#also in the previous games the air on the surface was super toxic and you were required to use gas masks and carefully conserve air filters

[munch-mumbles]

while im here i have more exodus thoughts im SO CONFLICTED ON IT. more in tags as per use

[far-off-flower-fields]

Weird Questions that say a lot

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? Teacups!

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? Lollipops

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? Cotton candy

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? We call elementary school primary school. It depended which teachers you asked, my favourites always said I was “conscientious, kind, and a pleasure to have in class”.

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? Glass cups or bottles.

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? I have like 4 looks, pastel, boho, and goth/witchy/grunge, also vintage-inspired which wasn’t mentioned but I love it.

7. earbuds or headphones? Depends on the shape, I love my Razr headset because it doesn’t squash my ears, and I like galaxy bud shaped earbuds, the ones with the little rubber doo-dads that fit actually in your ear. Apple or a lot of older flat earbuds cause me a lot of pain.

8. movies or tv shows? TV shows. Movies are getting longer and longer and my focus is getting shorter and shorter

9. favorite smell in the summer? Rainy days!

10. game you were best at in p.e.? The game of queue-ducking (where you go to the back of the queue to avoid your turn), or dance, or the less strength intensive parts of gymnastics. Or crying, always been great at that xD

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? Muesli, or nothing.

12. name of your favorite playlist? I prefer to listen to full albums rather than playlists, but I have a few favourites on Spotify. Born to Run 150BPM, Infinite Indie Folk, Irish Folk: Jigs and Reels, All Out 80s/90s/00s. I also love scene/pop-punk playlists.

13. lanyard or key ring? Key Ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? Message Hearts (or anything with that texture), the red pack of starbursts (the UK version is vegan). Does Turkish Delight count because if so then that is my fave. I also like gummies if they’re vegan.

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? To Kill a Mockingbird (high school), or The Bloody Chamber (uni), or Hamlet (uni)

16. most comfortable position to sit in? One foot under me, the other foot out to the other side, but both in the same position (if the surface is flat), or knees up.

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? I own a lot of shoes so there isn’t really a single pair I wear the most. Recently my Air Force 1s, I’m trying to wear them in because the previous owner didn’t so the cause blisters.

18. ideal weather? Cold, overcast, rainy, still. Or without the rain. or snow (as long as I’m not going in the car and I can go crunch my shoes in it xD

19. sleeping position? Either side, but my body is kinda rotated towards the bed so it’s like half way between on my stomach and on my side. 

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? Notebooks

21. obsession from childhood? Animals, dinosaurs, goddesses, magic, crystals, neopets, sims. I still love all of these things, I am a rotating door of obsessions, usually a bunch of the same obsessions on repeat.

22. role model? I don’t have one particular role model, I do have tons of people that I love and respect.

23. strange habits? I have so many strange habits that I have become one myself. Nothing actually stands out though because 99% of it is because of my brain.

24. favorite crystal? rose quartz or moonstone.

25. first song you remember hearing? Maybe Dancing Queen by ABBA, definitely the first I remember dancing to, but my dad loves music so I grew up with a constant stream of it.

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? Suffer xD when I’m able to do so comfortably I’d love to go out looking for pretty stones, and nice sticks with my fiance, also would like to go on picnics with him, or a friend if I had one.

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? Baking, drawing, crafts, standing in the rain. Everything.

28. five songs to describe you? 6/10 - Dodie Robert Frost - Mal Blum Caught in the Middle - Paramore Side Effects - Jade Bird Snitches Get Stitches - Onsind  Bonus track: The Seed - Aurora I wish I still had the playlist I made of songs I relate to, several of these were on it though.

29. best way to bond with you? Oversharing, or telling me about things you’re into.

30. places that you find sacred? Nature. My favourite spots are little creeks/rivers in wooded areas, but just like, all of it is special and should be treated as such. Also bedrooms.

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? I think maybe I’m not gutsy or whatever enough, but also unpredictable. I wear whatever I like, and I’m just as likely to cry in all of them as I am to accidentally get in a fight.

32. top favorite vines? I feel so basic because I never really did the vine thing.  There was one that nearly killed me because I literally started to choke that was in some kind of office and the bit like can you run this past me again, and they just fucking legged it past them holding a folder up, Saw it once, never saw it again. Road work ahead. Why you can’t lift a house (might be a tok?) Brass dad and oven kid Look at this graaaaph Never learned how to read I can’t sit I have hemorrhoids The one with the people in blankets bobbing the nana nanana song Fr esh avo ca do Look at all these chickens

33. most used phrase in your phone? I love you - if I had to guess

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? right now, nothing. I often get the old Super Liquor jingle lodged in there though.

35. average time you fall asleep? 6am?

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? Charlie the unicorn or that one Noodles video by Cyanide and Happiness. Are those even memes?

37. suitcase or duffel bag? Depends. I mostly use a bag though since I never go anywhere for long.

38. lemonade or tea? Tea? Usually if you ask for lemonade here you get Sprite which is not lemonade.

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? I had a vegan lemon meringue pie once, so good. Cake is easier to make though, and I can eat more in one sitting without getting sick xD

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? Um, the principal in my last year of school got caught for being a peeping tom a few years after I left.

41. last person you texted? My Fiance.

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? Jacket pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? Depends on the rest of the outfit and the weather. I wear Jean jackets most though.

44. favorite scent for soap? I love lavender, or vanilla/candy/fruity/baked goods type scents. I still have a bottle of Sugar Fairy spray from lush from a year ago and I love the smell of that.

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? Fantasy I think.

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? Nekkid?

47. favorite type of cheese? As a kid it was feta. Now I only eat vegan cheese. I was never a huge cheese fan tbh.

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? Rotten xD um probably a cranberry or something because I’m small, and I’m not a fan of cranberry.

49. what saying or quote do you live by? An it harm none do what you will. Or treat others as you wish to be treated.

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? Probably one of the vines I listed above, either “run it past” or “can’t lift a house” because both of those resulted in crying and choking.

51. current stresses? My cat has been throwing up and having diarrhoea the past week or so, she’s been to the vet, it got better for a bit, but tonight suddenly got worse. Living with my parents who I have a very toxic relationship with. Living in a single very overfilled room. Trying to not spend money so that I can save up to move next year. Nightmares about my trauma. Either the house is haunted or there’s a build up of negative energy (probably that).

52. favorite font? I always liked the look of all of the script style fonts (freestyle, french, lucida, lucida calligraphy, Edwardian, Palace) but they’re not accessible so for anything people will actually see (which is literally nothing) I always go with arial.

53. what is the current state of your hands? Slight rash on one finger because I’m sensitive to what is in a lot of hand washing products apparently (never an issue until the pandemic), one broken finger nail that is a bit shorter than the rest. Not painted nails because energy. I always wear my engagement ring, usually I wear several other rings but with how my skin is being I thought I’d better not for a while.

54. what did you learn from your first job? Bakeries are hell, my circadian rhythm will not adjust to anything besides its natural state for longer than a couple of days at a time no matter how long or hard I try. I can absolutely fall asleep standing up.

55. favorite fairy tale? Ugly Duckling

56. favorite tradition? I don’t have anyway... Yet? Hopefully when I move this can become a thing.

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? I’m interpretting overcome loosely here, meaning “I have not died from this” - Suicide of my first love - Bullying - 3 different jobs that all nearly killed me

58. four talents you’re proud of having? Literally can’t think of one. I’m not talented. I’m passable at a couple of things, but I worked for those things and I’m still not good enough for anyone to confuse me for being talented xD Those things I care about that I’ve worked on a lot are singing, art, languages, crafts? I still struggled to come up with 4. My bad.

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? Aw jeez xD

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? Magical Girl! This is an easy one, give me the powers and the clothes yessss.

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? Literally sitting here drawing a blank, so instead of favourite here is the first one that came into my head “eyes are the genitals of the head” (may have that wrong, I’m watching the Office for the first time rn)

62. seven characters you relate to? Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Amelie from Amelie Matilda from Matilda Quasimodo from the Hunchback of Notredame (also my favourite plush as a kid) Iris - The Holiday Jess - New Girl Amelia Shepherd - Grey’s Anatomy Struggled with this because suddenly I drew a blank and also couldn’t remember who my Fiance was talking about every time he’s watched a character and said “that’s you” repeatedly.

63. five songs that would play in your club? Starlight - Superman Lovers Pump It - Black Eyed Peas I Bet that You Look Good on the Dancefloor - Arctic Monkeys All the Things She Said - tATu Doctor Jones - Aqua Bonus: Push Up - Freestylers These are ones  I have memories of dancing to when I was younger so that’s how I picked, but I’d absolutely be a themed night club with different music on different nights.

64. favorite website from your childhood? Neopets, which I still play daily. The first I played was MaMaMedia, then Bubblegum Club.

65. any permanent scars? That’s a SORE subject heh get it heh

66. favorite flower(s)? Lavender, rose, peony

67. good luck charms? I usually carry gemstones if I’m needing to be particularly lucky, or sigils.

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? I hate anything spicy. I had rootbeer candy that tasted like literal dirt. I can’t eat banana stuff without gagging and getting a headache. I hate anything that is artificial blackberry or blackcurrant, tastes like shitty cough syrup.

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? Sea Monkeys breathe through their feet, but I remember where I learned that.

70. left or right handed? right

71. least favorite pattern? depends entirely on the colours, I like patterns. but certain stripes do make my eyes feel funny.

72. worst subject? If PE counts, then that. If not, math.

73. favorite weird flavor combo? I love pineapple on pizza but that’s not weird. Iused to eat cheese and jam sandwiches as a kid though.

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? I operate on how long it has lasted instead of how bad it is, essentially I get so desperate so I’ll try it even though it probably won’t help. I have the resistance of a rhino to most meds.

75. when did you lose your first tooth? No idea, like 4 I think? I did keep them in a weird little box for no reason though because they never got taken away from under my pillow.

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? I’m a fan of a good mash if it has lots of flavour (like gravy). Otherwise, crisps or fries.

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? I grew a radish once! Something cat safe though these days, also maybe something heavy, and hard to knock over?

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? Grocery Store sushi, if it’s just veg.

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? My only ID is my passport, and it is BAD.

80. earth tones or jewel tones? Both.

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? Fireflies (ten million of them to be precise)

82. pc or console? Grew up with PC. Now play my switch mostly.

83. writing or drawing? Both. Wrote more as a kid, draw more now.

84. podcasts or talk radio? Podcasts.

84. barbie or polly pocket? Both. But I prefered pollies as a kid

85. fairy tales or mythology? mythology

86. cookies or cupcakes? cupcakes

87. your greatest fear? Based on my nightmares, stairs.

88. your greatest wish? To live in a comfy house, in the country, with my Fiance, I have travelled the world, we have pets, I can function, we are free.

89. who would you put before everyone else? My Fiance and out animals.

90. luckiest mistake? Can’t think of any, most of my mistakes have been more like bad choices, also never turned out well for me.

91. boxes or bags? Depends what it’s for?

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? lamps, or fairy lights. Unless I’m particularly anxious, then overheads.

93. nicknames? None.

94. favorite season? Winter

95. favorite app on your phone? LINE, it has my fiance, and animated stickers.

96. desktop background? Little Twin Stars

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? My own.

I never get asks and needed to distract myself so I’m going to just answer these anyway, like a survey or something. Original post by tr33-g1rl 

[pickcpodcast]

16 Show Notes - Which would be the worst horseman of the apocalypse?

Welcome to the end of the year and, more importantly, the end of WIDPC’s first season! To celebrate, we decided to wrap Season One by talking about the biggest end—the End, capital E. (Episode here if you haven’t listened to it yet.) We know it’s coming—we’re millennials, after all—and clearly the best way to cope with times like ours is to spend an hour discussing what would be the absolute worst way to go. (Again, millennials.)

Our answer choices are:

A.      Pestilence

B.       War

C.       Famine

D.      Death

First, let’s knock this out of the way—yes, we know the first horseman is technically Conquest, not Pestilence. At least according to the King James version of Revelation 6:2, wherein the first horseman has a bow and crown and explicitly “went forth conquering, and to conquer.” But (1) Pestilence makes for a more diverse selection of end-time scenarios, and (2) we figure you can interpret this horseman as disease, since disease strikes people like arrows and can affect or “conquer” pretty much anyone.

Now that we’ve got that bit of pedantry out of the way, let’s dig into it!

Option A: Pestilence

In the episode, we discussed a lot of different ways disease could bring about an end-times scenario. In an attempt to minimize alarm, we’re just going to link the sources we drew on while talking about how likely it is that human civilization as we know it will go out via disease.

Check out this article for more on how climate change and good ole human curiosity may be defrosting old diseases from the (not so) permafrost.

Also, don’t forget that measles and polio are back, even in OECD countries, due to the anti-vaccination movement.

Old diseases could also come back as a tool of biological warfare! There are still samples of the world’s deadliest diseases in labs all over the world, kept mostly for science purposes. But we’ve all seen Jurassic Park. We know.

And lest you are a non-human reading this and thinking you are safe, remember that disease does not affect humans alone. Plant and animal diseases like the so-called “olive tree leprosy” exist and pose a serious threat to your habitats and food supplies!

…Oh did we say minimize alarm? We meant maximize. Merry Christmas!

Option B: War

This horseman, dear friends, is already upon us, and has been to Earth more times in history than we could possibly count. Since you can find way more than we could ever tell you in the History/Military History section of your local bookstore, we thought it’d be more interesting to focus on some aspects of warfare that you might not have considered.

Specifically, we were interested in unconventional tactics of warfare, such as cyber-attacks on important systems. As sci-fi as that sounds, Ukraine’s power grid was hacked in 2016, leaving about 230,000 people without power in the dead of winter. The hackers disabled not only the distribution stations and substations but also backups and fail-safes, crippling the people normally in charge of responding to such emergencies. We don’t know about you, but we think that’s pretty scary stuff. You can read more about infrastructure hacking here, here, and here.

Another aspect that’s super interesting (and super terrifying) is the relationship between warfare and the natural environment. Environmental damage is both a weapon of warfare and a major fallout. One of the best-known cases is World War I, which was the first war to cause such  drastic  environmental  destruction. We’re still learning about the impact of the deforestation and toxic materials left behind in Europe, but there are also bright spots: nature does seem able to bounce back, as it has in vacated areas such as France’s Zone Rouge. You can go here and here to read more.

Option C: Famine

Like War, Famine is already out among us. A major famine that’s currently in the news a lot is the one in Yemen, where they’re facing such a severe shortage of clean water and food that citizens were apparently thrilled to get a plague of locusts in October, because those things pack a lot of protein.

One major thing that we think a lot of people miss about famine, and that we discuss in the episode, is that it’s just as much a human phenomenon as a natural or environmental one. Sure, things like natural disasters, crop failures, and plant/animal disease can create conditions of scarcity, but it tends to be human actions—habitat destruction, warfare, and willful neglect of the vulnerable—that causes people to starve to death. For an in-depth historical example of how that works, we recommend William Rosen’s The Third Horseman: Climate Change and the Great Famine of the 14th Century, which looks at one of the worse famines in English history. For more recent history, you can look at the Bengal Famine of 1943, wherein Britain killed millions of Indians by refusing to stop exporting Indian rice or provide relief. You can also look at the very recent water crises in Flint and Newark, which will have ramifications for years to come.

Further reading for some of the stuff we mentioned in the episode:

You can read more about the fallout of the California power shutoffs here, here, and here. While it’s true that PG&E shut off power due to safety concerns—they didn’t want their equipment causing or exacerbating wildfires—we think you’ll agree that you shouldn’t have to choose between having electricity and not dying/losing your family and property to wildfires. Not in a day and age when underground power lines and other safety measures exist.

We also touch on the awesome R&D coming out of Africa that is changing the game for water acquisition and purification. These include a device that pulls water from the air and new formulas for carbon water filters. You can also get more of a bird’s-eye view here and here.

Option D: Death

Obviously, we’ve covered Bad Ways to Die in all the previous answer choices, so for Death itself we thought we’d look at it the way Revelations’s author probably meant it: the big stuff, mass extinctions and such. The kind of calamities covered by the “Acts of God” clause buried in your insurance paperwork.

It’s probably not so hard to believe in these things when climate change is a thing. In addition to being generally terrifying, climate change may also lead to mass extinction by destabilizing our water supply (and thus our food supply), killing or displacing millions of people currently living in coastal cities, and also by acidifying the oceans, which will quite literally cause a massive amount of marine species to go extinct. As we discuss in the episode, one of the most important of these species is phytoplankton, which accounts for anywhere between 50 to 85% of the oxygen in our atmosphere and is also one of the major reasons our CO2 problem isn’t as bad as it could be. If they die, though…  

Furthermore, we couldn’t possibly talk about mass extinction events without talking about meteorites. (Meteorites? In my atmosphere? It’s more likely than you think!) These can, in fact, cause mass extinction; just look at the Cretaceous-Tertiary meteor of dinosaur-eradicating fame. A Tulane University study estimated that, based on the geological record, over 50% of all species existing on earth at the time were wiped out by the impact of that crash. Even when they don’t touch Earth’s surface, meteor explosions can have the force of a nuclear or atomic bomb. And even when they don’t get quite that close, they are perfectly capable of causing massive damage and injuring/terrifying thousands of Russians. So they’re nothing to be sneezed at, no matter how far-fetched it might seem.

To read more about the efforts currently underway to defend Earth from meteor impacts, you can go here, here, and here.