Mando DM

“old-school video games” like this doesn’t happen in AAA games today

Okay, so, basically the popular myth about this guy is that he was just a small business owner who was being bullied by the city and a big cement company. But the truth is significantly less flattering.

The cement company that supposedly cut his muffler shop off? That never happened. They were buying land from Heemeyer (Killdozer Guy), then Heemeyer started demanding a higher price for the land. They were going back and forth on this for a long time; basically if the cement company agreed to a higher price, Heemeyer would demand an even higher one, and they went in circles about it.

Killdozer Guy’s main dispute with the city was over poop. His muffler shop was not connected to the city sewer or a septic tank. Instead, Heemeyer had simply buried an old cement mixer off the back of the truck on his property and pumped his sewage into that, instead. The problem with a cement mixer instead of a septic tank is that it does not separate water from waste, it just… collects it all. This is against code, it’s unsafe, and the city ordered him to properly dispose of his poop.

Well, Heemeyer didn’t want to go through the expense of proper sewerage. He asked the city if they would let him connect to the city sewer system, and the city agreed. But they wouldn’t pay for the sewage hookup line on his property, he’d have to pay that cost himself. (This is pretty standard). Heemeyer refused unless the city paid for the whole thing, and of course did not build a proper septic tank system either. He continued pooping into a cement mixer and bragging to friends that he got away with it for the better part of a decade, until the city stopped being so lenient and started taking steps to fine him. Meanwhile, after over a decade of shitwater, the cement mixer started overflowing.

Killdozer guy’s solution? Pump his untreated, raw sewage directly into a creek behind his property.

It’s worth mentioning that Heemeyer was not financially ruined by either dispute. He was quite wealthy from having run and sold other muffler shops, and access to his current shop had never been cut off. He was basically just a rich asshole who felt that everyone was out to get him, including the Catholic church, because the local pastor had opposed his gambling legalization campaign, and the local newspaper, because they published an editorial that was unfavorable to him.

After all, you can’t afford a giant fuck-off bulldozer and the materials needed to turn it into a “killdozer,” let alone all the guns (including a Barrett M82 which usually goes for around $10,000) if you’re a poor working man ruined by small town corruption. In short, he was a self-entitled nutcase. 

Now, the popular narrative is that he never hurt anyone and only went after those who had wronged him. This is only partially true, and it’s entirely by accident. He fired his guns and tried to blow up transformers and propane tanks with them, he fired at the operator of the wheel tractor-scraper that tried to stop him and cops that he could see trying to stop him; and the library he rammed was full of people including a children’s class, and so on. Along the way he even tried to do favors for friends, like flattening sidewalk trees planted in front of a restaurant that the owner blamed for a downturn in business.

Oh, and this wasn’t even a kamikaze run as the viral post implies; Heemeyer had a hatch, it just took investigators forever to find it after the fact, since the thing was so thoroughly covered in rubble.

So my love for Miraluka is a decade old and i have a bunch of headcanons associated with my (*coughs*numerous*coughs*) Miraluka OCs or in general and I thought I’d repost some of them on this blog:

Force sensitivity:

Their ‘field of view’ isn’t limited the way physical eyes are, a Miraluka’s vision scope is 360° wide. This ability can be enhanced by training in the ways of the Force. 

Due to their natural symbiosis with the Force their level of Midi-Chlorians is higher than most species - even amongst “Non Force” sensitives Miralukas. However their abilities to use the Force to see do not automatically make them able to wield it the way Jedi or Sith do.

Inside the Jedi Order, many Miraluka were found in the Jedi Service Corps especially in bio farming or in the Halls of Healing. 

In the times of the Old Republic children Miraluka were eagerly sought out by the Jedi Order as one of the rare species using the Force innately. Nearly wiped out during the Purge by the Empire they return to seclusion shutting themselves from the rest of the Galaxy or posed as injured Humans.

Biology:

Most people mistake them for blind humans but their genetics - even if a near human species - is quite different.

A Miraluka pregnancy last eleven standard months.  

Their brains chemistry evolved to compensate the disappearance of eyes, their hands and feet are more sensitive to external stimuli. Their hearing is also enhanced.

Their vestigial eye sockets are filled with skin and not empty holes like some people believe, it is however more sensitive to extreme temperatures from intense heat to frigid cold. 

Culture:

The tradition of wearing an eyes covering dated from the early stage of evolution where their eyes sockets and unseen eyes would still be present. Others species - mostly others near humans would be bothered by their atypical appearances. The Miraluka therefore adopted the habit of covering either the top part of their faces or the eyes region. Along the centuries this habit became a central part of their way of life. 

The eyes coverings now have symbolism associated with a Miraluka’s age, their activities and family situation. 

Members of the Luka Sene Order wear distinct Masks according to their positions inside the Order.

When a child is taken away by the Jedi the family gives them a homemade eyes-covering they have to wear until their training as Initiates is completed. 

Traditional singing is an important part of their culture.

There’s an experiment called “The Ultimatum Game”. It goes something like this.

Subject A is given an amount of money (Say, $100).

Subject A must offer Subject B some percentage of that money.

If Subject B accepts Subject A’s offer, both get the agreed upon amount of money. If Subject B refuses, no one gets any money.

The most common result was believed to be that people favored 50/50 splits. Anything too low was rejected; people wanted fairness. This was believed to be universal.

And then a researcher went to Peru to do the experiment with members of the indigenous Machiguenga population, and was baffled to find that the results were totally different.

Because, to the Machiguenga, refusing any amount of free money (even an unfair amount) was considered crazy.

So the researcher took his work on the road (to 14 other ‘small scale’ societies and tribes) , and to his shock found the results varied wildly depending on where the test was done. 

In fact, the “universal” result? Was an outlier. 

And that’s the problem. 96% percent of test subjects for psychological research come from 12% of the population. Stuff that we consider to be universal facts of human nature… even things like optical illusions, just… aren’t.