hued plumes of indignation hop about around the feet of a creature that dwarfed them by an order of magnitude had a way of warming the heart. A David and Goliath comparison may not be the most apt perhaps, but I still appreciated their steely determination against seemingly insurmountable odds.
Or maybe they’re just too birdbrained to recognise the disparity. Either way, they’re cheeky little scamps!
Realising that I wasn’t going to give in to their squawking insistence the flock eventually dispersed, leaving me to wander the last leg of my journey alone.
Or so I thought.
Rounding a corner I noticed the familiar figure of Kailo pacing about a little way ahead of me. Judging by his twisting tail, lopsided ears, and the furrow creasing his brow, he appeared to be struggling with something that was taking up quite a bit of space in his head.
Hmmm, interesting.
Softly so as not to startle him from his thoughts too harshly, I called to him as I approached, “Kailo, how’re you doing this fine day?”
He shook a bit as my greeting hit his ears, blinking back to the world around him from whatever it was he’d been so wrapped up in seconds before.
An eye quickly directed itself to me, a tail flick of acknowledgement following soon after as Kailo hurriedly collected himself, though a semblance of tension still clung to him despite his best efforts to dismiss it, “Doctor uh- hello, good paw. I’m doing well, thank you. How are you?”
Now I wasn’t usually suspicious of cordial greetings but, considering who I was speaking to, I was rather surprised by Kailo’s out of character overly stilted politeness.
Something’s clearly bothering him. Hmmm.
I’m going to take a chance here.
Forcing a bit more cheer into my voice than was already present I answered him, “Oh I’m splendid Kailo, absolutely splendid. But, and I don’t mean to pry, are you sure you’re doing alright? You seemed rather worked up about something?”
A flash of discomfort swept through Kailo’s tail. Whether it was due to the topic that was on his mind or because I’d noticed he’d been grappling with it was unclear. But seeing as how his ears had just pinned against his head in an expression of irritation I’d become all too familiar with, I was certain I was about to be on the receiving end of yet another one of his hallmark outbursts.
Bracing myself for the oncoming flare of Kailo’s anger, I was surprised to instead see it dissipate entirely just as swiftly as it’d arisen, replaced with a look of sheepishness that would feel more at home on Rysel.
“Doctor?”, he began, his apparent embarrassment further solidified as he twisted the ends of his two index claws together whilst looking down at his paws, “This is going to sound really stupid but I have a question… about humans.”
Kailo’s sudden change in tone was unexpected, but any thoughts as to why were thoroughly tossed aside by the immediate joy I felt at the realisation that Kailo was concerned about something and that, out of all the people he could be asking, he was willing to express his worries to me.
I wonder why he hasn’t asked Doctor Gallagher his question? Oh no matter, I’m happy to help whatever the reason!
Trying to keep the happiness out of my voice so that it didn’t seem like I was making light of Kailo’s apprehension, I nodded back at the expectant Venlil, “Absolutely Kailo! I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about humans, provided it’s something I can answer of course.”
Kailo’s features softened at my assurances, the stress twisting along his tail relaxing ever so slightly, “I see, thank you Doctor. Well it’s about something Roisin told me. I think she’s lying to me honestly, she seemed too insistent about it for it to be a joke. But it just sounds too absurd to be real!”
Hm, that’s odd. I wouldn’t think she’d be the type to mislead someone. It’s probably just a misunderstanding.
Kailo carried on with his question, ears flicking outward in outright quizzical exasperation, “Do some humans think their planet is flat?”
Something struck me in that moment. Something that deafened me to everything around me and left me dumbfounded in its wake. The ambient noise of far off traffic, chatter from passersby, and the gentle trickle of a nearby fountain all blended together into a formless blur of sound as the question bludgeoned my consciousness.
Out of all the things he could’ve asked. Out of every facet of human society, culture, or behaviour he could’ve been interested in, this was what he was asking me about.
This.
After trying and failing several times to mount a proper reply, I finally managed to stutter a brief response, my brain barely able to keep itself together through the near overwhelming psychological blow, “Wh- ah… w-what?”
Kailo pressed on, my reaction clearly inciting further eagerness for an answer as he padded closer to me, his tail whipping demandingly, “Do some humans think the Earth is flat like a disc? Roisin says they exist but that’s crazy!”
Damn it Gallagher! What are you telling him about us? Nonsense clearly!
Groaning in equal parts frustration and shame over my species' infinite ability for stupidity I looked down at Kailo, thankful that my mask was hiding my scrunched and reddening cheeks, “Regrettably Kailo, they do indeed exist.”
It was Kailo’s turn to stew in bewildered silence as he stared at me in disbelief, his good ear falling flat while the scarred one twitched as he struggled to comprehend the madness I’d just imparted upon him.
This didn’t last long, for his confusion soon cycled over into a single despairing cry, “Why!?”
All I could do was shake my head and shrug defeatedly, “I wish I knew. Sometimes people choose to believe in the strangest of things and there’s little we can do to change their minds.”
Kailo’s eyes bulged in wide eyed shock, his mouth falling open in slack jawed incredulity at my dispassionate explanation, “But- but- How!? You have spaceflight! Commercially available spaceflight! You went into space almost 200 years ago and you’re the first species since the Kolshians and Farsul to figure out FTL without outside help! And even ignoring that, Roisin told me humans have known the Earth was spherical for thousands of years by using maths. How can anyone think the Earth is flat!?”
Huh, I’m amazed he knows that. Gallagher’s not just filling his head with nonsense it seems.
“All good points Kailo, all good points. Be that as it may for one reason or another the belief has, endured.”, The word rolled bitterly over my tongue, the reminder that such a bullheaded anti-science position had been in the spotlight for far longer than most reputable schools of science tended to instiled a poor taste in my mouth.
Nevertheless, as much as it pained me to continue talking about this obscene topic, I felt I should nip this in the bud before it got out of hand. I could hardly imagine that Kailo was going to be patient zero of a Venlil Prime conspiracy regarding whether or not their own planet was a globe or not, but having gotten a first hand experience of their approach to ecology over the past few weeks, I was completely unwilling to take such risks.
Just before I could pick the conversation back up Kailo got in ahead of me, his bewilderment having fallen back into a tight-knitted scowl of concentration as he mulled something over. He spoke quietly, muttering just under his breath, but a lifetime of listening for even the slightest hint of animal life meant that my hearing was still as sharp as it was when I was twenty.
“So they believe weird things that don’t match reality? That makes the ‘birds aren’t real’ thing make a lot more sense now.”
Yet again, Kailo caught me unawares with another blisteringly stunning statement, “I’m sorry, what? Birds aren’t real?”
Kailo’s snout snapped back up at me, his wool ever so slightly flaring in surprise, confirming my suspicions that he’d not meant for me to hear that, “Ah uh- it’s nothing. Well, not nothing, it's just… There was an incident a while back between a Krakotl exterminator and a human. They got into an argument because the human kept saying the exterminator wasn’t real because they were a bird. Is that another ridiculous human belief?”
Rather than be hit across the head with another searing pang of angst over aggravating conspiracy theories, a jovial bubble of laughter burst from me without warning startling Kailo, who jumped back a step at my sudden inexplicable outburst.
“What? What is it? Oh Inatala don’t tell me this is something you believe in!?”
Still chortling away I waved a hand and shook my head in the negative, taking a breath to settle the abrupt chuckle fit Kailo had inadvertently ignited within me, “No- Ha! No, certainly not. Birds very much exist. But, interestingly enough, that is not a conspiracy theory like the flat Earth nonsense. It’s actually a counter protest group from quite a long time ago that has long since gained meme and joke status even to this day.”
Kailo’s head tilted inquisitively, my explanation seemingly not making a whole lot of sense to him.
“Ok, so. A little over a century ago the group was founded as a way to protest political positions they felt were, in a word, absurd. They’d go to rallies that supported these positions and hold up signs and chant slogans that said birds weren’t real in an effort to ridicule the people they were against because of course such a belief would be ridiculous.”
A flap of understanding passed through Kailo’s ears before they quickly switched back to twitching in curiosity once again, “Ok that’s weird, but not as weird as not believing birds are real altogether. How’d you learn about it?”
“I have a friend who’s an ornithologist, it’s a specialty of my own field of study that specifically researches birds. She found out about it and thought it was hilarious so bought herself several shirts, badges, and even coffee mugs all emblazoned with the phrase ‘Birds aren’t real’.”, I chuckled merrily at the fond memory of walking into her office one day to find that, among the many diagrams, pictures, and models of various extremely real avians, there hung a banner right above her desk that boldly declared ‘BIRDS AREN’T REAL’.
Conscious that I was still in company, and as such I couldn’t get too wrapped up in my own memories for the time being, I turned my attention back to Kailo with my own questioning stare. He’d mentioned an argument between a human and an exterminator after all, and since the news hadn’t yet worked its way to me through the grapevine of gossip, I was interested to hear more about it.
“So Kailo, what was that you were saying about a squabble? I hope no one got into any serious trouble?”
“Hm?”, Kailo absentmindedly replied, apparently having been caught up in his own thoughts while I’d been spending a moment reminiscing, “Oh yeah! I mean no, no one got hurt. From what I heard the exterminator eventually got fed up and stormed off which ended the whole thing. Still, it helped that Tova was there keeping the rest of her squad in check. Who knows how it could’ve escalated without her there to keep a handle on things.”
Now that’s a name I’ve not heard before. Clearly an exterminator like Kailo. Maybe a well known one in their circles?
Curious to see if my suspicions were correct, and more than a little interested to see if I could get Kailo to offer up some information on the personality types of famous exterminators, I asked, “Who’s Tova?”
The reaction was as immediate as it was astonishing. Kailo’s demeanour did an instantaneous 180 from indifference to ecstatic, excitement gleaming in his eyes. Tail whipping behind him and ears twirling giddily he opened his mouth to answer, but just as suddenly as it’d come on his enthusiasm drooped into nervous fidgeting and he looked off a little ways down the street.
Eventually he settled down, looking back at me with what I could’ve sworn was a disappointed head tilt, “I uh… I actually have to go meet Blim soon over at the admin buildings. I don’t think I have any more time to talk without being late.”
Ah! He’s got a meeting too? How fortuitous!
I was pleased to hear I had a chance to walk and talk with Kailo about something he was passionate about; even if it was exterminators of all things. But, just before I could ask to accompany him to our shared destination, he spoke up again, a familiar fire blazing through every word that left his snout.
“This isn’t me trying to avoid the topic by the way. If I had the time I’d love the chance to properly teach you about all the good exterminators can do, especially the best of the batch! I know how you feel about what we do, but officers like Tova are prime examples of why we’re so respectable and important to the continued safety of the herd!”
In times not long past, such a speech from Kailo about his chosen profession would’ve been laced with a venom so potent it’d put a Black Widow to shame. To my astonishment however, the goading boastfulness I’d come to expect was nowhere to be heard. Instead, Kailo struck a pose of determined professionalism. Straight backed and proud, he puffed out his chest and flicked his ears up in a show of sincerity that I’d rarely seen from him.
Scratch that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that from him. Disparaging, sulky, and apprehensive perhaps, but never this.
In contrast to my internal monologue and to Kailo’s own credit, I did recognise the recent efforts he’d made towards making a positive change to his attitude with regards to the classes. He’d started to actively participate in the lectures now, rather than interrupt them just so he could stand atop his soap box and decry the dangers of predators at every opportunity.
He still had the bad habit of glaring at people like he wanted to bore a hole through their heads from time to time, but he was making progress in the right direction, and I for one was intent on encouraging this shift in behaviour.
Smiling warmly at the still proudly posing Venlil, I replied to his declaration, “Well Kailo, today might just be your lucky day! As it happens I’m also heading that way to a meeting of my own. Why don’t we walk together and you can tell me all about the officers you hold in high regard, hm? It’ll be our own mini lecture with you as the teacher!”
Kailo’s eyes went wide and his tail spun frantically, “Really!”, he excitedly blurted out, a little louder than he probably intended.
“I uh- achem. I mean, is that so? Then sure, I’ll tell you all about some of our best. It’s about time you saw my side of things! Come on then.”
With that he turned towards the offices and walked off at a steady pace, flicking his tail at me in what I assumed was a ‘follow along’ kind of gesture. And follow I did, doing my best to stifle the chuckle brought on by Kailo’s abrupt burst of enthusiasm.
Just like Rysel is with animals. Though I doubt either would appreciate the comparison.
“So then, we’re starting with Tova?.”, Kailo rhetorically asked, his ears standing stalk straight as he strode forth in deliberate almost marching like fashion, “Her story, like far too many, is tragic. As a pup she was on a ship that was attacked and boarded by the Arxur. However, despite being young, she was determined to fight back and protect the people onboard. In all the chaos she managed to create a trap and lead the Arxur into it, killing them in an explosion and saving everyone who was still alive! She became an exterminator not long after, and ever since then she’s protected the people with just as much fortitude!”
Uuuuhhhh…
Whether Kailo was expecting a response was unclear, but it wouldn't have mattered either way. As his short recounting of Tova’s origin story came to an end, I found my mind swamped by a fog of stunned horror.
A child, a literal child, had rigged up an IED trap and then managed to lure the raiders into it. Short of looking up the incident myself to check the veracity of Kailo’s tale, the only source to hand was the young man himself. He didn’t appear to be lying, he seemed too enamoured with the story himself for him to be making it up on the spot. But even so, regardless of whether the account was completely factually or even slightly embellished, it was a tough pill to swallow.
“Hey doctor, are you listening?”, Kailo’s verbal prod pulled me from the worst of the roaming intrusive thoughts flashing across my mind in reaction to what he’d told me, though a few disquieting ones still lingered on the edges of my awareness.
“Oh! I am indeed Kailo. I was uh… just considering your story. Tova sounds rather… formidable.”
Right now was another moment in which I found myself grateful that I still had to wear my mask when outside. It was impossible for me to know whether or not Kailo could pick up on my discomfort through my voice alone, but if my face had been visible I was sure he’d catch on pretty quickly.
Thankfully Kailo either couldn’t tell or was too caught up in my perceived complement to notice anything was off, because his tail flourished in satisfaction, “Formidable is right! Not only is she highly regarded for her work and her commitment to her duties, she’s also easily one of the largest Venlil you’ll ever see! Not as big as a human probably, but still pretty large for one of us!”
“But she’s not the biggest fullstop is she? I know that there's a Venlil called Tarlim who’s easily two feet taller than most humans. Didn’t he have a lot of trouble with the exterminators?”
WHY!?
The statement and follow up question was out my mouth before I could stamp it out, my decades honed instinct to counter a point of discussion rearing its head at the worst of times. In spite of the very real questions I believed needed to be tackled at some point, this was not the moment I would’ve chosen, especially not when I was finally building a rapport with my most difficult student.
Glancing at him it was plain as day to see that Kailo’s spirit had fallen considerably, my untimely criticism laying low any of his previous giddiness.
He suddenly came to a halt, his short wool frizzing out as he rounded on me with an oranging snout brimming with ire. In the split-second of silence that followed I prepared myself for the oncoming storm of rage I’d faced time and again. But in a moment of astonishing serendipity, what erupted from Kailo wasn’t a slew of vitriol levelled at me.
Instead, a grumbling bray of tired aggravation flowed from him, tail and ears deflating to match this new mood, “Ugggghhhhh… Please doctor, I’m begging you. Please don’t bring them up.”
Intrigued by his reaction, and again failing to quiet the goading murmurs telling me to push the point a little bit further, I replied, “And why’s that? Not a fan of those exterminators like you are of To-”
I didn’t even get to finish my question.
Kailo angrily stamped his foot and his tail lashed off the ground, interrupting me with a vicious tinge lacing his words, “By Inatala no! They’re a disgrace to the badge in my books. They botched their scans for PD, hid the fact from everyone until it was brought out in court, and then still clung to their story that he could be dangerous. And you know why they thought he was dangerous? Because he’s big!!!”
Once again Kailo stunned me, though for a different and far preferable reason. Tarlim and his case had come up in passing conversation with other humans who’d in turn heard the tale from their exchange partners. It was a ghastly story, one fraught with horrifying implications for all manner of reasons. From what little I’d learned about the controversy, many exterminators who’d been outspoken on the topic backed the actions of the Dawn Creek office; if not standing behind the officers themselves, who were fired from what I'd seen, then at least acknowledging that the poor man could still be a threat simply for his size.
Usually this would be the part where I’d try to give my own two-cents to the conversation, but despite having earlier asked not to talk about the issue, Kailo was far from done voicing his indignation, “It’s insane! Big! BIG!? Mazic are big. Takkan are big. Are we rounding all of them up for PD scans or putting up signs saying ‘Beware, Large Species Around’? Iftali are big as well! They dwarf the other species that live on Jild, but the Suleans aren’t scared of them are they!? Speaking of, the Suleans have antlers that could easily gore someone if they’re not careful. Should all Suleans wear foam on the ends of them for the herds' safety? NO!”
A part of me was tempted to let Kailo continue his rant for as long as it took to peter out, fascinated to see just how far he might go in diverging from what appeared to be a norm for the exterminators. I was not that nefarious however, and I was conscious that our meetings were getting steadily closer with the two of us still having a ways left to travel before we arrived at the offices.
I need to get him moving again, maybe get him back onto talking about the exterminators he likes. But how? Oh!
The idea struck me like lighting, a grin quickly spreading across my face as I looked down at the still seething Venlil.
This should work.
Taking the opportunity to slip into the conversation once Kailo eventually stopped to take a breath, I stated quite plainly, “It’s good to know there’s someone like yourself wearing that badge then. Someone who recognises that we can’t go around demonising people because of their differences. It’s an excellent mindset to have, both in general and most certainly in a job that requires you to care and protect your community. You should be proud of yourself for it.”
Whatever gripes Kailo may have been about to further shout out into the world fell silent as he processed my statement, my hunch that appealing to his ego might stymie his frustrations striking true. Honestly, I meant every word of it. Even if the things he did believe in still stung to hear about, it was a relief to know that Kailo didn’t toe the line completely when it came to exterminator doctrine.
My interruption appeared to jolt Kailo out of the tunnel vision his rants often drew him into, reminding him of where exactly he was.
After a brief scan of the surroundings he hastily composed himself, clearing his throat and returning his focus to me, “Achem. Well, I um… thank you doctor. I think so too. It’s not right to judge people like that just because they look different. How can exterminators properly fulfil their duties if all they’re doing is profiling people on physical differences after all.”
I did my best not to let it show in my posture, but the irony of what was coming out of Kailo’s mouth was battering my psyche like nothing else. Not only because of how he’d treated humans since he’d met us, which I could somewhat overlook and forgive due to cultural trauma at the claws of the Arxur, but because I knew full well that exterminators didn’t just profile people due to explicitly physical differences.
Following my first exposure to the guilds existence, I’d made a point of learning about them at any spare opportunity. I’d been horrified by the way they treated innocent creatures for their appearance and diet. But what I found behind that? That was infinitely worse.
Predator Disease. A sickening repression of the concept and understanding of the neurotypical in any sense festered throughout the Federation. People who skewed anywhere from the pseudo scientific ‘baseline’ the supposed professionals had cooked up were hauled away to facilities that bore a monstrous resemblance to the old asylums that once existed aplenty across the Earth.
Conflict raged within me as I stared at Kailo, one side screaming at me to lay the sordid nature of so-called predator disease bare while the other begged me to stay silent and maintain this fragile rare instance of peace that’d sprung up between the two of us.
Only seconds passed in the real world as I wrestled with the cacophony swirling around my head, but I eventually made my choice, as selfish as it might’ve been.
“You’re quite right Kailo.”, sighing as quietly as I could I took a step forward, pushing myself onwards and forcing a little bit of cheer back into my voice, “Now then, we really should be off if we’re going to get to the office in time. Why don’t you tell me about another exterminator, hm? Any others aside from Tova you think are particularly commendable?”
Far easier than I’d done Kailo bounced back into a jovial mood almost instantly, ears perking and tail swishing happily as he bounced along beside me, “Of course there are! I could spend all paw talking if you let me! There’s Rensa from Heartwood. She’s retired now sadly, a work accident, but she was one of the best in her time along with another officer from the same town called Shenod who’s still active.”
Beeping away merrily, Kailo gushed over every exterminator he admired that he could think of while we walked, his pace never slowing and his enjoyment never waning. Aside from a few verbal acknowledgements and the occasional ‘Oh is that so?’ I remained largely quiet, choosing to appreciate this unanticipated but refreshing change of pace to our usual back and forth.
The glee with which he talked about people who’d gladly burn animals alive was something I’d never get used to, especially seeing as how many might be inclined to do the same to a human if given the opportunity.
Nevertheless, right now, I could look past that discomfort and accept that finally, after weeks of trying and failing to find an inroad with him, Kailo and I were actually spending time together and having a pleasa- pleasentish conversation. That alone was enough to lift my heart high from the morose haze that’d been clinging to me as of late, the ever expanding list of bad news continually adding to the depressive atmosphere.
I will have to properly thank Doctor Gallagher at some point, she really seems to have helped Kailo loosen up. Maybe all he really needed was one good friend in the end. Hm, isn’t that always the way?
Dismissing my musings so I could pay proper attention to Kailo, whose font of knowledge for famous exterminators was apparently endless, I beamed beneath my mask, glancing up at the bright blue sky and allowing the tension I’d been feeling to relax from my shoulders as a cool breeze swept over me.
Ahhh, what a gorgeous day indeed.
submitted by Still_Performance_39 to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]
Hello all, I hope life's treating you well.
We return today to a catch up with Bernard and one of his students, who has a question for him some might find funny and others may hate that I brought into this future setting, let's find out!
A thank you to all the authors who I asked to let me reference their stories for this chapter, Troublemakers by u/SepticSauces, Living in Harmony by u/Awesomesauceninja, and Letter of Marque by u/Liberty-Prime76. Also thanks to u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for being generally cool with references to Tarlim from The Nature of a Giant and so much more, he's just ubiquitous with NOP and it's well deserved.
[First] [Previous] [Next] April Fools Chapter
Memory transcription subject: Dr Bernard MacEwan, Professor of Zoology
Date [standardised human time]: 7th September 2136
"Ahhh, what a gorgeous day."
Wandering through the winding pathways and occasional green spaces that made up the patchwork exchange grounds, I took in the day's air with a contented sigh. As always the ever present Sun of Venlil Prime shone down upon the world below; its rays melding with a light breeze to hit that delightful sweet spot of comfortable springlike warmth.
Pleasant as it was, I did have to be mindful of the sunlight itself unfortunately.
Despite many a joke having been made to the contrary, thanks to my home's overcast and drizzly climate, Scotland's inhabitants were not in fact vampires at risk of bursting into flame at the slightest exposure to sunlight. This particular Scotsman though, as pale as I was, needed to be careful. I had neither the time nor patience to deal with sunburn of any degree; regardless of whether it was a simple irritation of the skin or an actual painful burn. Therefore, along with routinely applying a reasonable amount of sunscreen, I had taken another sensible precaution to protect myself from the light that shone down 24/7.
Or would that be 20/5 for the Venlil? Hmmm.
My musings on a Venlil equivalent for the common idiom were abruptly interrupted as my new sunhat got caught in the branch of a low hanging tree, the wide brim snagging and pulling my head back as the toggles around my neck went with it.
“OH! Damn it!”
Coming to an unceremonious halt at an uncomfortable angle, I quickly freed myself from the clutches of my arbour assailant, straightening myself out and glancing around in the hopes that no passersby had witnessed my fumble.
“Okay. The large brim is good for shade but not so good for visibility. Just like it was in the Amazon.”
Chuckling at the recollection of several similar incidents from the time I spent traipsing around the rainforest in search of Pygmy Marmosets, I went back to absentmindedly observing the world around me. I was eager to see if I could spy another native animal that might frequent the hustle and bustle of city life. Anything would do because, quite frankly, I could do with the distraction.
I guess it was too much to hope for peace in the end.
War was on the horizon, if not already in full swing. After Marcel and Slanek returned, bringing with them the brutal reality of how humans would be treated by anyone other than the Venlil, the whispers of conflict had grown into a full chorus calling out for retribution for the cruelty visited upon the poor man.
Of course I agreed that those responsible for the monstrous acts must be held accountable, but a full fledged interplanetary war? Against a species with centuries of battle experience fighting an enemy as merciless as the Arxur?
I knew full well that we humans loved to paint ourselves as fairly tough, but I feared we may be biting off more than we could chew if it came down to a true all out clash. The amount of suffering such an engagement would ultimately cause scarcely bears thinking about.
So many people are going to suffer because of this. Tragically, it’ll likely be the most vulnerable amongst us that bear the brunt of it all.
I huffed forcefully, trying to shake my thoughts free of the depressing weight of my worries, "Enough of that Bernard, think of brighter things to match the sunny day, hm?"
Indeed I had many options to choose from to help take my mind off such dreary concerns. Most notable among them were recent reports from the team at Sands Edge, composed of Doctor Mei Khan, Atama Oliver, and Lance Cross. Accompanied by a group of Venlil researchers, the trio had been tasked with taking a first look at the aquatic ecosystems of Venlil Prime. From what little I’d seen it was clear they’d already made astounding progress with their initial surveys.
The fact that the Venlil themselves had never made the effort to investigate the watery reaches of their home still boggles my mind. But on the plus side, it meant that there was a veritable wonderland of the unknown beneath the waves just waiting to be explored.
Aside from a brief introduction with Doctor Khan over video call on the second day of the programme, I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting them all in person. Her reputation had preceded her at least. An expert in the field of animal behaviour and psychology, she held a position as a professor at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. I was greatly looking forward to hearing any insights she may have about discoveries made during her time here.
Mr Oliver and Mr Cross were unfamiliar names but even a brief look at their qualifications, coupled with the handful of snapshots displaying the specimen samples they’d retrieved, had me very impressed, as well as giddy with excitement to see what else they might fish from the depths.
Disappointingly their efforts had been waylaid in the last week thanks to the increasing tension brought on by the Gojid’s aggression. It wasn’t so bad for humans like myself who were stationed in large cities close to UN facilities, but the Sands Edge team were way out in the sticks and had therefore been restricted to their small compound out of fears for their safety, should a Venlil with less sense than lighter fluid get any unsavoury ideas about what humans may get up to when under intense stress.
As my mind slowly began to creep towards yet more unsettling thoughts I was grateful to be distracted by an alert from my phone. Checking it, I saw that Alejandro had messaged me.
While I found it odd that Alejandro was asking for a meeting on a day he knew I had off from my official duties, I certainly wasn’t opposed to his request. On the contrary, having not made any plans for how I was going to spend my day, aside from relaxing, I was more than happy to have an impromptu chat with him.
He’s always come across as such a genuinely kind person. Tolim is lucky to have him.
I smirked at the thought, finding the reminder of my silent promise to secrecy about their relationship rather comical in retrospect. While they hadn’t gone as far as to openly declare their budding romance to the world they hadn’t been particularly sly about it either. It’d swiftly become the worst kept secret on campus, with most people easily clocking the consistently smitten expressions adorning both administrators whenever they were in one another's company.
Still smiling beneath my mask I typed up a brief response, saying I’d be delighted to catch up and confirming that we’d meet in his office at the requested time. With that settled, that still left me with roughly half an hour to continue my stroll before I’d have to head over.
Sadly I didn’t catch sight of any unfamiliar local wildlife during the next 30 minutes. I was momentarily accosted by a small flock of flowerbirds at one point, who spent some time darting around me loudly tweeting demands for seeds I didn’t have. Much as I’d come to understand why the Venlil saw the little feather balls as annoyances, I couldn’t help but find the bird's attitude humorously endearing.
Watching the fearless brightly hued plumes of indignation hop about around the feet of a creature that dwarfed them by an order of magnitude had a way of warming the heart. A David and Goliath comparison may not be the most apt perhaps, but I still appreciated their steely determination against seemingly insurmountable odds.
Or maybe they’re just too birdbrained to recognise the disparity. Either way, they’re cheeky little scamps!
Realising that I wasn’t going to give in to their squawking insistence the flock eventually dispersed, leaving me to wander the last leg of my journey alone.
Or so I thought.
Rounding a corner I noticed the familiar figure of Kailo pacing about a little way ahead of me. Judging by his twisting tail, lopsided ears, and the furrow creasing his brow, he appeared to be struggling with something that was taking up quite a bit of space in his head.
Hmmm, interesting.
Softly so as not to startle him from his thoughts too harshly, I called to him as I approached, “Kailo, how’re you doing this fine day?”
He shook a bit as my greeting hit his ears, blinking back to the world around him from whatever it was he’d been so wrapped up in seconds before.
An eye quickly directed itself to me, a tail flick of acknowledgement following soon after as Kailo hurriedly collected himself, though a semblance of tension still clung to him despite his best efforts to dismiss it, “Doctor uh- hello, good paw. I’m doing well, thank you. How are you?”
Now I wasn’t usually suspicious of cordial greetings but, considering who I was speaking to, I was rather surprised by Kailo’s out of character overly stilted politeness.
Something’s clearly bothering him. Hmmm.
I’m going to take a chance here.
Forcing a bit more cheer into my voice than was already present I answered him, “Oh I’m splendid Kailo, absolutely splendid. But, and I don’t mean to pry, are you sure you’re doing alright? You seemed rather worked up about something?”
A flash of discomfort swept through Kailo’s tail. Whether it was due to the topic that was on his mind or because I’d noticed he’d been grappling with it was unclear. But seeing as how his ears had just pinned against his head in an expression of irritation I’d become all too familiar with, I was certain I was about to be on the receiving end of yet another one of his hallmark outbursts.
Bracing myself for the oncoming flare of Kailo’s anger, I was surprised to instead see it dissipate entirely just as swiftly as it’d arisen, replaced with a look of sheepishness that would feel more at home on Rysel.
“Doctor?”, he began, his apparent embarrassment further solidified as he twisted the ends of his two index claws together whilst looking down at his paws, “This is going to sound really stupid but I have a question… about humans.”
Kailo’s sudden change in tone was unexpected, but any thoughts as to why were thoroughly tossed aside by the immediate joy I felt at the realisation that Kailo was concerned about something and that, out of all the people he could be asking, he was willing to express his worries to me.
I wonder why he hasn’t asked Doctor Gallagher his question? Oh no matter, I’m happy to help whatever the reason!
Trying to keep the happiness out of my voice so that it didn’t seem like I was making light of Kailo’s apprehension, I nodded back at the expectant Venlil, “Absolutely Kailo! I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about humans, provided it’s something I can answer of course.”
Kailo’s features softened at my assurances, the stress twisting along his tail relaxing ever so slightly, “I see, thank you Doctor. Well it’s about something Roisin told me. I think she’s lying to me honestly, she seemed too insistent about it for it to be a joke. But it just sounds too absurd to be real!”
Hm, that’s odd. I wouldn’t think she’d be the type to mislead someone. It’s probably just a misunderstanding.
Kailo carried on with his question, ears flicking outward in outright quizzical exasperation, “Do some humans think their planet is flat?”
Something struck me in that moment. Something that deafened me to everything around me and left me dumbfounded in its wake. The ambient noise of far off traffic, chatter from passersby, and the gentle trickle of a nearby fountain all blended together into a formless blur of sound as the question bludgeoned my consciousness.
Out of all the things he could’ve asked. Out of every facet of human society, culture, or behaviour he could’ve been interested in, this was what he was asking me about.
This.
After trying and failing several times to mount a proper reply, I finally managed to stutter a brief response, my brain barely able to keep itself together through the near overwhelming psychological blow, “Wh- ah… w-what?”
Kailo pressed on, my reaction clearly inciting further eagerness for an answer as he padded closer to me, his tail whipping demandingly, “Do some humans think the Earth is flat like a disc? Roisin says they exist but that’s crazy!”
Damn it Gallagher! What are you telling him about us? Nonsense clearly!
Groaning in equal parts frustration and shame over my species' infinite ability for stupidity I looked down at Kailo, thankful that my mask was hiding my scrunched and reddening cheeks, “Regrettably Kailo, they do indeed exist.”
It was Kailo’s turn to stew in bewildered silence as he stared at me in disbelief, his good ear falling flat while the scarred one twitched as he struggled to comprehend the madness I’d just imparted upon him.
This didn’t last long, for his confusion soon cycled over into a single despairing cry, “Why!?”
All I could do was shake my head and shrug defeatedly, “I wish I knew. Sometimes people choose to believe in the strangest of things and there’s little we can do to change their minds.”
Kailo’s eyes bulged in wide eyed shock, his mouth falling open in slack jawed incredulity at my dispassionate explanation, “But- but- How!? You have spaceflight! Commercially available spaceflight! You went into space almost 200 years ago and you’re the first species since the Kolshians and Farsul to figure out FTL without outside help! And even ignoring that, Roisin told me humans have known the Earth was spherical for thousands of years by using maths. How can anyone think the Earth is flat!?”
Huh, I’m amazed he knows that. Gallagher’s not just filling his head with nonsense it seems.
“All good points Kailo, all good points. Be that as it may for one reason or another the belief has, endured.”, The word rolled bitterly over my tongue, the reminder that such a bullheaded anti-science position had been in the spotlight for far longer than most reputable schools of science tended to instiled a poor taste in my mouth.
Nevertheless, as much as it pained me to continue talking about this obscene topic, I felt I should nip this in the bud before it got out of hand. I could hardly imagine that Kailo was going to be patient zero of a Venlil Prime conspiracy regarding whether or not their own planet was a globe or not, but having gotten a first hand experience of their approach to ecology over the past few weeks, I was completely unwilling to take such risks.
Just before I could pick the conversation back up Kailo got in ahead of me, his bewilderment having fallen back into a tight-knitted scowl of concentration as he mulled something over. He spoke quietly, muttering just under his breath, but a lifetime of listening for even the slightest hint of animal life meant that my hearing was still as sharp as it was when I was twenty.
“So they believe weird things that don’t match reality? That makes the ‘birds aren’t real’ thing make a lot more sense now.”
Yet again, Kailo caught me unawares with another blisteringly stunning statement, “I’m sorry, what? Birds aren’t real?”
Kailo’s snout snapped back up at me, his wool ever so slightly flaring in surprise, confirming my suspicions that he’d not meant for me to hear that, “Ah uh- it’s nothing. Well, not nothing, it's just… There was an incident a while back between a Krakotl exterminator and a human. They got into an argument because the human kept saying the exterminator wasn’t real because they were a bird. Is that another ridiculous human belief?”
Rather than be hit across the head with another searing pang of angst over aggravating conspiracy theories, a jovial bubble of laughter burst from me without warning startling Kailo, who jumped back a step at my sudden inexplicable outburst.
“What? What is it? Oh Inatala don’t tell me this is something you believe in!?”
Still chortling away I waved a hand and shook my head in the negative, taking a breath to settle the abrupt chuckle fit Kailo had inadvertently ignited within me, “No- Ha! No, certainly not. Birds very much exist. But, interestingly enough, that is not a conspiracy theory like the flat Earth nonsense. It’s actually a counter protest group from quite a long time ago that has long since gained meme and joke status even to this day.”
Kailo’s head tilted inquisitively, my explanation seemingly not making a whole lot of sense to him.
“Ok, so. A little over a century ago the group was founded as a way to protest political positions they felt were, in a word, absurd. They’d go to rallies that supported these positions and hold up signs and chant slogans that said birds weren’t real in an effort to ridicule the people they were against because of course such a belief would be ridiculous.”
A flap of understanding passed through Kailo’s ears before they quickly switched back to twitching in curiosity once again, “Ok that’s weird, but not as weird as not believing birds are real altogether. How’d you learn about it?”
“I have a friend who’s an ornithologist, it’s a specialty of my own field of study that specifically researches birds. She found out about it and thought it was hilarious so bought herself several shirts, badges, and even coffee mugs all emblazoned with the phrase ‘Birds aren’t real’.”, I chuckled merrily at the fond memory of walking into her office one day to find that, among the many diagrams, pictures, and models of various extremely real avians, there hung a banner right above her desk that boldly declared ‘BIRDS AREN’T REAL’.
Conscious that I was still in company, and as such I couldn’t get too wrapped up in my own memories for the time being, I turned my attention back to Kailo with my own questioning stare. He’d mentioned an argument between a human and an exterminator after all, and since the news hadn’t yet worked its way to me through the grapevine of gossip, I was interested to hear more about it.
“So Kailo, what was that you were saying about a squabble? I hope no one got into any serious trouble?”
“Hm?”, Kailo absentmindedly replied, apparently having been caught up in his own thoughts while I’d been spending a moment reminiscing, “Oh yeah! I mean no, no one got hurt. From what I heard the exterminator eventually got fed up and stormed off which ended the whole thing. Still, it helped that Tova was there keeping the rest of her squad in check. Who knows how it could’ve escalated without her there to keep a handle on things.”
Now that’s a name I’ve not heard before. Clearly an exterminator like Kailo. Maybe a well known one in their circles?
Curious to see if my suspicions were correct, and more than a little interested to see if I could get Kailo to offer up some information on the personality types of famous exterminators, I asked, “Who’s Tova?”
The reaction was as immediate as it was astonishing. Kailo’s demeanour did an instantaneous 180 from indifference to ecstatic, excitement gleaming in his eyes. Tail whipping behind him and ears twirling giddily he opened his mouth to answer, but just as suddenly as it’d come on his enthusiasm drooped into nervous fidgeting and he looked off a little ways down the street.
Eventually he settled down, looking back at me with what I could’ve sworn was a disappointed head tilt, “I uh… I actually have to go meet Blim soon over at the admin buildings. I don’t think I have any more time to talk without being late.”
Ah! He’s got a meeting too? How fortuitous!
I was pleased to hear I had a chance to walk and talk with Kailo about something he was passionate about; even if it was exterminators of all things. But, just before I could ask to accompany him to our shared destination, he spoke up again, a familiar fire blazing through every word that left his snout.
“This isn’t me trying to avoid the topic by the way. If I had the time I’d love the chance to properly teach you about all the good exterminators can do, especially the best of the batch! I know how you feel about what we do, but officers like Tova are prime examples of why we’re so respectable and important to the continued safety of the herd!”
In times not long past, such a speech from Kailo about his chosen profession would’ve been laced with a venom so potent it’d put a Black Widow to shame. To my astonishment however, the goading boastfulness I’d come to expect was nowhere to be heard. Instead, Kailo struck a pose of determined professionalism. Straight backed and proud, he puffed out his chest and flicked his ears up in a show of sincerity that I’d rarely seen from him.
Scratch that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that from him. Disparaging, sulky, and apprehensive perhaps, but never this.
In contrast to my internal monologue and to Kailo’s own credit, I did recognise the recent efforts he’d made towards making a positive change to his attitude with regards to the classes. He’d started to actively participate in the lectures now, rather than interrupt them just so he could stand atop his soap box and decry the dangers of predators at every opportunity.
He still had the bad habit of glaring at people like he wanted to bore a hole through their heads from time to time, but he was making progress in the right direction, and I for one was intent on encouraging this shift in behaviour.
Smiling warmly at the still proudly posing Venlil, I replied to his declaration, “Well Kailo, today might just be your lucky day! As it happens I’m also heading that way to a meeting of my own. Why don’t we walk together and you can tell me all about the officers you hold in high regard, hm? It’ll be our own mini lecture with you as the teacher!”
Kailo’s eyes went wide and his tail spun frantically, “Really!”, he excitedly blurted out, a little louder than he probably intended.
“I uh- achem. I mean, is that so? Then sure, I’ll tell you all about some of our best. It’s about time you saw my side of things! Come on then.”
With that he turned towards the offices and walked off at a steady pace, flicking his tail at me in what I assumed was a ‘follow along’ kind of gesture. And follow I did, doing my best to stifle the chuckle brought on by Kailo’s abrupt burst of enthusiasm.
Just like Rysel is with animals. Though I doubt either would appreciate the comparison.
“So then, we’re starting with Tova?.”, Kailo rhetorically asked, his ears standing stalk straight as he strode forth in deliberate almost marching like fashion, “Her story, like far too many, is tragic. As a pup she was on a ship that was attacked and boarded by the Arxur. However, despite being young, she was determined to fight back and protect the people onboard. In all the chaos she managed to create a trap and lead the Arxur into it, killing them in an explosion and saving everyone who was still alive! She became an exterminator not long after, and ever since then she’s protected the people with just as much fortitude!”
Uuuuhhhh…
Whether Kailo was expecting a response was unclear, but it wouldn't have mattered either way. As his short recounting of Tova’s origin story came to an end, I found my mind swamped by a fog of stunned horror.
A child, a literal child, had rigged up an IED trap and then managed to lure the raiders into it. Short of looking up the incident myself to check the veracity of Kailo’s tale, the only source to hand was the young man himself. He didn’t appear to be lying, he seemed too enamoured with the story himself for him to be making it up on the spot. But even so, regardless of whether the account was completely factually or even slightly embellished, it was a tough pill to swallow.
“Hey doctor, are you listening?”, Kailo’s verbal prod pulled me from the worst of the roaming intrusive thoughts flashing across my mind in reaction to what he’d told me, though a few disquieting ones still lingered on the edges of my awareness.
“Oh! I am indeed Kailo. I was uh… just considering your story. Tova sounds rather… formidable.”
Right now was another moment in which I found myself grateful that I still had to wear my mask when outside. It was impossible for me to know whether or not Kailo could pick up on my discomfort through my voice alone, but if my face had been visible I was sure he’d catch on pretty quickly.
Thankfully Kailo either couldn’t tell or was too caught up in my perceived complement to notice anything was off, because his tail flourished in satisfaction, “Formidable is right! Not only is she highly regarded for her work and her commitment to her duties, she’s also easily one of the largest Venlil you’ll ever see! Not as big as a human probably, but still pretty large for one of us!”
“But she’s not the biggest fullstop is she? I know that there's a Venlil called Tarlim who’s easily two feet taller than most humans. Didn’t he have a lot of trouble with the exterminators?”
WHY!?
The statement and follow up question was out my mouth before I could stamp it out, my decades honed instinct to counter a point of discussion rearing its head at the worst of times. In spite of the very real questions I believed needed to be tackled at some point, this was not the moment I would’ve chosen, especially not when I was finally building a rapport with my most difficult student.
Glancing at him it was plain as day to see that Kailo’s spirit had fallen considerably, my untimely criticism laying low any of his previous giddiness.
He suddenly came to a halt, his short wool frizzing out as he rounded on me with an oranging snout brimming with ire. In the split-second of silence that followed I prepared myself for the oncoming storm of rage I’d faced time and again. But in a moment of astonishing serendipity, what erupted from Kailo wasn’t a slew of vitriol levelled at me.
Instead, a grumbling bray of tired aggravation flowed from him, tail and ears deflating to match this new mood, “Ugggghhhhh… Please doctor, I’m begging you. Please don’t bring them up.”
Intrigued by his reaction, and again failing to quiet the goading murmurs telling me to push the point a little bit further, I replied, “And why’s that? Not a fan of those exterminators like you are of To-”
I didn’t even get to finish my question.
Kailo angrily stamped his foot and his tail lashed off the ground, interrupting me with a vicious tinge lacing his words, “By Inatala no! They’re a disgrace to the badge in my books. They botched their scans for PD, hid the fact from everyone until it was brought out in court, and then still clung to their story that he could be dangerous. And you know why they thought he was dangerous? Because he’s big!!!”
Once again Kailo stunned me, though for a different and far preferable reason. Tarlim and his case had come up in passing conversation with other humans who’d in turn heard the tale from their exchange partners. It was a ghastly story, one fraught with horrifying implications for all manner of reasons. From what little I’d learned about the controversy, many exterminators who’d been outspoken on the topic backed the actions of the Dawn Creek office; if not standing behind the officers themselves, who were fired from what I'd seen, then at least acknowledging that the poor man could still be a threat simply for his size.
Usually this would be the part where I’d try to give my own two-cents to the conversation, but despite having earlier asked not to talk about the issue, Kailo was far from done voicing his indignation, “It’s insane! Big! BIG!? Mazic are big. Takkan are big. Are we rounding all of them up for PD scans or putting up signs saying ‘Beware, Large Species Around’? Iftali are big as well! They dwarf the other species that live on Jild, but the Suleans aren’t scared of them are they!? Speaking of, the Suleans have antlers that could easily gore someone if they’re not careful. Should all Suleans wear foam on the ends of them for the herds' safety? NO!”
A part of me was tempted to let Kailo continue his rant for as long as it took to peter out, fascinated to see just how far he might go in diverging from what appeared to be a norm for the exterminators. I was not that nefarious however, and I was conscious that our meetings were getting steadily closer with the two of us still having a ways left to travel before we arrived at the offices.
I need to get him moving again, maybe get him back onto talking about the exterminators he likes. But how? Oh!
The idea struck me like lighting, a grin quickly spreading across my face as I looked down at the still seething Venlil.
This should work.
Taking the opportunity to slip into the conversation once Kailo eventually stopped to take a breath, I stated quite plainly, “It’s good to know there’s someone like yourself wearing that badge then. Someone who recognises that we can’t go around demonising people because of their differences. It’s an excellent mindset to have, both in general and most certainly in a job that requires you to care and protect your community. You should be proud of yourself for it.”
Whatever gripes Kailo may have been about to further shout out into the world fell silent as he processed my statement, my hunch that appealing to his ego might stymie his frustrations striking true. Honestly, I meant every word of it. Even if the things he did believe in still stung to hear about, it was a relief to know that Kailo didn’t toe the line completely when it came to exterminator doctrine.
My interruption appeared to jolt Kailo out of the tunnel vision his rants often drew him into, reminding him of where exactly he was.
After a brief scan of the surroundings he hastily composed himself, clearing his throat and returning his focus to me, “Achem. Well, I um… thank you doctor. I think so too. It’s not right to judge people like that just because they look different. How can exterminators properly fulfil their duties if all they’re doing is profiling people on physical differences after all.”
I did my best not to let it show in my posture, but the irony of what was coming out of Kailo’s mouth was battering my psyche like nothing else. Not only because of how he’d treated humans since he’d met us, which I could somewhat overlook and forgive due to cultural trauma at the claws of the Arxur, but because I knew full well that exterminators didn’t just profile people due to explicitly physical differences.
Following my first exposure to the guilds existence, I’d made a point of learning about them at any spare opportunity. I’d been horrified by the way they treated innocent creatures for their appearance and diet. But what I found behind that? That was infinitely worse.
Predator Disease. A sickening repression of the concept and understanding of the neurotypical in any sense festered throughout the Federation. People who skewed anywhere from the pseudo scientific ‘baseline’ the supposed professionals had cooked up were hauled away to facilities that bore a monstrous resemblance to the old asylums that once existed aplenty across the Earth.
Conflict raged within me as I stared at Kailo, one side screaming at me to lay the sordid nature of so-called predator disease bare while the other begged me to stay silent and maintain this fragile rare instance of peace that’d sprung up between the two of us.
Only seconds passed in the real world as I wrestled with the cacophony swirling around my head, but I eventually made my choice, as selfish as it might’ve been.
“You’re quite right Kailo.”, sighing as quietly as I could I took a step forward, pushing myself onwards and forcing a little bit of cheer back into my voice, “Now then, we really should be off if we’re going to get to the office in time. Why don’t you tell me about another exterminator, hm? Any others aside from Tova you think are particularly commendable?”
Far easier than I’d done Kailo bounced back into a jovial mood almost instantly, ears perking and tail swishing happily as he bounced along beside me, “Of course there are! I could spend all paw talking if you let me! There’s Rensa from Heartwood. She’s retired now sadly, a work accident, but she was one of the best in her time along with another officer from the same town called Shenod who’s still active.”
Beeping away merrily, Kailo gushed over every exterminator he admired that he could think of while we walked, his pace never slowing and his enjoyment never waning. Aside from a few verbal acknowledgements and the occasional ‘Oh is that so?’ I remained largely quiet, choosing to appreciate this unanticipated but refreshing change of pace to our usual back and forth.
The glee with which he talked about people who’d gladly burn animals alive was something I’d never get used to, especially seeing as how many might be inclined to do the same to a human if given the opportunity.
Nevertheless, right now, I could look past that discomfort and accept that finally, after weeks of trying and failing to find an inroad with him, Kailo and I were actually spending time together and having a pleasa- pleasentish conversation. That alone was enough to lift my heart high from the morose haze that’d been clinging to me as of late, the ever expanding list of bad news continually adding to the depressive atmosphere.
I will have to properly thank Doctor Gallagher at some point, she really seems to have helped Kailo loosen up. Maybe all he really needed was one good friend in the end. Hm, isn’t that always the way?
Dismissing my musings so I could pay proper attention to Kailo, whose font of knowledge for famous exterminators was apparently endless, I beamed beneath my mask, glancing up at the bright blue sky and allowing the tension I’d been feeling to relax from my shoulders as a cool breeze swept over me.
Ahhh, what a gorgeous day indeed.
2024.03.23 21:06 TheHybred Robert F. Kennedy JR's Policies [Part 1]
![Robert F. Kennedy JR's Policies [Part 1]](https://external-preview.redd.it/DZ4tG_Z1nK5WLVeqrZAod6LtF8hDW88o0AmUHTwYt-k.jpg?width=320&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=bbbde08b0ff5f27acaba0c6e24c841695bad6876 "Robert F. Kennedy JR's Policies [Part 1]") | EconomyIt’s hard to believe that once upon a time, a blue-collar worker with a high school education could support a family, take vacations, and even save for retirement. Technology has made our productivity many times higher — so why is life poorer, not richer, than in the 1960s? Why do people just accept that life will get slowly worse?Kennedy does not accept it. We can restore the American middle class by reversing the missteps of the last 50 years. A massive military machine has nearly bankrupted this country. Rampant corruption in Washington has put corporations in charge, enriching the wealthiest as working people have dropped out of the middle class. Official unemployment is low — but most of the new jobs are in the low-pay service sector. Wealth inequality in the country is at a 100-year high. More than 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, with no savings for an emergency. Take-home pay after inflation and taxes has fallen 9% since Biden took office. Under the Biden administration, the price of an average home has risen from $250,000 to around $400,000, and mortgage rates have more than doubled. Rents have followed the trend, putting more and more people on the edge of catastrophe. But we can turn it around. Being able to afford a decent life doesn’t mean working more hours. It means higher pay and lower bills. Here is what Kennedy will do to make that a reality:
Second is to end the corruption in Washington, the corporate giveaways, the boondoggles, the bailouts of the too-big-to-fail that leave the little guy at the mercy of the market. Corporations right now are sitting on $8 trillion in cash. Their contribution to tax revenues was 33% in the 1950s — it is 10% today. It’s high time they paid their fair share. Other Presidents have tinkered on the edges, but Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will make the deep changes necessary to put the economy on a sound footing. The broad prosperity of the Eisenhower and JFK era can be ours again. It is just a shift of priorities away. HousingThe dream of home ownership is slipping away for many Americans with high mortgage rates, rising prices, and stagnant income. To make matters worse, venture capital firms and hedge funds are buying up single-family homes by the millions. As home ownership costs rise beyond reach, rents follow them into the stratosphere.Consider these statistics:
None of this is inevitable, though. As President, RFK Jr. will enact a series of policies to put home ownership back within the reach of working families. Here’s how:
How I'll Make Housing Affordable & I’ll Help You Buy A Home EnvironmentRobert F. Kennedy Jr. spent most of his career as an environmental lawyer, suing big polluters and government agencies that failed to enforce the law. By the early 2000s, he had become one of the most influential environmentalists in the United States, designated by TIME magazine as a “Hero of the Planet.”RFK Jr.’s success came from uniting liberal environmentalists with conservative rod-and-gun folks who shared a desire for a clean, healthy environment. As President, he will bring the same commitment and coalition-building to address the most pressing environmental problems in America and beyond.Recent years have seen one environmental disaster after another: floods and droughts, fires, and toxic spills. Our soils are depleted, the weather is wacky, trees are dying, and the water in many places is toxic. Chronic disease is at an all-time high. We’re going to address these problems at their root causes.
My Environmental Priorities & Why I’m An Environmentalist & RFK Jr. Speaks To Supporters From Atop A Tree Honest GovernmentA democratic government is supposed to be of, by, and for the people. But government institutions have betrayed our trust. The intelligence agencies spy on our own people. Government and tech platforms conspire to surveil and censor the public. Regulatory agencies have been captured by those they are supposed to regulate: Wall Street controls the SEC. Polluters and extractive industries dominate the EPA and BLM. Pharma controls the CDC, NIH, and FDA. Big Ag controls the USDA. Big Tech has captured the FTC. No wonder trust in government is at all-time lows. It’s time to earn it back.From his long experience and familiarity with systems of power, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. understands that most people in corporations and government are perfectly decent human beings. They play the game, but a lot of them are fed up with its phoniness, and cynical about the paralysis of the system. They feel trapped in it. Clean government isn’t just about removing corrupt individuals. It is about changing a system in which perfectly decent people become agents of corruption without even knowing it. https://preview.redd.it/x733pr3k15qc1.jpg?width=1843&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf9dba642a9de044c3c15755a8c32988144e9296 We are going to remake public institutions to serve the public. We will roll back the secrecy and make government transparent. We will protect whistleblowers and prosecute officials who abuse the public trust. We will rein in the lobbyists and slam shut the revolving door that shunts people from government agencies to lucrative positions in the companies they were supposed to regulate, and back again. We will get money out of politics. We will open our institutions to real citizen involvement. We will restore integrity to government. Who Censored Me And Why & Why The Media Lies & The Revolving Door Between Industry And Government Agencies ReconciliationAmerica is more polarized and divided now than at any time in living memory. Both sides seem to agree that the basic problem is the horrible people on the other side. Both sides are wrong. The basic problem is the division itself. A divided public lacks the strength to resist exploitation or to overcome the inertia of the status quo. The classic American can-do spirit exhausts itself in endless battles. So let’s heal the divide.Today, powerful undemocratic forces have a death grip on our nation. There is only one way to break that grip and restore power to the people. That is a broad popular movement that unites left and right, Black and White, urban and rural, young and old, and working people of all ethnicities. This populist uprising is not defined by its enemies. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recognizes that even the elites have become prisoners of the system they have created. Many of them no longer believe in it, despite the wealth and power it gives them. They too are welcome to defect to the movement of people power. https://preview.redd.it/0w45gvp025qc1.jpg?width=1916&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=780cdf70e357644af8bf9bf9fd227cdff396a533 Kennedy has clear positions on most of today’s divisive trigger issues like abortion, guns, and immigration, but he knows that both sides have legitimate concerns and legitimate moral positions. No one is deplorable. Furthermore, most of the disagreements obscure deeper shared values. Everyone wants their children to be safe. No one wants more abortions, nor do they want to force women to undergo unwanted pregnancies. Everyone wants safe streets, yet few wish for millions of people to languish in prison. Kennedy will draw on the broad moral agreements beneath our divisions. He will model careful listening, and create conditions where each group can hear the stories of the other. He will lead the way toward national reconciliation, respectful dialog, and willingness to change, to grow, and to forgive. These commitments to respect and unity start right now, in the campaign. In Kennedy's own words, “Every nation, like every individual, has a darker side and a lighter side. The easiest thing for a politician to do is to appeal to our greed, to our anger, to our fear, to our xenophobia, our bigotry, all of the alchemies of tribalism. I will appeal instead to our generosity as a people, our goodness, our kindness, and our courage.” Why I Won’t Attack The Left & I Declare My Independence PeaceIn the long term, a nation’s strength does not come from its armies. America spends as much on weaponry as the next nine nations combined, yet the country has grown weaker, not stronger, over the last 30 years. Even as its military technology has reigned supreme, America has been hollowing out from the inside. We cannot be a strong or secure nation when our infrastructure, industry, society, and economy are infirm.A high priority of a Kennedy administration will be to make America strong again. When a body is sick, it withdraws its energy from the extremities in order to nourish the vital organs. It is time to end the imperial project and attend to all that has been neglected: the crumbling cities, the antiquated railways, the failing water systems, the decaying infrastructure, the ailing economy. Annual defense-related spending is close to one trillion dollars. We maintain 800 military bases around the world. The peace dividend that was supposed to come after the Berlin Wall fell was never redeemed. Now we have another chance. As President, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will start the process of unwinding empire. We will bring the troops home. We will stop racking up unpayable debt to fight one war after another. The military will return to its proper role of defending our country. We will end the proxy wars, bombing campaigns, covert operations, coups, paramilitaries, and everything else that has become so normal most people don’t know it’s happening. But it is happening, a constant drain on our strength. It’s time to come home and restore this country. https://preview.redd.it/lh1qid4a25qc1.jpg?width=1845&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=33c23688b9858aaad18487af6bfe1077634550c2 In Ukraine, the most important priority is to end the suffering of the Ukrainian people, victims of a brutal Russian invasion, and also victims of American geopolitical machinations going back at least to 2014. We must first get clear: Is our mission to help the brave Ukrainians defend their sovereignty? Or is it to use Ukraine as a pawn to weaken Russia? Kennedy will choose the first. He will find a diplomatic solution that brings peace to Ukraine and brings our resources back where they belong. We will offer to withdraw our troops and nuclear-capable missiles from Russia's borders. Russia will withdraw its troops from Ukraine and guarantee its freedom and independence. UN peacekeepers will guarantee peace to the Russian-speaking eastern regions. We will put an end to this war. We will put an end to the suffering of the Ukranian people. That will be the start of a broader program of demilitarization of all countries. We have to stop seeing the world in terms of enemies and adversaries. As John Quincy Adams wrote, “Americans go not abroad in search of monsters to destroy.” Kennedy will revive a lost thread of American foreign policy thinking, the one championed by his uncle, John F. Kennedy who, over his 1000 days in office, had become a firm anti-imperialist. He wanted to exit Vietnam. He defied the Joint Chiefs of Staff and refused to bomb Cuba, thus saving us from nuclear Armageddon. He wanted to reverse the imperialistic policies of Truman and Eisenhower, rein in the CIA, and support freedom movements around the world. He wanted to revive Roosevelt’s impulse to dissolve the British empire rather than take it over. John F. Kennedy’s vision was tragically cut short by an assassin’s bullet. But now we have another chance. The country is ailing, yes, but underneath there is vitality still. America is a land rich in resources, creativity, and intelligence. We just need to get serious about healing our society, to become strong again from the inside. America was once an inspiration to the world, a beacon of freedom and democracy. Our priority will be nothing less than to restore our moral leadership. We will lead by example. When a warlike imperial nation disarms of its own accord, it sets a template for peace everywhere. It is not too late for us to voluntarily let go of empire and serve peace instead, as a strong and healthy nation. “Peace For All Time” Running on Truth Episode 3 & The Path We’re On BorderRobert F. Kennedy, Jr. sees the situation at the border primarily as a humanitarian crisis. It is a crisis that has spread far beyond the border, as a flood of migrants has overwhelmed the resources of cities as far away as New York. The suffering of the migrants at the hands of drug cartels, human traffickers, and exploitative employers is heartbreaking.As President, Kennedy is going to end the humanitarian crisis, starting with its most immediate cause — an uncontrolled border. As he seals the border to illegal immigration, his administration will enact deeper reforms to stem illegal migration in the long term, while expanding lawful, orderly immigration according to principles of justice and fairness. We must recognize that the foremost victims of a porous, chaotic border are the immigrants themselves. Compassion and decency demand that we do not allow the current situation to continue. Overview
The criminal cartels that now control immigration across the Mexican border exact a high price. Migrants are routinely robbed, raped, kidnapped, and sex trafficked. These horrors are happening systemically and at scale. The whereabouts of some 85,000 children who have been separated from their parents are unknown. In May, a “stash house” with 135 kidnapped migrants was liberated just across the border in San Luis. For everyone that is discovered, many more operate undetected. Our unregulated border is not compassionate. It is an open opportunity for the worst kinds of organized crime. The Mexican cartels controlling immigration are as ruthless in this business as they are in the drug business. Gang violence all along the border has spiked as the cartels vie for turf through assassination and torture. The Mexican state of Sonora recorded 1765 murders in 2022, and many unsolved disappearances. The Mexican government’s official tally of disappearances now approaches 100,000. This civil disorder is encroaching into the US, as destitute migrants flood American cities, sleeping on sidewalks and overwhelming humanitarian resources. Here too they are easy prey for criminals. Fentanyl and methamphetamine are flooding into the country across the border along with the migrants. That is part of the cartels' integrated business model. Because migrants have no documentation, they have no bargaining power or recourse when employers take advantage of them. They work for $5 or $6 an hour. They exist as the permanent bottom layer of a shadow economy from which it is almost impossible to escape. A pool of cheap, exploitable labor lowers the floor for all labor, putting downward pressure on wages and harming the American working class. As a young man, RFK Jr. had the honor to work with Cesar Chavez. He understood that farm laborers’ conditions would never improve when endless new busloads of undocumented immigrants were available to replace any workers who tried to bargain for better working conditions. He was no xenophobe. Immigration is good for this country. It is unlawful, disorderly illegal immigration that harms migrants and undercuts American workers. In the long term, perhaps the most pernicious effect of the current border chaos is that a criminal infrastructure of well-financed, institutionalized cartels is taking hold, corrupting government officials and insinuating itself into society. Just as Prohibition was a tremendous boon to organized crime, birthing the American mafia of legend, so also does the border situation provide a financial foundation for criminal organizations that could persist of decades. Tough and Humanitarian Policy The first step toward fixing this situation is to reassert control over our border. Today there is no control, no effective policy and, as a result, there is a humanitarian, security, and economic disaster. There are two ways people enter this country illegally. One way is by sneaking in. The other is by simply walking across at an entry point, claiming asylum, and disappearing. We have to address both. If we only shut down the asylum route, they will sneak across instead. If we only seal the border, they will overwhelm asylum processing resources. We must end both simultaneously. To accomplish this, the Kennedy administration will pursue the following policies.
This is a common-sense solution that can transcend partisan rancor. Democrats will support swift attention to asylum claims so that we meet our humanitarian obligations. Republicans will support an end to the flow of millions of unheard asylum claimants into the U.S. on their own recognizance. Migrants will know that their case will be heard at the border and they will not be let through unless it is approved. Deciding to spend a lifetime of savings and risk injury, rape, and death to make this journey is the biggest decisions of most migrants' lives. They do not make that kind of a decision in a vacuum. We must give them forewarning that we are hiring hundreds more judges and they can no longer expect to be let into the country due to judicial delays. We will work with the Mexican government to stem the flow of transit migration through Mexico. We have to cultivate a more positive relationship with Mexico and work closely with its people and government who desperately want to be free of the plague of cartel violence. Together, these three policies will end the business model of the cartels. When we also expand legal immigration, migrants will rationally choose the legal path instead of putting their families’ lives at the mercy of criminals. Long-term solutions Beyond the immediate border crisis is a long-term immigration crisis, the result of lack of leadership, poor planning, little to no diplomacy, economic exploitation, and an inability to reimagine a regionally cooperative approach. We can control the border, but immigration pressure will not abate until we change the conditions that make so many people desperate to flee their homelands. Sadly, the United States has contributed to those conditions. As President, RFK Jr. will change that by implementing a new kind of Good Neighbor policy, starting in this hemisphere. He will:
“Midnight At The Border" Running on Truth Episode 2 & Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Addresses Border Crisis and Releases ‘Midnight at the Border’ Civil LibertiesOur administration will make it a top priority to protect and restore the fundamental civil liberties, enshrined in the Bill of Rights, that hold the essence of what America can be. These liberties have endured constant assault for more than 20 years, starting with the Bush/Cheney War on Terror, and accelerating in the era of Covid lockdowns.Freedom of speech is the capstone of all other rights and freedoms. Once a government has the power to silence its opponents, no other right is safe. We will therefore dismantle the censorship-industrial complex, in which Big Tech censors, deplatforms, shadowbans, and algorithmically suppresses any person or opinion the government asks them to. We will respect the right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, by ending mass surveillance of American citizens and the abuse of civil asset forfeiture. We will make sure that the Covid-era suspension of the right to assembly, trial by jury, and freedom of worship will never happen again. The same for the right to property. During Covid, 3.4 million businesses were forced to close. Many of them, including 60% of Black-owned businesses, will never reopen. A Kennedy administration will respect American citizens and stop treating them like suspects and schoolchildren. We will stop manipulating the public with propaganda and targeted leaks. We will never weaponize the law against political opponents, nor hold our own officials above the law. We will return the intelligence agencies to their proper role as protectors not violators of liberty. https://preview.redd.it/3ild43vv25qc1.jpg?width=1848&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=38dc617a68b4e7307d8717760c3c2e3d80176fbf We will also take special care to ensure the civil liberties of minorities and the poor. We will end the failed War on Drugs and grant amnesty to nonviolent drug offenders. We will shut the school-to-prison pipeline, and transition prisons away from a punishment paradigm to a rehabilitation paradigm. Prisons will be an intervention in a life gone wrong, and a way to prevent offenders from harming others again. Instead of defunding the police, we will transform the police. We will incentivize them to prevent violence, not make unnecessary arrests. We will train them in de-escalation and mediation skills and partner them with neighborhood organizations. No longer will their relationship to the public be adversarial. They will focus their attention on serious crimes, not harassing ordinary people. RFK Jr.: I Will Protect Your Right To Speak |
2024.03.19 09:12 decomposed_body_43 Adopt Me Halloween Mini Game Ideas (1/?) + Customisable Eye Colour Contacts Idea
 | I was recently making this in an exam and i decided to share some ideas here! I thought itd be fun to make some mini game concepts submitted by decomposed_body_43 to AdoptMeRBX [link] [comments] The Floor is Lava! Candy Buckets Total Receiving - 3500 - 4500 Time Limit : 2 minutes 30 seconds Players must reach the top of the tower before the lava rises up, so the players are needed to stand on any obstacles that will avoid the lava flooded floor, the lava will stop at certain timings In this game players are given 30 seconds in the first round to stand on the tallest obstacle to avoid touching the lava, they have a life span of three hearts, if all are wasted, they are kicked out of the game but will still receive candy not in the corresponding amount ( eg. 2000+) if the lava rises above half of the tower, the speed of the lava and the player gets faster and more difficult, the seconds to pick an obstacle to stand on will decrease into 10 seconds as the obstacles gets harder to stand on, being more round and smaller objects (The Floor Is Lava! Concept Image in Slide 1) Moss Lagoon Boat Race Time limit ; 5 minutes Players Max ; 10 Candy Buckets Amount Receiving ; 12000 - 15600 The map takes place in an eerie lagoon rainforest, and players will go on various types of spooky yet bizzare adventures, where it goes smoothly first in the first few currents to outrageous set of waves Each player will be given a boat, as the race starts the boat controls itself instead and the player will be told to tap the notes to guide the boat's direction, a note chart will appear like the ones from rhythm games, if a skill point combo is received, it will increase the boat's speed Reference (example) (in Slide 2) Both the player and boat's life span is only 20 hearts, if damaged, it can decrease the speed along with damaging the heart if scratched on an obstacle. Half a heart = Small Obstacle 1 Heart = Huge Obstacles Leaderboards / Placing ; A small leaderboard box will be shown in the corner of the player's screen, and the placing title will be on top of the player's head, where it can change depends how far you are (eg. #5 to #4) Combo Point Speed Boosts ; All Perfect ; 30 = 0.25x SB Great ; 24-26 = 0.13x SB Okay ; 15-20 = 0.9x SB Bad. ; 6-10 = 0.5 SB • Midway through the race, the currents get faster and more dangerously rapid, the boat gets tumbled more and more, and more obstacles will appear, the notes will get faster flashing with colours, confusing and provoking the player. (Midway through the race, the boat goes uncontrollably faster as it later drops off a high height off a waterfall where theres clouds, Bat Dragons, and other flyable Halloween Animals, it later darts down nearing to the ground, but Bat Dragons will later catch the boat, giving it a soft landing at a huge river, letting the player continue to sail) • Ending of the race ; When the boat is landed, it will slow the boat down and later fasten up in the end near the finishing line. [ Fun Fact ; If players play in a private server or solo, the contestants are replaced with the Halloween Pets (2019-2024/202(?) ) lol ] The notes and obstacles spawn and change at random. But the cycle remains (Moss Lagoon Boat Race Concept Reference in Slide 3) Customisable Eye Colour Contacts can be found in the salon, on top of the colour spray cans, and it has the same multi colour choices as the spray cans, it helps to add some style and pop to the pet, to fit their stylish look more! Although, not all pets get most of the colours, pets like Unis and Dragons, will not have any available colours like blue or red, to avoid scams and cloning of any of the pet reskins. |
2024.03.18 15:36 ultracute007 VivaSlim Reviews 2024: Know All The Facts Before Buy Shocking Results !
 | What is VivaSlim?VivaSlim is a weight loss formula created by Simple Promise, a Washington-based supplement company.Featuring a blend of African mango extract and other natural ingredients, VivaSlim is designed to help kickstart your body’s natural weight loss processes, helping you burn fat. Simple Promise developed the weight loss remedy based on a natural formula from the indigenous people of Bioko, who remain strong and vibrant well into their 70s and 80s. A researcher named Frank Atlas identified certain natural ingredients used by the people of Bioko and added those ingredients to a concentrated liquid nutritional supplement. During a large trial, Frank Atlas found that 98% of participants lost 29lbs or more with the formula without dieting or exercising. After the successful trial, Frank decided to share VivaSlim with the world, partnering with Simple Promise to sell it online. VivaSlim Reviews 2024: Know All The Facts Before Buy Shocking Results ! VivaSlim BenefitsAccording to Simple Promise and the official VivaSlim website, the supplement can promote benefits like:
How Does VivaSlim Work?VivaSlim contains a blend of natural ingredients that work in different ways to accelerate weight loss results.Some of the ingredients in VivaSlim are natural metabolism boosters. They increase the calories your body burns daily, helping you lose weight. Other ingredients in VivaSlim activate your body’s natural fat-burning processes, encouraging your body to burn fat. You need to fast, exercise, or deprive yourself of carbs and calories to burn fat. Plenty of weight loss supplements target metabolism and fat burning; however, VivaSlim is one of the few that targets a condition called “stagnant fat syndrome.” As you age, you have an increased risk of stagnant fat syndrome, where fat clings to your organs and stubborn spots around your body. This fat isn’t as easy to burn as regular fat, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight. To activate the powerful fat-burning effects of VivaSlim, take one full dropper of the liquid formula daily. Who Created VivaSlim? About Frank AtlasVivaSlim was developed by Frank Atlas, who partnered with Washington-based supplement company VivaSlim to release the formula.Frank is the head of a medical research group. As part of his job, Frank travels to remote corners of the earth, where he lives with indigenous tribes to learn their way of life and research their natural remedies. Frank used to be 70lbs overweight. Then, he discovered a tribal remedy that helped him rapidly lose weight and keep it off. That tribal remedy came from the indigenous people of Bioko, an island off the coast of West Africa. Frank found the people of Bioko were slim, healthy, and free of disease and illness. They lived long, healthy, and happy lives. Frank started to research why that was the case, and he discovered they regularly took ingredients like African mango extract. Frank analyzed African mango extract and other ingredients used by the indigenous people of Bioko, then packaged it into a natural weight loss remedy. He partnered with Simple Promise to release that remedy to the world. Today, anyone can use the remedy to enjoy powerful weight loss. Try VivaSlim now and experience the difference! VivaSlim IngredientsMany weight loss supplements claim to boost metabolism and burn stubborn fat. Some contain the right ingredients, while others do not. So what’s inside VivaSlim and how do those ingredients work?Here are all of the active ingredients in VivaSlim and how they work, according to Simple Promise and Frank Atlas’s research: Irvingia Gabonensis (African Mango Extract): African mango extract is the fruit extract from the island of Bioko linked to longevity, health, and wellness, according to Frank Atlas’s research. He found the people of Bioko lived long and healthy lives because they regularly consumed African mango extract, formally known as Irvingia gabonensis. Frank also found research showing that African mango extract led to a 275% increase in fat loss, a 20% drop in body fat, and a 6” reduction in waist circumference, among other benefits, across multiple trials involving 100+ participants. For all of these reasons and more, it’s one of the most important weight loss ingredients in VivaSlim. Learn more on the official website >>> Niacin: African mango extract is the superstar ingredient in VivaSlim, as it’s sourced from the Bioko island. However, Frank added complementary ingredients like niacin to enhance the supplement’s weight-loss effects. Niacin is a B vitamin found in many foods and supplements. Frank describes it as a “potent nutrient [that] comes from a plant that grows in the fertile soils of Zanzibar.” Frank claims to have used a special type of niacin in his supplement that “significantly improves GBP-28 levels.” L-Carnitine: L-carnitine is an amino acid in meats, dairy products, and certain foods. Frank Atlas, creator of VivaSlim, describes L-carnitine as “a powerful amino acid found in the tropical rainforests of South America.” He cites one study showing people taking L-carnitine lost 520% more fat than those taking a placebo. Rhodiola Rosea: Rhodiola rosea is an adaptogenic plant used in traditional medicine for centuries. Unlike African mango extract, Rhodiola rosea isn’t widely known in traditional African medicine but is popular throughout Asian and European traditional medicine practices. Frank Atlas cites a study where Rhodiola “helped the subjects drop 30% of their visceral body fat in just 10 days.” Astragalus: Astragalus, like Rhodiola rosea, is an adaptogenic plant. Like other adaptogens, astragalus can help your body manage stress and influence your response to stressors. It’s popular in traditional Ayurvedic, Korean, and Chinese medicine practices. Simple Promise added astragalus to their formula because it “promotes healthy stress levels, boosts energy, strengthens your immunity, and balances your hormones,” which can help promote natural weight loss. If your body is stressed, you may produce too much cortisol. Excess cortisol levels make it virtually impossible to lose weight. L-Glutamate: L-glutamine is an amino acid best known for its effects on metabolism. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid found in the body, and it’s involved in hundreds of processes – from energy to muscle development and more. According to Simple Promise, L-glutamate is “a supernutrient found in plants native to Morocco” that “led to quick and sustainable fat loss” in one trial involving 20 participants. L-Arginine: L-arginine is an amino acid linked to energy, metabolism, and the development of muscle cells. Simple Promise added L-arginine to the formula because it “widens veins and arteries,” making it easier for fat-burning molecules like GBP-28 to circulate in your body. When signaling molecules like GBP-28 circulate in your body faster, it leads to greater fat-burning results. Get VivaSlim now while it’s on sale – limited time only! L-Ornithine: L-ornithine is an amino acid linked to various processes throughout the body. Your body produces ornithine naturally. Unlike other amino acids, however, your body doesn’t use ornithine to create protein; instead, it uses ornithine as part of the urea cycle, and it helps dispose of excess nitrogen from the body. Simple Promise describes L-ornithine as a “supernutrient known for its incredible ability to burn fat and produce a leaner body.” The company specifically claims this amino acid will “give you a perky and firm butt” while slimming down your thighs and other stubborn areas. Maca: Maca root is a popular aphrodisiac supplement ingredient in fat burners and natural energy boosters. It’s been used in South American traditional medicine practices for centuries, and modern research increasingly supports the benefits of maca and how it works. Beta-Alanine: Beta-alanine is a natural molecule “proven to melt off unwanted fat,” according to Simple Promise. Some take it before workouts as a natural way to boost energy. Others take it daily to support lean muscle tissue growth and fat burning. Beta-alanine acts as a building block of carnosine, a molecule that helps buffer acid in muscles, making it a popular workout formula. However, VivaSlim is specifically marketed to those who want to lose weight without exercising, and the formula claims to work regardless of your exercise habits. Pygeum Africanum: Pygeum Africanum, also known as African cherry or African prune, is a “potent nutrient with antioxidant properties” to fight inflammation, according to Simple Promise. If your body is inflamed, it clings to stubborn body fat, making it difficult to lose weight. Overall, VivaSlim contains 12+ complementary ingredients that work together to melt away fat and promote powerful weight loss results. By taking VivaSlim daily, you can purportedly lose around 1lb per day, according to testimonials featured on the official website – even without dieting or exercising. Place your order today by clicking here before stock runs out! >>> How to Take VivaSlim
What to Expect After Taking VivaSlim: Lizzy Anderon’s Weight Loss JourneyOne of the first people to take VivaSlim was Lizzy Anderson, a self-described “overworked mom” who lives near El Paso, Texas.Lizzy had gained weight over the years and struggled to lose it – even when eating healthy and exercising. Eventually, she talked to Frank Atlas, who told her to take African mango extract. Frank later developed VivaSlim based on his work with Lizzy. Here’s what happened when Lizzy took an early trial version of VivaSlim for the first time:
Act quickly to secure the limited-time discounted price today! |
2024.03.18 05:25 emovebikes How To Hire a Folding E Mountain Bike in the Sunshine Coast?
Folding E Mountain Bikes are revolutionizing the way people explore the great outdoors. Combining the convenience of foldability with the power of electric assistance, these bikes offer an exhilarating experience for cyclists of all skill levels.
II. Versatility: Whether you’re tackling rugged trails or cruising through urban streets, a Folding E Mountain Bike can handle it all. With adjustable settings and robust suspension systems, these bikes offer versatility for any terrain.
III. Eco-Friendly Option: Opting for an electric bike reduces your carbon footprint while still allowing you to enjoy the beauty of nature. By hiring a Folding E Mountain Bike, you’re making a sustainable choice for your outdoor adventures.
I. Budget: Determine your budget for bike hire and choose a rental option that offers competitive rates without compromising on quality.
II. Bike Specifications: Pay attention to the specifications of the Folding E Mountain Bike you’re considering hiring, including battery life, motor power, and gear ratios.
III. Rental Terms and Conditions: Read the rental agreement carefully to understand any additional fees, insurance coverage, and liability policies.
II. Online Rental Platforms: Explore online rental platforms that specialize in outdoor equipment, offering a convenient way to reserve a folding electric bike in advance.
II. Safety Precautions: Always wear a helmet and protective gear, obey traffic laws, and be mindful of pedestrians and other cyclists sharing the road.
III. Explore Local Attractions: Take advantage of the Sunshine Coast’s natural beauty by incorporating stops at scenic viewpoints, parks, and cafes along your cycling route.
submitted by emovebikes to u/emovebikes [link] [comments]
1. Benefits of Hiring a Folding E Mountain Bike
I. Convenience: Folding E Mountain Bike is incredibly convenient for travelers and adventurers. Their compact size allows for easy transportation and storage, making them ideal for exploring new destinations.II. Versatility: Whether you’re tackling rugged trails or cruising through urban streets, a Folding E Mountain Bike can handle it all. With adjustable settings and robust suspension systems, these bikes offer versatility for any terrain.
III. Eco-Friendly Option: Opting for an electric bike reduces your carbon footprint while still allowing you to enjoy the beauty of nature. By hiring a Folding E Mountain Bike, you’re making a sustainable choice for your outdoor adventures.
2. Exploring the Sunshine Coast: A Cycling Paradise
The Sunshine Coast is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts, boasting breathtaking landscapes and a network of scenic cycling routes. From lush rainforests to pristine beaches, there’s no shortage of natural beauty to discover on two wheels.3. Factors to Consider When Hiring a Folding E Mountain Bike
Before embarking on your cycling adventure, it’s essential to consider several factors to ensure you have the best experience possible and you can pick fat tyre electric bike.I. Budget: Determine your budget for bike hire and choose a rental option that offers competitive rates without compromising on quality.
II. Bike Specifications: Pay attention to the specifications of the Folding E Mountain Bike you’re considering hiring, including battery life, motor power, and gear ratios.
III. Rental Terms and Conditions: Read the rental agreement carefully to understand any additional fees, insurance coverage, and liability policies.
4. Where to Hire Folding E Mountain Bikes on the Sunshine Coast
I. Bike Shops: Local bike shops on the Sunshine Coast offer a range of Folding E Mountain Bikes for hire, along with expert advice and maintenance services and you can write on Google ebike hire sunshine coast and get valuable result.II. Online Rental Platforms: Explore online rental platforms that specialize in outdoor equipment, offering a convenient way to reserve a folding electric bike in advance.
5. Tips for a Memorable Cycling Experience
I. Plan Your Route: Research cycling trails and attractions on the Sunshine Coast to create a customized itinerary that suits your preferences and fitness level.II. Safety Precautions: Always wear a helmet and protective gear, obey traffic laws, and be mindful of pedestrians and other cyclists sharing the road.
III. Explore Local Attractions: Take advantage of the Sunshine Coast’s natural beauty by incorporating stops at scenic viewpoints, parks, and cafes along your cycling route.