#Defence Systems

[nuyts]

EU boosts defence readiness with first ever financial support for common defence public procurement

The European Commission has approved funding for five cross-border projects to support more coordinated and efficient defence procurement among EU Member States. Implemented under the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement instrument (EDIRPA), each of the 5 selected projects will receive €60 million, representing a total amount of €300 million funding. Bringing greater…

[valtsv]

[ranticore]

Well, now that we're talking post apocalyptic kobolds... If dragons as a species go extinct (which always seems like an inevitability once humans get involved) is there a chance for the kobold species to survive at all? I would assume it could be done but not without a lot of adaptability and possibly finding different creatures to congregate around. Or they are reduced to just being an all female species forever.

kobolds' closest evolutionary ancestors originally colonised active volcanoes before moving on to dragons as their heat source. so in the right conditions, they wouldn't need a dragon at all to retain their way of life. but idk how common active volcanoes are these days, so in their absence -

i can see there being a kind of fork in how the species develops. on the one hand we have the "we're going cold permanently" gang, progressing to an all-female parthenogenetic biotype that just stays that way, dumping the facultative heat adaptions as wasted resources and becoming more lizardy again like their ancestors. kobolds thrive in the dragon cave niche, requiring a cave which, without a dragon's presence, would sit at temperatures below freezing. this keeps out most of their enemies and natural predators during the cold phase, when kobolds become the only living creatures in a cave with any real presence who aren't the fish that they farm.

the other direction is the route taken by the poisoner and holly - leave the caves for good. kobolds cope terribly with open-air life - years out of the cave and holly still can't be out in direct sunlight without it physically hurting him. the open sky is panic-inducing even to kobolds who were born under it. and the temperature fluctuations are all wrong, it's never TRULY cold or TRULY hot so they end up feeling stagnant. but despite this they still survive and can reproduce, so this population would probably just adapt to surface life, ultimately becoming generalists rather than extremophiles. the reason this hasn't already happened is mostly due to there being so so many things that want to kill and eat them on the surface but now that they have the power of Living In A Society (and blacksmithing) they can defend themselves.

[retrocgads]

UK 1982

[windsfish]

Temu from my show

[scenic-route33]

An incomplete list of the Chekov's [insert here], things that have been offhandedly mentioned a few times in the show that I feel like will be of major importance in rv episodes yet to come:

Chekov's bothy

Chekov's Valley Floor Defence System

Chekov's Overhead nest hypersleep supplies

Chekov's amnesia

Chekov's recordings of Gordon that "relate to Warren"

[fannedandflawless]

Sirius Black Vs The Wards: Why Death Eaters Weren’t Invited To Tea

We’ve all heard it: “Hogwarts is the safest place in the wizarding world.” But who actually set those protections? How do they work? And more importantly—why do they fail in such spectacular fashion when a certain Animagus wants to drop in for a visit? Let’s take a look at the foundations of these fabled defences—and why they might be more aesthetic than foolproof?

🏰 Who Set the Wards on Hogwarts?

✔️ Hogwarts is protected by centuries-old enchantments laid by the Founders and reinforced by successive Headmasters—currently, Dumbledore.

These wards include:

Anti-Apparition barriers

Muggle-repelling charms

Detection wards for dark magic

Protective enchantments layered into the very stone

Sounds airtight? Hold that thought.

🐺 So How Did Sirius Black Break In?

✔️ He was an unregistered Animagus. The wards don’t detect animals the same way they detect humans. ✔️ He had intimate knowledge of the school grounds from his time as a Marauder. ✔️ He had access to:

The Marauder’s Map (the blueprint of Hogwarts mischief)

Secret passageways hidden even from the staff

Decades of experience evading authority

📌 The Ministry’s Dementors were stationed around Hogwarts—but they couldn’t detect him in his Animagus form. And if they did? They still needed direct proximity.

Sirius snuck in multiple times. Into the castle. Into the Gryffindor dormitories. And what was the school’s response?

“Board up the Fat Lady’s portrait. That’ll fix it.”

🐍 Meanwhile… THE DEATH EATERS

Here’s where the logic falls apart spectacularly:

Death Eaters—many of them former students—can’t get in.

We’re talking Bellatrix, Lucius, Narcissa, Travers, Rookwood, Yaxley, Dolohov, and other former Slytherin alumni—even Voldemort himself. These were witches and wizards with significant magical ability and extensive history at Hogwarts. And yet... not one of them could find a way in without relying on a teenager and a piece of broken furniture? Suspiciously neglected. Strategically nonsensical.

They knew the castle. They lived there. Yet none of them could break in?

So what does Voldemort do?

Assigns Draco Malfoy, a sixteen-year-old schoolboy, the impossible mission of assassinating Dumbledore—as punishment for Lucius' failure at the Ministry.

Under immense pressure and with no adult help, Draco devises his own plan: fix a broken Vanishing Cabinet—which had been rotting in a corner like a half-assembled IKEA wardrobe—to sneak Death Eaters into the castle.

A dusty, half-forgotten wardrobe becomes the cornerstone of a death squad invasion—like someone planned a high-risk coup using magical flat-pack furniture and crossed their fingers it wouldn't collapse mid-assembly.

Let that sink in:

Full-grown Death Eaters couldn’t manage what a teenage fugitive dog animagus did three times over.

And here’s the kicker—Peter Pettigrew, the very Death Eater who faked his own death and lived as a rat for over a decade, knew about the secret tunnel between the Shrieking Shack and Hogwarts via the Whomping Willow. He had used it himself. So why didn’t he lead the Death Eaters through it?

Even if it was partially sealed or risky, surely it could’ve been reinforced faster than restoring a Vanishing Cabinet. Was Voldemort unaware of it? Or did he not trust a path once tied to the Marauders?

If speed and surprise were the goal, the Whomping Willow route seems a baffling omission. Dubious, darling. Deeply dubious.

🤯 THE IMPLICATIONS:

🔥 Sirius Black > Death Eaters in Hogwarts Infiltration

Sirius had deeper magical intuition, resourcefulness, and a working knowledge of the school’s blind spots.

The Marauders, collectively, understood Hogwarts better than most of the staff.

The Death Eaters, despite their power, relied on brute force and bypassing rather than subtlety.

And let’s not forget—his Animagus form was a dog. While it's never explicitly stated how the wards classify Animagi, it’s reasonable to assume that Sirius’ form allowed him to bypass the usual detection spells. Perhaps Hogwarts is accidentally pet-friendly—but not evil-detection efficient. Just ask Rita Skeeter, who snuck into places as a beetle without setting off a single alarm. So maybe the rule is: if you don’t look magical, you’re fine. You can sneak in if you look like a lovable stray—or an unremarkable insect. Good luck if you’re in full Death Eater robes, though.

🤨 Or… The Wards Are Dubiously Selective

Hogwarts’ security flexes depending on plot demands.

If Voldemort needed in, there’s always some reason he couldn’t—until Dumbledore was dead.

Are the wards magically intelligent? Or just wildly inconsistent?

Hogwarts: “No evil may enter—unless it’s disguised as a dog.”

🪞 Lingering Reflections:

This raises a serious (Sirius) question:

Was Sirius Black secretly one of the most magically competent characters in the series?

If so—why didn’t the Order use him better? Why wasn’t he teaching stealth? Why wasn’t he training students?

And perhaps more pressingly—why didn’t Dumbledore clear his name?

He knew Sirius was innocent. He had strong reason to believe the truth about Peter Pettigrew—ever since the events in the Shrieking Shack. Though he claimed he lacked proof after Pettigrew escaped, one must wonder why a wizard of Dumbledore’s stature couldn’t sway the Ministry or rally support. Instead, he let Sirius remain a fugitive, locked in Grimmauld Place, haunted and hunted.

Was it fear of public backlash? Political games? Or simply another case of Dumbledore trusting that “the greater good” would work itself out?

Or was it simply another oversight by the narrative so focused on the Chosen One that they forgot the Black sheep genius in the corner?

⸻

Previously: Hogwarts Security Issues: The Safest Place? Really?

[ehlnofay]

how many murder robots can there realistically be in dwemer ruins? I understand it from a game making perspective but like... they're meant to be cities. people lived there. I suppose the animunculi would have some use as an army and maybe as guards but aside from that what's the point?

most of the automatons have to be much more benign. cleaners and errand-runners and assistants in laboratories. I want to see those robots. elder scrolls six get on this

[defencecapital]

Operation Sindoor: India PM Modi refers to Buddha and Shakti (Power) to warn Pakistan on terror

By A Correspondent New Delhi: India‘s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12, 2025, warned Pakistan of a nuclear catastrophe, referencing the 1974 and 1998 Indian nuclear weapons tests, albeit in a veiled threat, by talking of Gautama Buddha‘s birth anniversary today and Shakti (Power) in the same breath. India’s first-ever “peaceful” nuclear explosions by India were codenamed ‘Smiling Buddha‘…

[mousemannation]

cocaine in the blood surprise real fear of daniil medvedev

[toxetta]

i'm almost completely useless irl, but if there's one talent i have there it's lying and putting on an act, especially around adults.

i've somehow created a fake personality that comes out subconsciously when i have to speak with my voice. shy, polite little soft boy who never asks for anything and is always nice to be around, long as you don't pry and try to actually be my friend. it's so obviously fake and yet everyone goes along with it?? either they're afraid of confrontation or they're actually that shallow.

guess it's my "dArK eMpAtH nArCiSsIsT tRaIt🤪" or whatever those idiots on tiktok would call it /j

[witchofthemidlands]

me in a few hours time if/when i find out that the theory i have had since wandavision about señor scratchy being agatha's son nick inside the rabbit turns out to be very much not true & he died of an illness agatha couldn't save him from & or agatha accidentally killed her own son herself because he was playing with his magic with his mama & she couldn't control her power & then (his other mother) rio reaped him.

[luv-again]

I should sleep !! I say, before I lay awake, over-analysing every tiny detail in shadow 05's cryptic castle mission for my next project

[pairdelune]

i like to think that the reason mindflayers like to make their bodies look so human is because they were originally made to provide some sort of medical assistance and they became intrigued by the human body

[the-shiny-eeveelution]

Murder Drones.........

Getoutofmyhead Getoutofmyhead Getoutofmyhead Getoutofmyhead Getoutofmyhead Getoutofmyhead Getoutofmyhead GTFO

✨I can remember every single fucking moment in this stupid series and replay everything in my autistic af head✨

[dead-generations]

Also worth noting that the FAA has been in a crisis of leadership for several years now. Biden was engaging in back to back firings of FAA administrators while he was in office. it was quite shameful in certain circles; apparently the FAA was completely unable to handle the rollout of 5G around airports. actually iirc even just one airport. this despite the fact the Europe had handled it so well they were making 5g mandatory on planes.

It was a fiasco.

On the space side: Musk obviously doesn't have the best interests of the industry at heart but it has far from the only one who felt the FAA was failing launch providers and needed an overhaul in how it handled rocket launche. FAA heads, industry leaders, consultancies, the USSF, congress, the Biden Whitehouse: everyone has agreed for a while that the FAA isn't quite fit for purpose in launch oversight right now.

hopefully knowing that you can better judge whether or not DOGE is/was making appropriate or merely self interested changes at the FAA.