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anomaly-hivemind · 1 month ago

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Dive In ☆ Merman! Gojo x Scrientist! Reader | Kinktober Day 14

Summary: You were brought in to study a merman whom you heard was quite aggressive; however, he’s always been kind to you. You were able to get close. Maybe a bit too close.

Word Count: 3978

Tags: Merman!Gojo, afab!reader, vaginal penetration, scratch marks, porn with plot, cunnilingus, handjobs, experimental sex, mating, government facilities, the reader becomes a fugitive, mating rituals, creampie, breeding, transformations, wet dreams.

When you got a call from the federal government you didn’t know what to expect. You were honestly a bit worried that you had done something you weren’t supposed to and were going to be silenced. The last thing you expected to see however was a mermaid, or merman in this case.

You were a NOAA scientist and had seen so many strange sea creatures, so the possibility of mermaids being out there wasn't out of the realm of possibility. However, you didn’t think that they would exist like this. The closest thing humanity has had to mermaids is manatees and dugongs. When thinking critically this is what most people assumed mermaids would look similarly to. That they would have rough skin and blubber and coarse hair or fur. However, this merman swimming before you looked like something right out of a fairy tale.

Based on the way it floated around his head, his hair looked to be the same texture as human hair. His whole upper half looked to be very human aside from the gills you could see on the sides of his neck, the fins on his arms, and the fin-like ears he had.

“Ah Dr.L/N, Pleased to meet you,” An older man came up to you and extended his hand. He was in a fine pair of slacks and a pristine button-down with a black tie and white lab coat overtop.

You took his hand and gave it a firm shake. He introduced himself as the lead researcher for this top-secret project and gave you the rundown. A fisherman from a small town in Kauai, Hawaii called in about a wild animal of some sort stealing fish. Eventually, another fisherman got a strange “Fishman” caught in his nets and called the Coast Guard, and from there, it became a bit more about coverup from the general public. The fisherman was compensated handsomely to keep hush and this merman was carted off to this government facility.

They began running tests and researching the merman however he attacked one of the researchers and they ended up losing an eye. So they had to pivot and decided to bring in someone with expertise in predatory marine life, that being you.

You looked back at the white-haired merman in the tank, he didn’t look aggressive, but you’d have to be an idiot to think that he wasn’t actually dangerous.

“I’ll let you take over as lead researcher, come on and I’ll introduce you to the team.” You followed after him and met the other researchers. It was a small group, most likely for the sake of confidentiality. They were kind but you didn’t want to waste any time chatting when you were eager to learn more about the merman.

The tank of the merman was that of a large shark, it was important to keep a new species as comfortable as possible to avoid any personal injuries. At the bottom it was made of the usually thick tempered glass of any high-grade aquarium, Is almost twenty feet deep of water, wide enough for the merman to swim freely without bumping into the walls, and filled to the brim with clean salt water filtering into the tank.

A cage was newly added on top of the tank after the first incident to ensure the workers' safety. So the only way to get up close and personal was up the flight of stairs and through the locked door to stand on the built-in ledge over the water/tank opening.

You walked back over to the tank where the merman swam around lethargically. You ripped off a paper from a nearby notepad and took the pen as you began writing basic facts about his appearance.

Long white hair, pale skin, silvery-blue scales covering the tail, and a few stray clusters of scales in the torso here and there, slightly forked caudal fin, fins are a translucent dark blue. About 12 ft long. You looked back up and were met with the merman in question staring back at you. His eyes were such a mesmerizing shade of blue, like the sky, or shining jewels.

You wondered if it was an evolutionary trait to aid hunting. His webbed hands were pressed up against the glass with his sharp nails on display.

Yeah, definitely dangerous. You thought, thinking back to the researcher who lost an eye.

One of the researchers called for you and when you turned back round the merman had swam to the back of the tank. You were looking forward to officially starting work.

-----------------------

The first few days you spent observing the merman’s behaviors. It seemed like he could tell what fish had been the most recently caught because that’s what he prefers.

You put in an order request for aquatic plants as you wanted to see if he was omnivorous however they hadn’t come in yet. Based on his behavior you would say that he’s just as curious about you as you are to him. He had never displayed aggressive behavior when you were around and he wasn’t exactly eating from your hand but you could hand the fish to him at feeding times instead of tossing it into the tank like the other researchers.

You were sitting by the tank, reviewing your notes and drawing diagrams of his outward physiology when you heard someone call your name.

“Hello?” You called out, looking up from your work, however no one was there.

“Y/N…” They called out again. You looked towards the tank and saw the merman peering over the edge, his hands were gripping the metal bars and he was looking at you curiously.

“Y/N,” He repeated…

“You can talk?!” The merman cocked his head before diving back into the tank. You raced to the top and peered over the edge. He swam back to the top and looked at you.

“Y/N.” He can really talk.

“Yes, that’s my name, Y/N.” You said, gesturing to yourself.”Do you have a name?”

“Y/N,” he repeated once again. You sighed. Maybe he can only make parrot noises. It was impressive nonetheless.

“I am Y/N, you are…?”

“Sa..to..ru,” He said. “Satoru,” He said. His bright eyes stare back at you.

“Okay then, nice to meet you Satoru,” You smiled.

-----------------------

Satoru picked up speaking fairly quickly, he wasn't fluent and often flubbed his sentences but he had a good grasp of language. With that addition, it became much easier to observe his personality and mannerisms.

He had no concept of money but boy did he have expensive taste. Almost immediately after learning how to speak, he began voicing complaints and making requests. Apparently, the cod and red snapper he’s being fed aren’t good enough, and after much back and forth on what exactly he was talking about he requested bluefin tuna, Alaskan salmon, and swordfish.

He was very playful, at least with you. He Loved to call your name… and to tell the other researchers to go away. Those were his favorite things to say.

You walked up the stairs with your lunch and lunch for Satoru, which was halibut today.

“Hello, Y/N,” Satoru said, quickly swimming up to the surface and flashing you a sharp-tooth smile.

“Hello Satoru,” You tossed him the fish and he began eating eagerly. You applied sanitizer then wiped your hands with a wet wipe before opening your lunch to begin eating.

“What’s that?” Satoru asked, looking back at you, he was somehow already done eating.

“This is nigiri sushi, it’s thinly sliced raw fish over rice. Wanna try some?”

“Really?” He said, with wide eyes. You nodded, taking a piece of salmon nigiri and offering it to him. Instead of taking it, he ate it straight out of your hand in one bite. His cold lips tickled and he licked the stray grains of rice from your hand.

“So… what do you think?”

He was silent for a moment before smiling back at you. It made your heart flutter a bit but you pushed the feeling back.

“I Like it,”

“Here have some more,” you said, offering straight from the box this time.

When you went home and went to sleep that night you had a dream about Satoru, He was human. His white hair was short and fluffy, and he still had piercing blue eyes. You were lying on the beach together on the sand, and for some reason, he was kissing all over your legs, his plump lips softly made their way up your legs, and right as his face was inches away from your groin you woke up.

You woke up covered in sweat, your pajamas sticking to your skin as you stared up in the dark abyss. Your breath heaved… and it took a while before you could go back to sleep.

After that day, Satoru became even more attached to you and complained when you weren’t by his side.

A while later the head researcher stopped by to see how things were going.

“So I hear you’ve gotten pretty close with the merman, even got him to talk,”

“Satoru, yes. He’s very interesting, he has two pairs of lungs one for the air and the other for the dissolved oxygen in the water and..” You proceeded to ramble on about what you’ve learned and his personality. “While he is a predator I haven’t been able to observe any real aggressive behavior, he’s always so sweet and curious when I’m around- oh I’m sorry I’m rambling,”

The head researcher laughed and waved his hand,” You’re all good, almost sounds like love to me.”

Your face grew hot and you laughed off what he said.”What can I say, I really love my work,”

“That’s amazing, you’ve been doing wonderful work here.” He said looking at all the data you’ve collected.

“I’m sensing a but…” You said, wringing your hands together nervously.

“I’ll get right to the point then, you don’t have any data on how or if they reproduce,”

Oh… right. You were certainly curious about it since you learned he could talk, you had been putting it off, it felt less like research and more like an invasion of his privacy.

“I’ll get on it, sir,” You nodded.

-----------------------

You headed over to the tank with papers to talk with Satoru. As usual, when you walked up, Satoru swam right over with his usual smile.

“Hello Y/N,”

“Hello Satoru,” You said with a sigh.”So I had a few questions, but they’re a bit more personal.” You blushed thinking about it, you’d start off with the normal stuff first.

“Okay,”

��So are there others out there like you? Before you came here were you in a group?”

“A few. But I was not with a pod before being here.” He answered.

“Why weren’t you with your pod?”

“I was looking. Looking for a mate.” He said, his eyes meeting yours.

“Oh, is that what you all do? Split off to find a mate?” You asked.

“No, just me. A mate is an equal, in the pod I am the best. No equal, no mate. So I went off, to find another strong as me.”

“How long have you been looking for a mate?” Pausing from what you were writing.

He paused for a moment before answering.”Twenty-Eight moon cycles,”

That was about two years! Must get lonely, all by himself, separated from his pod, you thought. Maybe you could help him escape, you could convince them that it’s better to observe the group rather than one mercreature on its own (I mean you weren’t lying.)

“So if you could, I guess you would go home huh?” you asked, already knowing the answer.

“Only if you went.” You were surprised by that answer.

“Why me?”

“It’s bad to leave mates behind,” he answered. At first, you thought he was joking but you remembered you hadn’t explained the concept yet, he was completely serious.

“Satoru, what makes you think we’re mates?” You asked, your face growing a bit hot.

“You share your nigiri with me; only mates share food, or parents and pups.”

Oh…

OH…

No wonder he was so surprised when you offered him the Nigiri, and why he’s been so clingy.

“I didn’t know, I’m sorry,”

“You don’t want to be my mate then?” He asked with a sad expression which made you feel like you were shot through the heart.

“It’s not exactly that, I’m not a mermaid, I can’t breathe underwater,”

“Mates can be human, you’ll change after the mate bond,”

“I’ll grow a tail?” you asked bewildered.

“No, gills, scales, fins, then tail”

“I’m not nearly as physically strong as you either,” You replied.

“No, but you know many things, knowing many things like fish, many things that will be good for the pod.”

While you were intrigued by the process it just seemed like too much. At least that’s what you tried to tell yourself.

“It’s me then, you don’t like me.”

“No, no, no I do like you, I love you, Satoru, but ah-” You stopped when you caught what you said.

“...Love? What’s what?”

“It’s when others feel strongly about each other, when they really really like eachother or something. Like families or friends or a pet… or a mate…” You said swallowing nervously.

“So you love me?” He asked, his body basically pressed up against the edge of the platform.

“...yes,”

“Do you love me like family?”

“... No,” you said, shaking your head.

“Like a pet?”

“No,”

“Then do you love me like a mate?” You looked back at him and as you looked into his eyes you knew the answer.

“Yes, Satoru, I love you, I’ll be your mate.” As you said those words he had the biggest grin on his face and dived back into the water, swiftly swimming in circles and flipping out of the water. You laughed, you had never seen him this happy before.

He swam back over to where you sat and leaned over your lap, water dripping onto your legs.

“How does mating work anyways?”

“It’s easier to show than to tell, but not here, in shallow water,” He explained.

“Okay, then I guess I definitely have to break you out of here then, It wouldn’t be right to leave my mate locked up in some secret government facility.”

You waited until dark when everyone had gone aside from security here and there before you began your heist. You got one of the big carts they wheeled around all the fish they fed Satoru in and filled it with water. Then there was the painstaking process of getting him out of the tank and down the stairs. You knew you couldn't carry him when he weighed well over eight hundred pounds so you had to guide him and make sure he didn’t hurt himself as he flopped down the metal stairs.

Then you wheeled him out and into your car, however the best you could do for him was plenty of tarps and an inflatable pool to turn the back seat of your minivan into a makeshift tank of some sort, You grabbed some things from home and then drove to where you hoped no one could find you, which just so happened to be a place that looked like a mermaid grotto.

It wasn’t easy to get him from your car to the water but it was worth it to see the smile on his face.

“Y/n, dive into the water,” Satoru called; you stripped from your clothes and cannonballed into the spring. Satoru swam in circles around you; his blue fins sparkled under the moonlight.

You laughed as he made small splashes around you. He swam closer to you and wrapped his wet arms around your waist.

“Uhh Satoru…?”

“Didn’t you want to know how we mate?” Satoru said in a low voice, the seductive look in his eyes sent a chill down your spine. His cool fingers caressed your face, pushing your loose hair behind your ear.

“Yeah,” you turn to fully look at him, wrapping your arms around him.

“Great,” His lips pressed against yours, happily obliging to kiss him back. As you continued, the kiss became heated. His cold fingers slipped down your bare skin, and your back pressed against the edge of the grotto pool.

“I can't say I'll be fully gentle but I'll make sure you're fully taken care of,” he said as his nails scratched against your skin. You hissed, and he pressed soft kisses to your neck. The mating process was kinda rough, but you liked it as well.

“If you don’t mind me asking why is the scratching necessary?” you do your best to look at the marks on your skin.

“Scratching is arousing, You are turned on, are you not?” he runs his sharp nail down your arm slightly.

“Yes, but I can show you a better way,” You said, guiding his hand down to your cunt. His eyes widened a bit as he felt your folds with the pads of his fingers. As he pressed against your mound of flesh, you could feel the webbing between his fingers, between that and those nails of his, you were certain there wouldn’t be any fingering for you today.

He pressed against your clit, and you took a sharp breath. He quirked his head to the side.

“Does that feel good?” he whispered while staring up into your eyes.

You nodded and added more. His fingers began massaging your nub in small circles. You rested your head on his shoulder and let out a little moan.

“Bite me” Gojo whimpered and it took a second to process what he said. But you were already on his shoulder the least you could do was obliged him. You sink your teeth into his shoulder and with his thick skin was tough to mark into him. He lets out a pleased hiss as you effectively caused a small dent just off near his gills.

“Now it's your turn. Sorry, this may hurt a bit,” he said teasingly, her lips ghosting over your skin before he sunk his teeth into your shoulder. You winced with how deep his teeth were; you were sure that they had drawn blood.

Satoru wrapped his hands around your waist and lifted you out of the water onto the rocks. He gently parted your legs before leaning forward. He pressed soft, tender kisses to your inner thighs. His cold lips tickled and made your stomach do somersaults. His tongue took a precautionary lick to your pussy before lapping at your wet folds.

A small moan escaped your lips as his lips closed around your clit. His tongue circled, flicked, and sucked out your sensitive bud. You couldn’t control the noises that were coming out of your mouth, and your legs were enclosing around Satoru’s head. He used his strong hands to hold them open, his wet palms gripping your thighs.

Just as you were about to release all over his face, Satoru pulled away. You whined and looked up at him.

“Don’t you wanna get to the good part?” He gave you a smirk.

He slid up onto the rocks beside you and positioned himself in an off-able way. Your hand hovered in the air for a moment, and you weren’t quite sure what you were supposed to be doing. You guessed that Satoru sensed your confusion because he grabbed your hand and guided it to where a slit was ah, yes, his mermanussy. Your fingers slipped around and stroked the area for a moment before his long, smooth length slipped out of it, springing out from its sheath and bobbing in the air.

Your hand warped around his member and stroked it up and down a few times. He was slightly slimy and slim-tipped, with it being more skin color. Your finger teased his tip, and his sticky precum followed in strong lines attached to your fingers. You twisted and turned your hands as you jerked him until he was amply hard.

Now that he was rock hard, you positioned yourself to be on top of him and slowly sunk down on his cock. You moaned, and Satoru hissed.

“There's no going back now,” you said and slowly began to move your hips to meet him. He grabs your hips and moves up to suck in your skin.

“You feel so good~” Satoru tightened his grip and started to fuck up into you. You pressed yourself on his chest to be upright in order to not be a mushed mess laying on top of him. You flattened your hands on his chest as you rode him gently, your hole clenched around him as you bounced on his long cock. Wet sounds and the lewd noise of skin slapping against skin bouncing around the grotto walls, along with the wanton moans coming from your mouth.

The rocking of his hips meets yours as you hold back the urge to wiggle and squirm. Your walls flutter around his length, and you take him in a kiss. It was messy, passionate, and pretty uncoordinated, but neither did you care because you were caught up in the moment.

Satoru tilts your body back a bit as he ruts into you with a new determined force. You felt like you had little control at this unbalanced angle. He licks your breast and kisses your neck, and you let out whines and moans. Satoru let out a few whimpers as he got closer to climax, and you were definitely right along with him.

“Ahh, I’m gonna cum, come inside me!” you panted out, feeling like the air was getting harder to breathe.

You couldn't come back anymore, and you let yourself experience a sweet release. The walls of your cunt clench around him as he comes, and your juices leak around the base of his cock. Around the same time, Satoru groaned, his grip on you growing tighter and his nails digging into your hips, and hot ropes of cum spilled inside your pussy. Your warm walls milked him of every last drop, the translucent milky liquid leaking from your hole.

You slowly remove him from inside you, feeling his fluid leaking out of you with a sticky slowness.

You smile fondly as you rest against his chest. You fell asleep on his strong chest. Not much later, you woke up to a strange sensation. You had a strong urge to jump in the water like it would be more enriching than the air. You slowly and carefully slipped out of Satoru’s arms and into the water. As your head ducks under you find yourself not needing to hold your breath. You reached up and felt delicate gills on the sides of your neck.

Then scales pushed their way through your skin, and fins sprouted out along with webbing between your fingers finally, and most uncomfortably, your legs stuck themself together and overtop grew flesh and scales. Your legs and back hurt so bad like your bones were breaking and reforming. However, the pain didn’t last longer than a few moments, and when you flexed your new tail, it felt much more flexible than you imagined. It was almost like your body was a worm in a string with the way you could toggle around.

When satoru woke up he looked over at your new form with admiration. He slipped into the water to get a better view. You looked out at the surface world one last time before taking Satoru’s hand and diving into the world below.

“So, are you excited to see your pod after such a long time?”

“I’m excited for you to pop out some guppies,” Satoru smirked as you both swam off to your new life.

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usafphantom2 · 4 months ago

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B-2 Stealth Bomber Demoes QUICKSINK Low Cost Maritime Strike Capability During RIMPAC 2024

The U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit carried out a QUICKSINK demonstration during the second SINKEX (Sinking Exercise) of RIMPAC 2024. This marks the very first time a B-2 Spirit has been publicly reported to test this anti-ship capability.

David Cenciotti

B-2 QUICKSINK

File photo of a B-2 Spirit (Image credit: Howard German / The Aviationist)

RIMPAC 2024, the 29th in the series since 1971, sees the involvement of 29 nations, 40 surface ships, three submarines, 14 national land forces, over 150 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel. During the drills, two long-planned live-fire sinking exercises (SINKEXs) led to the sinking of two decommissioned ships: USS Dubuque (LPD 8), sunk on July 11, 2024; and the USS Tarawa (LHA 1), sunk on July 19. Both were sunk in waters 15,000 feet deep, located over 50 nautical miles off the northern coast of Kauai, Hawaii.

SINKEXs are training exercises in which decommissioned naval vessels are used as targets. These exercises allow participating forces to practice and demonstrate their capabilities in live-fire scenarios providing a unique and realistic training environment that cannot be replicated through simulations or other training methods.

RIMPAC 2024’s SINKEXs allowed units from Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, South Korea, and various U.S. military branches, including the Air Force, Army, and Navy, to enhance their skills and tactics as well as validate targeting, and live firing capabilities against surface ships at sea. They also helped improve the ability of partner nations to plan, communicate, and execute complex maritime operations, including precision and long-range strikes.

LRASM

During the sinking of the ex-Tarawa, a U.S. Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet deployed a Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). This advanced, stealthy cruise missile offers multi-service, multi-platform, and multi-mission capabilities for offensive anti-surface warfare and is currently deployed from U.S. Navy F/A-18 and U.S. Air Force B-1B aircraft.

The AGM-158C LRASM, based on the AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range (JASSM-ER), is the new low-observable anti-ship cruise missile developed by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy. NAVAIR describes the weapon as a defined near-term solution for the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) air-launch capability gap that will provide flexible, long-range, advanced, anti-surface capability against high-threat maritime targets.

QUICKSINK

Remarkably, in a collaborative effort with the U.S. Navy, a U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber also took part in the second SINKEX, demonstrating a low-cost, air-delivered method for neutralizing surface vessels using the QUICKSINK. Funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the QUICKSINK experiment aims to provide cost-effective solutions to quickly neutralize maritime threats over vast ocean areas, showcasing the flexibility of the joint force.

The Quicksink initiative, in collaboration with the U.S. Navy, is designed to offer innovative solutions for swiftly neutralizing stationary or moving maritime targets at a low cost, showcasing the adaptability of joint military operations for future combat scenarios. “Quicksink is distinctive as it brings new capabilities to both current and future Department of Defense weapon systems, offering combatant commanders and national leaders fresh methods to counter maritime threats,” explained Kirk Herzog, the program manager at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).

Traditionally, enemy ships are targeted using submarine-launched heavyweight torpedoes, which, while effective, come with high costs and limited deployment capabilities among naval assets. “Heavyweight torpedoes are efficient at sinking large ships but are expensive and deployed by a limited number of naval platforms,” stated Maj. Andrew Swanson, division chief of Advanced Programs at the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron. “Quicksink provides a cost-effective and agile alternative that could be used by a majority of Air Force combat aircraft, thereby expanding the options available to combatant commanders and warfighters.”

Regarding weapon guidance, the QUICKSINK kit combines a GBU-31/B Joint Direct Attack Munition’s existing GPS-assisted inertial navigation system (INS) guidance in the tail with a new radar seeker installed on the nose combined with an IIR (Imaging Infra-Red) camera mounted in a fairing on the side. When released, the bomb uses the standard JDAM kit to glide to the target area and the seeker/camera to lock on the ship. Once lock on is achieved, the guidance system directs the bomb to detonate near the hull below the waterline.

Previous QUICKSINK demonstrations in 2021 and 2022 featured F-15E Strike Eagles deploying modified 2,000-pound GBU-31 JDAMs. This marks the very first time a B-2 Spirit has been publicly reported to test this anti-ship capability. Considering a B-2 can carry up to 16 GBU-31 JDAMs, this highlights the significant anti-surface firepower a single stealth bomber can bring to a maritime conflict scenario.

Quicksink

F-15E Strike Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. with modified 2,000-pound GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions as part of the second test in the QUICKSINK Joint Capability Technology Demonstration on April 28, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo / 1st Lt Lindsey Heflin)

SINKEXs

“Sinking exercises allow us to hone our skills, learn from one another, and gain real-world experience,” stated U.S. Navy Vice Adm. John Wade, the RIMPAC 2024 Combined Task Force Commander in a public statement. “These drills demonstrate our commitment to maintaining a safe and open Indo-Pacific region.”

Ships used in SINKEXs, known as hulks, are prepared in strict compliance with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations under a general permit the Navy holds pursuant to the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act. Each SINKEX requires the hulk to sink in water at least 6,000 feet deep and more than 50 nautical miles from land.

In line with EPA guidelines, before a SINKEX, the Navy thoroughly cleans the hulk, removing all materials that could harm the marine environment, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), petroleum, trash, and other hazardous materials. The cleaning process is documented and reported to the EPA before and after the SINKEX.

Royal Netherlands Navy De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate HNLMS Tromp (F803) fires a Harpoon missile during a long-planned live fire sinking exercise as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. (Royal Netherlands Navy photo by Cristian Schrik)

SINKEXs are conducted only after the area is surveyed to ensure no people, marine vessels, aircraft, or marine species are present. These exercises comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and are executed following permits and authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Endangered Species Act, and Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act.

The ex-Dubuque, an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, was commissioned on September 1, 1967, and served in Vietnam, Operation Desert Shield, and other missions before being decommissioned in June 2011. The ex-Tarawa, the lead amphibious assault ship of its class, was commissioned on May 29, 1976, participated in numerous operations including Desert Shield and Iraqi Freedom, and was decommissioned in March 2009.

This year marks the second time a Tarawa-class ship has been used for a SINKEX, following the sinking of the ex-USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) during RIMPAC 2006.

H/T Ryan Chan for the heads up!

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

@TheAviationist.com

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rjzimmerman · 7 months ago

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Excerpt from this story from Kaua'i Now:

The developer of a controversial proposed Ka‘ū residential and commercial community on the Big Island will have to wait to find out if it will be approved for a special management area use permit to move forward with project — or if it will be considered at all — following a special meeting Monday of the Hawai‘i County Windward Planning Commission in Hilo.

Commissioners granted standing for petitions in a contested case hearing filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and ‘Iewe Hanau o Ka ‘Āina. Both organizations object to the special use permit sought by Black Sand Beach LLC to develop Punalu‘u Village on 147 acres around Punalu‘u Black Sand Beach Park, about 6 miles southwest of Pāhala.

The proposed development, which could cost up to $350 million, has run up against a wall of opposition from Ka‘ū community members, residents from elsewhere throughout Hawai‘i and even people from the mainland who say it not only threatens the environment, it would desecrate cultural sites.

There also are concerns about the cost of living increasing because of the development, outside influence in the community, destruction of the pristine Punalu‘u coastline, threat of wildfire because of the state of the former resort buildings, larger numbers of people in the area and loss of a way of life along with historical and generational knowledge, among others.

The Center for Biological Diversity has a legally protected interest in the survival and recovery of endangered and threatened species and their habitats.

Members, some of whom are descendants of Native Hawaiians who inhabited the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778, have a vested interest in the species, habitat and natural and cultural environment at Punalu‘u, which would be impacted by the proposed development.

The spike in how many people are in Punalu‘u and water quality issues also will impact the animal and plant life there. ‘Iewe Hanau o Ka ‘Āina, which also has members descended from Native Hawaiians who inhabited the islands before 1778, is concerned about the endangered and threatened species of the area.

That includes the threatened nēnē (Hawaiian goose) that hang out on the golf course, endangered green sea turtles and critically endangered hawksbill turtles that nest at Punalu‘u.

#Black Sand Beach LLC #Black Sand Beach LLC to develop Punalu‘u Village #Hawai'i #green sea turtles #hawksbill turtles

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shake-your-money-maker · 4 months ago

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On this date in 1991, "Point Break" was released.

Development of "Point Break" began in 1986, when W. Peter Iliff wrote an initial treatment for the film. Matthew Broderick, Johnny Depp, Val Kilmer, and Charlie Sheen all being considered to play the Johnny Utah character, with Ridley Scott directing. However production fell through. Four years later, after acquiring the screenplay, the producers of "Point Break," Peter Abrams and Robert L. Levy, began looking for a director. At the time, executive producer James Cameron was married to director Kathryn Bigelow, who had just completed "Blue Steel" and was looking for her next project. Only Iliff is credited for the screenplay, but Cameron has said that he did a considerable amount of writing with Bigelow for the final film, helping to establish a better plot flow.

"Point Break" was originally called "Johnny Utah" when Keanu Reeves was cast in the title role. Reeves liked the name of his character, as it reminded him of star athletes like Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana. He described his character as "a total control freak and the ocean beats him up and challenges him. After a while, everything becomes a game. He becomes as amoral as any criminal. He loses the difference between right and wrong."

The studio, however, felt that "Johnny Utah" as a title said very little about surfing and by the time Patrick Swayze was cast, the film had been renamed "Riders on the Storm" after the famous song by The Doors. However, Jim Morrison's lyrics had nothing to do with the film and so that title was also rejected. It was not until halfway through filming that "Point Break" became the film's title because of its relevance to surfing.

Two months before filming, Lori Petty, Reeves and Swayze trained with former world-class professional surfer Dennis Jarvis on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Jarvis remembers, "Patrick said he'd been on a board a couple of times, Keanu definitely had not surfed before, and Lori had never been in the ocean in her life." Shooting the surfing sequences proved to be challenging for all three actors, with Swayze cracking four of his ribs. For many of the surfing scenes, he refused to use a stunt double as he never had one for fight scenes or car chases. He also did the skydiving scenes himself and the film's aerial jump instructor Jim Wallace found that he was a natural and took to it right away. Swayze ended up making 55 jumps for the film.

Swayze actually based aspects of his character after one of his stunt doubles, Darrick Doerner, a top big wave surfer. After learning to surf for the film, Reeves took a liking to it and took it up as a hobby.

#point break

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catboymoments · 1 year ago

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Headcanon: Juno repeatedly listens to the incomplete duet of the last Kauai o'o despite deteriorating into a sobbing mess each and every single time

(I am totally not projecting)

GODDDD

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appleimps · 1 year ago

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I was talking a bit about this on twitter, but man. I've decided that, yes, I want Yalda to be a percussionist and that I want hir to have a collection of percussion instruments but one he keeps on his person at all times, tied to hir hip, is their ipu (a percussion instrument made from the ipu gourd, meant to be played with the tips of your fingers and the heel of your palm)

Ramblings under the cut ;_;

I talked about this with someone but since Yalda is from the OOT era and has a lot of resentment and feelings of grief and anger inside them towards the Sheikah (even though to Yalda, they still consider them her people. Its very complicated for them lol)

BUT when they come back in ToTK thanks to the curse pact, they wind up falling in pretty easily with the Yiga clan. The understanding and solidarity over leaving the Sheikah, and the levity that Kohga's personality provides LOL I feel would really help lighten Yalda's soul. He would find the Yiga endearing and comforting.

So i think she'd have a home with them, and would stash all of hir instruments there. Their ipu heke (bigger, double gourded version of the smaller ipu), tambourines/hand drums, clackers, rattlers...

The one i keep thinking about though are pu'ili sticks tho like. I keep imagining Yalda dancing at Yiga parties with them (the others too, bc ALL the instruments I imagine him having are ones that are meant to/can be held and danced with)

This is how I imagine Yalda dancing with the most at Yiga celebrations and idk. I know its nostalgia bc my family is from Hawai'i (Kauai specifically) so this is what I'm familiar with bc I grew up doing hula and going to festivals &competitions and etc and now I'm projecting this stuff onto Yalda nshdjbdb ;o;<3

#Yalda #wahhh ;_; im embarassed but i cant stop thinking abt this tbh #idk if i should make it canon for Yalda but.... its on my mind u_u<3

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dreaminginthedeepsouth · 2 years ago

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The Chinese balloon that transfixed America in recent days was no surprise to Cheng Ming-dean. “This balloon has been appearing for a long time!” the head of Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau wrote on Facebook on Saturday, pointing to a picture of the same kind of balloon taken by an agency employee in September 2021.

The US government’s outing and downing of the balloon have focused global attention on China’s sprawling programme for so-called lighter-than-air vehicles — which Beijing is rapidly putting to use around the world, including for military purposes, after years of research and pilot projects. The Pentagon has said it has observed a second balloon over Central and South America, without elaborating, and stressed that China had been operating a number of surveillance balloons in recent years. T

hey “are all part of a [Chinese] fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations, which have also violated the sovereignty of other countries”, a US defence official said. “These kinds of activities are often undertaken at the direction of the People’s Liberation Army. Over the past several years, Chinese balloons have previously been spotted over countries across five continents, including in Asia, South Asia and Europe.”

In February last year, four groups of high-altitude balloons were detected over northern Taiwan, home to most of the country’s population and some of its most important air defence sites. The same month, the US Air Force scrambled fighters to intercept an unmanned balloon off Kauai, a Hawaiian island that has a key missile-testing range. In January 2022 one of the white orbs was spotted over India while another was seen over Taiwan in September 2021.

The earliest publicly reported sighting was over the northern Japanese city of Sendai in June 2020. Taiwan’s armed forces last year confirmed a local news report that the February 2022 balloon swarm originated from the PLA Rocket Force, the missile arm of the Chinese military. In keeping with Taipei’s strategy to avoid public panic over Chinese military threats, the defence ministry said the balloons posed no danger and were being used for meteorological observations.

But despite the apparent overlap with Beijing’s explanation for the latest balloon, analysts dismiss the claim that these are harmless civilian craft. Cheng, the weather bureau chief, said the Chinese devices were fundamentally different from weather balloons in size, altitude and materials. In the most stunning evidence of China’s military use of stratospheric balloons, Chinese media including the military channel of state broadcaster CCTV reported in September 2018 that a high-altitude balloon tested hypersonic missiles.

Video footage carried by CCTV and reposted on social media app Douyin at the time, but now deleted, showed a balloon visually identical to the one over the US last week, carrying what looked like three different kinds of warheads. According to Chinese media reports and a related Chinese Academy of Sciences research paper, they were models for “wide speed range” hypersonic vehicles, which can fly both below and above the speed of sound.

China’s research on LTA vehicles belongs to two institutes at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of which is exclusively dedicated to high-altitude balloons. But in line with Beijing’s “military-civil fusion” policy, which calls for civilian or commercial technology developments to be made available for military use if necessary, those efforts are closely integrated with those of the PLA, its research institutes and the military-industrial complex, and as such subject to secrecy.

[Financial Times]

#China #Financial Times #espionage

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reith-sheep · 2 years ago

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Forefront 4 Birdsong

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It's a wonderful look at the late field biologist John Sincock, especially his last encounter with Hawaii's now-extinct Kaua'i 'ō'ō ( Moho brackets) of the encounter animated work. The animator's artistry and aesthetic are very sophisticated, even if this is only her second-year film at CalArts. I love her postage-stamp-like style of pen drawing. She's always been very good with that.

She has also put out some tutorials on how she combines these things together beautifully, and I love the way she combines and discusses the Eastern and Western painting styles. It's a digital painting that combines a Western sketching relationship with an Eastern layered ink painting style. The relative feel of her use of ink brushes in this was new to me.

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I was drawn to her style of drawing like early American movie posters, the combined use of materials, and the little thought that went into conceiving the story, and she suggested ending the film with the buzzing of mosquitoes. This is a small reference to the main factors that led to the extinction of ʻoʻō on Kauai. In the 1800s, mosquitoes were accidentally introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by ship. They brought with them avian malaria, a disease that many birds could not fight off. In this sense, island life is extremely fragile and human behaviour (intentional or not) can completely change the equation of the surrounding environment. I really like this form of buried eggs. This kind of iterative approach to sound effects is something I would like to learn. I will try to use more forms of using sound to convey information for my future projects.

reference

(No date) Thekidshouldseethis.com. Available at: https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/birdsong-hawaii-kauai-oo-extinction-animation (Accessed: May 8, 2023).

lemoncholy (2020) SHANGHAI | Speedpaint + Video Journal. Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OyeuOnz0sI (Accessed: May 8, 2023).

lemoncholy (2022) Birdsong (CalArts Film 2022). Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4_dq_e4KGs (Accessed: May 8, 2023).

#Youtube

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stitchandani · 2 years ago

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What are your guys’s thoughts on some of the new casting announcements for the upcoming live action Lilo and Stitch? There’s been some chaos regarding the casting decision of Sydney Elizebeth Agudong as Nani and Kahiau Machado is confirmed to be playing David, along with Billy Magnusson playing an unconfirmed role.

Doverstar Hi anon! Well, first off, I want to reiterate that Arti and I actually don't care very much about the live-action L&S. We're two of those oldies that consider the live-action re-imaginings as totally unnecessary, low-quality, irritating cash grabs that almost never honor or pay proper homage to the original Disney classics they're based on. So. Disclaimer there. I do have some new opinions as of this morning, personally, but feel free to totally disgree with/ignore them! :) Secondly, as far as the casting goes, if we like anything, we like that Chris Sanders is Stitch again. That might be the only good thing we can see so far in it. I personally think the girl they chose to play Lilo is super cute, and as far as looks go, she looks like Lilo so that's a plus. We can't say anything else yet because we haven't seen her act as Lilo, and we don't know if the writers will butcher the story/the characters entirely yet, so no comment there. I hope she has so much fun! We all wanted to be Lilo at some point as children - now she gets to actually do it! Good for her! What a precious-looking lil lucky duck. I bet she'll do great. Now I'm gonna rant, get excited.

Thirdly, here's my most recent opinion on the film and its cast and all that jazz: people online have been very loud and very obnoxious and very rude about the color of the human cast's skin. Even though these human beings are, in fact, of Hawaiian descent, the way their characters are supposed to be, that's apparently not enough because their skin is "too light". So now we've gotten to a place in our culture where it's not sufficient to be cast in a role with a certain nationality or race that you actually are. No. Your physical skin color, which you can't change and were born with, has to be a certain shade or else it's racist that you were cast and the company is intentionally using you to "whitewash" characters with skin colors that were designed as non-white. I personally think that is ridiculous. If the actress for Nani plays a convincing Nani, and is right for the part, and as a bonus she is a female of Hawaiian descent (because the character in the original film was intentionally created as a native Hawaiian woman living on Kauai), then she should play Nani and no one should have a problem with that. The same goes for the men cast to play David. Which brings me to my fourth opinion: I said men, plural. David has recently been recast. For multiple reasons. The biggest reason being that people were yet again obnoxious and loud online (like they always are) and, because they were still salty that Mr. Machado's born skin color was not the shade they wanted it to be, they dug and dug all over his personal social media accounts in order to find anything incriminating they could yell about to force Disney to recast him. They did find out that he seems fine using rude and offensive terms when referring to African-American people - or that, at one point in the past, he was fine using them - never having met with or spoken to the man himself in the present to find out what he's really like, what he actually believes, or why he posted things of that nature in the past. People didn't like Mr. Machado's skin color, so they were loud and rude and obnoxious and did everything they could in their own free time to get him kicked off of the project, and it worked because modern-day corporate Disney is a sleaze-ball company whose higher-ups only care about money, not whatever they say publicly that they care about. I don't think Mr. Machado (or anyone) should use what people call "racial slurs", ever, because it's terrible. But I also think the public was super weird and boundary-crossing and incredibly silly about this whole thing. Do you actively, regularly go to random strangers' Facebook accounts when you met them in a Starbucks line and you didn't like something about the way they physically look? And then look all over that Facebook account for something that would get them fired from their job? A person you don't even know? Fired from a job you have absolutely nothing to do with? No? Then don't do it to an actor. Why do you care? How do you know what they're really like? People ruined an opportunity (a crappy Disney live-action opportunity, but an opportunity nonetheless) for a young undiscovered actor because they were mad his skin color wasn't what they thought it should be. That sounds racist to me. Anyway. Now they've cast another young gentleman as David, and good for him, lucky for him, and he looks fine to me, but who knows. Maybe they'll rise up and get him fired too for having the wrong-shaped earlobes or something. Stupid. ANYWAY. Llike I said, Arti and I don't really have any other strong opinions on the film beyond the ones listed here. We don't have much faith that it will be good, we don't think it even needs to be made, but we're super excited to hear Mr. Sanders as the voice of Stitch again! Unless they recast him because he's not blue. Then we riot.

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