Christopher Seagull

Not related to Jonathan Livingstone

[prokopetz]

There are two unrelated metroidvanias based on the classic Little Nemo comics coming out this year, which feels like kind of an obvious cut – of course you'd adapt Little Nemo as a metroidvania, if you were going to adapt it as anything – but it got me thinking: what would be the least suitable public domain media to give the metroidvania treatment?

[prokopetz]

I feel like a lot of folks in the note are interpreting "worst" to mean "most difficult to justify the protagonist actually going anywhere or doing anything", but that just militates against video game adaptations in general, not against metroidvanias in particular. We can do a lot worse.

[christopher-seagull]

Alright, I initially misread this as least suitable public domain cartoon instead of any media, so I'm naming The Outbursts of Everett True.

From a "going out and doing stuff" angle, all it would take to get him involved would be for the antagonist to be a real dick, but also someone sufficiently insulated that he has to do through a whole journey to get them their comeuppance, so he could definitely work as a video game protagonist of some sort.

From an "unsuitable" angle, Everett's a flat and static character whose entire MO is yelling and slapstick violence against rude people. To make him work as a Metroidvania protagonist within his existing character, all the powerups are different ways to flip his shit at enemies for productive effect:

Chase someone while hollering continuously to position them

Run into them to automatically defeat them in a flurry of cartoon violence

Smack them until they curl up in the fetal position to make them a springboard

Hurl them away to hit switches and buttons

Not only does this ensure abilities gained are all vaguely similar instead of a neat spread, later-game platforming challenges involving multiple enemies and environmental hazards devolve into Lemmings (1991) horseshit. I picture having to time your actions to get them and you past obstacles and into very specific spots, with near immediate failure if you get too far (obstacle that one of you dodged hits the other) or too close (Everett automatically grabs them and defeats them somewhere that won't help him platform)

Boss fights are also limited by his Everett's idiom, since an actual drag-out brawl isn't something that happens - instead, each one is some jerk making their surroundings particularly dangerous (street racing, playing with fire, running an unsafe factory, etc). The bosses don't even know Everett is after them and the actual challenge is to get through the set piece surrounding them, at which point Everett is so mad he defeats them in one hit with a newly-developed power-up.

Brief breaks in the usual formula are available in certain situations where the player can do something exceptionally rude, at which point Mrs True will appear to chase them. This gives us higher-speed gameplay where the goal is to make it to a specific dead-end, at which point she will preview an upcoming ability by using it on the player.

It wouldn't be non-functional as a Metroidvania, but the specifics of the character require the design to be both contrived and clunky as hell.

[themysteriousmurasamecastle]

[toaster-os]

[wheelybard]

oh shit, it was already banished to the shadow realm.

[christopher-seagull]

No Eyes? No Dragon? No Problem!

[christopher-seagull]

How the OSIRIS-class NHP that appeared spontaneously in my frame thinks it comes across:

How it actually comes across:

[zooophagous]

Meta goes to arbitrator to prevent whistleblower from promoting tell-all book

An emergency arbitrator ruled that former Meta staffer Sarah Wynn-Williams is prohibited from promoting memoir of her tenure at the social m

Hey did you know there's a tell all book about the behind the scenes of Meta and the author is forbidden from promoting it?

The good news is however that it's already published and can't be stifled and whoever didn't sign the NDA can promote it as much as they want.

[ralfmaximus]

You mean Careless People, written by Sarah Wynn-Williams?

Available from Macmillan Press?

[kangaroomarko]

[christopher-seagull]

Make that at least six!

[guzhufuren]

Some happy things from the first day of marriage equality in Thailand 💗❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

First three couples who registered their marriage in different districts:

some openly queer actresses and a director celebrating this historical day:

[christopher-seagull]

PSA: Do NOT try to make a drink with hot chai tea and vanilla protein powder, mixed in a cup with a fork. It will not, despite what you hope, create a dessert beverage that is thick and filling while also being low-carb. It will instead make something I have dubbed "The Scunge."

The Scunge is chunks or mats of protein, congealed together by the heat of the tea, floating loosely around in it. To the touch, The Scunge feels like soggy saltines - until you put a piece in your mouth, at which point you learn that beneath that moist surface is a gritty nightmare that sticks to the teeth, gums and throat for hours.

The Scunge is something that they'd give to penal labourers in a dystopian YA novel. It is a profoundly awful experience to drink it hot, and an even worse one to have it cold. The texture goes beyond bad, past the vast realms where 50's jellied salads and slimy lettuce loom nightmarish, and settles in "incompatible with the human eating experience".

It does actually smell fine, but that's merely a trick to get you to try it. Do not fall for "oh, it'll be fine once the protein dissolves" like I did. It will not dissolve, it will merely smear and stretch without ever losing its horrifying essential character.

It's bad, yo.

[mylordshesacactus]

Please make a post about the story of the RMS Carpathia, because it's something that's almost beyond belief and more people should know about it.

Carpathia received Titanic’s distress signal at 12:20am, April 15th, 1912. She was 58 miles away, a distance that absolutely could not be covered in less than four hours.

(Californian’s exact position at the time is…controversial. She was close enough to have helped. By all accounts she was close enough to see Titanic’s distress rockets. It’s uncertain to this day why her crew did not respond, or how many might not have been lost if she had been there. This is not the place for what-ifs. This is about what was done.)

Carpathia’s Captain Rostron had, yes, rolled out of bed instantly when woken by his radio operator, ordered his ship to Titanic’s aid and confirmed the signal before he was fully dressed. The man had never in his life responded to an emergency call. His goal tonight was to make sure nobody who heard that fact would ever believe it.

All of Carpathia’s lifeboats were swung out ready for deployment. Oil was set up to be poured off the side of the ship in case the sea turned choppy; oil would coat and calm the water near Carpathia if that happened, making it safer for lifeboats to draw up alongside her. He ordered lights to be rigged along the side of the ship so survivors could see it better, and had nets and ladders rigged along her sides ready to be dropped when they arrived, in order to let as many survivors as possible climb aboard at once.

I don’t know if his making provisions for there still being survivors in the water was optimism or not. I think he knew they were never going to get there in time for that. I think he did it anyway because, god, you have to hope.

Carpathia had three dining rooms, which were immediately converted into triage and first aid stations. Each had a doctor assigned to it. Hot soup, coffee, and tea were prepared in bulk in each dining room, and blankets and warm clothes were collected to be ready to hand out. By this time, many of the passengers were awake–prepping a ship for disaster relief isn’t quiet–and all of them stepped up to help, many donating their own clothes and blankets.

And then he did something I tend to refer to as diverting all power from life support.

Here’s the thing about steamships: They run on steam. Shocking, I know; but that steam powers everything on the ship, and right now, Carpathia needed power. So Rostron turned off hot water and central heating, which bled valuable steam power, to everywhere but the dining rooms–which, of course, were being used to make hot drinks and receive survivors. He woke up all the engineers, all the stokers and firemen, diverted all that steam back into the engines, and asked his ship to go as fast as she possibly could. And when she’d done that, he asked her to go faster.

I need you to understand that you simply can’t push a ship very far past its top speed. Pushing that much sheer tonnage through the water becomes harder with each extra knot past the speed it was designed for. Pushing a ship past its rated speed is not only reckless–it’s difficult to maneuver–but it puts an incredible amount of strain on the engines. Ships are not designed to exceed their top speed by even one knot. They can’t do it. It can’t be done.

Carpathia’s absolute do-or-die, the-engines-can’t-take-this-forever top speed was fourteen knots. Dodging icebergs, in the dark and the cold, surrounded by mist, she sustained a speed of almost seventeen and a half.

No one would have asked this of them. It wasn’t expected. They were almost sixty miles away, with icebergs in their path. They had a respondibility to respond; they did not have a responsibility to do the impossible and do it well. No one would have faulted them for taking more time to confirm the severity of the issue. No one would have blamed them for a slow and cautious approach. No one but themselves.

They damn near broke the laws of physics, galloping north headlong into the dark in the desperate hope that if they could shave an hour, half an hour, five minutes off their arrival time, maybe for one more person those five minutes would make the difference. I say: three people had died by the time they were lifted from the lifeboats. For all we know, in another hour it might have been more. I say they made all the difference in the world.

This ship and her crew received a message from a location they could not hope to reach in under four hours. Just barely over three hours later, they arrived at Titanic’s last known coordinates. Half an hour after that, at 4am, they would finally find the first of the lifeboats. it would take until 8:30 in the morning for the last survivor to be brought onboard. Passengers from Carpathia universally gave up their berths, staterooms, and clothing to the survivors, assisting the crew at every turn and sitting with the sobbing rescuees to offer whatever comfort they could.

In total, 705 people of Titanic’s original 2208 were brought onto Carpathia alive. No other ship would find survivors.

At 12:20am April 15th, 1912, there was a miracle on the North Atlantic. And it happened because a group of humans, some of them strangers, many of them only passengers on a small and unimpressive steam liner, looked at each other and decided: I cannot live with myself if I do anything less.

I think the least we can do is remember them for it.

[thejollywriter]

wow okay i’m crying now

[girlwithakiwi]

“And even as he watched the rescue unfolding that morning, he would have understood that for the living, everything which could have been done had been done: not a single survivor was lost or injured being brought aboard the Carpathia. For those who had gone down with the Titanic, save for reverencing their memory at the service later that day, there was nothing more that he or anyone could do. Rostron’s duty now was as he always saw it: to the living.”

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

I looked up a bit about this because the post is so movingly written that when I read it aloud to my husband and mother they both wept like babies, and something else really struck me about this story.

So Carpathia was not a top-end luxury liner. Her reputation was for being Jolly Comfortable - she was very broad in her proportions, and not super-duper fast, and the result was that she didn’t rock so much on the waves and you couldn’t particularly hear/feel the engines. She was solid and dependable, and lots of people liked using her, but she therefore occupied a lesser niche than Titanic or Olympian or whatever - and crucially, as a result of that, she only had one radio operator on board. This means she only had radio ops for a certain window in the day, unlike Titanic, which had 24 hour radio ops.

So on that night, when Titanic went down, Carpathia’s wireless operator - one Harold Cottam - clocked off his shift at midnight, and went to bed. While he was getting ready for bed, though, he left the transmitter on for the hell of it, and therefore picked up a transmission from Cape Race in Newfoundland, the closest transmitting tower sending messages to the ships. They told him that they had a backlog of private traffic for Titanic that wasn’t getting through. So, even though his shift was over, and it was now 11 minutes past bloody midnight, and he just wanted to go to bed, Harold Cottam decided that nonetheless, he’d be helpful, and let the Titanic know they had messages waiting.

And that’s how he received the Titanic’s distress signal. In spite of no longer being on shift to receive it, and therefore in order to send Carpathia galloping to Titanic’s rescue, and thus saving 705 people.

All because Harold Cottam decided one night to be kind. 

I dunno. That’s just really stuck with me.

[armouredescort]

Cottam also ended up staying awake for something like 48 hours straight trying to send survivors messages and a list of survivors home, but due to Carpathia’s limited radio frequency range and with no other ships to act as a relay, this was rather patchy. However, he tried his damn best to make sure the survivor’s messages got home, and was also bombarded with incoming messages of bribes to spill the details of the disaster to the press.

Rostrum had ordered that no messages to the press be sent out of respect to the survivors, for they would have their privacy destroyed as soon as they reached New York. Cottam respected this order, even under extreme duress of fatigue, stress, and the knowledge that in some cases the bribes were almost three times his annual salary.

He eventually went to bed but not before working with one of the rescued Titanic’s radio operators, Harold Bride, to transmit as many messages as possible. Bride was injured (his feet had been crushed in a lifeboat) and had just passed the body of the second of Titanic’s radio operators aboard (Jack Phillips), so neither of them were really in the best shape to keep working, but they did.

In the face of extreme adversity, both men refused to do anything but their duty (and exceeding their duty) not just because Rostrum had ordered it, but because it was the right thing to do. They could have profited considerably from the disaster and they refused for the dignity of the survivors.

[duckbunny]

This is hopepunk. This is what we can be, what we are, when instinct takes over. This is what we are when we choose to care about each other. We’re not profit machines or units of production or lone fierce wolves in a bitter wilderness. We are people, and we care about people.

This is human nature. Don’t give up on it.

[deadcatwithaflamethrower]

Hopepunk is best punk.

[saint-batrick]

this always leaves me sobbing. fuck.

[petermorwood]

I wrote a post a couple of years ago, wondering why there hadn’t been a documentary or docu-drama about the ‘Carpathia’ rescue run.

There are probably sound reasons why not, one of which is probably that getting yet another ‘Titanic’ project greenlit is far easier - name recognition, pre-sold property, multiple conspiracy theories to play with (all discredited, but when did that stop the “History” Channel?)

Here are a couple of stories about ‘Carpathia’:

As @mylordshesacactus has already said, her boilers and engines were rated for no more than 14 knots and, when she managed 17.5 for the only time in her life it’s said (I hate the phrase but I have to use it) that the Chief Engineer hung his hat over the main pressure gauge so no-one - including himself - could see how far its needle was into the red.

Captain Rostron, a religious man, was seen on several occasions standing privately on the exposed bridge wing with his own hat raised and his mouth moving in silent prayer, and when daylight revealed the extent of the ice-field his ship had passed without harm, he only said “There must have been another Hand on the wheel than mine…”

There’s another problem-of-sorts about a screenplay set aboard ‘Carpathia’ - an astonishing lack of that easy dramatic tool, conflict. Captain Rostron decided he was going to the ‘Titanic’s assistance, and that was that. AFAIK not a single passenger or crewman - not one - questioned the wisdom of his decision either then or afterwards, even when…

…‘Carpathia’ headed at more than full speed, in the dark, through dangerous waters where an iceberg had apparently just sunk an “unsinkable” ship.

It’s easier to write - and sell - a story about pride, arrogance, stupidity, rich against poor and lives lost through hubris, than it is to write one about people who rallied round and did the right thing at the right time, not for reward but because it was the right thing to do.

Here’s Rostron and his officers…

…the ‘Carpathia’ stewards and cabin crew….

…some of her passengers…

…and some of the people they helped.

[joasakura]

I will always reblog one of the few posts to GUARANTEE leaving me in an ugly sobbing heartfelt mess.

Godspeed Carpathia and your crew, your memories live on.

[luulapants]

I'm so frustrated by the lack of response to the mass psychogenic illness of law enforcement officials claiming to suffer contact fentanyl poisoning. There were a few studies done that quietly concluded that it's not real, none of the cases were credible, and the symptoms most closely resemble a panic attack or somatic episode.

No one is connecting this to systemic issues in police training and culture and no one is treating this as the canary in the coal mine it is.

Modern police training is functionally cult indoctrination, and intentionally cultivates paranoia. Police learn that everyone is out to get them, danger lurks around every corner, and their only job is to make it home alive after their shift.

They then enter the body of police culture, where questioning the bad behavior of fellow officers is at best strictly socially punished and at worst can get them killed, where they are constantly vigilant to say the right things and portray the right beliefs.

Suddenly, after generations of mainstream culture being generally supportive of police, in the midst of an anxiety-riddled pandemic, there is a highly-publicized backlash against law enforcement. Regular people are saying ACAB, calling cops fascists and murderers and wife-beaters. They're posting officers' service records on social media. Police, unwilling to believe they are evil, experience a cognitive dissonance backlash effect and cling to beliefs that contradict reality.

No one should be shocked - and no one should be hesitant to say - that there is a mental health crisis in law enforcement. They are paranoid, hyper-vigilant, and mired in cognitive dissonance. They have guns and virtually unchecked power to enact violence in their communities. Making up delusional stories about fentanyl is a pretty mild outcome compared to what we should be expecting from these circumstances.

Police aren't just bastards. They're a danger to themselves and others.

[luulapants]

BTW, for anyone thinking this is an old story, the reason I'm bringing it up now is that it is actively being used to justify denying books, mail, and other documents to people in prison. The entire state of Wisconsin just banned donated books.

Prison staff are having psychogenic episodes they blame on fentanyl, and the response from DOC administration has been to appease and legitimize this hysteria by restricting some of the few freedoms left to incarcerated people. Their reaction should be, "Holy shit, the most vulnerable population in our state is in the care of people who in the midst of a mental health crisis so sever it's causing mass delusions."

[antiterfbutch]

I had to explain this to my mother a while back. She was skeptical at first (she is a liberal who subscribes to the "one bad apple" idea of dangerous policing rather than recognizing the systemic issues with it), but I pointed out to her that if the fentanyl poisoning epidemic was really as serious as they claim it is, then the death toll for fentanyl would be much, much higher than it is.

People are doing fentanyl every single day, and while yes there is a tragically high rate of overdose, police seem to be the only people suffering from serious side effects from just touching the shit. If it were really as dangerous as the police claim, fentanyl use would have a 100% overdose rate. It does not.

Watching that reality sink in for her was rather interesting because I could tell she saw this logic was undeniable, and I imagine it really called into question the reliability of police as a whole.

Which... It should.

[grison-in-space]

Oh, fuck people doing fentanyl recreationally—fentanyl is actually often used in medical settings. My spouse works labor and delivery, and there's a multi-dose cartridge of fentanyl in the dose packs used for every damn epidural in the hospital. You have to account for every milliliter of the stuff, and most of the time even if you use it during the epidural (where it's moderately common), you have some left over. Which then has to be transferred into the waste container when everyone has a moment, by two nurses, so that you can account for all of it at the end of the shift and no one can get fentanyl by rummaging through the garbage.

What this means is that every nurse on that unit has fumbled with getting all the leftover fentanyl out of the dosing cartridge and sprayed fentanyl all over their bodies. Sometimes repeatedly. ("And none of us are even getting high, let me tell you.") And yet, despite medical workers frequently interacting with fentanyl in the course of their jobs and spilling it on their bodies, these episodes of hysteria are specific to cops—not medical workers like nurses or doctors.

Just, you know. If you needed a little more ammunition.

[brilliant-soul]

Also people helping folks overdosing would be in contact w fentanyl (and other drugs!) and are fine

[moniquill]

[christopher-seagull]

I saw the Lycan and had a vision.

[hockpock]

Programming I'm Totes gonna sub,it to a con one of these days:

The Millennial Meme Cringe Power Hour: a singalong.

xX_*~All the worst earworms from the 90s, 00s and today~*_Xx

[hockpock]

My shortlist so far

All Your Base

Cat! I'm a kitty cat!

Yatta! (Irrational exuberance)

the Llama song

Numa Numa

Badger badger badger mushroom

Do you like waffles, the nomnom song

wii shop theme

peanut butter jelly time

Caramelldansen

Nyan cat

shooting star

out of touch

[libraford]

-Everytime We Touch

-Tunak Tunak Tun

[moniquill]

I'm a hippopotamus and I've got noodles on my back

[bethanythebogwitch]

Hamsterdance

[christopher-seagull]

The Terrible Secret of Space - not as famous, but it still lives rent-free in my brain 20 years after I last heard it

[welldrawnfish]

Time.

[welldrawnfish]

Updated this piece since it was my hardest to read comic. Also, I hate to do this, I truely do. I feel bad asking since I feel like I offer nothing in return. But right now I need some small assistance affording my adhd meds so I can keep making comics. If you would wish to support me you can use my Tip link here. All of will go to medical bills. https://ko-fi.com/welldrawnfish

[xiranjayzhao]

Guess who got disqualified from the Hugo Awards for unclear, most possibly political reasons!!

Award admin Dave McCarty's response to people asking why:

But this email is apparently just bouncing everything back so here's the full list of the admin team:

[vbartilucci]

We've now got commentary (and some savage out-calling) from another of the affected parties.

I don't know if I'd say the Hugos in general have lost any of their prestige, but clearly this year will carry an asterisk in perpetuity.

[theinstagrahame]

Posting this more because I think it's funny then because I think it addresses the issue in any significant way. But like,

Yeah I'll bet you apologize...

[xiranjayzhao]

Why is this guy acting like him apologizing is a monumental EVENT 😭😭 And "old habits"?? So he's a habitual ableist asshole and he knows that??

[neil-gaiman]

And today's bit of the story is:

https://locusmag.com/2024/01/mccarty-standlee-and-others-censured/

Worldcon Intellectual Property (W.I.P.), the California non-profit that holds the service marks of the World Science Fiction Society including “Hugo Award,” issued this statement in a press release on January 31, 2024:

W.I.P. takes very seriously the recent complaints about the 2023 Hugo Award process and complaints about comments made by persons holding official positions in W.I.P. In connection with these concerns, W.I.P. announces the actions listed below. There may be other actions taken or to be taken that are not in this announcement.

Dave McCarty has resigned as a Director of W.I.P.

Kevin Standlee has resigned as Chair of the W.I.P. Board of Directors (BoD).

W.I.P. has censured or reprimanded the following persons, listed in alphabetic order, for the reason given:

Dave McCarty – censured for his public comments that have led to harm of the goodwill and value of our marks and for actions of the Hugo Administration Committee of the Chengdu Worldcon that he presided over.

Chen Shi – censured for actions of the Hugo Administration Committee of the Chengdu Worldcon that he presided over.

Kevin Standlee – reprimanded for public comments that mistakenly led people to believe that we are not servicing our marks.

Ben Yalow – censured for actions of the Hugo Administration Committee of the Chengdu Worldcon that he presided over.

Donald Eastlake has been elected Chair of the W.I.P. BoD.

Please note that each year’s World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is run by a separate organization which administers the Hugo Awards for that year. The Chengdu 2023 Worldcon has asked that any specific questions about the administration of the 2023 Hugo Awards be sent to [email protected].

(For media inquiries on topics related to W.I.P. other than the specifics of the 2023 Hugo Awards, you may contact [email protected].)

This statement follows widespread outcry regarding seeming irregularities in the Hugo Awards nomination data, including several entries ruled ineligible by the Hugo Awards administrators, among them R.F. Kuang’s Babel, fan writer nominee Paul Weimer, Astounding nominee Xiran Jay Zhao, and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, for reasons that are not explained on either the site or the document.

[christopher-seagull]

It's good to see some consequences, but I don't believe it's enough - we still don't have a statement on why those works were excluded, and how this issue will be prevented from recurring in the future.

[officialbabayaga]

Rashida Tlaib has set up a petition to send to the White House to recognize and stop the ethnic cleansing and forced displacement happening in Gaza. If you’re a US citizen please sign. I have no illusions that this will change policy, but the public outcry against their actions must continue. We will not be distracted or discouraged from continuing to object to these humans rights violations.

[officialbabayaga]

Hi likes do not help this post, please reblog

[illusoryfem]

Interview with Yoshitoshi ABe & Yasuyuki Ueda

[christopher-seagull]

I didn't know this, but I sure as hell felt this - I think this is why is not just my favorite show, but the one I consider the most important to me.

[tolkienmatters]

The world was young, the mountains green, No stain yet on the Moon was seen, No words were laid on stream or stone When Durin woke and walked alone. He named the nameless hills and dells; He drank from yet untasted wells; He stooped and looked in Mirrormere, And saw a crown of stars appear, As gems upon a silver thread, Above the shadow of his head. The world was fair, the mountains tall, In Elder Days before the fall Of mighty kings in Nargothrond And Gondolin, who now beyond The Western Seas have passed away: The world was fair in Durin’s Day. A king he was on carven throne In many-pillared halls of stone With golden roof and silver floor, And runes of power upon the door. The light of sun and star and moon In shining lamps of crystal hewn Undimmed by cloud or shade of night There shone for ever fair and bright. There hammer on the anvil smote, There chisel clove, and graver wrote; There forged was blade, and bound was hilt; The delver mined, the mason built. There beryl, pearl, and opal pale, And metal wrought like fishes’ mail, Buckler and corslet, axe and sword, And shining spears were laid in hoard. Unwearied then were Durin’s folk Beneath the mountains music woke: The harpers harped, the minstrels sang, And at the gates the trumpets rang. The world is grey, the mountains old, The forge’s fire is ashen-cold No harp is wrung, no hammer falls: The darkness dwells in Durin’s halls The shadow lies upon his tomb In Moria, in Khazad-dûm. But still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere; There lies his crown in water deep, Till Durin wakes again from sleep.

- Gimli’s song about the splendor of Khazad-Dum. Fellowship of the Ring, A Journey in the Dark.

[christopher-seagull]

I've seen a few people mentioning the Clamavi de Profundus performance of this song, and I'll give you that it's damn good.

But this one old man from the early days of YouTube has my favorite version of it by a country mile. Hell, it's one of my favorite recordings of any song, period.