#there are a ton of diff kinds of people in these communities | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thewritershelpers · 5 years ago

Text

Improving Your Writing when English Isn’t Your First Language (mega-ask)

As you can see above, we've gotten more than one question about writing, improving your writing, and even publishing in English when it's not your native language. First off: that's awesome. To anyone writing or even consuming in a language that's not your first, kudos to you.

You can google any variation of this question and get different articles with a ton of the same advice, and some with conflicting advice. Not only have I compiled the most commonly repeated information, but I've also reached out to people on our Discord server and others for their personal experiences.

I'll start off by listing concise versions of the advice and then expound on them further on in the article. Remember that we are not experts on your writing and that everyone learns in different ways and at different paces. These are in no particular order.

-be patient

-practice

-get feedback from native sources

-don't undermine yourself to your audience

-Grammarly

-research

-don't get discouraged

Be patient

That's first because, well, duh. Patience is so important for both yourself and your writing. Writing is hard enough of a passion without the added difficulty of doing it in a language that doesn't come naturally. In the world of literature, writing/publishing in your non-native language isn't just a matter of translating words. It requires translating of ideas, concepts, and even cultural norms, which is why just slapping it into Google translate won't work.

Part of the reason for the advice of having patience, too, is that writing in your native language needs to take time. It doesn't really matter how fast you can whip out 20 pages of a first draft--it'll still be a simple first draft. Writing is a craft that requires not just love and passion but time. So what if you need a little bit of extra time--or a lot of extra time--because you're accomplishing a feat most don't even think about attempting?

Next is to practice.

That goes hand in hand with what I said about being patient. Again, writing in and of itself is all about practice and doing it daily (not that I'm an expert on getting that done, but you know). But when it comes to practice another language, there are different ways you can do that. You can reach out to native speakers (for English, there are going to be so many people willing to help, even just in our community! you just need to ask) and practice having conversations or ask them to look over your work. Practice by turning on your favorite movie or TV show in English with subtitles in your native language. Watch videos on YouTube, find a Spotify playlist/podcast, in your target language. There's also plenty of people who have done what you're trying to do who have shared their experiences and what helped them on those same platforms.

Get feedback from native speakers

This is a bit of an expansion on what I mentioned in the previous paragraph. In my experience, and from what others have shared, writing in a non-native language can be pretty clinical. Writing with figurative language or in metaphors won't be as easy or come as naturally as it does in your own language. Things like idioms and even pop cultures reference aren't always going to translate even if you have the exact words. That's where native speakers come into play. If they're willing to look over your work, whether as a friend or in an editorial position, they can give you advice about whether the wording in one spot sounds clunky or if a phrase doesn't make sense or if there're synonyms for what you already used to help convey your message even stronger.

Don't undermine yourself

This is something that I personally am saying. It's not mentioned on any of the linked sites, and no one I talked to said it. But as someone who is a native English speaker (and even has a degree in it) I think this is super important. This point goes towards native English speakers/writers, too. Don't undersell yourself and undermine your work to the audience before they have even picked it up. Disclaimers are different, and it all comes down to the words you use and how you use them. Let your readers know, whether it's people on AO3 or a literary agent, that English isn't your first language. Let them know concisely that they may find some basic errors--but stop there. Don't grovel. You have nothing to apologize for, especially once you've given that warning (those is it really a warning? what's so dangerous or scary about a few mistakes?). You're writing is not going to be any less of an accomplishment for a few grammatical errors, or mistranslated phrases, or even typos. I've seen so many mistakes in published works that it's kind of ridiculous. But if you put something out there for someone to read and in the same breath say "I don't know that this is worth reading" I'm going to need extra convincing to pick it up. *kicks soapbox away*

Grammarly

*NOT sponsored*

Grammarly is a wonderful tool that you can use, for FREE. It not only (with the free version) helps correct spelling and grammar, but can also help point out the tone you're writing with. For example, right now, Grammarly is telling me that this writing sounds mostly informative--which it's meant to be--and a little appreciative and friendly. When sending emails I've had it tell me that it sounds formal (which I was going for), and I've also had it not say anything because the text was a different kind of writing (like when I'm proof-reading something being posting it on AO3...). I honestly don't know what else it helps with once you've paid because I've been happily using the free version for about 3 years now.

Research

Don't be afraid to pick up a book, or head to the library, or pull up Google. Research is paramount to writing anyway, let alone once you're doing it in another language. Your research options are limitless and can include your mutuals on social media as well as those dictionaries that translate from one language into another. Research can also include (in my humble opinion) binge-watching/reading your favorite things...in English. In four years of university, one of the most frequently said things was to improve your writing 1) write every day and 2) read every day. You're never going to learn from worrying or overthinking, and you're also never going to learn from just doing DuoLingo (that's more conversational than literary anyway).

Something a member of Discord specifically said in relation to research was to look at morphology, at the roots of words (and root words). Morphology is, in linguistics, looking at how words are formed. For example, let's look at "biology". There are parts to this word that each has a different meaning, that formed together created a new/elevated meaning. "ology" means the study of something, and bio means life. So biology is, simply, the study of life. Once you've got those basics of things like "ology" under your belt it'll become easier to not just translate words but the concepts (if this works with your learning style).

Last but not least, don't get discouraged.

Writers of all kinds get discouraged when writing in their native language. Even those of us who speak English as our first language make mistakes worth discouragement (you will never know how many typos were corrected by Grammarly as I wrote this all out the first time). English is not an easy language. It's not the hardest, but it's far from easy (learning another language isn't easy regardless of what languages are involved). This is a post from someone who is a non-native English speaker but you would never know unless they told us.

While researching for this, I found some articles/blog posts that said mostly the same thing, and are where I got some of the information

This one is from a native English speaker giving advice

This one is for writing for non-native English readers, but still has good advice

And finally this one is a blog post (I think) from someone who is a non-native English speaker!

In specific response to some of the asks:

English, like any other language, changes. It's a very dynamic language, actually, and from region to region, there will not only be different accents but different frames of reference. 1950 isn't so far back in time for the English to be drastically different from what is spoken today, but I'm in the USA and you're asking about Oxford. English in England has very different nuances, even more so than you would get between California and Texas and New York. This is a link to the Oxford English Dictionary list of words that became more common in the 50s. However, this is a generalized list, not specific to any English-speaking country let alone region or city. If you're wanting to look at how to convey the accent of people from/in Oxford, there are videos on YouTube of people speaking in different accents so that you can have an idea, a comparison, at least in your own mind. With the 50s it's going to be more just thinking really of what words and lifestyles and things weren't around yet; cell phones didn't exist yet. Here's another link to some stock images of Oxford in the 50s. Remember, this time was very close to WWII so there'll be lingering effects of that, especially in England.

About fight scenes and curses, there's a ton of resources on that. If you just search "fight" on our page, you'll get a ton of posts answering that question. Also, here's a link to a superb and excellent source on writing fight scenes. When it comes to curses...just watch Rage Quit on YouTube, or spend a while on TikTok. If you want to dive right in just Google "English curses" and there'll be YouTube videos, entries on Urban Dictionary, you name it.

When it comes to publishing, once you've gotten your manuscript is a perfect time to have a native-speaking friend look it over. Whether editing is their thing or not, they'll be able to help with the things that are really obvious. I don't have any experience publishing in a different language, though, so there might be other resources along the different stages to help you. Some general publishing advice I've gotten: when wanting to publish fiction, literature, start small. Start with short stories in literary journals, online and in print. You really can't make much headway with large publishing houses without a literary agent and it'll be easier to attract one if you have evidence that you can write, and write well enough people want to read it. When it comes to poetry, just start submitting. Get familiar with the process, and educate yourself on things like simultaneous submissions and a good rejection. Publishing is an ever-changing game that isn't cut and dry in any language or country. We can't tell you what's best, but my advice is to go with your gut and try your best. Don't be afraid to try again, too.

Everyone overthinks their writing. Or at least, everyone I know who writes does. Honestly, in my opinion, if you're not overthinking at least a little bit, you're not worried enough. You will never be able to fully know whether you've explained or described enough. A good chunk of the experience is up to the readers, so you have to leave them some wiggle room for imagination. But that doesn't mean you have to cheapen your story or short-change your characters. You mention specifically that you're POC, which I'm gonna guess also means that your characters will be POC. It's never too much to specify the race/ethnicity of your characters, even in a fantasy work. How you go about writing those descriptions might need to change but it's kind of like chocolate chips, in my mind: you decide those things with your soul.

So, there you have it. A ridiculously long way to say: you're awesome, you do you, practice, love yourself and your writing, and don't be afraid to put yourself out there (in any way).

(images read:

Anonymous said: Im writing a book based in Oxford in 1950s. how was the language different from now. I am not from an English speaking country at all. Never been outside my country either. And Im going to write a book based in England in English

Anonymous said: Hi there, I’m a writer for almost 3 years now but since English isn’t my first language I get discouraged easily if things I write come off strange to myself. Do you maybe have any advice for me, on how to motivate myself and not comparing myself with native English speakers? Thank you in advance!

Anonymous said: Hello! I starting to work on this shortfic but it’s been really hard. It’s like I’m trying to building a house alone and with my bare hands. Even though I’m already used to write in mother tongue. Any advice for non-english speaker trying to write their first story in English?

Yaelburstine said: Hi. Do you have any tips about how to write a good fight scene and curses that people speak English get cus’ it’s not my first language

gyger said: I am not a native english speaker, but most of the books I read are in english and I generally prefer writing in english as well. However, I am worried about making mistakes that I can’t recognize myself. I have no idea how good my english is to a native english speaker, plus some things are easier to write in my native tongue (such as dialogue). I’m also worried about publishing, since that definitely would be easier in my country than abroad. How do I decide what language to choose?

Anonymous said: As a POC writer and English as their second language, I overthink all the writing I do. I feel like I don’t describe my ideas thoroughly or my character descriptions are vague or not good enough. I’m currently working on a YA novel but I plan on writing a YA fantasy novel but I feel like my lack of vocabulary and grammar structure makes me give up on finishing my book. Is this normal for native English speaking authors or is this considered a language barrier thing? Thanks! Love your blog!

Thank you for your questions, and for your patience as we do our best to answer them.

-S

#TWH Respond #ESL #writing in a second language #mega ask #improving English #resources

204 notes · View notes

hermitcraftheadcanons · 5 years ago

Text

To Do List:

What's up, my Herd of Nerds?

Anyway, as you can tell, tomorrow is AU Sunday. But, because it's one after a 'my input' one, it's a follower input AU day! Yay!

So, send me your AUs and I'll put all of em in a hat to pick one randomly. The winner is picked and posted and we'll all try and make headcanons about your AU.

Done:

Zombie Apocalypse AU :: (https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/618314308275863552/zombie-apocalypse-au-masterpost)

Pirate AU ::

Currently In The Raffle:

-Toy Story AU.

-Ever After High/Descendants/Vaguely 'nex gen priness' AU.

-Eldritch Horror AU :: Or if that's a bit too out there, a more normal Monster AU. I don't care, but in my heart, I know Cleo is some kind of eldritch horror. Zombie is far too easy.

-Eldritch Monster AU! Hermits are all Lovecraftian horrors who all individually decided that they wanted to pretend to be normal and are all trying to hide their otherworldliness. I also feel like Mumbo or X or someone as the one actually "normal" player on the server would work well. Most hermits don't know that everyone else isn't normal either, but some find out about friends maybe.

-Rabid Debate Club AU :: Random weird au idea where it's basic hs/uni au but like two of them try to start a debate club, then invite some friends just so there's enough people; cut to like two months later, it's all the hermits just fighting over whether or not pineapple should go on pizza or not lol it isn't very good i'm sorry but ya know rabid debate club AU.

-Animal/shapeshifting AU :: (Suggested Twice.) Every hermit can shapeshift into one token animal. (If it's something like "dog," they can only turn into one breed and color of dog, EXAMPLE: doc can shift into a black sable belgian malinois, but not anything else.)

-Wedding Planners AU :: Hermits work in various unrelated businesses such as a bakery, flower shop, etc., but see each other semi-often bc they're semi-often called upon to work together by another hermit's wedding planning business (obvs if you couldn't tell i know absolutely nothing abt wedding planning & businesses n shit lol but it's the /concept/ of it yannknow)

-Avatar: The Last Air Bender AU. (Suggested Thrice.)

-Fusion AU :: (Also suggested by Anon.) (Suggested Twice.) What if Hermits could fuse with each other? (Viva and Jumbo fused into MumboJumbo.)

-SCP AU :: The hermits have spooky powers and are kept locked up bc of it (or they have to keep the world safe from monsters and cursed objects!)

-RPG AU :: I feel like someone already thought of that but I am just wondering about it lately :p -🍋

-Adventure Time AU :: The hermits live in a post-apocalyptic world and the Lich (bad guy) is making everything decay. They need to gather all the gems (belt colours) to unlock the Enchiridion (a book) and have one wish each granted from Prismo (multiverse wish granting dude) before the Lich does. Only 4 elements can enter the multiverse: Slime (The Lich & Jevin), Redstone (Tango or Mumbo?), Ice (Stress), and Dirt (Grian, much to his dismay). Only the elementals can see the book. Grian's the protagonist with his sidekick Scar. He originally started collecting the belts because they were shiny but eventually decided to read the book and find out what they were for when Scar said he didn't see it. Doc, False, and Iskall are major obstacles because they don't believe the book exists.</p>

-Total Drama Island AU.

-Magical Girl AU :: Zedaph's the lead magical girl and rounds up a bunch of other magical girl hermits.

-Pokeman AU :: What are the Hermit's roles in this world? Who's the Champion, Elite Four. Are they scientists? Trainers? Do they compete in competitions, do they specialize in types? Who's everyone's starter? Has anyone encountered any legendaries?

-College AU

-High School AU

-Wizard101 AU :: I (🦊) recently got this AU idea and recently started going off somewhere with it in terms of writing, but, like, Hermitcraft meets Wizard101. Tons and tons of magical shenanigans, monster hunting, and idk what else.

-Magic AU

-My Hero Academia AU :: Headcanons can be about which hermits would have what quirks and occupations based on them.

-So I'm writing an AU where there's a second game of Demise but 5 years later. So far the first 2 hermits (Joe and Xisuma) have died, and their dead forms are cracked with an arrow in his chest (Xisuma) and cyborg (Joe). So since it's Saturday, I'm looking for what some skins would look for.

-City AU :: I mean this is really just a normal everyday AU.

-School AU.

-Terraria-Minecraft Fusion AU :: Who chooses what class? what events do each hermit prefer? how to they deal with the world infections? preferred biomes? Favourite NPCS? It has potentiallllll.

-70s/80s Teen Horror AU :: (like Stranger Things, Carreie, The Lost Boys, Halloween, etc.) -🦇

-Demi-God AU :: Sort of like percy jackson (everyone being the children of different gods from all different cultures.)

-Supernatural AU

-Marching Band AU :: Xisuma is the band major and all the show music is the remixes. I need to come up with some ideas for uniforms. Outfits and flags for the colorguard too.

-Different Eras AU :: (Suggested Twice.) All the hermits are from different time periods or eras. Like Wels is from the mediveal/dark era, Mumbo is from 1890-1920's, Iskall is from 2030, TFC is from 2020(?), Cleo is from 2130, etc!!! Like the mobs/animals became feused with humans, is when the mob players came from.

-Star Trek AU :: Like maybe they could be on one ship and each have different roles like engineers or doctors? I don’t know if this has been suggested but hope you enjoy! - 🐦

-House Mates AU :: ApartmentAU but scaled down?

-Atlantis AU :: (Could be merged with Mermaid AU???)

-Fighting Game AU :: Some influences would be Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Ultra Instinct, that kind of stuff.

-Time loop AU :: The hermits each have to deal with their own time loop.

(All those above in red are from our community's lovely Anons!)

-Superhero/superpower AU :: They each have a unique power/powerset that is in some way connected to their personality. (ie Mumbo *could* control electricity because of his love of redstone) Some Hermits may even choose to be "villains" and prank their other servermates. If you need power ideas, I've got a couple. (12u3ie)

-Daycare AU :: The recap peeps are the caretakers :P (-@tikauniverse.)

-Incredibly Long Cross Country Train Ride AU :: they all are in the same train car, telling stories of where they’re going, backstories.)

-Stuck In An Airport AU :: pretty similar to train au but they can be going diff places.

-Doctors AU :: they’re all doctors working at the same hospital.)

-Circus AU (Also suggested by an Anon.) (Suggested Twice.)

-Spy AU (Also suggested by @shadeswiftdraws.) (Suggested Twice.)

-Runaways AU :: The hermits are all teenagers who have run away from home, they all live on the streets until TFC takes them in. Head canons can be about backstories, living on the streets, or when they’re with TFC.

-Criminals and Police Officers AU

(-@lookitsspacekween)

-Dancer AU :: I mean, I already got a list kind of planned out, but headcanons for why specific styles are chosen would be appreciated! :) (usedtobelucythefallenangel)

-Broadway/Musicals Hermits AU :: The hermits are all casts of various musicals and when this newly-built theater opens up they all fight for which musical gets to play in it first (they have a riff-off maybe?) musicals mainly included are Hamilton, BMC, DEH, SiX, Beetlejuice, etc (feel free to add more!) (-@heyitsroby.)

-DnD AU (Also suggested by Anon.) (Suggested twice.)

-Mermaid AU :: In honor of the end of Mermay

-Space exploration AU :: There could be different ships, command centers, aliens.... Maybe someone could even get stranded/crash on a new planet? Who knows, could be fun.

-Paranormal/ghost hunter AU :: A couple Hermits could be the ghost hunters going to haunted locations to prove/disprove their hauntedness, others could be camera crew, owners of haunted buildings, or even the ghosts themselves.

-Camping/Vacation AU.

-Summer Cottage AU :: They all spend summers/weekends along the same shoreline and do different summer activities together. Outdoor fun and shenanigans!

-Space AU :: like star trek or similar.

-I would say evil clone au but I think that's pretty much the entire Hermitcraft tumblr right now lol. (Suggested twice.)

(-@shadeswiftdraws.)

-Magic AU :: Magic exists and all the hermits have powers. They can also summon a weapon but what that weapon is depends on the hermit. I'm thinking it'll take place in a sort-of Demise 2 in S7 with a big war. So far I've got: Grian - Cloning himself to his different personas (each has a different power). Xisuma - Making barriers, teleporting, and transforming into different mobs. Scar - Making mutant plants & boosting other hermits' attack & health. (-@datsaltyperson.)

-Demon AU :: Something enters the overworld and turns into a supernatural style-demon through Dimentional Distortion. Who gets posessed first, who goes crazy, and who actually kills it? Honestly I think that, if anything, Tango would know how to gank it, for obvious reasons. (-@fireflower-dusk.)

-High Street AU :: Everyone owns a different shop on the same street or some run a shop together (-@violets-arepurple.)

-Cat AU :: Either they're were always cats, or Hels turned everyone, including himself, into a cat, and they have to survive and overcome challenges in the Season 7 world. An example of a challenge would be Cub's a Sand Cat(the cats that always look like kittens no matter how old they are and live in deserts), and everyone's not sure if he can actually swim, so they have to find a way for him to get around without involving water. (-@scp10000.)

-How about a secret AU.. Every hermit has their big secrets and when Grian joined. He doesn't really know anything about those secrets even till season 7. Not many hermits talked to him in S6 anyway.. Mumbo was the closest to him so they would have regular chats For Iskall is mostly business related things Grian wants to know why so he set out on a quest to force the others to at least talk to him so he wouldn't be lonely. (-@babylightstudentbiscuit.)

-Hermit Family AU :: Xisuma is very busy dad but when he isnt busy the kids and younger hermits annoying the hell out of him. Grian once asked to use Xisuma's computer and crashed the whole thing trying to download illegal gamesites and get money off the internet. Mumbo and his trains run through the entire house and Xisuma trips on them daily. (-@gamerutx.)

-College AU!! But they are not students. THEY ARE THE TEACHERS (-@ivi-prism.)

Ones I planned to do anyway but Hermitblr Hivemind and all that:

Battle of The Bands AU: i believe u once mentioned a bands/ battle of the bands au... thats my jam... (Anon.)

#hcraft #hermitcraftheadcanons #raffle day #notaheadcanon #masterpost #au to do list

42 notes · View notes

teenyfish · 4 years ago

Text

Marine Biology Story of the Day #14

So…it’s been a while.

I don’t know if anyone else is dealing with crippling anxiety, but I sure am right now. It’s just one of the joys of being a liberal scientist living deep in a rural red state. You literally can’t escape the Trump Fuckers down here, it’s everywhere you look. Hell, I can’t even sit in my living room without seeing our neighbors dumb flag flying on their flag pole or be forced to watch one of these weird boat parades that have been popping up everywhere lately.

I’m tired. I’m scared. But I’m also 100% over this shit.

So, instead, I’m trying to pour myself into my work. And I want to put quality content on this blog, and I’ve just been procrastinating on it for weeks because I want whatever I write, whatever I tell you about to be good enough for the reblogs, but tbh, that’s not the point of this. The point of this is teach people about the scientific process and how REAL research is done. It’s a ton of work, it’s usually monotonous, and there’s a lot of writing and editing involved.

That being said, I officially, after 3+ years of work, have my first manuscript accepted into a peer reviewed journal.

If you had asked me 4 years ago if I had thought I would ever be published. I would have said no. And that is because the place I was working for chipped away at my confidence so completely that I thought I wasn’t worthy of working in this field. Academia be like that sometimes.

But now I’ve started working for Texas Parks and Wildlife, which in most ways has been a dream (minus living in small town nowhere America, see complaints above). The organization is actually really awesome to work for and I have so much more leeway when it comes to designing my own projects and working on things that I actually WANT to work on. Not to mention, my boss is awesome and is super supportive.

So today, I think I’ll talk about a study that I just wrapped up lab and field work for in September. I’m currently working on the data analysis at the moment.

SOOOO TPWD developed a huge stock enhancement program back in the 1980’s when they noticed that the population of a popular game fish, red drum, was on the decline. Stock enhancement basically means they breed adult wild red drum, they allow the eggs to hatch and rear the larval fish to a size deemed big enough that they can release them into Texas estuaries to help bolster the population. Red drum stocks have actually improved since this this hatchery program was implemented.

Red drum are gorgeous charismatic predators, and they get the drum name from the sound they use to communicate. Check out the sound here.

Part of my job is to figure out how to make the hatchery program better through wet lab experimentation. Basically, the questions I try to answer are: How do we grow these fish faster, with least amount of mortality, and with the best, robust fish?

So, when I first got here, I found two issues with our red drum hatchery program. 1) Fingerlings (very young juvenile fish) are released at a very small size of 35 mm. INTO THE WILD. Now, the size of a fish is very directly tied to their mortality…larger fish experience less predation and have better metabolisms to deal with temperature and salinity changes, which leads us to the second problem 2) The hatchery program releases red drum at times opposite of when these juvenile fish would actually be present in the wild. Red drum spawn offshore in early winter, and the baby fish move into bays Dec-Mar…but we release OUR hatchery fingerlings Mar-Nov. The reason for this is because we don’t want the hatchery fish to compete with wild red drum, which makes sense, but we are introducing these fish to a wide range of temperatures and salinities. As you know, Texas is hot as fuck in the summer and salinity in some bay systems is classified as hypersaline lagoons, which is almost like pure brine (this is due to hot temps evaporating water from the bays and leaving salt behind).

Now fish, as “cold blooded” animals, don’t make their own heat, so their metabolism is controlled by environmental temperatures. All fish have an optimal temperature for growth, in which their growth rate is the highest, and then their growth and metabolism starts to decline toward their critical thermal maximum (CTM) in which their metabolism just starts shutting down and they die. This is why temperature is so important in fish biology, and larger fish typically have higher CTMs an therefore better survival.

(an example of how metabolism is impacted by temp. In this case, optimal temp is around 20 degrees Celsius, and CTM is around 23-25 degrees Celsius)

So how did I test this? Well, I chose body size and “Season” as my two variables—I chose Spring (May), Summer (August), and Autumn (November) to see how the temperature and salinity of our local bay system would impact fish growth. And, within each season, I tested both a small size class (35 mm and under) and a large size class (36 mm and over) to see how initial body size upon release would impact the fishes’ growth.

(diff b/w two size classes)

I ran these trials in my wet lab with sea water pumped in from our coastal bay system and I would adjust temperature daily to reflect the water temperatures recorded from the bay. I would receive hatchery fish that were ready for “release”, tag them, measure and weigh them, and then release them into their experimental tanks (if you want to learn more about how I tagged them, check out this post). I had one tank with small fish, and one tank with larger fish, because if they were mixed it’s likely that the big fish would cannibalize the smaller fish. The fish lived in these faux habitats for 21 days, and I would remove mortalities (dead fish) daily. They were fed 10% of their body weight to keep up with the estimated 0.1 g/day growth rate described in the literature.

At the end of each study, I removed all fish, measured and weighed them again, and read their tags. Once I knew what fish they were, I could match them up with their start weights and get an idea of their growth rate over the 21 days.

So, the data analysis is still a work in progress, and I’m going to run some more complex models, but here are some of my preliminary results.

First, here is our survival of fish for each trial. Like I said, fish did die before the end of the trial (young fish tend to do that), and this graph basically shows that overall, the larger size class had much better survival than small, especially during warmer months.

This figure basically shows the CHANGE in length (x axis) vs the CHANGE in weight (y axis) of the smaller size class (above) and the larger size class (below). I’ve scaled the figures so the axis have the exact same scale. The colors/shapes of the dots represent the “Season” of the trial (Autumn, Spring, or Summer). You can see that the large size classes had a much greater change in growth across all trials, and had the greatest growth during summer.

So this is just the beginning of data analysis, I want to do a more in depth look at temperature, size, and salinity in statistical modeling, but this is kind of the preliminary lay out of the data. Basically what I think this data is telling me is that we need to release fish at larger initial release sizes, because they have much better survival and growth compared to fish with smaller initial release sizes.

And the whole goal of the hatchery program is to make sure our fish survive in the wild.

If you want to take a peep at my accepted journal article, I’ll make sure to post a link when the article actually comes out online. The journal I submitted to (Marine and Coastal Fisheries) is an open access journal so everybody should be able to read it FO FREE. Next post I will be outlining another hatchery program study that I am excited to be working on in the near future (hint, it’s gonna involve flounder metamorphosis, which is a real bizarre process).

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to comment or contact me!

#marine biology #marine biologist story of the day #marine biologist #fisheries biologist #marine biology story of the day #ocean stories #red drum #stock enhancement #research #fish bioenergetics #fish growth

4 notes · View notes

tabletopjourneys · 4 years ago

Text

Session 29 Notes

Completing fae deals and sailing out to sea with magic whales and a fortune in ambergris. Tags: @aradow @gher-bear @telurin @epimetal

On this day we successfully trick our way into completing Ixayl’anu’s bargain with Diem’s patron without having to fight anything. Said patron then immediately turns around to have Diem hold on to the item retrieved for awhile - the chaotic deck of many things. Diem and Ixayl’anu then deliver the fungus sample and make arrangements for possibly more samples and by-journal communications with the fungus expert, Professor Whitskey. Afterwards, we all set sail the next day for Anesh to continue our main quest. On the voyage, we encounter weirdness that includes a vanishing crew member and a group of whales doing ancient singing magics alongside and under the ship for a part of the voyage. It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the meteors though. Ixayl’anu helps us discover and haul in some ambergris that’s gonna be worth tons of $$$$. *Details below the “Keep Reading” break*

(Additional details noted before we knock on Dima’s door.) We agree that at some point while we’re all in the room, Phi found a good time to tell us about Averni being run by vampires. This will possibly get threaded into a previous notes session if I find a good place. Either way, it happened.

Phi would have also told us during fae deal planning that Dima is a follower of Selune the moon goddess and that he’s pretty much not very tolerant/caring about other religions/gods/goddesses

Together we all figure out what Selune’s about, slightly a trickster (but not really the aspect Dima follows), for sailors, the moon and the night, etc.

(The visit with Dima - ‘Waiting Room’)

Ixayl’anu walks up to the door, Alfred the butler opens the door and looks at our ragtag bunch, spotting Phi in the back. “Yes, can I help you?”

Phi: We were wanting to talk to Dima, something’s come up.

Butler: Mr. Lenkov is in a meeting with Aristin Pilwickin (cousin 2nd removed) currently, but you can certainly come in and wait until they are done.

Phi: Yes it’s that important, we can wait.

Rest of us: Yeah we’re okay with waiting.

Phi: How’s it going Alfred?

Al: *steps back opens door, responds*

Phi continues making small talk.

As we walk past the doors down the long hallway, past the doubledoors Phi gets whispered what’s going on because she’s the only one with perception for it and on high alert.

The exterior walls are def stone, but interior walls are plastered wood slats (a note for Rana)

As we reach the room we’re ushered to we see a scholarly blue and white dragonborn and fucked up gnome chick, not related to Phi, def looks like she had a hard life, low London rough and tumble accent.

Phi parses this as odd because she doesn’t really ever see these two together and they were both doing whispery voiced arguing that clams up when we enter.

Gnome lady stays quiet

Payton (scholarly dragonborn): Ah, leaf pick, haven’t seen you in awhile.

Rana gives Phi a confused look because this is like name #15

He’s one of the more stable potion makers of the group (Payton) soooome minor enchantments

Phi: Hey! How ya doin, Payton?

Rana and Diem hug the wall together not feeling great about the group’s chances in this situation.

Phi and Payton have awkward chitchat.

Phi gives Bamfina Lockley (the rough and tumble London gnome) a nod: Hey.

Lockley gives her a cool look in response, something of a glare.

Payton glazes over that about how great it’s going, lots of shipments and good time for working on my projects.

Phi: Have you heard anything about the weird meteors we’ve been having, lots of sciencey people talking about that?

Payton: I have seen them but I’ve been really busy this past week so I haven’t been...why have you heard anything?

Phi: We were talking to some people at the university and it just sounded pretty crazy, right?

Payton: *quetioning look* I didn’t realize you were so interested in astronomy

Phi: New hobby of mine, been spending a lot of time outdoors looking up at the sky and it’s just become fascinating to me.

Neither Payton nor Bamfina look like they know what to do with that.

Payton takes interest in Phi’s friends, we briefly greet back.

Phi asks if they’re waiting to see Dima

Oh we’re just gonna go in then

Lockley stroms off

Rana: Bye!

Phi’s cousin walks out from a door in the side hall on the east wall. “Oh, Selphina! I haven’t seen you in forever!”

Phi: Oh, hey *nickname for level 2 familiarity* Small chitchat in the hall about wishing their loved ones well follows.

He gives the rest of us a wtf are these people doing here look as he goes by but Diem doesn’t even notice him until he’s already past them while Rana tries to start obviously awkward conversation with Payton after Phi dropped him like a hot potato. (The meeting with Dima)

Phi knocks on door where Dima is waiting.

Dima: Enter

Phi peeks in “I brought my friends with me this time, is it okay if they come in?”

Dima gives her a look: It’s better than having them in the hall.

It’s a cozy little office with french doors leading into a garden/well area. 20x30 office

Diem comes all the way in and crosses with Phi to the french door area to allow room for Rana and Ixayl’anu, then sits in the chair on that side of the office.

Dima thinks this is unusual that Phi’s brought people in, but she’s not in trouble for it. He casually closes his books and sets them aside as we come in.

Dima: Phi what is this about, I thought we’d spoken earlier?

Phi: Yeeeeah, but it turns out my friends realized they have something to talk to *you* about and so I brought them here to talk about it.

Dima: Interesting *makes go on hand gesture*

Ixayl’anu: (rolls a 10 on persuasion) and she says something to the effect of “I’m on a mission from Selune, and you have something she requires to complete my quest.” Dima is intrigued

Diem doesn’t think he looks intrigued enough and decides to use phantasmal force to convince Ixayl’anu Selune is now talking through her to tell this story, and hopefully Dima that it’s true/help really sell the story. Sleight of hand casting succeeds/Nobody notices Diem cast it, but Ixayl’anu makes her save enough to know what’s going on and let it happen.

Ixayl’anu then rolls a nat 20 on persuasion with the rest of the story, letting herself believe she’s possessed by Selune. Diem adds a little moonlight prestidigitation to Ixayl’anu’s eyes to really sell it. Both trickstery deities involved probably fully approved and thought this was great fun (Dima’s and Ixayl’anu’s)

Dima: Yes, Ixayl’anu, whatever you need, name it.

“Selune”: Ixayl’anu will know it when I see it through her eyes.

He leads us to the basement where there’s a sleeping black dragon it looks up and snorts.

Peace Antimony, (words I missed).

It hisses some toxic green gas and lays back down.

Dima leads us around. “This is just general storage, but I’ve got a vault down here.”

Rana and Phi have been flabbergasted. We all stand back and just act like we’re not interested in snooping.

1st item: metal globe with protection runes “thaumaturge’s orb.”

2nd item: A staff with a golden hand at the end with one finger extended “Staff of Midas”

3rd item: Multi-faced star-shaped cut glass/shimmery crystal reflecting light in prismy way “The sky crystal focus” about the size of a basketball.

4th item: Beautiful finely made silver circlet with a large multi-faceted, mostly purple gemstone in the middle with 3 little motes of light that float around it in diff shifting colors “Arcanist’s Circlet”

5th item: A tiny hummingbird out of enamel or jade, in flight “Valonte’s vitalium”

6th item: Another orb, jet black with 2 copper bands runes carved into the orb. “Orb of passage”

7th item: A sword longsword with kind of twisted metal and hilt is standard wrapped hilt that merges into the base of the blade like grasping vines, cross blade is thorny “constrictor blade”

8th item: Just looks like a deck of fine playing cards, kinda plain. “The Deck of Many Things”

9th item: Amulet on a jeweler’s bust, inside is a beautiful topaz (yellow), large cut to shine brilliant, around it 2 sphinx’s and a four winged angel on top with sunrays behind it. It looks very ornate. “The Sunheart medallion.”

If Rana was looking she might be able to say more about it, but she isn’t.

Dima: I did just acquire this as well.

*shows wine decanter sized crystal vial with a metallic, shimmering in all the colors kaleidoscopic liquid, I’m not exactly sure what this does yet, I haven’t had it identified, but it may also be what you seek.

Arcana check of 22 to see if I know any stories about the item names: Enough to Cross off staff of midas, volantes vitaleum, and constrictor blade.

Diem manages to sleight of hand cast message to share not these 3, but my patron said you would know it when you see it, so maybe...communicate with your god in front of each one or something? “You can respond to this message”

Ixie: Maaaybe.

Rolling a d6 at a 5 (for where she’s drawn): Ixie narrows it down to the skycrystal focus, the arcanist circlet, and the deck of many things.

Ixayl’anu tries to use divine sense in front of the 3. It doesn’t tell her any more.

She’s doing the slow loop around the room kinda thing, holding a hand out, dowsing rod kinda passing each one. Loops back around to the deck, decisively points at the deck “That one.”

Dima: Yeah, that completely makes sense, let me unlock that for you.

Phi rolls investigation to see if there’s a magic component to these keys or anything. As he puts in the key and turns it there’s a faint puff of coloured magic smoke that comes out, and she knows it’s just like a simple alarm spell - it would make a noise to alert something or someone elsewhere. Takes out the deck and hands it to Ixayl’anu.

Phi notices the back of these cards is an exact match to the card she’s been carrying. Dima’s deck is complete, Phi got it within a year, but not from Dima. Meta info none of us realize: Vizier: At any time you choose within one year of drawing this card, you can ask a question in meditation and mentally receive a truthful answer to that question. Besides information, the answer helps you solve a puzzling problem or other dilemma. In other words, the knowledge comes with Wisdom on how to apply it.

Ixayl’anu tries to give him a good faith I know it’s not enough token of 100gold

Dima: No, this is between us and the deities. (but he appreciates the gesture)

Ixayl’anu: May her light shine on you.

Dima: And you as well.

We don’t linger and follow Phi out.

He invites us to a drink after with some chitchat. With as little detail as possible and as much truth as possible (not sure what I meant by this statement lol). We get very good bourbon.

Charisma check for how Dima views each of us moving forward: Rana 15, Ixayl’anu 15, Diem: 10, Phi: nat 20 (22 total).

Level up!

We go back to the inn and Rana buys us dinner.

We talk about when we’re doing the professor meeting and will they meet us at night.

We both are like as soon as possible, but we’ll say it’s an emergency.

Rana exchanges a look with Phi.

Diem: What? Wait did you guys get message while I wasn’t paying attention?

Rana: Yes. Phi tells Diem the truth though (no, we didn’t)

Diem talks about maybe appearing on the boat after it’s already set sail - they don’t know how these things work.

Rana: Won’t the captain have questions?

Diem: Well we’re already paid for so it’s not like we’d be stowaways.

Rana and Phi talk about how mad her mentor might be, they talk about not knowing it wasn’t an actual message from Selune and what if Dima finds out. Rana doesn’t for a moment believe Selune was involved.

Phi: That won’t be explained until the future either and if a catastrophe was averted by then it could make him less mad.

Rana: Let’s hope it was worth it.

Phi: Yeah, let’s take it one day at a time. Cross that bridge when we come to it.

Rana: Let’s just hope we don’t burn that bridge.

*cut to Diem and Ixayl’anu for a deal’s a deal scenes*

Diem does as last time, with the sense Ahrune heard.

Ahrune pops in “That was fast, what have you brought for me?”

Diem: We may have convinced him it was ordained by his goddess.

Ahrune: More interesting than what I had in mind.

Ixayl’anu *huffy*: It wasn’t exactly clear, but I brought you these.

Ahrune: *examines them* Yes, these will do quite nicely *hands them over to Diem* Why don’t you hold on to these for me.

Diem: *thanks in shock*

Ahrune makes us a door directly to the guy, and hands Diem a return portal orb to the inn when we’re done. “Forgive me if I don’t want to stick around for this part.” *disappears*

*Diem tucks the cards into their inner suit pocket before following Ixayl’anu through the door.*

As soon as we walk in he looks up: Oh! Hello I didn’t...office hours are closed!

Ixayl’anu: Forgive the intrusion but I need to talk to you.

Whitskey: You don’t look like one of my students…?

Ixayl’anu: No we haven’t met before, I have an unusual question...well...maybe *looks at all the vials of fungus and thinking maybe not* Wondering if maybe you can identify something for me.

I’m given to understand you’re professor Whitskey?

Whitskey: Yep that’s me.

Ixayl’anu: Do you...I think this question is self evident but do you happen to study lichen and fungus and things?

Whitskey: That is my specialty

Ixayl’anu: I have a substance that I - well a group of us found recently and I was hoping you’d know more about it.

Magical lichen - you understand magical lichen very well?

Whitskey: Yes do you have one you want me to identify?

Ixayl’anu digs in her pack and pulls out the vial to hand over

Diem: before you open this you should know *tells about it briefly and where it was sampled from*

Whitskey: Yeah I recognized it so I wasn’t going to throw magic at it but thanks for the warning.

You said you found this in the shadowood? You’re quite far from home.

One of us: We spoke to professor Leonis he wasn’t sure if it was native here or if they came with the meteors, he kind of led us to think it was native

Whitskey: Professor Leonis, I can’t say that I’m too familiar with him but I don’t get out much. I have heard all this hullabaloo about these meteors but I didn’t realize it would have anything to do with my work.

We talk about it growing directly on the meteor.

Diem illustrates it for him.

Whitskey: Hmmm *adjusts glasses* (has very large eyes behind the glasses)

Ixayl’anu brings up the dwarf too.

Whitskey: There was a dwarf? Tell me more about this.

Diem does a 22 on telling the story again and all the details they can remember.

Whitskey looks at the lichen in the jar and studies it. His excitement continues to grow as he looks up things in books and compares, etc.

He keeps it in the jar and he brings the mage light closer to the vial. *Diem steps back*

The lichen grows toward the source of the magic with quite a speed, spindly bits and deeper colored. Whitskey quickly separates it out again.

Whitskey: This is quite a find! This is a very...I haven’t actually seen this before!

Diem would let him know what officials in Miova know, what little they don’t, or even the local Miovan professors about this fungus and that he might want to put a team together to stress the importance of this to his local magistrates/officials/etc, asks whether it might be wise to take a protected sample back there as well.

Whitskey: If I’m correct this line is very aggressive. Transporting it could be quite problematic, we’d have to set up a containment field, quite frankly I’m surprised it stayed in this method of containment.

Diem agrees on the point of transporting it back through another, different magical door and that it’s probably best to leave the whole sample with Whitskey after all.

Diem and Ixayl’anu talk about her mission and what they can do if they encounter more of it. Whitskey gets excited about the possibility of more samples then and happily gives us containers of his own.

Tips for future encounters: Bring someone who can create a null field, anti-magic area to contain it, and it is best you get the samples when they’re small, when they’re large they have a self-fulfilling mist about them and they become quite difficult to contain. At that point it can do certain things, take over other living organisms.

Diem: Like that dwarf - oh and maybe those gnolls.

*tells him about the gnolls now too*

Whitskey: Oh yeah some cults do use them to infect themselves with various forms of these lichens to become part of their deities. Usually those cults get found and irradicated. Some small discussion about that. We find out it’s common though with known species and not necessarily tied to this new one.

Diem asks about the care of the vessels

The containers are inert until you open them and put something inside, and once you shut them they become their magical versions and he wouldn’t recommend putting them in magic holding things like bags of holding or anything like that, but near those bags is fine.

(Rana:This guy is totally going to turn out to be evil

Leonis: "I can't just hand out University materials, I'd have to get permission."

This guy: "Take my personal vials.")

We get 3 containment units.

He goes around to the other side of his table and give us a small book of sending so we can keep in touch and we can coordinate how to get samples and such back and forth.

We verify we can send warnings through and not just notes, and he will contact us too about things he learns.

How durable are the contaminants?

More durable than glass, they can break, handle them with care, don’t smash them on the floor or throw them at things. They’re made of magical pyrex. Thick enough to drop from waist height and they’ll be fine.

Whitskey: You’ve made my whole night, my whole year, I have so many things to do!

Ixayl’anu has something else she wanted to ask but can’t think of it right now.

Diem makes sure it’s okay to ask him a question in the book later if she thinks of it.

Whitskey: Oh yes, so long as it pertains to all of this.

Diem: Can this book be stored in a bag of holding?

Whitskey: Yes absolutely.

Ixayl’anu: Anything else you can think of?

Diem: Nope I think we did a pretty good job.

Ixayl’anu smashes the portal and we go back to the room we were in, taking 45 minutes total.

Rana and Ixayl’anu played with their rats. *rewind a little (to prevent potential disaster lol)*

Before we left, Phi brought up that she had a similar card to the deck we got and she tells us it’s a deck of many things that have wildly varying effects that could be really good or really bad and she knows you have to declare how many cards you want to draw and select them. She has an enchanted card to be whatever card she needs and now that she knows this it’s revealed its true nature to her so now it probably doesn’t work as intended.

Phi asks if she can see the deck and Ixayl’anu hands it over (in the velvet bag Dima had tucked them in).

She puts them face down on the table “I have one of these cards that I thought was just a trick card. I use this to turn into a different card *she tells it to change by illustration* the fact my boss had cards like this tucked in his treasure room tells me this is more than just a simple trick.”

It’s def a trickster element to it. Diem realizes they know stories about these cards (21 arcana check), gives some examples of people dying, being lost, become more powerful or rich, getting wishes granted.

Rana makes a face when the wish spell is mentioned.

Phi: Sounds super dangerous but also kind of fun

Diem: Yeah, but also the epitome of fey fun, so it makes sense why you picked that one, Ixayl’anu.

Phi: *tucks her card away and talks about getting it identified*

*Phi and Rana time while Ixayl’anu and Diem are at Whitskey’s*

Rana: So how do you and Dima know each other?

Phi: He’s the head of an organization I used to be a part of.

My family is very involved still so I kinda don’t talk about being involved with it anymore so I kinda just go off and do my own thing but Dima is one of the people who knows I don’t wanna be a part of it anymore. He makes sure I don’t get any heat from not wanting to be part of it now.

Rana: Well your sister seems nice and he seems nice

Phi: He’s NOT nice, but my sister doesn’t know much about it, she’s just a family person, focuses on that. Her job’s not so intense (I have a lot of sisters though).

Rana: What do your other siblings do? *confused*

Phi: You know

Rana: No, I don’t.

Phi: Just stuff that isn’t necessarily on the up and up, you know, like...below the law things that you may not wanna do if you have kids you gotta feed. I don’t know, she’s just a different person.

Rana: Is that why she had so many kids?

Phi: Oh no that’s just normal and they’re not all hers.

Rana: Dima did help us. Well, we tricked him into it but he really did help us.

Phi: Yeah I was actually a little surprised by that. I think he’s just very devout so I don’t think he saw an option to not help if that makes any sense?

Rana: Either way if he’s been supporting you and he’s willing to help us out, he can’t be that bad right?

Phi: Sure. I mean he’s not supporting me out of the niceness of his heart, we made a deal.

*I missed Rana’s response, sorry*

Phi: It wasn’t like a favor it was a trade

Rana: At least we’re not making deals with the fae

Phi: That’s some crazy shit right? I’d never do something like that.

*Back to the present*

Diem stores coffee can sized containers in their bag with a tight fit and takes the sending book downstairs to meet the others after we decide to tell them about the deck in addition to the meeting with the prof.

They are cuddling very fat very happy rats right now when we find them.

Diem: Good news and...interesting news.

*we tell them*

*we go over our primary goal*

We decide to let the local lawmaster know our statement too and told the front desk lady. Rana didn’t come along, she went to bed.

Diem mentioned meeting them again for breakfast because they have last night of potential company.

Phi asks about that on the way and Diem dishes about the sexy librarian with his dark teal skin.

Ixayl’anu got a 13 on her insight check to the first story she overheard.

Contested against 23, she believed it all, but it was definitely just singing the praises of Teagan and nothing revealing at all about Diem themselves. (Insight checks were arranged after, Phi’s is yet to be determined)

(Getting on the boat)

Next day Diem doesn’t make it to breakfast but they do make it just in time.

Rana on stone: I have your stuff and bringing it with me to the boat, be there.

Diem: I’m already on my way I promise, I’ll be there soon *flying clothes on totally not already on the way* Diem also manages to get a pearl on the way for their new identify spell.

Rana is a bit grumpy as she eats her breakfast taco

Ixayl’anu tells Rana she has something that might help, even though she seems to have a handle on water forms now *hands over water walking ring*

Rana: If you don’t mind I would like to hold on to this for the journey.

Ixayl’anu: Sure

*brusquely nods*

Diem: Oh my pack is making up, you guys <3

Rana spent all night preparing all the water spells.

Ixayl’anu dumps 4 shark teeth

Phi: What’s with that?

Ixayl’anu: It’s so we have a safe trip?

Diem: What? What’s what about?

Ixayl’anu: Don’t you have anything to give too?

Phi and Diem: No, do we need to?

Ixayl’anu looks worried and gives us shark teeth and tells us to throw them in too.

We do so and I’m totally interested in the story behind it. Tell me Ixayl’anu, pretty please!

Ixayl’anu: You just do it for safe passage from the spirits.

Clearly the guardian spirits of the ocean are the sharks. This just insures nothing that’s beyond the sailors skills will happen on this journey.

Diem talks about that being fair - no shark teeth is probably why they ended up overboard in a barrel their last trip to sea.

*Ixayl’anu hands Diem a small bag of shark teeth just in case.*

Diem: Do I dump all these in now or for later?

Ixayl’anu: Later, you shipwrecked seems you’ll need them. Diem gives a fair point shrug and happily holds on to them.

During all this talk, Rana has tossed in one of the prettier stones from her pocket and while stressing out, is looking to spot it in the water. Rana manages to spot her offering.

Phi tries to distract by asking Rana about her homeland.

Diem internally pouts over not hearing Ixayl’anu’s story about how she lost her body guards the first time around that didn’t go so well, but is also interested in stories about Rana’s homeland (and distracting her). (I think I missed some of the initial talk)

Rana: Don’t wanna be caught out in the desert without protection either from the sun, cold at night, etc.

Phi: Well you just have to trust the experts that know about the place we’re in, like we trust these experts in the ship we’re in.

Rana looks over like “I know what you’re doing” Yes we do don’t we, let’s get on this boat before I change my mind. *Throws in all her shark teeth too*

When we get on, we mostly get ignored by the crew.

(Aboard the ship, talking about Anesh, Rana sees a new animal form!)

Phi does 14 perception, few new faces, mostly the same crew. “Hey how many shark teeth did you throw in the water today?” to the one she knows to be the nicest/most tolerant.

Person looks at her with sheer incredulity “what are you talking about?” and walks away.

Phi 11 retro-active perception checks superstitious stuff among this crew, but hasn’t noticed any.

When shown their rooms, Diem asks Rana if she wants to share a room since there are only 3.

Ixayl’anu attempts to bring her elk aboard and gets a few looks from the crew, but they don’t deny her. The captain is nowhere to be seen. It can roam around 9 or put it in 12 (the actual hold). She bought elk supplies bedding/food for the trip.

On their rush to the boat, I did manage to buy a pearl because my patron tipped me off to check my spell book.

We all hang out on deck, Diem tries and fails to come up with positive ship stories to distract Rana.

Ixayl’anu asks Rana about where they’re going.

Rana rolls 14 history check: She knows it’s a port town (Farford), they do a lot of the trade that comes in from Petarus rather than overland - specialty seeds, various animals (not the metals which come from Bouldergap). She didn’t stick around too much. Before she met us she didn’t stick around anywhere very much, sold her goods and moved on.

Ixayl’anu: What’s it like in Anesh?

Rana: It’s pretty dry, it’s a desert - most of it, near the mountains you have more brushy cover. You don’t wanna go to Lake Nitron.

Phi: Why not?

Diem: What’s wrong with Lake Nitron?

Rana: It’s pretty deadly, only a few birds can survive out there it’s not really a place that you’d want to live. Sunhame is right in the middle of it all but most of the towns are either on the coastline or nearer the mountains where there’s cover.

Ixayl’anu: And that’s where your home is, up in the mountains?

Rana: Yeah, that’s where I learned all my druid craft at too

Ixayl’anu: What do your parents do?

Rana: It’s just my mom, she’s a tailor. My dad died before I was born so I can’t really tell you much about him. My brother is a blacksmith.

Sunhame is not as large as Miova but the rest of the towns are about the size of Budelia.

I’ve been to Sunhame a few times, it’s heavily religious. I spent a lot of time traveling between them all between my mom’s business and my brother’s blacksmithing. We don’t have anything like the shadowood where we’re from though, that’s a you guys thing.

Ixayl’anu: Do you have trees?

Rana: Some, a few up in the mountains scattered near them, but not a lot of them. It’s not as green, you guys have a very green country

Diem: Do you prefer it that way?

Rana: I like both places, nature exists (I missed the rest of this) yeah it’s not as green as Rethwellian but I think you guys will like it, it’s a nice place.

Ixayl’anu: I get the impression it’s really hot though

Rana: Yeah, it’s warm. It’s a desert.

(Established that Rana’s staff is made of hazel, found in the mountains.)

(I may have missed some more things. You’ve probably guessed but even when I don’t note this, it’s probably true even for conversations that seem whole.)

Rana talks until someone stops her, but we’re all on team distract Rana, so we encourage it.

We have occasionally seen the captain if we notice.

Calm sailing so far.

Ixayl’anu rolls a d20 for us for mysterious reasons.

About 3 hours into the day, noonish, we see a pod of killer whales hanging out with the boat.

Rana ventures closer to the rail by then and adds it to her animals seen list.

Diem asks how her animal form hunting went.

Rana: I found a loud seal.

Diem: Did you try swimming?

Rana: No I just transformed into one so I know I can do it and watched them swimming so I’m sure they can. It’ll be fine.

Diem: Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be just fine. (As text this sounds like sarcasm but it wasn’t lol)

Rana: Yeah we’ll be okay.

Diem: We will absolutely be okay. (Also not sarcasm, but let’s not point out she didn’t try swimming in that form)

(Aboard the ship, Diem has identify now!)

Before the end of the day, Diem picks a time when everyone’s near enough to hear them to tell Phi “guess what I learned how to do?”

Phi: What?

Diem: *brandishes pearl* I can identify things now!

Phi: And what’s that?

Diem: Oh the pearl I need to cast it.

Phi: So does that mean you could find out what this card can do?

Diem: Maybe, wanna try?

Phi: Yeah *hands it over*

Diem starts trying

Phi: Oh but I also wanted to ask you how your night went.

Diem: *tries to concentrate on ritual but gives up to just answer the question* do you want to know that now or after I cast the ritual?

Phi: Oh later is fine.

Phi leaves so they can concentrate.

Diem finds it out after 15 minutes instead of just 10 and tells Phi it is the vizier and what it does.

Phi looks disappointed (I think because the card also lost its ability to be any card she wanted at a thought but all I literally wrote here is “Phi looks disappointed scene” and then failed to remember details I was so sure I could fill in later :P) (Aboard the ship: Keeping company with spiderwalking elks, Phi and Diem have a talk)

Ixyal’anu goes to keep her elk company after awhile.

Before the end of the night, Diem and Phi go to Phi’s room to dish the details on Diem’s last night with Teagan. By the time they get there, however, Diem has a more serious, related topic on their mind that alters this discussion (Sorry at the time I was stuck in the “no live awkward rated R details” mode and forgot something happened that would give Diem pause over the “after hours” story time).

Rana casts spider climb on the elk again to make herself feel better.

Ixayl’anu, confused, asks it “did you do this? How do you do this?”

Elk: I’m on the ceiling, it’s great!

Unfortunately realizes he can’t swallow upside down so comes down to swallow his food.

Ixayl’anu: You need to teach me this trick

Elk: I don’t know how I do it, it just happens.

Ixayl’anu insight checks 18 *stares down the elk*

Elk: Sometimes when your friend comes around I can do this.

Ixayl’anu: Which One?

Elk: The copper one

(Aboard the ship - next day shenanigans, I think? Day 3 shenanigans? I didn’t make the timeline very clear in these notes) At some point during the day, Diem snuck in Phi’s room to take back the doll from her packs, then tried to sneak it into her arms that night 20 stealth vs 25 perception, Phi wakes to see Diem looming over her, reaching out.

Diem quickly hides doll behind their back and is very awkward about this. Rana doesn’t cuddle and I wanted to see if you would.

Phi wants to know what they were doing, why they were reaching out for her face though.

They awkwardly try to explain that there was something on her face.

Phi tells them they’re being creepy. Diem: Oh, and who snuck into my room in Budelia just sitting on the end of my bed watching me? That wasn’t creepy? Deflection fails so Diem shows her the doll and pretends they were trying to get rid of it for her before she woke up and freaked out. This backfires as Phi gets really really freaked out and Diem decides they can’t go through with that either and admits that they did it, they were actually trying to *leave the doll in her arms* to find later and it’s just one of those normal dolls of the queen they were handing out at the festival.

Phi: I changed my mind, you’re not getting cuddles tonight.

Diem *crushed to lose cuddles*: I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were that scared of it - What if I throw it overboard right now - an offering to the sharks?

Phi agrees to cuddle after all if Diem throws the doll overboard. We do so and then go sleep in the same room with Rana. Note: I think I forgot to note the passage of some uneventful days mixed up in this trip somewhere because otherwise we’d have only 2 full days out to sea, arriving in the morning of day 3. As such, I went back through the notes to note when an (the?) uneventful day(s?) might’ve occurred. (Ocean Voyage Day ?: What happened to Kelly?)

By the time the rest of us wake up, Rana is probably already on deck sitting miserably.

Diem tries to cheer her up but it’s mostly cause she’s not feeling well.

Ixayl’anu begins to notice how weird it is that this crew is quiet and antisocial

Diem doesn’t really notice but tries to encourage sea shanties. A few look my way (19 persuasion) and catch themselves humming before quickly cutting off and going silent again.

Ixayl’anu starts talking to phi about how strange this is

Diem agrees, noting how the ships they’ve been on always sing shanties and clearly some of this crew knows them…

Ixayl’anu: and they’re usually shouting back and forth about things they’re doing/seeing.

Phi: Maybe they don’t need to communicate like that?

Diem: Yeah maybe they all follow old ones...? Wait that sounded way more ominous out loud than in my head.

Rana is glaring at us.

Ixayl’anu: *Grumbling* it’s usually more lively than this, I just don’t like it.

Phi realizes something about something Tel whispered her: Wait a second guys, I wanna go ask somebody something *goes to find the guy who thought the whole shark teeth thing was weird*

Phi makes a 17 investigation roll, she does not see the person she was looking for, but she had seen him since launch.

Phi returns and tells us she can’t find the guy she spoke to yesterday when we set out.

Diem: Are all the little boats still here?

Ixayl’anu casts divine sense but doesn’t sense any celestial, fiends, or undead: Do you know his name? Maybe you could ask about him?

Phi doesn’t know why we’re worried, but she knows his name (Sean something I missed) and could go asking even though she’s not worried.

Diem messages: Are you really not worried or are you saying that for Rana’s benefit, you can respond to this message.

Phi: Well I’m not worried but I’m getting worried that you’re worried. You can respond to this message.

Phi goes off to ask the captain and knocks, hears sigh.

Cpn: What can I do for you Selphina?

Phi: I was gonna ask Kelly a question but I can’t find him, do you know where he is?

Peter gets quiet and then says “Oh no, Mr Kelly had other engagements and didn’t join us this go around.”

Phi: But I saw him yesterday…?

Cpn: You must’ve been mistaken.

Insight check 10. She knows he’s lying but doesn’t know anything else about it, only that something about this is not right. It’s also suddenly degrees colder in this room.

Phi: I guess I was mistaken.

Cpn: No worries it happens to everyone

Phi: How’s the trip going, are we on schedule?

Cpn: Oh we’re making excellent time, we should be there by morning.

Phi: Excellent

Upon returning to us, Phi: Guys I don’t think we should be talking near the captain’s door in the future, but I was clearly mistaken

Phi actively tries to get out of the conversation and drop it.

Diem suggests maybe it’s this crew’s own superstitions like “quiet passage for quiet passage.”

Ixayl’anu says maybe she’ll be be less worried about it then. (Aboard the ship: Ambergris!)

At some point during the day we see a lump of grey goo overboard about the size of 2 milk crates. Definitely smaller than a chair.

Ixayl’anu notices it first, rolls a 12 on nature check, it’s not something her culture uses but it’s whale vomit and worth its weight in gold.

She points it out, gives fancy ambergris name to us and looks for a bucket, Phi tries to help.

We found a bucket, it’s probably not big enough for this. Ixayl’anu hits the thing, but realizes the bucket is too small.

Rana casts control water to keep it with the ship. Diem runs to get their special rope.

When they return with rope, it ties off successfully and Ixayl’anu manages to get it up to the boat, with all four of us pulling we successfully get it on board (mostly Rana’s 21 and no thanks to my 2 lol).

It smells not great.

Diem: Oh that’s awful *prestidigitations it to smell like flowers* (Except it’s old enough to be hard and not smell too awful anymore)

We talk about getting it in the black of holding and breaking it in pieces so we don’t rip our bag.

Rana asks about what it’s for, is it part of the meteor?

Ixie: No, it’s...well it’s whale vomit.

Diem: Oh, gross... *looks at their hands and casts prestidigitation*

Rana goes back over to sit where she was before like oh my god as the rest of us talk about it being valuable. She leaves the bag of holding with us to break it and stick it in the bag.

Phi: This is awesome, the best day ever, I’m going to throw shark teeth in the water every time!

Ixayl’anu: *excited* yeah the teeth just show up on the beach it’s so easy to find them. (not knowing if that’s true everywhere).

Diem: Or maybe the whale just saw that doll (as an aside to Phi)?

Phi laughs.

We have a pleasant evening, no plans.

Ixayl’anu gives a heads up to the elk: Watch listen tonight so you can stay up. Keep your ears open.

Evening perception checks: me (literal 0), Ixayl’anu: (nat 20), Rana: 21, Selphina: 10. (Ancient Whalesong Magic!)

Rana can’t sleep tonight. She hears a low wailing that goes into a series of clicks. She hears it all night long.

Rana goes to Ixayl’anu’s room and asks “What is that?” It sounds like they’re following the boat or just all around us. A lot of them and very close.

Ixayl’anu: It’s whale song

Rana: Why are they so loud?

Ixayl’anu: Well it’s...I don’t know what they use it for, but it’s communication

Rana: But why are they so loud?

Ixayl’anu: I don’t know *both go above deck to check it out*

Rana makes 7 perception, Ixayl’anu a 14. She knows what to look for - occasionally she sees a spout but they’re not hanging out at the surface, only coming up to breathe and going back down, unlike what she’s used to.

Looking out over the water for a little bit they speak with animals at about the same time. About 10-14 whales.

Rana or Ixayl’anu: What are you singing about?

A whale: We’re working

Another whale: We’re busy

Now that they can hear what they’re saying, it doesn’t make sense at first, it has a weird strange poetic cadence to it, it kinda sounds like chanting or a ritual spell.

Ixayl’anu makes an 8 on arcana check

Rana wants to see if this is natural and rolls an 18 nature check. It seems like a natural thing, these are natural whales.

Ixayl’anu: What’s the song about?

There are words they can recognize, but she didn’t pre-arrange the song (Bless you if you know what I meant at the end of this statement).

19 perception from Ixayl’anu to get the meaning through the overlapping song. It’s about wrapping something around things and tying things together and binding something, repetitive in the round song way (row row row your boat lol) about keeping something together, apart from everything else.

Rana is leaning over the railing intrigued by all this.

Ixayl’anu is looking for any visual signs, 14, little waves, but not enough to disturb the pretty view of moonlight on the water. She doesn’t hear any birds or any other splashing. Very quiet other than the whale song.

Rana excitedly runs below deck to wake Phi and Diem up to experience the whales too! Diem actually does manage to perceive whales. It is very cool.

Rana (to whales): Are you coming with us?

A Whale: No we have our own business to attend to

Rana: Where are you going?

Whale: Here

Ixayl’anu: Are you hunting?

Whale: No, we are not hunting. We are very busy.

Rana: Do you need help?

One of the whales spy hops, large whale between humpback and blue whale (fin whale).

Diem: Wow that is so cool.

Rana gets the sense it’s looking at her and comes back down with a snort: I don’t think you could.

Rana: You’d be surprised. I might be able to help if you need help, but what’re you doing?

Whale: It is old magic for our kind.

Ixayl’anu and Rana ask them more about it, find out they’re doing some kind of binding ritual.

Rana casts locate object looking for pieces of the meteor.

She does not sense anything within a thousand feet of her.

Rana: Is it about a rock?

Whale: It is about the project

Rana looks at Ixayl’anu with an unspoken question.

Ixayl’anu shrugs.

Whale clarifies: The Great Project

Rana: Good luck!

One whale acknowledges with a little fin wave

Rana: They clarified it wasn’t about a rock

Diem knows of sailors telling a few tales of whales helping shipwrecked people and other species and some people say the whales seem to be very benevolent forces, not really heard of magic, just weird sailor tales.

Diem suggests maybe the great project has to do with the sharks teeth thing.

Eventually over the next half hour we get out of immediate range, but we hear them for the rest of the night.

Phi dozed off leaning against something.

We go back to bed and the whole thing puts us at a later rising time. (Farford on the horizon!)

When we wake up we see Farford in the distance.

We’re gonna get 30k platinum for the amber gris (7500 each)

Next session: Jan 14th 5pm. (But really...tomorrow, it’s tomorrow!)

We don’t need to rp out selling whale vomit.

Phi kept a little jar of amber gris for future trade options.

Ixayl’anu tries to find more shark teeth.

(Omitted notes to self with note of omission so I remember to reference them for establishing some previous details)

Diem promises when they receive their cut of the amber gris, to name their firstborn after Ixayl’anu lol.

1 note · View note

thedailystudy · 6 years ago

Photo

TUESDAY JANUARY 29TH • day in the life of // spring semester, community college edition

this is for day 7/30 day back to school challenge by @universi-tea for the daily routine prompt - i wasn’t super sure what to do with this prompt bc i don’t have a daily routine, but i really liked the day in the life post i did a couple years ago while i was in china so i thought i would do it again!

7:38 | i am not a morning person at all and my bf has insomnia so i often stay up a little later than i should just hanging out with him, so this wake up time is fucking awful. my class starts at 9, but i have to leave really early to drive to campus bc parking is a goddamn nightmare. learned that the hard way after being late to a ton of classes, i’m afraid. i usually dash out of bed and am driving within 30 minutes, so i just bring bring my breakfast and eat it in the car once i’m parked while listening to the new york times’ daily podcast #glam #luxurylifestyle

8:57 | first class of the day! i hate this class and the professor lmao (all the people i know who’ve taken him have had only awful things to say and now i see why) but it’s comparative politics, so a requirement for my major. just grinds a lil salt in the wound of waking up early

not pictured | my next class, which is exponentially more enjoyable - california state and local politics with a very knowledgeable, engaging, and organized professor

12:35 | that previous class ended at noon, so that’s when i go to the bathroom and fill up my water bottle and do some jammin’ on my planner. today i did a bit of running around campus to see a two professors during office hours to ask them to write me letters of recommendation. i get really nervous whenever i ask for things like this (i have anxiety about most things, esp social situations and like speaking/being confident), but thankfully both said yes and my fav professor told me i was ~SPECTACULAR~* in her class and i almost cried from happiness.

13:56 | i had a therapist appointment today and took this pic in the bathroom there! yay for unpacking and unlearning all the nasty shit inside our minds and reclaiming our brains and bodies to be our best selves

14:38 | home now, and my baby girl luna is always very angry that i was gone for so long but happy to see me again. i played with her for a bit, had a (very) late lunch, and watched some try guys videos on youtube before leaving the house again

not pictured | our first polisci club meeting of the semester! we’re a pretty smol club and i’m the co-president - this meeting was just kind of brainstorming/planning, and we met with the new dean which was cooool

17:52 | went on a lil walk afterwards, bc my step count is so embarrassingly low it’s really quite sad. for real i can’t even hit 6k most days unless i consciously make an effort to run or walk. i’ve never been an active person and have never met a sport i didn’t detest, but i’m trying to get moving and be healthier :)

18:43 | i’m taking an online class this semester on political theory, so i did some reading for that once i got home. we’re graded on our posts on the discussion board, so i posted there and then got frustrated bc some guy replied to me like “i agree with X but i disagree on Y point” and i was like ?? bitch?? i had the factually correct answer it doesn’t matter whether u agree or not leave me alone if u have no insight (one of my biggest dislikes about school is all the people who talk just for the sake of talking and add no value to discussion)

20:07 | picking up my bf from his campus! (we go to diff schools) on tuesdays this hawaiian restaurant has a special on bbq chicken, so we went to get that and then headed home to eat and cuddle with luna. we watched the san junipero episode of black mirror which made me cry SO much, and then we watched a couple pokemon episodes (from the very first original season, indigo league) to pick the mood back up haha. tried to cut our cat’s nails too, but she would not let us get near her once she figured out what was going on

0:26 | bedtiiiiime! this is my bathroom #shelfie which made me realize how much skincare/makeup/beauty stuff i have.. which makes no sense bc i’m really fkin bad at that lmao

and that was my day yesterday! i had a lot going on, which is fairly unusual, so there was a lot less studying and moofing around time.

#universi-tea challenge #studyblr #studygram #studyspo #studyblrgetsreal #30bts #tds

40 notes · View notes

smoothshift · 5 years ago

Text

Here's a story about the time I got my car stuck in a snow bank 9,000 feet up a mountain, and was stranded overnight. via /r/cars

Here's a story about the time I got my car stuck in a snow bank 9,000 feet up a mountain, and was stranded overnight.

Prologue

I'll start with some backstory about my car: she's a 2001 Subaru Impreza Outback Sport 5MT. At the time of the story, she had just under 230,000 miles on her. She's rough on the outside, but I've done a ton of work to her, and I'd trust her to take me anywhere. In over five years of ownership, she has started up every single time I've ever turned the key. She's taken me all over the country and through all kinds of weird and sketchy places, and I love her.

Chapter 1

From afar, I had seen New Mexico's great Mt. Taylor. Like many others who share a similar gene, I wanted to go to the top of it. I had one single day off of work in January, and I decided to take a day trip up there. I headed to the small town of Grants, NM, which was the gateway to the mountain. I spent quite a lot of time looking around on Google maps to see where the roads went, and I started heading up State Road 547.

The road was nice and paved, then after some miles it turned to gravel, then the gravel started to gain a layer of snow, which at that point in the road was nicely plowed. I was driving in a spirited fashion, getting the back end out a bit on the hard-packed snow, and I passed a group of four of five huge lifted trucks heading down the mountain. I turned off of the main state road onto Forest Road 453 in attempt to reach the La Mosca Lookout, which was as near to the summit as I could theoretically drive to. That road was not plowed and had a lot of snow on it, maybe 6 inches or so.

After a couple unsuccessful tries, I decided to reverse back down. I've gotten my car stuck several times before, and I was aware of the risk. I specifically told myself, "Don't do anything stupid. I know my limits. I'm not going to let myself get stuck out here. If it gets bad, turn around and get the hell out." That statement turned out to be a bit ironic in retrospect...

Unsatisfied and still eager to explore more of the mountain, I continued on State Road 547, getting further and further up the mountain and away from town. Once the large and plowed section ended, I looked at the map, and saw that I could turn right onto a smaller road that continued all the way around the mountain and ended in what looked like a small village called San Mateo, many miles away. I decided to take that road all the way to the village, and circle back around to the highway.

Now, this section of road was unplowed, but had tire tracks, and it looked to me like it was quite easily passable. My car was doing just fine, so I continued, again with the constant thought that I wouldn't do anything stupid and would turn around if the snow got any worse. I drove maybe a mile or a mile and a half up this tight, winding, one-car-wide mountain road, being careful to stay within the tire tracks and to keep up enough speed. Then, inevitably...

Chapter 2

My car wouldn't move. I was on a relatively flat and level part of the road, but the car was completely stuck; it wouldn't budge an inch. Pretty much immediately, my stomach dropped and I had that thought you get right after something bad happens: "Oh fuck. This is not going to be good." I should mention that at this point, it was somewhere around 4:30 or 5:00 o'clock, with less than an hour of light left in the day. Also keep in mind that I was on moderately worn all-season tires, and small ones too: 195/65/15. There was absolutely no cell signal where I was.

I didn't have a shovel or any real tools with me to move snow, so I got out and started digging with my hands. I dug up a fallen tree branch to try and help me move all of that white powder out from underneath the car. Thankfully, I had a full set of heavy winter gear with me including thick boots, gloves, and snowpants, so I could really get down in the snow to work.

I dug and dug, and tried to free my car for an hour and a half. I tried a few different techniques, and was finally able to get my car freed. At this point, the sun had gone down and it was dark. If I remember correctly, there was little to no moonlight. I was absolutely elated, and as anyone would, I wanted to get the fuck out of there as quickly as possible. I didn't have room to turn around, so I started to reverse back down the road to hopefully find a large enough spot to get pointed the right way.

I reversed no more than a few hundred feet, and had to get around the first corner. It was a right turn (or I guess a left if you're looking out the back window), and it was banked into a steep hill on the inside. As I started to go around, I guess I didn't steer the car exactly right, and it slid right into the wall. I was stuck again. I got so mad, I screamed and shouted. After all that work, it just happened again. This time it was even worse, as the road was no longer flat.

I started trying every single thing I could think of. Laboriously digging, digging, digging, only with my hands and whatever sticks and branches I could find. I was manic and desperate, just pounding away at this heap of white death. The snow must've been at least a foot deep on the edge of the road where I was stuck, maybe a foot and a half. I tried everything. Rocking back and forth over and over agian, backing myself into the hill to try and get any sort of momentum, shoving as many sticks as I could under the tires, pressing the brake while accelerating to help lock up the diffs and get all four wheels spinning...

I even tried hooking my flat tow strap around a tire, and wrapping the other end around a tree, thinking that just maybe the tire would wrap the strap around itself and "winch" me out. Then I thought, "Duh, I have open diffs, it's just going to spin the other tire. But maybe I can use the same braking technique to give some more power to that wheel and pull me out." It didn't work at all. Nothing. I was dumping every bit of energy I had into it; I was constantly shouting out to the empty forest, alternating between hopeful excitement and angry frustration.

Finally, after two full hours of laboring in the darkness, I freed my car the second time, now facing the right direction. If you would've seen me at that moment, you might've guessed that I just won a million dollars. I was elated. I wanted to get off the mountain so fucking badly. Ever so carefully, I began driving back down the road again, taking every corner with thought and consideration. My car was going along just fine. I was shouting and cheering the whole way.

Then I began to go around a right turn, and almost in slow motion, my car slid out of the tracks in the snow into the inside of the corner. "NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled. The car was beached. This time, the inside of the corner went down into a ditch. Each time I got stuck, my car was in a worse position than the last, and this was the worst of them all. If I tried moving the car at all, it just slid further off the road and into the ditch. I had to be very, very careful.

I very reluctantly began to start digging again. The car was in very deep snow, at least a foot and a half's worth. After digging some of it out, I would periodically go back in and try to move the car again, carefully. Each time, it slid further down. Finally, after an hour and a half of trying this third time, not wanting my car to slide all the way into the ditch, I gave up. It was very late into the night, and I had to stop. There was no way I was getting it out.

Chapter 3

I was about 20 miles from town, and there were no human beings anywhere within many miles of me. I was at about 9,000 feet in elevation. There was still no cell signal whatsoever. I must've tried 50 times to call 911. I even reached behind my stereo head unit, pulled the antenna wire out, and tried touching the connector to the metal chassis of my phone, in the desperate hope that I might get the tiniest bit of signal. Nothing.

I realized the severity of the situation, and for the first time, I genuinely thought, "I could be in some real, life-threatening trouble if I'm not smart about this." At this point in my life, I was living in my car. That meant that I had all of the things I needed with me: good winter sleeping bag, blanket, some food, water, and clothes. I figured that making the choice to try walking back to town in the darkess, after I had already exhausted myself digging snow for many hours, was how people end up dying. So, I decided to sleep in my car overnight and try walking back in the morning.

The temperature was around freezing, give or take, for most of the time I was up there. My sleeping back kept me warm enough, but I wanted to make sure I had extra heat from the car if I needed it. My battery was worn out, and I wasn't confident that it would have enough juice to start the engine back up in the cold, so I left the engine running all night just in case. I made sure the exhaust pipe was clear, and I cracked the windows.

The only real food I had with me was some Muesli and almond milk, which I had eaten for breakfast earlier that morning. It was not very enjoyable having it a second time for dinner. While it's a great breakfast food, it's very thick and rich, and can be quite difficult to eat in large quantities. I had to just shove it down. At least it had plenty of carbs.

Since the proliferation and ubiquity of cell phones, we've all become completely accustomed to instant communication. We can talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime, no matter where we are. There's obviously an inherent comfort that comes with that. I didn't expect there to be cell signal up there, and I know I'm perfectly capable of functioning without a cell phone. But when I was lying in my car, all alone in that cold and dark forest, not knowing what was going to heppen, not knowing when I was going to get out... It scared the hell out of me. True lonliness, and absolute self-reliance, physically and mentally. As silly as it may sound, it made me realize that I really don't want to die, and more than anything I just wanted to see my family again.

I lied there anxious all night, sleeping terribly. You know that feeling when you wake up from a dream, and you have that sigh of relief where you realize, "Oh thank god, none of that was real"? For me, it was the opposite. Every time I woke up, I realized again that I was still lying in that car, alone in the dark and cold forest, trapped. As you might imagine, that was an awful feeling. The night felt like it dragged on forever, whether I was asleep or awake. It was very surreal. I tried playing some games on my phone to distract me, but it didn't really work at all.

Eventually, the sun came up. I was incredibly lucky that it was a clear and calm day. I would later find out that there was a big storm that came through the area the next night; I couldn't imagine how much worse that would've been. I poured myself another bowl of Muesli for breakfast. Let me tell you, that stuff tasted like shit after eating it for the third time in a row. I had to force down as much as I could, because I knew I'd need as much energy as possible to walk back to town safely.

I ripped a few pages out of my notebook and wrote that I was attempting to walk back to town, and anyone who sees my car should call the rescue services and have them come get me. I wrote my parents' names and phone numbers on another page in case anything happened to me, and put them all up in the windshield. By the time I finally shut my engine off, it had been running for 16 hours straight, most of that idling. I loaded up my hiking pack with everything that I might need: extra clothes, food, water, battery bank for my phone, etc. I put on my boots, snowpants, and coat, and started walking.

I walked for a couple miles, anxious as all hell. I knew I could make it, but I was still nervous. I wanted to conserve as much phone battery as I could, but I couldn't help playing some music to try to relax myself a bit. I kept checking my phone to see if I could get even the tiniest sliver of signal. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Then, finally, I saw one bar. I dialed 911 as fast as I could, and to my amazement, someone answered. I got a little emotional just hearing another person's voice again, knowing that I could finally tell someone where I was.

It took the dispatcher what felt like an eternity to figure out where I was after I tried to describe it, but she eventually said that they were sending someone up to come get me. I was incredibly relieved. I kept walking down the road, and after a while, I saw a pickup truck in the distance coming towards me. I was finally going to get out of there.

Chapter 4

It was a Cibola County Sheriff's Deputy that had been sent up to get me. I wish I could remember his name. The guy was real nice, and told me he had grown up in those mountains, and knew his way all around them. We talked for a while, and he started telling me some stories of all the crazy, fucked up shit he's seen up on that road. He told me there was another guy that got lost up there hiking or something, and he didn't survive. Were were in a 4WD Chevy Duramax truck, and the deptuy said he'd bring me back to my car and pull me out, and I'd be on my way. We started back up the road towards my car, and then shwoooomp. The truck was stuck.

I thought to myself, "You gotta be fucking kidding me right now." The deputy remained unphased, however, and said we'd be un-stuck in no time. He assured me that he still had good signal on his police radio up there. He went to the back and pulled out his hand winch (or come-along, as some call it), and started hooking it up. We winched, and dug, and rocked, and the truck didn't want to come out. At one point, he even had me hop in the drivers seat and hit the gas. But finally, after about an entire hour, we got out and got turned around. As we headed down, he told me he knew a guy with big Bronco that could probably pull me out. If not, he said he could bring me up in his personal lifted Blazer and pull me out after his shift was over.

We headed into town, and the deputy took me to this guy's shop. He ran a small auto body repair business, and he said he could pull me out. Yes! I thanked the deputy, and he left. The guy told me he usually charges people around $250 to pull them out, but he'd do it for me for $100. Fair enough, I thought, so I went into the office where his wife and daughter were, and paid them. He had to go home to get his big Bronco, so I waited around for a while.

When he got back, I was really impressed at the sheer badassery of this truck. A 70's Bronco, lifted on 44 inch tires with a winch and a light bar. Me, the guy, his dad, and some other dude that was just hanging out at the shop all hopped in, and we headed up the mountain to pull out my little Subie. I forget what engine the Bronco had in it, but it was running open headers and a manual transmission. It was dirty, loud as hell, didn't run quite right, but it was pure and modest utility, and I loved that.

When I was talking to the shop owner's dad, it turns out that him and some friends were up on the mountain the previous day, and their group of trucks was the same one I had passed. He said he actually remembered seeing my car go by, and saying, "Man, someone's sure trying to get up there in a hurry!"

It took us at least 45 minutes to get back up to my car. Once we got there, he told me that he didn't even have to take it out of two-wheel drive the whole time. He said the snow isn't a problem until it gets up to the bumpers, which were over three feet off the ground. I love real, old school, hardcore trucks like that. They hooked up the winch cable to my car, and I hopped behind the wheel. I turned the key, and the engine fired right up; thankfully the battery still had enough cold cranking amps left in it. Slowly, as the winch tugged, I rose out of the ditch. The unhooked me, and I followed them back down. My car drove along just fine until we reached the part of road that was plowed. I thanked them profusely for their help, and took off back down the mountain.

I can't tell you how good it felt to be back in town. I got a nice warm breakfast burrito at a local restaurant, and it tasted so good after just eating all of those sugary oats. I drove back home and went right into work just as my shift was finishing, and had to tell my boss the whole story of why I missed an entire day. The whole thing ended up costing me a couple hundred bucks, including the tow charge and the lost day of work. That being said, it certainly could've been a lot worse. I was just so glad to be home.

I don't have any grand moral to the story, but I will leave you with this - know the limits of your car, and don't overestimate it!

Photos:

https://imgur.com/a/vspdB5Q

And here's the general location where I got stuck:

35°17'16.5"N 107°36'42.5"W

#reddit #autonews #auto #cars

1 note · View note

onetimeblast · 5 years ago

Text

21 People Tag Game?!? I only have like 5 friends

Rules: Answer 21 questions and tag 21 (ISH) people you want to get to know better. FIRST OFF, I was SOO flattered when @rulerofnocountry tagged me in this and second, this was so much easier to do on a laptop haha. 💻

Nickname: Manders, mandas, and Amanda Panda but that last one are pretty much reserved for my dad and my brother and MAYbe my future husband. please do not call me Mandy. You will be off the friend's list QUICK. 🙅🏼‍♀️

Zodiac: I am a born Aries but I am on the cusp of Taurus! So Taurus love relaxing in the serene environment but us Aries also love to be the first starting a challenge. My personality is all over the place.

Height: 5′2″

Last Movie I Saw: Avengers Endgame??? I think. 😅

Last Thing I googled: Katy Perry Russel Brand (because Jon Cozart tweeted about it) 🤷🏼‍♀️

Favorite Musicians: Okay, I really don’t have a favorite but I will recommend some plus songs!! Sad Forever by Lauv, Truth Hurts by Lizzo, anything by Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, and John Mayer. Plus Robert Plant who is from Lez Zeppelin, especially his Raising Sand album which I listen to driving and while writing. Lastly, Dean Lewis and his work! Dean Lewis, Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, and John Mayer are all on a Calm playlist! Can’t forget the lovely Harry Styles!!

Song Stuck in my Head: None actually! But I did have a mix of Harry Styles and Shawn Mendes yesterday while at work! 💃🏽🕺🏼

Other Blogs: protectteenwolf and uncommongracepublications! I may have others but ya gotta ask!

Do I get asks: Sadly, no... 😭🥺😞

Blogs following: Ummmm I think I follow like 536?? and maybe half of that follows me?? Honestly no idea. 😬

Amount of sleep: 8 hours are needed but I’ve been getting 6. Like tonight! 🤪

Lucky Number: Don’t have one

What am I wearing: Okay this is a creepy question LOL 😳 but it’s an XPLR black glow-in-the-dark shirt and light blue polar bear PJ pants

Dream Job: Legit, film director and producer!! I just applied to work in NBC this coming fall for two shows in New York! I live in Rhode Island so I can commute there and back during the day and may stay over the weekend IF NEEDED CUS it's HELLA EXPENSIVE and I have student loans to pay. Hell, it's expensive to live lol 💵💵💵

Dream Vacation: Croatia, Italy, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, ya know, all the lands lol

Favorite Food: Italian food plus all dem potatoes. Being an Italian, Irish American isn’t easy on the weight loss journey. 🍞🥔🍝

Playing an instrument: I am learning Ukulele m but I played the clarinet for about 6 years and I can sort of play the piano but it has been a while. I can read music but doing hearing to note match isn’t that easy for me.

Languages: English but slowly learning Italian!

Favorite Song: Just go back to the same question up top! I don’t have a favorite as its mainly when the mood hits me, I pick certain music at that time.

Random Facts: I am a twin and I am the youngest one. I also have to sleep with a fan on and sometimes hug a pillow at night. I also have 10 journals filled with diff things and I am trying to write a full book! So watch out for the publication's blog for some testing pieces of that book! I don’t drink and though I can’t say I won’t ever but I think I have an addictive personality and would like to stay away from an addictive thing.

Describe Yourself as Aesthetics Things:

Navy blue with some kind of black mixed in

Paintbrush strikes always dancing on my skin

Slow, visual reader

Waking up early to go onto a plane with the people dearest to you and leaving behind all of the worries at home.

An introverted extrovert who tells it like it is and will speak up if their opinion differs from those around especially when it may help the community to grow but also likes being alone and in peace with their own thoughts and hobbies.

Advocate for sobriety when driving and any other destructive decisions like texting and driving.

21 People are probably not the most possible thing but like we will find out!!

@shawmednes @mndes @bribethe-door @happymendes (that's literally 4 people. How the heck does any person know 21 people. How am I suppose to keep up with 21 PEOPLE?!?)

ALSO LIKE if you guys ever need a playlist to focus, I find this playlist of movie scores helps a TON! Spotify

#21 tag game #tag game #ummmmmmmmmmmm #no idea #I have no friends??

2 notes · View notes

lucalicatteart · 7 years ago

Photo

Some random info about blood in Nanyevimi..

Particularly on the topic of the collecting and selling of it in the realm, attempts to regulate the industry, implications of it, reasons against the practice, etc. (info under read more, even though this is an extremely short post compared to others it’s still in that weird in between length where it’d be just slightly too long if posted fully I guess lol)

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

The concept of blood in the supernatural realm has always been complicated. Many scholars and cultures theorize that it itself, has supernatural properties and something to do with the nature of magic, while others (which is a more common view) claim that though some blood can indeed have magical properties, that is more reliant on the already existing magical aspects instilled in the person themselves by their soul/magic/etc (as there’s still debate as to where precisely magic comes from and what indicators are present on a physical or tangible level). Some people believe all bloods to have differing special properties depending on the species, and some say they’re all virtually the same with little difference, especially when you look at them under scientific examination. But despite the various beliefs and cultural systems in Nanyevimi all having their own unique relationships with and conceptualization of the idea of blood, and how it should (or shouldn’t) be used, there has always been a (rather small) market for the distribution and collection of it.

There are ethical concerns with the mass collection of blood, as despite there being humane ways to collect it, in an industry as unregulated and largely spread out across the world as it is, it can be hard to ensure that that was the case.

In addition, most species have a huge list of incompatibilities and harmful effects that can occur due to the mixing or accidental consumption of blood. Which is one of the things that has lead some people to believe blood contains magical properties in the first place, as it can have such varied reactions in others. Even if, when examined in a lab two bloods have seemingly no large difference (like obviously blood will vary by species and all blood has normal variations in it, but I mean like.. it's not like you'll compare two of them and one is of such absurdly different composition that you're unsure if it's even blood, etc. Most of them seem fairly in the same range, and there are no currently recognizable properties that correlate with or account for the differences that have been noticed in blood, etc. ), they may still have wildly varying effects in certain applications, hinting at some sort of undetectable inherent properties. Not to mention all the other various health concerns that arise from improper storage and handling, etc.

Due to this, it is illegal in many countries in Nanyevimi to collect blood for non-medical purposes, and especially to buy and sell it (with exceptions for Navyete of course as the population (vampires/avirre'thel) literally needs it to survive, but they have their own extensive laws and hugely strict cultural ceremonies and conditions surrounding it, leading to it being highly regulated there and limited to the native population/species). Though of course people find a way to do it anyway.

Some people collect blood as a form of unofficial research, to use it and examine it, for whatever reason an amateur at home scientist may want to examine blood (like for example, certain small groups of hobbyists who are determined to research and document and test the limits of every known species in the world, but would rather not be subject to the ethics laws of working officially so they just run a lab out of their basement and try to hunt down different people from various species and convince them to come have tests done (or kidnap them, depending on the.. particular attitude of the amateur scientist in question)).

Others collect it more as a sport, given how many different species and subspecies there are in the world, some (this is like a ridiculous rich person thing lol...like, nobody would give a shit to do this if they weren’t some combination of bored, rich, and lacking empathy for the general population that isn’t like them) people seek to collect samples from them all, making rare or endangered species’ blood incredibly valuable (and again like.. not animals.. like.. very conscious living humanoid beings.. hence the claim that they’re detached from the humanity of others. Stalking and hunting down groups of people like animals just so you can get a blood sample is.. Freak Behavior). This is different from the science hobbyists, in that they don’t want to study them and don’t care about discovering rare evolutionary branches or secret capabilities, they legit just see it as a cool game, like collecting all trading cards in a set and then bragging about it to their other bored and rich friends.

The most popular reason to acquire blood however, would be to consume it as a delicacy (these are like a sub-category of the 'bored rich idiots', who happen to be more gullible and are convinced it has magical properties. Like, rich fools who are willing to spend tons of money on blood samples because some other vaguely less foolish rich person manipulated and scammed them by claiming that it would give them good luck or get them high or help make them fertile or something), and probably a majority (about 65%) of the underground blood market is for this purpose. People trying to get their hands on different blood from the most obscure or important species, thinking that consuming it will help them in some way or give them bragging rights or that it will just taste different than the others*, and is similar to trying a new fancy food or sampling different wines at an upscale restaurant (but it's USUALLY still out of them thinking it will do something for them. Even a lot of the people who claim they just like sampling and want to try all different types are always, secretly hoping to themselves that they’re going to unlock secret magic from it or something lol)

*(interestingly though, kind of similar to how some wines in our world have been proven to be this way, most people actually can not distinguish any difference between the different blood of humanoid species. It’s all the placebo effect at best, and pseudoscience peddling blood sellers actually tampering with the blood using magic to give it fake flavors at worst. The only species ever verifiably and reliably proven to be able to detect a distinction between types of blood (in humanoid creatures and animals alike) are the Avirre’thel (which is interesting since perhaps they have a rare ability to actually pickup on some of the aforementioned ‘undetectable magical properties’ or something), but like anyone else who says they can is probably just… a silly rich person tricking themselves into thinking it was wise to spend $20,000 on a rare blood sample from a dingy black market blood shop )

Ironically, the Avirre’thel/vampires, the only species in existence that literally requires consumption of the blood of living beings to survive (so has the best excuse out of everyone to participate in these things), are one of the main combatants of this industry, partially due to the cultural traditions they’ve built up around similar concepts, leading them to see this treatment of blood as highly disrespectful and also grossly irresponsible (especially due to them often having to interact with various human populations be incredibly careful about it, and also being pretty much experts in things like blood sensitivities, what species are compatible/incompatible, basic cross species/cross cultural standards of respect and communication, how to interact safely with those from other areas without starting conflict, etc etc. They have some of the highest standards in the world for all things of that nature (given they have thousands of years of forced experience with it), and they see stuff like this as like absurdly inappropriate and not at all in accordance to how things like this Should be handled). They see it as not only insulting to them (given the significance of blood in their culture), but more importantly, reckless and dangerous to everyone else as well, given how serious of matters are being tampered with and the potential harmful effects that a lack of knowledge and regulation can bring. A deep respect for blood and a cautious reverence for the lives around them is so deeply ingrained in their culture that, despite being probably one of the biggest groups that could stand to gain from an entirely unregulated blood market, they're actually some of the most strongly opposed to it.

The industry has especially flourished in (or basically has entirely relocated to, as it’s one of the only places where it’s actually legal) Mippya (another reason the Avirre’thel are often involved, given it’s so close to them and… the.. cursed Fanyin elves on their bullshit again), as it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the supernatural realm (and the least regulated which makes it particularly popular for.. certain types of people). Blood selling is one of the most prominent forms of “tiri gyeddania” ( meaning ’hidden tourism’ or ‘unseen tourism’, aka any broadly illegal activities/items/etc. that tourists regularly show up to do/purchase, since Fanyin/Mippya have virtually zero ‘human rights’ or any sort of system that would regulate anything involving other people) that they are known for. Most efforts on an international level to regulate the industry, and warnings from groups like the main council of Navyete and etc., have gone pretty ignored in Fanyin and Mippya, to the delight of weird basement scientists and gullible rich supernatural folk that like to drink overpriced likely fake** blood in underground caves to feel elite and cool about themselves.

(**often it’s just bird blood labeled as elf blood since nobody can tell the difference. While some buyers are adamant about actually having proof or seeing a living source (which is often, worse and more expensive since, generally implies kidnapping and keeping people captive as living proof of where the blood came from), a majority of people still are just like… taking a shady vendor’s word for it lol)

#blood mention #blood tw

33 notes · View notes