#adam caldera

[oldcountrybear1955]

Michael Bastian SS 2013 Menswear Collection Runway Show - Adam Caldera

[lettherebemonsters]

" You know, if Charlie makes a big stink about me wanting to kill sinners, she's a fucking hypocrite. Why the fuck doesn't she fucking do something to fix her people? Why doesn't she bitch when her people butcher kids?

But if I start killing the worst bunches Hell has I'M the bad guy? HAHAHA, fuck off you entitled bitch. Go back to sucking off your traitor girlfriend and leave politics to the adults."

[nachov]

do you like denmark so far or is it still too cold

i think everywhere i go will always be a little too cold. 👍

[lettherebemonsters]

" Hehehe, oh Bambi.....you know, I haven't had ribs since I got stuck here. And I haven't tried fresh venison yet....

So you better start running, deer boy. Or you're going to see how fast an overlord cooks over molten magma."

[elderscrollsconceptart]

I cannot say any of this with certainty, but I think the "Trials of the Dragonborn" was supposed to take place under the Greybeards supervision.

Its not clear if the Trials took place partially at the Greybeards Temple/High Hrothgar or a separate location (possibly at some sort of Volcanic Caldera), but all the concept art I'm seeing indicates the buildings associated with the trials are Nordic in origin.

The concept art has the dragon motifs cresting most of the buildings associated with both the Trial and the Greybeards. This directly aligns with the architectural motifs Adam Adamowicz created for the ancient Nords.

Presumably the "grab the horn of Jurgen Windcaller" quest replaced the Trials which got cut from the game.

Later on (frustratingly) the Sky Haven Temple concepts and its final design incorporated many of the architectural elements which had been conceived for the cut Trials portion of the game.

This leads to strong design and visual similarities between the early Nordic/Greybeards temple designs and the later Blades/Akaviri temple designs as can be glipsed through the concept art.

In summary, its a pain in the fucking ass to figure out which concept piece belongs to which major game location and its respective faction and culture.

I try my best folks, I really do.

[shirley225]

Batman:EJECUTAR

Narracion de Oracle/ bábara Gordon:"LOS GUARDACOSTAS SE ESTÁN CANSANDO DE SACAR COCHES DE LA BAHÍA"

ABAJO GOTНАМ.7:34:23:89 PM.

Bruce Wayne:YO NO ESTABA CONDUCIENDO.

Bábara Gordon:LINDO.

Bruce Wayne:¿HAY ALGUNA PREOCUPACIÓN DE SEGURIDAD PARA LA RECAUDACIÓN DE FONDOS DEL CENTRO MÉDICO SAGRADO CORAZÓN ESTA NOCHE, ORACLE?

Bábara Gordon:HA HABIDO UN POCO DE RUIDO EN INTERNET SOBRE EL DR. BASHAR Y SUS TEMPRANOS TRABAJOS EN KAHNDAQ.

BRUCE WAYNE:¿LA OBRA DE CARIDAD DE BASHAR?

Bábara Gordon:LOS QUE Odian a Black Adam no ven los matices. Creen que Bashar, como personaje de los carteles de Gotham, no queda bien

Bábara Gordon:PROBABLEMENTE NO SEA NADA. ESTÉN ATENTOS, ESO ES TODO.

Bruce Wayne:DAMIAN Y YO USAREMOS EL AURICULAR DE COMUNICACIÓN ESTA NOCHE. ESTARÁ EMOCIONADO ANTE LA PERSPECTIVA DE UNA PELEA.

Narracion de Bruce Wayne:A VECES ME PREOCUPA QUE ESE SEA TODO EL TRABAJO PARA ÉL".

MANSIÓN PENNYWORTH.8:17:41:19 PM.

Bruce wayne :CENA. MICRONUTRIENTES HABITUALES.

Bruce wayne :AUMENTÉ TUS CARBOHIDRATOS PARA COMPENSAR POR...

Demian WAYNE:¿POR QUÉ NO PODEMOS HACER OTRA PATRULLA ESTA NOCHE EN LUGAR DE ESTA COSA ABURRIDA?

Demian WAYNE:NINGUNA RECAUDACIÓN DE FONDOS VALE LA PENA SACAR A BATMAN Y ROBIN DE LAS CALLES.

Bruce wayne:LA PATRULLA NO ES LA ÚNICA FORMA DE SERVIR A GOTHAM. TAL VEZ NI SIQUIERA LA MEJOR FORMA.

Bruce wayne:EL DINERO QUE RECAUDAREMOS ESTA NOCHE PERMITIRÁ QUE LAS PERSONAS QUE LA NECESITEN TENGAN ATENCIÓN MÉDICA. AYUDARÉMOS A MÁS PERSONAS QUE EN UNA PATRULLA TÍPICA.

Bruce wayne:TÓMESE UNOS MINUTOS PARA EXPLORAR EL EDIFICIO ESTA NOCHE. EL ANTIGUO HOGAR DE CONVALECENCIAS DEL SAGRADO CORAZÓN TENÍA UNA HISTORIA OSCURA.

Bruce wayne:EN 1892, DECENAS DE PERSONAS MURIERON EN UN INCENDIO EN UNA SALA DE CALDERAS. COMO RESULTADO, LAS LEYES LABORALES ESTATALES CAMBIARON.

Demian WAYNE:...FASCINANTE.

[loreleywrites]

Loreley's TTRPG Characters: Kalliope Vex

I had y'all vote in a poll to see which of my TTRPG characters y'all would like to hear about first, and it was a clear win for the most problematic one. Good job, Tumblr! (Genuinely, good job; I love playing Kalliope.)

Kalliope Vex is my character in Armour Astir: Advent by Briar Sovereign, a PBTA game featuring magitech mechs called astirs, big-scope faction turns that change the course of your revolution, and narrative-first rules that embrace all the Cool Robots and War Is Bads a fantasy-bent Gundam-vibed game can offer. You can find it here.

ANYWAY.

Let's start with my favorite picrew I've made of Kalliope:

Kalliope (xe/xer) is 37yo, 6' tall, and weighs just under 200lbs. Xe's got lean muscle, a goth bob, dykey combat boots, and xer left eye has a glowing green iris and black sclera to reflect the power of xer patron. I'm playing the Witch playbook, which means in order to pilot xer astir, Kalliope struck a deal with a mysterious entity known as The Deep to access the powerful magic needed to construct and control such a large machine.

Xe's of the opinion that xe shackled this being in order to use its power, but The Deep has its own plans and helps and hinders Kalliope according to its own whims. Classic D&D warlock vibes.

Kalliope's whole deal at the beginning of our campaign is that xe wants to destroy the fascist empire, the Spellbound Republic, by any means necessary. Xe spent about a decade operating as a rogue astir pilot ambushing Republic squads whenever xe could hunt them down. Now, xe's part of the crew of The Adamant, a carrier operating with Fate's Inflection, the largest anti-fascist resistance force.

Xer astir is named Clatterhulk, and it's largely constructed from leviathan bones and obsidian. The cockpit is accessed by ribs opening up and granting entry. It boasts massive obsidian claws, a mounted cannon of focused bioluminescent light on top of its skull, and carries a sniper rifle that shoots bullets imbued with the crushing pressure of deep ocean trenches. Most notably, the upper arms, upper legs, sternum, and spine of Clatterhulk are etched with a series of arcane glyphs.

Kalliope has the exact same glyphs carved into xer upper arms, upper legs, sternum, and spine. These are glyphs associated with The Deep, and they link Kalliope's magical power to the astir and allow xer to do simple things like control the astir and complicated things like sense the heartbeats of every person in Clatterhulk's range while xe's piloting it.

Born in the slums of Glass Harbor, a coastal city built inside the rim of a massive caldera that embraces Crater Bay, Kalliope endured a childhood under rule of Amaurosia, the Goddess of Fear. Ever defiant, xe didn't understand why even adults let fear rule their lives. Young Kalliope reveled in scaring other children, and as a teenager began to truly understand the power one could gain through fear. Xe watched the Spellbound Republic leverage Amaurosia's power to control the populace, so xe joined an insurgent group called the Shatter Fists. When Kalliope was about 18, the Republic managed to capture and publically execute most of the Shatter Fists, leaving xer functionally alone in the world. This is when xer quest for power brought xer in contact with The Deep, xe constructed Clatterhulk, and xe began a bloodthirsty campaign of vengeance and violence against the Republic.

To Kalliope, all that matters is power. Xe's surly, rude, and arrogant (all to a fault), shielding xerself from having to genuinely connect to another person ever again. Xe doesn't do romance; sadistic hookups are all xe thinks xe needs (Kalliope carries a ritual knife carved from whale bone on a thigh strap, and xe does not practice safe kink with it.) Kalliope doesn't just want to kill fascists, xe wants to hunt and humiliate them. Xe wants to sow fear in their ranks the same way they used fear to rule a city.

Besides breaking pathetic women, Kalliope does enjoy live music and frequents dive bars for the music as much as the women and alcohol (Xe is a heavy drinker.) Despite Kalliope's rough edges, xe is a brilliant engineer and a talented scrimshaw artist (Xer ritual knife depicts a whale locked in combat with a kraken.) Xe also loves lollipops. I don't know why. I think I just loved the idea of xer flirting with someone by taking a lollipop out of xer mouth and shoving it into the other person's. Or crunching it in one bite. Mean ladies can like candy too.

ANYWAY.

Since we've been playing (a few months now), nobody in the crew really likes Kalliope any more than they did at the beginning except Captain Archer Mulligan, the captain of the carrier. He understands that Kalliope has turned xerself into a weapon, and so long as he can aim xer, xe'll be an asset to the war effort.

Xe literally broke xer against the wall trying to punch a squadmate who was laying into xer after xe had to retreat from a sortie xe recklessly launched xerself into.

Kalliope is starting to understand that working with other people, trusting them, can be an asset for xer goals too. The more people xe can leverage in combat, the bigger fights xe can win.

Xe's also started thinking about what happens when there's no more blood to shed. It's not a thought that ever crept into xer mind before (I think xe has internalized that xe's going to die fighting in this war, despite how much xe blusters about killing every last fascist in the world.)

The big development happened only last session, as I have declared a rival for xer! There's this sniper working for the council of fascist demigods whose gun can literally take down astirs, Ririka. Ririka has escaped from multiple sorties, so during the last downtime, Kalliope hunted her down to a dive bar and confronted her with the intent to intimidate her before xe inevitably kills xer. This is the most genuine way Kalliope has ever flirted with anyone, but I don't think xe knows it yet. I'm looking forward to seeing how badly Kalliope and Ririka fuck up each other's lives. Maybe they kiss! Maybe they don't. Gotta play to find out what happens.

Well, I think that about covers what I was planning on sharing. I hope y'all enjoyed hearing about this mess of a character I'm currently playing. Happy to answer questions about xer if folks are curious.

[eridanidreams]

Fiction Friday

This past week has been kind of crazy for me, but I do have something I can post. This one's a quiet moment in a future arc for Adam and Sloane...

Sloane came out of the bathroom, vigorously toweling her hair, as Adam came through the door. His eyes widened a little at the sight of her in her sports bra. “Hey,” she said, managing a reasonably normal tone, determined to ignore any potential awkwardness. “Give me just a minute.” Her hair was dry enough, so she pivoted to toss the towel back into the bathroom.

Behind her, Adam inhaled sharply and growled, “Who did that to you?”

“What?” She looked back at him, confused.

“Your back. Who did that?” He sounded angrier with every word, and Sloane finally realized what he was talking about. There was that one particular scar—

“Easy,” she said calmly, and turned to face him; he was flexing his hands, like he wanted to punch someone. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, really? Because I think someone put out about half a dozen cigarettes on you,” he retorted.

“Nope,” she said, trying to stay calm. “Honest. Nothing like that—though now that I think about it, it is my first ‘no shit, there I was’ story.” She gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

“Sloane—” His voice was full of exasperation, although his eyes were sad. Had he only now realized what the various scars on her skin meant? Was he re-thinking what he’d said last night? She should have been relieved at the thought; instead, she was disappointed.

“They’re just scars, Adam,” she said, matter-of-factly, pulling her t-shirt over her head. “They didn’t kill me. Obviously.” He’d been staring at the line that ran from the point of her right hip to just under her left breast, the one that was still faintly pink; he jerked his eyes up to hers as she tugged the shirt down. “Chechnya,” she answered his unspoken question. “I’d rather not talk about that one. If you have coffee, though, I’ll tell you about the burn scar.”

He did not, in fact, have coffee in his room, but it was a short walk to a café that did. She wondered if it was a mistake to reveal herself to him; this was a story she’d told to a very select group, all of them fellow medics. She wasn’t sure how Adam would take it, but she’d promised.

Sloane turned the coffee cup around in her hands. As a drink, it was decidedly inferior; as something to do with her hands, it served perfectly. “I was halfway through medic training when the Vilama caldera blew in ’14.” Adam’s eyebrows arched in surprise. “The Army was part of the disaster relief mobilization. They stripped everyone that had a medical MOS and wasn’t on critical duty elsewhere—Walter Reed, BAMC, even us trainees at Bragg—and sent us down there.”

“All I know is what I saw on the news,” he said. “It looked terrible.”

“It was.” The experience was branded into her memory. “The stink—you wouldn’t believe the stink. Sulfur, mostly. Charred pork, from all the burns—it was a year before I could even think about eating bacon again. And rot—burns went septic like you wouldn’t believe. There was a lot of gangrene. We couldn’t keep sterile conditions—the ash got everywhere. If you tried to shower it off, it turned into this gritty slime. We had to change out dust masks three times a day. The color was leached out of everything; even our clothes turned grey. And quiet. Everything for a hundred square miles was dead. No birds. No insects. No trees or plants. It may not have been hell, but you could damn sure see it from there.” She sipped at her coffee; it hadn’t improved. “A few days in, the volcanologists said the magma had diverted unexpectedly and was going to vent in one of the clear zones, so they sent four of us—me, my squadmate, and a couple from Médecins Sans Frontières that knew the area—to evac the nearby village.

“Either the science guys were wrong or we were too slow, ‘cause one minute we were getting the last few stragglers, the next...” She shook her head. “The temperature jumped thirty degrees in just a few seconds. The wind kicked up hard; my skin got all dry and tight—like right before a sunburn. And the ground… you never know how much you expect the ground to be stable and reliable until it isn’t.” She put her cup down with a clink. “So there I was, a month shy of my nineteenth birthday, green as grass, in the middle of a fucking volcanic eruption.”

Adam’s hand wrapped around her wrist and gave it a brief, gently supportive squeeze. Oddly—she didn’t usually invite physical contact—it helped. “What did you do?”

“We ran.” Sloane said simply. “All the smoke and ash pouring into the air, was like the sun went out. We could barely see, barely breathe, even through the masks. And if that had been all, we’d have made it out easy. But these things started landing around us. Lava bombs. Same color as the sky; you couldn’t see them until they hit, and then it was nothing but red.” She took a deep breath. “My squadmate was helping one of the MSF doctors, she was having trouble. Lava bomb caught them both right in the head. Splashed all over her husband—arms, chest, face. I got lucky; just caught a little backsplash.” She shrugged the shoulder in question.

Adam sounded horrified. “That’s from lava?”

“About a thousand degrees Celsius,” she confirmed. “Would have burned to the bone if I hadn’t ripped my shirt off fast.” She rubbed her hand down her face. “Not much more to tell. The doc was still breathing, and we were dead if we stayed, so I grabbed him and hauled ass to where we’d left the jeep. It lasted long enough to get us out of the red zone, and I called for a medevac.” She finished off the coffee just for the welcome hit of caffeine. “He got sent off to one of the big hospitals in Buenos Aires, and I got a hydrogel patch and some spray-on sealant and went back to doing field amputations and burn treatments.” She looked up at Adam. “Lot of firsts there.”

“Like what?” He looked genuinely curious.

Sloane started listing them on her fingers. “First time I thought I was going to die. Hell, first time I really, truly understood that I could die. I’d never been that scared.” It was strange—she usually remembered only the grim determination to escape, to live—but telling Adam the story today, the remembered fear was vivid in her mind. “First decoration for valor; not that I think I deserved it, but someone did.” She sighed. “First time I had to make the choice to save myself or take the risk and save someone else.”

“If the guy’s injuries were that bad,” Adam said in a thoughtful tone, “no one would have blamed you for just getting yourself out.” She could see the warmth of a not-quite-smile in his eyes. “Probably why someone thought you deserved the medal.”

“I would have blamed me,” she said with a sigh. “I couldn’t blame myself for getting the others out, but I knew I could get the doc out as long as we didn’t get hit again.” She spread both hands open. “And that’s it. I don’t tell that story often.” She smiled, a little wryly. “Most ‘no shit there I was’ stories end in ‘and that’s how my badassery saved the day’. This is more ‘there but for the grace of God go I’.”

“So why tell me?” He tilted his head in inquiry.

“You asked.”

[lab-trash]

Posting this bc I forget if I've posted this before, or updated it.

I take drawing and writing requests, but on top of that, just open conversation.

Ships I Enjoy/Appriciate-

Kaz x Chase

Marcus x Oliver

Owen x Adam

Tecton x Megahertz

Skylar x Jordan

Skylar x Stefanie

Stefanie x Jordan

Leo x Logan

AJ x Kyle

Douglas x [Just Some Guy]

Gender/Sexuality Headcannons I like-

Trans Chase

Trans Spin

Trans Tecton

Trans Kaz

Trans Marcus 

Oliver’s family is homophobic

Kaz's family is homophobic 

Bi Douglas

Donald is trying his best not to be homophobic 

Greysexual Demiromantic Oliver

Sapphic Skylar

Bi-Spec Bree (unlabelled/shifting labels)

Pan or Gay Kaz

Bi or Gay Chase

Trans Femme Experion (thanks for that @platonictaycus )

Sapphic Jordan

Other Headcannons I like-

Tecton is Spark’s dad (again, thanks for that @platonictaycus )

Tecton and Megahertz being Kaz’s dad figures

Tecton's civ name is Sam(uel) Alder, and Megahertz is Leslie 'Lez' Reyes

Past, toxic, Kazperion and Sebase

Things are kinda awkward between Kaz and Spark

Kaz cooks

Kaz and Skylar dated for a period of time, unbeknownst to Oliver

Kaz and Skylar friendship supremacy

Kaz and Bree friendship supermacy

Basically, Kaz is great at girl talk

Kaz is good with kids

ADHD Kaz, Autistic Chase, ADHD Oliver (but different from Kaz)

Kaz used to have a crush on Oliver (unrequited)

Oliver’s lowkey rich af

Kaz’s family is poor and religious

Very religious

Trent and Owen are brothers

Longer hair/Gender non-conforming Marcus

Shorter hair Skylar

Daniel looks like a blonde Dorenbash from Caldera

Non-LREF Universe Stuff I Like-

Best Friends Whenever

Barry x Renaldo

Shelby x Alex

Cyd x Daisy

Wizards of Waverly Place

Zeke x Justin

Harper x Juliet (maybe; still thinking about that)

Max x Zack (Suite Life on Deck)

Kickin It

Milton x Jack (Krewer)

Kim x Sloane

[davenweenie]

I absolutely do not care that I’ve already posted Lab Rats HCs today and that it was stupidly long, I’m posting again and as stated previously you all have to deal with it.

-Chase actually loves cats, he wants a pet cat but he can’t have one because of his allergies. Super sneezes are no joke. Super sneeze = super mucus.

-Kaz wants a pet dog but all the team have convinced him not to get one because of multiple reasons. (They live in a penthouse, Chase is horrendously allergic, Bree doesn’t want dog fur or slobber on her clothes, Douglas will implant bionics in it, none of them are responsible enough to take care of a living animal. They can barley take care of themselves)

-Kaz really want to wake Chase up with a cup of coffee one day but Chase is always awake before him

-Chase wakes up at 5AM every day. 6AM if he wants to sleep in. He has a very strict routine that he follows every day and will get very upset if something is disrupted.

-Contrary to popular belief, Chase actually enjoys pranking people. People assume he’s going to be a fun killer and tell people not to prank each other but he’s the master of pranks in their new home. He learned everything he knows from Adam and Mr Davenport.

-Chase knew Kaz and Oliver would be pulling pranks on Halloween so he set up this elaborate prank involving lots of hyper realistic holograms. He set it so that Kaz or Oliver would see fake spider eggs and mess with them. The mechanism would start up the holograms and make it look like the whole place was starting to become swarmed with spiders. He knows Kaz and Oliver are both terrified of spiders. They practically sh!it themselves. The girls found it hilarious.

-Chase loves talking to Skylar about her home planet. Chase loves anything to do with space, it’s one of his special interests. Skylar also loves talking about Caldera so it’s a win-win. Chase gets all giddy and excited whenever they talk about space.

-Douglas knows that Skylar+Bree and Kaz+Chase are dating. Nobody has told him but he knows. Douglas knows everything. He’s very observant.

-This hc is based on a fic I recently read called (correct me if I’m wrong) Sultan of Stupid. Basically Oliver is totally oblivious and doesn’t know that Chase and Kaz are dating. He also doesn’t realise Bree and Skylar are together until Skylar said ‘please stop crushing on me, I’m too lesbian to go out with you’ which makes Oliver stop in his tracks. Why are all his teammates gay?

-Following that one up, Oliver is the only straight one in the team. He’s the biggest ally (other than Tasha) you will ever meet. He gets more excited about pride than the actual LGBTQ+ team members get.

-Adding to that as well, ever since Leo and Chase came out (yes, they came out together, they planned it all out so it would be perfect like the autistic people they are) Tasha has been one of those overly supportive mums who buys anything with a rainbow on it and gives it to them saying ‘look at this really cute *insert whatever object* I found at the store!’ and they all love her for it.

-Adam came out just after Leo and Chase, he didn’t realise coming out was something he was supposed to do. Also he was fed up of being asked by people which girl he was taking to prom because he wanted to take a boy to prom. Not a girl.

-Bree never came out. She didn’t have to. Nor did she want to. She didn’t think it was necessary to tell people her identity. She believes people shouldn’t have to come out, that people should just love who they want without being pressured to slap a label on it and tell people. She announced she was dating Skylar but that was it.

-Kaz is awesome at dealing with Chase’s dysphoria. Oliver is trans too, so he has years of experience dealing with horribly dysphoric trans boys. However a bionic one is a bit different to a human one. Because Chase had had top surgery when he was 13. Davenport just had the technology to do that without damaging his growth (don’t ask me how, I’m not too sure either. Just go with it) and Chase had also been on hormones since he was 15. His bionic infrastructure meant that it was harder for his body to absorb testosterone since it had been wired to that of a female. Their bionics are designed to reject any foreign substances, so he’s not as masculine as he wants to be. Kaz is always assuring him that there isn’t a certain way to be a man and he is a man, with or without hormones

-people forget that Kaz and Oliver are literally doctors. I hc them to be the medics of the team. They also mother everyone a lot. Even with a tiny paper cut they will insist you have some attention to it.

-Chase swears the most out of everyone. Mr Davenport grew tired of ‘language-ing’ him and just gives him disappointed looks every time Chase cusses. It’s usually directed at stubborn inventions that won’t do what he wants them to do. He also swears as filler words if he’s with his friends. He’s very professional when he needs to be.

-Kaz is always finding excuses to touch Chase. ‘Oh I was just wiping dirt off your arm’ ‘you had something in your hair’ ‘your hands looked cold’ etc

-although Kaz is shorter than Chase, he’s more buff, so when Chase wears Kaz’s clothes he looks hilarious because they’re around two to three sizes too big.

-if you’ve ever watched Heartstopper you’ll know what scene I’m on about. The scene where Charlie opens up his closet and there’s about 50 pairs of Converse in there. That’s what I imagine Chase’s collection of high tops to look like.

-Chase wears high tops because they help with his hypermobility in his ankles. I hc all the Davenport siblings to have hypermobility bc of how they were made. It’s amazing they don’t have more health issues considering they were made in a lab (I assume, since there’s no talk of their mother) and implanted with bionics at a very young age. You’re literally putting robot components into a human, something is bound to go wrong somewhere.

Another ramble over. I hope anyone who ends up reading this enjoys my stupidly long word vomit.

[mushed-kid]

saw a tiktok and wanted to this myself, so…

my mighty med/lab rats/elite force lgbt+ headcanons

(including all the roles i wanted to add, not just the mains)

Kaz:

- Bisexual, very open and casual about it, (Often refers to himself as gay because it comes naturally and the difference isn’t that important to him)

- Cis guy, but he also doesn’t care that much (as in he would wear a skirt or dress, he just doesn’t)

- Doesn’t come out, he just lets people figure it out (“If you don’t know I’m gay yet, that’s on you”)

- Not afraid of getting into yelling matches or fights with homophobes for himself or his friends

Oliver:

- Trans ftm (come on, you guys also watched Oliver Hatches The Eggs, right? They were trying to send us a message!)

- His mom had refused to believe him at first, but when he didn’t stop claiming he was a boy no matter how many specialists and doctors she brought him to, she just accepted it

- She went full ‘you’re a boy’ mode, and he wasn’t allowed to do anything she considered slightly girly at all, (he was just glad she didn’t hate him, but now he’s very afraid of seeming feminine because he thinks people won’t see him as a guy anymore)

- Sits the Elite Force down to come out, but he works himself up about it and is so filled with nerves that he starts crying (the others panic thinking something is seriously wrong)

- Kaz is the only one that knew from before because they’re best friends

- Bonds with Chase about being trans

- Gay with comphet (because of his mother making him believe that was his only choice)

- Because of that, he hasn’t come out as gay (because he doesn’t know he’s gay yet), and sometimes he comes off as slightly homophobic (also due to the fact that he has very fragile masculinity and thinks guys can’t be feminine)

- The others get mad at him, but he doesn’t mean anything bad, his mom just kinda sucked (and it’s hard to shake some of the things she’s told him)

- Very afraid of homophobic and transphobic people, which is why he takes so long to come out to his friends

Skylar:

- Bisexual with a preference for women or lesbian with comphet

- I like her and Oliver so I hc her as ‘Doesn’t really care because it’s not a thing on Caldera’

- Cis girl

Alan:

- Cishet

- Idk what more to say about him

Gus:

- Gender fluid

- Pan maybe? I imagine him swinging every way because he really doesn’t care about gender

Horace:

- Cishet

- Supportive, but very confused about everything (he always uses the wrong labels when talking about someone)

Jordan:

- Cis

- Aromantic (She thinks it’s gross)

Stephanie:

- Cishet (Though she does kind off have a weird thing for Gus so I’m not so sure)

- Will hang out with gay people just because they’re gay so she can seem like a good person

Tecton & Megahertz:

- They’re gay and dating (I think this ship is kinda funny so… it’s canon)

- They’re both cis

Captain Atomic:

- Cishet

- Slightly homophobic

- Also very misogynistic

Chase:

- Trans ftm (the constant joking about his height and how girly he is in lab rats? A Sign.)

- Came out when he was very young, he always knew

- Raised in a basement so you’d think he didn’t know about transphobia for a very long time, but he did, (Mr.Davenport talked to him about it and he researched it thoroughly)

- Bisexual

- Tries to avoid homophobic and transphobic people, and just ignores them, but it doesn’t always work. Sometimes he’ll just take it because he doesn’t want to fight, and it makes the other worry about him a lot

- Other times, Spike comes out and he goes crazy on them, and people leave him alone for a while after that

Bree:

- Lesbian with comp het (she thought she was straight because that’s all she knew, and then she thought she was bi because she liked girls, but then she realized she didn’t like guys)

- Cis girl

- Will verbally kill a homophobe

Adam:

- Everyone assumes he’s straight, because he never came out as anything else (he just doesn’t really care about coming out at all)

- He mentions something about a guy he likes/dated back in high school and everyone is super shocked

- “I thought you guys knew”, - “We thought you were straight!?” - “I never said that either” - “fair enough”

- Cis guy

- He’s not transphobic, and only makes those jokes about chase because he genuinely forgets chase wasn’t born a boy. (Chase thinks that makes him his biggest supporter even if the jokes sting)

- Will beat up anyone that says or does anything mean to his siblings about it

Leo:

- Straight

- He/They (idk if that counts as non binary?)

- Would start fights with homophobes and then realize he’s fucked and needs help

- Got bullied for being gay even if he isn’t, definitely came home after being picked on and trying to hide his injuries from tasha (who notices and calls the school right away)

- Will still start fights with homophobes, now knowing that he can take them

Marcus:

- He’s an android so technically not cis, but he’s a guy (he fucking hates it/its pronouns because he’s not just a machine)

- Aromantic & Asexual (he’s very indifferent to both relationships and sex)

- Doesn’t really do relationships, but if he did, it would be more like his partner in crime (real crime not pranks)

- If he did get an evil sidekick of sorts, he’d probably be gay

- Will claim to have any gender of sexuality if it’ll help him out of anything, no matter how small

- Will also accuse anyone of being homophobic if it helps him in any way (Douglas hates both of these)

- Outing someone is the one thing that he doesn’t do (Douglas is so proud of that one)

- Will start a fight with anyone at any time, and realizes beating someone up for being homophobic won’t get him in trouble sends him on a mission to find every bully at school

- He claims it’s just because he won’t get in trouble, but Douglas knows that deep down he cares (because he does get in trouble at school, just not at home)

Donald:

- I want to say cishet, but trans ftm is calling my name from afar

- Straight and borderline homophobic (he supports the people he knows and cares about, but in itself he thinks homosexuality is wrong)

- Will use his kids sexualities to look even better in media, with no regards for what they feel about it (They hate it)

- Outs people, but also tells his kids he’s proud of them no matter what and supports them, so they’re not very sure what he really thinks

- He’s just weird about it

- Will pretend he didn’t hear the homophobic or transphobic comment toward his kids if it means avoiding a conflict

Tasha:

- Cishet

- Very supportive of everyone

- Calls out homophobes and tries to inform everyone she knows about how important it is to be an ally

- Starts a group with some other moms to show support (the others think it’s a bit much, but she’s just being nice so they let her)

Douglas:

- Bisexual, but evil about it

- Strictly dated other bad guys/villains that he worked with, so most of his relationships sucked and ended badly (see; Krane and Giselle)

- Trans ftm

- Has a lot of kids, but honestly doesn’t know who any of their dads are

- I want Adam, Bree, and Chase to have the same dad, but I also kinda wanna say Adam has a different one, and that Bree and Chase are twins

- Daniel has another dad again, and Douglas realized he couldn’t raise the kid alone, so he had him adopted to keep him safe

- Will piss off a transphobe and run away from the fight

Perry:

- She/They

- Will rip a homophobe to pieces without breaking a sweat (she also knows a guy, so getting rid of any evidence is easy)

…..

and that’s everyone i could think of!

[alexisgeorge24]

21 février :

Transfert de Coyhaique à Chaitén. J'aurai aimé m'arrêter au Parc Quelat visiter les glaciers puis et à Puyuhuapi pour ses termes face au fjord, mais la météo rend le projet peu prometeur. Il pleut toute la journée et le soleil est prévu pour le surlendemain. J'arrive donc au village de Chaitén sous d'épais nuages et la pluie fine. Je pose ma tente, goute une bière brassée juste en face de mon camping et mange une pizza avant de rejoindre ma tente.

22 février :

J'attends que les nuages partent et je passe la journée dans le village à me ballader sur la plage, à jouer avec des chiens (dont un trijambiste mais qui ne mérite pas moins mon affection) puis jusqu'à un petit mirador, à prévoir la suite (et la fin...) de mon année sabbatique et enfin le combo classique: bière / dîner.

23 février :

Le top départ rando est donné par le soleil et je monte au cratère du volcan Chaitén qui est entré en éruption en 2008. La région étant très humide, la végétation y est abondante. Je traverse donc une forêt quasi tropicale avant d'atteinte la caldera qui doit faire 2km de diamètre. Le sommet de cendre au centre fume toujours, les arrêtes aussi de cendre formant la caldera sont recouvertes de végétation, et entre les deux, une couronne de lac aux eaux vertes. Au loin, des sommets à pertes de vue complètement recouverts de forêt. Puis la mer. C'est magnifique et je suis tout seul en haut. Je fais du stop pour revenir à Chaitén, je déjeune, puis prends un bus pour aller à El Amarillo, l'entrée sud du parc Pumalín (dont fait aussi partie le volcan). Je fais les 9km à pied jusqu'au camping Ventisqueros. L'endroit est incroyable, une vaste étendue de gazon entre les arbres avec vue le volcan Michinmahuida et son glacier. Nous ne sommes que 3 dans cet enorme camping "sauvage" et j'ai donc l'impression d'être tout seul dans le parc et que la vue sur le glacier en dînant m'appartient.

Bilan: 14km, 1000m d+

24 février :

J'atteins ce même glacier, ou plutôt une de ses langues, après 10km en marchant le long du fleuve Amarillo dans une vallée large et exposée au soleil offrant de jolies points de vues sur le glaciers en face ainsi qu'aux sommets chevelus me formant une réelle haie d'honneur. La ballade AR est agréable, sans dénivelé, le ciel est bleu, le glacier blanc avec des reflets bleus dont les couleurs en ressortent éclatantes avec la roche noir du volcan et la rivière formée par la fonte des glaces est divisée en une myriade de cours s'entrelacant le long de la vallée. Je ne compte plus les glaciers admirés, je ne pense pas m'en lassé un jour et je pense que c'est l'élément de la nature qui me fascine le plus. Sur le retour je me fait prendre en stop sans avoir à lever le pouce; c'est vraiment aléatoire sur qui on peut tomber...

Bilan: 25km, 300m d+

25 février :

Transfert à Puerto Montt en empruntant le dernier, mais pas des moindres, tronçons de la Caretera Austral. Quelques 150km de route et de piste sur la côte et 70km de bateaux à travers des fjords en 10h. Le ciel est bleu, on distingue quelques volcans au sommet de glace et de neige, des branches cadettes de fjords nous invitent à nous y perdre, la mer est calme et je crois avoir aperçu Adam et Eve (à poil).  C'est une admirable croisière d'adieu de la Caretera Austral. Arrivé au Terminal de bus de Puerto Montt j'enchaîne direct avec un minibus pour Puerto Varas à 20km. J'arrive de nuit donc je ne vois pas les paysages, pizza et dodo au seul camping du coin.

26 février :

Il fait beau donc je vois les paysages à bord d'un minibus vers le lieu-dit Petrohué. Je longe ainsi le lac Llanquihue qui est aux pieds du volcan Osorno; la brume du matin fait que l'eau du lac se confond avec le cône du volcan et la lumière du soleil tamisé par les peu de nuages éclair à perfection la carte postale. Je me fais donc déposer d'urgence au bord de la route pour filmer et photographier la vue avant qu'il ne soit trop tard. Puis je reprends le prochain bus jusqu'à destination au bord du lac Todos los Santos et ses eaux émeraude. J'entreprends alors une randonnée initiant la monté de l'Osorno, dans la forêt puis la roche volcanique, jusqu'à des jolis miradors sur le lac et surprise, le Cerro Tronador. Je suis en effet à la même latitude que Bariloche (Argentine) où je m'y étais approché il y a 2 mois. Je vois donc son autre profil et lui fait la bise. Malheureusement pendant ma randonnée je ne croiserai aucun cours d'eau et lorsque j'atteins en redescendant le lac j'y plonge la bouche ouverte. Bon pour la vrai histoire je rempli juste ma gourde mais 30min plus tard en longeant le lac j'y plonge vraiment la tête en buvant directement l'eau. Je pose la tente sur la plage et m'émerveille à nouveau face au lac, au creux des montagnes, le soleil se couchant dans mon dos et donnant des couleurs jaunes, oranges, rouges puis roses au ciel et nuages.

Bilan: 24km, 1000m d+

27 février :

Je finis la visite du parque nacional vicente pérez rosales en me rendant aux Saltos (chutes) de Petrohué après avoir payé 7,5eur (ce n'est pas beaucoup en absolu mais payer pour avoir bétonné un site naturel pour le rendre accessible à tous m'énerve toujours). Surtout que les chutes ne sont pas impressionnantes. Puis je temporise à Puerto Varas en attendant mon bus pour Pucon. A la gare routière on me demande 4e pour garder mon sac le temps de faire quelques courses. Du coup je l'emporte avec moi et au supermarché on refuse de me le prendre l'accueil. Je m'enfou et c'est pas le poid qui me dérange, mais ça illustre la mentalité de ce pays où tout est monnaitisable; sûrement une influence étasunienne. A Pucon je prends l'apero debout devant un concert de Cumbia et j'aime beaucoup; puis un humoriste prend le micro et je m'en vais. Je dormirai sur un matelas dans un hostel, après 2 semaines de tente.

28 février:

Excursion à la journée au sanctuario El Cañi. J'arrive rapidement au Mirador du parc et j'ai une vue sur plusieurs volcans qui dominent le paysage vallonné et recouvert de forêt, notamment d'Araucaria, cet arbre emblématique de la région qui (me) font penser à des pins en forme de palmier. J'arrive encore à decouvrir de nouveaux paysages, la Patagonie est vraiment impressionnante et riche. Je redors au même hostel où je suis seul dans mon dortoir, quel luxe.

Bilan:

17km, 1200m d+

29 février :

2e excursion, mais bivouac sur place prévue, au parque Nacional Huerquehue. Je commence par le Mirador au Cerro San Sébastien. Je traverse une forêt d'arbres normaux (je suis ingénieur pas naturaliste), puis proche de la crête des Araucaria, et enfin je longe une crête avant d'arriver à l'objectif. Il m'arrive alors une galère incroyable... je ne sais pas vers quelle direction m'asseoir pour manger ma mangue tellement le panoramas est époustouflant. Finalement je choisi le sud-ouest, malgré la récente défaite du XV de France face à l'Irlande. Sur la descente, il m'arrive une 2e galère... je tappe mon genoux sur un rocher en glissant... ça fait mal, je boîte pendant 100m, puis la douleur devient supportable pour que je puisse courir jusqu'au point de départ. Sauf que j'avais prévue bien plus pour aujourd'hui, donc je décide de poursuivre en forcant légèrement sur le genoux. Finalement la douleur devient une gêne et je peux continuer sans m'en soucier. De retour donc à l'entrée du parc je prends mon gros sac à dos que j'avais laissé et direction le Lago Toro où j'ai repéré un bivouac sur maps.me. Sur le chemin j'ai une presque 3e galère avec une abeille qui me pique au cou. Je sens la morsure et mon cou qui hurtique. Je demande à des gens que je croise s'ils constatent une anomalie sur la zone concernée; réponse négative et je continue. Arrivé  au bivouac prévu j'y fais une sieste de 30min et je pars vers un sommet sans nom mais proche du Cerro Araucano. L'application me dit que la dernière monté est à 50% (énorme !!) et j'appréhende en m'y dirigeant. Finalement elle est bien à 50% mais est composée de terre et d'herbe, ce qui rend l'accès (hors piste) non casse-gueule. Arrivé au sommet j'ai la même vue que le matin mais pendant le couché de soleil. C'est un délire le panorama. Encore des volcans, des sommets cachant le soleil mais où les araucaria se démarquent sur les crêtes comme des cocotiers aux Maldives en contre jour, des lacs, des falaises, des couleurs, Dali, Mozart, Maradona, Pablo Neruda (pour citer un local); je ne sais pas quand m'arrêter de filmer en drone. Sur le retour il fait quasiment nuit et je m'amuse à ne pas utiliser la frontale jusqu'à mon bivouac. J'y arrive mais je l'allume tout de même pour monter la tente, me laver et faire à manger. Les crapauds me félicitant de ma performance de la journée, ils feront un boucan toute la nuit.

Bilan: 27km, 2400m d+ (!!!)

1 mars:

Mois du fin du congé sabbatique. Je redescends à l'entrée du parc en faisant quelques bonus vers des lacs et cascades, puis je prends le bus retour pour Pucon. Arrivé à l'hostel je croise une belge dont j'ai fait la connaissance l'avant veille et qui a son bras qui a triplé de volume suite à une morsure d'abeille. Elle me dit qu'une morsure au cou peut être fatale car si ça gonfle la trachée est bloquée empêchant la respiration. Elle doit sûrement raconter des bêtises. L'après midi je m'achète des chaussettes, ça faisait 3 mois que je n'avais pas une seule paire sans trou. J'aurai craqué 10 jours avant la fin...

Bilan: 8km, 300m d+

[chasesvillainera]

If your up for it how about a two for two: Sebastian X Kaz x Chase TVD & Adam x Experion, any show

Hey!! Thanks for the ask!

I never watched TVD so I’m just gonna do generic Sebchase as vampires. (I kind of have First Kill vibes in mind writing this):

Chase was the only one in his family who followed the rules: don’t get caught. Sure, his best friend Kaz had found out about him being from a family of vampires (and kept begging to be turned), but he was discreet at school. Unlike Adam and Bree, who gave him multiple panic attacks a day that they would get caught.

This new kid was making things hard. Sebastian Krane was confusing, and Chase was pretty sure he’d seen a stake in his locker. He should probably stop hanging out with him.

But he didn’t.

Adam x Experion— I’m going with a Parks and Rec AU:

“You spent…10,000 dollars on a giant confetti canon? Do you realize how many people I’ll have to fire to pay for this?” Experion punched the bridge of his nose looking at the expense reports. In all his years as an auditor, he’d never seen such recklessness.

“But have you seen the confetti canon?” Adam asked, chocolate brown eyes on full display as he spoke. He didn’t grasp the gravity of the situation at all.

And Experion, who was known for the ice in his veins, found himself following this man to look at his giant waste of money. This was exactly the kind of thing that got him kicked out of office in Caldera, led him down his villainous path in the first place.

[dsandrvk]

Monday, October 14 - Alexander Selkirk Island, Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile

Yesterday was a great sea day with lots of sun, light winds, and lots of wildlife to look at. We saw multiple whale blows about a mile from the ship - from the size and shape of the blows at that distance there is a good chance they were a Blue Whale and her calf. There were also dolphins, and we are seeing albatrosses again.

Today, after awakening to a beautiful sunrise, we were fortunate to visit Alexander Selkirk Island, named for the man who was the basis for the novel Robinson Crusoe. He was a Scots privateer (sanctioned by the British Navy to wreak havoc on Spanish ships and towns in South America and basically a pirate), and was sailing on a ship named Cinque Ports when he asked to be left on an island in the Juan Fernandez archipelago, fearing that the ship was no longer seaworthy (worm ridden) and having a conflict with the newly appointed captain of the ship. He had misread the grumbling of fellow sailors as belief that others would follow him in a mutiny, but when he got ashore, no one else followed him. He then supposedly begged the captain to be allowed back on board, but the captain was adamant, and so Selkirk (nee Selcraig) spent the next four years and four months on the island before being rescued by another ship. He had also wrongly assumed that when he was "marooned", another ship would be by soon, as the islands were well-known and frequently visited for lobster and other provisions.

He was right about one thing, however, and shortly after he left her in 1704, the Cinque Ports sank off the coast of Peru, with all but about a dozen men, including the captain, drowning. It's a little confusing, but the island that Selkirk was marooned on is called Robinson Crusoe Island, and he never set foot on Selkirk Island. Today the island is mostly uninhabited except for some seasonal cottages for the fishermen who come here to catch lobsters (actually a large clawless crayfish) which are shipped all over the world. It is a pretty vertical place - lush in some of the higher valleys we could see, but very rocky near the bottom, with little access to the interior. It is also shaped like a wedge, as it is part of a larger caldera.

It also is home to a great wildlife success story. Once numbering around four million individuals, Juan Fernandez fur seals were heavily hunted and harvested for their thick pelts and were thought extinct until a small colony was found in a cave here in 1965. Since then they have had protected status, and the population has rebounded into the thousands. After positioning the ship on the north coast of the island, the expedition team scouted to see if they could find some seals, and by the time we went out, we had a bit of a ride to an area off the southwest corner, but there were lots of them, in the water and on the rocky shores.

The Juan Fernandez Seal is the second smallest fur seal, and they are extremely playful iand acrobatic in the water. Fur seals are eared seals, meaning they are really in the sea lion family, rather than the true, earless seals. Once we got near their area, they swam out to our Zodiacs and proceeded to spin, leap, dive, do some flipper water ballet and come right up to our boats for a closer look. I got some good shots with my camera, but it was harder to get them with the phone, although I did take some short clips of their antics. Since we were the last trip of the day, we weren't in any rush and spent considerable time just enjoying them, and id like to think the feeling was mutual.

Earlier on our way out to the fur seals, we came across several Black-browed Albatross just hanging out. They, too, were curious about us - probably they hadn't seen anything but fishing boats, either, and this one swam right up to our Zodiac. We are back in much cooler waters and as such, there are more nutrients and therefore more sea birds.

One of the things that our crew wanted to do was look for a small German cargo ship, the Titania, that was scuttled here in 1914. It was having problems and couldn't keep up with the rest of the fleet, so was abandoned here, and mostly forgotten. The fishermen who come here did know of it, as they had accidentally found something on the bottom while trawling (or whatever they were doing) in 300 foot depths, and the fishing lineage goes back generations. As a result, an approximate location was determined using the topography of the cliffs as a starting point (there is one photo of the ship on the surface before scuttling). So, working with the locals, one of the on-board submarines went down to try to find the remains, and when they got down to about 300 feet they started to look around, only to realize they were right above it! What a find.

They did eight dives down to the wreck during our time here, and our friends Jon and Anne were on the second dive and said it was the most amazing dive they have ever done (and they used to SCUBA all over the world. Not only was it spectacular to see the ship, they said there were also more fish than they have seen in recent years. These dives are undoubtedly the first time this wreck has been seen, since the depth and remoteness of this location have made it nearly impossible previously. On the last trip of the day down to the Titania, the crew took the fisherman who had given them the idea of where to look, as he had been the keeper of the passed down lore. He was ecstatic about the experience, as the tales he had been told had taken on an almost mythic quality. A video was also made of one of the trips which we viewed tonight and are able to download to our flash drives, etc.

After a late lunch when all the Zodiacs were back, and while they were still running sub trips, our Cruise Director announced the first ever "Pursuit Regatta" where a team of guests would challenge a team of crew to an eight person Zodiac paddle race the length of the ship. Naturally, I was first in line, and as it turned out, only one crew showed up (from the spa) and so it was mostly passengers against other passengers. We had an expedition crew member to use the motor to the starting line, and potentially use the rudder of the motor to keep us straight.

When the ship horn blew we got off to a good start, but the other boat veered wildly and ran into us, and by the time we were disentangled, they were facing the wrong way and it took just a few strokes on our left to line us back up. I used my raft guide experience to call cadence and set the pace, and we sprinted down the entire length of the Pursuit, cheered on by pretty much everybody on board who were out on the decks. It wasn't even close, even when the other team got a little assistance from their outboard. It does help to be heading in the right direction!

When we were done and the submarine was put away, we had a sail-away around the island before heading off to the east for tomorrow's adventure. But the good fortunes of the day weren't over. A group of us diehards hung out on the foredeck watching for sharks and were rewarded with great views of at least five right by the ship in the crystal clear water. The water here is so clear that Anne said they could see the wreck from the sub at 300 feet without the submarine lights - an almost unbelievable depth for the light to penetrate. This truly is a magical area.

Tomorrow we visit the other main island in the archipelago - Robinson Crusoe Island. It is inhabited, and there are several hikes planned, plus a "pirate party" on land in the afternoon. Our weather looks to hold, as although we have had pretty heavy swells, the days have been cool, dry and mostly sunny, with just light wind. Just to the west of us is a nasty system with 30 knot winds, which will hit Selkirk tomorrow. Our incredible luck continues...

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

First Stop: Tofua  

Compared to the low-lying islands of sand and coral that make up most of Tonga’s Ha‘apai island group, Tofua stands out. The tall, cone-shaped volcanic island is difficult to access and comparatively inhospitable.

With few protective fringing reefs around the island, sandy beaches are scarce, and landings by boat require careful navigation to avoid cliffs and craggy volcanic formations along the coasts. Once on land, traveling anywhere is grueling due to dense semi-tropical forests that blanket much of the island’s steep terrain. There is little permanent freshwater, aside from the difficult-to-reach caldera lake at the island’s center. And there’s the looming threat that Lofia—an often steaming volcanic cone to the north of Tofua’s lake—could erupt explosively, much like Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai, its volcanic neighbor to the south, did in 2022.

The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this image of the island on April 23, 2022. A plume of water vapor and other volcanic gases drifted above the crater over young lava flows and ash deposits north of the lake. Geologic evidence suggests that Tofua has erupted at least 12 times since 1774, with the most recent eruption starting in 2015 and continuing to the present.

Volcanologists monitor Tofua for new activity by using thermal sensors on a variety of NASA, NOAA, and European Space Agency satellites. For instance, the Global Volcanism Program at the National Museum of Natural History reported that the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) on the NOAA-NASA Suomi NPP satellite detected thermal anomalies on 29 days between February and July 2023. In May 2024, Tonga Geological Services reported that elevated thermal activity had returned to normal levels.

One of Tofua’s most famous visitors—British Royal Navy officer William Bligh—arrived in April 1789 on a 7-meter (23-foot) utility boat with 18 crew members of the HMS Bounty. Half of Bligh’s crew famously mutinied during an expedition to Tahiti to collect breadfruit plants. The bloodless rebellion occurred about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Tofua, with Bligh and the other loyalists left adrift on the open seas with just four cutlasses, a handful of tools, and a few days’ worth of food.Bligh ultimately planned to head for the nearby island of Tongatapu, but his first stop was Tofua. The hope was to gather food and water, but aside from some coconuts, the men found little of either. One of Bligh’s men was stoned to death by a hostile group of people from Nomuka, another Ha’apai island some 80 kilometers to the south. After that attack, Bligh and his men fled to Kupang, a Dutch settlement some 6,500 kilometers to the west.

More than two centuries later, Tofua is mostly undeveloped and stands as an oasis of biodiversity. Hundreds of plant species thrive on the island, and a variety of small mammals, reptiles, and birds live there, including swifts, starlings, honeyeaters, rails, ducks, and pigeons.

Still, the human fingerprint on the island is widespread. Human-ignited fires have altered forests across much of the island and left secondary forests and brushlands in their place in some areas, according to a report from the South Pacific Biodiversity Conservation Program. The authors also note that the introduction of feral dogs, cats, pigs, rats—and more than 200 non-native plants—has significantly altered the island’s ecosystems.

People have also cleared patches of forest (visible on the left side of the image) to raise kava (Piper methysticum) on the island’s fertile volcanic soil. The plant’s roots are processed into a powder that is used to make a tea said to have calming, anesthetic, and euphoriant effects similar to those caused by alcohol.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.

[mexicali686]

Norma Bustamante entrega reconocimiento a servidores públicos de Mexicali

La alcaldesa de Mexicali Norma Bustamante hizo entrega este miércoles 18 de septiembre de una serie de reconocimiento a servidores públicos con años de trayectoria dentro del trabajo a favor de la comunidad cachanilla. Específicamente se le hizo entrega a trabajadores con 15, 20, 25, 30 y 35 años de servicio, durante una ceremonia llevada a cabo en Teatro “Salvador Caldera Adame” de Casa de la…