On this excellent day, be aware that this is the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world, covering over 95,000 square miles and reaching depths of over a thousand feet. They are beautiful freshwater seas.
Also when you die in these lakes, the very cold, oxygen-poor conditions at the bottom preserves you perfectly for all eternity. You will not rot and nothing will eat you. You will exist for as long as the Great Lakes do. Many shipwrecks still have the crew on board. Be Aware.
you guys know you can get USB connectable CD, dvd, and blu-ray players right. and you can buy external hard drives with crazy amounts of space for an amount of money that would make the average person from 2009’s head explode bc of how cheap it is. and if you do this and get ripping software such as handbrake for CDs and DVDs and makeMKV for blurays you can both own a physical copy of whatever media you want and make it accessible to yourself no matter where you are. do you guys know this
welcome to the cozy town of Aquarium Gravel! we've got time loops, alternate reality selves, eldritch horrors, places that Should Not Be, possession, cool item symbolism, things pretending to human that very much are not, and a guy that hallucinates scarecrows talking to him.
as someone with a burning drive to analyze as much lore as i can get my hands on, as well as someone who has trouble tracking down specific clips in hours-long VODs to back up my analyses, i decided to start transcribing VikingPilot and Rubyco's lore!
this is a bit of a massive undertaking, and there are likely going to be mistakes due to length. shoutouts to Rubyco and ghostsgone for the help on this project!
right now this only covers Viking and Ruby's plotline - if other people want to transcribe the lore streams from the other Aquarium Gravel members i 100% encourage it because everybody's got a really cool story to tell! however, i have given myself one heck of a workload, so i don't think it's in the cards for me. i would love to see it though
this post will be updated as more transcripts are finished! in the meantime, here's what we have so far!
TRANSCRIPTS:
Jan 29 - A hypothetical future.
Feb 8 - Ruby confronts Viking about his weird behavior after he gets an IOU out of Miyaki.
Feb 15 - Viking and Ruby investigate the strange signs Ruby leaves while sleepwalking.
Feb 20 - Ruby meets another Viking.
Feb 21 - Sapphire leaves a message.
Feb 28 - An error in the timeline.
Feb 28 - Jay has an encounter.
Feb 29 - An introduction to Fiv, and a conversation with Sapphire goes south. [WIP]
Mar 4 - Viking and Ruby find a clocktower and get more questions than answers. [WIP]
▷ [ Navigator & Sapphire's conversation ]
AITA for gaslighting an entire server for no real reason?
So it all started at the beginning, where I got a secret task to quote "dig a big hole, all the way down, at least 3x3, make it your base if you want"
So I do as I'm tasked and begin to dig, when my friend (who I will refer to as Big Dog) found me in the middle of my hole. He asked what I was doing and I panicked. I didn't want him to guess, so I flat out lied and said I was just mining. Then my other friend G came along and I told him that I was digging a tunnel to the secret keeper.
After that, it all just spiraled out of control. Any questions asked of me I would lie about. If Big Dog asked for an ally's location, I'd send him the opposite way. If someone needed materials, I'd lie that I was fresh out. I started putting signs in G's egg base that said I was watching him.
I kept digging holes, and made an underground series of tunnels with no purpose other than to confuse and unnerve those who entered.
I think I even began believing my own lies...I'm starting to suspect Bartholomew and Bob are just armor stands with pumpkin heads...
AITA for gaslighting everyone for an entire series? Or was I just playing the game?
the funny thing is that i don't think younger people - and i mean those under the age of 40 - really have a grasp on how many of today's issues can be tied back to a disastrous reagan policy:
war on drugs: reagan's aggressive escalation of the war on drugs was a catastrophic policy, primarily targeting minority communities and fueling mass incarceration. the crusade against drugs was more about controlling the Black, Latino and Native communities than addressing the actual problems of drug abuse, leading to a legacy of broken families and systemic racism within the criminal justice system.
deregulation and economic policies: reaganomics was an absolute disaster for the working class. reagan's policies of aggressive tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, and slashing social programs were nothing less than class warfare, deepening income inequality and entrenching corporate greed. these types of policies were a clear message that reagan's america was only for the wealthy elite and a loud "fuck you" to working americans.
environmental policies: despite his reputation being whitewashed thanks to the recovery of the ozone layer, reagan's environmental record was an unmitigated disaster. his administration gutted critical environmental protections and institutions like the EPA, turning a blind eye to pollution and corporate exploitation of natural resources. this blatant disregard for the planet was a clear sign of prioritizing short-term corporate profits over the future of the environment.
AIDS crisis: reagan's gross neglect of the aids crisis was nothing short of criminal and this doesn't even begin to touch on his wife's involvement. his administration's indifference to the plight of the lgbtq+ community during this devastating epidemic revealed a deep-seated bigotry and a complete failure of moral leadership.
mental health: reagan's dismantling of mental health institutions under the guise of 'reform' led directly to a surge in homelessness and a lack of support for those with mental health issues. his policies were cruel and inhumane and showed a personality-defining callous disregard for the most vulnerable in society.
labor and unions: reagan's attack on labor unions, exemplified by his handling of the patco strike, was a blatant assault on workers' rights. his actions emboldened corporations to suppress union activities, leading to a significant erosion of workers' power and rights in the workplace. he was colloquially known as "Ronnie the Union Buster Reagan"
foreign policy and military interventions: reagan's foreign policy, particularly in latin america, was imperialist and ruthless. his administration's support for dictatorships and right-wing death squads under the guise of fighting "communism" showed a complete disregard for human rights and self-determination of other nations.
public health: yes, reagan's agricultural policies actually facilitated the rise of high fructose corn syrup, once again prioritizing corporate profits over public health. this shift in the food industry has had lasting negative impacts on health, contributing to the obesity epidemic and other health issues.
privatization: reagan's push for privatization was a systematic dismantling of public services, transferring wealth and power to private corporations and further eroding the public's access to essential services.
education policies: his approach to education was more of an attack on public education than anything else, gutting funding and promoting policies that undermined equal access to quality education. this was, again, part of a broader agenda to maintain a status quo where the privileged remain in power.
this is just what i could come up with in a relatively short time and i did not even live under this man's presidency. the level at which ronald reagan has broken the united states truly can't be overstated.