humans should be able to do a special Ultra Sleep after major life accomplishments where you're just out for like 32 hours or something and then you wake up fully refreshed in every way
Happened to me after midterms of sophomore year of high school. I came home at about 2 PM, went down for a nap at 3, woke up at midnight, played Fallout New Vegas for 3 hours, went back to sleep and woke up at about 1 PM later that day. All in all I slept 19 hours out of a 24 hour period. Felt amazing by the way. Like I got a full night's sleep, took a reverse nap, and went right back down for another.
Okay, this is a bit of a funny ask, but I wanted to reach out.
I've had a complete and utter debilitating fear of earthquakes for years. Like, had to go to therapy for it type fear. I'm much, much better now. I've got anxiety medication and a lot of planning and research under my belt so it's no longer something I freak out about or even worry about day to day. However, I still get anxiety flare-ups from time to time.
A bit odd, but I was wondering if anyone would be able to share some positive earthquake-related news? Especially anything in relation to the Cascadia earthquake, as that's the one that had a pretty big effect on me as a kid. I know I'm committing one of the Big Internet Safety Sins by discussing something that has a big effect on me, but I feel like I'm a the point where it's fine to risk it and ask. I'm doin' pretty okay, but I had an anxiety flare-up and I figured I would ask if anyone knew of any good things happening in relation to that. Anything that might help with peace-of-mind would be awesome.
I have a story about an earthquake. Back in 2018 a magnitude 7 earthquake hit the state I lived in, Alaska. I was in school at the time, more specifically gym class, and all the students were forced to wear uniforms of t-shirts and shorts or sweatpants. This was also in November, which isn't really the coldest time of year up there but is usually at about a daily average of, I wanna say like 5 Fahrenheit? and of course we couldn't stop at our lockers to grab our regular clothes on the off chance the ceiling might cave in, so we (and everyone else in our school) had to sit outside for about an hour waiting for aftershocks and the building to be cleared as safe to go in. After that, we all sat in the gym, waiting for our parents to take us home. I don't remember any stories from anywhere else during it, but it's not hard to assume there were thousands of other people like me huddling outside in the freezing cold or hugging a sturdy wall in their homes waiting for another shoe to drop.
But you wanna know the funny thing?
Literally EVERYONE survived. Out of the several hundred thousand people in the most populated cities and towns and in hundreds of smaller villages with significantly worse infrastructure, there were only a couple cases of broken bones. nobody was crushed or trapped in collapsed buildings, nobody died of hypothermia, and none of the worst case scenarios for a natural disaster on that magnitude actually happened. Wanna know why? Obviously, pretty much the entire state was built for such an occurrence (there WAS some destruction of buildings and roads but all the important stuff was fixed by the end of the month), but the more important reason is that every single Alaskan has three things drilled into their head at the age of six up: How to survive a bear, how to survive a moose, and how to survive an earthquake. When I felt the ground rumbling on that November day, I and the thirty other kids in my class did not hesitate before running to the wall my gym teacher had pointed out to us our first day as the place that wouldn't fall on us. When we were forced outside in case of a roof collapse that would never come, one of our teachers got us all some emergency blankets and we spent that hour sharing warmth, working off the adrenaline, and casually chatting. Hell, it took less time for the power in my neighborhood to come back on than it would usually take in a particularly bad wind storm. Come two weeks later, everything except the gossip was business as usual.
I suppose what I'm trying to say here is that while earthquakes are objectively terrifying and a bad enough one can absolutely have a high death toll, they're a phantom that leaves the kind of bruise a community remembers and learns from. In 1964 a magnitude 9 earthquake hit Anchorage, the largest city, killing over 130 people, causing over $100 million in property damage, and erasing two small towns off the map. It was also the last recorded death an earthquake ever caused in Alaska because it made the state invest millions more in education and specialized infrastructure against it. Long story short, there ARE systems in place to protect and assist you should that kind of thing come to pass.
i really dont want to insult the one mutual who i see is still posting about this man, as it's been six months and my frustration with the fandom's fixation on men has somewhat abated but it genuinely blows my mind that there's almost five thousand works of fanfiction about a man who looks like this
Shotgun Sally had had her fill of fighting superheroes. Henching used to be easy. Crack some safes, intimidate some people, stand guard at some deals. It's the only skillset she's ever had, and she was happy doing it. She had no interest in moving up - too much paperwork and headache - and going straight was impossible with her record. No, henching was where it's at. Or it used to be. Until those meteor storms a few years ago. People getting superpowers from the radiation. Started wearing costumes. Ridiculous. Comic book stuff. Job hadn't been the same since.
Intel came in. Sally answered the phone, writing down all the info in her notebook as usual. New hero. Contact said she goes by "Miss Fire." Left a calling card, apparently? Stupid name. Basic. Probably young, unsponsored. Hasn't been caught on camera yet, but apparently some deals went bad. Bodies at the scene had third degree burns on their hands and faces. Not one of those no-killers, this one. The name made her easy to figure out. Typical energy projection hero, probably has flamethrower breath or shoots fireballs. You hear it all the time, kid gets some flashy powers, gets full of herself, decides to be a crime fighter. Nobody ever trains the Supers to care about human life. Sally'd never had a reason to kill anybody in her work. Some rounds at the feet usually scares people into compliance. At most she'd take a few teeth or break some bones, but she'd never killed. What was their excuse?
Sally was tense. The contact was late. Deal was supposed to be done by now. That meant something was up. But it wasn't her decision whether they pulled out or not, that was up to the boss. She was watching a rat eat a pizza. Then she heard it. Gunfire, sounds of burning and screaming. "We got a Super!" A nod from the boss, and Sally was off.
Sally darted around a corner. There she was. The kid wasn't exactly what she was expecting. Usually these flashy types are dressed in spandex, or wearing heels (ridiculous), but this one was wearing simple boots and a parka. What confused Sally most of all was the lack of any glowing. Usually with these energy projection heroes you could tell what bodypart their powers came from by a residual glow, especially if they'd used their powers recently. Nothing around the throat or the hands.... In fact, her hands weren't even out. They were in her pockets. She looked totally relaxed. Was this not the hero?
Sally leveled her shotgun. She was about twenty paces away. Standard procedure with heroes was to keep your distance, in case they have melee powers. But she was more than close enough to turn the girl into a cheese grater if need be. She had to find out if this was the hero or not. Sally always preferred the direct approach. "Miss Fire, I presume?"
"That's me," the girl replied. Her face was blank. "You don't wanna be pointing that thing at me."
The girl's candor was annoying. "I believe I do. See I've been hearing about you hurting my people. I can't have that."
"They shot first. It wasn't on me."
"I'm gonna give you one chance to get out of here. It's past your bedtime."
"Make me."
Alright, that was enough talking. Sally couldn't tell if this kid had powers or what, but there was only one way to find out. Sally switched her shotgun to a low-spread mode and aimed between the girl's feet. If this wasn't the Super, this would scare her off. If she IS the Super... well, whatever happens happens.
Sally almost missed it. In a swift motion, the girl took her hands out of her pockets and opened both at Sally as if to reach out to her. Sally's reflexes kicked in, throwing herself to the ground to dodge the oncoming fireball or laser beam or whatever it was. But nothing came. The girl was just standing there, with her arms out. She looked like an idiot. Sally got up. "Of all the... what the hell do you think you're doing? I could've shot you."
The girl seemed surprised that she hadn't. She looked scared. "Usually they do by now..." she whimpered. She suddenly turned around and started running in the other direction. Sally was stunned. She was about to chase after her, but then she heard a noise she didn't like. Her gun. It was hissing at her. In fact, it was glowing. Alarmed, Sally threw the shotgun away from her as fast as she could. As it collided with the ground, it exploded into a ball of purple and blue flames.
Sally sat on the ground, watching the smoking remains of her favorite gun. She took her notebook out, and flipped to the info about the new hero. She crossed out "Miss Fire" and wrote "Misfire" under it.
I trip on the top step and die instantly not because of an impact or anything but because my brain sees what it's in for and just shuts itself off since staying alive is just delaying the inevitable
blakekathryn
2087
annaxmalina
jacobvanloon
turnnoffyourmind
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