#sandstorm deadlock

[lemontartmart]

Sandstorm sketch i did for santana (dillpickle365) on bluesky!

[siberat]

Got a favorite tf continuity? 👉👈 favorite character from said continuity? Also… favorite pairing (if you have one)?

ahhh fav continuity… kinda hard, kinda easy.

idw/mtmte comics is a favorite. Not outdated, had a decent story, the characters designs are def nice. Most of my writing/drawings are from this continuity. It’s what brought me back into drawing and the tf’s.

next is Tf prime. This was the first show that was active when I first got into tfs (I think season 2 was coming out) I like how it was a bit darker. While the char designs are great- took me a bit to get over the. O nose speil (even tho they be robots and don’t need them to breathe) but the show was enjoyable. Did get a little repetitive with some aspects, but I remember the excitement awaiting the next ep.

g1- the movie is what first hooked me into it, then I started watching the tv shows on dvd. Wonky animation, silly stories, funny designs is where it’s at! While dated yes, it’s still entertaining!

fav char:

idw: kinda harddd…… ima pick one autobot and one deception: Drift/deadlock, decepticon: blast off

tf prime: breakdown

g1- skyfire

for fav pairings in each continuity:

idw: dratchet (includes deadlock). on/off. Funny enough, I was initially. Roddy/drift shipper but well, jumped ships lol! I like Roddy/ultra Magnus tho.

tfprime: gah, guess ko/bd. Tho, I really don’t think of much stories in this continuity. Tho, megs/Ratch is growing on me for this series.

g1- ahhh my first pairing was skyfire/starscream, starscream/red alert, octane/sandstorm.

[a-fresh-start-au]

Time to make an introduction now that the others found out I made this.

Hi! My name is Springer, I’m a warrior in the autobot ranks! I’m the youngest here but that’s bound to change eventually!

The other autobots consist of our leader, Optimus Prime, his second in command, Ironhide, our medic, First Aid, our scientists Brainstorm and Shockwave, and the others which consists of: Nautica, Bulkhead, Blaster and his cassettes, Skids, Sunstreaker, the other protectobots, Jazz, Pipes, Evac, Beachcomber, Chromedome, Grimlock, Paddles, Slash, Scorn and High Tide!

We defend the planet earth against the evil decepticon leader Megatron and the rest of his team, he no longer has a second in command but he doesn’t deserve one!! The others in his ranks are the medics Nickel and Flatline, his scientist Tarantulas (hate him), Ion Storm, Acid Storm, Deadlock, Counterpunch, Octane, the Combaticons, Lugnut, Lockdown, Overlord, Nightbird, Scorponok, Bitstream, Hotlink, Sunstorm, Pandora & Paradoxa, Barricade, Reflector, Blitzwing and Sideways.

But we’re not the only ones in this galaxy! There’s a group of bots known as the Free Birds who go around and remain neutral. They’re bots from both sides that chose to stop fighting and wanted a calmer life. They’re lead by former autobot Thunderclash and their ranks consist of Pharma, Kup, Sandstorm, Dead End, Astrotrain, Soundwave, Rumble, Howlback, Buzzsaw, Hot Rod, Swerve, Red Alert, Inferno, Skyfire and Starscream!

Lastly, there’s this group of female cybertronians that go out and help any bot in need. They’re called Solus’s Daughters, they’re lead by Optimus’s girlfriend Elita-1, and the other femmes there are Windblade, Velocity, Chela, Shadow Striker, Chromia, BlackArachnia, Firestar, Crasher, Clobber, Slipstream and Strika.

Basic rules for this blog.

1. Mod ( @krattgirl124 ) is 21 but would prefer to keep things PG13 at most.

2. Questions are very much encouraged! This AU is a unique one and we would love to answer all questions!

3. Be respectful, freedom is the right of all sentient beings but that’s no excuse to be an ass about anything.

4. There are some odd ships in this AU, if it’s not your cup of tea that’s okay.

5. If an ask is sent that I’m uncomfortable with I will be deleting it instantly.

6. This is a fun roleplay blog not meant to be taken seriously.

More rules may develop as this blog goes on.

[licially]

A fly amidst a sandstorm. (1/??)

/ Partially based on me and my friend @fronniecoded's game of fishing simulator together, a goofy thing. It may be amateurish, but it's practice regardless! Lmk if y'all want another part and I'll happily continue. The clock ticked slowly, as the hillside whistles and howled along with the winds blowing against it. The ocean's breeze proved calming, contradictory of the noises from the mainland and its subsequent city life. The cries from the ocean isn't without its collaborators, as the seagulls also yelled from above in the blue skies, as if taunting all of those who traversed alongside here. The brief cries from those birds eventually casts itself over everyone at the bay area.

One man, rather calmer than the rest of the go-getters, feels too dressed for the occasion. One of the attendees at this bay veered their eyes off of the ocean currents and towards him, only to be met with a more intimidating look back at them. Their eyes, as if almost negated by the man's deadlock, struck onto their willingness to continue the silent judgment, as if they themselves are judged by the same eyes. They immediately turned around and never took another look behind again, in recoil and in a sign of newfound fear. Unknowingly, they'd miss the biggest catch of it all, as the rod they had been keeping watch over had its bait - a fly fishing bait - drenched in the water, and one fish managed to snap off its hook.

The man never provoked further, only continuing his journey onto a more secluded part of the bay. Albeit not completely isolated, given only one other person was here towards the clearest part of the ocean, he looked forward to it. Not too many people know who, or what, he was prior to this. Perhaps he felt more of a businessman, looking to achieve a side hustle or a personal hobby rather than a corporate job behind files upon files of piles of files. Or, having come from an early morning rise, wanted to relieve himself of one such occasion, and decidedly try his hands at a new thing.

He dropped his box towards the left side, as he stood against the winds. He had read up on the fly fishing, on a book that was given to him by Nico, and he only read up on it ever since the run-in with Lackadaisy's crew a few weeks prior. His hesitation, and rather delayed decision making for a triggerman, left a bitter taste in his mouth, and he wanted to force all attention towards the crew after finding out about the double dealing. Rather than having him pursue them directly, he was told to try to wait it out instead.

Waiting... for what exactly? Waiting for-

"Aha!"

A voice rang into his complex composure. It didn't seem like anyone at first, yet a reactionary look towards the direction the voice came from made his next set of actions all the more... confusing. Sitting besides him, in the almost exact same fit from the last few weeks, stood the orange cat that, a few weeks ago, had tore through the car that he, Serafine and Nico was driving in. The same car that they had been chasing the Lackadaisy crew, and the same person that maniacally sprayed an entire magazine into the car, almost injuring Mordecai in the first place.

His eyebrows furrowed, and his composure shifted as intensely as he did, as he slowly approached him. Who - surprisingly - was still praising his fishing skills. He was looking down at a catch that wasn't extraordinary, but it was still an achievement to him in the first place. Slowly, he heard the footsteps approaching as well. He was confused if it were Rocky finding out about his hidden hobby, or it was his mom finding out how early he was up and out and about. As soon as he turned, however, he only met a barrel of a gun aimed at him.

He had met the same person who tried to kill him, and threatened the life of someone he held dear to him. All of his emotions, and subsequent fur, was standing on its end.

[dontpetmeibite]

"I don't understand the Flat Stanley joke either," Ravage replies. "But not getting a joke is no reason to do something like this and I'm sorry you're all mixed up in my poetry club drama."

She shakes her head. "You might need to go see KO after we get all of this off you. I don't even have the polish you use around here but I'm not sure I can put it over this gouge where you're losing energon, even if it is just a trickle."

Suddenly she is exhausted.

Soundwave says he'll be home tonight, so at least there's that. Frenzy promised he'd work their station on the bridge and she can trust him more than she can trust Rumble, so at least there's that.

At least there's this, and that, and this, and more of that. At least.

She has to keep going.

She doesn't know where Howlback is or if she's even alive. She doesn't know where Glit is either. Grindcore fell but she hasn't heard anything. The head of the DJD sounds like Glit's old boss to Soundwave. There's just her and Soundwave and she can't trust Megatron because what if she tells him what happened and he just blows Dirge's fool pointy head off?

Misfire's out there doing what Soundwave pays him to do.

Okay. She's a big girl. Laserbeak's helping her get all the muck out. She can hear Buzzsaw yelling at Vortex over a comm, and that's funny. Deadlock...

Deadlock left a long time ago.

"You have to take better care of yourself," she tells Skywarp. "Do not be alone with my ex...whatever he was." She's going to tell Starscream and make him listen somehow. She's tired of the Coneheads and the Command Trine and the Rainmakers all being huge fucking idiots about whatever they think there is for them all to fight over.

Of course Cloudburst and Sandstorm are Coneheads and they're not idiots. And Redwing and Hotlink and Bitstream...

"Warp, why are all the Seekers always fighting lately? What's really going on? They can't all be deeply concerned with who gets into my valve and who doesn't? Is that why Starscream's breaking up trines when he sends out patrols?"

"That's what you said." Ravage sighs. "I'm not going to tell him what happened, but I am going to tell him that Dirge has been treating my friends like aftslag. And I intend to take care of you. I'm not a Seeker, but I have pretty little claws, and after all these years I think I know how to treat your wings. First I'm going to rinse it out though. Soundwave won't care if we make a little bit of a mess, as long as the grit goes down the drain and the bathtub is clean when he wants it. He's working so hard these days."

The worse Megatron got, the less inclined Soundwave was to want her on the bridge. But there was really nobody else who could do her job--which was to do his job, while he busied himself with dealing with Megatron, since he didn't want her to do it. She was going into the field more than she'd done in vorns. Laserbeak was still allowed to spend time with Megatron; but she was a bird, and he'd practically made a pet of her.

Laserbeak hadn't Ravage's pride. She didn't care about sitting on Megatron's shoulder or even about singing, as long as she got what she wanted. Ravage wondered, though, if LB had any idea how annoyed it made Starscream when Megatron fussed over her wings.

Laserbeak was there when they reached the hab, which made things easier, because she could fly.

Soundwave and Ravage had taken over what had once been a lost combiner team's space, which meant that they had the same showers and drains that the Stunties and the Combaticons and the Structies had--which was convenient, given how much mess Rumble and Frenzy got into and the ugly pollution that Buzzsaw and Laserbeak needed scrubbed off them. The oil bath was behind the curtains, and you didn't get in there before you were clean, like an Urayan. Really only Ravage and Soundwave themselves used it.

"LB, get the showerhead and help me sluice Earth out of Skywarp's backside and wings, please."

Laserbeak was happy to help. Laserbeak was always happy to help anyone (except Autobots, anyway). "What you fell into?" she whistled, in a dialect somewhere between binary and Seekercant.

There was a lot of dirt. Ravage pulled the screen up out of the floor so they could make sure that all of it went down the drain.

"You sure you didn't get dragged on your aft through fresh asphalt before this?" Ravage asked. Still, once they got him sat down so she could reach his wings, she and Laserbeak--who had wings of her own--were able to deal with the much.

"Mmm, grass." Ravage chuckled, then scowled. "Dirge jumped you at the end of patrol, didn't he?"

[lightandspark]

Headcanons for rooming arrangements in the Nemesis and Ark for a AU.

Solos:

Optimus

Ultra Magnus

Rodimus

Blaster

Springer

Fort Max

Kup

Ironhide

Thunderclash

Windblade

Pyra Magna

Wheeljack

Perceptor

Skyfire

Silverbolt

Hot Spot

Scattershot

Rung

Whirl (for the safety of everyone else…)

Couples who share a room/roommates but romance~:

Ratchet and Drift

Jazz and Prowl

Inferno and Red Alert

Mirage and Hound

Tailgate and Cyclonus

Greenlight and Arcee + Gauge

Jumpstream and Dust Up

Lightspeed and Afterburner

Alana and Seaspray

Roommates:

Bumblebee and Blurr

Sideswipe and Smokescreen

Tracks and Sunstreaker (BAD IDEA)

Bluestreak and Brainstorm

Powerglide and Warpath

Trailbreaker and Cerebros

Beachcomber and Sandstorm

Scrounge and Cosmos

Lightbright and Glyph

Velocity and Nautica

Manta Ray and Leadfoot

Firestar and Road Rage

Flare Up and Rosanna

Swerve and Skids

Grapple and Hoist

Nightbeat and Roadhandler

Brawn and Tap Out

Rewind and Highbrow

Eject and Hardhead

Air Raid and Slingshot

Skydive and Fireflight

First Aid and Streetwise

Groove and Blades

Strafe and Nosecone

Skyburst and Stormclash and Rust Dust

Minerva and Lancer

Huffer and Cliffjumper

Bulkhead and Hot Shot

The Dinobots sleep wherever they want, also the rest of The Wreckers as well as the wreckers never sit too long to stay.

The Maximals come by as well; Optimus Primal and Dinobot, Airazor and Tigatron, BW Silverbolt and Blackarachnia, & Rattrap, Rhinox and Botanica each share rooms together and they are couples. Cheetor usually bunks in with Bumblebee and Blurr OR with Rodimus.

…

Solo:

Megatron

Starscream

Soundwave

Shockwave

Blitzwing

Sky Byte

Nightbird

Glit

Onslaught

Astrotrain

(Deadlock) (Until he bailed and conjunxed with Ratchet.)

(Cyclonus) (Until he bailed, rumour has it that Tailgate seduced him.)

Slipstream

Sunstorm (for the safety of everyone else… he is too hot.)

Shadow Striker

Hun Gurr

Arachnid (for the safety of everyone else)

Couples who share a room/roommates but romance~:

Megaempress and Flowspade

Knockout and Breakdown

Needlenose and Horri Bull

Exhaust and Loud Pedal

Trickdiamond and Lockdown (They aren’t really together… they are fragging and wanted the benefits if having a nice suite.)

Cons4Eva and Crankcase (Crankcase saved Cons4Eva from Shockwave.)

Roommates:

Thundercracker and Rumble

Skywarp and Frenzy

Misfire and Fulcrum

Octane and Sparkstalker

Flamewar and Thunderblast (BAD IDEA)

Spinister and Krok

Swindle and Hardtop

Vortex, Brawl and Blast Off (Blast Off WISHED he had his own room.)

Wildrider, Dead End, and Drag Strip

Moonheart and Lunaclub

Ion Storm, Acid Storm, and Nova Storm

The rest of the Terrorcons placement are unknown, as well as the Stunticons leader. Tarn is missing as well and a few other decepticons. The max decepticon, Overlord is out there with arrest warrant on him.

The Predacons only come by if they NEED something, the BW Megatron comes by to consult with the former gladiator. His most loyal soldier AND lover, BW Inferno, is always by his side. Waspinator comes by too.

…

Human Allies; Raoul, Astoria Carlton Ritz, and Marissa share a flat together. Charlene and Cecilia Santiago also are roommates. Raoul, Astoria, Charlene, and Cecilia go on group dates with their partners Tracks, Powerglide, Skids, and Roadhandler.

Dot and Alex Malto, our favourite couple, are living at their barn with their SEVEN children: Robbie and Mo AND their Terran babies: Twitch, Thrash, Hash Tag, Jawbreaker, and Nightshade!

Some couples happened AFTER the War or DURING the late war. Some of them including Decepticon and Autobot love matches and forbidden romances. That however is a different story it self… quite a long one as well.

The Cassettes wanted more independence and that’s why they aren’t with Blaster or Soundwave. Blaster was supportive with it while Soundwave… he just worries about his babies.

[breakdownsbuttlights]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Transformers (IDW Generation One) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Drift | Deadlock/Ratchet Characters: Drift | Deadlock, Ratchet (Transformers) Additional Tags: Humanformers, First Time, Humor, tiny medical warning, really very small, Idiots in Love, sassy drift, haboob and chill, Baby's first smut, also super fluffy, Mutual Pining, Requited Love Summary: Humanformers AU Ratchet and Drift caught in a sandstorm during Empire of Stone. Smut ensues.

Guys check out this sexy piece of sexiness @pumapardus wrote based on the HF Empire of Stone AU!!

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Where's the post about Warrior Cats names versus Transformers names, cause god

I couldn’t find if I had ever posted this full ancient list I made on my phone, but now we can witness the full horror if I didn’t already post this years ago. Presenting: Transformers who could be Warrior Cats.

CANON:

Firestar

Sandstorm

Scourge

Boulder

VALID:

Seaspray

Bumblebee

Starscream

Skyfire

Moonracer

Greenlight

Silverbolt

Fireflight

Skydive

Bluestreak

Smokescreen

Sunstreaker

Cliffjumper

Windcharger

Blitzwing

Sunstorm

Flamewar

Tigerhawk (admittedly, a highly cursed name for a warrior cat)

Quickstrike

Skyquake

Nightbird

WHY WOULD YOU GIVE A KIT THAT NAME, but nonetheless valid:

Warpath

Powerglide

Bonecrusher

Dreadwing

GOOD NAMES FOR ROGUES:

Ravage (ALREADY A GODDAMN CAT)

Mirage

Prowl

Snarl

Inferno

Hound (lmao)

Dirge

Frenzy

Drift

Scavenger

Scrapper

Chase

DUBIOUS:

Deadlock

Beachcomber

Ramhorn

Nightbeat

Trailbreaker

Breakdown

Windblade (blades of grass...?)

Steeljaw (I know they don’t know what metal is but I’m physically unable to not put Steeljaw somewhere on this list because he has the two part name scheme and also is a goddamn cat already)

[ao3feed-skystar]

Kinks in the Wires: A Free Online 18+ Digital Zine of Weird Transformers Kinks https://ift.tt/2SqXO6U DesdemonaKaylose, neveralarch

by DesdemonaKaylose, neveralarch

177 pages, 24 creators, 19 stories, 1 comic, and 9 pieces of art. Kinks in the Wires is a free digital zine containing the kinds of kinks Cybertronians whisper excitedly about and dream of someday trying. Get it here!

Words: 9, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers Animated (2007), The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, M/M, Multi

Characters: Tarantulas (Transformers), Starscream (Transformers)

Relationships: Starscream/Wheeljack (Transformers), Nautica/Velocity (Transformers), Rodimus Prime/Ultra Magnus, Drift | Deadlock/Ratchet, Crankcase/Fulcrum/Krok/Misfire/Spinister (Transformers), Cyclonus/Tailgate/Whirl (Transformers), Omega Supreme/Ratchet (Transformers), Octane/Red Alert/Sandstorm (Transformers), Megatron/Rung (Transformers), Dominus Ambus/Kaon, Bumblebee/Jazz/Optimus Prime, Megatron/Optimus Prime, Bumblebee/Starscream (Transformers), Ratchet/Swerve (Transformers), Sideswipe/Sunstreaker (Transformers), Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers), Skyfire/Skywarp (Transformers), Anode/Lug (Transformers), Grimlock/Hot Rod, Krok/Spinister (Transformers)

Additional Tags: Consensual Mind Control, Creative Rewiring, Auto Repair Kink, Factory Roleplay, Mid-Transformation Sex, Electricity, Size Difference, Fueling Kink, Transformation, Wire Play, Sex Inside Someone's Altmode, Stick-Shift Riding, Alt-Mode Sexual Interfacing, Oral Fixation, Organs, Spike on Spark Sex, Mid-Air Refueling, Landing Gear Worship, Hacking, Overheating, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Transformers Plug and Play Sexual Interfacing, Tactile Sexual Interfacing

May 02, 2020 at 08:22AM

[ao3feed-dratchet]

by DesdemonaKaylose, neveralarch

177 pages, 24 creators, 19 stories, 1 comic, and 9 pieces of art. Kinks in the Wires is a free digital zine containing the kinds of kinks Cybertronians whisper excitedly about and dream of someday trying. Get it here!

Words: 9, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers Animated (2007), The Transformers (Cartoon Generation One)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, M/M, Multi

Characters: Tarantulas (Transformers), Starscream (Transformers)

Relationships: Starscream/Wheeljack (Transformers), Nautica/Velocity (Transformers), Rodimus Prime/Ultra Magnus, Drift | Deadlock/Ratchet, Crankcase/Fulcrum/Krok/Misfire/Spinister (Transformers), Cyclonus/Tailgate/Whirl (Transformers), Omega Supreme/Ratchet (Transformers), Octane/Red Alert/Sandstorm (Transformers), Megatron/Rung (Transformers), Dominus Ambus/Kaon, Bumblebee/Jazz/Optimus Prime, Megatron/Optimus Prime, Bumblebee/Starscream (Transformers), Ratchet/Swerve (Transformers), Sideswipe/Sunstreaker (Transformers), Skyfire/Starscream (Transformers), Skyfire/Skywarp (Transformers), Anode/Lug (Transformers), Grimlock/Hot Rod, Krok/Spinister (Transformers)

Additional Tags: Consensual Mind Control, Creative Rewiring, Auto Repair Kink, Factory Roleplay, Mid-Transformation Sex, Electricity, Size Difference, Fueling Kink, Transformation, Wire Play, Sex Inside Someone's Altmode, Stick-Shift Riding, Alt-Mode Sexual Interfacing, Oral Fixation, Organs, Spike on Spark Sex, Mid-Air Refueling, Landing Gear Worship, Hacking, Overheating, Sticky Sexual Interfacing, Transformers Plug and Play Sexual Interfacing, Tactile Sexual Interfacing

[topworldhistory]

A look back at America's long-simmering conflict with Iran.

The United States and Iran have never formally been at war, but tensions between the two countries have persisted for decades. Below is an overview of the long-running conflict between Iran and the United States—and measures taken (economic and otherwise) in the wake of flare ups.

Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq is ousted

In 1953, U.S. and British intelligence agencies collaborated to organize a coup to remove Iran's democratically-elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq. The secular Mossadeq had sought to nationalize the Iranian oil industry, which had previously been controlled by Great Britain. U.S. officials, meanwhile, had feared Mossadeq might turn to the Soviet Union for aid. In 2013, the CIA released documents that publicly admitted its involvement in the 1953 coup. The coup, which reinstated the monarchy under the Western-friendly shah, eventually fueled a surge of nationalism which culminated in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.  

Iran Hostage Crisis (TV-PG; 4:13)

The Iran hostage crisis leads Carter to mount the first U.S. sanctions against Iran

U.S. sanctions against Iran began when a group of Iranian students stormed the American embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, taking more than 60 United States citizens hostage and sparking an international crisis. The 444-day-long hostage crisis hobbled Jimmy Carter’s presidency, ushered in a new political era for Iran, and helped skyrocket Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a revolutionary cleric who objected to United States interference, to international significance.

It also created a state of permanent deadlock between the U.S. and Iran—a tense standoff characterized by a pattern of sanctions over direct negotiations.

President Carter swiftly imposed sanctions on Iran after the hostage crisis began, cutting off sales of Iranian oil and freezing Iranian assets. These measures did nothing to help along diplomatic negotiations for the release of the prisoners, so on April 7, 1980, 212 days after the crisis began, he announced even more drastic measures. The U.S. cut off diplomatic relations with Iran, imposed economic sanctions including cutting off food aid, closed Iranian institutions within the U.S., and embargoed all imports from Iran.

“I am committed to the safe return of the hostages,” Carter told the nation. “The steps that I have ordered today are those that are necessary now. Other action may become necessary if these steps do not produce the prompt release of the hostages.”

They didn’t. As the hostage crisis continued, Carter okayed a disastrous rescue mission that had to be aborted after eight service members died in a sandstorm. The hostages were only released after Carter lost a bid for reelection.

Reagan designates Iran a “state sponsor of terrorism” after the Beirut barracks bombing

Though American hostages were released just hours after President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 inauguration, the U.S. didn’t let go of its Iran sanctions. The U.S. had agreed to revoke all trade sanctions with Iran as part of the agreement that released the hostages, but didn’t immediately roll back all of the economic sanctions imposed by Carter.

Meanwhile, Iran was invaded by Iraq in 1980, prompting an eight-year war. At first, the United States maintained a neutral stance. But over time, the U.S. began to support Iraq. 

In 1983, a truck bomb attack ripped through a Marine compound in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 241 U.S. service members. The Reagan administration suspected that Iran was at least partially behind the attacks, which were carried out by terrorists.

This led the United States to designate Iran as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” a moniker that gave the U.S. the ability to further sanction Iran. The designation halted loans and foreign aid; it also restricted sales of “dual-use items”—technologies and materials that could possibly be used for warfare in addition to their intended use.

What Was the Iran-Contra Affair? (TV-PG; 4:44)

The Reagan administration secretly provides weapons and funds to Iran

In public, Reagan continued a strong sanctions stance against Iran on the national stage. But behind the scenes, his administration officials were funneling money and arms to Iran in exchange for Americans taken hostage by Iran-backed terrorists in Lebanon despite the arms embargo—in what would later become known as the Iran-Contra Affair.

Though the secret program wouldn’t become public until 1987, it shaped the Reagan administration’s policy toward Iran. In hearings about the scandal, Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North claimed he had participated in the arms deals with the knowledge of President Reagan and admitted to moving funds from the Iran arms deals to the Contras in Nicaragua. However, Reagan denied that he had exchanged arms for hostages, instead insisting that he had participated in the program as a way to encourage “moderate” Iranians to support the United States.

In 1987, the United States purchased Iranian oil for its Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Under political pressure, Reagan outlawed all imports from the U.S. to Iran. However, he painted the move as a necessary response to Iranian aggression. “We are taking these economic measures only after repeated but unsuccessful attempts to reduce tensions with Iran and in response to the continued and increasingly bellicose behavior of the Iranian Government,” Reagan told the nation in a statement about the trade embargo.

Meanwhile, in the Persian Gulf, the USS Samuel B. Roberts struck a mine in April 1988 while escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers. The U.S. blamed Iran for the incident, in which 10 sailors were injured. In retaliation, the U.S. Navy destroyed two Iranian surveillance platforms and sank two of their ships, and severely damaged another in what was known as Operation Praying Mantis.

An Iranian passenger plane is shot down

On July 3, 1988, a guided missile cruiser fired from a U.S. warship mistakingly shot down Iran Air Flight 655—a passenger plane from Tehran to Dubai via Bandar Abbas. All 290 people on board were killed. The United States said the Airbus A300 was mistaken for a fighter jet.

Clinton bans U.S. companies from making oil deals with Iran

After the Iran-Iraq war ended, President Bill Clinton developed a policy of “dual containment” designed to capitalize on the now diminished power of Iraq and Iran. The policy centered on what was becoming the most important geopolitical asset of the 1990s—the oil in the Persian Gulf. Since the U.S. could not overthrow Iran, Clinton’s administration decided to use oil to weaken it.

In 1995, Conoco and Iran announced a $1 billion contract that would give the U.S.-owned company unprecedented access to two Iranian oil fields. The Clinton administration leapt into action, claiming the contract threatened national security. Conoco backed out of the deal and Clinton banned U.S. companies from participating in oil deals with Iran. This was further consolidated by the 1996 Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, a law that called for the U.S. to establish “multilateral trade sanctions” against Iran. Sanctions against Iran were now the law of the land.

A handout image supplied by the IIPA (Iran International Photo Agency) that shows a view of the reactor building at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant as the first fuel is loaded, on August 21, 2010 in Bushehr, Iran. 

The Iranian economy tanks after worldwide sanctions imposed because of its nuclear program

In 2002, the international community learned that Iran had been enriching uranium and was developing a nuclear program. The United States had long suspected Iran of a covert nuclear program, and when President George W. Bush dubbed the country part of an “axis of evil” after the 9/11 attacks, relations between the two countries began to degrade.

Soon, the U.S. was working to freeze the assets of individuals and businesses it suspected of aiding Iran. As the international community put pressure on Iran, the U.S. tightened the grip of its existing sanctions, enforcing them more vigorously and levying large penalties on banks and individuals that didn’t comply with rigorous rules.

Sanctions tightened even further under President Barack Obama, who targeted Iranian petroleum purchases, banks, and automobile industries in response to Iran’s nuclear activities. Ultimately, the United States forbade almost all trade with Iran. It was joined by much of the international community, which levied significant economic and political sanctions.

As a result, what was left of the Iranian economy tanked. Healthcare, banking, and other critical sectors suffered, and Iran’s currency, the rial, plummeted. Sanctions pushed up prices within Iran, spurring inflation and unemployment. 

Iran nuclear deal is established under Obama, then cancelled under Trump

The sanctions' punishing effects shifted once Obama announced a pact that lifted some sanctions in exchange for an end to Iran’s nuclear program in 2015. The deal gave Iran the ability to sell oil on international markets and effectively opened up the global markets that had slowly closed over decades of sanctions.

On May 8, 2018 President Donald Trump announced that he was withdrawing the United States from its 2015 nuclear accord with Iran. The end of the nuclear deal meant a new beginning for economic sanctions against the country.

Qassem Soleimani attends Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's meeting with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Tehran, Iran on September 18, 2016.

A key Iranian military commander is killed by a U.S. strike

On January 3, 2020, Iran's most powerful military commander, General Qasem Soleimani, was killed by missiles fired from a U.S. drone over Iraq on orders from President Trump. The drone strike against Iran's most powerful military figure came days after hundreds of protestors, angered by U.S. air strikes targeting an Iran-backed militia, broke into the the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad and threw stones at U.S. forces. 

The military leader's killing also came on the heels of a rocket attack in December 2019, believed to have been carried out by an Iran-backed militia, on an Iraqi military base that killed an American civilian contractor and wounded several U.S. military service members and Iraqi personnel. The strike also followed the shooting down a U.S. military drone over the strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces in June 2019. Iran claimed the drone was over their territory.

Soleimani's killing marked a major escalation in the informal conflict between the two countries. A statement from the Pentagon said Soleimani had been "developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region." In retaliation, on January 8, 2020, Iran fired more than 20 missiles at two military bases in Iraq that hosted U.S. troops.  

from Stories - HISTORY https://ift.tt/2K7TvXv January 08, 2020 at 08:42PM

[terryblount]

First Insurgency: Sandstorm major content update has been released, includes performance improvements

New World Interactive has released the first major content update for Insurgency: Sandstorm that includes the massive addition of a new ‘arcade’ playlist with rotating game modes, alongside five new weapons, a new firing range, performance improvements, and a wealth of smaller changes, additions, tweaks, and bug fixes.

This new version of the game is now using Unreal Engine 4.21, adds a new Team Deathmatch game mode, a new Arcade playlist in Play section, a new Range level in Tutorials section, competitive queue time penalty and tiebreaker, as well as the ability to vote to kick players on community servers.

This patch also increases usage of mesh instancing throughout levels, greatly reduces memory usage across all maps, fixes hitch when opening the scoreboard, fixes hitch when opening or closing the escape menu or Loadout menu, fixes hitch caused by Lesson video streaming, decreases persistent actor components present in levels, improves screen size fading of smaller decals, optimizes creation/destruction of cosmetic meshes and enables higher streaming budget outside of active gameplay.

As always, Steam will download this patch the next time you launch its client and you can find its complete changelog below.

Insurgency: Sandstorm First Major Update Release Notes

New Features

Upgrade to Unreal Engine 4.21.

New Team Deathmatch game mode.

New Arcade playlist in Play section.

Currently features Team Deathmatch at 24 players.

The playlist will be updated with new Arcade modes in future updates, but all modes will be available through Community Servers found under Coop or Versus.

New Range level in Tutorials section

Allows players to test all weapons, equipment, and upgrades in the game on both living and nonliving targets.

Ability to vote to kick players on community servers.

Competitive queue time penalty.

Leaving a Competitive match early will prevent a player from queueing. The penalty increases with each instance.

Competitive tiebreaker.

If a match ends in a tie, a team will need to get a two-point lead over the other team to win, with a faction switch every round.

Community Test Environment (CTE) now available in your Steam Library. The CTE is a version of the game that will be opened periodically throughout development to allow players to preview and test future updates before they are released.

Restricted areas added to tactical map.

New Content

Weapons:

Security

PF940 pistol

MP5A5 submachine gun

M240B machine gun

Insurgents

MP5A2 submachine gun

MG3 machine gun

Cosmetics:

Security

Eyewear

Combat Goggles

Hands

Knuckles Fingerless

Camouflage

Tropentarn

Tattoos

Wolf

Graffiti

Blackout

Spartan

Polynesian

Wire

Insurgents

Eyewear

Aviator

Facewear

One Hole Skull

Two Hole Skull

Tattoos

Snake Bite

Dead Woods

Swirl

Skull Compass

Eagle

Renamed Insurgent Headgear slot to Facewear.

Added new truck for drive in sequence at the start of Security Checkpoint.

Added new shockwave reaction system, allowing various props to audibly resonate when an explosive detonates near them.

Added new Taglines:

Most Defensive Kills

Get the most kills while defending an objective.

Scavenger

Killed 10 enemies with a weapon that has been picked up.

Resourceful

Killed 25 enemies with a weapon that has been picked up.

Jacket

Killed 30 enemies with a weapon that has been picked up.

Added new gas canister props that can be detonated.

Optimization

Increased usage of mesh instancing throughout levels.

Greatly reduced memory usage across all maps.

Fixed hitch when opening the scoreboard.

Fixed hitch when opening or closing the escape menu or Loadout menu.

Fixed hitch caused by Lesson video streaming.

Decreased persistent actor components present in levels.

Improved screen size fading of smaller decals.

Optimized creation/destruction of cosmetic meshes.

Enable higher streaming budget outside of active gameplay.

Optimized frequency of bot line of sight checks.

Optimized UI logic.

Gameplay

Weapons

Fixed issue where flashbangs would not consistently blind players.

Flashbangs now slow player movement and mouse input during the blinding effect.

Weapons will now pull back further from any obstruction first before going into an up or down state.

Barrel length for weapons will now be extended by barrel weapon upgrades.

Fixed some weapons pointing through obstructions in first and third person.

Pistols are no longer dropped on death. This was done in an effort to further optimize the game.

Weapon Balance

Increased spread of Flechette shotgun shells to be the same as standard shells.

Reduced shotgun pellet velocity, reducing damage at long range.

Increased time to Aim Down Sights for machine guns.

Removed AP rounds from M249.

Increased weight of FAL, G3A3, and Mk 14 EBR.

Decreased recoil for M249 and PKM.

Lowered supply cost of Uzi to 2 in Versus/Coop and 4 in Competitive.

Increased supply cost of MP7’s Extended Magazine upgrade to 4 in Versus/Coop and 5 in Competitive.

Combat Knife, Kukri, and weapon melee attack damage is no longer reduced by stamina.

Combat Knife and Kukri damage have been increased.

A Combat Knife or Kukri attack to the back of an enemy will kill them instantly.

Fire Support

Set specific Fire Support call in amounts and availability by game mode and by Attackers and Defenders in Push.

Added Fire Support call in specific cooldowns.

Increased Fire Support personal cooldown.

Increased Fire Support cooldowns at start of the round in Versus.

Widened viewing radius of Support Helicopter so door gunners can shoot towards the helicopter’s rear.

Reduced viewing radius of Gunship so it cannot shoot targets at its rear.

Reduced pilot visibility angle for incoming rockets so helicopters are less likely to dodge.

Improved Autocannon Strafe so projectiles will no longer be blocked by obstructions.

Improved connection between third person and first person head placement when leaning, reducing cases of head glitching.

Improved objective capture progress handling when both teams have players on a neutral objective. Previously, this was favoring whichever team entered the capture point first rather than the team with the most players. This caused capturing to be deadlocked at 0% in some circumstances.

User Experience

Competitive

Improved matchmaking to find better matches with players closer to your skill level.

Improved info screen to indicate order of rank tier progression.

Play menu first time experience

When first clicking on Play menu buttons, players will be asked if they want to play the Tutorial Level.

Improved character interpolation smoothing to ensure character movement in third person and spectator is now smoother.

Improved third person spectator camera smoothness.

Improved accuracy of interacting with doors, vehicles, supply crates, and other objects, especially when picking up dropped weapons close to each other.

Improved Text Chat

Added spam and flood protection.

Removed blob background on chat panel.

Chat panel now only shows recent messages when the chat panel is inactive.

Made text more readable.

Toggleable profanity filter.

Renamed “Browse Servers” to “Community Servers” in Play menu under Coop and Versus.

Added connectivity issue icons on the HUD including warnings for high ping and timing out.

Items you cannot afford to purchase with your current supply are now shown as faded in the Loadout menu.

Added info buttons for Supply Points and Weight in the Loadout menu, showing descriptions for both when hovered over.

The countdown clock during overtime round will now flash red on the HUD.

When reinforcement waves are lost or gained, the HUD will more clearly show the increase or decrease with an animation.

Loading screen hints will be shown based on your player level, with more gameplay related ones shown at lower levels.

All random hints are visible in the in-game menu.

Match Preferences in the Play menu will now show average match lengths and player counts for each game mode.

The magazine icon for your weapon’s current magazine will now flash white to indicate a reload is in progress, or red if the reload has been interrupted from switching weapons, sprinting, etc.

A magazine based weapon can now only be reloaded if you are not at your highest magazine.

Your own name will no longer be shown above the speaker icon when using VoIP.

Commanders who are suppressed or take damage during a Fire Support call in will now continue their lines in a suppressed state.

VoIP will now properly reverberate when speaking outdoors or inside of rooms.

VoIP will now be occluded if the player is speaking behind an obstruction.

VoIP proximity range for teammates has now been increased to 80 meters while enemy proximity range remains at 15 meters.

Vault hints can now be toggled separately from ‘use’ hints.

Commander/Observer Color can now be changed (default is white). It can also be set to your Buddy Color/Friend Color.

Loadouts can now be changed in between rounds.

Hovering over a weapon with a different caliber will show what caliber the new weapon is.

Hovering over a player icon on your team on the tactical map will now show their name.

Hovering over a player name on the scoreboard will now show you where they are on the tactical map.

Added a view limit to yaw when rigging a weapon cache.

You can no longer look around on a vehicle’s DShK turret and put on a gas mask at the same time unless Goro is selected in the Customize menu.

Teammate indicator now smooths the player icons.

Teammate indicators are now shown during the pre-game.

Spectator X-Ray can now be rebound in the key bindings menu.

Spectator vitals display no longer has flickering item icons.

Visual

Normal scope quality has been refactored to create a much more consistent and visual superior experience during all weapon motions.

Animations

Added third person cache arming animation.

Updated third person lean.

Updated third person slide.

Better hit detection for groin plate armor when wearing Heavy Armor.

Cosmetics

Improved Anchor facial hair.

Changed colors of Insurgent carrier, armor, and other gear slightly.

Reduced size of Security Heavy Carrier backpack.

Increased size of knife on the Security chest carrier.

Adjusted speed of ejected shells.

Made ejected shells inherit player velocity.

HLODs will now not fade in to view when the camera moves rapidly from one point on the map to another. This alleviates an issue where props and geometry would slowly fade from one level to another.

Mitigated texture streaming “pop in” when transitioning to and from the Loadout menu.

Coop

Enemies now use all weapons, ammo carriers, armor, and explosives available to their class rather than a fixed loadout.

LGMS (Laser Guided Molotov System™) removed from Molotovs. Enemies are now less accurate the further they are from their target when using all thrown explosives.

Fixed enemies not ignoring targets in spawn zones correctly.

Added a new music track for the final counter-attack.

Bug Fixes

Reduced instances of an issue where the players hands might become invisible during gameplay. Please let us know if you experience this issue.

Fixed an issue where muted players would randomly be unmuted.

Fixed an issue where muted players would not carry over into new rounds.

Fixed an issue where characters could be seen floating or partially sunken into the ground.

Fixed an issue where the Extended Magazine upgrades would sometimes clip with hands during reloads.

Fixed an issue where the game would freeze on the loading screen on a community server after changing the map.

Fixed an issue where the loading screen could become stuck at 95% or 100% upon the server changing level.

Fixed an issue where transitioning to the same map would cause players to disconnect on community servers.

Fixed an issue where players might respawn in the stance in which they died.

Fixed an issue where the framerate limiter setting would be reset on game restart.

Fixed various localization text overflow issues.

Fixed an issue where the teammate indicator could become offset when using Picture-in-picture scopes.

Fixed an issue where the XP gain bar would disappear too quickly in the post-match screen.

Fixed an issue where third person customization items would be occluded behind various props when going from prone to crouch.

Fixed an issue where players shadows could be seen from below through the ceiling of buildings.

Fixed an issue where the player’s level from the main menu and the in-game scoreboard menu would be different.

Fixed an issue where the player’s appearance credit amount was not displayed in the post-match screen.

Fixed a rare bug where characters could pop into view regardless of distance.

Fixed an issue where ragdoll corpses would spawn under and in the center of vehicles when destroyed.

Fixed staged reloads with open bolt weapons (Uzi, LMGs)

Fixed an issue where long key bind names were not fully displayed in the UI.

Fixed an issue where Taglines were not being recorded on the backend or displayed in the stats screen.

Fixed an issue where objective and kill event stats were not being collected properly.

Fixed an issue with the accuracy of the display of the capture time stat.

Fixed a localization issue where reflected damage was not being localized in the kill- feed.

Fixed issue where player hands would clip through DShK when equipping a gas mask. Now the gas mask will be equipped without playing the first person animation.

Fixed issue where you could fire the DShK while putting on a gas mask.

Fixed an issue where some Use icons were incorrect in the Tutorial Mission.

Fixed an issue where the player’s primary weapon did not appear on screen when an explosive grenade launcher was attached to it.

Fixed issue where a player could spam the rocket firing sound without actually firing a rocket.

Fixed an issue when running the game in native resolution. Setting the display mode to “Windowed” would not switch to actual windowed mode.

Fixed an issue where if player had “Fullscreen” selected in the Video settings, the next time the game launched it would start in “Windowed (Borderless)” mode instead.

Fixed an issue where sometimes after dying and then spectating a player, ammo information was still visible on the HUD at the bottom right.

Fixed an issue where “Scavenge Magazine“ was not properly localized.

Fixed a couple of issues where text might overflow in some UI elements.

Fixed an issue where vaulting while putting on a gas mask wouldn’t cancel putting the gas mask on properly.

Fixed an audio glitch which could occur when entering or leaving the escape menu or Loadout menu due to the doppler effect.

Map Balance & Fixes

Hideout

Replaced numerous merged actors with instances to reduce memory footprint.

Updated dynamic props.

Reorganized various HLOD clusters to improve performance.

Fixed various exploits that harmed map balance.

Fixed various minor issues.

Farmhouse

Added extra entrance for objective A on Firefight West.

Adjusted objective A on Push Insurgents to make the front entrance less of a bottleneck.

Fixed issue where a player could capture objective A outside the wall on Firefight West.

Reorganized various HLOD clusters to improve performance.

Fixed various exploits that harmed map balance.

Addressed spawn camp issue at Security spawn on Skirmish.

Addressed spawn camp issue at Security spawn for objective A on Push Security.

Moved final weapon cache objective to second floor on Push Insurgents.

Fixed various minor issues.

Refinery

Replaced numerous merged actors with instances to reduce memory footprint.

Reorganized various HLOD clusters to improve performance.

Reduced landscape layer usage to improve performance.

Optimized the center area of the map to address draw call peaks.

Reduced long line of sight behind objective C on Push Security.

Made minor light tweaks to improve readability.

Fixed various exploits that harmed map balance.

Precinct

Replaced numerous merged actors with instances to reduce memory footprint.

Reorganized various HLOD clusters to improve performance.

Optimized material usage to reduce draw calls.

Addressed spawn camp issue for Insurgent objective A spawn on Push Security.

Added more protection around spawn exit areas on Push Security.

Fixed various exploits that harmed map balance.

Fixed various minor issues.

Summit

Replaced numerous merged actors with instances to reduce memory footprint.

Reorganized various HLOD clusters to improve performance.

Reduced landscape layer usage to improve performance.

Moved Security spawn slightly back to balance run-up times on Firefight West.

Fixed various exploits that harmed map balance.

Fixed various minor issues.

Crossing

Made minor optimization pass on rocks and foliage placement.

Added a new less exposed route for Insurgents on Firefight West.

Closed several windows on the large building near the river facing Security objective A spawn on Push Security.

Fixed various exploit locations where players could hide inside rocks.

Moved objective B Push Security spawn to create more of a safe passage to objective B.

Added more protection for Security objective D on Push Security to make it less easy to destroy from a further distance.

Fixed various minor issues.

First Insurgency: Sandstorm major content update has been released, includes performance improvements published first on https://touchgen.tumblr.com/

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

TRANSFORMER NAMES THAT ARE ALSO VALID WARRIOR CAT NAMES

Canon:

Firestar

Sandstorm

Scourge

Valid:

Seaspray

Bumblebee

Starscream

Skyfire

Moonracer

Greenlight

Silverbolt

Fireflight

Skydive

Bluestreak

Smokescreen

Sunstreaker

Cliffjumper

Windcharger

Blitzwing

Sunstorm**

Flamewar

Tigerhawk (admittedly, a highly cursed name for a warrior cat)

Quickstrike

Skyquake

Nightbird*

Heatwave

*I know Nightbird isn’t a Transformer she’s a human-made ninja robot that the Decepticons stole adopted because that’s the kind of plots you get in the 80s anyway fuck you

**also I feel like there probably is a cat named Sunstorm in Warriors canon at this point but whatever I did this off the top of my head I ain’t looking shit up

Why Would You Name Your Kit That (but still valid and probably better than some of the shit the Erins have done):

Warpath

Powerglide

Bonecrusher

Dreadwing

Deadlock

Good Names for Rogues:

Ravage (I can just stop the list here, nothing’s more valid than this, Ravage already is a goddamn warrior cat)

Mirage

Prowl

Snarl

Inferno

Hound (lmao)

Dirge

Frenzy

Drift

Scavenger

Scrapper

Chase

Boulder

Dubious:

Deadlock

Beachcomber

Ramhorn

Nightbeat

Trailbreaker

Breakdown

Windblade

Steeljaw (I know they don’t know what metal is but I’m physically unable to not put Steeljaw somewhere on this list because he has the two part name scheme and also is a goddamn cat already fuck you let me have this)

Oh god I found on my phone the cursed list of what Transformer names are also valid Warrior cat names

That’s gotta get posted pronto