#it can however be submersive

[bearotonin-international]

Charger's working on the submersive salmon slammin

[toytulini]

Okay i have yet to see a post about this that isnt filled with ppl being Annoying as Fuck on it, but,

theyve found wreckage of the submersible, it imploded (thank god, thats better than a drawn out suffocation over the course of several days, implosion means it was pretty much instantaneous) and the us navy have revealed they heard a weird sound on sunday from about where communication with the sub was lost, that was probably the sound of the implosion, [implied that they didnt say anything cos they didnt want to jump to conclusions without evidence of a wreckage, if there was a chance they were still alive.] no idea what the banging sounds were.

I do hope rescue efforts are extended to the migrants off the coast of greece, and am angry and horrified at their mistreatment, and that the media clearly cares less for their fates than that of the billionaires on the sub.

also, while i have you here,

The difference between a submersible and a submarine is not that one is safer. The titan was a submersible that was unsafe, but that is not because it was a submersible.

A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater.

A submersible is a watercraft designed to operate underwater, usually supported by a nearby surface vessel, platform, shore team or sometimes a larger submarine.

submarines generally dont go as deep as our deepest submersibles, but some can be down there for months at a time bc it is like. a self sufficient Ship. not all submersibles can go crazy deep, but to my knowledge, the only crewed vessels that can go that deep, are submersibles. (Alvin, deepsea challenger, limiting factor, trieste, fendouzhe or "striver").

[prideprejudce]

people saying that users aren’t being compassionate enough towards the billionaires stuck in the death coffin at the bottom of the ocean and calling us “ghouls” for bringing up the absolute absurdity of the entire situation and it’s like……of course no one ever deserves to die by suffocation or freezing to death and it’s a hope that by some miracle that these people are found and somehow saved. however people are aloud to point out the irony of how our current wealth gap is so high that there are people who are able to spend 250k, an amount that most people don’t see in their entire lives, like it’s a movie ticket. except instead of seeing a movie they are entering a death chamber to the bottom of the ocean so they can gawk at the mass grave of over a thousand people

“the CEO of the company tricked them and he’s the real capitalist villain while the other passengers are blameless” I agree that the CEO (who is also stuck in the submarine with them) is as grimy as they come and cut corners in order to make as much money as possible. that’s a given. but as we are seeing now, most people who have never even stepped foot in the ocean their entire lives could see that this was a disaster waiting to happen. you don’t have to be a maritime expert to see that. the submersible has no emergency beacon, is controlled by an off brand game controller, made from parts from a camp store, navigated by texts from above, is bolted in from the outside, and has a contract that passengers sign that mentions “death” three times on the front page. most people couldn’t be paid to step foot in it - and these people paid 250k to go to the bottom of the ocean in it

once again, no one is relishing at people dying stuck in an essentially gutted out minivan at the bottom of the ocean. especially when one passenger is 19 and the other is a legitimate titanic researcher. but people are allowed to be mad that thousands upon thousands of dollars of taxpayer money and resources are being used to try and literally pluck these people out of the ocean and save them from a grave that they literally helped dig themselves into without a care in the world. they are the 1% who can put themselves in peril as much as they please and spend money and waste resources like it’s water but will always expect to be saved from the brink of death by us regular folk so they can call themselves an “adventurer” at their next luncheon

[probablyasocialecologist]

The submersible’s disappearance has arguably been the biggest news story of the last 24 hours. That’s understandable in some ways. For one thing, it’s a mystery: No one knows where it is or what state its passengers are in. There is, moreover, a race against time, as the sub has enough oxygen to make it until early Thursday, according to the Coast Guard—if, that is, the passengers are even still alive. There is both the possibility of an improbably happy ending or of unspeakable tragedy—another element of a compelling news story. And then there’s everything about the janky sub and its rich passengers, who have risked their lives on what is essentially a novelty expedition. Without knowing their fate, it has the feeling of something out of a Ruben Östlund film: These people are so wealthy they can take dangerous chances in a vessel the size of a Honda Odyssey, just for thrills.  Coverage of the missing submersible unintentionally illustrates something even more tragic, however. On June 14, what was likely the second-deadliest refugee and migrant shipwreck on record occurred when a boat carrying as many as 800 migrants sank off the Greek coast. Greek authorities had tracked the vessel and early signs suggest the country’s coast guard was slow to act despite numerous warning signs. This is a huge news story, one that hits at both Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis and the callousness with which many European nations treat migrants who are desperately trying to reach their shores. Yet it has received scant attention in the American media—and the missing submersible story has dwarfed what coverage there has been. 

[ashermiss]

Now that everyone that was on the submersible is confirmed dead, I want to reiterate that demanding performative grief from random people online is still a weird and unhelpful thing to do

The way people feel about the submarine incident does not have any bearing on the outcome. Demanding performative grief from randos online is not going to help the people on the sub. People are allowed to make jokes, it's fine. I am tired of seeing dumb posts positing that I am a bad person because I can't muster up any grief over this. People die horrifically every single day, and 99% of them are more worthy of grieving than some rando billionaires

[uncharismatic-fauna]

Clap for the Indian Flapshell Turtle!

The Indian flapshell turtle, also known as Lissemys punctata is a species of softshell turtle found throughout India, as well as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. It prefers quiet, stagnant freshwater and muddy bottoms, and is most common in slow moving river and streams, marshes, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs. However, this species is also able to tolerate salt water to some degree, and therefore may also be occasionally found in salt marshes and estuaries.

L. punctata gets its common name from the leathery flaps of skin attached to its underbelly, which covers the limbs when they are drawn in and helps individuals retain moisture during the dry season. Female Indian flapshells are larger than males, with a maximum shell length of 35 cm (13 in) and a weight of up to 800 g (28.2 oz), while males reach a maximum of only 23 cm (9 in) and 550 g (19.4 oz). There are three subspecies of the Indian flapshell turtle which may be distinguished by the pattern on their shells. The nominal species, L. p. punctata and L. p. vittata both have smooth, dark brown or olive green shells, while L. p. andersoni has bright yellow spots along the head and back. The underbellies of all subspecies are typically white or pale yellow.

During the wet season, Indian flapshell turtles spend most of their time foraging for food. Their drab colouring allows them to hide easily along muddy bottoms or dense vegetation. L. punctata are opportunistic omnivores, meaning they will eat just about anything that they can find. They are known to feed on a variety of items, including aquatic vegetation, fish, shrimp, snails, crustaceans, mollusks, small mammals and amphibians, and carrion. Adults are predated upon by crocodiles; in the dry season, they may also be opportunistically predated upon by vultures, crows, and wild pigs, as this is when adults are more likely to either burrow into the mud to wait for rain, or move overland in search of water.

Nesting for L. punctata typically occurs at the start of the wet season and continues from June to November. Adult males seek out females and court them by stroking her shell with his flippers. If she is receptive, the pair mirror each other and bob heads before copulation. Afterwards, the female digs a nest close to the edge of the water and lays anywhere from 2-16 eggs. She may lay up to three clutches over the course of the wet season. Incubation typically takes 200-300 days, although some clutches may take up to 400 days to hatch.

Indian flapshell eggs are highly resistant to flooding, and may survive up to 24 hours of submersion. After hatching, the young are completely independent; survival is therefore quite low. Those that make it to adulthood begin reproducing at 2-3 years old, and may live to be up to 20 years.

Conservation status: The IUCN currently lists the Indian flapshell turtle as Least Concern, although recent studies have recommended the species be upgraded to Vulnerable. They are primarily threatened by hunting for meat and medicinal value, as well as poaching for the pet trade. Secondary threats include habitat loss or degredation and road moralities.

Want to request some art or uncharismatic facts? Just send me proof of donation of any amount to any of the fundraisers on this list, or a Palestinian organization of your choice!

Photos

Harikrishnan S

avrajjal via iNaturalist

makarandsaraf via iNaturalist

L. Shyamal

[bixbythemartian]

This is About Oceangate

...kind of. Like, heads up for people who are sick of hearing about it or are too disturbed by this, just scoot on by, that's fine.

Like everybody else my age who had a middle school special interest in the Titanic that was further fueled by the James Cameron movie (and that sounds very specific, but I absolutely know I'm not alone), I've been following this story fuckin voraciously.

I think everybody I know IRL and online is fucking sick of me talking about it. I have been actively trying not to blog much about it here because I'm so obsessed with it that I'm annoyed with myself. I would like to not be this interested in it.

But a lot of the stuff I can think of to say has been said by a lot of people already, I don't want to add to an already noisy environment if I've got nothing new to say.

So, instead, I want to talk about what I haven't seen very many people talking about- something that's stood out to me about the way the media has been handling this story from the get-go. So, finally, I'm inflicting my days long media binge on you.

The media's handling of this was bad. Like, comprehensively fucked.

For the uninformed, a primer on the situation- feel free to skip down if you know all this, there's a bulleted list right after I get done with this part, look for that. But some of this is important to the terms I use, so I wanted to lay it out. (Also I just want to get a lot of this out of my system, please just let me have this.)

The Titan is a 'cyclops-class' submersible. As far as I can tell, 'cyclops-class' is unique to the people who made this submersible, it's not a widely recognized thing.

The Titan can carry up to five passengers. It was supposed to be rated to reach depths of up to 4000 meters below sea level.

The Titan is/was owned and operated by a company known as Oceangate. There's a lot of questions regarding the safety of the submersible, where the math came from on their depth rating, and- basically everything about the Titan is in question, at this point. There's a lot of questions, but that's not what I want to talk about.

Right now. Maybe later.

A submersible is distinct from a submarine in that it requires a surface support ship for many things- the Titan moved too slow to leave port under its own power and go to the site, it didn't have enough life support to do that kind of thing, etc. A submarine is self-supporting and can operate independently. Kind of pedantic, I know, but the Titan is a submersible, not a submarine.

The Titan had a planned expedition to the wreck of the Titanic on June 18, 2023- this past Sunday, at the time of writing. The expedition was supposed to last around 10 hours. It chartered a ship- the Polar Prince- to act as mother ship, the on the surface support that the Titan requires. (The Polar Prince is owned and operated by a different company than the Titan.)

1 hour and 45 minutes into the expedition, as the Titan was still making its way to the sea floor, the Polar Prince lost all contact with the submersible.

The Titanic wreck is at just under 4000 meters deep, right around 2.5 miles.

Now, my understanding is that the Titan was not fully at the ocean floor at the point contact was lost, but it's not clear how deep the Titan was at that time. We may not ever know this for certain.

When the Titan was reported as missing to the coast guard is kind of unclear, to me- I heard 6 hours after they lost contact, I heard 12 hours after they lost contact, I saw something that indicated they reported it missing immediately- I don't know for sure. When the coast guard report comes out, I'm hoping we'll get a more accurate timeline.

However, as soon as it was reported missing, a massive search and rescue operationg was started. Complicating the search efforts were the fact that the submersible seemed to have no type of emergency distress locator beacon (I'm not sure what the precise nautical terminology would be for this).

The search included visual searching of the surface, dropping buoys with microphones, and ROVs (unmanned remote operated vehicles, deep sea robots operated by crew on ships at the surface) searching the floor, and probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. Deep sea radar etc etc, every tool they had access to.

The search and rescue concluded on Thursday (June 22, 2023) around midday, when they definitively found pieces of the destroyed submersible's pressure vessel (the part of the submersible that held pressure and kept the people safe and alive) in a debris field, approximately 1600 feet away from the Titanic.

The destroyed pressure vessel and reports from the Navy on hearing sounds consistent with implosion at the time the Titan lost contact indicates that the submersible underwent what is being called a 'catastrophic implosion'.

It is now an investigation and recovery operation, while they try to figure out what exactly went wrong.

The five men in the sub are dead. In all likelihood, they died so quickly that their nervous system didn't have time to process what happened. What happened to their bodies during this was probably gory and kind of horrifying, but it's unlikely they experienced any awareness of this.

There were five extremely wealthy men on the submersible- they were not all billionaires, but those that weren't were worth hundreds of millions of dollars. If you want a rough sketch of their biographies, there's a link here. Other than them being pretty wealthy, who they are doesn't play that much into what I want to talk about, so I don't feel the need to go into it right now. (Again, as more information comes out, I may come back for another swing.)

So, my complaint. The number of times I saw a news interview with an expert that went like this is not small:

news host interviews deep ocean expert of some variety (who is not involved in rescue)

host asks expert what chances are that the dudes are alive and will be recovered alive

expert, being honest, says something like 'slim to none'

host responds with some amount of sincere-seeming disappointment, then after interview, pivots to the ongoing search for the definitely still alive people

There were news programs with clocks counting down how much theoretical oxygen was left. There were frequent updates to news stories with nothingburgers of additions, just to pad it out. It was, if they were alive at that moment, fucking ghoulish. That they were dead makes it even more horrible.

And I cannot emphasize enough how many experts said, to generalize and paraphrase here: "Unless they are found bobbing on the surface in the next n hours, they are dead. Even if they are alive right this minute, on the bottom of the ocean, there is no hope to rescue them in time."

This is not a failure of any of the rescue entities involved, by the way. The environment they were presumed to be in- 4000 meters under sea level- is so extreme that there are very few vehicles in the world with the capability of even getting to that depth. Like, 10 or less. As far as I know, none of them are designed to do any kind of deep sea rescue- which would have involved carefully scooping up or netting the Titan and hauling it up very slowly. There's no way to transfer personnel between ships at this depth, and the Titan had the largest passenger allowance at this depth, afaik. Like, the odds were incredibly, vanishingly small that these men would live.

The media, at large, never ever really allowed that to change the way they talked about this story or treated the participants in the story. At around 11 am or noon (central daylight time) on Thursday I saw them talking about how 'oxygen is critical'.

Oxygen was critical 24 hours prior. Even by the most generous of expectations, they were out of breathable air. Given how, to put it mildly, janky the submersible seemed to have been, there was absolutely no guarantee that they had even the 96 hours that Oceangate claimed.

Their likelihood of being rescued alive from the ocean floor was minimal on Monday. By Thursday, they were dead- again, unless they were found on the surface somewhere and had managed to carefully preserve their air somehow, they were already dead.

The media didn't really allow for the reality of the situation to be clear until Oceangate and the USCG came out and said 'yeah, they're dead'.

"Well, what's the problem with that?" you might ask. "The United States Coast Guard was the one who was saying it was a rescue up until that point."

Sure. That's their job. Their job is to treat it like an urgent rescue until it is certain that it is not. A significant amount of what they do is to rescue people from doing damnfool things in the water, and keeping hope alive until they find bodies, or evidence thereof. They were doing exactly what they should be doing.

(Whether they do this to this extent for everybody lost at sea is another conversation that's absolutely worth having, as well as their role in border patrol, but I have no bone to pick with the USCG in this particular instance. They did their all until they could do no more, that's the whole point of them, this is how they're supposed to operate.)

The media was not doing what they should be doing. There's an old quote somewhere that I think is just a journalism truism (everyone I've heard talk about it says their journalism professor said it)- if someone tells you it's raining, and someone else tells you it's not, your job isn't to report that, your job is to go outside and see if it's wet.

James Cameron- director of the aforementioned Titanic movie, as well as being a Titanic and deep sea submersible expert, knew they were dead on Monday.

He reached out to some people, he found out that the mother ship lost contact with the crew as well as their location at the same instant, and that the Navy heard a sound consistent with an implosion at around that time.

The information that the Navy heard the implosion was not classified information- they heard it via a listening system that was declassified in the 90s, I believe. Like, I knew about the system just kind of casually because I know random Navy stuff. (My dad was in the Navy, it's mostly osmosis.)

The people on the scene were informed as soon as the Navy knew. (When that was, I'm not sure, except it was before Monday. Probably they had someone go back and listen to it and weren't actively monitoring it, but it's hard to say.)

The deep ocean submersible community knew, well enough that James Cameron could call a buddy and find out. He was telling people on Monday to raise a glass to them.

The media could have had this information, if they did not have it. Either they didn't want to know, or did know, and didn't say it. And I can't say for certain they were suppressing information, but I do know that they frequently downplayed any evidence that these people were dead.

I know on CNN they ran a story about FADOSS- the FlyAway Deep Ocean Salvage System- that was shipped out to Newfoundland. It arrived Wednesday afternoon. Description in the alt text, link here.

At the time this story was published, the people in the sub would have theoretically had less than 24 hours of breathable air. They hadn't even chartered a ship for the FADOSS, at this point. And the port in Newfoundland is hundreds of miles from the site. I'm not sure how many hours away but, like, hours away. I think I heard it's a 6 hour trip, but I'm not certain on that.

This system was referenced in the news as if it was going to be part of the rescue process. Very clearly, this was never going to happen. The quote, 'a process which can take a full day' is a mild understatement, here.

It could, theoretically, be done in 24 hours, but was much more likely to take longer, unless they had enough crew in Newfoundland to do round-the-clock welding.

The response to the question about recovering someone alive is a polite way of saying 'that's not what we do'. They were not part of the rescue operation and were never intended to be, as far as I can tell.

(If you're wondering what part the FADOSS is going to take in the recovery and investigation process, it's not. It's used to lift heavy objects off the floor, and the Titan broke into small enough pieces that the ROVs are believed capable of handling it. FADOSS is on its way back to wherever it is kept. I suspect it was brought out in the edge case that the submersible was found intact with dead crew, to retrieve the vessel whole, so that the families would have bodies to bury.)

Setting aside the 'oh they definitely blew up' news that seems to have been available the whole time, every single piece of evidence and expertise pointed to these people being dead, and yet the news persisted in sort of breathlessly (sorry) talking about the rescue efforts and how much time was left. They persisted in talking about how definitely still alive these people were until they could not do that anymore.

Other examples of this issue are the knocking thing. There were reports of some of the buoys picking up something that could be described as 'knocking'. Some said it was 'every thirty minutes' but we don't know how precise a measurement that was. As soon as they started talking about the knocking, I looked into it.

As it turns out, this is just a thing that happens. The sea is very noisy, and it's hard to determine the source of a sound. Some geological things sound manmade, vice versa. They had a lot of ships cooperating together to work the search area, it's possible that they were hearing noise from those, or something from an oil platform a jillion miles away, because noise travels far and is hard to pinpoint. They had this issue while searching for the sunken USS Thresher and it was one of the ships doing the searching. Given how many different moving parts there were in this search operation, it's hard to say what the knocking was. This is just a thing in the ocean, there's a lot of fuckin noise and experts can't always pinpoint it down in location or even what it might be.

This is why, even though they heard sounds that were consistent with implosion, at the time that the Titan lost total contact with the mother ship, it was still treated as if there was a live rescue operation. Because they couldn't be certain.

But the odds were extremely poor that these men were alive, and almost everybody involved knew that fairly early on. Again, the rescue operation had to go forward like they were looking for someone alive because that's how that works. The media, on the other hand, handled this in a very irresponsible way.

And, like, I know, news media is bad at being news is not some like hot new thing, I've just been building up frustration for days and so it had to come out somehow.

I'm not sure how much of this was just because they're very wealthy men- only one of whom I've ever heard of before- and how much of it was because it was a very bizarre and unique ongoing situation, how much of it was the intersection of that.

But pretty much everybody with enough knowledge to be worth talking to about this knew, like, Monday that even if they weren't dead right then, they were very unlikely to make it out alive, and watching the news wind a bunch of people up over the hopeful outcome was revolting.

Okay. We'll see if I can go 24 hours without talking about this. If you made it to the end of this absolute fucking novel, congratulations and/or I'm sorry.

[ranticore]

aforementioned Siren Reproduction Bible

All people of Siren are the same sex and can perform the reproductive role of insemination and pregnancy (barring injury, congenital variation, hormonal issues etc that might prevent someone from fulfilling these roles). This means that every GMO human was designed to have the same anatomical setup; internal testes (one for harpies, two for everyone else), ovaries (one for harpies, two for everyone else), uterus, cervix, vaginal canal, and penis which can be everted for use (i.e it is usually stored inside the body; in this case within the vulva proximal to the vaginal opening). Because they are all mammals, they all have mammary glands and two nipples. Selkies and zeta also have a two-chambered pouch with a muscular opening which can be entirely shut for diving and swimming. Everybody menstruates, however, this is a very quick (1-2 days max) stage and produces very little blood.

Sex between people of different body types is entirely normalised and happens literally everywhere but conception can only occur with two aquatic Sirenians of the same type (two phocids, two selkies, two zeta) and between all harpies. This is because harpies all arise from the same original population while the aquatics come from entirely separate populations and are far more genetically distinct.

When penetrative sex occurs between two parties, usually it's one penetrating the other. But because of the genital layout, it is possible for mutual penetration to take place if one of them sort of goes reverse cowgirl about it and there are no tails in the way. This is called 'doubling' and a lot of very vulgar terms besides. People being people, any other imaginable sex act is possible within the limits of biology.

Attitudes towards sex vary by culture but there is no form of puritanism or 'chastity' culture. Often, smaller villages might place a stronger emphasis on sex for procreation rather than pleasure and try to discourage the latter.

Gestation periods and pregnancies differ dramatically between body types. Phocids have the longest gestation period and can be pregnant for up to 11 months, giving birth to a single relatively precocious child who must be large and developed enough to be able to swim unassisted from birth. In many southern Spiral villages, the all-bearer, a village elder, is responsible for arranging couplings. The all-bearer's experience is considered key to nurturing a strong population, and any reproduction without permission is considered unlucky and the offspring not truly a member of the village (doomed to be essentially homeless even in the heart of the village). Phocids who experience an Oops pregnancy in this situation might try to foist the baby off on an approved couple, if one can be found and is agreeable.

Selkies and zeta, as marsupials, are only pregnant for three months before the very undeveloped foetus is born and transferred by hand to the pouch. It's relatively common for the marsupials to have twins but triplets present an issue in there being only two chambers of the pouch. A surrogate nursemaid has to be located otherwise the third foetus is unlikely to survive. The baby is able to emerge for short periods at around 9 months but won't go outside fulltime until almost two years of age. While nursing a child, an aquatic marsupial cannot be submerged for long periods of time. Baby needs to breathe too. When submersion is required, particularly among pelagic people, it's common to baby swap with other nursing parents, doing a lil bit of daycare while the parent goes off on a long fishing trip.

In the case of zeta there's no issue with swimming, as they spend most/all of their time on dry land.

Harpies all have the same gestation period, a cool four months. The foetal growth is inconsistent; it seems to grow slowly the first three months before entering a developmental spurt for the last few weeks. This minimises the amount of time a flighted harpy has to sit around unable to fly. Longwings have relatively good heavy-lifting abilties in flight and tend to handle it well, while shortwings are grounded for the last two or three weeks. During this time they need to find a safe space and, if they live in a small village or if they're solitary, they need to plan to be tied to that safe space for about a year, as the baby is born very premature compared to a regular human baby and requires constant care.

In many villages with high shortwing populations, a communal nursing bower becomes a necessity. The one in the Spire is particularly large and infamous; every shortwing citizen of the Spire is obliged to spend a couple of months working in the nursing bower every few years. It's similar to jury duty, you get a summoning letter and have to drop your work and report for duty. Birthing parents will leave pretty much asap, and likely have no further contact with their child after that. It's the nursery workers' job to raise the children in similar-age groups, feeding them and providing their first lessons. Shortwing children grow and mature very rapidly after birth and are considered teens at around 7 [Earth] years old. They are named by an official from the university who assigns each kid a unique prefix which will be used as the first part of their adult name.

[penumbralwoods]

well that was a fun game. anyway

are they going for the record for longest time to respawn or some shit

[is-today-tomorrow-in-nz]

Uprooted vs Grishaverse

I finally finished uprooted and I wanted to share my two cents on where Naomi Novik delivers while LB fails.

Warning: spoilers

Backgrounds:

1) Both the stories were written in first POV of the protagonist.

2) Both are dealing with an immortal, youthful looking male wizard(/grisha) and a reluctant, low self-esteemed, female protagonist.

3) Both are set up in a war torn country with an expanding evil element threatening to swallow the country whole.

However the similarities end there.

1) First POV:

Although Noami uses First POV for Agnieszka, it is not restrictive like Alina's. We can see the universe clearly through her eyes and how she views the magic system. We could also read the other characters and see their strengths and flaws through her eyes. This is completely lost in the Grishaverse. We only see Alina's low self-esteem rambles, her unhealthy attachment to Mal and her judgemental censure of others characters We don't understand the universe, or the true nature of the characters. This makes the Grishaverse restricted universe, although we know how vast it is.

2) Strong female lead:

Agnieszka is a village born, free thinker and an independent girl. She is passionate and compassionate. She cares for her family, her best friend, her village and its people. Although she did not expected to be picked she does not stagnate as the story unfolds. At first she is reluctant and useless in learning magic but once she understands why she needs the magic, she pulls the magic by its horns and masters it. Unlike Alina, she practices and fails and yet she does not give up. Nieshka is by no means a girlboss but she knows what she wants and is unafraid to seek it. She knows when to standup and seize her power and when to let go. Naomi handles her beautifully that we want to know more about what's going on in her mind. Nieshka's life is lived by her rules. When Sarkan flees from his tower she does not run after him. She lets him go. She understands his nature and she also understands hers. She chooses to stay behind and heal the forests around her. This, right here, is proper feminism. Not Alina's ballerina farm.

3) Strong characters:

Sarkan, Solya, Kasia, Alosha, Marek, Vladimir and many others. We see them all through Nieshka but Naomi has portrayed each one of them beautifully. They are not one dimensional. We see how Sarkan is withdrawn from the world with the weight of immortality, choosing to surround himself with books and magic instead. We can see Kasia's pain, her love for Nieshka, her jealousy and the hurt of her mother's betrayal. We can see Marek's boarish nature, his hot headedness and love for his mother which ultimately led to his downfall. Every character has a story arc and a journey to fullfil on their own and Naomi does it wonderfully. We see them through Nieshka's eyes but we see the whole person not just her characterization. LB fails in this aspect. After book 2&3, we see many characters simply as an extension of Alina. They all profess their fealty and choose to stay with her even when she does not show them the same respect. Alina is labelled as virtuous although we see no evidence of it. In other words, the characters in Grishaverse are mere mindless, plot devices that are supposed to love Alina because she is the protagonist. They seize to exist outside of Alina which cripples the story telling in Grishaverse.

4) Vastness of the universe

One of the key nature of a fantasy story is the vastness of the universe. The reader when journeying through the story must feel the endlessness of the universe. Eg. The Lord of the Rings. This offers the readers a real submersive experience. We see it lacking in the Grishaverse. Although there are different countries and people, we can feel the boxed nature of the universe. This when combined with Alina's restricred POV, one dimentional side characters(spanning across different countries) and blatant favouritism shown to some characters we feel suffocated inside the Grishaverse. Naomi's universe feels vast, unexplored and unending making it a true fantasy experience.

5) Sarkan

We can see plenty of similarities between the Darkling and the Dargon. A lonely wizard, fighting alone against evil(/corrupt government). The people and the Royal family don't like him but keep him around as a neccessay evil. However, we can see the stark contrast in how Naomi handles Sarkan. For one, she does not think a seventeen year girl knows better than an age old wizard. Sarkan and Nieshka's magic are different but Naomi finds a way to blend them and makes them work with each other. She lets Nieshka form her own judgement of Sarkan instead of force feeding it like LB did to Alina. She gives a chance to the Dragon to tell him his story which gives us an additional understanding. Naomi shows and tells while LB just tells.

There are so many other intricate details which made Uprooted more enchanting to read. Naomi as a writer made me want more. Her universe has potential and Naomi handles it very effectively. The same, however, could not be said about the Grishaverse. The Grishaverse had immense potential compared to Uprooted but due to LB's restrictive story telling, it leaves the readers with a huge disappointment and fails to live upto it's potential.

[ollypopwrites]

From Depths Unknown ; Part 3

Part 1 ⚜ Part 2 ⚜ Ao3

Rolan x F!Tav (AFAB, she/her) *Tav is a Storm Sorcerer, but no actual reference to her appearance.

Rating: E

Tags & Warnings: [18+ MDNI] Language, Canon-typical violence (there is a lot discussion of blood and injuries in this chapter), Major Character Death, Sexual Content (mostly just horny thoughts), background Bloodweave.

Chapter Summary:

Not even Moonrise Tower nor the Shadowcursed land had been this hectic. They dodged rains of incredible fire from dragons, psionic blast from nautiloids and falling debris from buildings crashing around them. Fighting their way through an army of cultists, mindflayers and intellectual devourers, her team felt as united as ever. Everyone felt the finality of it.

Notes: I wanted some whump, okay? I promise they will fuck eventually.

“Rolan? Really? I thought he hated your guts.” 

“You haven’t seen him pining from afar?” Shadowheart asked dramatically. 

“Honestly, Tav, he’s a decent bloke,” Wyll said. “A bit rough around the edges —“

“A bit?!” Karlach protested. 

“Alright, quite rough around the edges,” Wyll amended.

“And pompous,” Shadowheart added. 

“Completely up his own ass,” Karlach agreed.

“Alright!” Tav said, “I’ve told you all, nothing happened.” 

Her and Rolan had been camp gossip from the moment they had walked into their suite; Tav had a hangover and a strong need for coffee, while Rolan was stiff with embarrassment at the questioning looks from her companions. He couldn’t stay long, but they had food and tea and coffee, which was the least she could offer him. She remembered most of the night: the crying, yelling and him having to arrange a makeshift bed for her. As it was embarrassing as it was, she felt a little better getting it all off of her chest. The details were fuzzy, but she knew she had come on to him. While nothing untoward had happened, the camp only saw their leader come through the doors looking bedraggled with an equally out of sorts tiefling wizard. Tongues had been sent wagging immediately. 

“But you do fancy him, don’t you?” Karlach asked. 

She took a deep breath. “Can we focus on the task at hand?” 

“Only after you admit you want to shag the grumpy wizard,” Shadowheart teased. 

“Fine, fine!” Tav felt like tearing out her hair. “Yes, yes I like him. Okay. Can we move on now?” 

“Sheesh,” Karlach breathed. “Take him to bed, mate. You need it.”

She didn’t need Karlach to tell her that. She pushed on, ignoring them. Wyll, however, caught up quickly to her. 

“I won’t lie to you, my friend, he hasn’t made the best impression,” he told her. “But he’s truly a good man.” 

“I know that.” 

“So, are you going to come clean about what happened on the roof then?” He was grinning, boyish and mischievous. 

“Not you too, Wyll, please you were my last hope.”

Her only saving grace was that they found their way to an unusual engineer named Redhammer and his submersible, which happened to be the same culprit that had killed one the the priestesses of Umberlee. While she had half agreed to kill or hand him over if she found him, he offered an opportunity to find the hostage Gondians in the Iron Throne. Tav decided to take some inspiration from Astarion, using him to get down to the Iron Throne before she ultimately left his fate up to Umberlee's order. She thought she should have felt guilty, but he had been so casual about killing the priestess and transporting hostages she found herself lacking any real remorse. After the tadpole was out of her head, she thought she may have to reassess her moral compass. 

After saving the Gondians, Duke Ravengaurd himself and their old friend Omeluum she was happy to be alive and not blown to bits at the bottom of the Chionthar. The priestesses of Umberlee had even rewarded them with a beautiful robe in exchange for finding Redhammer. Gale was the only other person it would have been suited for and he was too embarrassed to wear it despite the entire camp teasing him about it. It was a bit risqué, but when Tav slipped it on she felt it cling to her body and the strange fabric was so damn comfortable she felt as if it were a second skin. She quite liked it. 

They made their way to Sorcerer’s Sundries, knowing the next day would be their chance to finish up the infiltration of the Steelwatch Foundry. Tav was sure Gortash would not bring the Steelwatch down on them right away. The last thing he needed was his army of metal titans tearing apart the city to find them, civilians would inevitably get hurt and then they would get angry. Gortash needed a city scared but ready to cling to a tyrant that could keep them safe, not ready to revolt for stepping on their children. They had to move, but she wanted to let him sweat and take time to get ready for their final push. 

The foundry, the hammer, the last Netherstone. Then the brain. There was finally a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Rolan was rarely in the shop these days. His mirror image had taken his position at the counter, helped along by the other specialists and Cal or Lia. Tav made her way upstairs; despite her pride she owed Rolan thanks for the night before and an apology for the teasing her friends had thrown his way in the wake of it. And she wondered if he’d like her new robes. It was silly, and pointless in the face of everything else that was going on but the desire was there, hiding behind her ‘noble’ reasons for disturbing him in the middle of the day. She made her way through the portal which led to the study Rolan was now using as his own office throughout the day. The blood, ash and bodies had all been cleared away — the decadent room was still in process of being redone to Rolan’s standards but it had come a long way since Lorroakan’s death. 

“Rolan?” She called. 

“A minute, please,” he replied from the balcony. 

Tav rolled her eyes, muttering about wizards and their books. She strolled about the room. He seemed to be in the process of organizing tomes, one of the animated suits of armor was picking up a stack piled on the ground and taking it through another portal. She recalled him mentioning a library, and wanting to cultivate his own favorites for the study. It was his, now, after all. 

“Please tell me you didn’t wear that into battle?”

When he had heard Tav’s voice carry through the study, he noted a lack of distinct irritation at being interrupted. Another sign that Tav was becoming worryingly exempt from his usual ‘prick-ish particularities’ as Cal had so kindly put it. He had just seen her that morning and as awkward as breakfast had been amongst her companions, he had to force himself to finish putting books on the shelf before heading down the stairs. He needed to retain some of his dignity, after all, despite his desire to eagerly stop everything he was doing at the sound of her voice. Tav waited for him below, and as usual, he took a mental note of any new injuries she may have acquired.

Robes with pieces of protective gear was what she normally wore. Soft leathers and sturdy cotton robes, with something to protect her vulnerable points. Even out of armor she usually only wore a simple tunic and cloth pants. His surprise to find her at the center of his study in an outfit that was all flesh and skin tight fabric made him stop in his tracks. The light blue ensemble clung to every curve, dipped low between her breasts (that damned pearl dangling at the center of her chest matched well with this new outfit, he noted), and was slit at the legs so all he saw was skin bared up to a concerning height on her thighs. Her worn leather boots stuck out, not quite fitting in with the sleek outfit, but that did nothing to preserve him from staring dumbly. 

His momentary gawking was interrupted when he realized this scrap of fabric was meant to be armor. All the soft spots of her were exposed to cuts and bruises. 

“Please tell me you didn’t wear that into battle?”

“You don’t like it?”

“That’s hardly the point I’m trying to make,” he said quickly. 

“Then what is the point?”

“Don’t be stupid,” he said. “You can’t wear that in a fight. It’s…” 

Ravishing. So easy to slide aside so I could have any part of you I wanted, he thought. 

“Impractical.” He said aloud. 

“And you decide what I wear now?”

“No,” he replied through grit teeth. “Of course not.”

“Well, I like it.” Tav shrugged him off, turning away and walking around to look at his progress in the study. 

The dress was just as tight in the back, he noticed, his mind reeling and his pulse thrumming. “Where did you even get it?”

“It was a gift from the priestesses of Umberlee,” she said. 

“And what, pray tell, did you do to earn it?” 

“Freed some hostages in a prison at the bottom of the Chionthar and found the man who killed one of their order.” She listed casually. “Duke Ravenguard was down there, if you can believe it. And then Archduke Gortash, magnanimous man that he is, tried to blow us up,” her tone dripped with sarcasm, “it’s been quite a day.”

“Your usual heroics, then,” he grit out. 

“Of course,” she grinned, and everything about the smile was a challenge, a tease, and he was certain he never wanted her so badly. “I know you love to hear about my gallantry. Not bad for a girl who started the day with a terrible hangover, I think.”

“Is there a point to your visit?” He asked tersely. 

“Actually, yes,” she finally came up to him. 

Close enough to touch. The fabric looked soft, and shimmery, probably pleasant enough to run his hands over but the exposed space between her breasts seemed particularly ripe for licking. His jaw clenched as he made the Herculean effort to look her in the eyes. The teasing look she had before was gone, something a little more bashful and sweet. It only made it harder to keep his hands to himself. 

“I wanted to say thank you for last night.” She said, “I don’t remember all of it… but I know I was not at my best. Thanks for putting up with me, and sorry my friends are busybodies.” 

Rolan didn’t know what to say. A whirlwind was inside him. Pure want and affection. Irritation at said want and affection. Irritation at himself for not being able to just say what he wanted to. This was all getting entirely out of hand. 

“How is your arm?”

“My….arm?”

“You’re still scarred, from that ring you so foolishly put on when you had no idea what it did,” he snapped. 

“Oh, that,” she deflated. “Fine. Just these marks,” she pushed back the sleeves of the robe to look at them. “Gale thinks it was some kind of connection to the elemental plane.” At his responding silence she shifted awkwardly. “Okay,” she drew out the word, “I’m going to go.” 

“Goodbye.”

He stayed to watch her go, eyes glued to the way the robes clung to her bottom, the shift of the fabric and delicate metalwork over her exposed legs. 

“You can’t wear that,” he blurted out. “Not in battle. You’ll be ripped to shreds.”

And so would the robe itself, which would be a terrible shame in and of itself, the more he thought about it.

“You said that already.” 

“It bears repeating.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Goodbye, Rolan.” 

As she stepped through the portal and he was left alone he groaned, rubbing both hands over his face, as he muttered to himself, “you’re going to kill me you meddlesome, irritating, beautiful woman.” 

While there had been little notice before the Netherbrain broke free and started unleashing terror on the city, Tav had at least warned her allies ahead of time that it could happen any day at any time. With Rolan’s permission, Counselor Florrick had spread the word that the tower was going to be one point of haven in the city. It had protections and wards, and plenty of space. When all hells broke loose, Cal and Lia were holding down the fort while he made his way to High Hall. Thankfully most of the fighting was happening in the upper city, but mind flayers were running rampant, the sky was red with fire, full of errant blasts from nautiloids and dragons. 

He sent civilian healers as he found them to the tower, instructing them to take whoever they could with them. The high hall was crowded, Flaming Fists taking account of all the allies of Tav’s which had gathered. Many of them he recognized, some he had never seen before, but his heart swelled with pride at the gathering of people who were ready to support Tav and her friends. 

When she came through the door with all her camp in tow, smattered in blood, as she always was, he thought she may cry at the showing. There wasn’t much time, but she took a moment to appraise them of her plan. Her entire party would take the main push to the brain, along with the illithid she had with her. There was no time to explain, she only assured them that this person — Orpheus, was on their side. She needed anyone she did not call to her side to focus on protecting the few points of refuge they had managed to secure in the city, and above all to keep as many civilians safe as possible. She was given means to summon her allies as needed.

As Tav made the quick effort to offer thanks to everyone individually, he felt the terror of it being the last time he saw her. This was not the Tav which he’d had drinks with at the Elfsong every night leading up to this battle, laughing with her friends, carefree for just a few hours. This was the woman who had lead four people to victory against a small army of Goblins, who stormed Moonrise towers and lifted the curse over Reithwin. Focused, determined and if she was scared it never once showed on her face. Only the storm dancing behind her eyes, calm before she exploded into action. 

Rolan had to believe the next time he’d see her, she would be relaxed and teasing him about something over a glass of wine. As she approached him last, before heading out to save the city, he bolstered himself to be whatever she and the rest of the people of Baldur’s Gate needed. 

“The tower is ready, you need only call.” He told her swiftly. 

“Thank you.” She nodded. “Rolan, I — “ she bit her lip and clenched her eyes shut. “If I survive this —“

“You will,” he said certainly. 

“If I do,” she repeated, eyes boring into his with earnesty he hardly knew how to deal with, “would you like to join me for a bottle of Arabellan Dry?”

“Are you asking me on a date? Right now?” As if to punctuate his point the ground shook, horrible screeching sounds and the roar of a dragon sounded out. 

“Might be my last chance,” she breathed. 

“It won’t be,” he insisted. If she was going to be bold enough to ask him out for a drink before running off to certain death — he had to rise to the challenge. He grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips. “You’ll come back to me, gloriously and infuriatingly victorious.”

If he said it confidently enough it may just come true. It had worked for him before.

Tav nodded, squeezing his hand in hers. She hesitated, but there was little time for more to be said. She suddenly began to dig under the collar of her armored robes with her free hand. After fidgeting for a moment with something around her neck she held out the chain of the necklace which held her Pearl of Power. 

“Can you hold onto it for me? I don’t want to lose it again.” 

“You may need it,” he was unsure what else to say. 

“Already used it today,” she said, “it’s just sentimental right now. And just — hold onto it. Please.” 

Tav took his hand and placed the necklace into his palm, gently curling his fingers over it. It was such a small trinket, but the implications of her leaving it with him made it feel immeasurably valuable. He thought he would rather die than let it come to any harm. The dramatics of such a train of thought struck him so violently with the realization that he was undoubtedly in love. The terrible timing for such an epiphany was only emphasized by a loud boom on the roof and the shudder of dust and small bits of debris raining down on them.

Tav let go of his hand and with a determination in her eye he knew all too well, led her party out into the midst of terror with no other word. 

There was no time to stop. 

Not even Moonrise nor the Shadowcursed land had been this hectic. They dodged rains of incredible fire from dragons, psionic blast from nautiloids and falling debris from buildings crashing around them. Fighting their way through an army of cultists, mindflayers and intellectual devourers, her team felt as united as ever. Everyone felt the finality of it. She had seen Astarion and Gale share what they thought might possibly be their last kiss. Watching them felt like an intrusion, but the glance she had gotten of desperate softness in their eyes made her more determined than ever. Tav silently vowed that she would come out of this with everyone alive and ready to begin anew. 

When they finally found the  stalk of the Elderbrain it led higher and higher up over the city. She felt the adrenaline spurring her to start to climb, and she didn’t have to look behind her to know they followed. At the top it was an onslaught of psionic forces: the netherbrain, the illithids it commanded, and the tadpoles in their heads revolting at every move they made to fight against them. There were moments that blanked out, as she was stunned or her head hurt so badly she felt she couldn’t see. They were all moving on pure instinct to survive. 

Karlach’s rage was an unstoppable force, Lae’zel cut down anyone in her path with brutal efficiency, and the only thing more intense than the amount of healing magic Shadowheart was expending was the force with which she brought down her mace. Jaheira and Halsin were in charge of summoning reinforcements as needed, controlling the battlefield with Druidic magic while Gale sent off spell after spell with devastating effect. Astarion and Wyll danced around the battlefield; Wyll’s combined magic and skill with the blade making him virtually untouchable while Astarion flitted in and out of visibility, daggers digging into flesh with deadly accuracy. 

And she exploded with magic. 

Her arm hurt, the flowing lines of whatever had touched her when she put on that ring in the tower glowed and raged as she gave everything she had. When she felt she had nothing left, it fed her new power, keeping a steady stream of lightning ready to strike. There was not a lot of time to think on this new development, only time to acknowledge that whatever it did to her, her magic was thriving on it. Her magic felt centered for the first time in her life. Controllable, not just something she was barely wrangling and flinging around blindly. 

The last push to the crown was upon them. The way just needed to be cleared, she called to Halsin over the clamor of it all, tadpole transmitting to the others her plan. In truly rumbling cacophony explosions rained down, almost clearing their path. For a moment she took in the show of power from Ramazith’s Tower, but they had to bolt forward. 

Lae’zel took the lead, attacking an illithid arcanist guarding the portal they needed to get into. Gale was quick behind her, magic missiles firing off in every direction and counterspell quickly cast afterwards. Karlach was keeping the way clear, as more illithid were summoned, hacking at tentacled heads until they rolled off. Tav took off for the portal, only to come face to face with her father. 

No. It was her dream guardian. The Emperor’s trick. 

When she had first seen the man in her dreams she had thought the same thing: he was just similar looking enough to her dear old dad to get her guard down but not so identical it would ring off alarm bells in her mind. Tav’s father was dead, after all, the Emperor had toed the line of familiarity on purpose. The single moment of hesitation was enough for the guardian to blast her with psionic energy, knocking her off of her feet.  An intellect devourer took its chance and leapt onto her. Searing pain spread through her abdomen as claws dug in and tore. It was climbing up her body, ripping skin with every step. Her arm was pinned underneath one of its horrid legs, unable to cast, and she felt the thunderous pulse in her chest, the tingle of electricity in her veins — and then a dagger came down stopping the devourer in its tracks.

Astarion was above her, kicking the thing off of her. With a cry she felt the claws slip loose, blood pouring out of the wounds. The pain slipped away to the back of her mind as she flung forward, hands outstretched  when a chain of lightning erupted at another dream guardian which tried to stop Gale. Astarion helped her to her feet, shoving a meager healing potion at her. It was not enough to close the wounds, but it gave her a rush of new vitality and they ran for the portal

This was it. This was the final task. All they had to do was survive long enough to take out the Netherbrain. 

After setting off the blasts at Halsin’s command, Rolan had launched himself halfway down the stairs, nearly stumbling and stepping on his own tail. There were a handful of Flaming Fists, armed civilians, Cal, Lia and even Aradin guarding the perimeter of the tower; he had to go join them. The store was always chaotic with all the summons wandering around and magical effects but this was a different vein of mayhem. Anyone he could find with healing magic along the way was running around, people were screaming and crying on the floors and any clear surface available. 

It sounded like Elturel. 

Shaking his head of the thought, he pushed through the doors. People were still running, trying to get through the doors of the tower and whatever building still stood to get away from the carnage. The square was full of bodies and blood and rubble. He spotted Cal and Lia, both alive and fighting well. Cal’s swing was strong, Lia’s aim was impeccable — he was able to focus on casting. An illithid floated forward, chasing after a meal of one of the Flaming Fists' brains, Rolan quickly cast color spray, confusing the creature and shortly after one of Lia’s arrows sunk into its elongated head.

Cal got stunned, his head in his hands as he wobbled on his feet, two mindflayers floating towards him. Rolan nearly tripped over his robes to grab his brother by his shirt and pull him back, Cal fell and as soon as he was out of the line of attack Rolan felt the boom of thunder erupt from his hand. The illithids were sent backwards, landing on their back, prone. 

“Cal,” he turned to offer a hand to his brother, “stay steady.” 

“Yeah,” Cal grunted, shaking his head free of the psionic force which had stunned him. “I’m good, I’m alright.” 

“Rolan! Incoming!” 

Lia’s voice called out before she let an arrow loose. His eyes flicked to the sky, a nautiloid was overhead, a beam of some sort beginning to glow with energy. 

“To me! Now!”

Aradin and anyone nearby enough to hear him huddled close, Rolan swiftly casting an orb of invulnerability. He had never cast it before, not successfully, but it was all he could think of to try. A slight red shimmer created a bubble around them, the nautiloid made its attack. A few people were decimated by the blow immediately outside of the orb, even a ravenous illithid in the middle of extracting a brain from a skull had not made it out of the way in time. The spell worked. Rubble flew into the air with the blast, and stopped bluntly at the barrier. 

Thank the Gods. Rolan thought to himself, sweat beading down his temple. 

Lia ducked in and out of the orb to shoot off arrows, clearing the path for some to make their way to the tower or within the confines of Rolan’s temporary protection. He managed to keep the orb up long enough for the blasts to cede after the nautiloid was distracted from attacking the ground by a Githyanki force of dragon riders. 

“There’s more coming!” Aradin yelled. “We should fall back into the tower.”

“The wards can only take so much,” Rolan snapped back. “Get out there and kill something or get out of the way!”

He never understood Zevlor’s well-known ire for the mercenary more as he fled inside. As he had said, more illithids came out of the woodwork. The alien army had not found it necessary to send any armored mind flayers — relying on the freshly transformed tadpoled masses which had been lurking in the city. They had numbers, but most of them were stark naked, and sloppy in the unusual new bodies. Many of them fell quickly, which was his only comfort against the slowly dwindling numbers of his own allies. If they just kept it up, they could maintain the line of defense around the tower. 

“Come on, Tav,” he heard Lia scream as another Flaming Fist fell to an illithid. “Just kill it already!” 

There was no way for Tav to hear them, but he understood the panic. He felt each second that passed since he set off the blasts from the tower as if it were an hour. They could not keep this up forever, and part of him knew that as intense as it was on the ground, up there where the brain hovered in the air it was ten times worse. 

“Tav needs us to hold strong,” he called to his sister. “We owe her that, at least.” 

Lia was too far away for him to be sure but thought he saw her jaw set in the same way Cal’s did when he was concentrating. His brother felled an illithid in one blow, clean and easy at the neck. 

“Can’t believe I’m saying this,” Cal said, “but Rolan is right!”

It truly was the end of the world.

When Tav hit the water, she blacked out for a moment. Her eyes opened and the gasp that wracked her body filled her mouth and lungs with water as she realized too late in her waking that she was in the Chionthar. She floundered to the surface, hacking and coughing. Once she had her breath, she started screaming for her companions.

“Here!” Gale yelled.

He was not too far off from her, hanging onto some floating debris, with an unmoving lump with white hair. She swam over, grabbing onto the debris. 

“Is he alive?” She panicked. 

“Breathing,” Astarion’s voice was weak, “stop screaming.”

“Where’s everyone else?” Tav felt herself succumbing to the confusion. “Karlach! Have you seen anyone? Wyll!”

“I’ve got Shadowheart and Wyll!” She heard Karlach call, a red spot in the distance, tethering two limp bodies as she kept them on their backs. 

Lae’zel, Halsin, Minsc and Jaheira were still unaccounted for. Tav’s eyes scanned the water, dawn hadn’t broken yet, it was still dark and the depths below were impossible to see into. The only real light was provided by the city which was still very much on fire. Just as Tav was about to give into despair, a giant tentacle broke the water, then another, in its grips was an unconscious Lae’zel, and Minsc who was sputtering and cackling like a madman. Finally a third, and Halsin broke the surface. 

“Minsc! Where’s Jaheira?”

“You look upon her!” He called back. 

Wild shape was one hell of a thing. Tav called to the giant octopus whose eye peered into hers as it breached the surface, telling Jaheira to grab Karlach first as she was treading water and trying to keep two people afloat at the same time. Tav watched, only vaguely hearing Astarion and Gale speaking next to her. She needed to see them all safely put upon the dock, she needed to know she had done it. She hadn’t lost anyone. 

“Stop trying to talk to me,” Astarion muttered. “I’m furious with you.”

“My love, I would have made sure you were transported out of harm's way,” Gale attempted to sooth him. 

“And what about you?” Astarion snapped. “What was I supposed to do without you?” 

She was not quite sure what they were talking about. 

“We were losing, Astarion,” Gale pleaded. “The orb may have been—“

“The orb?” Tav heard her neck crack as she swung her head so fast to look at him. She felt dizzy. 

“He very nearly blew himself up, again,” Astarion seethed. “I saw him reach for the dagger.” 

“Gale!” Tav scolded. “I told you — not an option!”

“Tav, please, if all else failed —“

“But it didn’t!” She yelled. 

“No,” he sighed. “No, it did not. So please, can we make it to land and put this to rest.” 

Just as Tav was about to argue with him, she felt a tug at her midsection, and uncomfortable stinging of pain accompanying the grasp. Astarion and Gale were lifted out of the water by tentacles  at the same time she was and they were being slowly carried to the dock. It was supposed to be over once they all made it on dry land. She had given in to the hope that she had finally led her party to their final battle without losing a single member. The victory was supposed to be sweet, and cathartic. 

The moment they caught their breath on the dock, Karlach’s engine started to fail. 

The main floor of the store was cleared of most furniture to make room for cots full of injured people. Amateur and professional healers alike were running around madly, calling for aid from whoever was still standing. To his credit, he had begun to organize as best he could. It was still chaos, but he was managing to take requests, send off whatever volunteer was nearest to assist, and have Cal take on grabbing potions and herbs from the stores as needed. Rolan was no healer, but he could wrap a wound before too much blood was lost as some poor soul waited for someone to be available. He could also bark orders, arrange for Fists to section off high risk patients from those who could survive without immediate attention. 

There were two surgeons he had managed to recruit. Their space was at the very back near the necromancy supplies were, with a temporary shielding wall of stone. It didn’t drown the screams of agony as they operated but it prevented anyone from witnessing an amputation. 

When the heroes of the hour burst through the door of the tower, even amongst the chaos, Rolan knew something was wrong. They looked like hell. Jaheira was bleeding from a deep wound on her head, Shadowheart was limping, and even Minsc who was always quick to get back on his feet looked like he had been thrown from a twenty story building and felt it. A good chunk of the party was missing. Wyll and Karlach were nowhere to be seen. In fact way too many of them were just gone. Astarion, Gale and Lae’zel didn’t follow, and neither did Tav. Halsin was the very last of them in, carrying someone.

“A bed! Now!” The Archdruid’s voice boomed over the chaos

A humming sound rang in his ears, the entire world pinpointed to the form of the woman in Halsin’s arms as he was directed to place her on a free bed by a Fist. 

Rolan let his feet guide him to her side, a numb feeling keeping panic at bay. On the bed was a bloody mess of a woman, who in all appearances looked like Tav but… That surely wasn’t his Tav. That was an empty shell; the skin had no vibrancy, the only truly bright color was the blood leaking out of the deep wound in her stomach. Her eyes, open staring up at the ceiling, were empty. 

Shadowheart placed her hands over Tav and the glow of her healing magic flashed and ebbed away. She tried again, but the magic stuttered out. Shadowheart let out a strangled scream in frustration, pounding glowing hands into Tav's chest and each rush of power was weaker and weaker.

“What are you doing? Heal her,” Rolan demanded. “Fix her!”

“I can’t —“ Shadowheart’s voice cracked. 

“Shadowheart’s magic is spent,” Jaheira’s tone was sharp but even, the voice of a General. “And healing magic won’t work on her now. This is a magic shop — find a resurrection scroll.” 

Resurrection implied she was dead. Logically, yes, he could see that. Tav was dead, nothing more than spent flesh and blood. But this was not supposed to happen, this was beyond everything he knew of her.

She always survives. She always does the impossible. She can't be dead.

“How did this happen?”

“Rolan,” Shadowheart pleaded his name, disregarding the question, “do you have a resurrection scroll?” 

The buzzing in his ears stopped, the cacophony of the tower coming back to him. A solution that he could focus on. He took off in a sprint, jumping over the counter. His hands shook as he opened the safe where they kept the high value scrolls.  

“Rolan, that Florrick lady is here, she brought some — what’s wrong?”

He didn’t hear Lia come up, and didn’t take the time to acknowledge her as he started reading through the stock. “We must have one.”

“Talk to me,” Lia said again getting his attention, “what’s happened?”

An idea jolted him, there were stores and stores of supplies in the study. “Upstairs, in the study, the scroll collection —“ he quickly said, “we need a resurrection scroll.”

“But —“

“Check the vaults, check the study — find me a resurrection scroll!” 

Taking in his frantic tone, Lia ran off without further question. There was no possible way this was how Tav’s story ended. In a numb haze he remembered what little he knew about healing and divine magic; there was a time limit on a basic resurrection spell. At some point a soul was too far gone and True Resurrection would be the only other option. Plain resurrection scrolls were rare enough as it was, but a True Resurrection scroll was near impossible for most people to get ahold of. 

Chain of lightning, hold person, cloud kill — his hands fumbled to work as fast as he read the scrolls. He had no real idea how much time was passing, but each second was too long. There were dozens of scrolls, and he looked at each one. Finding nothing of use he ran around the counter to start up the stairs.

He should have told her at High Hall. He should have just said it. He should have thought to find a scroll ahead of time for this very purpose. What a cosmic joke, for her to have made it this far, only to die at the finish line. She deserved better. He would make sure she got a better ending than this. He nearly ran into Lia jumping the last few steps of the staircase. 

“I found one!” 

She held up the scroll and he snatched it out of her hand, narrowly dodging a healer as he ran to the bed where Shadowheart was praying desperately. 

“Found — the scroll —“ he stammered out, short of breath. 

“Use it, quickly,” Jaheira said. 

His fingers fumbled with the clasp that held it shut, as it unfurled he knew he needed to breathe through the panic in his chest. He could do an incantation, he could read the words off of a scroll as he had a hundred times before. There was not a God he prayed to usually, not one he thought to plead with specifically. Mystra, maybe. But given what he knew of her and her friends, Mystra might not be so inclined to help Tav. 

His willpower would have to be enough; this was not how her story ended, he repeated to himself. She was too good, too resilient, too kind, too forgiving, too infuriatingly wonderful — too loved.  Rolan was not going to let her disappear that easily, he vowed as he spoke the incantation.

The spell took hold, golden light shuddering Tav’s body, and then disappearing. For a terrifyingly long moment, he was unsure if it worked. But her eyes blinked, at first it looked like a twitch, but then they fluttered a few times and the light was back in them. Her limbs jolted like she had been electrocuted and then a truly shocking deep gasp for air had her sitting up on the cot. 

“There you are, Cub,” Jaheira said, a steady hand on her shoulder which emitted the familiar green light of her Druidic magic. “Didn’t think we’d let you get out of cleaning up, did you?”

“Hurts,” she sucked breaths in desperately. 

“Lay down,” Shadowheart said. “We’ll find a healer.”

“Where —?”

Rolan was frozen to the spot. She still looked so close to death. Her head swiveled over to him, eyes confusedly still searching for some sense of what was going on. 

“You.” Was all she said. 

“Yeah, me,” he breathed. “Lay down. You look awful.”

“Rude,” she wheezed but let herself ease onto her back. “I think you look… good…” exhaustion, pain or any combination of whatever her body was going through had her slipping out of consciousness. 

“Tav,” Rolan panicked, kneeling next to her. “Damn you, stay awake,” he grabbed her face in his hands and she gave him a heavy lidded stare. 

“Trying,” she said. 

She was still in rough shape. Halsin and Jahiera dumped the last dregs of their limited healing magic into her, doing just enough to keep her from bleeding out on the bed once more. Shadowheart tipped her head back for a basic healing potion, and it dribbled down the side of her face but it brought some of the vibrancy of her skin.

“She won’t succumb to the wounds, but she needs healing quickly,” Halsin seemed to be talking to himself more than them, as he took off to find someone to help. 

“You can rest now,” Shadowheart assured her softly. “Right, Rolan?” 

He wasn’t so sure. But Shadowheart was a healer, she knew better than him. He swallowed hard, and nodded. “That’s right.”

“Good,” Tav mumbled, “tired.” 

Shadowheart and Rolan watched as she slipped into unconsciousness. Her chest rose and fell, although shallowly. Shadowheart heaved a big breath, recomposing herself. She looked around the room, and then to Rolan.

“I need to rest, then I’ll be able to help,” she seemed to be telling herself rather than him. “I’ll stay here,” she said, “I’ll stay with her and rest.”

“What can I do?” Rolan asked desperately. 

“You are the Master of Ramazith’s tower,” Jahiera cut in. “This is your city, you have a duty to its people now — unless you wish to follow Lorroakan’s example, get to work.” Jaheira looked down at Tav, “we will look after her, as she has looked after us.”

Rolan never felt more like an outsider, and he felt he should watch whatever healer Halsin found. If only to see for himself that she was truly going to be alright. Shadowheart was watching the rise and fall of her chest with intense focus, and it felt wrong that she was the only one of their original group by her side. 

“Rolan, there’s a fire that they can’t put out over in Heapside,” Cal was there, Rolan hadn’t even heard him approach. 

“There’s summoning scrolls, water elementals,” he said distractedly. 

“Go,” Shadowheart looked at him. “We’ve got her.”

“And that is supposed to be a comfort?” He snapped. “She was dead just moments ago under your watch!”

“She didn’t tell us,” Shadowheart said back, a tone of shame in her raised voice. “Everything was happening so fast — she didn’t tell us she was hurt!”

“No one here is to blame,” Jaheira was annoyed, he could tell by the arch of her brow. “She would tell you the same.”

He felt another comment on the tip of his tongue, ready to rage and yell to do something with the gods awful feeling in his chest. He nearly lost her. 

“Rolan,” Cal said, “we have to —“

“Fine! Fine.” 

The city still needed saving, despite the threat being gone. Who knew how much help was needed across the city. Running to everyone's rescue was what she would tell him to do, but still he was afraid to leave her side. He touched her cheek: warm, alive, despite looking worse than she ever had after a fight. 

“She’ll be alright?” He asked, wincing slightly at the desperate crack in his voice. 

Shadowheart nodded, her hand coming to squeeze his, “I promise, I won’t let her slip away again.”

Rolan had no other choice but to trust her.

Thank you for reading!

Next Chapter

[shifterglitter]

All Aboard Hippocampus, The Shifting Chariot

EDIT: We have a discord link now. (https://discord.gg/mtZh8FFV)

I want this to be a community Cruise WR/DR where we will get to experience all of the ports this world and the next has to offer. You are all invited to read the information below the cut, and I hope to see you on the seas.

(This will be my first time group shifting and as I understand it, not everyone believes this is possible. If that is true for you, I welcome you to view this invitation as a message from your own subconscious to seek out this vacation with the rest of our “clones”. Or, whatever makes sense to you. Or maybe Group Shifts are not your thing and you want a little more control? Totally fine. Please feel free to take this idea and make it your own. Safe travels.)

SO you are interested! Grand! That makes me very happy. I want you to imagine The Hippocampus as something akin to a magical version of “The Icon of the Seas”. Your Captain for this journey will be none other than Barbie, and she is ecstatic to see you brought safely to each port. 

There are a few Reality Laws I want to touch on before getting into describing what this adventure will be like for us. 

Everyone with residence on the ship will be immortal during the duration of their stay. 

Any vices that may harm you in this world will not carry over to your new reality. 

There will be no disease, viruses, bacteria, fungal, parasitic, infections or other physical ailment that can harm you in this world either. 

You will not feel pain or receive injuries. 

You will not suffer any chronic illnesses or allergies that you may have in other realities. 

Should you be neurodivergent or mentally/physically disabled you may choose whether or not you wish to discard those things at the door.

Your Invitation allows you a +1, however, beyond that extension no one else will be granted access to the ship.

To ensure the safety of all passengers, any people aboard that have violent tendencies will magically have those urges eradicated from them. Even though you can’t be harmed, no one wants to deal with fighting drama.

You will never get tired or need to sleep if you don’t want to.

If you don’t want to eat or drink, that won’t affect your health either. If you don’t do either of these your body will stop needing to use the toilet though. 

If you don’t want to experience a period on this trip you won’t, and you can’t get pregnant for any reason.  

You won’t need to shower to maintain your very fine scent, but you may want to for other reasons.

The weather will always be ideal for sailing. 

The Ship itself is indestructible, will always stay perfectly afloat, and all rooms are soundproof.

There is no money to worry about in this reality. You can’t gamble away your life savings, and everything costs nothing. Want a pastry from a mom and pop shop at port? Scan your roomkey, and that will act as payment. 

Lastly, I highly recommend setting the intention to having no time ratios. If you want to skip a few ports before coming back, you can set that up with your intentions or at the Ports & Excursions desk. 

A few things to keep in mind:

No you do not have to shift at exactly 6pm on Aug 30th. Regardless of when or how you shift, if you intend to make it for the Cast Off Pool Party you will make it there. You can also arrive as early or as late as you wish if you prefer a different experience. 

Upon shifting you will notice a “smart watch” attached to your person. This is your room key, communication device, and will help you keep track of all the things you want to do both on and off the ship. If watches aren’t your thing you can opt for a smart pendant. These items will be entirely water submersible and indestructible. If you lose it at any time head to the Help/CS desk located in the main atrium near the Port and Excursions desk.

Your ship is run by people from the Barbie Universe. Even though they are all happy to be serving you, please treat them with kindness and respect. 

You are welcome to change out your +1 as often as you like via your intentions or by visiting the CS desk. (Helpful for people who don't know if they are a good fit for certain s/os and just want a trial run.)

This cruise is set up to continue indefinitely, so permashifters are more than welcome to make this their home base.

What you can expect upon shifting to our Cast Off Pool Party?

Well first of all this reality won’t look exactly like ours. I figured a few people may bring animated beings along as their +1s so I wanted to pick a look somewhere in the middle that won’t be too jarring. I am sure you are aware that Video Game Graphics can be nearly as realistic as our world if not a little more saturated and slightly less textured. That’s what I’m going for. 

If you want to attend the Pool Party as intended I highly suggest setting your intention to shift directly to your Cabin the day of, or if you prefer awake methods, the loading pier so you get to experience walking on to the ship and directly into the Main Atrium. Which has a huge aquarium full of aquatic pokemon.  (Milotic, Vaporeon, Primarina, Horsea, Magikarp, Goldeen, Shellder, Krabby, Remoraid, Luvdisc, and Finneon.)

I guess if you wanted to you could shift directly into the party itself, but keep in mind that it will be loud and you might get bumped.

Your Accommodations:

Everyone gets their own Balcony Cabin. If you are bringing a +1 they will be staying in your room with you. It will have a spacious bathroom, a king bed that can convert into 2 twin beds, a seating area both inside and out, a desk with a touchscreen computer, a limitless TV, a Magic Mirror, and unlimited room service. (Room and bed size can adjust to fit size and preferences.) Your room's decor is guaranteed to fit your taste and once you arrive you can decorate the outside of your Door, as many cruisers do, if you wish.  The walls are still metal though, so keep in mind that if you are going to hang anything up, you will need magnates. Now, let's talk about your Mirror! It’s in your walk-in closet. It’s going to stand 7ft tall starting from the floor. Upon first looking into it a virtual Barbie or Ken helper will guide you in a user tutorial. (This Virtual Helper can also appear on your TV or Computer with a click of a button to answer any question of yours at any time.) You can “purchase” anything you like from the mirror, favorite upcoming events on the ship, view outfits on yourself, and even alter your appearance and abilities. There is a handle on it which you can use to open and retrieve things from inside. It can change size and shape temporarily to accommodate your needs, and should you need help with any of your purchases you can call room service and ask them to send someone to assist you. 

Food

The Buffet is open 7am to 10:30am for breakfast, 11:30 to 2pm for lunch, and 4pm to 9pm for dinner. This is where you can find port themed food as well. 

2 made to order take away counters at every pool open from 10am to 3am. They are all different and well marked on your roomkey smart maps. (Burgers, Pizza, Fried Chicken, Sushi, Kabob House, Street Tacos, ect…)

A Bar at each poolside for all ages open 24/7

7 elevated dining Specialty restaurants open for 3 scheduled dinner services: 6pm, 8pm, and 10pm (These areas are use for Events and Classes during the day)

If you have brought someone with you that has extreme dietary preferences, you can call room service to have those things ethically provided. (Just like you, they won't need to eat if they don't want to)

Ports

We will always arrive at each port at the perfect time of year to visit them.

Wanna visit a port in a reality you are considering making a DR for, but aren't ready to commit to? Leave the details with the stsff at the help desk and it will be added into the rotation. We will send a message of confirmation to your roomkey ASAP and will remind you the week prior to docking their so you can book the excursions (or custom scenarios) you want.

Port Days: Tuesday (earth), Thursday (earth), & Saturday/Sunday (another world)

Sea Days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Excursions

Just like in this reality, each port will have an aray of pre planned outings if you don’t want to explore on your own. You can schedule as many as you like, and the hours of the day will fit your desires.

Miss Frizzle will be taking a select few onto her bus each week for an extra special seaday excursion. Make sure to see this desk to schedule your turn.

Custom ports & excursions

Want to visit your own DRs on port days, take an extended vacation at a particular port, or go road tripping to the grand canyon without missing the boat as it embarks on its next journey? Head to the CPE Desk in the Main Atrium. We can and will bend the “laws” of time and space for you.

24/7 Activities and Places

Movie Theatre 

**Sailor Camp: A safe space for minors to relax; daily activities (volentairy) lead by Counselor Skipper. Complete with separate spa, mocktail bar, arcade, internet cafe, matted rumpus room, dance hall, and gymnasium. 

Planetarium

Roller Rink

Trampoline Park

Zip Line and Agility course 

Escape room

Interactive art museum (like MeowWolf)

Fitness Gym

Elevated running lap track around the whole ship

Basketball court

Badminton and pickleball courts

6 pools 6 hot tubs 3 solo waterslides and 2 raft waterslides 

Arcade and card tables

Spa: with cold room and sauna (other amenities will need appointments)

Dojo

Slack line

Botanical garden 

Library

Blacklight minigolf

Indoor and outdoor lounges

Tattoo/Piercing parlor

Barber shop

Solan (hair, skin, & nails)

Scheduled Events

Music can be heard all around the ship from 9am to 10pm, but a live DJ or concert of some kind will be playing each night on either the main pool deck or in the dance club until 2am.

Each night there will be 2 showings of a different live show. This show will run for a week before changing. It is not limited to plays or comedy acts as the stage floor can open up to an aquatic or trampoline base. 

Guest speakers can be seen a few times a week. 

Board games, trivia, and gameshow-like events are held every day from noon to 5pm. Look out for a schedule as there will be ttrpg campaigns you can sign up for twice a week. 

If you like craft, dance, or cooking Classes you’ll also want to ask your virtual helper to help you schedule those. 

Adults Only

1 of the 6 pools that has an in water bar

Specialty mixologist and hookah bar off the main atrium; with other age appropriate substances.

Dance Club open until 3am.

The suggestion box is always open at the help desk. Any concerns, ideas, or questions you have right now are welcome in this post's comments. 

[conhivemindcent]

Sorry to bring back up the Titan submersible, but I find it fascinating in a very morbid way. Mostly in terms of the news. This will be the media student in me talking but to me, it’s a perfect example of so many of Galtung and Ruge’s news values. I’ll also be looking at the migrant boat that sunk off the coast of Greece for similar comparison and why an American centric website would probably see more news relating to the submersible.

Put simply, one of Galtung and Ruge’s news values is proximity, aka how close to home it was and how meaningful it is to the people there. Since the submersible launched from Newfoundland, Canada would’ve gotten more news stories about the submersible. Meanwhile, the boat with the immigrants was found off the coast of Greece, with more stories about it there. Since the USA is closer to Canada than Greece, they got more stories about the sub than the boat.

Another value is currency. This is why me, a Brit, got more news coverage on the boat for the first few days. The UK has a known immigration problem and some really dodgy laws about it (basically in most circumstances you can only apply for a permit once you’re in the country but entering the country without a permit is illegal, so it’s a catch 22), so something about immigration would always be more relevant. However, the antithesis recency would affect how in the last few hours of the sub being missing when the air was thought to be running out (so morning and afternoon of 22nd June) there were more stories on the sub.

A fourth value is uniqueness. Sadly, a migrant ship sinking with people dying and going missing is not an uncommon thing nowadays. A maritime disaster involving billionaires touring the Titanic? Never happened before, I hope it will never happen again (and it most likely will not). Of course the news will focus on something that hasn’t happened before - when will they get the chance to do it?

There’s also the values of Elite People. These people were billionaires. The people on the migrant ship were most likely just normal unnoteworthy people. And also recency - the Messenia boat occurred in the 14th June, and by the time the debris of the boat had been discovered it has already been a week.

I think it is important we take these news values into consideration and also how we as a community on Tumblr can see how we played right into these. An American website with a large American usership would naturally gravitate towards an American story, no matter how global it claims to be. In addition, it’s unusual enough with such strange circumstances that jokes and criticisms were bound to occur. The continuity (another news value) of the story with the search was also intriguing, as we saw it play out first hand with the initial disappearance, the potential signals, the discovery of the wreckage. Add in a level of expectedness (another news value - these people would either be found or not, and let’s be honest they were more likely to be dead than alive) and we have a perfectly newsworthy story to top the trending page for a few days.

It’s something I find fascinating, how despite people saying we should focus on the Messenia migrant boat disaster, we were still echoing the news perfectly on the site. One thing I’ve noted is that I didn’t really see anybody mentioning it before the Titan set out, but once the searching started it started becoming more relevant and trending a little below it. This isn’t a call to do better, this is just something I’ve noticed.

If there’s any saving light, out of the estimated 750 (maximum) of migrants, 104 have been confirmed alive and rescued. And I’m so happy for that.

[halfmoon-horse]

Interesting video on the missing Titanic sub. While I'm sickened by individuals spending $250,000 on a tourist visit to the site of a tragedy, my anger and blame is mostly at the company (or companies!) offering such "experiences".

Even if we put aside the fact that this is a mass grave being monetized, there is a complete disregard for health and safety and risk assessment. Some libertarians are against such things, but they should be in place to protect consumers. Individuals do not necessarily understand the risks involved with such activities, even if they sign a waiver to say they do.

The sub does not have a GPS, a radio, a way to remove exhaled carbon dioxide (that we're aware of). It has limited oxygen. It would be diving to depths greater than nuclear submarines do, and we don't know if rescue vehicles can reach those depths. I'm going to guess the answer is no. It is a tiny pod with up to 5 people inside - what happens if an untrained passenger freaks out, hurts others, hyperventillates and uses up too much oxygen, etc.? The possibilities for catastrophe are endless. It's dangerous enough with trained team members on board.

Tourism to the Titanic should not be allowed, not only out of respect but because it is not safe. I've seen people argue that WW1/2 battlefields have "tourism" but these are a) generally much safer, with munition disposal procedures in place, and b) not exploiting the victims' deaths by charging a quarter of a million dollars per ticket.

This should never have been allowed and stricter controls must be put in place to prevent further tragedy and exploitation.

Edit: Want to add that some of my comments are likely incorrect, such as the lack of GPS. Please see sourced articles for facts. However such articles do describe a laughable state of the craft, which does support my message, which is that unregulated activities kill and it is deeply immoral to profit off the Titanic. Want to do research? Apply for funding, or approach a billionaire. But don't slap together a submersible and charge people to ride it.

[marshallpupfan]

The Air Rescue Controversy...

At the time of typing this, the latest episode of PAW Patrol to air was season 11's "Air Rescue: Pups Save a Hum-stronaut". In it, Skye's jet transformed and went out into space, Chase and Marshall dealt with falling debris that caught on fire upon reentry, and Rocky, Rubble and Zuma protected things at Adventure Bay's new airport. The controversial thing here, however, was how the latter three pups referred to themselves as the "ground crew".

The moment I heard them say that, I knew there would be grumbling around the fandom. This, combined with the continued confirmation that only Chase, Marshall and Skye received aerial vehicles, did not sit too well with fans. Those three are off saving the day, while Zuma's "job" is to press buttons to operate the plane wash, Rubble does... whatever he does, and Rocky uses a new vehicle to help load and unload luggage. Fans have pointed out the inequality regarding the treatment of three of these main characters, and how it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

The thing is, I don't necessarily mind the idea. In fact, I'd argue that, on paper, it sounds just fine. People tend to forget that those on the ground are quite important, too. And given the size of Chase, Marshall and Skye's new vehicles, having six large aerial vehicles in the air at the same time, and in the same space, might not be the best idea. This isn't like Jet to the Rescue, in which each pup had tiny, personal planes. Besides, I'm not sure about them trying to squeeze in a "construction plane" or something.

The idea of a ground crew sounds fine... again, on paper. The execution, like many episodes these past seasons, is the problem. If they wanted a ground crew, they should've given the three something to make them just as or close to useful as the other three in the air.

Did they? Nope.

Zuma presses a button to run a plane wash. This is pretty much all he does, outside of sticking a sponge on his paw to clean a lens or push some stairs on wheels around (I think Rubble did this once, too). Compare that to Skye and her new jet, flying around at high speeds and even traveling up into space. It's quite the gap, to say the least.

They really should've done something to prevent this. My personal idea, if you'll indulge a person who still wishes he could write for this cartoon someday, is to just ditch the ground crew idea for those three pups (and give it to someone else, who I'll mention later). Instead, how about each of the three new aerial vehicles has a secondary feature, which is ran by one of those other three pups? Marshall's plane can put out fires, but if there's ever an emergency at sea, he can launch Zuma's dropship submersible. Chase's helicopter can save the day however it does, but if something up high needs repair, Rocky can operate robotic-like arms (similar to what's inside his pup pack) while the copter hovers in place. As for Skye and Rubble, I'm not sure how to squeeze construction equipment in there, but maybe one of you can think of something.

In any case, this could've been a good way to send all of the pups into the air, not to mention it might've made for some fun toys, too ("FIREFIGHTER PLANE SET, WITH MARSHALL FIGUREINE + ZUMA & HIS DROPSHIP!! ONE BUTTON SHOOTS WATER, WHILE THE OTHER LAUNCHES THE DROPSHIP FROM THE BOTTOM!!"). Instead, they stuck three of them on the ground and gave them jobs that, let's face it, could've easily been handled by Robo-Dog. Yeah, he's oddly absent during this subseries, huh? Besides, having each new aerial vehicle carry two pups could've allowed for some fun dialogue during missions, too. Marshall and Zuma can chat while en route, and then Zuma can watch a radar or camera while Marshall's focused on putting out fires. Hey, most planes have a pilot and a co-pilot, right? There are plenty of possibilities!

Sadly, they instead went with something quite questionable. And it's worrisome, given that this could easily happen again under PAW Patrol's new director. Will the next subseries, Fire Rescue, continue this unequal treatment? Will Marshall, Chase and Skye get fancy new firefighting vehicles while Zuma only presses a button to open a garage door, Rocky just puts tools on the new vehicles and sometimes makes repairs, and Rubble gets a smaller vehicle that's designed only to refill the water tanks in said new vehicles? It goes without saying that fans are hoping that's not the case.

Despite my complaints over the last few years, I still like PAW Patrol... but I can't help but shake my head at some of their decisions as of late. It seems like every time the franchise does something good, something bad comes along to drag it down again. They give us Boomer, and then they give us Zuma's plane wash. It's weird.

Given that Marshall's my favorite, I'm hoping Fire Rescue avoids this issue. I really want his subseries to win fans over and give us something great. I don't want to see it become another Air Rescue, which hasn't even concluded yet and it's already left some fans so disappointed.

Well, we do have four 11-minute segments remaining of Air Rescue, so hopefully it'll give the "ground crew" something good to make the idea worth it. Hey, you never know! Let's hope, anyway.

[mariacallous]

Wreckage of the Titan’s innovative carbon fiber hull was found separated into three distinct layers, US National Transportation Safety Board engineer Donald Kramer has told a Coast Guard hearing into the fatal implosion of the OceanGate submersible in 2023.

Although Kramer would not offer an opinion on what caused the hull to delaminate into separate layers, he testified to multiple problems with the hull, beginning with its manufacture in 2020.

Using samples of carbon fiber saved from its construction, as well as dozens of pieces recovered from the seabed, the NTSB gave the most complete picture to date of the experimental nature of the Titan’s hull.

After the Titan’s first hull was found to have a crack and delamination following deep dives in 2019, OceanGate switched manufacturers to replace it.

The new manufacturer, Electroimpact, used a multistage process to wind and cure the five-inch-thick hull in five separate layers. Each layer would be baked at high temperature and pressure before being ground flat, having an adhesive sheet added, and another layer built on top. The idea of this multistep process was to reduce wrinkles in the final hull that the company believed had caused test models to fail short of their design depths.

However, Kramer testified that the NTSB found several anomalies in the fresh hull samples. There was waviness in four of the five layers, and wrinkles that got progressively worse from layer to layer. The NTSB also found that some layers had porosity—gaps in the resin material—four times larger than specified in the design. It also recorded voids between the five layers.

On Monday, Roy Thomas, a materials expert from the American Bureau of Shipping, told the hearing: “Defects such as voids, blisters on surface, and porosity can weaken carbon fiber, and under extreme hydrostatic pressure can accelerate the failure of a hull.”

OceanGate did not make any additional test models using the new multistage process.

The NTSB was able to recover many pieces of the carbon fiber hull from the seafloor, one still attached to one of the submersible’s titanium end domes. In a report issued simultaneously with Kramer’s testimony, the NTSB noted that there were few, if any, full-thickness hull pieces. All of the visible pieces had delaminated into three shells: the innermost of the five layers, a shell made of the second and third layers, and another with the fourth and fifth layers. Like an onion being peeled, the hull had largely separated at the adhesive joining the layers.

The scene was set for Kramer on Monday, with testimony from Phil Brooks, OceanGate’s director of engineering until March 2023. Brooks was asked about a loud bang that had been heard when the Titan surfaced from a successful dive to the Titanic in July 2022.

About 10 minutes after the submersible surfaced, its crew and passengers heard a bang “as loud as an explosion,” according to a witness last week. When the Titan returned to its support ship, Brooks downloaded data from acoustic sensors and strain gauges mounted on its carbon fiber hull.

Five of the eight acoustic sensors captured the noise. The other three showed nothing and were likely nonfunctional, according to Kramer. On Monday, NTSB investigators noted that the acoustic sensors had not recorded useful data for several preceding dives.

The strain data, measuring stretching in the hull, also showed a shift coinciding with the bang. Brooks had seen a similar but larger change in strain just before an earlier scale model of the Titan’s hull failed dramatically in testing. “A sudden shift is something to be concerned about,” he testified. “But it was fairly minor, on two out of the 16 strain gauges.”

Brooks also admitted, however, that three of Titan’s strain gauges had never worked since it was rebuilt and that he was “probably not” qualified to decide on the significance of the change in the strain data. Brooks trained as an electronics engineer and computer scientist, and he deferred on mechanical issues to CEO Stockton Rush, one of five people who died in the Titan.

Brooks said that Rush believed that the bang originated in an external metal frame that held the hull and that Rush gave the go-ahead for future dives. “Without my being a qualified mechanical engineer, his explanation sounded plausible,” said Brooks.

One former OceanGate engineer told WIRED they thought the bang could have been layers in the carbon fiber parting or the hull separating from the titanium end rings: “The degree of the separation can’t be known, but it could have been the beginning of the end.”

The Titanic dives continued without Brooks or Rush doing any further investigation of the noise or consulting with outside experts.

“We didn’t see any further shifts in strain data. No loud bangs,” said Brooks. “Nothing with the acoustic monitoring that seemed out of the ordinary.”

In fact, Kramer’s own analysis of strain data showed that the changes persisted for at least the next three dives. The NTSB did not have sensor data from the Titan’s 2023 missions.

At the end of the 2022 dives, Brooks lobbied to bring the Titan back to OceanGate’s headquarters for testing. “We really wanted to bring the sub back to Everett, Washington, and look for cracks,” he testified. “It was frustrating because it was left at St. John’s [in Newfoundland] at the dock. We were told it was cost-prohibitive. They were low on money.”

A maintenance log for the Titan shows no repairs or adjustments were made to the submersible between late July 2022 and late March 2023.

The hearings continue this week, although it will likely be many months before the Coast Guard issues its final report into the accident.