#interesting environmental discussions

[thevagabondexpress]

thanks so much for the detail you put into my asks! really was my own fault but got me into the serious brainrot of 'human population vs the earth's resources' in the tscverse. how many downworlders do you think there are? and are most counted on mundane population counts? how about shadowhunters? and can we borrow resources from faerie while our own planet is going to shit? nature seems pretty natural there. maybe they should be our inspo for cities that are very biodiverse but support a large number of people

I do think we could take a lot of inspiration from faeries, yep. And I've wondered about Downworlders and population counts too. On one hand, they ostensibly don't exist to mundanes. On the other, how to you get an apartment or a house or a job if you don't exist? And most are shown to not be homeless.

This tsc-vs-real-world-issues discussion also ties in, oddly, to another thing I've always wanted from TSC but never gotten: some kind of faerie opinion on the Clockwork War. We know what the Magister thought of faeries (that they were too fragile to survive and doomed to extinction on the face of progress) but what did the faeries think of him? Why did they choose not to show up to the fight when one of the factions involved openly expressed that he thought they were all going to die?

[nohiketoosmall]

This is an edited and shortened version of an essay I wrote for my Conservation Science & Community class; I decided to post a version publicly because I thought it was interesting and I liked writing it:

The tribes forced west by the conflict with the United States in the early 1800s included the Potawatomi, who would then be established on territory west of the Mississippi (Loerzel, 2021). However, the loss of land would not be forgotten. In the past several years, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation (this is not the only group of Potawatomi peoples, as there were several different groups within the larger tribe) has been rallying to have land returned (Loerzel, 2021). The Illinois House of Representatives ruled in 2021 that the auctioning off of Chief Shab-eh-nay’s land in 1849 was illegal and supported the Nation’s efforts to regain land, although it seems that receiving federal support is still an ongoing issue (Whitepigeon, 2021a). Approximately 128 acres of land was repurchased by the Nation, which is undergoing federal review to be placed into a trust, under the National Environmental Policy Act (Shabehnay, n.d.). There are no public statements I could find on what would be done with the land; Whitepigeon (2021b) describes the situation as “unclear.” However, the fact that the current lands owned by the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation are going under NEPA review suggests a positive direction to me.

What could a tribal park look like in Illinois? Chicago may have a large population of Native Americans, but there are no reservations here. Instead of preserving a traditional, continuous way of life and integrating environmental stewardship, environmental justice for midwestern, urban Native tribes may have to include repatriation of land and teaching traditional ecological knowledge (Turner & Spalding, 2013). Tribal parks differ in some ways from Euro-American views of national parks, with an acceptance of some level of renewable resource extraction, such as power generation or plant gathering (Carroll, 2014). They are similar in that they also champion restoration and conservation, acknowledging humans’ reliance on nature and the necessity of stewardship (Carroll, 2014). Both can also benefit as places for eco-tourism for recreational and educational purposes, although they may have differing levels of access depending on the preferences of the tribe (Carroll, 2014). If tribal land is returned in Illinois, it seems likely that a tribal national park would be established in order to foster education but also to emphasize tribal presence and the wish to remain involved in the stewardship of their former land.

Native Americans did not believe in the European structure of land ownership but were stripped of their sovereignty despite trying to work within the colonizers’ system (Carroll, 2014). In 1849, Chief Shab-eh-nay’s land was illegally auctioned off, against the United States’ own established laws. The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation have been working for 174 years to get this land returned. This is a case where the legality of ownership has been established as rightfully with the Potawatomi, but there are many more tribes from the Chicago region. For many of these tribes, even if land rights were signed away "legally," it is worth considering whether the tribes were under duress and whether Native land repatriation should be more widely considered.

Chief Shab-eh-nay is the namesake of the town of Shabonna, Illinois, where he rode to warn settlers of an attack by the Sauk tribe, as well as Chief Shabbona Forest Preserve and Shabbona Lake State Park (Village of Shabbona, n.d.). This is what the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (2023) says about the history of Shabbona Lake State Park:

“Originally home to tribes of Native Americans, the park derives its name from Chief Shabbona. Pioneer settlement of the area began in the 1830s. From Shabbona Grove, in the southeast corner of the park, homesteaders spread over the region and began farming the rich soil.” (para. 1)

Sources below cut; this includes other source from the sections I removed from the original post, which was posted on my private class webpage.

Carroll, C. (2014). Native enclosures: Tribal national parks and the progressive politics of environmental stewardship in Indian Country. Geoforum, 53, 31-40.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources. (2023).  About Shabbona Lake State Recreation Area. https://dnr.illinois.gov/parks/about/park.shabbonalake.html

Kim, J. (2022). Photos: The 69th annual Chicago Powwow. Chicago Tribune. https://www.chicagotribune.com/visuals/ct-viz-powwow-indigenous-native-firstnations-photo-20221009-p6jyeagqhvaolefgis3xbwqynm-photogallery.html 

Loerzel, R. (2021). Why aren’t there any federal Indian reservations in Illinois? WBEZ Chicago. https://www.wbez.org/stories/why-doesnt-illinois-have-any-indian-reservations/a0fe743f-9283-441e-810f-f13fe0dc5344 

Mitchell Museum of the American Indian. (2021). Land Acknowledgement. https://mitchellmuseum.org/land-acknowledgement/

Shabehnay. (n.d.). Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. https://www.pbpindiantribe.com/shabehnay/

Turner, N., & Spalding, P. R. (2013). “We might go back to this”; drawing on the past to meet the future in northwestern North American Indigenous communities. Ecology and Society, 18(4).

Village of Shabbona. (n.d.)  History of Shabbona. http://shabbona-il.com/history-of-shabbona 

Whitepigeon, M. (2021a). Illinois House Resolution Supports the Return of Lands to Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. Native News Online. https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/proposed-to-return-of-illinois-lands-to-prairie-band-potawatomi-nation Whitepigeon, M. (2021b). Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation Seeks Further Support in Reclaiming Illinois Lands. Native News Online. https://nativenewsonline.net/sovereignty/prairie-band-potawatomi-nation-seeks-further-support-in-reclaiming-illinois-lands

[minesawa]

the reason i like twitter as a platform is because i use it exclusively as a glorified chat room for my friends and also a bit of an informal diary and nothing else. every other social media is objectively better but i cant just make a text post once a day about how much battery acid i want to pour into my bootlicking wannabe manager coworkers coffee because here that comes off as significantly more maladjusted (as it should, but i dont really care)

[obeetlebeetle]

(via @quiddie)

love how halfway through episode 5 population support just became population control, like I get it was "viola hears control instead", but still

[invisibleicewands]

Please come and see me because I’ll be dead soon’: how Michael Sheen got sucked into a forever chemicals exposé

An opera-loving member of high society turned eco-activist who was forced into police protection with a panic button round his neck. A Hollywood actor who recorded said activist’s life story as he was dying from exposure to the very chemicals he was investigating. Throw in two investigative journalists who realise not everything is as it seems, then uncover some startling truths, and you have “podcasting’s strangest team” on Buried: The Last Witness.

On their award-winning 2023 podcast Buried, the husband and wife duo Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor dug into illegal toxic waste dumping in the UK and its links to organised crime. This time, they focus on “forever chemicals”, specifically polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and set out to discover whether one whistleblower may have been decades ahead of his time in reporting on their harmful impact.

“It’s amazing how big the scale of this story is,” says Ashby, as we sit backstage at the Crucible theatre, where they are doing a live discussion as part of Sheffield DocFest. “With this series, we don’t just want it to make your blood turn cold, we want it to make you question your own blood itself.”

It all started when Taylor and Ashby were sent a lead about the work of former farmer’s representative Douglas Gowan. In 1967, he discovered a deformed calf in a field and began to investigate strange goings on with animals close to the Brofiscin and Maendy quarries in south Wales. He linked them to the dumping of waste by companies including the nearby Monsanto chemical plant, which was producing PCBs.

PCBs were used in products such as paint and paper to act as a fire retardant, but they were discovered to be harmful and have been banned since 1981 in the UK. However, due to their inability to break down – hence the term forever chemical – Gowan predicted their legacy would be a troubling one. “I expect there to be a raft of chronic illness,” he said. He even claimed that his own exposure to PCBs (a result of years of testing polluted grounds) led his pancreas and immune system to stop working. “I’m a mess and I think it can all be attributed to PCBs,” he said.

However, Gowan wasn’t a typical environmentalist. “A blue-blood high-society Tory and a trained lawyer who could out-Mozart anyone,” is how Taylor describes him in the series. He would even borrow helicopters from friends in high places to travel to investigate farmers’ fields. Gowan died in 2018 but the pair managed to get hold of his life’s work – confidential reports, testing and years of evidence. “I’m interested in environmental heroes that aren’t cliche,” says Ashby. “So I was fascinated by him. But then we started to see his flaws and really had to weigh them up. My goodness it’s a murky world we went into.”

The reason they were able to delve even deeper into this murky world is because of the award-winning actor Michael Sheen who, in 2017, came across Gowan’s work in a story he read. He was so blown away by it, and the lack of broader coverage, that he tracked him down. “I got a message back from him saying: ‘Please come and see me because I’ll be dead soon,’” says Sheen. “I took a camera with me and spent a couple of days with him and just heard this extraordinary story.”

What Gowan had been trying to prove for years gained some traction in 2007, with pieces in the Ecologist and a Guardian article exploring how “Monsanto helped to create one of the most contaminated sites in Britain”. One was described as smelling “of sick when it rains and the small brook that flows from it gushes a vivid orange.” But then momentum stalled.

Years later, in 2023, Ashby and Taylor stumbled on a recording of Sheen giving the 2017 Raymond Williams memorial lecture, which referenced Gowan and his work. Before they knew it, they were in the actor’s kitchen drinking tea and learning he had conducted a life-spanning seven-hour interview with Gowan before his death. So they joined forces. Sheen isn’t just a token celebrity name added for clout on this podcast; he is invested. For him, it’s personal as well as political. “Once you dig into it, you realise there’s a pattern,” he says. “All the places where this seems to have happened are poor working-class areas. There’s a sense that areas like the one I come from are being exploited.”

Sheen even goes to visit some contaminated sites in the series, coming away from one feeling sick. “That made it very real,” he says. “To be looking into a field and going: ‘Well, I’m pretty sure that’s toxic waste.’” Sheen was living a double life of sorts. “I went to rehearsals for a play on Monday and people were like, ‘What did you do this weekend?’” he says. “‘Oh, I went to the most contaminated area in the UK and I think I may be poisoned.’ People thought I was joking.” Sheen ended up being OK, but did have some temporary headaches and nausea, which was a worry. “We literally had to work out if we had poisoned Michael Sheen,” says Ashby, who also ponders in the series: “Have I just killed a national treasure?”

The story gets even knottier. Gowan’s findings turn out to be accurate and prescient, but the narrative around his journey gets muddy. As a character with a flair for drama, he turned his investigation into a juicy, riveting story filled with action, which could not always be corroborated. “If he hadn’t done that, and if he’d been a nerdy, analytical, detail-oriented person who just presented the scientific reports and kept them neatly filed, would we have made this podcast?” asks Taylor, which is a fascinating question that runs through this excellent and gripping series.

Ashby feels that Gowan understood how vital storytelling is when it comes to cutting through the noise. “We have so much science proving the scale of these problems we face and yet we don’t seem to have the stories,” he says. “I think Douglas got that. Fundamentally, he understood that stories motivate human beings to act. But then he went too far.”

However, this is not purely about Gowan’s story – it’s about evidence. The Last Witness doubles up as a groundbreaking investigation into the long-lasting impact of PCBs. “We threw the kitchen sink at this,” says Ashby. “The breakthrough for us is that the Royal Society of Chemistry came on board and funded incredibly expensive testing. So we have this commitment to go after the truth in a way that is hardly ever done.”

From shop-bought fish so toxic that it breaches official health advice to off-the-scale levels of banned chemicals found in British soil, the results are staggering. “The scientist almost fell off his chair,” says Ashby. “That reading is the highest he has ever recorded in soil – in the world. That was the moment we knew Douglas was right and we are now realising the scale of this problem. The public doesn’t realise that even a chemical that has been banned for 40 years is still really present in our environment.”

To go even deeper into just how far PCBs have got into our environment and food chain, Ashby and Taylor had their own blood tested. When Taylor found 80 different types of toxic PCB chemicals in her blood it was a sobering moment. “I was genuinely emotional because it’s so personal,” she says. “It was the thought of this thing being in me that was banned before I was even born and the thought of passing that on to my children.” Ashby adds: “We’ve managed physical risk in our life as journalists in Tanzania and with organised crime, but more scary than a gangster is this invisible threat to our health.”

In order to gauge the magnitude of what overexposure to PCBs can do, they headed to Anniston, Alabama, once home to a Monsanto factory. “As a journalist, you have an inbuilt scepticism and think it can’t be that bad,” says Ashby. “But when I got there I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I hate to use words like dystopian, but it was. There is a whole massive school that can’t be used. There’s illnesses in children and cancers. It truly was the most powerful vignette of the worst-case example of these chemicals.”

It’s bleak stuff but instilling fear and panic is not the intention. “Obviously, we’re really concerned about it,” says Ashby. “And although the environmental crises we face do feel overwhelming, it is incredible how a movement has formed and how individuals are taking action in communities. The lesson to take from Douglas is that the response doesn’t have to be resignation. It can be agency.”

[reasonsforhope]

"Namibia is the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa, and home to two of the world’s most ancient deserts, the Kalahari and the Namib. The capital, Windhoek, is sandwiched between them, 400 miles away from the nearest perennial river and more than 300 miles away from the coast. Water is in short supply.

It’s hard to imagine life thriving in Windhoek, yet 477,000 people call it home, and 99 per cent of them have access to drinking water thanks to technology pioneered 55 years ago on the outskirts of the city. Now, some of the world’s biggest cities are embracing this technology as they adapt to the harshest impacts of climate change. But Namibia leads the way.

How did this come about? In the 1950s, Windhoek’s natural resources struggled to cope with a rapidly growing population, and severe water shortages gripped the city. But disaster forced innovation, and in 1968 the Goreangab Water Reclamation Plant in Windhoek became the first place in the world to produce drinking water directly from sewage, a process known as direct potable reuse (DPR). 

That may sound revolting, but it’s completely safe. Dr Lucas van Vuuren, who was among those who pioneered Windhoek’s reclamation system, once said that “water should not be judged by its history, but by its quality”. And DPR ensures quality. 

This is done using a continuous multi-barrier treatment devised in Windhoek during eight years of pilot studies in the 1960s. This process – which has been upgraded four times since 1968 – eliminates pollutants and safeguards against pathogens by harnessing bacteria to digest the human waste and remove it from the water. This partly mimics what happens when water is recycled in nature, but Windhoek does it all in under 24 hours...

Pictured: These ultrafiltration membranes help to remove bacteria, viruses and pathogens. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke

“We know that we have antibiotics in the water, preservatives from cosmetics, anti-corrosion prevention chemicals from the dishwasher,” Honer explains. “We find them and we remove them.”

Honer adds that online instruments monitor the water continuously, and staff ensure that only drinking water that meets World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines is sent to homes. If any inconsistencies are detected, the plant goes into recycle mode and distribution is halted until correct values are restored. 

“The most important rule is, and was, and always will be ‘safety first’,” says Honer.  The facility has never been linked to an outbreak of waterborne disease, and now produces up to 5.5m gallons of drinking water every day – up to 35 per cent of the city’s consumption.

Namibians couldn’t survive without it, and as water shortages grip the planet, Windhoek’s insights and experience are more important than ever.

Interest from superpowers across the globe

In recent years, delegations from the US, France, Germany, India, Australia, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates have visited Windhoek seeking solutions to water shortages in their own countries. 

Megadrought conditions have gripped the US since 2001, and the Colorado River – which provides 40 million people with drinking water – has been running at just 50 per cent of its traditional flow. As a result, several states including Texas, California, Arizona and Colorado are beginning to embrace DPR.

Troy Walker is a water reuse practice leader at Hazen and Sawyer, an environmental engineering firm helping Arizona to develop its DPR regulations. He visited Windhoek last year. “It was about being able to see the success of their system, and then looking at some of the technical details and how that might look in a US facility or an Australian facility,” he said. “[Windhoek] has helped drive a lot of discussion in industry. [Innovation] doesn’t all have to come out of California or Texas.”

Pictured: The internal pipes and workings of Namibia's DPR plant. As water becomes scarcer in some parts, countries are looking to DPR for solutions. Image: Margaret Courtney-Clarke

Namibia has also helped overcome the biggest obstacle to DPR – public acceptance. Disgust is a powerful emotion, and sensationalist ‘toilet to tap’ headlines have dismantled support for water reuse projects in the past. Unfortunately, DPR’s biggest strength is also its biggest weakness, as the speed at which water can re-enter the system makes it especially vulnerable to prejudice, causing regulators to hesitate. “Technology has never been the reason why these projects don’t get built – it’s always public or political opposition,” says Patsy Tennyson, vice president of Katz and Associates, an American firm that specialises in public outreach and communications.

That’s why just a handful of facilities worldwide are currently doing DPR, with Windhoek standing alongside smaller schemes in the Philippines, South Africa and a hybrid facility in Big Spring, Texas. But that’s all changing. Drought and increased water scarcity worldwide are forcing us to change the way we think about water. 

Now, the US is ready to take the plunge, and in 2025, El Paso Water will begin operating the first ‘direct to distribution’ DPR facility in North America, turning up to 10m gallons of wasterwater per day into purified drinking water – twice as much as Windhoek. San Diego, Los Angeles, California, as well as Phoenix, Arizona are also exploring the technology."

Of course, DPR is not a silver bullet in the fight against climate change. It cannot create water out of thin air, and it will not facilitate endless growth. But it does help cities become more climate resilient by reducing their reliance on natural sources, such as the Colorado River. 

As other nations follow in Namibia’s footsteps, Windhoek may no longer take the lead after almost six decades in front.

“But Windhoek was the first,” Honer reminds me. “No one can take that away.”"

-via Positive.News, August 30, 2023

[transcendragonreblogs]

I really like NotHorses commentary, but also…

I mean. A plagiarized novel is still a novel, but that doesn’t change the ethical issues and overall difficulties.

I think many people are conflating something being art with it being ethical, in terms of people arguing both for and against it being art. The truth is, something being “art” does not make it ethical. The environmental impact and the impact on the community of creators, audiences, and critics of art should be considered. And the majority of artists have made it clear that their work being used in training databases with their non-coerced consent and without compensation is harmful to them.

i mean, its crazy right? it is completely and totally just a matter of bias and preconceived notions and reactionarism pushing people to arrive at the idea that a person using a generative model soley based on their own work intentionally creating a specific piece of art they have already visualized in their mind is "not art" because... well... um...

well they can't even say! they say "it's not intentional" (it is, he already knows what he wants it to look like!), "it's not work/effort" (god i want you people to see how long it takes me to generate the simplest of anime girls in midjourney), or most bafflingly "the prompt is art but the image output isnt". and nobody can actually explain WHY because there ISNT a good reason! they just have this kneejerk hatred and disgust of this new technology and art form and any attempts at prodding at that feeling are met with aggression or blank stares.

[shu-of-the-wind]

so today the supreme court decided to slap me in the face with a dead fish.

so the supreme court overturned chevron, which is an administrative law case that sounds really boring to read aloud. but this is extremely important precedent that conservatives have been trying to overturn since it got enacted.

basically, chevron as a legal decision that said that judges should play a "limited, deferential role" when they evaluate the actions of agency experts. basically it says, "judges don't have absolute knowledge of all things, and so they should be understanding and allow agency experts to have leeway in statutory interpretation so they can make decisions about things that they themselves are experts in." basically saying, "hey, judges don't know how to clean air. maybe the environmental protection agency should determine the best way to keep air clean."

which sounds pretty straightforward, except laws aren't straightforward like that, so this was a pretty big deal especially in terms of like...what's good for the environment. what's good for fishing rules. what's good for air quality.

chevron set out a legal test for courts to determine whether they should defer to agency decisions so long as congress hasn't explicitly discussed something to do with those terms. conservatives have wanted to overturn this for decades purely so business interests can operate without worrying about regulations.

and on top of THAT: the supreme court just allowed cities to enforce bans--with criminal consequences--on people experiencing homelessness sleeping outside.

i expected both of these overturns but it still SUCKS.

[sporesgalaxy]

Pacific Rim isn't anti-nuclear in the same way Kaiju movies usually are. The resolution is facilitated by the detonation of a nuclear warhead and a nuclear reactor power core. So........what's up with that?

I mean, it's deeply American, obviously, but what else? Why does it not feel particularly pro-war in the same way, say, a typical MCU does? What does it mean that the Kaiju are prompted by human activity (carbon pollution "practically terraformed" Earth for the invading aliens), but are ultimately not a true manifestation of Nature's Wrath (not even from Earth)?

What arguments is Pacific Rim making in the place of the typical kaiju movie anti-nuclear-pollution, wrath-of-nature fare?

I stream-of-consciousness rambled about this for multiple paragraphs and don't feel like cleaning it up much. Basically: I think Pacific Rim is a commentary on the myriad problems with political responses to climate change over the years.

•••

So, in the Great American Kaiju Movie, two nuclear blasts save the day rather than creating all the problems. Despite the fact that at least one of those nuclear blasts still probably did a lot of collateral.... I do wish Pacific Rim had focused a bit more on collateral, and the environmental damage caused by both the Kaiju and, inevitably, the Jaeger project AND Wall of Peace. Food rations are mentioned once-- but surely metal and construction equiptment rationing must also be in place to allow for wall construction! I want my environmental messages shoved violently down the audience's throat, damnit! But I digress

I think an important detail to consider in the Kaiju/Nuclear discussion is how Mako and Raleigh's Jaeger's nuclear power generator is what really allowed them to save the world, multiple times.

The history of politics around nuclear power plants vs nuclear warhead production is interesting, especially in the typical kaiju movie thematic context of man carelessly abusing nature. The argument in defense of nuclear power plants is that, despite the need for extremely rigerous and long-term nuclear waste disposal considerations, there is a lower volume of waste created by nuclear power plants in relation to the energy provided by them, when compared to other modern methods of energy generation like coal power. So, in theory, nuclear energy could be a beneficial power source for minimizing environmental impact.

In the Kaiju movies I've seen, nuclear power is only ever addressed as an extension of the inherently unnatural and harmful abomination of the invention of.the nuclear warhead. It's understandable, the environmental devastation caused by radioactive pollution is massive, and its something a nuclear power plant is very capable of doing if enough goes wrong.

So, what do the Jaegers represent within this conversation? what does the Wall of Peace represent? Here's my thought: they represent (more) active versus passive solutions to the growing threat of climate change. Jaegers represent the way that active work against climate change is only funded as far as it is beneficial to the image of the government.

Yes, the Rift was found to be impossible to blow up with nukes, but it's pretty clear that the world governmemts were putting more money into the publically popular and flashy Jaeger program than they were putting into researching the increase in Kaiju frequency and a permanent solution to the issue. Because of the complicity the world fell into once Kaiju and Jaegers were Rock Stars, the root of the issue with Kaiju goes unadressed for an entire generation, in favor of defeating each Kaiju in impressive and propogand-izable ways.

Only once the problem becomes too big for the propoganda-friendly Jaegers to manage do the world governments start looking for alternate solutions, and the Wall is immediately shown to be too little too late. As soon as it stops being useful for propoganda, the government loses interest in truly solving the problem, and begins investing in moving itself inland and leaving poor coastal populations to die.

The kaiju are only able to be defeated in Pacific Rim because a group of people separate from the government comes together and searches for a solution to the root of the issue-- the Rift being open in the Pacific at all.

Nuclear power is therefore not posed as a solution to war against fellow humans, but is used as a solution to a collective human effort to fight the exponentially speeding destruction of the Earth. The Jaeger pilots and everyone else working in the resistance HAVE to be willing to do anything, willing to take drastic active measures, in order to stop the destruction of the Earth's climate. Yay :)

[fatal-blow]

sits down.

how many "symptoms of autism" are actually just "symptoms of chronic myofascial pain disorder"

the sheer amount of normal everyday...i don't even want to say symptoms, but fucking. SENSATIONS that are actually just caused by trigger points is ludicrous. and i just keep finding more.

[waywardsummoner46]

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Sink Into the Darkness, My Light | One | ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

──•~❉ ᯽ ❉~•──

"Join us, my Light."

Two centuries ago, the ruler of the Light disappeared, plunging the universe into chaos and disrupting the sacred, unspoken balance of the universe.

The eight rulers of the Darkness never stopped looking for her; their obsession never once waning since she vanished.

Recently, they've sensed something. Never around long enough to pinpoint but so euphoric that it sings within their veins. And since meeting you, well... slowly they begin to understand why.

"Sink into the darkness with us."

──•~❉ ᯽ ❉~•──

「✦」 PAIRING - yandere ot8!ateez x (?)reader

「✦」 GENRE - ancient gods!au, fantasy!au, magical powers!au

「✦」 WARNINGS - mind control, gaslighting, dom/sub, subspace (of a sort), temporary amnesia, manipulation, YANDERE AND DARK THEMES

「✦」 WORD COUNT - 4,343

「✦」 A/N - Long time no see, huh...

「✦」 TAGLIST - Let me know if you'd like to be added :)

──•~❉ ᯽ ❉~•──

• one • two • three • four • five •

──•~❉ ᯽ ❉~•──

“Oh, Ji-Ah! You really didn’t have to, you know.”

   Holding your phone up to your ear, your eyes twinkled as they beheld the gifts your friend had gotten you.

  “Of course I didn’t have to, but it’s your birthday and I… I wanted to.” 

  She quietened towards the end of her sentence, and your heart clenched at the sincerity of the gifts and her words.

  “Ji-Ah…”

  Whilst you were at work that day, she must’ve used her spare key to your apartment and placed all of these presents on your living room table. The book you had been raving over for the past few months was sitting in a brand new giant teddy bear’s lap, all decorated and styled with a bow. A now-opened card sat neatly to their side, a picture of you both from a few years ago on its cover and the sweetest message inside. 

  As much as you appreciated everything and made sure to verbalise that gratitude to her, you both knew that the book was what held your attention the most. You had spent literal months searching for it, ‘The Hidden War Within.’

  When you’d first mentioned it to Ji-Ah, she’d laughed and asked if it was some sort of mindfulness, positive psychology type book. You’d dismissed her playfully, stating that she wasn’t necessarily incorrect but ignored the actual content of the book. ‘The Hidden War Within’ is a novel by a collection of authors over the course of centuries; it’s written from the first person perspective and tells the tale of a lady, every time, who aims to nurture the goodness in people and minimise the evil that could fester. The antagonist, a male whose origins vary, actively dismisses her aims, instead wishing to incite sin and discourse within the people of the land. The  descriptions of the constant battle between the pure aims of the protagonist and the insidious intentions of the antagonist captivated you in an inexplicable way; the applications this has to the human race as a whole really piqued your interest.

  Philosophical topics was something you dabbled in on occasion but the discussion between good and evil being a force out of the individual control of a person and, instead, determined by forces beyond comprehension did cause some discussion between you and Ji-Ah. Mainly, are people born evil or is it an environmental thing?

  The fact that it had been written from numerous authors over the span of centuries was another aspect that only deepened your intrigue. How had authors, all from different parts of the globe and periods of time, collectively written something akin to a timeline of a novel? Realistically, the only thing the stories within the novel had in common was that they discussed the same topic in eerily similar detail just with different historical influences, but that only reinforced the entire philosophical debate of are people born evil.  

  Undeniably, ‘The Hidden War Within’ had wormed its way as a repetitive topic within your friendship and that enabled your obsession with the novel to grow until you were borderline desperate to possess it for yourself.  

  So, as you held it in your hands, tears of unfiltered happiness streamed down your face silently. “Thank-”   “You are very, very welcome,” she cut you off. Then, there was a pause on her line. “To repay me, if you’re feeling oh-so indebted to me, you have to come out with us for a drink tonight.” 

  You knew that the tender moment wouldn’t last long, not with Ji-Ah’s aversion to lengthy emotional situations. 

   Still, you sighed. 

  “Ji-Ah, you know I don’t drink.” You’d had a few in the past, curious to try it out but it never became anything more than just that - a new experience. Alcohol was off-putting to you, it just never tickled your fancy and after seeing what it can lead to… well, fair to say you’d rather stay away from the stuff. 

  Ji-Ah, bless her, was very accommodating to this particularity of yours and always ensured that you were as comfortable as possible at any social event. Hence why her next words weren’t a surprise, “You don’t have to drink-drink, but I am going to have lots of drink-drinks… if that’s okay with you?”

  You laughed softly, shaking your head lightly even though you knew she couldn’t see you. “I trust you, Ji-Ah. I know you’re responsible with it. It’s Jee-Won that I’m dreading, you know how she gets.” 

  Everyone knew how Jee-Won got after a few drinks, especially at a bar where there were plenty of young, ‘attractive’ men to scope out. Her fascination with picking out another guy at every social event was sad because she could quite easily find someone to truly love her and be loved by her. Alas, you might have to resign yourself to her drunken activities and pray that whoever she invited back to the table tonight would be decent and not equally as unhinged as she could be.

  On the other end of the phone call, you could basically hear her thinking of how to convince you to go and as painful as it was to admit to yourself, her persistence was slowly grating at your resilience. 

  The teddy bear sitting on your living room table was practically begging you with its plastic, unseeing eyes. Ji-Ah had bought you all of those gifts and… it was only one night, wasn’t it? And it was your birthday? Surely, it couldn’t be that bad…

  A heavy, resigned sigh escaped your lips and Ji-Ah practically squealed over the phone. 

  “See you at eight! You will not regret this, (Y/N).”

  Somehow, you already did.

──•~❉ ᯽ ❉~•──

  It was her fault really that you were in this situation, really. She couldn’t possibly have expected anything different, right? 

  Maybe she did, maybe she expected you to resist, to battle it off as much as you could but her optimism would be her downfall. 

  The urge was just too mighty, the temptation too unbearable to deny and you, too unfortunately stubborn for your own good.

  Looking down at your tote bag, swimming with an array of different chocolates and a multitude of her favourite sweets, you grinned. She’d definitely kill you for buying these for her but words of thanks just weren’t satisfactory enough. Her gifts had quite literally made you cry; you needed to show her, rather than tell her, just how much you cherished her actions.

  Deep down, you knew that she knew that. It was also just fun to see the outrage on her face when you presented her with chocolates or some flowers whenever she’d gone out of her way to spoil you. 

  Deep down, you also knew that she knew that you knew she secretly likes her efforts being appreciated so much and it always makes for a phenomenal movie night whenever you shower her with a myriad of sweet and sugary specials (not that she’d ever admit to that).

  There was something missing from your horde of tradeable valuables and that was, in fact, a palette of different coloured flowers. With a subtle mischief to your stride, you made your way to your most trusted, dear florist ‘Life Rose On’.

  The name never fails to make you chuckle.

  On Jung-Hee owned the beautiful establishment and had been a friend of sorts since you moved to the area five years ago. When moving into your then-new apartment, you decided that the first step to making the space your own was to liven up each room with different colours and types of flowers. 

  Your idea worked like a charm and really helped to keep you motivated when unpacking. Jung-Hee very kindly took the time out of her day to help you hand select each individual flower (and entertained your ceaseless indecision); from that day, you always made sure to drop by whenever you were in town to say hello and to drop off some soju. The old lady was very open about her love for the stuff, even if you had no interest in it. 

  If it was for Jung-Hee, there’s not a lot you wouldn’t do. You loved the elderly lady like your own grandmother and would also lend a helping hand should she need it. 

  She was similar to you in the way that she always repaid you through gifts for your considerate actions - typically a free bouquet of your favourite flowers. 

  After a nice stroll through town, you reached the florist. 

  Unsurprisingly, the window display was stuffed to the brim with a myriad of floral beauties that looked like Mother Nature’s mosaic. Jung-Hee seriously knew how to capture an onlooker's attention and, judging from how many people you could see in the shop beyond the glazed window, she’d succeeded immensely.

  You crossed the street, navigating the crowd of people on the pavements. 

  You got so caught up in the masses of people that you failed to notice the raised step at the entrance of ‘Life Rose On’ and, ultimately, began falling to your doom.

  Letting out an embarrassing squeak of surprise, you braced yourself for the impact with the floor that… never came.

  Peeling your eyes open in mild confusion,  you barely suppressed your gasp of shock at the kind eyes of the stranger that had caught you. You both stayed in whatever position he’d caught you in - you were too out of it to process that properly - and took the opportunity to analyse each others’ face.

  He had the warmest eyes you’d ever seen, a gorgeous galaxy of chocolatey velvet wrapped up in his irises. His lips, parted ever so slightly and downturned, were rosey red and were porcelain in their appearance, flawless and beautiful. Delicate waves of dark hair lined his forehead and it took all of your energy not to reach up and smooth a stray strand out. 

  It felt like hours had passed with you looking into his eyes and examining his face. You couldn’t get enough, there was something so captivating about him, something that made you want to know more-

  Someone cleared their throat. Both you and the stranger were shocked out of your respective reveries and a light blush dusted your cheeks. The stranger seemed completely composed, in contrast. The person who’d cleared their throat was a customer trying to leave through the doorway but found it difficult with two humanoid obstacles in the way. You were happy to see that the lady wasn’t a regular, so she probably wouldn’t bump into her on another occasion. 

  Huffing at your distracted apology, the lady moved past you and the stranger and out of the florist. Now that you and the man were both standing by yourself and pointedly not tripping over some violent, unseen step, you struggled to maintain a neutral expression when you saw how tall he was compared to you. 

  He was easily six foot tall, and using the door as a substitute measuring tape you guessed that he might be slightly taller than that as well. You cursed yourself internally. Of all the people that had to see and catch you, why did it need to be this man? 

  “I am so sorry, are you alright?” You questioned with an apology written all over your face. 

  And, oh, if you thought his face was perfect, then his voice was enough to cause you to ascend. “I’m perfectly fine, are you alright?” how were you supposed to keep composed when his voice sounded like that. 

  Smiling self-deprecatingly, you responded, “I’m perfectly fine. Thank you for that.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” And you didn’t, not really. Not when he assured you so confidently that there was absolutely nothing to trouble yourself with. “Tell me your name.”

  Instinctually, you went to tell him but something held you back. Possibly the way he’d said it - a demand rather than a question. Possibly something else. Although, It struck you as odd that that was how he’d go about that topic but figuring it was largely irrelevant and most likely you were reading too much into things you gave him your name.

  “(Y/N),” he repeated, your name sliding off his tongue so heavenly. “My, how interesting. I used to know someone with the same name.”

  Your eyebrows raised in polite surprise. “Oh, really?”

  He smiled down at you but there was a pinch of something unpleasant weaved into his expression, “Yes. A very compelling woman, was she.” His sudden emotion made you mildly uncomfortable, feeling as though you’d unintentionally uprooted some harsh forgotten memories. 

  Before you could say anything, though, the man bowed to you. “Lovely to make your acquaintance, (Y/N). My name is Yunho.”

  Yunho. 

  You finally had a name to match his angelic face. It suited him perfectly.

  Smiling, a genuine, light-hearted one this time, you mirrored his bow before you both straightened and simply stood there, on the doorway to the shop, and gazed at each other silently. There was something about this man that made you search his eyes, the very deepest, darkest parts of his pupils to find his soul. You didn’t know what it was, but something inside of you said that Yunho was very unique.

  Very unique indeed.

──•~❉ ᯽ ❉~•──

  Yunho and you had spoken for another twenty minutes before he’d had to leave.

  The entire time, you were hanging off of his every word and couldn’t quite escape the magnetism of his irises. There was something so captivating with the way he spoke; the words he chose, the tone in which they were woven but also how calming his deep voice was. And, oh, his eyes.

  You couldn’t stop thinking about them. 

  Glancing at your phone, the time read 13:26. That left you about six and a half hours before you had to be there, five hours before you had to get ready, four hours before you got some food and only two hours and a half before you went home. 

  Flowers were the last thing on your list, so once you’d picked out a personalised bouquet for Ji-Ah you’d be able to browse whatever other shops tickled your fancy and then go home, to get ready for your “night out”.

  The more you thought about it, the more you regretted your decision to go. Realistically, you’d most likely have a phenomenal time if you allowed yourself to indulge in the experience. But sitting on your living room table was the one thing you’d wanted for months; it was finally in your grasp and you couldn’t even read it until tomorrow (because you weren’t stupid, you won’t be leaving the club until two in the morning).

  Helplessly, you sighed. There was no way to escape your fate. It was inevitable. At least the flowers were pretty.

  ‘Life Rose On’ was, for lack of a better word, a labyrinth. The only reason you could get around as quick as you could was because you’d navigated its maze-like twists and turns for five years and, even then, when Jung-Hee decided that the shop was getting “too predictable”, she’d reorganise the entire shop so that any hope of save journey was futile. The woman loved to keep people on their toes, her distaste for monotony something you admired contrary to the perilous jungle that was her shop.

  The shop was bigger than it appeared; the bleak outside of the shop didn’t do its magnificent interior any justice. As soon as you entered the florists, an archway made entirely of Japanese Wisteria, Mandevilla and Clematis enveloped you with their sweet smells. Each climbing plant twisting so delicately around the foundations of the archway and certain pieces dangling down in a still, flowery downfall; the occasional petal falling to the ground made walking into the shop feel like you were stepping into another realm with only nature’s best caressing you lightly on their way down to join those who fell before them. 

  After the winding walkway, there was the option to take a left or a right turn. Both laid out to be the start of a rainbow - the beginning of each row included dark red roses, amaryllis to name a few and continued down the line with plants including sunflowers, bluebells and lavender. 

  On Jung-Hee loved a spectacle. She was only just getting started.

  The overall layout of the shop was circular. So, after making your choice of left or right, you would be brought to a turn that took you further towards the centre of the shop. Instead of beginning from red and going down the rainbow, Jung-Hee intricately places each and every flower on these stands to mirror the symbol of whatever season of the year it was. For example, for Valentine’s day, she had gathered the flowers and created a phenomenal display of plants made to look like a landscape of a couple sitting on a mountain, overlooking the horizon. 

  What made ‘Life Rose On’ so unique is that Jung-Hee’s life quite literally revolved around the shop and had dedicated her life to making the shop thrive. It was her family heirloom in a way. The building itself had been in her family for generations but she’s been the first to utilise it to its full potential and allow her family home to bloom to its fullest extent. 

  It was that same ideology that inspired her to make it a florist. Ever the poet, she said that every plant or flower sold was pollen and her customers were the bees, helplessly drawn to its beauty and coming to crave its offerings as sustenance. 

  “You will always be my favourite bee, my dear,” she always said. 

  “And you’ll always be my favourite flower,” you’d respond with an unrestrained smile on your face. 

  After the landscape aisles of the shop, you’d finally reach the centre where the cash register was. Dotted around it, however, were individual stands and displays of flowers that may not have been considered as suitable for the display chosen that month or were simply too big to be practical anywhere more confined. 

  And sitting at the cash register, looking effortlessly in her element would be Jung-Hee. 

  Except… she wasn’t there. A young man was sitting there instead, one you’d never heard of before, let alone seen. Jung-Hee had no children nor did she have any nephews of close relations to anyone of his description.

  You hadn’t seen his face yet, having turned right after the archway you’d reached the centre from behind the cash register so his back was turned to serve the small line of customers there, but you found it slightly odd that Jung-Hee wasn’t at the register she seemed to be glued to six days a week (it used to be seven but you managed to convince her to take Sunday off to look after herself, rather than others for once).

  Biting your lip slightly, you looked down at the collection of blue hyacinths and forget-me-nots you’d collected for Ji-Ah and contemplated coming back at a later date. There was nothing necessarily wrong with having a stranger in Jung-Hee’s place but you had brought along some small things you wanted to give her today and, evidently, you wouldn’t be able to do that. Ji-Ah would still have her flowers and chocolates and whatnot, but at a later date. 

  Thinking about it, it made more sense to kill two birds with one stone at a later date. You wouldn’t be able to give Ji-Ah the flowers until after they’d died anyway due to your schedules being unaligned after tonight and the florist you were looking for was nowhere to be seen.

  Then again…

  “Daisies would work wonderfully with those.” 

  You jolted and looked up to meet the eyes of one of the prettiest, most angelic people you’ve ever seen in your life. Internally, you were mildly shocked at how such a smooth, deep voice could match such an innocent face and yet, somehow the low baritone of his voice was as pleasurable to listen to as his eyes were to gaze into. 

  The irony of his rosy red lips wasn’t lost on you. 

  The man had a birthmark on his cheek, strands of parted black hair framed it like the most cherished picture. Because this man was a work of art, and he deserved to be framed for eternity. 

  Two men. Two heart-wrenchingly handsome men had crossed paths with you in less than twenty minutes. The first one you’d made a fool of yourself to. You’d be damned if you ruined this chance to redeem yourself, even if only to make yourself feel better,

  Meeting his eyes, you took a subtle breath to steel your nerves. “Do you think so? I was debating between purple tulips or just buying them as they are, but I see where you’re coming from.”

  Alright, a slight ramble perhaps but at least you didn’t stumble over your words (or your feet like with Yunho).

  The way his eyes twinkled with sudden interest gave you a bit of confidence. “An interesting choice, but don’t you think the contrast of the daisy’s white petals against the darker purples and blues would only add to the beauty of them all?”

  Contemplatively, you looked down at your hands and imagined the picture he’d painted in your hand. It did make sense, actually. As he said, the contrast between dark and light made a very balanced, very alluring image inside your head. “Ah, you know what? You’re right, that would look lovely.”

  He leant back (you didn’t register when he’d closed a slight distance between you), and looked proud of himself. Dare you say it, the pleased expression he wore was adorable. 

  “I’m glad I could help. My name is Yeosang.”

  Yeosang.

   Just like when you learnt Yunho’s name, something felt so instinctively right about that. Not only did the name suit him perfectly but as though something thrumming underneath your skin calmed after learning his name. 

  “(Y/N), it’s nice to meet you. Thank you for your help, Yeosang-ssi,” you bow deeply so that he avoids seeing the blush dusted across your cheeks. You don’t know what it was, but there was something going on with you today. First Yunho, now Yeosang. Two complete strangers that had affected you more in two minutes than a lot of people had in two years. 

  “You’re very welcome, (Y/N).”

  Yeosang helped you to find however many daisies you wanted (six) and walked you to the register, all while making small talk. It was only when you saw him stand behind the counter rather than in the queue did you make the connection between the mysterious new worker and this kind stranger. 

  Lips parting softly, you placed the flowers into his outstretched hand for him to place them into the bouquet wrapping. “How long have you worked here?”

  His hands worked the ribbon around the patterned wrapping so expertly that you wondered how much practice he’d had at this. “I’ve been here for about two years this month.”

  Two years? Impossible, you would’ve run into him at some point with how frequently you visit the shop. And even if by the very small chance that hadn’t occurred, Jung-Hee would’ve told you of such a development. 

 “How come Jung-Hee never mentioned you?”

  At your question, his hands slowed momentarily but picked up from his slight hesitation as though nothing had happened. “You know Jung-Hee?”

  “I’ve known her for nearly five years now. She’s always been wonderful company and an even better friend.”

  He hummed thoughtfully, “I find it odd she never mentioned me, I must admit.” Finishing wrapping the flowers up, he made eye contact with you again and the sudden tenseness and mild hostility you found in them caught you off guard. “She and I have a very complicated relationship but one that I cherish, nonetheless.”

  You waited for a few seconds for him to elaborate but once he remained silent for the same amount of time, it became clear he wasn’t going to answer further. 

  A part of you still wanted to know where Jung-Hee was today, and you were about to ask when he reached down to something on the shielded side of the counter, hidden from your view. 

  Bringing his hand up, you saw that he’d picked a singular purple rose. He twirled it in his hand for a bit, admiring its rare beauty, before making eye contact with you once again. Slowly, as though giving you the opportunity to step back should you wish, he raised the rose to your head and tucked it gently behind your ear.

   His hand lingered by your cheek for a second longer than it should’ve, especially considering the short amount of time you’d known him… but, you’d be lying if you said that closeness, even the faintest amount of it, wasn’t the best thing you’d experienced in a long, long time. 

  Appearing reluctant, he pulled back. “Goodbye, (Y/N). I hope I’ll see you again soon.” His voice was a whisper but carried the weight of a winter wind. 

  You couldn’t help the blush that spread across your cheeks. If the slight twitching of his lips was anything to go by, he was well aware of the effect he had on you. 

  You met his eyes, the look he was giving you so tender it made saying this goodbye almost unbearable. “Goodbye, Yeosang.”

  After leaving the innermost circle of the shop, you felt like a weight was settling off of your lungs. You didn’t even recognise how difficult it had become to breathe there, nor had you recognize how unexplainably painful it was to depart from Yeosang only after knowing him for fifteen minutes.

    A rush of something euphoric had spread through you after he’d given you the flower, and coupled with the barest touch to your cheek your emotions had been sent tumbling. You stepped out of the shop and, for the first time in a long time, felt like there was something more to your life again. As though you’d found your purpose.

  Oh, how little you knew.

──•~❉ ᯽ ❉~•──

[headspace-hotel]

Proposed logging project in the Daniel Boone National Forest (South-Central Kentucky, USA)

I found out about this recently and Ive seen barely any discussion or attention about it in real life or on the internet, so hopefully I can attract more attention

The USA Forest Service is planning to log 10,000 acres of the Daniel Boone National Forest near Jellico Mountain, near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. The plan includes around 1,000 acres of clear cutting.

We need mature forests to remove and store carbon from the atmosphere. This is disastrous from a climate change perspective.

The excuse being given (apart from the obvious economic incentive of logging) is that the tract is mostly "mature forest" and that the forest needs to have a "diversity of age classes" for wildlife. This is total bullshit, since less than 1% of old growth forest in the Eastern USA remains, and an 80-year-old forest is still incredibly young. This type of reasoning is greenwashing.

To make matters worse, the planned logging is on mountain tops, which will cause huge amounts of erosion and possible floods and landslides that endanger the people who live in the valleys below.

Kentucky experienced a deadly flash flood in the eastern mountains that killed 40 people last year. Forests help stop flash flooding by absorbing rainfall in a dense layer of roots and soil, draining it slowly into waterways; without them, mud and rainwater goes rushing straight into narrow mountain gullies rapidly, causing dangerous floods.

Mud and sediment rushing into streams also kills fish and aquatic life that need clear, clean stream water.

Kentucky has one of the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems in the entire world, with only a couple states next to it having more freshwater species. Kentucky's forest streams have fresh water fish, crustaceans and other species found nowhere else on Earth.

The Southeastern USA has the most diverse freshwater life of any place on Earth, the most salamander diversity of any place on Earth, and the Appalachian Mountains are a global hotspot of biodiversity, considered one of the world's most biodiverse temperate deciduous forest habitats.

It is crucial that we begin building the old-growth forests of the future NOW!

Logging these forest tracts will facilitate invasive species to take over. Mature forests form buffer zones against invasive species. The forest will never grow back the way it was; it will be infected with Kudzu, Autumn Olive, Honeysuckle and other invasives that take advantage of the destruction and prevent the normal process of forest succession from happening as it should.

If you live anywhere near this area, talk to everyone around you about this, send them the links above and encourage them to do the same themselves.

Talk to your friends, your neighbors, people at your church, everyone you are in contact with or speak to in your day to day life. Tell them about the risks of flash flooding and landslides and the importance of preserving mature forest land. Any environmental clubs and organizations you know of, tell them as well.

Most people haven't even heard this is happening, and that's how they get away with it.

Public outrage protects priceless habitats all the time, so TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW. Tell people you don't know, even. Call and email organizations and people that might be interested, until you run into someone who has an idea of what to do. That's how change happens!

[essektheylyss]

We can presume, based on the fact that this is a story, that what the Hells are seeing in Aeor's surveillance footage is largely complete and true, at least to the extent of whatever particular story the audience is about to be told. In universe, they're viewing something externally recorded, not reading or hearing someone's account, and while it is unclear if it has been edited by either the Aeorians or Ludinus's tampering, we can take this complete arc largely at face value.

With that being said, I do actually think the conservation of this area of Aeor is worth noting and considering for what it suggests in the context of Exandria, in that this is essentially the control center for the entire floating city. It would probably have significant structural support, even more than the rest of the Genesis Ward. Even the fact that Dominox was only allowed some leeway to cause issues after the Solstice suggests that the engine room was very well-built to take a hit. This is the nucleus of the city, likely something of a black box as well, and the mechanisms by which it stayed flying. It stands to reason that if nothing else, this would remain intact.

Also, a lot of the reason that Aeor is as well-preserved as it is is that it crashed in the Arctic. Zemniaz, which came down in the fields named for it, has basically been overtaken by the civilization that succeeded it, and we can imagine that it was both picked clean by survivors and travelers and that its ruins were subject to significant environmental decay.

Though even in reality, discoveries of conserved archeological finds in the Arctic are significantly better preserved than most, some of Aeor's preservation of course goes beyond what would be expected for ruins of its ilk, which we can attribute to magic and, as mentioned earlier, suspension of disbelief.* But Aeor's overall preservation, state of structural collapse, and position as an in-universe source of significant technological rediscovery makes it very interesting as an exploration of digital preservation in a technologically-advanced society, and what might be dug up long after such a society is gone.**

In our society, where this kind of question is still very much open, there's plenty of discussion around digital decay, which we have of course seen. But our digital technology is so incredibly nascent in the grand scheme of things, and we simply do not yet have the timescale to say for sure what might remain a thousand years on; most of it will be gone, yes, but we have found remarkably well-preserved relics of many different kinds.*** So it's entirely possible that some of our digital footprint will remain.

This campaign overall has been a long discussion about what stories are told about history, and how are they preserved, and I think that there is a lot to be said about Aeor being the best-preserved record of the Age of Arcanum. We know that it was, even in the eyes of its peers and probably a good portion of its own populace, a monstrous example of the abuse of both magical and institutional power in that era. We know that it drew such divine ire that its downfall was the product of a brief truce in the most destructive war in living memory. We know that the discoveries that come out of it speak of blatant ethical and moral violations against other cultures, mortals, and nature itself.

These are things that have been conveyed in historical record, through the memories and histories of both FCG and FRIDA, and in the discussions within Avalir, one of Aeor's most powerful contemporaries and seemingly one of few other cities of the age that came close to the same level of advancement, which Aeor only seems to have surpassed via the aforementioned lack of ethical and moral qualms. What discoveries are made in Aeor already paint an incredibly skewed picture of the era, one that seems as though it would more likely inspire more apprehension about mages, arcane technology, and by extension, the cause that Ludinus wants to convey. The fact that Aeor placed significant intrinsic value upon the conservation of the product of extensive and long-running mass surveillance, to the point that it remains intact for us and the Hells to see now, only feeds further into the idea that, even when a discovery is seemingly complete****, we cannot ever know how representative the stories of the past actually were.

(Footnotes under the cut)

* Plenty has been written about time scales in fantasy, but in general this tends to be true of any dungeon crawling. In fact, it's probably a lot of the reason magic items are explicitly noted as being breakable only via other magic, and otherwise remain in good condition.

** I was going to have a fun quote to pull from the last chapter of Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane which is relevant to this discussion but unfortunately my mother has yet to give my copy back and it is on hold at the library so I am giving you all a summer reading assignment. Please go read this book right now. It is my number one nonfiction book of all time.

*** The oldest known intact shipwreck, aged somewhere over three millennia, was actually found recently.

**** For instance, based solely on fossilized bone, even a complete skeleton, it would never have become clear that dinosaurs had feathers!

[tinywitchgoblin]

Flowers

Tech x afab!reader everybody lives AU, spoilers season 2???

Word count: 2770

Warnings: NSFW minors begone, oral (f! receiving), p in v sex, mentions of f! masturbation, Tech being the king of consent

Summary: Tech gets you a bouquet of flowers with an… interesting meaning.

a/n: I’m back babyyyy also, I got these flower meanings from various websites, if these aren’t exactly right, oh well

You had been living on Pabu for over a year now, and you couldn’t help but look back on how your time on the island had been thus far. You had met Phee at one point when she was on Ord Mantell, and you and she had gotten along pretty well. Once you’d known her for a while and became more comfortable with her, you opened up about your living situation and your past, which… wasn’t great. She decided then and there that she would take you to Pabu, not giving you any advanced notice- only telling you to pack your stuff and get ready for a surprise. You had been a bit overwhelmed by the island atmosphere at first; it was like nothing you’d ever experienced before. Initially, you were suspicious of how perfect everything was, expecting something to go wrong eventually. However, as time passed, you became more relaxed, even making a couple of friends. Then they arrived. 

They were unlike anyone you’d ever met before. They moved into the home next to yours, and you were very curious as to the nature of your new neighbors. After they’d settled in, Phee knocked on your door and asked if you would like to meet them. Before waiting for your response, she grabbed you and pulled you out the door over towards where two of them were talking to Shep. 

You took a good look at them, a bit confused. They looked like soldiers, but didn’t look like they were here in any sort of official capacity. The one closer to Shep had shoulder length curly black hair with a red bandana and a skull tattooed on the left side of his face. The other one was a bit taller and had a scomp link where his right hand would be. Phee pulled you over and introduced you. The tattooed one introduced himself as Hunter and his companion as Echo. They seemed friendly enough, if a bit reserved. Not that you could complain; you were the same way, especially when you yourself had first arrived on Pabu. 

After standing and talking for a bit, two others joined the conversation- a giant of a man with a scar on the left side of his face, and a girl who looked to be in her teens. Hunter introduced them as Wrecker and Omega. They both smiled and waved at you, Omega coming over to you and asking you about your experiences on Pabu thus far. You found that she was light, bubbly, and easy to talk to. 

After you’d been talking to Omega for a while, you were about to go back to your home and do some work around the house, when one more person appeared. He was tall, lean, and wore goggles. He seemed engrossed in whatever he was looking at on his datapad before Phee went over and introduced the two of you. His name was Tech. You weren’t entirely sure why, but you immediately found yourself drawn to him. He seemed a bit stiff at first, but when you mentioned that you worked as an environmental scientist, the two of you began conversing about what that entailed- from analyzing the levels of various compounds in the water to studying marine life to tracking seismic activity. Normally, when you discussed work stuff, no one else understood most of what you were talking about, and you eventually learned how to dumb it down to the level of whoever was listening. That wasn’t the case with him. 

He asked you all sorts of questions, some of which were even above your level, and you loved every bit of it. Finally, someone who you could connect with intellectually. The two of you stood there talking for a long time, before Hunter called Tech away to help with the moving in process. From that point on, the two of you became fast friends. 

Soon after the group came to Pabu, Tech began joining you in your work. Having his knowledge and expertise in the field was invaluable, and you could tell he really enjoyed the work- as did you. Sometimes Omega would join as well, but that was usually when you were working with cute baby sea animals. The two of you became a very effective team. 

After a couple of months, the two of you started to spend time together outside of working as well. Whether it was grabbing a bite to eat, going for a walk by the water, or strolling through one of the markets, you’d grown comfortable in each other’s company. 

One day, you were resting at home on one of your days off when you heard a knock at your door. You opened it, and you saw Tech standing there with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. 

“I saw these flowers as I was walking through the market earlier, and I, umm… well, they made me think of you,” he said shyly, handing them out to you. It was truly beautiful, with red roses, red camellias, red lilies, red tulips, and sweetpeas scattered throughout. 

“Aww, Tech, these are beautiful! I really appreciate it,” you gushed. “Would you like to stay for a while? I’m almost done with dinner.”

“I would very much appreciate that, cyare,” he responded before stepping through the door frame and taking off his boots. You paused for a second, not recognizing the word, before brushing it off as Tech being Tech and moving towards the kitchen area. You grabbed the vase off of the small table in the kitchen, and removed the old flowers (Omega had picked them and given them to you!) before adding the new ones Tech had just given you. He went around to the stove to see what you were making, taking a whiff and humming in approval. He was quiet, which was unlike him, and he seemed to be fidgeting more than usual. You sat down at the table next to him, wanting to make sure he was okay. “Is everything okay? You seem nervous,” you queried. 

“Oh, yes, I am doing well. Just a bit preoccupied, I suppose,” he responded, a bit rushed. 

“Tech… You seem off. Is there something on your mind?” 

“Of course there is something on my mind, cyare, there is always something on my mind. In fact, there are very few instances in which there is nothing occupying my thoughts,” he clarified, though there still seemed to be something off. There that word was again- cyare. It sounded like a nickname of sorts, but you couldn’t tell. 

“That word you just said- what does it mean?” you questioned.

“What word?”

“The one you just said- I think it started with a ‘c’?” you clarified. 

“Oh, um… well…” he hesitated, almost seeming to psych himself up. “Cyare. That is what I called you. In Mando’a, it means ‘beloved’, though it can be used in several different contexts. It can be used as a term of endearment for a loved one, though it can also be used for someone who is well-known, although-”

“Tech. Did you just… did you just call me your beloved?” you whispered.

“I… yes, I did,” he confirmed. “I have had feelings for you ever since we arrived on Pabu, but I was never able to muster the courage to be this forward about the situation. If I have made you uncomfortable, or if you do not share my feelings, I fully understand if you would want to keep your distance in the future-”

You paused him by putting your hands over his, which were now almost shaking. You could tell how nervous he was. “Tech, I have feelings for you as well, and I was hesitant about bringing it up as well. I didn’t want to stress you out.” You laughed to yourself a bit before continuing, “I guess I didn’t have anything to worry about.” 

He seemed to relax a bit before adjusting his goggles and asking you, “Given that we have established our mutual feelings of attraction, would it be too forward if I asked your interest in the two of us starting a romantic relationship?”

“Of course it wouldn’t be too forward, how else would you ask me?” you ask, intentionally leaving room for him to fully state his intentions. 

“In that case… would you like to be romantically involved? With me?” he professed, looking into your eyes. You gazed back at him and said, “Absolutely. I would love it, just as I love you.” 

You took his face into your hands and rubbed your thumbs against his cheeks; he melted into your touch. 

“Cyare, may I kiss you?” he added. 

“Yes, Tech, you may,” you giggled before closing the gap between the two of you and pressing your lips to his. This first kiss was light and a bit hesitant, but soon you both relaxed into it, exploring each other but still keeping things relatively tame. After a little while, you remembered that you were still in the middle of making dinner, so you pulled away, gave him one last peck on the cheek, and moved back over to the stove to check on the soup you had simmering away. You decided that it was done to your satisfaction, ladling some into two bowls and placing them on the table. You grabbed the loaf of bread you had sitting on the counter and brought that over as well. Dinner was uneventful, save for the glances you both stole at each other and the occasional shy smile. Glancing back at the flowers, you asked, “What made you choose those flowers specifically?”

“Well, some cultures assign specific meanings to various flowers, so I wanted to make sure what I chose reflected my intentions. These flowers represent passion, love, romance, desire, and pleasure, and those are things I desire to give to you,” he asserted. 

“So, if I’m understanding this correctly, you gave me a bouquet of flowers that means you want to have sex with me?” you clarified.

“That is certainly one way of putting it, yes. I do find you sexually attractive and desire to be intimate with you. Only if you consent, of course,” he added. You blushed profusely before responding, “I would love to. I’ve wanted that for a long time. Did you have a timeline in mind?”

“Well, not exactly, but… I have no objections to doing so tonight,” he proposed, a blush creeping across his cheeks as well. You clenched your thighs at the thought of being intimate with him. Little did he know, there were nights where you would get yourself off solely to the thoughts of his fingers (or certain other parts of him) between your legs, and the notion that such dreams could become reality brought heat to your body.

“Let’s finish dinner first, but then I’m all yours,” you affirmed. The rest of dinner went by quickly in anticipation of what was to come. When everything was cleaned up, you led him to your bedroom and closed the door. Before you could turn around, he grabbed you and brought his lips to yours in a passionate kiss. You kissed him back with equal intensity, allowing your hands to roam around his body. He curled one hand around your lower back, and carded the other into your hair. He backed you up until your thighs hit the back of the bed. 

“Y/n, please let me know if you are feeling discomfort at any time. I want to ensure that you are feeling nothing but pleasure,” he murmured into your mouth. 

“Tech, dear, please, I need you so badly,” you begged, desperate to feel his hands against your skin. He pulled your top and breast band off before kissing down to your chest and laving at the skin there, leaving marks only he would see. It was your turn to run your fingers through his hair, marveling at how soft his curls were. You briefly thought to ask him later what products he uses, but he brought your attention back to the present by picking you up and lowering you down to the bed, laying you so that your head was resting on the pillows. He kissed down your torso before running his fingers under the seams of your pants, a silent request for you to lift your hips so that he could remove the offending clothing separating him from his prize. As he removed your pants and panties, he kissed up your legs, taking his sweet time with you. He wanted to memorize every inch of your beautiful body. 

Eventually, he reached the apex of your thighs, pushing them apart to reveal your wetness to him. He looked up at you and asked, “Cyare, may I-”

“Tech, please, I need this,” you begged. “I need you.” He wasted no time, licking a stripe up your folds, drawing a moan. You covered your mouth with your hand, but he grabbed it and held it, resting it against your stomach. “Let me hear those beautiful noises; there is no need to cover such a melodious sound.” He turned his attention back to your wetness, moving his tongue in such a way as to have your thighs quaking around his head and you grinding against his face. Once he felt that you were sufficiently lubricated, he slipped a finger inside you, moving it in the “come hither” motion that you had so often dreamed of him doing. Soon he added a second, and used a scissoring motion to open you up for him. The last thing he wanted was to cause you any undue discomfort later on. 

Before too long, you started to feel your orgasm building, and your moans increased in volume. “Tech, I’m gonna…” 

“That’s it, cyare, come for me,” he mouthed against your sex. Everything felt so good, so right, and soon you came- hard. Your body thrashed around, unable to contain the pleasure that he was providing. He worked you through your orgasm, only stopping when you pulled his head away from you. He kissed his way up your body before reuniting his lips with yours. You pulled at his collar, and he backed away to disrobe. Once he had removed all barriers between his skin and yours, he climbed back onto the bed and settled on top of you, pushing your thighs apart once more. When he was undressed, he grabbed a biosheath, and he proceeded to apply it before looking at you and asking once more, “Do you want this? We can stop now if you need to.”

“No, I want this. I need this. I need you,” you declared, reaching down to stroke his length a few times, him thrusting into your hand. Tech lined himself up with your sex and rubbed himself up and down your slit a few times before slowly entering you, not wanting to cause any pain or discomfort, but your face showed nothing but pleasure. You gasped, not realizing how big he was until he was inside you. Once he was fully seated inside you, he rested there for a moment and you brought his head down into a searing kiss. After a moment or so, he pulled out a bit and thrusted back in, causing your head to roll back. He picked up the pace a bit, and you grabbed onto his shoulders for support. In that moment, everything felt so good, so right, and there was nothing else in the galaxy but the two of you and the love you were making. This was not the time for roughness, but for gentleness and sweet, slow sex. 

Tech felt your heat drawing him in and he reached between you to rub on your bundle of nerves, making you clench around him. You lifted your hips, timing the movements of your body with his, and soon, you were coming again, pleasure rushing over you like a tidal wave. You clung onto him for dear life as he worked you through your orgasm. You could tell he was close, too, his thrusts becoming rougher and more erratic, before he came as well. Exhausted, he lowered his body next to yours, pulling out slowly due to your oversensitivity. The two of you lay in silence for a moment before Tech whispered, “I love you, cyare. I love this, and I want so much more of it.”

You pulled back to look at him before responding, “I couldn’t agree more.” After some time, he got up to get you some water and a cloth to clean you up with, and when he opened the bedroom door, you saw the flowers that started it all, still sitting in the kitchen.

[jungkooks-wife]

Forbidden Feelings

paring haechan x fem¡reader

synopsis: college student haechan who has a crush on his best friend mark lee’s sister. whom by the way is COMPLETELY off limits to his friends.

genre: smau

PROFILES 2 - haechan & friends

- Haechan, a lively and charismatic college student, is used to getting along with everyone. Known for his quick wit and playful personality, he’s a social butterfly who never struggles to make friends. However, there’s one person who makes him nervous in a way he’s never felt before—Y/N, the younger sister of his best friend, Mark Lee. As Y/N enters college as an Environmental Science major, Haechan finds himself constantly drawn to her thoughtful nature and quiet confidence. Even though he's been close with Mark for years, Haechan has always seen Y/N as off-limits—both out of respect for his friendship with Mark and his own fear of ruining things. But as he spends more time around her, his crush begins to grow, becoming harder to hide. Caught between his loyalty to Mark and his growing feelings for Y/N, Haechan finds himself navigating a complicated situation. He’s torn between keeping his emotions under wraps or taking a risk that could change his friendship—and possibly his future. As Y/N remains oblivious to his feelings, Haechan has to decide whether to take a chance on love or keep his secret buried.

- Mark Lee is Y/N’s laid-back older brother, known for his calm and easygoing demeanor that instantly puts people at ease. He’s the type of guy who seems to handle everything effortlessly, whether it’s his studies, his friendships, or the constant attention he gets from girls who are always swooning over him. Majoring in Music, Mark is incredibly talented, with a natural gift for songwriting and performing, making him a standout on campus. Despite his popularity, Mark is humble and down-to-earth, never letting the attention get to his head. He’s protective of Y/N, always looking out for her while giving her the space to grow on her own. Mark’s chill, no-drama personality makes him the kind of friend everyone wants, and he has a loyal circle around him, including Haechan, one of his closest friends. With his charming smile and laid-back vibe, Mark effortlessly balances being both the cool guy on campus and the supportive older brother.

- Renjun is one of Haechan’s closest friends, though he’s quite the opposite of his outgoing personality. Renjun is quiet, introspective, and a little shy, preferring to observe rather than take the spotlight. His love for nature and art makes him a thoughtful soul, with a deep appreciation for the beauty in the world around him. Whether he’s sketching in his notebook or taking long walks to clear his mind, Renjun finds solace in the calmness of nature. He’s majoring in a field that aligns with his passions, and he shares an Environmental Science class with Y/N. Though he tends to keep to himself in class, Renjun admires Y/N's dedication to environmental issues and often finds himself quietly supporting her ideas during discussions. While he’s reserved, Renjun has a kind heart, and once people get to know him, they see the depth of his creativity and compassion. His friendship with Haechan is an interesting balance while Haechan is the life of the party, Renjun is the calming presence who keeps things grounded.

- Jeno has been one of Haechan’s best friends since grade school, and the two share a long history filled with inside jokes and a close bond that has only grown stronger over time. Jeno is known for his easygoing and reliable nature, always there for his friends whenever they need him. He has a quiet confidence that makes him approachable, and while he’s not one to seek attention, his warm personality naturally draws people in. Majoring in Photography, Jeno has a keen eye for detail and loves capturing the world through his lens. His passion for photography is personal, especially since his relationship with Jaemin, his boyfriend, has become his favorite subject. Jeno often takes photos of Jaemin, finding beauty and inspiration in the small, everyday moments they share. Their relationship is full of warmth and affection, and Jeno’s photography is his way of capturing the love and happiness they have together. Jeno's loyalty and artistic nature make him a deeply valued friend. His dedication to both his art and his relationship with Jaemin shines through in everything he does.

- Jaemin is one of Haechan’s best friends from grade school, known for his stunning, almost ethereal beauty that has quickly gained him a following, especially on social media. His sharp features and captivating smile make him stand out wherever he goes, but despite his popularity, Jaemin is naturally an introvert. Around strangers, he can be quiet and reserved, but when he’s with his close-knit circle Haechan, Jeno, and the rest of their group his true, playful self comes out. His extroverted side shines when he feels comfortable, and his humor and warmth are infectious in the right company. Majoring in Art, Jaemin is deeply passionate about drawing, and his favorite subject is, unsurprisingly, his boyfriend Jeno. He finds endless inspiration in Jeno, often sketching him in candid moments, capturing not just his appearance but the love and connection they share. Jaemin’s art is an extension of his emotions, and his drawings of Jeno hold a special significance, a private expression of their relationship. While he’s often admired for his looks, those close to him know that his real beauty lies in his kindness, creativity, and the way he pours his heart into everything he loves—including Jeno.

- Chenle, one of Haechan's best friends, has a magnetic charm that draws people in effortlessly. Born into wealth, he's a classic nepo baby, but you wouldn't guess it from his friendly, down-to-earth nature. Basketball is his passion, and his admiration for Stephen Curry shows in his precision and dedication on the court. Majoring in athletics, Chenle balances his studies with his love for the game. But beyond his talents, what stands out the most is his playful spirit. He’s always cracking jokes or goofing around, making every moment with him light and fun. His high-pitched laughs are iconic, filling the room with an infectious joy that has everyone smiling and laughing along. With Chenle, there’s never a dull moment he’s the kind of friend who makes life brighter just by being around.

- Jisung, Haechan’s younger best friend who is y/n’s age, is the quiet, thoughtful type. He’s shy, preferring to stay in the background while keeping a watchful eye on those he cares about. Though he may not always be the loudest in the group, he has a nurturing side that makes him the one who checks in on everyone, ensuring they’re alright. It’s his way of making sure he’s okay too by seeing to others' well-being. Majoring in environmental science alongside Renjun, Jisung has a deep connection with nature and a passion for preserving it. His calm, introspective nature blends well with his studies, and his quiet strength makes him someone everyone can rely on.

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[star-trek-fandom-confessions]

#1145

Eugenics and genetic modification are not the same thing. The terms are not interchangeable. Eugenics is the practice of erasing perceived ‘undesirable’ traits in the gene pool. It is motivated by racism and ableism and is horrific. Genetic modification is one possible tool that eugenicist could use to achieve that end. Another tool which has actually been used by eugenicists to advance their awful goal is compulsory sterilization. This is also horrific and recognized as such - compulsory sterilization is a Crime Against Humanity in the Rome Statute. However, sterilization procedures such as tube tying and vasectomies are not practices that people generally call for to be banned, because people may want to prevent themselves from getting pregnant or from getting another person pregnant for all sorts of reasons and we recognized that people should have autonomy over their own bodies and be free to make their own reproductive choices. Consensual vasectomies and tube tying being legal in a country does not mean that country is endorsing eugenics. A country in which there is a government program of coercing or using incentives to get members groups perceived as undesirable to have their tubes tied or have vasectomies is practicing eugenics. The legality and use of tool in general does not necessarily mean that the tool is being used for eugenics. Now, let’s take that one step further with a hypothetical on genetic engineering. Imagine that we determine that if one gene was removed from the human genome, those without that gene would no longer get dementia and there were zero other impacts. Would a country that made that genetic modification procedure available for free to everyone who wanted it and the doctors performing that procedure be practicing eugenics? Now imagine that procedure didn’t work in adults or even children. It had to be administered during fetal development to be effective. Would a parent choosing to have that gene removed from their unborn child so they would never get dementia be practicing eugenics? I'm not going to weigh in on those my point is that it’s a complex issue, there are very flew easy answers available and you really have to consider motive. Eugenicists are motivated by the view that certain people are superior and other people are inferior and they want to get rid of the latter.

Applying it to Strange New Worlds, Una has specifically stated that the Illyrian motivation for genetic modification is so that they fit in with their environment, rather than terraform (this intersects another really interesting scientific ethical discussion happening around climate engineering and the potential consequences). There is no evidence in canon that Illyrians are motivated by the need to be superior or are getting rid of undesired traits. They took up modification to live on planets that would otherwise be unhospitable to them (beta canon is that their home world is no longer inhabitable even with modification due to environmental collapse outside of their control, they’re essentially environmental refugees). While Illyrians modify themselves genetically, there is no evidence that Illyrians are practicing eugenics. In the context of DS9, Bashir’s parents believed it was undesirable to have a son with intellectual disabilities. They modified him to get rid the trait they perceived as undesirable. They were practicing eugenics. In Star Trek canon, billions of people died during the Eugenics Wars. When it comes to the law, it is incredibly difficult determining motive and therefore it is understandable that they banned genetic engineering as a way of stopping eugenicists and preventing a repeat. But in doing so, they accidentally created a legal regime in which entire families could be arrested.   The point Star Trek has been making lately with the Illyrian storyline is sometimes shit is complicated, and that a law that is meant to protect, can also sometimes harm and we need to be able to listen, think and consider complex situations. And I also hate myself a bit for writing this. I should just be able to ignore all the terrible takes and ‘I haven’t watched but…’ people.