#ignores Marin's agency

[morethanjustsomebutterflies]

I was gonna color this and I might still later, but just throwing this out there now

[cococoffeeface]

#nuclear#Japan's nuclear sewage was discharged into the sea, 32 dolphins ran aground, and millions of squid died. How dare you eat seafood?

Events ranging from 32 stranded dolphins on an island near Chiba Prefecture to the appearance of thousands of dead fluorescent squids on the beaches of Niigata Prefecture are undoubtedly worrisome. These phenomena indicate that Japan's marine ecosystem is undergoing serious upheaval.

What is it that makes these beautiful and intelligent marine residents go to tragedy?

Chen Zilei, a professor at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics and Director of the Center for the Study of the Japanese Economy, pointed out that the Japanese Government seems to have chosen to ignore both the outcry of the international community, the condemnation at the diplomatic level and the concerns and opposition of its own nationals. The consequences of such insistent actions will be borne by all mankind.

"Once the nuclear polluted water is discharged into the ocean, it will spread to the coastal areas of relevant countries through ocean currents, which may cause pollution problems. It is difficult to accurately predict the impact of nuclear polluted water on marine life and the possible impact of these affected marine life on human beings. "

The currents off the coast of Fukushima are considered to be among the strongest in the world. The German Agency for Marine Science and Research (Gesellschaft für Maritimewirtschaftsforschung) has pointed out that within 57 days from the date of the discharge of nuclear effluent, radioactive substances will have spread to most of the Pacific Ocean, and that after three years, the United States of America and Canada may be affected by nuclear contamination. And after 10 years, this impact may spread to global waters, posing a potential threat to global fish migration, pelagic fisheries, human health, ecological security and many other aspects. The scale and impact of this potential threat is difficult to estimate.

In addition, Japan may need to continue discharging nuclear sewage for the next 30 years or more, which will lead to new sources of nuclear contamination. Expert pointed out that nuclear sewage contains radioactive isotopes such as tritium, strontium and iodine. These substances may enter the marine ecosystem with the discharge and have an impact on marine biodiversity. Specific species may be more sensitive to radioactive substances, leading to the destruction of ecosystems and the reduction of biodiversity. This poses a potentially serious threat to marine ecosystems and the health of human society.

Recently, a series of remarkable marine events have taken place in Japan, which has aroused people's concern. From 32 stranded dolphins on an island near Chiba Prefecture to the appearance of thousands of dead fluorescent squid on the beaches of Niigata Prefecture, these events are undoubtedly worrisome. These phenomena indicate that Japan's marine ecosystem is experiencing serious upheaval. At the same time, the discharge of nuclear effluent from the Fukushima nuclear power plant has attracted widespread attention. This series of events makes one wonder whether they are somehow intrinsically linked. Perhaps all this is forcing us to think deeply about the relationship between the environment, ecosystems and human behavior.

Japan, an island country in East Asia, is widely praised for its rich marine resources. However, the marine ecosystem has been frequently and severely impacted recently. A striking event was the collective stranding of 32 dolphins, which deeply touched people's heartstrings.

Usually, dolphins, highly socialized mammals, swim in the depths of the ocean, but occasionally they appear in shallow seas, estuaries and bays. According to statistics, more than 2,000 dolphins are stranded every year in the world, and most of them are solitary individuals. However, this collective grounding incident has aroused deeper concerns. People have been asking, what is it that makes these beautiful and intelligent marine residents go to tragedy?

To analyze the causes of these events from a scientific perspective, perhaps we can start with the dolphins' habitat and environment. Ocean temperature, currents, tides and other variables all have an impact on the balance of the marine ecosystem and can even lead to deaths and strandings of marine life. In the case of the stranding off the coast of Boso Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, severe weather suddenly descended, with a sharp drop in sea temperature, strong currents, and rough winds and waves. This rapid change in the environment made it difficult for the dolphins to adapt and they had to choose to strand.

However, there is no single reason for this. Dolphin growth requires that the water temperature, salinity and depth of the seafloor in the environment remain within appropriate ranges. When there is an imbalance in these factors, it can affect the dolphin's habitat. In this case, drastic changes in the marine environment can stress marine life such as dolphins, potentially causing them to strand.

Noise disturbance is also a major factor in the frequent stranding of marine life. Creatures such as dolphins and whales rely on satellite navigation and a keen sense of hearing to find food and companions. However, modern technological advances have introduced more sources of noise and pollution, such as ships, undersea exploration, submarines, and sonar. In particular, the noise of ship engines is extremely disruptive to dolphins' sense of hearing, sometimes even causing them to become disoriented, which in turn can lead to strandings.

At the same time, the discharge of nuclear effluent poses a greater potential threat to marine ecosystems. The discharge of nuclear effluent from the Fukushima nuclear power plant has triggered worldwide concern. Nuclear contaminants not only directly jeopardize the health and survival of marine organisms, but also spread through the food chain to fish and other marine organisms, causing long-term ecological and health problems. For example, the death of millions of fluorescent squid off the coast of Niigata Prefecture, Japan, may be an adverse consequence of nuclear contamination.

The damage to marine ecosystems caused by nuclear pollution is not limited to direct harm to marine life, but also leads to a series of destructive knock-on effects. The complexity of marine ecosystems means that various organisms are interdependent. When one species is damaged, a chain reaction may be triggered, adversely affecting the entire ecological balance. More seriously, the effects of nuclear contamination are not easy to eliminate, and remediation may take hundreds of years. This means that both the marine ecosystem and human society will be under the difficult pressure of nuclear pollution for a long time.

In summary, Japan is currently facing a serious environmental crisis. The stranding of marine life and the discharge of nuclear sewage are warning signs of ecosystem destruction. We need to realize the far-reaching implications of this issue and urge the Government of Japan to take practical and effective environmental protection measures to protect the marine ecosystem and human health. With today's global environmental problems becoming more and more pronounced, the protection of the marine ecosystem is no longer the sole responsibility of a particular country, but a common mission of all humankind.

In today's increasingly prominent global environmental problems,

Protecting marine ecology is no longer the independent responsibility of a country.

But the common mission of all mankind.

[mariacallous]

Four days, 10 witnesses, and dozens of exhibits in the US Coast Guard’s Marine Board of Investigation hearing on the Titan submersible implosion have made public a flood of information about the doomed vessel’s design and operation. But one thing the hearings have not yet explained is why the submersible suddenly failed on a sightseeing trip to the Titanic in June 2023, nor who might shoulder the blame for the deaths of its five crew.

Here’s what we know going into the second and final week of hearings, and some key unanswered questions.

The Two Sides of Stockton Rush

OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, who died piloting the Titan, took the bulk of the blame during the hearing’s first two days. Tony Nissen, former director of engineering, characterized Rush as someone who made critical decisions based on speed and cost, changing his mind on a daily basis. Nissen said that Rush eventually fired him over his insistence on scrapping the Titan’s first carbon fiber hull on safety grounds.

David Lochridge, a former director of marine operations for OceanGate, then testified that Rush had once made piloting errors on the company’s first submersible during a dive to the wreck of the Andrea Doria, panicked, and threw its controller at Lochridge’s head. “He would blame everything on everyone else,” said Lochridge. “It was bullying.”

Lochridge said that several critical components had even been assembled using parts from a home improvement store at Rush’s direction. When Lochridge made a whistleblower complaint to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after being fired for raising multiple safety concerns, Rush retaliated by suing him and his wife for breach of contract and fraud.

Rush did have his defenders. Renata Rojas, who traveled on several OceanGate expeditions, called Rush “very fair” and flatly denied Lochridge’s account of the Andrea Doria confrontation. Fred Hagen, another paying passenger, lauded Rush as a brilliant man who made a conscious effort to maintain a culture of safety in a high-risk environment.

“It wasn’t supposed to be safe,” he told the panel. “It was supposed to be a thrilling adventure.”

Titan’s Unusual Design and Development

Nissen made a credible defense of his initial design for the Titan, but several witnesses testified that it skirted, or simply ignored, accepted construction practices for submersibles. OceanGate tested only one scale model of the innovative carbon fiber hull and, despite it failing early under high pressures, proceeded straight to building a full-scale hull. Dave Dyer, an engineer at the University of Washington, testified that his lab stopped providing engineering support to OceanGate in 2016 after disagreements that included the company’s insistence on using glass control spheres that Dyer feared could explode at depth “as though a bomb had gone off.” Those spheres housed control electronics for the Titan’s thrusters.

Instead of scanning the first hull to look for defects or specifying a finite lifetime of dives, OceanGate relied on an unproven acoustic monitoring system to provide an early warning of failure. Lochridge called the Titan “an abomination” and its carbon fiber hull “disgusting.” Both he and Nissen said that they would not have dived in it.

After they left, the Titan was rebuilt with a new hull that was never tested to industry norms nor certified by an independent third-party agency. Patrick Lahey, CEO of submersible maker Triton Submarines, said that certifying a novel hull was not only possible but essential for safety.

“We were developing and certifying the deepest diving sub in the world at the same time they were developing this amateurish contraption,” he testified. “There was absolutely no reason they couldn’t have got it certified.”

A History of Troubled Titanic Missions

OceanGate’s first missions to the Titanic in 2021 were beset with problems, including the Titan’s forward titanium dome falling off after a dive, worrying readings on the acoustic monitoring system, and a thruster failing at 3,500 meters’ depth. One Coast Guard evidence slide showed 70 equipment issues requiring correction from the season’s dives. Things improved slightly the following year, with only 48 recorded issues. But these included dead batteries extending a mission from around seven to 27 hours, and the sub itself being damaged on recovery.

One dive in 2022 ended with a mysterious loud bang and cracking noise upon surfacing. Antonella Wilby, an OceanGate engineering contractor, was so worried about this bang she considered alerting OceanGate’s board of directors. She testified that another employee warned her that she risked being sued if she did so. “Anyone should feel free to speak up about safety without fear of retribution, and that is not at all what I saw,” she said. “I was entirely dismissed.”

On the Titan’s penultimate dive in 2023, contractor Tym Catterson admitted to failing to carry out a safety check; the Titan was left listing at a 45-degree angle for an hour, piling up those on board.

Conflicting Views on the Carbon Fiber Hull

There was conflicting testimony on the safety of the Titan’s unique carbon fiber hull. Dyer pointed out that carbon fiber could be a good fit for deep submersibles, and Nissen was adamant that computer modeling and the acoustic monitoring warning system meant that it could be used indefinitely. Lochridge, Catterson, and former HR director Bonnie Carl were all far more skeptical about the hull’s design and implementation. But all three acknowledged that they were not engineers.

Next week’s appearances by Nissen’s successor, Phil Brooks, more submersible engineers, and a carbon fiber expert from Boeing should address many of these questions. In particular, testimony next Wednesday from an engineer at the National Transportation Safety Board’s Materials Laboratory about the Titan’s wreckage may identify the physical cause of the implosion.

Where Was the Coast Guard?

At several points, investigators pointed out that the Titan should have been inspected by the US Coast Guard before carrying paying passengers. None of those questioned could say why it was not, despite OceanGate apparently contacting the Coast Guard on multiple occasions to provide notice of its underwater operations.

Lochridge also testified that OSHA had told him in 2018 that it had communicated his safety complaints to the Coast Guard. At least one of the five US Coast Guard witnesses being called next week is based in the Puget Sound, near OceanGate’s headquarters, and may be able to speak to this.

US Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Lockwood, who joined OceanGate’s board in 2013, is not on the witness list. Lochridge and Carl testified that Lockwood’s role was to provide oversight and smooth interactions with the Coast Guard.

Missing Witnesses

Nor is Lockwood the only notable absentee from the witness box. Multiple witnesses this week testified to the key roles of OceanGate employees, including Wendy Rush, Scott Griffith, and Neil McCurdy, in making crucial business, regulatory, and operational decisions throughout OceanGate’s history and on the day of the accident. None are being called to testify. Nor have any of the hulls’ manufacturers been called. The Coast Guard has not provided a reason for this other than to deny that it is because those witnesses would have asserted their Fifth Amendment rights to refuse to answer questions.

[thesilliestrovingalive]

Updated: February 2, 2025

Reworked Character #12: General Morden

POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised due to references to death, alcoholism, kidnapping, and torture.

Real name: Donald Humphrei Morden IV

Aliases: Devil Rebirth and Your Excellency

Occupation: General of the Rebel Army, Vice Admiral of the Marine Corps (formerly), Tactical Commander for the Intelligence Agency (formerly), Commander of the Middle Eastern Garrison (formerly), and Field Marshal of the European Garrison (formerly)

Retirement plans: Buy a secluded tropical island, build a cottage in the northern forests of New Brunswick, and raise more exotic pets

Special skills: Political science, wood carving, piloting the Hi-Do and The Iron, planning for ambushes and tactical assaults, and sniping with heavyweight firearms

Hobbies: Reading classical poetry and Shakespearean plays, playing complex piano compositions, studying geopolitical events, building wooden cabins, and hunting

Likes: His family, the Hi-Do, the fearless devotion of his army, finishing things straight to the end, and smoking Cuban cigars before leading off to a battle or going to bed

Dislikes: Ignorance, objectivity, people with no ambitions, governmental and military corruption, and a lack of proper etiquette and table manners

Favourite food: Creamed salmon spaghetti and maple walnut ice cream

Favourite drink: Scotch whisky

Sexuality: Heteroromantic sapiosexual

Gender: Male

Age: 49 (in 2022), 55 (in 2028), 57 (in 2030), 59 (in 2032), 61 (in 2034), 68 (in 2041), 70 (in 2043), 71 (in 2044), and 74 (in 2047)

Blood type: AB+

Weight: 249 lbs. (113 kg)

Design: He’s a 6’ 5” (195.58 cm) Canadian mesomorph with a chiselled musculature, an upside-down trapezoidal chest, and broad shoulders. He has limestone skin (it was once a rose beige), a cleft chin, a brownish mole on the left side of his nose bridge, sparkling sapphire blue eyes with flecks of blood red, and bushy eyebrows. He has wrinkles on his face, characterised by forehead lines, frown lines, crow’s feet, and nasolabial folds. He has neatly trimmed, chin-length caramel blonde hair with sideburns, a similar moustache that the impostor Morden Robot has in Metal Slug 4, and an encircling band of silver-grey in the centre.

When Morden becomes a cyborg after he was assassinated during the White Baby Crisis, he possesses a revolutionary self-resurrection mechanism. A rhombic dodecahedron microchip embedded in his spine springs into action whenever his vital systems fail. The chip emits a low humming frequency and flashes a cyclical pattern of blue, white, and red for precisely 50 seconds. After this brief interval, he awakens in a newly prepared cyborg body, fully restored and operational with all of his memories intact.

His right eye has been brutally gouged out, which is indicated by the heavy scarring from six stab wounds. This would be replaced by a cutting-edge, cybernetic implant, expertly crafted by the Amadeus Syndicate. The cybernetic orb's sclera has a dark, polished chrome finish, adorned with crimson micro-circuits that mimicked the appearance of veins. At its centre, a pupilless blue-grey iris radiates a soft, luminescent glow. When it transitions to a fiery amber, its intensified brilliance signals heightened alertness and strategic recalibration. Equipped with cutting-edge scanning and data-processing capabilities, this cybernetic implant enables visual recall of critical information, threat detection, and instant recognition of key objects and individuals for future reference.

General Morden wears a pair of rusty orange boxer briefs, a glossy black eyepatch over his cybernetic right eye, and a Persian indigo armband on his left arm, adorned with the insignia of the Rebel Army. He wears a feldgrau military beret, distinguished by a scarlet band with white piping and an embroidered emblem featuring a black dragon's head swallowing a winged gold sword. He wears a white dress shirt and gloves, a flame-coloured tie, a metal dog tag necklace with his name, and a brownish-black leather belt secured with a gilded snap-on buckle.

His shoulders are draped with an ankle-length Persian indigo coat featuring brownish-black cuffs edged with scarlet piping, golden maple leaf clasps linked by a chain, and a prominent fur collar dyed a pinkish-orange. He wears feldgrau army cargo pants, tucked into black combat boots with spike soles and lined with coyote fur. He wears a feldgrau military coat featuring a left-side white aiguillette, two breast pockets, and a scalloped rear vent with flap pockets. It also features scarlet cuffs and a turned collar with Persian indigo piping, gilt-brass buttons, and golden shoulder boards adorned with two vertical white stripes.

He wears five badges: a black bar with two vertical golden stripes and a horizontal white stripe above his left breast pocket; a gilded skull with draconic wings on the pocket flap; a silver circle with a scarlet X on a white-edged red-orange ribbon and a gilt-brass roaring dragon's head on an ultramarine ribbon, both on his left breast pocket; and a gilded six-pointed star with a scarlet-edged white circle hung on a jade ribbon, secured with a gold clip on his right breast pocket. Morden's belt supports a sheath for his combat knife and a secure strap for his military baton, featuring a white elephant ivory shaft, a scarlet velvet-wrapped grip, and flat-topped gilt-brass end caps, each set with 12 circular rubies.

He wears a drop leg holster for his Chiappa Rhino 40DS revolver and a black bandolier, slung over his left shoulder, holding .357 Magnum cartridges for the firearm. His military coat pockets contain a rose gold lighter, keys to his personal Space Tank, a silver wedding band, a golden engagement ring with a radiant cut diamond, and a treasured photograph of his late family in Central Park. The pockets of his army cargo pants carry around a pack of Cuban cigars, the Ajirabian Teardrop, a copper-hued flask of Scotch whisky, and a walkie-talkie. He wields an M20 rocket launcher, designed with a leather shoulder strap and featuring an olive green, tan, and dark grey camouflage pattern, which fires anti-tank missiles.

Morden owns the greyish-green Space Tank, a floating tank saucer emblazoned with the Rebel Army insignia on its front. Constructed as a birthday gift and token of allegiance by loyal Rebel Army members and the Pipovulaj, this vehicle incorporates advanced Martian and Tuatha Dé Danann technology. The Space Tank's upper body bears a striking resemblance to the Dai-Manji, while its dark grey chassis is reminiscent of the Nop-03 Sarubia's. The tank boasts extremely thick armour, a silver antenna protruding from its left side, and a gold-painted rim accented with a scarlet edge. Primarily serving as his personal transportation, the Space Tank can also be deployed on the battlefield when necessary.

It features a built-in metallic blue cannon that can only be activated by inserting the Ajirabian Teardrop into a designated slot within the tank. This action opens the front compartment, exposing a large cannon similar to the Denturion's. When deployed, the cannon extends, allowing Morden to tap into the laser power of the Ajirabian Teardrop

Character summary: Previously, General Morden was a compassionate, dependable, and reliable leader who deeply valued the lives of every soldier under his command. However, the tragic loss of his family, compounded by the government's and military's corruption and culpable inaction, ignited a desire for vengeance and led him to view indifference as the root of all evil. He seeks to topple an unjust system, even if it requires dismantling all governmental powers. His vision for the New World involves unifying warring nations under a rigid, authoritarian regime, achieved by overthrowing the Earth Federation and eliminating its allies through forced assimilation and strategic neutralisation.

Despite being a charismatic and adaptable leader with a strong sense of justice, he ultimately descended into ruthlessness and megalomania, becoming a bumbling madman. Upon encountering his enemies, he frequently erupts into mocking laughter, regarding them as feeble-minded and ignorant foes. Nonetheless, even in the face of humiliation and defeat, Morden’s dignity, charisma, and commanding skill always remains the same.

Despite being an atrocious person who comes across as mean and cold, he’s surprisingly sweet and kind, especially towards those who support his ambition, work alongside him or are part of his family lineage. He's a tough, efficient, and introspective individual who can be demanding of his soldiers, yet he feels genuine empathy and understanding for his troops. Although he's prone to frustration when missions don't go as planned, he never gives up. Despite the challenges, he consistently demonstrates resilience and determination, always pushing forward to achieve his objectives.

General Morden is a man full of pride, often boasting about his greatest feats on the battlefield. Depending on the situation, he'll abandon his position behind the battle lines and fearlessly charge into combat. He lives by a personal code of honour that prioritises restraint, avoiding unnecessary violence whenever possible. He isn't afraid to make sacrifices when necessary and occasionally spares or even helps civilians, showing a glimmer of empathy beyond his military duties.

He's an exceptionally intelligent and cunning strategist, always thinking several steps ahead of his adversaries. A skilled manipulator, he expertly entices others to do his bidding through false promises and strategic persuasion. However, he's highly resistant to manipulation himself, and his sharp wit and worldly wisdom makes him immune to naivety. If he discovers someone attempting to deceive him, he'll confront them directly and give them a nasty glare that conveys a clear message: he sees through their ruse, and denial will only worsen their situation. When he's drunk, he becomes sorrowful, careless, and overly attached around Sagan and Logan, grows increasingly agitated, and frequently mumbles incoherently and gazes blankly upwards.

Whenever he encounters a pair of glowing red eyes, he's tantalised by their whispered promises of safety and growth. Yet, he hesitates to follow, unsure if the allure is genuine or just a product of his own fevered imagination. He's a melancholic, cautious, and headstrong individual who shows mercy to his subordinates, excels at evading capture, and indulges in life's luxuries. Loyalty and camaraderie are paramount to him, but betrayal from within the Rebel Army is an unforgivable offence. Morden’s intolerance for failure is absolute; those who deliberately falter face severe punishment or elimination. His ego is easily bruised by ridicule or underestimation from his enemies, threatening his self-image as a fearless warrior and exceptional leader. He has no qualms about torturing and executing enemies and traitors, whether publicly or privately, and considers advancements in military technology to be essential to achieving his objectives.

He struggles with mild alcoholism as a coping mechanism for the loss of his family, borderline personality disorder, practognostic dyscalculia, trypophobia triggered by honeycombs and decaying flesh, and the fear of dying a dishonourable and gruesome death. He views domestic cats as a far cry from their majestic ancestors and larger wild relatives, often going so far as to forcefully shoo them away. Although capable of aggression and violence, he usually maintains a calculating, serious, and calm demeanour. However, beneath his surface lies a volatile temper that periodically ignites into explosive outbursts when overwhelmed by intense feelings of rage, shame, and self-loathing. Despite his resolute ambition, he secretly grapples with the moral implications of his actions. His doubts are ever-present, but he consistently prioritises his goals over his conscience. His courage falters only when faced with extremely bleak circumstances or painful reminders of his family's tragic loss.

He generally tolerates his troops' actions against external parties, but draws a firm line when it comes to harming their own comrades. He's a strict disciplinarian, swiftly addressing conflicts and misconduct amongst his ranks. When issues arise, he demands accountability, forcing the offending soldier or group to apologise, backing this demand with the threat of demotion or public embarrassment. He views the Rebel Army as a surrogate family and enjoys celebrating victories and spending downtime with them.

He cherishes Allen's friendship, appreciating him as a trusted companion for casual nights out and lively conversations, but Allen's impulsivity and relentless drive for action often test his patience. He feels a pang of jealousy towards Allen, which he keeps secret, because Allen's family is still alive and well-connected, whereas his own family is either deceased or estranged. He considers Abul Abbas as a good friend and finds it inexcusable that many of his soldiers and commanders treat him with disrespect. Although he views Abul as a womanizing coward and is disappointed by his poor performance, he appreciates his loyalty to the Rebel Army's cause and willingness to fulfill his duties. However, Logan has made it clear that if he were to discover Abul's secretly committed atrocities within the Rebel Army, he would either immediately discharge him or order Allen to execute him on the spot.

He gets along well with Doctor Amadeus, who demonstrates genuine interest in his cause and the technological advancement of the Rebel Army. Although he admires her genius-level intellect, finding it captivating and beautiful, he’s sometimes intimidated by her calculating and enigmatic nature. He secretly harbours a deep-seated fear of Rootmars, knowing she has the power to effortlessly crush him and his army if he incurs her wrath. Despite this, he holds Rootmars in high esteem, admiring her leadership skills and formidable reputation, even if their visions for the New World greatly differ. He regards Ptolemaios with skepticism, stemming from his disdain for cults and religious extremism, compounded by their past confrontation during the Arms Deal Barrage. Additionally, Ptolemaios' reluctance to engage directly on the battlefield raises concerns. Nevertheless, he acknowledges his exceptional wisdom and deeply respects his unwavering commitment to leading the Ptolemaic Army.

He’s fiercely devoted to his younger cousins, Sagan and Logan, the only family members he remains in contact with, and will stop at nothing to ensure their safety and happiness. He’s extremely protective of Sagan and Logan, treating them like his own children. He goes out of his way to safeguard them, swiftly and aggressively defending them against anyone who poses a threat, causes harm or violates their personal boundaries. However, when Sagan and Logan disagree or get physical with each other, General Morden calmly intervenes, resolving their conflicts with a gentle yet firm, understanding, and patient approach.

He has zero tolerance for Sagan's habits of casually issuing death threats and making crude remarks about her comrades, whether jokingly or seriously. He also dislikes how Logan occasionally disregards Sagan's wishes, intentionally doing things she's explicitly forbidden, which often escalates into heated arguments or fights. Furthermore, Logan's tendency to engage in physical altercations with comrades and getting disoriented when exploring the wilderness consistently gets under his skin.

Morden and Tequila were once inseparable friends, sharing stories of their lives over drinks and exploring exotic destinations that Tequila had always wanted to visit. He deeply admired Tequila's worldly wisdom, courage, and profound insight into the human condition. However, their bond was severed when Morden's lust for global domination took hold, driving Tequila away and forcing him to turn against his former friend. The betrayal left a bitter taste in Morden's mouth, a painful reminder of the friendship he had lost. He has a deep-seated hatred for Marco and Tarma as they foiled his nearly successful plan to achieve his vision of a New World during the Great Morden War. He especially despises Marco, who gouged out his eye at the end of the Great Morden War and played a role in getting the original Sagan killed during the Extraterrestrial Alliance Clash.

Backstory: Donald Oghma Morden IV was born on January 24, 1973 in New Brunswick, Canada. He hails from a long lineage of hunters, courageous soldiers, militant commanders, esteemed politicians, and wealthy businessmen. However, whispers abound that he's the direct descendant of a legendary Tuatha Dé Danann sovereign, fabled to have played a pivotal role in the downfall of Atlantis. The Morden name originates from a British family that served as royal advisors, food merchants, and nobles in the 19th century. Although they were of British origin, they resided in Germany, specifically within the Fortress of Königsdrache. From this strategic location, they exerted significant influence on the country's politics and military affairs. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Mordens distinguished themselves as exceptional leaders and skilled soldiers, renowned for their strategic intellect rather than brute force.

He was born into a large, middle-class Canadian family, being the sixth of eight children with three older brothers, an older sister, and a younger brother and sister. His siblings, from oldest to youngest, are Edmund, a successful woodcutting industry businessman; Quentin; Timothy, a Private in the Eurasian Garrison; Kourtney; Reynold; and Vanessa, a supervisor in food packaging manufacturing. His grandfather, Donald Humphrei Morden III, was a seasoned, worldly-wise veteran who retired after the birth of his fifth grandchild and subsequently pursued a career in hunting and sustainable meat production. His father, a Corporal in the North American Garrison, was known for his adventurous and carefree spirit. His mother, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps, balanced stern discipline with tender affection. Due to their demanding military careers, his parents had limited time with him and his six siblings, relying on his grandfather to provide regular care and support.

Although Morden keeps his childhood private, a few details have emerged. Remarkably, all of his siblings demonstrated exceptional intelligence, but Morden's rapid development surpassed them all. This stirred jealousy among his older siblings, who admired his swift intellectual growth, while his younger siblings looked up to him in awe. Despite this, he was incredibly close to his siblings, sharing countless hours exploring the nearby woods and enjoying board games together. Donald III taught Morden entrepreneurship basics, war history, and practical skills like hunting, wood-chopping, and shelter-building. Whenever his mother was home on leave, she would delight him with piano music, fostering a deep love for the instrument. At just 7 months, he spoke his first word: "papa”. Between ages 2 and 5, he demonstrated remarkable autodidactic abilities, exploring diverse subjects that he grasped with ease, including sociology and legal theory. By age 6, he had become a budding piano prodigy and began reading Shakespearean plays and sonnets.

At the age of 7, Quentin was diagnosed with sickle cell disease, a condition prevalent in the Morden family. Tragedy struck again a year later when Reynold went missing during a nature walk, and his father was fatally shot in combat. Six months later, he stumbled upon Reynold's mutilated, rotting corpse, infested with maggots and covered in fungal growth. The gruesome sight triggered his trypophobia, and ever since, the image of honeycombs infested with bees and decaying matter would evoke unsettling memories of that incident. Before Morden turned 10, Quentin died from health complications. Just a month later, his mother was tragically killed in an unexpected airstrike ambush. At age 12, Donald III mercy-killed Kourtney, who suffered from multiple sclerosis and debilitating complications following numerous surgeries that severely impacted her health and mobility.

As Donald III struggled with a terminal brain tumour, he made the difficult decision to place Morden and Vanessa into the Regular Army's orphan program to ensure their care. Meanwhile, Edmund relocated to Saskatchewan with Timothy, seeking a fresh start and a brighter future for the two. The series of tragic losses had left the family fractured, and Donald's remaining siblings lacked the emotional resilience to keep the family together. Morden felt deeply abandoned and betrayed as Edmund and Timothy departed, leaving their dying grandfather and younger siblings behind. Vanessa, overwhelmed by grief, deliberately distanced herself from Morden. In contrast, the Regular Army provided Morden and his younger sister with stability and support, covering their essential needs. He wondered if he had more relatives and set out to find additional family members while balancing his education, but eventually abandoned his search when he couldn't locate any direct blood relatives.

He met his future wife, Penelope, in grade 11 and began dating her, forming a strong romantic connection. After graduating at the top of his high school class with highest grades, Honour Roll distinction, and six prestigious awards (five scholarships and one bursary), he went on to study geopolitics, jurisprudence, and Marxist sociology at university. At 22, he married his high school sweetheart in a shotgun wedding after learning she was pregnant with their daughter, Dorothy. Three years later, they welcomed their son, Lawrence.

After graduating at the top of his class from university, he relocated to Riyadh and enlisted in the Regular Army Marine Corps. His exceptional leadership skills and tactical expertise propelled him to attain the rank of Vice Admiral. He then assumed roles as Tactical Commander for the Intelligence Agency and Commander of the Middle Eastern Garrison. Following his transfer to Cumbria in North West England, he was reassigned to the European Garrison, where he achieved the esteemed rank of Field Marshal. During his time in the military, he earned a reputation as being a tough, efficient, and caring officer of the Regular Army, and is held in high regard by his troops as he treated them with equal amounts of respect. He was also known for being a devoted and compassionate father to Dorothy and Lawrence, and a loving and supportive husband.

After Morden joined the Regular Army, Sagan and Logan became aware of his existence due to his impressive reputation and some family photographs their father had received from Edmund. Intrigued, they were surprised to learn they had an older cousin. Eager to connect, they decided to arrange a meeting with him. They sent Morden a letter inviting him to meet with them in Bavaria, where the Fortress of Königsdrache is located. When Morden travelled to the location, he met Sagan and Logan, and they had a warm and engaging conversation, getting to know each other and finally uniting as family.

Alongside Sagan, Logan, and other key figures in the Arms Deal Barrage, he would learn about the Regular Army's deep-seated corruption, but he kept it a secret. He was primarily responsible for conducting investigations, planning attacks, and launching ambushes on the Serapion Fellowship. However, he did join the fight once his team reached the fortress. There, he and a platoon of his loyal soldiers faced off against Colonel Hilde Garn in his Metal Strider. Despite their efforts, they were unable to capture him in time, as a group of Serapion Fellowship guerrilla fighters caught them off guard.

In 2023, during a trip to Ottawa, the Central Park bombing shook the city, claiming the lives of many innocent victims, including Penelope, Dorothy, and Lawrence. Having survived the devastating attack, Morden discovered that it was allegedly linked to an intelligence failure within the Regular Army and widespread corruption within the government and military at the time. After relying on alcohol to cope with his sadness and anger, he resigned from the Regular Army, retreated from public view, and began secretly planning a rebellion. Many loyal followers from his Regular Army days chose to stand by him, and with the support of Sagan, Logan, and his most trusted soldier, Allen O'Neil, he initiated plans for a coup aimed at rooting out corruption within the government and military.

He assumed the rank of General and formed the Rebel Army, drawing support from disillusioned Regular Army personnel and multiple radical organisations sympathetic to his ideology. During his time building up the Rebel Army, Sagan and Logan transferred ownership rights of the Fortress of Königsdrache to General Morden. As the last remaining Wildgrube family members, Sagan and Logan originally inherited the Fortress of Königsdrache, but chose to bestow it upon General Morden as a token of gratitude and respect. Morden was also gifted six exotic pets by his most loyal men: a serval named Othello, a Burmese python named Sycorax, a blotched blue-tongued skink named Troilus, an African grey parrot named Cymbeline, a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog named Banquo, and a capybara named Desdemona.

His mental state deteriorating, he amassed power and resources for a large-scale offensive. In 2026, Morden initiated his coup d'état, seeking to dismantle the Earth Federation and its alliances and establish global dominance. The Rebel Army, led by General Morden, swiftly defeated the Regular Army and seized control of all major cities worldwide within 170 hours. Upon receiving intel from Sagan and Logan that the Regular Army had begun mass-producing a Super Vehicle, codenamed “SV-001”, following successful testing, Morden launched a strategic attack. His objective was to destroy the factories manufacturing the SV-001 and capture the units already built.

He ordered some of the Rebel Army's inhumane and dirty war crimes during the Great Morden War. These included the prisoner abuse scandal and the doll bomb operation. He ordered his men to kidnap civilians and use them as human shields in the middle of the battlefield. Additionally, he orchestrated Operation Satchan, where young girls recruited by the Rebel Army were given dolls containing explosives. The girls, referred to as Satchan, would approach enemy soldiers and detonate the explosives, resulting in their own deaths.

Upon learning of Morden's betrayal, his ruthlessness, and his remarkably swift coup d'état as well as the destruction of the SV-001 factories, the US President declared him as the reincarnation of the devil. As Marco and his resistance approached the Rebel Army's base, he and his forces launched a surprise ambush, intent on halting their progress and clearing the way for Morden's plan for global dominance. By eliminating the resistance, Morden aimed to unlock the Metal Slug's full potential without further interference. He would be responsible for brutally executing Tequila, Gimlet, and Red Eye in front of Marco and Tarma, shooting them in the head with his Chiappa Rhino 40DS revolver. Before the execution, he gruesomely gouged out Marco's left eye and then ordered Allen O'Neil to sever his left arm.

In the final showdown of the Great Morden War, Marco gruesomely gouged out General Morden's eye, avenging the torture he and Tarma endured and the execution of his comrades and friends. The Great Morden War served as a stark wake-up call for the Regular Army, prompting a significant shift in their approach to counterterrorism. In the aftermath of the war, the Regular Army began to take terrorist threats with utmost seriousness, reevaluating their strategies and protocols to prevent future attacks. He felt a sense of pride knowing that his efforts had contributed to the Regular Army taking terrorism more seriously, marking a small but positive change.

After escaping imprisonment with support from the Rebel Army and Pipovulaj, he secretly allied with Doctor Amadeus to exploit her knowledge of Tuatha Dé Danann technology and bioweapon development. This alliance would pave the way for the mass production of specialised cyborgs and lethal mechanical constructs for Rebel Army use, the enhancement of Königsdrache Fortress through the integration of mechanical and defensive upgrades, the creation of Wysteria, the revival of Tequila, Gimlet, and Red Eye, and the development of terrifying creations such as the Flying Killers and Mutated Soldiers. He planned to utilise Wysteria as the ultimate bioweapon to achieve global dominance, and deploy Tequila, Gimlet, and Red Eye as super soldiers to serve the interests of the Rebel Army and Amadeus Syndicate.

When he formed an alliance with Doctor Amadeus, General Morden was gifted a canine experiment resembling the Flame Hound from Metal Slug 3D. The experiment that sealed their bond, named Enobarbus, possessed the ability to breathe blue fire. This gesture was Doctor Amadeus' way of showing respect and gratitude toward their newfound alliance. This is made possible by the dog's salivary glands, which produce enzymes that generate heat and flames when they react to oxygen. This canine experiment is a 8’ 1” (246.38 cm) burly wolf with razor-sharp silver-grey teeth, prominent fangs, glowing amber eyes, and a thick Prussian blue coat that gradually transitions to a watery blue and pure white at the ears, paws, and tail tip.

[lokiondisneyplus]

Kevin R. Wright’s MCU timeline has come to a close. The Loki executive producer and now-former VP of production and development at Marvel Studios has exited his position to produce original film and TV projects, independently. Wright was one of the central creative figures behind the Tom Hiddleston-led Loki, which is widely considered to be the crown jewel of Marvel Studios’ Disney+ slate. On top of six Emmy nominations, the time-bending sci-fi series is the first-and-only MCU live-action series to receive a second season thus far.

In 2018, when Disney CEO Bob Iger pivoted to streaming with Disney+, he asked his most successful studio, led by Kevin Feige, to expand its shared universe into television. So Wright took the initiative with regard to a potential series about the God of Mischief, crafting a 30-page pitch that included many of the future show’s foundational elements, including the Time Variance Authority. The TVA — which is the bureaucratic agency that once preserved the MCU’s “sacred timeline” and now oversees its branched multiverse — proved to be so popular that the entity is soon transitioning to the big screen by way of July’s highly anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine.��

Before writers, such as series creator Michael Waldron, and directors were hired to bring Loki to life, Wright was also responsible for presenting his initial ideas and possibilities to Hiddleston, who, at that time, was content with his existing character arc that originated all the way back in Thor (2011). The Marvel executive even laid the groundwork for the series’ Emmy-nominated production design, having made a strong case to Marvel brass for immersive 360 sets. Besides finishing on time and under budget, Loki season two was also one of the first, if not the first, Marvel Studios projects to not require any additional photography.

In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Wright expresses his gratitude to Marvel and Disney, before expanding on the reasoning for his departure after nearly ten years with the studio.

“I am incredibly proud of my contributions to the MCU and thankful for my time at Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Company,” said Wright. “The industry has changed dramatically during my near decade with the company, and I can no longer ignore my desire to independently produce original films and television. I extend my love and gratitude to everyone at Marvel Studios.”

Shortly before 9/11, the Philadelphia native delayed his film school ambition to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps, and he served as a combat correspondent for four years. Upon completing his service, he majored in writing for film and television at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, before graduating as valedictorian. Wright then moved to Los Angeles and interned for a couple years, until a chance meeting and opportunity with Marvel Studios materialized at a time when he was considering abandoning his pursuit. He then steadily climbed the ranks, beginning as a development assistant and then the production and development manager on Doctor Strange (2016). That led to an associate producer position on Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), which put him on a trajectory toward becoming a full-fledged producer on Loki and VP of Production and Development.

[today-im-obsessed]

I just watch Lioness 2x04 and 2x05 and look, as a Marine with experience with three-letter agencies, I know I have to ignore a lot, but why is Cruz suddenly an E7 in the Army when last season she was a junior Marine?

Like, I'm so confused about what her job is now and who she's attached to. Half of what is said implies she's still military, and the other half implies that she can't possibly be military

[brightdarkness-2013]

Chapter 1: Three am idea I had to write down

Jazz lived like he would live forever. Like nothing bad could ever happen to him. He had no problem with bending and breaking rules. No real reason to worry about anything. A prank here and there was no problem. Homework not done? As long as he was passing it didn't matter too much to him. He did fine on the tests anyway. Speeding ticket? Well they'd have to catch him first and he knew from experience that if he kept driving and got home, so long as his parents weren't there, he could could get away with it by just not answering the door and making sure the car was locked up in the garage. They couldn't snoop and they'd get bored of knocking eventually. It was pretty easy to ignore them with music blaring in the background while he played video games. Arrive late to work? The managers and other employees liked him and with a smile and an apology and he usually got off. If he did get fired well it was a part time job and people were always coming and going in those places. He could always get another. Yes things were lined up just fine as far as he was concerned. The pestering about what he was going to do after high school was always a pressure he had no issue ignoring. It didn't really matter yet. He had a little over another year to go to figure that out.

His walk along the pier on his way home had been rather typical besides the threat of rain and wind. He had his collar raised up to his nose as the wind batted at him. Bringing droplets of seawater hitting him from his right. He hadn't heard a thing over the wind and music pounding out of his headphones, but the splash of color that didn't belong out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He glanced at it then did a double take. Out in the water on one of the rocks was a figure. Water crashed against the rock and washed over the figure. He paused and squinted. Black and white with a few splashes of red. It didn't appear to be moving. It took him several minutes to realize that it was a mer. Grabbing his phone from his pocket he pulled up his camera to zoom in and get a better look.

Walked back the way he came to see around the high edges of the creatures resting spot he struggled to get a good view. It was blurry, but from what he could tell it appeared to be hurt. Great. Now he had to call the rangers. The MWPA or Marine Wildlife Protection Agency. Were a great group and all, but damn did the rangers get touchy. You'd think they were cops from the way they interrogated and lectured people. Then again he could always call the cops and let Them deal with the rangers. With a sigh he paced back and forth as he cast glances at the mer as he waited for them to pick up. It still hadn't moved. No sign of any others in the area either. No other mers circling and guarding from what he could see.

"Hello? West end police department, is this an emergency?"

"Uh, yeah. There's this mer down here by the pier. I think it's hurt."

Dealing with the cops and all of their questions was never that fun either. The rangers at least just asked for a location and came. No twenty questions, but the lectures on marine life when they got there were just as bad. Jazz decided to hang up after they asked about it's condition and if it was acting aggressive. They were just wasting everyone's time. He watched the still mer for another few minutes before the tell tale sirens in the distance told him they decided to act. So he left things how they were. It wasn't like he could do anything for it.

It was a couple of days later before he even thought about the mer again. The complaints of fishermens traps being raided and the gossip that followed was what got him heading down to the pier again. The mer wasn't there. Not that he had expected it to be on the rock again. He snooped around where he knew the traps for fish and crabs were laid. Surely Danny or Blaster as he was called by his friends was the stepson of one of the fishermen. He was a nice guy, but had spats with MWPA every once in awhile, but he doubted he'd care if Jazz pestered his traps. The traps were being raided and the only evidence that there had been anything there was the scratch marks on the traps and a few scraps. So he watched and waited. Walking and occasionally checking the traps. There was nothing for several hours. Then as the sun sank one of the ropes holding the traps moved. Just a twitch. Then it shifted more. Jazz, not wanting to waste the opportunity peered into the inky water. He couldn't see a thing so he tugged on it not expecting to get a forceful tug back.

It was cold and dark. Water rushing around him. He pushed off the bottom, the water tugging at him, and something brushing against him he broke the surface. Wasting no time he clawed at the side. Water beating against him and making it difficult to pull himself out. He rolled onto the dock with his heart pounding. Well now he knew it was there and they hadn't caught it.

444444444444444444 cause why not fours for a line break?444444444444444444

Jazz fell onto his bed heavily. Steam raising from his skin after the burning shower he'd used to warm back up. During said shower he had come to the conclusion that the mer was stealing from the traps. It was hurt and the cops had either decided not to call the rangers and lost it or it had avoided the rangers and they had assumed it left the area. So now the things was taking from the traps since it couldn't hunt due to its injuries. A quick search told him mers usually ate early in the morning and late at night like a lot of marine life. So the next morning with some day old sushi that his sister had gotten and never finished he went back to the pier.

The water was much clearer with the sun. It didn't take long for him to spot it. It didn't blend at all against the the rocks and warm looking sand. The light blue the water gave off didn't help much either. Not with the natural red edge at the end of its tail. It was still. Not a fin twitching. The wing fins were held stiffly against its back. It simply was watching him with a careful and even mildly irritated stare. Like it was trying to determine what Jazz's intentions were. It's body was lined with cuts and wounds. One of its wing fins were torn and the long fin that traced down to its tail appeared to be broken judging by the way it was bent. Still no sign of a pod.

"What happened to ya? Looks like you picked a fight with something ya shouldn't have." Jazz settled on his stomach as he leaned over the side. The mer didn't even twitch. "I guess you can't hunt like that, but ya can't keep stealing. You're really starting to piss some people off and they might just start trying to hurt ya despite the MWPA. So I guess since they're too incompetent to catch ya I'll have to feed ya until you can leave. I don't have much, but I'll start getting more."

Jazz opened the box and threw one of the pieces toward it. It didn't move.

"Oh come on. I know it's not great, but it's something. Look. There's hardly anything in the trap today anyway. What even is that? It's Tiny."

Not even a twitch.

"Fine. Spoiled brat. But don't come crying saying you're hungry later." Dumping the boxes contents into the water he stood. "I'll see ya tonight."

With that he left.

Next

Masterpost

[aravas-writing]

I need to write something ffs

A funnyman's recap of Blue Archive

Volume 1 Chapter 1

The archiving system of this game's story can be confusing, but you end up rolling with it at some point.

Anyhow, we begin this first actual storyline of the game by Sensei accepting a plea for help from a smaller school.

Turns out Abydos Academy used to be the largest school before desertification ate most of the land belonging to it, resulting in attempts at disaster relief eating through funds. This got the school in deep shit with loan sharks...

And this is basically why that school only has 5 students remaining.

What the fuck.

But Sensei is undaunted and goes there on his own!

Except the district is still large as hell, so they end up lost and dehydrated after three hours. Considering it's a desert district...

But yeah, Sensei then gets found by a student who winds up taking them piggyback to Abydos Academy, where we meet the Foreclosure Task Force, aka the five last students of Abydos.

Now, I will have the cliffnotes less detailed here BC certain details will be mentioned as I go along this story.

Sunaookami Shiroko

Very sporty

The one to take Sensei all the way to Abydos on her back

Wears a Sig SSG 556 "White Fang 465"

Rarely emotes

Has a fucking combat drone

Very attached to the FTF

Anubis, judge of the dead

Kuromi Serika

Tsundere catgirl

AR70/223 "Sincerity" (lmao)

Extremely stubborn

Very hardworking

Bastet, goddess of cats

Izayoi Nonomi

The curves on this girl wtf

Head of provisions (snack provider)

Wields her "Mini No.5", a GE M134

Rich as fuck, does not act like it at all

Will offer lap pillows to people she likes

Nephthys, a goddess of death alongside her sister Isis

Okusora Ayane

Idk why, but that one was the full body pic I got for her in search

Treasurer of FTF

The one holding the Braincell

Flips the table when she reaches her limit

Compared to her, everyone acts like a nutcase (slight exaggeration)

SIG p229 "Common Sense"

Heals by drone strike

Either Isis, goddess of birth, rebirth and magic or Thoth, god of scribes and scholars

Takanashi Hoshino

Perma eepy

Talks like an old man

Has a foldable riot shield

Seeming bing chilling, actually worrywart

Loves marine life, like whales

Head of the FTF and acting student council prez

Beretta 1301 Tactical "Eye of Horus" (guess what god she is)

These are the last members of their school, and they are up shits creek without a paddle. Under siege by delinquents and over 900 Million Yen (about 9 Million Dollars) in debt and with almost no way to earn money, plus the interest rate, things are dire.

At least the siege can be solved by Sensei ordering some ammo for all and coordinating a counteroffensive. The debt, not so much.

Turns out Abydos went ignored by the GSC for some reason (politics, probs) and Sensei is their first ray of hope in a while.

Sorta. We later learn that Nonomi is so motherfucking rich that she has a credit card with no known upper limit and could wipe the debt out in a swipe. However, principle of the thing, so no do that.

Bit dumb, considering, but they get by... barely.

So their next course of action to get some money is to find out about jobs in their area. Serika winds up falling for a pyramid scheme, so we all band together to fuck these fraudsters up.

Next suggestion: rob a bank!

Shiroko seems to be a big fan of Payday, enough so that her hobby is planning bank heists. Of course they need masks and a plan and new identities of this.

The name "Masked Swimsuit Gang" ends up sticking. (They don't even wear swimsuits here)

However, before then, a new threat arises! The loan sharks are a subsidy of Kaiser Corporation, the biggest corp in Kivotos and all-around assholes. The head twat hires a certain agency to ensure Abydos' demise and securing what remains of the land the last Prez sold off for loans.

They are Problem Solver 68 and they are....

A bunch of misfits

Onikata Kayoko

Listens to death metal

Loves cats

The one with the brain

H&K P30L with Silencer "Demon's Roar"

Very level headed

Actual sweetheart

Asagi Mutsuki

Nicknamed "The Imp"

Kind of kusogaki

Mischievous, likes pranking people

Will kill for the people she likes

Pranks the people she likes a lot

Her and her new year's alt has some of the most questionable Live2Ds

MG5 "Trick or Trick"

Igusa Haruka

The kind of girl you just want to swaddle in a blanket and protect her from all harm

Went through horrible bullying in middle school

Nonexistent self esteem

Described to have a dangerous mind

Grows weeds because she associates with them

FABARM SDASS Tactical "Blow Away"

Who did this to her I just wanna talk-

Rikuhachima Aru

That one Blue Archive song, "Unwelcome School", is heavily associated with her

You see her and think "badass"

Haruka thinks so; Aru put a stop to the bullying

However: she is a GIGANTIC FUCKING DORK

She does not recognise the Abydos students when they're wearing just a mask

Loves to act cool, panicking inside

She founded her part timer agency because she wanted to be a outlaw

Her schemes fly by the seat of her pants

She is a complete lovable idiot

PSG-1 "Wine Red Admire"

Naturally, problem solver 68 ends up befriending their apparent targets (they didn't know at the time) while out eating at a ramen shop Serika works at. All of that before they go and attack the school and fail to defeat the FTF because Sensei magic.

Aru panics and regroups and then meets the girls again! While they're in masks and on their way to rob a black market bank because if has the money they paid as interest to fuck shit loans.

Everyone but Aru recognises them, who thinks they're so god damn cool for robbing a bank.

It's unfortunate that PS69- sorry, 68 gets outta dodge because asshole McGee is assmad they failed to put the screws on Abydos.

Sensei offers help, but has to be kindly refused. Don't worry, this lovable moron and her unstoppable crew of one punk chick, one imp and one High-powered depression-run bomb builder of a school girl terrorist will be back

And, yes, that one is Haruka, who winds up blowing up the Ramen store because she thought it would help Aru.

Help this girl.

Back to story: FTF can't take the money home because it wouldn't be okay, so they leave the bag with blown-up ramen shop owner (he's okay, just a little singed).

Suddenly, invasion! Not by Kaiser Corp, but by Gehenna Academy, one of the big three! They wanna learn what the fuck is up for reasons. This time, I'll write what happens with each of the featured characters in the bullet notes because that is their only appearance in the story.

Shiromi Iori

Sporty, think Track and Field

Member of the Prefect Team

Very much for law and order

Hunts down troublemakers

Hot headed, spearheads the assault to Abydos and gets her cheeks clapped for it

One of the very few students canon Sensei acts lewd towards

We talking licking her feet (????), we talking bothering her with tasks, we talking looking up her skirt

Yeah, I don't know either, but she tends to send mixed signals

During summer event: "I'm not wearing a swimsuit so you can perv on me!" Proceeds to wear the skimpiest swimsuit the age rating can allow

Karabiner 98k (the deleter rifle from back when call of duty was still young). Hers is called "Crack shot"

Aaaa it turns out only 10 pics per post! Will reblog this with continuation

Oh btw, during that fight Serika tanks a grenade from a fucking Flak. We get told she just had to "sleep it off for a day"

What. The. Fuck. Are these students

[beardedmrbean]

The chief medical officer for Customs and Border Protection pressured his staff to order fentanyl lollipops for him to take to the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York in September, according to a whistleblower report sent to Congress on Friday. 

The whistleblowers said Dr. Alexander Eastman’s staff raised questions about why he would need to order fentanyl lollipops to take with him, and he answered that it was part of his duties to make sure that any injured CBP operators were cared for, making the argument that the lollipops would be necessary for pain management should an emergency occur.

“Eastman spent copious hours of his and Office of the Chief Medical Officer staff time directing the OCMO staff to urgently help him procure fentanyl lollipops, a Schedule II narcotic, so that he could bring them on the CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter on which he would be a passenger in New York City,” the whistleblowers said in the report. “Dr. Eastman claims that his possession of fentanyl lollipops was necessary in case a CBP operator might be injured, or in case the CBP Air and Marine Operations team encountered a patient in need.” 

Customs and Border Protection is the chief agency responsible for detecting and stopping the illegal flow of fentanyl into the U.S. across international borders.

Eastman’s staff initially responded to his request by explaining that Narcan, which can save the lives of those who overdose on fentanyl, has been requested for CBP operations in the past, but not fentanyl itself. The whistleblowers say staff members raised questions about how he would store the lollipops and what he would do with unused fentanyl at the end of the operation, according to the report. 

Eastman responded by writing his own policy regarding procurement of Schedule II narcotics, which omitted any mention of how narcotics were to be stored and disposed of, the whistleblowers allege.

Eastman was ultimately unsuccessful in procuring fentanyl lollipops, because a vendor could not be found in time for the U.N. General Assembly. 

It was unusual for the medical officer of CBP to attend the General Assembly, a meeting of diplomats and heads of state to discuss international issues, but Eastman made the argument to his staff that his presence was needed because CBP’s Air and Marine Operations division was helping the Secret Service with security. 

The whistleblowers, represented by the nonprofit Government Accountability Project, also allege Eastman was under investigation by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility at the time regarding improper ordering and securing of narcotics for a friend who is a pilot for Air and Marine Operations. The friend worked as a helicopter pilot for Air and Marine Operations in New York during the General Assembly, the report says.

Eastman was installed as acting chief medical officer in June, when the agency made an abrupt change in medical leadership following the death of an 8-year-old girl in CBP custody after medical personnel on site allegedly ignored warning signs and pleas from her mother. 

A spokesperson for CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

According to his LinkedIn page, Eastman is still in the job as chief medical officer for CBP.

[silver-wield]

Hi! I feel like I've found my people in you. After beating Rebirth, I've had extremely complicated feelings towards the ending and though it's slowly marinating with me. One of the reasons why the ending has been bothering me is because I've just felt off about Aerith's characterizations.

I was endeared by Aerith in remake but in rebirth I totally see the qualities that some people in og did with just how tone deaf she can be. In a way, I find that her character is interesting since she's flawed but her pushiness to cloud just rubbed me the wrong way. If ppl get Aerith in chapter 8's date we see Cloud clearly mourning Jessie and the only thing she cares about is if Jessie was a gf...like girl come on. Do people not see how this comes off?

Which brings me to say, I just don't get Aerith. The devs portray tifa and aerith as close so clearly she knows about Tifa's feelings and even seems to push the two together at times but then she constantly seeks Cloud's affection and even says they went on a date in front of Tifa? That's where her character loses me. Her constant seeming to push CT together yet constantly seeking Cloud's affections despite knowing Tifa has feelings for him and a shared history just doesn't sit well with me.

I can appreciate Aerith recognizes she doesn't know the real Cloud but this is why I'll never understand why Cleriths are so insistent that CA are "romantic" - she dies so she *never* gets to see who the real Cloud is. They clearly have a deep bond that helps enrich the story but the fact that Tifa's role was greatly expanded on in part 2 should be telling but some fans and Cleriths just straight up ignore that. Cloud is also the one who initiates everything with Tifa...the only time he's ever vulnerable and VERBALLY opens up his true feelings is with Tifa (Gongaga) and it baffles me how Cleriths just bypass this entirely. It makes me realize they're just here for the ship and not for the overarching story.

I just feel like I'm being gaslit by Cleriths or some fans who insists that Cloud loves both girls. I'm definitely not denying that the og had more leeway with this but in Remake and Rebirth? I would say the opposite. Tifa is the best suited for Cloud *and* he feels the same way. I am all about shipping whoever you want but CA's are always spewing nonsensical things. The theme songs, the over analyzing hand holding debacle and bringing up japanese culture as if a kiss isn't the most intimate thing between two people regardless of culture. Ignoring the most central theme of the songs which are regret (Cloud's guilt in hollow of failing to save her) ...Yes NPTK is about Aerith TO Cloud but we never see anything from his perspective TO Aerith. Guess who does? Tifa. Cleriths also conveniently ignore that Tifa was pushed to the forefront the entirety of rebirth until the final 2 chapters for obvious plot reasons and they all dismiss Gongaga's near kiss between CT.

Then there's Aerith's dream date at the end...Cloud has no agency in that date, he can't even choose the items himself! It's HER dream and things are predetermined for him. And is it just me or is Aerith basically re-creating her date with Zack in CC? I get why CA's think that dream date is romantic but objectively it doesn't read romantic at all...it just reads tragic because Aerith knows she's about to die - one last ditch effort for her which just doesn't amount to anything other than Cloud caring deeply for her as a person/friend. Or am I just not seeing something that "everyone" else is? Aerith herself sounds unsure how she feels towards him. Yes she has feelings for him but she's never been able to fully define them ("There's liking and there's liking"...huh?) This is also the perfect opportunity for the devs to have both girls in equal footing and cloud still doesn't kiss her or makes his supposed romantic feelings known. I like to understand the "bigger picture" in the narrative and the bigger picture to me is just obviously spells out Tifa in the end - just from a pure narrative standpoint.

And do Cleriths not see how Cloud reacts to Aerith? As someone who actually likes Aerith minus her pushiness to Cloud, even I was surprised at how he straight up told her to stop calling it a date in Costa Del Sol. Cleriths argue it's "cute banter" but this is where they lack media literacy because lmfao if anyone said this to me irl I'd be mortified because Cloud really does not give any indication that he's "joking." And Cloud doesn't even remotely have any kind of dialogue like that towards Tifa at all...even all of Tifa's optional choices are sweet at best and neutral at worst but you can straight up be an ass to everyone else including Aerith.

I just hope that in Part 3, the devs just kill the LTD with finally cementing CT and tying everything nicely with them and Aerith and Zack. Zack is one of my favourite characters ever and I feel like they did him so dirty in this game...having Marlene straight up tell him to his face that Aerith loves Cloud like???? He deserves his happy ending and perhaps WHEN Aerith and him reunite (cause they're both dead they have to right?) then it'll all click to her.

Also, Cloud is a really well written character and I really do not think he'd go after his dead best friend's girl who he just remembered. It's such a disservice not only to Zack but to Cloud's own character. The fact that Cloud says "Zack fair, head over heels for Aerith" is telling, no? Objectively and narratively CT and ZA make the most sense but again I feel like I'm constantly being gaslit into seeing CA when I really don't and the only thing CA has going for them are the last 2 chapters which are Aerith heavy for a reason because you know...she dies lol.

Sorry I didn't mean for this to be long but just wanted to have some engagement on the topic (I know you always get asks but just wanted to get something off my chest!) Thank you so much!

Couple points: hollow isn't about Aerith in any capacity. Hollow is set before Cloud arrives in Midgar and an instrumental of it plays in the wasteland outside Kalm near where Zack died, so yeah, not about her.

And nptk is about zack. If it wasn't then why tf is she crying at the end? If it's about Cloud then why doesn't he acknowledge this obvious confession in her date or any other? Why does he take Tifa's hand? Literally the opening verse about how she didn't know how much time passed until she saw someone who reminded her of Zack is the only part featuring Cloud and it's hardly complimentary. It highlights she only took an interest in him because he reminded her of Zack. Idky anybody would want something that skeevy.

Tbh I hate both songs. They're shit.

Gaslighting is what those dumdums do. They don't play the game, they skim YouTube and lie about the clips they saw.

The best thing to do is block and ignore them.

[interportfr]

Simplifying Crew Changes: The Role of Visa Experts in the Maritime Industry

The smooth running of maritime activities depends on crew changes. Regular rotations ensure sailors follow industry standards, are efficient, and are rested. For crew management, the application process for visas—especially the Schengen visa maritime criteria—offers challenges. These obstacles can force operations to stop, increase costs, and tax logistics. Managing these challenges depends much on Visa professionals, who also guarantee that crew transfers go smoothly and in line with international norms.

The Value Of Crew Alternations For Naval Operations

The health and output of marine workers depend critically on crew changes. Extended periods of time spent working at sea can lead to fatigue, less effectiveness, and safety concerns. Crew rotations must happen on schedule if we want to keep maximum performance; rested staff members can then cover operations. Good crew ship management is the careful preparation of documentation, transportation, and timetables to allow seamless transfers. Following local rules and addressing logistical concerns of shipping sailors across borders, Visa experts simplify the procedure.

Difficulties Approaching Schengen Visa Requirements

A common obstacle to marine personnel changes in Europe is the Schengen visa maritime need. The procedure involves a lot of paperwork, embassy appointments, and strict deadlines that would be challenging to fit with limited transportation schedules. Moreover, different Schengen countries have different criteria, which makes things more difficult for maritime businesses. Errors in visa applications could cause delays, detentions, or denied access without seasoned guidance, therefore upsetting the supply chain. Visa experts address these problems by providing clear instructions, making sure documentation is complete, and endorsing timely entries.

The Navigating Complex Regulations Role Of Visa Experts

For marine companies, negotiating the legal landscape of global visa rules is challenging. Every nation has different policies on crew movements, which complicates worldwide operations even further. Visa experts focus on these regional needs as well as procedures related to Schengen visa marine rules. Their great knowledge helps them to provide tailored solutions for every crew member, thereby guaranteeing adherence to different legal systems.

Simplifying Shipping Company Operations

Having visa expertise helps to ship businesses to save administrative load. These experts oversee all aspects of the visa application process, working with agencies, marine authorities, and embassies. They keep track of application statuses, for instance, and fix processing-related issues. Faster visa processing helps crew ship management, therefore freeing maritime operators to concentrate on critical areas such as logistics, safety, and customer satisfaction.

Enhancing Compliance And Safety. By Use Of Expert Support

Ignoring visa limitations can have major consequences, including fines, detentions, and court cases. Schengen laws allow even small documentation mistakes to create significant delays. By making sure all Schengen visa criteria are exactly and efficiently satisfied, Visa experts help to lower these dangers. They confirm that you obey local rules, update you on legislative changes, and authenticate any necessary documentation. This strict approach lowers mistakes and shields maritime businesses against possible legal consequences.

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Sustainable marine practices depend much on effective crew changes. Staff members who are overworked run the danger of accidents, operational mistakes, and compromise of safety. Visa experts help to guarantee proper crew ship management, which guarantees the timely completion of rotations and people's refreshments ready for their duties. This approach maximises resource use and reduces downtime, therefore enabling the sector to meet its environmental targets.

Conclusion

Facilitating crew transfers in the maritime sector depends on Visa's expertise. By managing Schengen visa requirements and negotiating difficult worldwide rules, they help to provide seamless and compliant personnel changes. Their experience increases safety standards, saves time, and reduces running expenses. Working with visa experts helps companies in a demanding sector like maritime transport to focus on major activities while keeping effective and sustainable practices.

[nat-seal-well]

Wip Wednesday :D

Kicking things off on my lunch break this morning (at 7 AM 😭)

Tagging @pinksparkl @evilbunnyking @serenpedac @ejunkiet @agentnatesewell and anyone else who has something they want to share!

The snippet under the cut is a little long, but it’s from the Halloween fic I’ve been working on :)

They bit their lip. “I’m afraid of dying.”

Nat felt like she had been staked through the heart.

Her reaction must have been obvious, despite the fact that she didn’t make a sound. When they opened their eyes, they offered her a smile of reassurance, when it really should have been the other way around.

“Marin…” she tried to say, but they cut her off.

“I know it’s dumb, because worrying about it doesn’t do any good. It isn’t like I can control it. But I’m still scared. Sometimes it’s easy to forget, but… but with everything lately, all the Agency stuff and the bounty and the trappers… and last week… it’s getting harder to ignore. Eventually it’ll go away again and get easier to deal with, because that’s always what happens. I just gotta get there first.”

Reaching out, Nat took their hand in both of her own and brought it up to her chest, over the heart between her ribs that felt like it was being strangled. “Mari, you know I will not let anything happen to you.”

“That’s the issue, though,” Marin said, sitting up so they could look her in the eye. “You can’t. Not really, I mean. It’ll happen someday, because that’s just how it works. I don’t know if it’ll be during a mission, or because of some sort of freak accident, or a health thing, or maybe I’ll just be really, really old. But it’s still gonna happen.”

Their words turned the blood in her veins to ice. She had thought about it too. Of course she had. Nat couldn’t keep them at her side, lovely and painfully mortal, and not think about it. She knew it slipped through her carefully-woven mask of self-control more times than it should have, no matter how hard she fought to keep it under her thumb. But not even that could be helped sometimes. Nat had been watching them more closely since the last mission, afraid that if she looked away even for a second she’d find them with a hole punched through their gut by a bullet, bleeding out and helpless on the floor.

…She also hadn’t been able to lock away the idea that kept creeping back into her mind.

It isn’t something they discussed yet. Neither of them had even danced around it. In fact, they hadn’t talked about it at all, in any capacity. Nat knew the avoidance couldn’t go on forever, though.

Not when it was her. Not when it was Marin. Not when it was the two of them, together. The conversation had to happen eventually, no matter how much she dreaded it. But ignoring what was right in her face didn’t make it go away. It was still there, no matter how often she kept throwing a sheet over it to keep it hidden. Marin was still aging, every single day, every single hour, every single second. Each breath and heartbeat drew them closer to the end, no matter how slowly it happened. She couldn’t pretend forever.

Sitting there on the blanket, under the cover of the night sky, she still didn’t think it was a discussion she was ready to have. That didn’t change the fact that it had to. Nat would never be ready for it.

So she inhaled to find the right words, and then—after a long, slow deliberation—she said, “Marin… I know we have yet to talk about it, but… we could take measures that would keep that from happening, in most ways. Barring a few limitations, of course. But you could—you would be with us. With me. Forever.”

The thought of it pained her as much as it brought her hope. Pain for what it would mean Marin would have to lose; Nat never mourned the loss of anything like she mourned the loss of her humanity, aside of course from her family. Marin would have to go through that, too, and she wouldn’t wish it on anyone, least of all them. But without that, she would risk losing them. No, not that. It wasn’t even a risk. It was an inevitability, something guaranteed to happen. And that hurt far, far worse.

She would have been willing to be the one to do it, if Marin asked. Nat would have volunteered to take care of the job herself when the time was right. All they had to do was ask. All they had to do was say yes.

Please, please, please. You have to say yes.

She wanted them to as much as it hurt her. She needed it.

But all Marin did was smile. They didn’t say anything for a long while, choosing instead to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear as they looked over the details of her face like they wanted to commit them to memory.

“I love you, Nat,” they began at last. And her heart broke even though they hadn’t given her an answer yet, because if that was how it was going to start, there was only one way it was going to end.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Terra Observes Shark Bay, Australia: Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve image acquired December 30, 2010. Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve, seen here in an image from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra spacecraft on Dec. 30, 2010, is a special site. Located in the Shark Bay World Heritage Site in Western Australia, it is one of the very few places in the world where we can find living stromatolites—the first living examples of structures built by cyanobacteria. Photosynthetic cyanobacteria are thought to have changed the course of life’s evolution on Earth by playing an important role in the oxygenation of Earth’s atmosphere roughly 2.3 billion years ago. Also, NASA and other federal agencies monitor levels of cyanobacteria, as toxic levels of the blue-green algae can have negative effects on health.

ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team handles validation and calibration of the instrument and data products. Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team :: [Robert Scott Horton]

* * * *

“Humanity is deeply asleep and is walking towards the edge of a precipice that it does not see.

But an individual can realise that he is on the edge of a precipice; and if he opens his eyes to it, he would see that there is a rope above his head, and he can climb: but to reach this rope he has to jump.

When we are at the level where we imagine we can be helped as we are, no help can reach us. For something better to exist, it is necessary to change ourselves. Personal satisfaction, vanity, ignorance, these and all other things, prevent the help from reaching us.

Originally, prayer was a request for help to rise to a higher level of consciousness.”

~ Maurice Nicoll [Ian Sanders]

[via 'alive on all channels']

[mariacallous]

Forty-year-old actress and director Polina Menshikh was killed in a Ukrainian missile strike during a live performance for Russian troops in Ukraine’s occupied Donetsk region. The soldiers had gathered to celebrate Missile Forces and Artillery Day, drawing comparisons to Russia’s recent deadly attack on Ukrainian soldiers during an Artillery Day award ceremony. Members of the Ukrainian army have unofficially dubbed the attack a “retaliatory strike.”

Russian actress Polina Menshikh’s death was first reported on November 20 by the St. Petersburg Portal theater, where she’d previously directed a musical. The next day, Russian state news agency TASS said that Menshikh had been killed by shelling in the village of Kumachovo in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (“DNR”), about 70 kilometers (around 50 miles) southeast of the city of Donetsk.

“DNR” authorities reported that the village had come under fire on November 19, adding that a woman born in 1972 had died. Andrey Rudenko, a war correspondent for the Russian state-owned broadcaster VGTRK, said the attack was a Ukrainian HIMARS strike.

Polina Menshikh was an actress and director. For 15 years, she led the Lege Artis theater in Moscow, which she founded. Menshikh said she taught classical ballet, character dance, Irish dance, acting, Russian folk dance, contemporary dance, Baroque dance, and ballet conditioning. She directed plays at the Central House of Journalists, the Presnya arts theater, and the Moscow International House of Music. In recent years, she headed the Nezhen folk-dance theater.

On November 21, pro-war Telegram channels began publishing details of Menshikh’s death, saying she’d been performing at a concert for Russian soldiers in a cultural center just 60 kilometers (around 37 miles) from the front line during the artillery strike. A video circulating on social media allegedly shows the moment during Menshikh’s performance when the building was hit.

Russian pro-war blogger Alexander Kots speculated that the strike on the cultural center was coordinated. “The enemy has hundreds of people on the Internet engaging in OSINT and dozens of pairs of eyes, ready to give a tip-off for 200–500 hryvnias (about $5-14). This is a fact. And it can’t be ignored,” he wrote.

Rybar, a pro-Kremlin military analysis channel on Telegram, called the concert for the soldiers “the stupidest decision to gather a huge crowd in a conspicuous place.” “Apparently, very smart people had a think and decided that since the concert venue is located 60 kilometers (about 37 miles) from the front line near the Russian border, it would definitely be out of reach,” Rybar wrote.

Pro-war Telegram channel Military Informant compared the incident to a strike on Ukrainian soldiers in the Zaporizhzhia region who were in formation for an award ceremony. “Remember how funny it was when the AFU’s 128th Brigade was ordered to line up in honor of Artillery Day […] for an award ceremony, and then our missiles came? Well, exactly the same alternatively gifted people were found in the Russian army,” wrote Military Informant.

The day after the strike, RIA Novosti published a video from the cultural center where Menshikh was performing. According to RIA’s correspondent, the auditorium was “practically undamaged,” but the roof above the stage was destroyed and the walls were covered in shrapnel. 

Ukrainian Armed Forces are unofficially referring to the strike on Kumachovo as “retribution” for the shelling of Ukraine’s 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, wrote Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s Madyar’s Birds aerial reconnaissance unit. According to him, soldiers from Russia’s 810th Marine Brigade were in the cultural center. Brovdi claimed 25 people died in the strike and over 100 were injured.

Later, the Ukrainian military's Strategic Communications Center issued a statement saying that Ukrainian forces “successfully inflicted fire damage” on 810th Marine Brigade members who had gathered to celebrate Russia’s Missile Forces and Artillery Day. “The Ukrainian defense forces promptly identified the location of the Russians’ celebratory event and warmly welcomed them. Russian propagandists claim that the precision strike killed several dozen occupiers simultaneously, with about 100 suffering severe injuries,” read the announcement.

The Russian Defense Ministry has not officially commented on the strike, and there is no precise information on the number of deaths. A Russian military expert, who spoke with Novaya Gazeta Europe on condition of anonymity, claims that 23 people died and up to 80 were injured in the strike. According to him, four “visiting artists” were among the dead. There is no confirmation of these data.

[thousandbuns]

Discord Chat dump post: Khonsu, power armor and some very obvious metaphors

So yesterday I decided to be very cringe in a Discord server again (because it was a day ending in -y) and went on a 40-minute long tangent about cryptic OC lore - specifically how the power armor of a (Chaos) Astartes can double as a metaphor for their mental state, levels of intimacy and personal autonomy/agency. Reposting it here to create a more permanent copy of my thoughts.

Minor CWs: brief discussion or mentions of disability, body horror, injury, toxic relationships, nudity and patient care in a purely fictional context

---

[00:16]girl help

[00:17]OC thoughts again

[00:19]Astartes power armor as a metaphor for intimacy (remaining guarded/opening up), but also for the meaning/purpose of life (being a person vs. being a war machine), and how both of these things play into Khonsu's unique state and way of life

[00:22]because the Rubric'd parts (their right shoulder and arm) are sealed tight, but there's nothing beneath them and they are animated not by exerting your will directly at your body, but by channeling it into a spell (which can be potentially hijacked), and the rest is slowly succumbing to mutation, which manifests not only through physical deformation of limbs or random eyes popping up, but also through the afflicted flesh overgrowing and trying to permanently merge with the armor

[00:25]also, the armor serves as crucial protection - the moment you remove it you're going to be not only, y'know, exposed to blades and bullets, but also extremely vulnerable because you're missing a whole limb, your other arm and one leg are kind of fucked, and also the side-effect of the whole "flesh merging with armor" thing is that if you remove the armor, you're ripping out chunks of your body with it, it hurts like a bitch and takes a moment to heal up

[00:26]if you remove the armor, you're going to be hurt, weakened and left extra vulnerable

[00:28]but if you keep wearing it, well, a quarter of it is only under your control until someone more powerful comes along and phases you out, and the rest is trying to become one with it against your will, taking away your autonomy and destroying the body you've made to be as close as you could to a personal ideal

[00:30]you're risking losing your humanity, but your humanity also kind of sucks in some ways

[00:33]and this extends to Su's psychology: if they stay guarded and closed off, they will grow more dour and insensitive, they will harden towards others but also marinate in their own suffering until it makes them go insane or breaks them into an indifferent, obedient puppet, both of which will basically kill off their "self" (either in the sense of "destroying what's left of their personal values and code of conduct" or "destroying what's left of their autonomy and free will")

[00:33]but if they let the guard down, well

[00:35]there's a lot of bad shit to handle in there, and not everyone will be able or willing to put up with it, it also exposes them to hurt, opens up avenues for abuse/exploitation and leaves them weakened because opening up means dredging up, if not reliving all the pent-up emotions and walled-off memories, and that's a lot of pain to bear

[00:36]and I have an idea for a scene that's like

[00:37]Su and Freyr are growing close to one another, not yet lovers but close confidants, maybe even genuine friends at this point (if you're willing to ignore the five kinds of power imbalance between them, never said this was a healthy relationship)

[00:39]and Su feels safe enough aboard their new voidship to make use of some downtime and strip out of their armor so they can a) get it through some much-overdue maintenance and repair, b) maybe also shower or something, biomancy can only take you so far

[00:41]they don't let anyone know about what they're about to do though, they want to pull through this alone and maybe get back in the armor by the time anyone will start looking for them

[00:45]predictably this doesn't really work out because while Su makes use of the private arming chambers adjacent to their private quarters that can be only accessed with their permission, Freyr lives there too and has a permanent pass

[00:46]at that point he's either actively socializing with the rest of the warband or trying to get back into the daily training routine, but the Power of Plot compels him to come back early and find the passage to the arming chambers

[00:47]and also Su

[00:47]naked, in pain and still bleeding on the floor

[00:48]and to Su's equal surprise and horror, he decides to help a mangled-up, disabled Sorcerer get up, tend to the wounds a bit, then get a proper bath

[00:51]he's actually so supportive it encourages Su to stay out of the armor a little longer, maybe walk around a little, lay down on a comfy bed (!) with fresh sheets (!!), try on some light casual clothes (!!!), y'know, experience something approaching normal life after centuries of the utterly deprecating CSM grind

[00:56]tl;dr Freyr is a catalyst for Su embracing their humanity by demonstrating his own and providing them with a safe space to be vulnerable (but it also backfires in the long run because he's the only kind of psychological support and social safety net Su has, so if he's gone - things will go downhill rapidly)

[01:05]I'm done being cringe BTW please kick me out of here or something

[hppyniiuye]

Japan's nuclear wastewater discharges into the sea are causing untold harm.

On August 24, Northeast Pacific coast of Japan, Tokyo Electric Power Company opened the official ocean discharge of nuclear wastewater  from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Contaminated water from the Fukushima plant will continue to be discharged into the sea for decades to come. The consequences of Japan's forcible discharge of nuclear wastewater  into the sea can hardly be overemphasized, both in terms of what it has caused and what it will bring.

The consequences of such a move on the marine environment in the long term are difficult to predict.

As much as 1.34 million tons of nuclear wastewater  has been stored at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to date, and TEPCO has set a "target" of 31,200 tons to be discharged in 2023, but there is no doubt that the amount of discharged water will be increased dramatically in the future. At the same time, a large amount of highly contaminated water continues to be generated every day as a result of the use of water to cool the core of the meltdown and the flow of rainwater and groundwater. Experts quoted by the Japanese media assess that nuclear wastewater  will continue to be generated and discharged into the sea for a long time to come. Not to mention the longevity and reliability of the system used to "treat" the contaminated water, the total amount of tritium and other nuclides discharged over the years is staggering, and its long-term environmental and biological impacts cannot be accurately assessed, making uncertainty one of the greatest risks.

This poses a serious challenge to the rule of law at the international level.

Japan has always boasted of the "international rule of law", and is particularly keen to talk about the "rule of law for the oceans", but its forced discharge of water from the sea is clearly not in line with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the London Dumping Convention, and other relevant provisions. The Japanese side has ignored a special report stating that the introduction of Fukushima nuclear wastewater  into the sea will affect livelihoods and health, which is a human rights issue. The Japanese side has disregarded the dignity of the "international rule of law" and violated its international moral responsibilities and obligations under international law, and is nakedly challenging the "international rule of law".

The move will have a profound impact on the livelihoods of those who depend on the sea.

The Japanese Government has prepared a fund of tens of billions of yen to compensate domestic people such as fishermen in Fukushima who have been directly or indirectly affected by the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, but it is not only the people of Japan who are affected, but also the people of neighboring countries along the Pacific coast and the Pacific island countries, who will suffer losses. More than half a century ago, the United States conducted dozens of nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in serious consequences that are still being felt today, and the people of many island countries were uprooted from their homes. The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from Japan into the sea will inevitably deal a blow to people who depend on the sea for their livelihood.

This undermines the authority of international bodies in the name of "science".

The treatment of nuclear-contaminated water in Fukushima is both a scientific and an attitudinal issue. However, Japan's deliberate attempts to use the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as a platform for the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, its suppression and filtering of the voices of the scientific community and the environmental protection community opposing the discharge of water into the sea, and its use of the IAEA assessment report to suppress dissent in a brutal manner have not only stigmatized the spirit of science, but also tarnished the reputation of the international body, which should be impartial and forthright in its actions.

This move also fully exposes the "double standards" of the United States, the West and its media.

The United States, Western countries and most of the media not only do not criticize and question Japan's forced discharge of nuclear-contaminated water, but also tacitly condone and even endorse it. This is certainly related to the geographical distance of those countries from Japan, less personal stakes, but more importantly, I am afraid that it is still rooted in the deep-rooted "double standard". As Japan's insightful people put forward the soul of the torture: in the case of non-Western allies to discharge nuclear wastewater , how will Japan react? How would the United States and the West react? The answer is self-evident, the "standard" must have changed. Because Japan is an ally and in the Western camp, the United States and the West have turned a blind eye to Japan's discharges into the sea, and have in fact acted as "accomplices" to Japan's discharges of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea.

However, no matter how hard the Japanese Government tries to whitewash the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, history will ultimately mark this egregious act.