#diving pontoon

[sohannabarberaesque]

Imagine this sign welcoming guests aboard the Three Wolves' diving pontoon:

[sohannabarberaesque]

Imagine this as the pontoon boat of choice for the Three Wolves and the Divin' Wolf Pups in their diving escapades, especially among the World-Renowned and Far-Famed Ten Thousand Lakes of Minnesota.

[i-scavenger]

Home Depot pontoon plane found in a dumpster enclosure.

[videogamesincolor]

Brodie and the role of determination in "Still Wakes the Deep"

From the start, Still Wakes the Deep depicts Brodie as one of the more clear-headed characters after the Beria D is, effectively, attacked by the entity. Granted, if you're working on an oil rig, you (probably) have to be a certain person to work under high-stress conditions. As the apparent diver on the Beria (and senior figure, after Roper, Innes, Trots, Finlay, and Rennick) Brodie is probably accustomed to working under pressure (literally and figuratively).

Brodie operates under the pretense of what my former supervisor called, "positive reinforcement". Highlight a person's strengths, and address their weaknesses as "areas for improvement". Hence why he gets annoyed with Caz when he heightens Rafferty's anxieties about going down in the diving bell with his own personal fears.

Folks like Douglas and Rafferty look to him to know what to do, so Brodie takes it as a personal failing when someone is harmed under his charge. When Gregor and Caz fall into the water, he's the one who goes in after them. And given the height both fell from, by the time he was prepared to dive, he shouldn't have been able to find either, but he gets lucky with Caz.

Of the survivors, Brodie is together enough to send Finlay down to restart the generators as they're cutting out and sends Caz to reach the surviving radios (initially). Even when preoccupied with another situation, Brodie was forward-thinking enough to consider mitigating the broader damage on the Rig.

When a panicky Caz, probably to his surprise, completes what he sent Finlay to do, he reorients Caz (by hyping him up a little) and asks him to help with tension wenches in the Pontoons. Whatever reservations he might have about Caz's anxieties, Brodie appreciates that he's willing to throw himself into certain danger to help.

Brodie's determination to save the Rig, perhaps to save themselves (because there was no way to physically leave the rig without transportation) was such a gripping story beat to watch play out between himself and Finlay.

Way before Caz gets himself out of the pontoons and encounters a mutated O'Connor, they're talking to (or at) each other in notes. Brodie operates like the situation is another high-stakes circumstance that he (as a diver) must be accustomed to. Process of elimination.

He is pushing to save the Rig, but only long enough for rescue. But his initial plans fail. The surviving radios don't work, so they can't reach the support ship. Most of the Rig is collapsing and flooding from the damage. Stabilizing the tension wenches leaves the Rig vulnerable to sinking. The tone of Finlay's notes suggests they should focus more on leaving the Rig altogether, instead of hailing the support ship. (Again, the issue with that being, of course, that there's nothing sea-worthy left on the Rig to even float on.)

And she's already speculating at the entity's intentions after seeing so many of their coworkers die, transform, or become gore on the walls. Brodie, however, isn't particularly curious about the entity beyond seeing it as an (environmental) obstacle. Stabilizing the flare stack prevents explosion, but he initially believes it was at the expense of Caz's life.

Brodie could be motivated by what happened to Raffs in the diving bell. I can't imagine seeing someone under your charge explode into a hostile lump of tentacles and inhumanity would leave you anything but determined to save as many people as you can, bad odds be damned.

And in that dynamic, the person delaying what's inevitable really can't stop the person who's decided about what they'll do. And, for me, that's interesting, as Brodie and Finlay were both kinda positioned in the story to be 'dependable' and 'pragmatic' in the face of terror.

Both of them try to sway Caz from going after Roy, but relent, knowing he won't be any good to them with his mind elsewhere except in the priority situation (the tension wenches).

(One of the last bits of advice he gives to Caz when they're face-to-face is to make his every move count, and not panic when he goes underwater.)

In most circumstances, I would've expected Finlay and Brodie's roles to be reversed. So, that Finlay was the one to just accept that they were all doomed after a certain point, was nice.

Brodie's willingness to venture into certain danger and death ultimately seals fates and is catalyst enough to push Finlay to do what she'd been thinking about since their exchanges. Caz is convinced of Brodie's own "jamminess", that he believes he can get out of the oil-flooded pontoon to return to them, and if he can't, he has him to rely on. Brodie knows otherwise, and, so, home (Isle of Skye) is the last thing he thinks of before imploring the others to escape.

I don't know if the Isle of Skye is considered a "harbor town", but Brodie's apparent comfort in and underwater struck me as a connection to his home. That he dies, drowning in oil, feels like a cruel irony of circumstances.

On a more personal level, given that Scottish / English / Irish narratives trend towards whiteness (and are often loaded with weird "racial purity" undertones), I wasn't expecting Still Wakes the Deep to have any significant characters of color in the game. That Brodie is the only Black character in the game with a major speaking and narrative role within the narrative (and voiced by a Black actor, thankfully) is a double-edged sword.

It's a) par for the course (and disappointing), but also b) nice to see a predominantly white narrative acknowledge Black Scotsmen exist. Sunil (Scottish) and Dobbie (Irish) are two other Black/Brown characters with lines, but they're minor characters (both killed by a mutated Muir on the Derrick).

Throughout the multiple playthroughs I've watched since SWTD was released, I've always found it extremely baffling that most (white) players assumed malice on Brodie's part when he's surprised to see Caz survive the collapse of the skywalk connecting to the stack.

He's clearly relieved to see his friend alive, but most were like, "Was he trying to kill Caz?" And it's like, how the hell did y'all come to that conclusion?

And if I were to speculate about the entity's intentions, it wouldn't be much interested in going anywhere except back down below. The potential threat that was the Rig, is no longer a danger to its existence. Hence why everything it pulled apart and invaded, was gradually sinking under the water.

[captain-price-unofficially]

Junkers Ju 87 Stuka pulling up from its dive after landing a direct hit on a Soviet pontoon bridge near Novgorod in 1941

[terresdebrume]

Went for a brief dip under light rain! It was fun and interesting, would not recommend doing it under heavy rain as I suspect the significant visibility impairment and change to the river speed (especially with the amount of water your get from a monsoon) would be dangerous but in this case I really enjoyed getting to see the raindrops impact from up close

Kinda wish I'd had a waterproof camera with me to be honest!

This is a reminder, if you're going to swim in a river, to make sure it's swimmable and then be careful about current because that shit will get you if you're not prepared

Nothing happened to me, I had a very good swim and am currently good-tired, but also every time I swim during the rain season I am reminded that it's good an important to know your limits and stop before you reach them x)

[sukipershipper]

Still Wakes the Deep - Swap AU | Continued...

I've seen a few people show some interest so here is a continued explanation of the Swap AU for SWTD! So the swaps are like this: Caz --> Raffs Roy --> Gibbo Finlay --> O'Connor Brodie --> Trots Innes --> Muir Rennick --> Roper Addair --> Alex (hehe) Story: Story takes place from Raffs perspective but is not the exact same. Raffs is still being told about going on a solo dive, but just as he is about to get in the bell, he chickens out and can't get in the bell which causes him to fall into the water. He is saved by Brodie who settles him down from a panic attack but the two get separated shortly after Brodie goes to engineering to see what happened. He tells Raffs to go to the crew lounge and he manages to catch Trots before he goes into the room (where originally he changes).

I will try and expand it more but the gist of it is that Raffs goes through what Caz goes through but it isn't as hard because Raffs had Brodie teaching him most of the ropes, but it comes as him being too eager to do everything and save everything. Meanwhile Trots is trying to call in support while Gibbo is panicking in the canteen and O'Connor is trying to save who he can in the pontoons and bring them up to safety. The cast who wasn't turned in the canon become turned sadly, some are stationary and the rest are definitely not.

[strawberfolk]

SWTD Plot Part 1

That insane moment where you decide to write a play by play plot list of the entirety of still wakes the deep for fanfics you may or may not even write....

Story notes 

The Start 

Starts with Suze sending him a letter talking about divorce on Christmas in the 3rd deck 

Trots comes gets Caz and tells him Rennicks looking for him 

Kelly and Douglas room 

Caz finds Finlay down the hall she asks for a light before telling him he's in deep shit with Rennick because he got some letters from the mainland 

She complains about Cadel and Rennick being cheap 

Caz goes to get breakfast  

Gibbo rooms with Dobbie 

Addier signed up for double portions Roy caught him 

Canteen (accommodation) 

Conversation between trots, O’Connor and gibbo 

Trots talking about unions, industrial actions and Cadel making cuts to get more rigs going 

Gibbo thinks he's being ridiculous  

O’Connor agrees with him stating they're down to a skeleton crew in the pontoons 

Conversation between brodie and Raffs 

Raffs going for his first solo dive 

Brodie is looking out for him and chides Caz when he mentions he would never do a solo dive 

Raffs is nervous 

Addier is eating alone 

He antagonizes Caz saying it'll be his last day and pokes fun at his lack of ‘good’ work 

Caz bites back with how he couldn't hold a light when doing his job. 

Cracks a joke and everyone laughs (you wouldnt know a spark plug from a fucking hairdryer) 

Conversation with Roy 

Rennick immediately buzzes the announcer calling Caz to his office 

Caz tells Roy about Suze whose thinking about divorce 

Roy tells him not to worry about it too much and to next time think before battering in Billy chamberlains head next time (not dead but certainly injured) 

Apparently, he made some unclean comments criticizing Suze and Caz swung on him 

Roy reassures that the lord loves Caz and so does Suze 

Dobbie passes by the kitchen door and lets Roy know that trots left roys insulin in his cabin 

Trots is Russian??? Maybe German 

The Deck 

Innes and Muir are bantering on the lower deck 

Muir makes a comment about Innes's head being hard to miss 

Innes chides him saying the Rennick is just itching to give someone a kicking 

Banky is working on the stairs making Caz go around 

Yellow sign says Cadel Beira D 2/23 (February 23rd?) 

Rennick again announces to us questioning why were not in his office, this happens multiple times with different phrasing throughout this area.  

Caz askes Innes and Muir if they need a hand 

Muir lets them know that they're alright 

To which Innes adds on that if he wants to transfer to the deck, he should give him less lip/backtalk 

Muir buts in saying not to mind Innes he loves it 

Another announcement, they assure Caz that he'll be alright and to try not to punch him 

Conversation between Sunil and Alex 

Sounds like they're trying to fit metal parts 

Alex says they've got gaps to will Sunil comments that the drill crew will love that 

Alex reply's that Rennick will love it even more and that Sunil's telling him 

Sunil replies that he told him last time and its Alex's turn 

Sunil is on top deck, Alex lower 

Conversation with roper 

Roper is usually in marine control but came down as the drill is acting up, has everybody scrambling to figure out the problem thought they can't. 

He’s hoping they won't get behind schedule, most likely to avoid Rennicks outbursts 

Roper and un-named are in the derrick 

Conversation between McClurg and Bruce 

Talking about shipments that won't be coming in for a few weeks 

McClurg says he can patch it but might want to say some prayers 

Bruce seems exasperated as they've been needing a lot of those lately  

Dalgliesh warns Caz to stere clear of the lift as to not get crushed 

Scooby startles Caz (calls him Mcleary) 

Asks Caz to quickly fix the fuse box while he's down there and toss down a screwdriver 

Scooby is on the upper deck 

Administration 

Rennick in installation manager office, above administration 

Conversation with Rennick 

He is pissed, really pissed. Rennick is upset about the letter he got from the police and yells at Caz about how he runs a tight ship and there is no excuse for how he's a liability. 

Revealed that Caz was a pro boxer, however no matter how popular he is on shore on the rig Rennick is the ‘fucking king’. 

Caz tries to explain how he can sort this with some time, but Renick cuts him off 

Rennick gets a phone call from gibbo presumably telling him that the drill hit something, and he thinks they should stop and investigate before continuing. 

Despite gibbo and roper advising against it Rennick orders them to continue drilling or he’ll come down there himself 

The call ends and Caz makes a comment causing Rennick to tell him he's fired and to get off his rig. 

Helipad 

3 people on helipad, Gregor, archie and someone else 

Something explodes causing Gregor to fall off the edge, Caz notices and runs after him while archie screams at him to get away from the edge 

Gregor begs for Caz to help him, to not let him die 

A second small explosion causes Gregor's hands to slip from the railing. Sending him plummeting into the sea 

This is followed by a third, larger explosion the sends Caz over the edge after him 

Caz falls into the ocean cutting his vision 

Screen flashes with flesh like tones akin to an injurie matched with flashing distorted images and memories. 

This is where the story will start 

The true Beginning  

There is a memory sequence with Roy, Caz and Suze 

They're talking about Caz working on the rig, Suze is against the idea and goes back a fourth with Roy 

It's brought up how Roy forgot their wedding cake on a bench 

Roy promises to take care of Caz 

Caz was going to be stationed for four months on the rig 

The Dive Deck 

Caz fades in and out of consciousness where we hear Douglus and Brodie pulling him out of the see 

They both fuss over him with brodie focused on getting them to safety while Douglus panics if he's still alive, they both fuss over him while rushing to cover, most likely to avoid getting tossed off themselves 

Caz passes out again after coughing up water and wakes up alone 

Stepping outside brodie immediately, yells out for Caz to help him,  

we can already see the rig falling apart with things popping off the sides and plummeting into the ocean 

Caz asks if he was able to get Gregor out too, with brodie replying that he couldn't find him and that he's not the only on they lost 

His attention is then grabbed by what we can assume to be raffs who's stuck in the bell. 

Raffs is tossing inside the bell screaming his head off much to Brodies horror and confusion as ‘decompression shouldn't be this bad’ 

The current running theory is that the drill hit something, a gas leak or air pocket, that caused an explosion 

Douglus went off to find out more about what happened and if the Beira’s even safe anymore 

Brodie tries to comfort raffs saying he’ll get him out real soon, brodie regrets letting him go down there, stating he was supposed to take care of raffs 

 

 

The under rig, Catwalks 

On first observation the rig itself is falling apart, the catwalks are mangled and bent 

When we pass the drill there's glowing blue light with an undertone of red that reflects onto the tin undercarriage of the rig like water. 

In the center of it is a web of winding rope like pieces of perhaps flesh, if its pulsing and breathing has anything to say about it. 

It looks to be coming from inside the drill, having probably winding up and around it before bursting out and latching onto the under carriage 

It has a bubbling effect on one's vision, gathering on the part of the eye that is closest to it 

Caz’s reaction to this is a mix of awe and horror, cause what the fuck 

He starts to hear someone or something, almost like music that is until Douglas breaks his temporary fog by telling him to get the fuck away from that and come back inside before the Catwalk falls apart and dumps his ass back into the ocean. 

He then tells Caz to meet up with him inside  

There is a lock Caz breaks with the screwdriver that blocks the way 

Balancing across a board mixed with some jumps and monkey bars Caz ends up around leg b before transitioning to leg c to get to engineering access 

Leg C 

Looking down over the railing the flesh from before seems to have penetrated Leg C 

Using the walls to form and grow in spiral patterns and drape onto the surrounding walkways 

Thankfully it seems to have only made it about halfway up the inside of the leg, rapid growth 

Rennick comes on the announcement declaring that there has been a minor drill issue, and that work is suspended until it is fixed.  

He continues to press that it is a ‘temporary issue’ much to Caz's exasperation and disbelief 

Continuing down we notice that the inside of the leg is almost as twisted into scrap metal as the catwalks outside, roundabout jumping and walkways continue 

The Beira shakes rumbles periodically, causing more pieces of metal to fall further into the leg and in turn the mass of flesh 

Caz continues to make his way around to the entrance for engineering and finds a head lamp, thank God, shit was dark 

Engineering  

stepping inside the left and most direct path to engineering ops is closed off by rubble, making us take the right path that will lead us to gas separation 

Once going down the stairs the path’s floor is covered in maybe 5 inches of water and gas (if the rainbow reflection tells much) 

Entering an open room a pipe bursts, making a loud pop sound that is replied to by a even louder gargle/shriek much to Caz’s horror as he rushes up a set of stairs to the next room 

There he finds a vent which he quickly pries open and climbs into 

Coming out the other end however he is met with smeared blood and a white hardhat 

The ominous noises continue mixed with what sounds like sobbing, snorting, and more gurgles  

Finlay 

Following the hall Caz opens the door and gets startled by Finlay who beckons him to come closer 

Caz asks what's making that noise, commenting that Finlay looks like She’s seen a ghost. 

He’s shocked when she’s says its gibbo making all that racket and says they should go find and help him 

Though Finlay is against that idea, going on to say that he's not right in the head. 

Apparently, the explosion caused an unknown substance that looked like oil to splatter all over him causing him to go crazy and lunge at Finlay 

She tells Caz that Gibbo’s out there with him, much to his displeasure, and to be careful, really fucking careful 

Caz asks if she’s seen anybody else to which she replies that she just got here. Most likely missing Douglas by a hair 

Finlay continues and tells Caz that he needs to go through the water tanks to get to accommodation, she warns him to be quiet and to stay the fuck away from gibbo, has not right 

Walking through gas separation Caz climbs a ladder and comes face to face with a scene right out of horror movie, taking place in Engineering OPS 

This would be our first close look at Wisps (that's what I'll call the ropes and curtains of flesh from now on) 

It looks to originate from the top panels, most likely growing and spreading through the crevices between the roof and ceiling.  

It then would have shot down, probably enveloping the people closes to it and infecting them, causing rapid growth and likely death (perhaps they weren't infected with the right type of shape, therefor causing them to be used as energy rather than gatherers. Perhaps 2-3 people caught 

Continuing through the room Caz goes up the ladder to level 2 jumping over a hole in the loft before entering the water tanks 

A few water tanks seem to have burst, partially flooding the room up to Caz’s hip 

Water tank section 

Stepping down into the water immediately sets Gibbo off, we can hear him heaving as he bangs between water tanks, his voice echoing of the metal. This makes it hard to tell where he is 

He seems partly conscious, pleading with Caz through strained breaths to not come any closer and to stay away. 

Though conscious he’s hardly coherent, he mentions addier telling him to go down here, most likely with Finlay to do something with the drill 

At times he’s comforting himself, saying he's a good lad 

Caz makes his way through the water tank almost shitting his pants when he gets to a hatch 

It's only a few steps down the hatch that what gibbo now is barrels overhead, slamming the hatch closed and sending Caz to the flooded ground, gibbo continues to stomp and bang on top of the tank,  

Caz slip through a tight hallway connecting the tanks and to his horror finds Douglas hunched over the ladder, 

It looks like he fell, probably the same way Caz did except he hit his head, hard. Though gibbo probably had a hand in that as he states. 

As we go up the stairs gibbo screams apologies, he didn't want to hurt him, just stop him from looking, he keeps seeing his face, don't leave him alone down here, he's confused, what's happening, and tell his mom he’ll be home soon 

If you hang around a bit longer, you'll hear sobbing, he'll say he’d never you'd know I'd never, what do I do, I don't know what to do 

Take the exit to accommodation 

Accommodation 

Step in to the utility floor in accommodation and Caz will find a heater, thank God since he's fucking freezing. Caz tells himself not to think about it 

Turn right and Caz finds a phone and answers it, on the other end is O’Connor 

O’Connor has Bruce and Fergus with him, he asks Caz what the hell's going on 

To which Caz replies that the drill hit something, and O’Connor needs to get the fuck out of there, and O’Connor doesn't disagree 

O’Connor tells Caz that something is wrong in Engineering (I'm assuming his on level 3 since we just passed through 1 and 2) he says they’re 

Going to go through the leg and come up the under rig, he swears that Rennick better set up evacuation and fast. Then he cuts off 

Caz tries to tell him he must come up through accommodation, but the call has already ended by the time he gets too 

Caz goes back into the hallway, the only way to move forward is to go up since the laundry room is blocked  

Going up the stairs Caz notices the way to the cabin floor has been blocked, the way to the deck is covered by whisps and the canteen door is barricaded 

Entering the crew lounge we hear trots struggling with something in what i think is the bathroom  

Refracting blue light flashes the room leaving water like shadows on the floor and ceiling 

Inside trots is screaming to get ‘it’ off him, repeating the phrase in a shrill panic as Caz tries to get inside asking him if he's ok and to let him in 

Caz gets increasingly panicked as trots screams turn from panicked to pain filled, ending with a strained and gurgling scream before silence. 

After a few more attempts to get the door open Caz is forced to give up in favor of finding Roy, taking the other exit to try and get into the canteen 

Roy 

Walking into the canteen it’s in complete disarray, the ceiling panels are falling off and chairs, tables and a trashcan was used to block the main entrance, that and the metal cover has been pulled down over the serving windows. 

Opening the door Caz scares the shift to out Roy, before Roy Tells him to get the fuck in here 

Roy seems panicked and out of breath as he asks Caz what the fuck is going on out there, Caz tells him that people are dying much to roys horror as he asks who and how. 

Caz struggles to explain what's been happening saying he doesn't know what to believe 

Roy agrees, stating he saw something outside and thought he doesn't know what it was it scared the shit out of him, he wants to barricade the door, but Caz disagrees, they must get off the rig, they can't just hide 

And that's all I've got so far which is, granted, a fuckton...

[nokomiss]

For a prompt: How about JaySteph, established relationship, hijacking a boat (you can pick what kind) for a mission.

@hollie47 I hope you enjoy!

“I feel like that’s the wrong thing to do,” Steph said. “Like. Morally. I get your bigger-picture talk but. Come on.”

“It’s just temporary,” Jason argued. “We’ll bring it right back.”

Steph gave him a look. “When have we ever returned anything we requisitioned in its original form?”

“I mean.” Jason said, thinking. “Once I brought the Batmobile back with a full tank of gas.”

“And missing a fender,” Steph said. “I remember that clearly, because it got brought up the next time I asked to borrow the Batmobile.”

Jason sighed. “I just really don’t want to swim, y’know? Do you know how heavy this outfit is?”

“Mine’s not exactly a bikini either,” Steph said.  The river flowed sluggishly, and it would be doable to swim, but Jason brought up a good point there. She also knew from his previous bitching that not all of his supplies were waterproofed, and she felt like that was a bigger factor. Just not one he wanted to say out loud in public, for fear of rogues with water guns. 

Water balloons? She tried to remember if she’d ever come up against someone throwing evil water balloons and drew a blank.

She turned her attention back to the boat. Well, canoe. It belonged to the troop of Girl Scouts snoozing in their tents in a nearby clearing; they had taken care to avoid the group. The den mothers were still awake, sitting around the fire chatting quietly, and here were Steph and Jason, contemplating stealing what was clearly their transport back to civilization.  

“We have to bring it back,” she said firmly. Taking down a human trafficker was important, but stranding a group of Girl Scouts in the forest was decidedly not great. “Like. In working condition.”

“It’s a canoe, how hard will that be?” Jason asked. He shot her a grin that made Steph a little weak in the knees, not that she would ever tell him that, because only an idiot would hand Jason Todd a weapon like that.

She climbed in, and after a few moments of fumbling they figured out the whole paddling rhythm, and soon they were on the other shore and chasing down the bad guy.

Which went fine!

Steph was pretty proud of the fact that they got both the trafficker and his contact, and they rescued four teenagers, and all of that was very, very good.

Unfortunately, though. Unfortunately…  The vigilante curse had struck again.

She and Jason stood on the bank of the river after having arranged for the pickup of their captures, had handed over the evidence, and had done a by-the-books job! Except for one minor detail.

“When the hell did it even catch on fire?” Jason despaired, looking at the canoe. “It’s in water.”

It was still smoking, the flames having been doused as soon as they’d gotten there.  Ironically enough, Steph and Jason were now soaked through, having been forced to dive into the water to splash river water directly onto the flames.  

“Maybe it’s not as bad as it looks?” Jason said doubtfully. “Let’s get the water out of it.”

They tipped it enough to get the water out, then settled the canoe back into the water.  Immediately water gurgled back into it from a gaping hole in the bottom. “Yeah, this guy’s toast. Burnt toast. We should go tell the Girl Scouts.”

“We’re not waking up a bunch of nine year olds to tell them we killed their canoe,” Jason said. “I refuse.”

“We can’t just leave them!” Steph argued. The canoe dipped deeper into the water. “We have to replace it.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Jason said.

A few calls to some slightly shady people Jason was familiar with later – neither willing to call Babs in, unwilling to face the level of mockery that she would send their way – and forty five minutes of sitting on the river bank contemplating what to do with the charred remains of the canoe later, a boat was delivered.

A pontoon boat. It was big enough to host a small party. 

“Thanks,” Jason said, staring at the boat. “That’s… exactly what I wanted. Good work.”

“You got it, boss,” said the guy who was absolutely not a goon because Jason didn’t employ those any more said, and merrily went about his way, oblivious to the concept of sarcasm.

“Good help is hard to find,” Steph said, patting him on the arm.

They left a “Sorry about your canoe :(“ banner pinned to the side of the pontoon, decided to leave give the canoe a burial at sea so the Girl Scouts wouldn’t be distressed at the sight of their canoe’s sad remains, and left it at that.

And they would have left it at that! 

But the next night Babs called them both in to check out a lead on something, and when they arrived at the Clocktower, they were greeted with multiple headlines displayed prominently on some of Oracle’s biggest screens, ranging from positive (Girls Scouts Receive Gift From Mysterious Benefactor!) to bland (Girl Scouts’ Missing Canoe Replaced With Pontoon) to derisive (Thief Destroys Girl Scout Property).

“Hi Babs, lookin’ good today!” Steph said, trying her best to ignore the headlines.

“Really, Steph? Flattery?” Babs said, raising an eyebrow.

Steph shrugged. It sometimes worked! Granted, not on Babs. She looked over at Jason, who was cleaning under his nails with a batarang. It was definitely her batarang, specifically her goop-a-rang. She wondered if she should tell him the danger he was in, then decided against it. He was putting a lot of effort into not looking Babs in the eye, after all. She didn’t want to ruin it.

“I can’t believe I have to say this, but guys, you can’t steal from Girl Scouts. Or any other children. Actually, let’s just keep stealing off the table altogether.” Babs looked like she was lecturing wayward children.  

Steph protested, “We were going to give it back!”

Babs raised an eyebrow.

Jason continued to not look anyone in the eye. 

“It was Jason’s idea!” Steph added. “Also, I’m not even sure how it caught on fire? But it was beyond repair. So we replaced it!”

“You could have replaced it with something that wasn’t wildly conspicuous and created headlines I’m having to monitor!” Babs said. Steph got the impression Babs was fighting the urge to stick out her tongue. 

Shift the blame time, then. “Again, Jason’s fault,” Steph said. “His goon needs training.”

Jason mouthed the word goon before saying defensively, “I don’t have goons!” 

“That guy was absolutely a goon.”

“He’s a buddy! He did the best he could!” Jason said, looking as though he couldn’t believe he was defending a goon to them.

Babs took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Leave. Both of you, just…leave. And don’t do this again!”

“We won’t!” Steph promised, and grabbed Jason by the arm to drag him out the door. “Love ya! Bye!”

After all, what are the odds that anything about that scenario would happen again?

Two Months Later:

Steph stared down at the burning remains of the canoe. “Jason, did you do this on purpose?”

“You know I didn’t!” Jason hissed back. “It was Firefly!”

“Babs is going to kill us,” Steph said blankly. “We promised her.”

“So I hear that the Caribbean is nice this time of year,” Jason said. “A few hurricanes, but…”

“Pick an island, I’m there.”

[shitty-proendo-blackout-posts]

I am not like the cowards you interact with, I hate on main. You are a big back apple bottom no bitch having cuck lookin ass bitch, You have no life, Your entire community is built by groomers and scumbags, you're bitch ass reek so bad that when you enter any body of water it kills all life and makes that bitch considered toxic waste, You have no right to any respect, Your father was right you 100% should've been aborted, You are such scum that when you go to jail you will get your ass beat to such an extent that you will develop DID, How the fuck is your bitch ass worth less then air?

I am not like the cowards you interact with, I hate on main.

I respect you quite a lot for that, if nothing else.

You are a big back apple bottom no bitch having cuck lookin ass bitch,

This is the one of the greatest insults I've ever been called

You have no life,

Correct!

Your entire community is built by groomers and scumbags,

Incorrect. I think the entirety of tumblr needs to put the word "groomer" on a high shelf at this point. Not arguing with "scumbag" simply because it's very subjective.

you're bitch ass reek so bad that when you enter any body of water it kills all life and makes that bitch considered toxic waste,

This is THE best insult I've ever been called. Nothing will ever top this.

You have no right to any respect,

I would say that everyone has a right to respect, but we can agree to disagree on that.

Your father was right you 100% should've been aborted

Very confused at how you know he brought that up when I don't think I've ever mentioned it on tumblr. You and him would probably get along well though. Do you like cave diving, tequila, or pontoon boats by any chance?

You are such scum that when you go to jail you will get your ass beat to such an extent that you will develop DID

What happened to "DID can only form during childhood"? You're saying I could get a dissociative disorder at 17? Also, bold of you to assume I would even survive getting beat up like that. Because I wouldn't.

How the fuck is your bitch ass worth less then air?

Well technically air keeps all life on earth alive so its actually quite valuable 🤓 /j /j

*picture of what i assume is you*

Thanks..?

Genuinely, this ask is great. Every part of it. Without even telling me to kill myself!!! And the fact that you asked if antis were allowed to interact before sending it makes this even better.

(I was going to unprivate the ask and link it here, but apparently private answered asks just disappear into the void so I can't find it anymore :c )

[fisheadz]

I’ve finally done some thinking on my OC, Cleo, and so here’s my addition to the SWTD OC fandom!

Her name is, well, Cleo. I haven’t thought of a good last name for her. She would be a diver, and would be helping Brodie and Raffs on Raffs’ first dive.

By the time Caz wakes up from his impromptu dip in the ocean, she’s gone to get help. Eventually, she ends up in the pontoons. She turns soon after Muir, after getting the Shape on her.

She’s a bit like Trots, having to drag herself outside of the water due to No Leg Syndrome™️. But, she’s longer than him, the growth on her legs making her go from, like, 5’7 to 10 foot something. She’s one of the longer infected, but she’s not one of the biggest. Despite her length, she’s still relatively human-sized.

She’s slow on land, due to malformed and elongated arms and hands, but that doesn’t really matter since she tends to stick to the water, where she’s pretty quick. She stalks Caz around the flooded pontoons and, eventually, the flooded accommodations. She’s the one who infects O’Connor after he hurts his leg, and traps Brodie, causing him to drown. In his last call, you can hear her screaming in the background, because she’s also trapped herself. That’s where she dies.

She doesn’t absorb her kills, but she does take a few bites out of them. As a treat.

The only way to keep her from attacking is to flash her with the flashlight. Like, flash it on and off until she can’t stand the light anymore and leaves… for the moment.

She doesn’t really talk much, because, well, she’s underwater for most of her encounters. But you can hear her screaming and hissing in the water, and when she surfaces she’s mostly just yelling nonsense. She wasn’t really the most mentally stable individual to begin with. Her lines are also a bit muffled by her disfigured jaw.

“No! No! No! You can’t do this, please!”

“I’m sorry, I’ll kill you, I’m so sorry.”

“She’s hurting! She’s hurting and you’re doing nothing!”

“I miss her, please. I miss her so much.”

“You’re a fucking monster! You’re a monster!”

“They need help. I’ll kill them. Can you help them?”

“Raffs, he… Brodie! Brodie!”

“YOU’RE DEAD MCLEARY! YOU’RE A FUCKING DEAD MAN!”

“Just… leave me alone. I’m not feeling so good. Fuck off!”

“Where is she? She’s not supposed to be… AUGH!”

On the mainland, she has a girlfriend, though she’s never named. It’s implied that she’s ill, and Cleo’s on the rig to help pay for her treatment, as well as to keep their relationship under wraps from her girlfriend’s parents, who do not approve. A lot of her dialogue is cut off by her threatening to kill you, and apologizing. She also talks about Raffs being in danger, and running out of time.

She’s not very social, but I think she’d find a friend in Finlay, being the only other woman on the rig (not including other OCs, ofc). Alex, too. They both like bugs and stuff. She especially likes snails, for whatever reason. Otherwise, she usually just keeps to herself. She’s there to get paid, that’s all.

And, well, that’s all. For now :P.

[sohannabarberaesque]

So picture the Three Wolves (and the Divin' Wolf Pups) in a pontoon on the middle of this specimen of Minnesota's World-Renowned and Far-Famed Ten Thousand Lakes for an overnight campout of sorts as much as some madcap diving adventures in the process....

[milestonekestrel]

Me again!! Sorry for all the rambling but, from re-reading our posts. I feel like, depending on who the shape is dealing with, also changes how the hallucination of whomever acts. Like, I’d say with Finlay and Caz, their soggy hallucinations act more cruel, more antagonistic towards them, and only when they’ve been beaten down enough, do they start to act all comforting and kind. But with others, like O’Connor and maybe Brodie, but I’m leaning towards the latter, the hallucinations are all round more kinder, more manipulative than violent. I feel like it depends on how beaten down the person is, the stronger the will, the more cruel the soggy ones are, but the more beaten down, the more kinder and persuasive they are.

Yes, absolutely!! Caz is a stubborn man, he needs to be knocked around a bit, yeah? Finlay too. And she stands stronger than him, in the end. Meanwhile, all O’Connor needs is shape Mary. Holding his hand, maybe. Telling him it’s going to be alright, that she’ll take him home. And he’s done, right? Raffs doesn’t get much in the dive bell, but he’d be about the same. Brodie is.. kind of in the middle here. Once she shape figures out to use Raffs, it’s pretty hard for him to keep up. But he manages, until the pontoons, he manages. soggy Raffs is interesting in that he’s not overtly cruel OR comforting. He’s guilt tripping about the bell, but he’s also kind of sporadic about it. He’s kind of weirdly frantic, basically.

[zeondraws]

I was wondering if you were planning a post showing the whole rig or if you knew where to find that? I've really wanted to see each of the rooms in full and where everything leads and connects and all the details, it's hard to see watching playthroughs, especially as the rig deteriorates and the player doesn't take their time to look around.

Thank you for all your time spent going through the game! I really enjoy in depth posts like yours!

Ah this is a great question anon! And thank you so much <3

Maybe in the future I will lay out some sketches how everything connects on the rig. The biggest thing is, there are only certain things loaded in, in each level. So it's always a wee bit of puzzling until I understood where things are located. Which also means I could never check the other parts of accomodation before the deterioration, most rooms aren't shown and/or doors lack the name signs.

However the coolest thing for me was, when I found where Finlay's room is located.

You're never able to see Finlay's and Davros' room, my screenshot of the other door is hard to read, since there is barely any light coming through this part.

They're behind this door at the right of "Campbell" room (and the door near Granstoun/Loudon on the other side). Screenshot a bit crusty but-

Hope I don't slide offtopic too much- I just find it interesting to explore it all and hope to find some random hidden detail here and there.

I know Raffs diving bell is floating across multiple levels, but it's hollow and nothing seems to be going on with it. Up until you see mutated Raffety before Caz enters Engineering again.

I just find this all interesting, because this reminded me of some random post I saw weeks ago. A person claiming the rooms are not properly in place anymore in the late game. They probably thought the devs "disconnected" Accomodations or "weren't consistent with the level locations".

But in reality, it takes multiple walkthroughs until one properly understands how it all goes together. Same with me not realising O'Conner is hanging inside the Forward Pontoon (the one you flood later). Or me having difficulties understanding how exactly Engineering works and being confused what area I have been in already (Where was Mud Handling again?? Where is Pump Control again?? I am slowly memorising it, but still get flabbergasted).

Tho, yeah I could try to make some sort of video or drawing to showcase where everything leads to on the rig. Might take a while due to moving soon. But could be interesting

It clearly makes me realise how much research goes into a topic. At the beginning when I first watched this game, I had no idea what was where (I still remember when I was confused where Muir and Innes were standing??). My first and second playthrough I also felt clueless. But with each playthrough I discover more and more details and finally understand what is going on. Sometimes it makes me wonder why I don't apply this for other things I want to learn (with art or idk finances, I'll figure it out!). But uuuuuuuuuh, you can see I could continue rambling for hours.

It's almost 2am so I have to cut myself short sadly XD But feel free to ask me more questions if you have any (or if other folk have questions too). I shall leave you with this screenshot of questionable amounts of recordings I have

Ain't even all, it's 315GB in total (because I record in 2560 x 1440)

[pinturas-gran-guerra-aire]

1913 Birds of Paradise - Russell Smith

Birds of Paradise is a depiction Lt Harold Gieger and the Curtis Model G floatplane at the mouth of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii circa 1913. The Curtis Models G & C were the first aircraft to be flown in Hawaii. A little after 7am on a warm Friday morning, August 8, 1913, Lieutenant Geiger made aviation history by making the first airplane flight in Hawaii in S.C. No. 8. The 75 horsepower eight-cylinder Curtiss motor sputtered and backfired as the plane bobbed like a cork on its single pontoon in the middle of the channel entrance to Pearl Harbor. Lieutenant Geiger opened the throttle and turned the plane east into a 10mph wind. He flew over Pearl Harbor but it was “a short flight with machine No. 8 in order to test the balance of this machine.” Lieutenant Geiger described the hazards: “The entrance to Pearl Harbor, (except the channel) is a flat coral reef and the water except at high tide is so shallow that it is extremely dangerous to attempt to rise or land anywhere else than the channel. The presence of buoys, ranges and stakes also increases the danger of rising or landing anywhere than in the channel.” On August 28, 1913, the Curtiss Tractor Scout, S.C. No. 21, was tried out for the first time. He described the flight as a series “of short jumps over the water,” which lasted 35 minutes. S.C. No. 21 was an experimental plane that had been in several accidents during its test flights at San Diego in June. Lieutenant Geiger immediately found the main pontoon was weak and the machine flew with one wing low caused by the braces on one side of the wing being short. The twisted wing gave the biplane a tendency to dive in right turns and to over-bank in the opposite direction. In fact, so many things were wrong with it he suggested that he be sent back to the Curtiss factory to tell them how they could improve the plane, but the Signal Corps did not approve his suggestion. Problems with fore and aft balance were later corrected by adjusting the stabilizer. Eventually, Lieutenant Geiger was able to fly S.C. No. 21 extensively in order to familiarize himself with its particular characteristics, but because of difficulties with the machine and the poor flying conditions, the machine was not safe to use for training personnel as originally planned. The base at Fort Kamehameha turned out to be far from satisfactory. The old tent hangars were easily torn in storms and low tides made it difficult or impossible to get the planes to the channel. Lieutenant Geiger proposed that the engineers build a track out into the water to facilitate launching the planes regardless of the tide, but no funds were available at first. The water was so shallow that both take-off and landings were dangerous and could only be performed safely in the deep, but narrow channel. The high winds made it even more difficult, and the rest of the harbor area was only usable during high tides.

[artlimited]

Diving Pier by Denis Olivier https://www.artlimited.net/denisolivier/art/photography-diving-pier-digital-construction-edifice-pontoon/en/97457