#Apache is not start
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baldurswifey · 4 months ago
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Drop your FAVEEEEEE lee van cleef look pretty please thank you
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Also I NEED to mention the fact that he (almost) always wears wide leg/boot cut pants like UGH YES THANK YOU this is fan service
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unironicironic · 1 year ago
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Surprisingly, I've only beaten eight 🫠
You'd think I'd have completed more but nope, I do however want to eventually change that
I'm curious! games you haven't finished yet only count if you plan to complete them
also hyrule warriors, aoc, crossbow training, and cadence of hyrule all count too. why not
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comicaurora · 7 months ago
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I was wondering where you found your resources for Diné folklore and stories? I heard you mention it a couple times in various places and I always love seeing it acknowledged. I have Apache and Yaqui heritage and I want to learn more about the mythology, but I don't know where to find good sources
The closest to a primary source I found that was actually reliable as far as I could tell was "Starlore Among The Navaho" by Berard Haile, who actually went boots on the ground and talked to the Diné people from 1901 to 1954. He's actually been specifically honored by them for his contributions to developing their written alphabet and correspondingly the preservation of swaths of their culture through a time of intentional widespread erasure, which is extremely cool of him! And since so much of "native american folklore" books are written by white people with zero citations or credit due to the people who told them the stories in the first place, in acts that feel much more like stealing than sharing and have no regard for considerations like "this story is ONLY to be told during the winter season", this felt like a comparatively morally solid place to start.
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That said, the book is very short and bare-bones, more of an anthropological note-taking expedition interested in the keepers of the starlore and the practices by which the stories are handed down, rather than a consolidated Myths And Folklore book. However, it's the closest thing to a solid primary source I could find, and the oldest text that was closest to the actual Diné people and interested in giving anything resembling credit where it was due, so in terms of reliability, it seems like a decent place to start. I did have an absolute bitch of a time finding a copy, though; it wasn't anywhere I could get to it online, so I had to physically buy a used copy.
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songoftrillium · 2 years ago
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Werewolf: the Apocalypse 5th Edition and the Anti-Indigeneity in the Gaming Industry
reosted with permission from J.F. Sambrano
Dagot’ee!
Shii J.F. Sambrano gonsēē. My nations are Chiricahua Apache (Ndeh) through my maternal grandmother and Cora Indian (Náayarite) through my maternal grandfather.  I am a mixed race Indigenous person, and through my father my heritage is English and Scottish. I am currently residing and doing work in my community on the lands of Lummi Nation. I use both gender non-binary and masculine pronouns, but prefer the former. I have several published works in the TTRPG industry, and am probably most known for my contributions to Mage: the Ascension 20th Edition, Werewolf: the Apocalypse 20th Edition, and the Transformers Roleplaying Game, as well as being part of the Essence 20 development team. Further, I also work in higher education at an Indian college, both advising and teaching Indigenous students across the United States. My passion is education, and I believe that we all learn through play, and that TTRPGs are a valuable source of learning, especially on personal, cultural, and social levels. This has always been what has drawn me to TTRPGs since I started playing M.E.R.P. with my brother in 1996 (and before that HeroQuest), through to my “graduation” into more story-driven games such as those presented in the Storyteller System, until now, where I author and produce my own roleplaying games.
I was also part of the First Team (in-joke intentional) hired by White Wolf Studios/Paradox Interactive via Hunters Entertainment to develop and author Werewolf: the Apocalypse 5th Edition. After several months of work, Paradox Interactive chose to go in another direction in early 2021 (I believe it was either March or April) and in fall of that year, it was announced that Werewolf would instead be taken in house, with Justin Achilli as the Brand Creative Lead and primary author of the book. Going forward I will be describing my experience while I worked with Paradox Interactive, primarily through Karim Muammar, White Wolf’s Brand Editor, as well as the developmental editor for Werewolf. Although I worked in a team, both with hired authors and in-house representatives at Hunters Entertainment, I will not be speaking for the experience of others, except when specifically noting unanimous consensuses, and specific interactions (which will go unnamed) that are particularly relevant. My hope is that by highlighting some of the anti-Indigenous attitudes that are central to the foundational members and leaders of the White Wolf brand, that I can provide opportunities for growth and healing within the World of Darkness TTRPG community, but also in the broader gaming community, where these behaviors and attitudes are rampant. I also want the community to have a better understanding of what this experience is like internally, and the challenges that Indigenous creators, as well as other marginalized creators, are met with when they try to make positive change within nerd and geek communities clinging to inherited white supremacist values, even if they don’t realize they are doing so.
What I do not want to be doing in this article is creating fuel for edition wars.  I believe that both legacy and Werewolf 5th are rife with anti-Indigenous attitudes, and appalling amounts of appropriation. Both versions deserve criticism, I am not defending one over the other, I am only sharing what my experience was like working on the 5th edition of the book. Further, please understand that I was originally going to wait until I had read the final copy of the book, because I wanted to know how much of my work was used (based on previews I already know some was, just not the extent) and whether or not they decided to credit me for that work, and how I was going to be credited.  My belief is that I likely will not be, but I am genuinely uncertain.  Knowing how they handled that would have reframed how I addressed this. But more importantly, I want it to be very clear that even before Paradox ultimately pulled the plug on the Hunters team, I was preparing to exit working on the project based on the experience I will describe below. Not only did I find it frustrating, and personally disparaging, but I ultimately decided I was uncomfortable with my name being attached to the product based on the direction they wanted to go. So while I wanted to know whether or not I would be credited, because it would teach me something about their internal practices, I do not want or need the credit.
Finally, the reason that I decided to speak about this now instead of after having a chance to inspect the final product, was because my personal experience dealing with anti-Indigeneity coming from Paradox was just that: personal.  But since then I have witnessed a throughline of hateful and xenophobic attitudes wielded against Indigenous people across the globe, and we do not deserve this treatment.  I was outraged over the events that led to the segregation of the Latin American fanbase, which culminated from bottom-up criticism about how poorly their people and countries were being defined through World of Darkness products, and ended up with the firing of their Latin American Brand Ambassador, Alessa Torres, because she chose to stand with her community in those criticisms.  I was further appalled when the likeness of Tāme Wairere Iti was shoehorned into the Werewolf book, a blatant example of cultural theft: not only in stealing the literal physical identity of an Indigenous person, but also his sacred tā moko.  When Paradox Interactive issued an apology for this, it felt incredibly hollow to me in the wake of these events, the hateful attitudes I had personally witnessed coming from the top.
Whether from North America, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, or Peru, or across the globe in New Zealand, not only do Indigenous people deserve better treatment from such a major company, but their Indigenous and Latino fanbases, who have twisted and worked themselves through difficult representation for decades at this point, deserve better.  Apologies are not enough, especially when they come with next to no real change.
Werewolf: the Apocalypse in Context
At the time that White Wolf Publishing began to produce its World of Darkness line, the TTRPG industry was dominated by white men, both as producers, developers, and authors, as well as the main characters in their settings. White Wolf's World of Darkness made an impact at the time, by defying these Eurocentric, patriarchal presentations, first by defaulting to feminine pronouns throughout Vampire: the Masquerade, and then by focusing on Indigenous representation and values in Werewolf: the Apocalypse, and as a young Indigenous nerd, it had a positive impact on me, as I know it has on some other Indigenous people who became fans of the World of Darkness at the time. This was because before opening the pages of Werewolf: the Apocalypse, I had never seen heroes that I could play who looked like me and my culture. It was off, and often offensive, but it was my first experience in which I could directly play a hero who shared my heritage--and I also had more than one option through two different Tribes to do so. This might sound a little like I was cheering for table scraps, but again, at the time, table scraps was more than I had ever seen before.
Werewolf: the Apocalypse 1st Edition was originally published in 1992 via then White Wolf Publishing (not to be confused with Paradox Interactive's White Wolf). From its inception, the premise was interwoven with what its then-authors believed to be Indigenous praxis and representation.  Like many pop-culture presentations of Indigeneity from this time period (see Fern Gully, Dances With Wolves, Disney’s Pocahontas, or in TTRPGs, the NAN from Shadowrun) it was rife with problematic and even offensive stereotyping. The most obvious examples thereof are within the two "Pure Tribes" Uktena, and W****** who I will henceforth refer to as Older and Younger Brother. However, Indigenous inspiration was at the core of the game's spiritual premise as well, where animism and "Totems" are central to the setting and gameplay. The way these concepts are presented is trivializing and dehumanizing, but it is important to acknowledge that the appropriation present in Werewolf: the Apocalypse goes a lot deeper than the two Brother Tribes (even the term "Tribe" was meant to invoke a vision of Indigeneity compared to the previous setting in the line's use of "Clan"). Additionally, there is art throughout every generation of these gaming books that represents humans, wolves, and human-wolf hybrid forms wearing Indigenous regalia, including sacred items such as headdresses, or engaged in sacred rituals such as the Sun Dance. The list of problematic representations goes deep, and my examples only scratch the surface, but it is also important for me to note the positive impact that this had, particularly in the 90's.
Even though the primary contributors to these narratives were non-Indigenous authors, or in one case, a Pretendian, and another, a culturally disconnected author, by the time the Revised (or Third Edition) era of the books came around, White Wolf Publishing was actively engaged in cultural consultation.  While I do not believe cultural consultation makes a big difference on its own, it matters that the attempt was made, to a degree: while these efforts fall short of what needs to be seen in cultural representation, this was still ahead of most other gaming companies at this time.
Hired by Hunters Entertainment
In February of 2020 I was approached by one of the co-owners of Hunters Entertainment to be one of the primary authors for Werewolf: 5th Edition due to my work on other World of Darkness projects, and let's be honest, because I was capable of bringing a much needed Indigenous perspective to a gameline that was rooted in Indigeneity and rotting with appropriation and racist stereotypes. I was overall receptive to the invitation, largely because I was very passionate about the World of Darkness setting overall, and Werewolf in particular, due to the impact that 90's representation had on me when I was a younger gamer. I also felt hopeful that with a really hard rewrite of Indigenous aspects of the game that I could shift a lot of really painful aspects of the game into something that was a net positive for Indigenous representation. I will tell you now, more than anything, I was excited to rewrite the Younger Brother Tribe, because when separated from racist authors, their message is very empowering and real to my lived experience.
That said, I did not agree to join the project without first asking for reassurances. I said that I was not willing to write negative Native stereotypes. I would not use appropriative language, or generally engage in appropriative writing (which meant at minimum that the names of the Pure Tribes would need to change), and most importantly, that I would not not engage in writing that contributed to erasure. While the person who recruited me to work on the project was eager to work with me, he acknowledged that he was not sure he could get everything I wanted to see approved, but also promised to fight for everything I suggested as hard as he could. Additionally, he shared with me that the original setting pitch for W5 involved all of Younger Brother being slaughtered en masse in a massacre. I made it clear that this was exactly the kind of thing that I would not write.  I cannot remember if this was something he suggested to be changed before or after I was invited onto the project, but with some pushback it was changed.  However, I point this out because I want you, the reader, to understand how eager Paradox Interactive was to start with mass genocide and erasure as a foundation to the setting.  All that said, I cannot stress enough that I have had nothing but positive experiences with Hunters Entertainment, and none of the following concerns fall upon them.
The Sword of Heimdall
The first encounter the Hunters Entertainment team as a whole had with problematic guidelines for the W5 draft was the direction that Paradox Interactive wanted to go with the Sword of Heimdall. At the time, the suggestions from Paradox and Karim Muammar were that the Sword of Heimdall was going to represent the new major villain of the Werewolf setting, and that they were to also represent the far-right, fascist direction that Werewolf society so often turned toward. They were meant to be representative of how far the new concept of Hauglosk could take entire communities. However, the Sword of Heimdall was discussed interchangeably with the Get of Fenris as a whole, and more than once Muammar seemed to suggest that every member of this Tribe was guilty of the same attitudes espoused in previous editions from the Sword of Heimdall. Now let's not beat around the bush: the Sword of Heimdall are literal Nazis. They believe directly in white supremacy and don't shy from it. They wanted to cleanse impure elements from the Get of Fenris, including BIPOC people, other non-white ethnicities, women, neurodivergent Garou, and other disabled Garou.
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The writing team found this approach problematic for several reasons. The first, and most obvious, was that the direction seemed to want to turn one of the most popular Tribes into a horrific stereotype of its most abhorrent faction. Whether or not Muammar’s goal was to turn them into villains, we could not imagine a world where fans of previous editions would get their hands on this book, and not look for a way to play one of their previous favorite groups, thus creating the issue of making a guide to playing Nazi. Even beyond that, it’s not as if historically there were not players who used the tools of the setting to play Black Spiral Dancers, why wouldn’t this draw people who actually wanted to role-play through these toxic, harmful politics? Further, and while this is less important, it left a bad taste in my mouth, the justification for this major shift in Werewolf lore seemed to change over each pass. At first, Muammar suggested that all Fenrir were Nazis/SoH.  Then, when he was provided with evidence that it was a small faction that was eliminated in the early 2000’s, he started to shift toward the idea that we should not follow the lore. Finally, when every single member of the writer’s team flatly refused to provide what would essentially be “a player’s guide to being a Nazi werewolf” the writing was on the wall about the end of our involvement with this product. More than once, he suggested that we were cowardly social justice warriors for being unwilling to work with this concept, even though there were several attempts to write a heroic version of the Fenrir that were focused on undoing these ills of the past.
Indigenous Erasure in Werewolf: 5th Edition
While the entire Hunters Entertainment writing team was handling the major, glaring issue of Paradox’s fervor to include a major Nazi element in Werewolf, I was personally dealing with the problematic approach to the Indigenous issues in the setting. The largest problem, for me, was in addressing Younger Brother’s issues, the history of non-Indigenous writers creating horrifically racist stereotypes, and what was valuable in the Tribal identity that should be saved and recentered. However, my attempts to do so were thwarted with every approach. I rewrote this Tribe four times, and offered three different versions of it to try to earn approval for a final write-up, but each time there was a lot of negativity directed towards my attempts and all them boiled down to this: Muammar felt that having two Tribes (both Younger and Older Brother) representing the “Indigenous population” was too many, and wanted them to only be focused on Older Brother, and that Younger Brother’s connection to a central, Indigenous identity, was undesirable because “other sources wrote them as having Siberian and European connections” and that future writing on this Tribe would require a lot of sensitivity…suggesting that one, Muammar wasn’t interested in doing the work to handle that level of sensitivity, and further, that he wasn’t interested in including me in future work, since I was involved with doing that at the time.
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I want to take a moment to remind you that the work that was put into recovering Younger Brother started with “Let’s Kill Them Off” and at this point, through a combination of convincing and pleading, had been walked back to “They can live, but now they’re not connected to being Indigenous anymore” which is just representative genocide of a different variety. “Kill the Indian in him, and save the man.” It was also explicitly something I said I would not write about going into this project. Ultimately, my efforts did not get much further than this, with some specific exceptions I will cite below.
Karim Muammar’s Anti-Indigenous Positions
Muammar consistently and repeatedly communicated to the team in ways that were condescending and dismissive of our collective accomplishments and capabilities, but from my perspective, no one suffered as much significant derision as I did while discussing the changes I wanted to make to Younger and Older Brother in order to make their representation empowering and exciting.
In the pulled quote from the previous paragraph, I want to point out to you that Muammar, who had the title of Lead Editor on this project, refused to capitalize Native American. Further, he would often redline my work with edits to decapitalize my own uses of Native American, as well as the word Indigenous when referring to Indigenous peoples. While there are plenty of people who might want to argue about this, I will point out that both the AP style guide as well as the Chicago style guide (the one which I am most familiar with in my academic historical work) both call for Indigenous to be capitalized when referring to a people. Further, I challenge anyone to defend the consistent decapitalization of Native American. More importantly, the reason that these are standards in respected style guides, is because the English language has been used historically to oppress and erase ethnic identities, including Indigenous identities. By transforming adjectives into proper nouns, we are declaring that Indigenous and Native aren’t descriptors that can be applied to animals, plants, and soil, but real lived identities and culture groups.
When I was explaining to the Paradox team (which was mostly just Muammar) why it was important to change the names of these two Tribes from the appropriative (and offensive) ones used in the past, Muammar pushed back by defending the previously used Younger Brother name, even after reading my extensive research and explanation about how this would harm Indigenous communities and fans.
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While doing so, he also decided that it was appropriate to refer to this entirely Native American tribe by the word “savages” a slur that has been specifically used to dehumanize Native Americans, and then mocked my rewrite that focused on presenting them as stewards of the land using Indigenous methodologies and praxes, instead of the “savage” racist stereotypes they were presented as in previous editions. Further, as in the above quote, even after it was communicated that the use of this term was problematic, he kept doubling-down to use it to refer to the Tribe.
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Even though I worked hard to redefine Younger Brother through Indigenous theory, such as place-based theory, relational theory, and communal theory, Muammar either refused to recognize this work, dismissing it as simple, or else simply could not understand the importance of these changes. Either way, the choice is that he didn’t want them to change, or couldn’t comprehend why the change was important because of how entrenched in white supremacist thinking he is. Further, after the massive effort that I put forward to attempt to educate him and the rest of the Paradox team on these issues, the insistence on using offensive terms and belittling my work felt intentional. So let’s talk about the work I did that was above and beyond my job description: free cultural consulting work.
“Sensitivity” and Consultation
I have seen several misunderstandings of my role working on this project going around, so I want to make something very clear. I was hired to work on this project as an author, and nothing else. I was not ever hired to be a cultural consultant. I do not do cultural consulting work. While I feel that there are many creators and companies who hire cultural consultants with the best intentions in mind, their responses often fall short of what is needed, as no one is ever obligated to actually follow the advice of cultural consultants. Further, I think there are also many companies who choose to hire cultural consultants only to say “we did this minimal step, and that is enough” in order to ward off naysayers.
However, anyone who hires me gets some level of cultural consulting for free, because it comes out in my writing–in both what I won’t write and what I choose to center my writing around. In the case of Werewolf 5th Edition, however, it was far more involved than this. I came with a plethora of “I will not write X” because I knew the setting was so problematic.  A short list of my demands besides not being willing to write Indigenous erasure, was that we needed to change the names of the Pure Tribes (and the term Pure Tribe itself), we needed to change the word Totem to Patron, and also the Patrons of the Pure Tribes. We needed to move away from the term Metis for obvious reasons, and we needed to move away from the term Skin Dancers. I also specifically noted that there was a lot of cultural theft happening from the beginning of Werewolf until now that I wanted to address. The only way these issues were going to be addressed was to convince Paradox they were actual issues on the level of PR concerns, because nothing else was likely going to be considered. So in order to achieve this, I put in weeks worth of research, writing, and meetings with top level administrators with Hunters Entertainment so that they could bring this information to Paradox.  I never documented my hours, but I would guess that I did approximately 80-100 hours of what I could only describe as cultural consultation work for free that was outside the contract work I was hired for. Let’s be clear: I did this willingly because I was passionate about the positive changes I wanted to see in this product, because I believed that Werewolf’s historic ills could be turned toward non-toxic representation.
Besides my actual words, such as naming the Ghost Council, and arguably the name Gale Stalkers came from a combination of names I pitched to Paradox after Winter’s Teeth was denied, and several sentences and paragraphs that I have seen so far that appear so close to what I originally wrote that you could imagine they were just edited versions, my largest contribution toward the final version of Werewolf: 5th Edition was this work. The only reason the offensive, appropriated names were changed were because of hours of my work to convince them it needed to happen. The reason that the Gale Stalkers aren’t just dead and gone: again, I pushed against this. The reason that Skin Dancers, Totem, and Metis will not appear as canonical titles? I pushed against their unwillingness to alter these things (see Karim’s defense of Wen**** Tribe name above).
Further, and this is the biggest reason I decided to write this article before seeing the final version of the book, I want to mention that I was also included in discussions with Hunters Entertainment to potentially be part of the art direction team, especially to oversee depictions of Indigenous characters, regalia, and art, to ensure that it would be represented either respectfully or not at all. I decided I needed to speak as soon as possible after the artistic portrayal of Tāme Iti appeared in the Glass Walkers preview without his permission. There are many arguments surrounding this issue and I am not going to address everything, but ultimately, I can tell you that had I remained as part of the art direction team, and saw that, I would have questioned it immediately. Even if I didn’t recognize Tāme Iti immediately, I would have asked what the source was on the depiction of moko in that piece, because I am aware that this is a sacred form of art–and I had already discussed wanting to make sure things like Crinos in headdresses didn’t appear in the book (as had often happened in previous editions, particularly on a certain white-skinned character whose name rhymes with Steals-the-Past).
As time working on this project went on, and I went through rounds and rounds of trying to convince Muammar and Paradox that it was important to not steal Indigenous identities, art, and stories, and that a greater effort needed to be put in powerful and empowering Indigenous representation, and I constantly ran into refusals and criticisms that were clearly hateful toward Indigenous identities and peoples, not to mention the push to represent Nazism as a major part of the game setting, I grew increasingly frustrated and restless with feeling like I was trying to work on a challenging project while also defending my right to exist as the person I am at every turn. Eventually I turned to another Indigenous TTRPG and game creator to ask for advice, and after a long and difficult discussion, I came to the conclusion that I was going to talk to the Hunters administration team and tell them that if Muammar kept using slurs and other anti-Indigenous language and attitudes, I was going to need to step off of this project, because it was harmful to me on a personal level. In furtherance of this point, I have been avoiding doing any contract work at all where I can tell that I am wanted for my specific cultural perspective ever since, because this situation was so harrowing for me.
Unfortunately, before I could have this conversation, after one final draft of Younger Brother and Bone Gnawers (which had its own issues, but that is not the point of this discussion), before we received any other specific feedback, the Hunters Entertainment administrators announced to the writing team that Paradox had decided to take the book in-house, and would no longer need our services.
The main point I would like to leave you with, besides these few specific quotes (out of dozens and dozens) that Muammar made that were anti-Indigenous, is that there is often a big call to have more BIPOC voices in various entertainment industries, so that both our stories, perspectives, and unique views on how the universe and life works, can be included; so that an industry that is historically, harmfully Eurocentric, might turn toward new, healthier, and inclusive directions. And I agree with this call for change, but I implore you to consider the conditions that BIPOC creators often have to work under: doing cultural/identity work and consultation for free as part of being present, being subject to vicious refusals of our experiences and perspectives, and straight-up having slurs lodged against our work. I want to see these changes in the industries we love, including the gaming industry, but currently the people who are in charge, who have the most power, are severely hostile to our work and our perspectives. This is why, for example, works like Coyote & Crow were done with an almost entirely Indigenous group of creators, and led by Indigenous creators, because trying to work for and with this ugly, hateful, and xenophobic group of people is so often exhausting, both mentally and spiritually, and because no good changes end up being made.
I am glad the harmful, appropriative terms were removed from the setting. I am glad I was part of the fight to make that real. I am not so glad that I was treated with hostility and racism by Muammar for the effort and love I put into this work, and I am not so glad that I will certainly be reviled by one of the two communities I did this work for–the gaming community, and certainly the people in power in this industry–and I am also not so glad that I didn’t have the opportunity to properly acknowledge how much of Werewolf’s base themes and setting are twisted and tied-up in Indigenous appropriation without giving the proper acknowledgments.
More than anything, I hope that this story will help you, the fans, realize that there is a lot of darkness in these communities, and they won’t change unless you hold their feet to the fire.
Ánaagodzįįhł
J.F. Sambrano
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greenwitchcrafts · 1 year ago
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May 2024 witch guide
Full moon: May 23rd
New moon: May 7th
Sabbats: Beltane-May1st
May Flower Moon
Known as: Bright Moon, Budding Moon, Dyad Moon, Egg Laying Moon, Frog Moon, Hare Moon, Leaf Budding Moon, Merry Moon, Moon of the Shedding Ponies, Planting Moon, Sproutkale, Thrimilcmonath & Winnemanoth
Element: Fire
Zodiac: Taurus & Gemini
Nature spirits: Elves & Faeries
Deities: Aphrodite, Artemis, Bast, Cernunnos, Diana, Frigga, Flora, Horned God, Kali, Maia, Pan, Priapus & Venus
Animals: Cat, leopard & lynx
Birds: Dove, Swallow & Swan
Trees: Hawthorne & rowan
Herbs: Cinnamon, dittany of Crete, Elder, mint, mugwort & thyme
Flowers: Foxglove, lily of the valley & rose
Scents: Rose & sandalwood
Stones: Amber, Apache tear, carnelian, emerald, garnet, malachite, rose quartz, ruby, tourmaline & tsavorite
Colors: Brown, green, orange, pink & yellow
Energy:  Abundance, creative energy, faerie & spirit contact, fertility, intuition, love, marriage, material gains, money, propagation, prosperity, real-estate dealings, relationships & tenacity
May’s Flower Moon name should be no surprise; flowers spring forth across North America in abundance this month!
• “Flower Moon” has been attributed to Algonquin peoples, as confirmed by Christina Ruddy of The Algonquin Way Cultural Centre in Pikwakanagan, Ontario.
May’s Moon was also referred to as the “Month of Flowers” by Jonathan Carver in his 1798 publication, Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America: 1766, 1767, 1768 (pp. 250-252), as a likely Dakota name. Carver stayed with the Naudowessie (Dakota) over a period of time; his expedition covered the Great Lakes region, including the Wisconsin and Minnesota areas.
Beltane
Known as: Beltaine, May day, Roodmas & Cethsamhain
Season: Spring
Symbols: Eggs, faeries, fire, flowers & maypoles
Colors: Blue, dark yellow, green, light pink, orange, red, white yellow & rainbow spectrum
Oils/Incense: Frankincense, lilac, passion flower, rose, tuberose & vanilla
Animals: Bee, cattle, goat & rabbit
Mythical: Faeries
Stones: Bloodstone, emerald, lapis lazuli, orange carnelian, rose quartz & sapphire
Food: Beltane cakes, cherries, dairy foods, farls, green herbal salads, honey, meade, nuts, oat cakes, oats, strawberries & sweets
Herbs/Plants: Almond, ash tree, birch, bramble, cinquefoil, damiana, frankincense, hawthorn, ivy, meadowsweet, mushroom, rosemary, saffron, satyrion root, St.John's wort & woodruff
Flowers: Angelica, bluebell, daisy, hibiscus, honeysuckle, lilac, marigold, primrose, rose, rose hips & yellow cowslips
Trees: Ash, cedar, elder, fir, hawthorn, juniper, linden, mesquite, oak, pine, poplar, rowan & willow
Goddesses: Aphrodite, Areil, Artemis, Cybele, Danu, Diana, Dôn, Eiru, Elen, Eostre, Fand, Flidais, Flora, Freya, Frigga, Maia, Niwalen, Rhea, Rhiannon, Var, Venus & Xochiquetzal
Gods: Baal, Bacchnalia, Balder, Belanos, Belenus, Beli, Beltene, Cernunnos, Cupid, Faunus, Freyr, Grannus, The Green Man, Lares, Lugh, Manawyddan, Odin, Pan, Puck & Taranis
Issues, Intentions & Powers: Agriculture, creativity, fertility, lust, marriage, the otherworld/Underworld, pleasure, psychic ability, purification, sensuality, sex/uality, visions, warmth & youth
Spellwork: Birth, Earth magick, healing, health & pregnancy
Activities:
• Create a daisy chain or floral decorations
• Decorate & dance around a Maypole
• Set up an outdoor altar & leave offerings to faeries
• Prepare a ritual bath with fresh flowers
• Light a bonfire or candles & dance around them
• Set aside time for self care
• Gather flowers & use them to decorate your home or altar
• Prepare a feast to celebrate with friends/family
• Make flower crowns
• Bake bannocks, oat cakes or cookies
• Hang wreaths decorated with ribbons & flowers
• Plant flowers in your garden
• Start a wish book/box/journal
• Go on a walk & gice thanks to nature⁸
• Cast fertility or a bunch spells
• Fill small baskets of flowers & small goodies, then leave them on your friends/neighbors doorstep as a gesture of goodwill & friendship
Beltane is mentioned in the earliest Irish literature and is associated with important events in Irish mythology. Also known as Cétshamhain ('first of summer'), it marked the beginning of summer & was when cattle were driven out to the summer pastures. Rituals were performed to protect cattle, people & crops, and to encourage growth. (Today, Witches who observe the Wheel of the Year celebrate Beltane as the height of Spring.)
Special bonfires were kindled, whose flames, smoke & ashes were deemed to have protective powers. The people and their cattle would walk around or between bonfires & sometimes leap over the flames or embers. All household fires would be doused & then re-lit from the Beltane bonfire.
These gatherings would be accompanied by a feast, and some of the food and drink would be offered to the aos sí. Doors, windows, byres and livestock would be decorated with yellow May flowers, perhaps because they evoked fire.
In parts of Ireland, people would make a May Bush: typically a thorn bush or branch decorated with flowers, ribbons, bright shells & rushlights. Holy wells were also visited, while Beltane dew was thought to bring beauty & maintain youthfulness.
• The aos sí (often referred to as spirits or fairies) were thought to be especially active at Beltane. Like Samhain, which lies directly opposite from Beltane on the Wheel of the Year, this was seen as a time when the veil between worlds was at its thinnest. At Samhain the veil between the worlds of the living & the dead is thin enough that we can connect & convene with our beloved dead, here at Beltane it’s the veil between the human world, and the world of faeries & nature spirits that has grown thin. Offerings would be left at the ancient faerie forts, the wells and in other sacred places in an effort to appease these nature spirits to ensure a successful growing season.
Some believe this is when The Goddess is now the Mother & the God is seen as the Green Man or the wild stag. It celebrates the symbolic union, mating or marriage of the Goddess & God & heralds in the coming summer months. It represents life rather than Samhain on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year.
Other Celebrations:
• Rosealia- May 23rd
Rosalia or Rosaria was a festival of roses celebrated on various dates, primarily in��May, but scattered through mid-July. The observance is sometimes called a rosatio ("rose-adornment") or the dies rosationis, "day of rose-adornment," & could be celebrated also with violets. As a commemoration of the dead, the rosatio developed from the custom of placing flowers at burial sites. It was among the extensive private religious practices by means of which the Romans cared for their dead, reflecting the value placed on tradition (mos maiorum, "the way of the ancestors"), family lineage & memorials ranging from simple inscriptions to grand public works. Several dates on the Roman calendar were set aside as public holidays or memorial days devoted to the dead.
Roses had funerary significance in Greece, but were particularly associated with death & entombment among the Romans. In Greece, roses appear on funerary steles  & in epitaphs most often of girls. Flowers were traditional symbols of rejuvenation, rebirth &memory, with the red & purple of roses & violets felt to evoke the color of blood as a form of propitiation
Sources:
Farmersalmanac .com
Llewellyn's Complete Book of Correspondences by Sandra Kines
Wikipedia
A Witch's Book of Correspondences by Viktorija Briggs
Encyclopedia britannica
Llewellyn 2024 magical almanac Practical magic for everyday living
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olhetti · 9 months ago
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You would love the field across from my house, and the tiny strip of land between the frontage road and the street which is at a slope.
The neighbor stopped mowing it into oblivion a year or two ago, and there are so many types of wild grasses. There are pale wolfberries absolutely going nuts in a spot in the middle that couldn't get mowed, and there's a strip of little ones following the telephone wire where the birds sit. The wildflowers in the spring are astounding. That tiny 5ft strip of land is chock full of milkweeds, and I've seen so many types of bees and wasps on them. There's so much to look at. My only gripe is a couple of invasive trees, but their saplings at least have no where to germinate. There's no space for them.
one of my skills is going on pleasant walks in the most unwalkable environments ever
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nellasbookplanet · 6 days ago
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Book recs: aro and ace sff, vibes edition
While I'm working on my canonical in-text-only aroace rec list, have this more vibes based edition! These are books which center platonic and/or hard to define relationships over romantic and/or sexual ones. Basically they are books that made me, a certified romance disliker, especially connect with the way they portrayed and prioritized non-romantic relationships, whether or not they are canonically aro/ace or not.
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For more details on the books, check under the readmore! My personal favorites are marked with an *. For more rec lists, take a look at my masterpost!
Canonical aro and/or ace
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Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
Young adult. Elatsoe's America is slightly different from the one we know. Magics and monsters both everyday and dangerous inhabit her world. Elatsoe herself can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. When her cousin is murdered, Elatsoe decides to find out just what happened, even as his home town does everything it can to bury a truth older and larger than she could've imagined.
Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer*
Young adult. Nita isn’t a murderer - technically. She just dissects the bodies of supernatural beings her mother brings home and sells for parts on the black market. But when her mother brings home a still living victim, Nita has had enough and frees him. As it turns out, no good deed goes unpunished as Nita is betrayed, her own nature as a supernatural entity outed as she’s kidnapped and placed behind bars. Now she must find a way to escape before she’s sold for parts.
Winter Tide by Ruthanna Emrys*
Aphra and her brother are the only survivors after the government raided their home, Innsmouth. Their only living family are the amphibian people of the deep, whom they will one day join, but until then they are bound to land where they struggle to build new lives for themselves after the great loss of their home and loved ones. Then rumors start to spread of a Russian agent seeking dangerous and ancient magic, forcing Aphra to involve herself as they try to stop it.
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All Systems Red by Martha Wells*
After having hacked its own governor module, SecUnit uses its small amount of new freedom to secretly download and watch as much media as it can between doing its job guarding humans. But when the scientists it’s been charged with keeping safe come under attack, it must make a choice about whether to continue keeping its freedom secret or risk it all to save them. I leave up to individual judgment whether SecUnit counts as agender, asexual and aromantic, as it is a robot.
The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison*
Sherlock Holmes retelling. After having been injured fighting a war against fallen angels, Doyle returns to London to survive on only a veteran’s pension. To afford a place to live in the city, Doyle finds a housemate in Crow, an eccentric angel with a great curiosity for humans and a knack for solving crime. And London needs its protector - supernatural beings walk the streets, and someone going by the name Jack the Ripper terrifies the citizens at night.
Vicious by V.E. Schwab
While studying near-death experiences as college roommates, Victor and Eli discovered something incredible: under the right circumstances, someone can develop seemingly supernatural abilities. When they moved their research to the experimental stage, things went horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor has broken out of jail and sets out to hunt his former friend, who is on a mission to eradicate all other superpowered people in existence.
Word of god aro and/or ace
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Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Young adult fantasy. Artemisia prefers the dead to the living, and is training to become a Gray Sister, a nun who helps the souls of the deceased pass on to the afterlife rather than remain as dangerous spirits. To defend her convent, Artemisia accepts the help of a dangerous revenant, a powerful spirit which grants her great power but also could possess her the moment her guard is lowered. As evil threatens her homeland, Artemisia and the revenant must find a way to work together.
Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace
Wasp is the chosen Archivist in a post-apocalyptic world haunted by the dead. Her job is to hunt the ghosts that still linger, a dangerous and lonely position where she every year is made to fight others to not be replaced. When she meets the ghost of a super soldier, Wasp strikes a deal with him to help him find a long lost friend in exchange for learning more about the world that once was.
The Spider and her Demons by sydney khoo*
Young adult fantasy. All teenager Zhi wants is a normal life (and possibly for her harsh aunt to be a bit nicer), but it’s hard when she’s half spider demon. Every day she must conceal her true nature and hide in human guise. When she slips up and eats a man in front of her rich, aloof classmate Dior, Zhi thinks her life is over. But Dior has secrets of her own, and she is dead set on making herself part of Zhi’s life.
Not canonically aro and/or ace but have The Vibes
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Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal*
Priya had plans to go to Stanford, but is derailed by the fallout of lyme disease, making her question if she’ll ever get back to normal. Luckily she has her discord support group with whom she can chat and vent about her illness. Even more - she has Brigid, online fandom friend and fellow chronic illness sufferer. But when Brigid disappears from the web without warning, Priya must drive to Pennsylvania to make sure her friend is okay - and finds that Brigid’s condition is a bit hairier than expected.
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir*
Ryland Grace just woke up from a coma, unable to remember anything. He finds himself alone on a space ship, and as his memories slowly trickle back, he realizes he’s been sent on a mission: to find a solution to the impending doom of planet earth. Still struggling with holes in his memories, Ryland tries to fulfill his mission, but as he gets closer to his goal, he discovers someone else got there first. And they aren’t anything close to human. Funny, heartfelt, and heavy on the science.
Malevolent by Harlan Guthrie*
Lovecraftian horror mystery. Private detective Arthur Lester wakes up in his office, his partner dead, memories fuzzy, vision gone, and the voice of a malevolent entity in his mind. Unable to see, Arthur is forced to rely on guidance from the entity as they attempt to solve the mystery of what it is and where it came from. Is this a book? No. But as someone who reads mostly audiobooks, the difference between a book and a fiction podcast is negligible, and also I love this story and its characters and want all of you to do so too.
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The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
Young adult horror. Okiku died three hundred years ago, her body thrown down a well. Now she spends her days hunting for and punishing murderers like the one who once killed her. When a strange boy bearing odd tattoos appears in her area, he catches Okiku’s attention - as does something that follows after him. To save the boy, Okiku will be drawn into a journey taking both of them from American suburbia to a faraway shrine in Japan.
Radiant by Karina Sumner-Smith*
In a world where magic is currency, Xhea, wholly devoid of magic, is the lowest of the low. She does have one special ability, though: she can see ghosts. This ability proves useful when she meets Shai, the ghost of a girl from the higher echelons of society who isn't actually dead yet. Her body stolen and her ghost on the run, Shai needs Xhea's help.
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers*
Technically part two of a series, but stands well on its own as the installments are only loosely connected (though I recommend reading the first book as well, it’s very good). A former ship’s AI recently moved into an illegal android body tries to make sense of life as she navigates her way through humans and aliens alike, paralleled with the story of a young girl working alongside and AI to flee a dystopian planet.
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A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Novella. Long ago, robots, upon gaining sentience, simply laid down their work and walked into the wilderness. Long after, a tea monk looking for purpose follows after them into the wilds, where they come across one of the robots seeking its own sort of answers. While not plotless, this story focuses more on character and vibes over plot. Also has a nonbinary main character and features conversations on gender between human and robot.
Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang*
Cas Russel is more than just good at math - she can calculate accurately and quickly enough to dodge bullets and fight those twice her size with ease. She thought she was the only one with an ability like this, until she discovers someone with a power even more dangerous than hers, able to reach into and twist the minds of others. Suddenly too involved to simply run away, Cas must not only save the day, but do so while she can't trust her own thoughts.
Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy*
Young adult. Twelve-year-old Stephanie Edgley’s uncle, famed horror writer, just died mysteriously and left her his entire fortune. As it turns out, the stories he wrote weren’t entirely made up, and that which killed him wasn’t entirely human. In trying to avenge his death, Stephanie joins forces with Skulduggery Pleasant, sorcerer, detective, and living, walking skeleton. Including this one is kinda cheating because (part of) the series has romance, but the central relationship is always the codependent nonsense (affectionate) between the lead and her mentor/detective partner.
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When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb*
The angel Uriel and the demon Little Ash have been friends for centuries, living and studying together in a small Jewish community in Europe. But times are changing, and many of the community have left for a new life across the sea. When one of these emigrants go missing, Uriel and Little Ash decide to leave their peaceful life to go find and, if needed, save her.
Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie
A space opera in which sentient spaceships can walk the ground in stolen human bodies, so called ancillaries. One of these ancillaries, the sole survivor after the complete destruction of her ship and crew, is one the hunt for revenge against the most powerful woman in the empire. This series also does very cool things with gender!
Translation State by Ann Leckie*
An exploration of the alien as filtered through the human. At what point does the human become something else? When does something else become human? Is it a question of biology or culture, nature or nurture? Can we choose it? Can it be forced upon us? Set in the Imperial Radch universe, Translation State follows three different characters embroiled in the question of what makes a human. The alien Presger can only communicate with humans using their translators - people they’ve created that are not quite human and not quite alien. But as news of a translator fugitive arises, conflict brews regarding what right they have to choose their own identity and home.
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panther-os · 1 year ago
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beating my head against the walls in Latine
here's eight things that atp will have me immediately closing out of any fic, AleRudy edition:
1.
❌ "the los vaqueros"
ah yes the famed and feared las almas battalion of Mexican special forces. the the cowboys
✅ "los vaqueros"
✅ "the vaqueros"
2.
❌ "the los vaqueros base"
✅ "los vaqueros' base"
✅ "the vaqueros' base"
3.
❌ "corporal alejandro vargas and sergeant rodolfo parra/major rodolfo parra"
look, fuck the military as an institution and also fuck the devs for using American rank structure for members of the Mexican army but
it takes roughly 2 years in the army to advance to Corporal. the equivalent in the Mexican army is Cabo, and Google will not give me the requirements for it no matter how I ask
it takes 3-6 years to advance to Sergeant. From what I can tell, the Mexican equivalent is also Cabo (where Sargento Segundo is closer to Staff Sergeant)
it takes 10-12 years to advance to Major, the equivalent is Mayor (not the English word mayor like of a city, don't be like those white people)
it takes 22-24 years, a bachelor's degree, and officer school to become a Colonel and it takes 18-20 years and a whole mess of leadership courses nearly equivalent to a degree to become a Sergeant Major
put some goddamn respect on their names
✅ Colonel Alejandro Vargas and Sergeant Major Rodolfo Parra
✅ Coronel Alejandro Vargas and Sargento Primero Rodolfo Parra
4.
❌ Fuerza Especiales
❌ Fuerzas Especiale
this is just not understanding Spanish grammar
✅ Fuerzas Especiales ("Special Forces")
❎ Fuerza Especial ("special force")
5.
❌ Sin Nombre ("without name")
Alejandro literally corrects Soap on this one in the game
✅ El Sin Nombre ("The Nameless")
6.
❌ "Alejandro Vargas, leader of Mexican Special Forces"
the leader of Mexican Special Forces is the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional - the Secretary of Defense - and Fuerzas Especiales is composed of three brigades, 74 independent battalions (like Los Vaqueros), 36 amphibious special operations groups. Colonels command single brigades at most.
Alejandro is capable of leading Mexican Special Forces, but it would require him to retire from the field and get more of a desk job, with far more politics than I think he'd have patience for
✅ "Alejandro Vargas, leader of Los Vaqueros - a battalion of Fuerzas Especiales stationed in Las Almas"
7.
❎ "our ancestors, the Aztecs"
look, indigenous identity is weird sometimes and I don't know enough specifics about the culture around it in Mexico to have a solid opinion, but I'm also very fucking tired of people thinking the only indigenous groups in Mexico are the Nahua (Aztecs) and Maya. if they're on the Texas border and their families have always lived there, their heritage is most likely seven different Apache nations/language groups in a trench coat with some Spanish conquistador on the side. they're most likely not related to any famous indigenous chiefs or other figures, but it's very possible they can trace their Spanish ancestry back directly to nobility
for example, I am related to absolutely none well-known Tsalagi or Kwikipa people as far as I'm aware, but I am a direct descendant of the brother of King Ferdinand the Catholic, which also means I'm a direct descendant of the guy who started the Inquisition (and now I'm Jewish (and pro-Palestine for those who want to know) so take that, colonizer)
also while Bayardo is Mexicano, Alain is Cubano, please be respectful when talking about the actors or when in their instagram lives and just. don't make assumptions y'all
8.
❎ "Los Vaqueros" is a nickname from the people of Las Almas, the battalion's actual name that is on all the paperwork and dog tags is more likely numerical or describing their role/location - like "11th Battalion" or "The Borderline Battalion" or something like that. maybe even both, like "The 11th Border Battalion"
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alex99achapterthree · 6 months ago
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WWII history...
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P-51 Mustang cheat-sheet, WWII era.
Bet you didn't know that the P-51 started out as the A-36 Apache dive bomber, with dive brakes above and below each wing.
There were other variants. The P-51K was a sub-type of the P-51D built in Dallas with an 11 ft Aeroproducts propeller in place of the 11.2 ft Hamilton Standard propeller.
The re-designed lightweight P-51H was introduced too late for WWII service.
(image from Pinterist/Wolfenstein Wiki)
(edit... I'm working on a post showing the A-36 in service, right now I'm looking for a good picture that shows the dive brakes on the wings extended. Stay tuned.)
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cs-fox · 7 months ago
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FOXHOUND | GHOST X FEM!READER
um hi 👋👋
this has been rolling around in my subconscious for a while
enjoy x
reader's callsign is Fox (my oc's callsign - apologies)
______________________________________________________________
Freezing wind whipped through the open sides of the helicopter. You, and seven other mates who were all lined up to be candidates for the fifth TASKFORCE 141 operator, were all in five layers of clothing, trying to keep out the icy wind which bit at any square milimetre of exposed skin.
The forest below was blanketed in pale white snow, reflecting up at you as you gazed down over it. A clearing - or, more akin to a tiny break in the thickly wooded area - was visible from the sky.
Even if you could barely see him, you swore you could feel those chilly coffee-tinted irises staring up at you like a laser sight.
Ghost - the man people questioned about his mortality - was tasked with hunting down the eight soldiers packed into one Boeing AH-64E Apache. He was the best tracker the taskforce had - so the soldier who survived the longest would be admitted into the task-force.
The only way your mates could see any chance of survival was staying under the radar for as long as possible.
Which, luckily enough - was impossible for you.
From the second his calculating gaze fell on your form, he'd decided you were the one he'd push, you were the one he was hell-bent on forcing to submit or withdraw from Selection. The two months you'd endured under his command had been nicknamed the ninth circle of hell.
Your muscles burned every night before bed. Your legs felt two hundred pounds heavier than usual.
But you were going to show him that you weren't the runt of the litter.
All of that raced through your mind as you prepared to jump. Calm hands - a stark contrast to how you felt inside - clipped and secured a carabiner to your harness. Within seconds, you were fast-roping down onto the snow.
Your boots crunched as you landed, breaking through a thin layer of ice that had formed over the untouched snow.
Thirty seconds, your mind screamed, thirty seconds and then he's after you.
You were the first one detached from the helicopter, and thus the first one to get a head-start.
Silently, you thanked the man who'd recommended rubber-soled boots. His Scottish accent meant you weren't able to catch his name - did he seriously just say "Soap"? - but that advice had been a godsend, for your shoes barely made any noise against the white-blanketed ground.
You heard a frantic yelp from behind you - fuck - that sounded like Jasper - and your legs worked harder until you were sure you were completely isolated. Ghost had a wicked sense of humour. No doubt he'd track down all of the other soldiers with one hand tied behind his back, and then creep up on you in a way you didn't know was possible for a man of his size - skull-faced bastard.
Then -
CRUNCH.
'Fox.'
You didn't even have to look to know it was him.
In seconds, you were gone - sprinting away like a hare. Now you knew he had your scent, he wouldn't let it go, sometimes going to extreme measures to get you - which he would, by the way.
So why don't you have some fun?
He's gonna love this.
You had wrung a tiny woodland fox's neck after tracking one down, and after making sure deep boot-prints led to it's position, you slid your hunting knife from the underside of it's jaw to the soft, plush and fatty part of it's stomach. After coating your gloves in blood, you scrawled a scarlet message in the white snow, and vaulted up into the lower branches of a tree which had thicker than usual foliage.
Now, you wait.
Sure enough, just as the sun was starting to set, you saw a figure seemingly emerge from the shadows. The huge man moved so silently, as he approached the carcass laid down across a fallen log, with it's innards spilling out from it's chest.
You watched his head tilt, examining the message you'd left for him, before he went completely, eerily still.
Then, a muscle jumped in his neck, before a deep, rumbling growl crawled up from the depths of his throat, a sound which made your knees weak.
Ghost bent down, viciously sawed off the fox's tail with his own hunting blade, and tied it to his belt, before exiting in a way you could only describe as hot.
He was attractive when he was angry... God...
You gave yourself one last chance to proudly survey your handiwork, the maroon stain sinking into the snow.
You're hunting the wrong fox.
______________________________________________________________
PART 2 ???
this was super fun whattt
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wheelsgoroundincircles · 3 months ago
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It’s official:
The HEMI is coming back.
Stellantis is restarting production of the entire HEMI V8 family—including the 5.7L, 6.4L (392 Apache), and even the supercharged 6.2L Hellcat—starting August 2025 at the Dundee Engine Plant in Michigan.
Originally replaced by the Hurricane inline-six, the Gen 3 HEMI lives on—stronger than ever. Mopar fans, it’s time.
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vivixx-wewoox0 · 7 months ago
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`~"Running Up That Hill"
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Boothill x male!reader
Notes - Oh yes, after all, I started writing. I apologize that I’m only starting to get into work now. There are big problems in my family right now, and today I was listening to music. And then I came across Kate Bush with her song “Running Up That Hill.” It came flooding in a wave came over me, and thanks to her, I decided to write this fic. It is dedicated to Boothill , because his story makes me cry to this day😭
TW -
HUGE spoilers for Boothill's story, angst, Boothill's daughter is referred to as "Bella" , the reader knew Boothill even before the destruction of his home, the reader survived that tragedy, but lost his legs, mention of bombs and other explosives, mutual hatred of Boothill and the reader for the IPC,The fic was written with the help of a translator (I would be grateful for pointing out errors)
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The sun was shining gently through the windows, filling everything with a gentle glow. The grass outside was covered with a light dew after the night, but the sun's rays made it dry and clean. The trees were quietly moving from the wind, but it was pleasant. Every morning on Argan-Apache was beautiful and calm. Although not much time had passed since your awakening, you could already hear other people walking outside the window, talking about their plans, and about what they could cook for breakfast.
Deciding not to waste time either, you also got up - making your bed and putting on your usual clothes and hat, you thought about what you should do today. The first thing you thought about was breakfast after a long night. Following to the kitchen, you prepared a fresh salad and stewed meat ragout. After the meal, the man hurriedly washed the dishes and wiped them, hurrying to visit his childhood friend - the cowboy Boothill. Many things connected these two, starting with jokes and gatherings in the bar, and ending with horse riding and shootouts with bandits.Besides, Boothill recently had a sweet daughter - she was small, but already tried to play the guitar. And her blue eyes, so piercing, as if the angels themselves were looking through them. Because of them, she was given the name Bella, in honor of her sweetness and beauty.
After getting ready and leaving the house, I headed to my friend's house. As I walked, I met many people I knew - nice old people I knew when I was a kid, kids who still have their whole lives to live, and regular people my age who I often sit with at the bar or work with. It wasn't long before I arrived at Boothill's door - as I entered the building, I was greeted by a picture - Bella was sleeping quietly on her bed, and Boothill was quietly carving something. Looking closer, I realized he was making a small version of his guitar for Bella.Quietly approaching so as not to ruin such an idyll, I lightly patted the white-haired man on the shoulder. He immediately reacted by turning his head towards me with a sharp look, but seeing who was in front of him, he immediately softened.
-"Hello Name" - He said quietly so as not to wake his daughter
- "Bella is sleeping. You should be quieter, I don't want her to wake up." He said this looking away at his beloved daughter. After Bella appeared in his life, he became much softer and kinder. Not at all that impudent and rude cowboy. Rather, a kind and gentle father. At least while Bella is not next to him.
-I nodded quietly with an understanding smile and sat down next to him
-"I decided to visit you and your daughter. How are you? What are you doing today?" I said in a whisper, taking off my hat.
- "Everything is great. I decided to make her a small gift - she shows such interest in my guitar, it's incredible! However, it is too big for her. So I decided to make her the same guitar, but smaller, so that it would be easier for her to learn to play it," Boothill said with a gentle smile on his face, continuing to plane the wood.
After a minute of comfortable silence, I quietly said,
-"You're a good father, Boothill. I'm proud of you." These words were followed by an approving nudge and a quiet laugh from the man next to me.
...
And it would seem. Life was so wonderful. You live in a place where everyone knows and loves you, you wake up with joy, you work, ride horses with your comrades, spend time with your family. Everything was perfect. Exactly until the day when the IPC dropped their missiles and bombs on our hunger. I saw wounded people crawling, I saw children dying, I saw everyone trying to run or defend themselves. And I couldn’t help them. I was lying there, somewhere on the ground, feeling nothing but pain and hatred. I looked at the blood-red sky, and it was looking at me too. I heard the screams of innocent people, and they heard my screams too. My legs… I think it’s impossible to save them. I didn’t feel them, but I saw with my own eyes what happened to them. To be honest, I already… didn't feel anything at all. The air was filled with the smell of blood and gunpowder. Then another explosion, people scream even louder, and I scream with them too, my ears are blocked, I can’t understand why - from explosion, or from my screams.A tear quietly rolled down my cheek when I saw a tiny piece of Bella's dress in the ruins of the house. Bella's bloody dress. I didn't want to believe it, but the facts were there - she was betrayed by her own home walls, forcing her to die there quietly. I cried because of my helplessness. If only my legs weren't there.
I don't know how much time passed. But then, among the mass of screams, one single scream stood out - the scream of Boothill, who had returned from a trip. With my last strength, I turned my head in his direction, looking at him - he was standing on a hill, his figure standing out well against the bloody sky.
- "Oh Boothill, if only I could.. I would take all your pain on myself. I'm already dead anyway. If only I could." This was my last thought before I lost consciousness.
...
I don't remember who saved me, I don't think it could have been Boothill. But that's not the point. They saved us both, and they were able to make me new legs - iron, rough… But still better than nothing. But Boothill… Boothill… He suffered much more than I could have expected. Probably when I was unconscious, he tried to save at least someone, but in the end he lost his entire body. Only his head remained.
We were sitting in the lab. More precisely, I was sitting next to the bed where Boothill was lying. Or what was left of him. I was ashamed to sit in front of him, although he did not condemn me. I was ashamed that I could not help anyone, but only lay and watched as everything collapsed. It is not necessary to guess to understand that our home was destroyed. As we later learned, this was done by IPC, with the goal of making our planet a resource for advancement.All those people who were so dear to us were mercilessly killed. Even… little Bella… Only memories remained of her. Both Boothill and I sat quietly, and only out of the corner of my eye did I notice that tears were quietly flowing from his eyes. I understood him. I understood his pain… Oh, if only I could take it away from him…
I briefly broke the silence with a few words,
-"I'm so sorry."
Boothill turned his head and looked at me with his wet eyes. I was ashamed to look him in the eyes. Tears involuntarily flowed from my eyes too.
- "What are you apologizing for?" - Boothill said this without taking his eyes off me. Despite the fact that he was crying, his voice was still as steadfast and firm. As always.
-…If only I could then..could help at least someone..Help Bella..At least someone would be alive. If only I could run up that hill where you were..If only I helped..You wouldn't have such a body.Everything could have been better. - Unlike Boothill's steadfast voice, mine had weakened and I was quietly sobbing between words.
There was silence in the room. Both sat and cried quietly. The silence was broken by the white-haired man.
-"You don't have to apologize. You did everything you could. I don't blame you for anything. It wasn't you who destroyed everything, but the IPC. Blame them, not yourself." - his steely, cold palm touched my warm, but to my feelings dead hand.
He… says it right. If it weren't for IPC, we could all continue our quiet and peaceful life. We could be the same. We would be happy. They destroyed everything. In place of my guilt, a burning hatred came into my heart. Hatred for the man who took everything from us. Hatred for everything IPC. I think after such events, everything changed for Boothill too.
-"We will take revenge on them," I said, wiping away my tears, directing them into Boothill's eyes. - "We will take revenge on them for everything - for our families, for our lives, for Bella, for our home," and the last drop fell with a quiet noise, leaving the room in silence again.
-"We will take revenge on them. We will take revenge on them for everything. You are right" - After a couple of minutes of silence, Boothill answered. From now on, we are not only childhood friends. Now we are each other's most loyal partners. We are now driven by only one goal - to find the person responsible for this tragedy, and destroy him, destroy him like he did to our home.
This was our silent oath. An oath of hatred and pain that we share together. From now on, the world will know about the steel cowboy with accurate bullets Boothill, and about *Name", a legless cowboy who searches for information from all corners of the world.
If I could, I would destroy everything that brought you pain
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Yuppie, I wrote this! I hope you like it. Thank you very much for reading, see you soon friends!
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russanogreenstripe · 2 years ago
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So many good moments in Ep 5 of Burrow's End, but this is the one that sets my mind buzzing the most. The idea that community predates identity. We know mama, dada, and baba before we know not only their names, but our own names. And in the season all about family, community, in-group versus outgroup? This feels like such an important idea, and it was came up likely on the spot. It's fascinating to think about, and touches on such big themes about Burrow's End in general.
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My mind keeps trying to read "name" as "self," and come up with something like "we have to know others before we know who we are," but I think there's a fundamental error in that idea. Neurologically, we just start off with just "Me" - one of our basic senses is what is "Me" and what is "Not Me." That's fundamental to further categorization, and faults in that sense is where things like depersonalization / derealization come from. Names are just labels, and they're not even the first labels we have for them.
This ties into another point that a lot of people had when watching the trailer at the end of Ep. 4 and during the live reaction of Ep. 5 - the idea that because Sybil was so reluctant to say her brother's name after he died, that it was the result of some top-down oppression within Last Bast and further proof that it's not as idyllic as it seems. Now, Last Bast almost certainly isn't a utopia, and I'm sure we're going to learn more about that in the next episode. And it's possible that it is a top-down enforcement that Sybil, having been raised in Last Bast, has internalized. However, there's a chance this isn't the case.
Less than 30 seconds on Google turns up several cultures that have taboos around speaking the names of the dead - Aboriginal mortuary rituals, the Apache of the Southwest US, the Tolowa tribe of California, the Yanomami on the border of Brazil and Venezuela, certain Romani/Irish Traveller groups, and almost certainly more. While it initially seems unfathomable to Western cultural mores around remembering and memorializing the dead, it's just as possible possible that instead of a method of social control, it's simply a cultural taboo.
https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/gravematters/2017/04/18/aboriginal-mortuary-rituals/
And as Aabria has commented both during the live discussion and general discord channels,
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Aabria's a smart cookie, and I trust that she's done plenty of worldbuilding and put tons of thought into how Last Bast's society works. We've seen she's great at her cultural analysis while in the DM's chair in both Misfits & Magic and in A Court of Fey and Flowers. Culture and society are interwoven in all of her games, and where does all that start? With family.
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orion-archives · 1 year ago
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I made a MegaSound fanchild (Fanspawn? Fanspark? Fansparkling???)
Meet Kaon!
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^ Adult Kaon ^
- Megatron was the one who named him (because of course he would be the one to name his offspring Kaon). Soundwave loved the idea.
- No, that visor is not something he can take off, that is his face. His actual face.
- Kaon is obsessed with scavanger birds. His favorite is a big bearded vulture he named 'Steelclaw' that he raised from egg. His obsession with birds probably originates from Soundwave's bond with Laserbeak. Why scavanger birds specifically? That's still a mystery.
(These are bearded vultures, in case you didn't know these amazing birds:)
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Small concept of Kaon and Steelclaw
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The proportions are off, but I really wanted Steelclaw to be visible on Kaon's hand in this sketch. Because in reality, Steelclaw is like a small parrot to adult Kaon.
- As a sparkling, Kaon was very small and slim, with a very fragile looking frame. But growing up he got stronger, resulting that (combined with other factors), as an adult, Kaon is taller than Megatron, very buff and basically a walking tank.
- His alt mode is a AH-64 Apache helicopter.
- Kaon was born (is that the correct term for transformers? Crafted? Created???) with his voice box damaged, making him completly mute. Therefore, Kaon uses radio signals, music and audio/voice clips to communicate.
Some common sounds Kaon uses and their meaning:
- Disco music/Bird chirping: Very happy, excited.
- Animal hisses/Slammed piano keys: Displeased, annoyed, scared, usually when he doesn't like something.
- Air raid sirens/Strings/Screeches/Recordings of actual cries: Terrified, crying, screaming.
- Static/Mix of corrupted noises: In pain, severely stressed.
- Growls/Engine starting noises: Angry, upset.
- Things Kaon loves:
• Cartoons (Megatron watches MLP with him)
• Scavanger birds (Steelclaw is his main bird, but he also takes care of multiple wild vultures and condors)
• Skulls
• Rubber ducks (he likes the noise)
• Music
• Training
• Soft things (plushies, blankets, fur, feathers)
- Things Kaon hates:
• Medical appointments
• Having to stay in the medbay during long periods of time
• Extremely high-pitched noises
● Very bright lights
• "The dark voice that keeps whispering weird things" (wait, the what now–)
• Zombie/vampire movies (Knockout tried)
- Kaon spends more time with Soundwave for safety reasons, but Megatron tries to be with him as much as possible.
- If Kaon doesn't have a normal face, how does he eats?
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...Yeah.
Speaking of that, this brings me to another Kaon fact. Well, a few, unfunny, facts:
- Due to Megatron's past use of dark energon, Kaon was born with tons of health issues or body anomalies. A list of the main health problems and things that Kaon has as a result of having dark energon in his entire frame since creation are:
○ Constant headaches
○ Seizures
○ Chronic pain
○ Having a Terrorcon mouth
○ Unnatural amount of strenght
○ Damaged voice box since birth
○ Hearing voices
○ Nightmares and visions of things he hasn't even knowledge of
- Megatron hates himself because of this, since it was his use of dark energon that caused Kaon being born with medical problems. He suffers a lot everytime Kaon has to stay on the medbay due to another complication, when someone looks at Kaon with disgust or horror when he has to drink energon or just all the nights Kaon has woken up crying because he is scared or in pain for an unexplained reason.
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- To end this post on a better note, here's a sparkling Kaon I doodled at 2 in the morning because of insomnia:
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He tiny
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50calmadeuce · 5 months ago
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Ch. 7: Your Story (R)
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Top Gun: Maverick world, trademarked by Paramount Pictures Corporation. I do not claim ownership of the characters and the world that I am borrowing.
The story and situation I am creating are a work of my own imagination and I do not ascribe them to official story canon. This work is for entertainment only and is not a part of the storyline.
I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story, so please do not copy it and claim it as your own. As always, I hope it gives you happy thoughts :)
You, Jake, and Natasha gather around the kitchen island in Natasha's apartment. You sit in one of the chairs at the island, Jake standing to your right, while Natasha stands on the other side, her gaze flicking between the two of you.
"Jake, before you really think you want to get involved with me, there's something you need to know," you say, your voice steady but carrying the weight of what you’re about to share.
Natasha "Phoenix" Trace stood across from you, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her eyes narrowing as she took in the scene. "I'm not thrilled about this," she said, her tone sharp as she glanced between you and Jake. "I think you could do way better."
Her words hung in the air, heavy with concern and judgment, her protective instincts kicking in as she assessed the situation.
Jake smirked, his confidence unwavering. "Nothing’s better than this," he stated, his tone light but assured.
Phoenix rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with his response, and you couldn’t help but playfully smack his arm, a small smile tugging at your lips. "I’m starting to think you two are more alike than I thought," you teased. "You also said the same thing about Christian," you added with a knowing look.
Phoenix's expression shifted slightly, but she remained silent, her arms still crossed as she waited for Jake's response. Phoenix points her finger at him. “And if you hurt her, you’ll have me to deal with.”
"I'm not going to hurt her, Phoenix, but who's Christian?" Jake asked, his curiosity piqued.
Phoenix turned her gaze to you, her eyes narrowing. "I take it you haven’t told him?"
You shook your head, a hint of unease creeping in. "I was just getting to that."
“Well, now I’m beyond curious.” Jake’s voice was filled with intrigue.
“Does the name Christian Astor ring a bell?” Phoenix asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jake thought for a moment, then it hit him. “Wealthy guy who joined the Army and became a kick-ass Apache helicopter pilot. Got killed in Iraq a few years ago. Left everything to his wife, and his rich parents didn’t like that, so the parents have been trying to take everything from her because he was an only child. I believe she’s a Doctor of Wildlife Veterinary Medicine. I’ve read a few articles about her and her work. She’s pretty bad ass.”
“Oh, she’s pretty bad ass,” Phoenix confidently states as she slowly walks away, her tone leaving no room for doubt.
You extend your hand to Jake, your voice steady but tinged with the weight of the moment. “Doctor Y/F/N Astor. And it’s my mother-in-law who’s trying to take everything from me. Nice to meet you.”
Jake stood frozen, his mouth agape, clearly speechless as he tried to process what you had just shared.
Jake blinked a few times, trying to grasp the full weight of your words. His expression softened, a flicker of understanding crossing his face as he slowly took your hand in his.
“Damn, that’s... a lot,” he finally said, his voice quieter than before. “I had no idea.”
You let out a sigh, the weight of your situation pressing down on you again. “It’s been a battle I didn’t expect. Losing Christian was hard enough, but dealing with all of this... it’s like a never-ending storm. Hence why I said you probably don't want to be with me."
Jake nodded, his eyes searching yours, as if trying to find the right words. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through, Y/N. But I’ll tell you this—you don’t have to go through it alone. Whatever this is, I’m not going anywhere.”
The sincerity in his voice catches you off guard, and for a moment, you feel a warmth spread through you, something you haven’t allowed yourself to feel in a long time—trust.
"Thanks," you whisper, your voice soft. The weight of everything you’ve been through presses down on you, but his presence grounds you. "That means more than you know."
You pause, your heart racing as you continue, "But you also must know, I haven't been with anyone since Christian. I haven't even thought about anyone since Christian."
You look at him then, your gaze locking with his, the unspoken truth hanging between you. "You're the first one that has made me feel that way again."
Jake’s expression shifts, his eyes softening with a mixture of understanding and something deeper. He doesn’t rush to speak, letting your words hang in the air for a moment.
“I wasn’t trying to push you into anything, Y/N,” he says, his voice low and sincere. “But I’m not gonna lie—I’m glad I’m the one who made you feel that way again. You deserve to feel that way.”
A quiet, almost fragile silence fills the room, and for the first time, you’re not sure where to go next. Part of you wants to reach out, to bridge the distance that still lingers, but another part of you pulls back, afraid of what it could mean. After everything with Christian, the idea of opening yourself up again feels daunting, almost like you’re tempting fate.
“You don’t have to say anything right now,” Jake continues, his gaze never leaving yours. "We’re in no rush. I just want you to know that I’m here, for whatever you need."
You swallow, the vulnerability in his words disarming you. There’s no game here, no pretenses, just raw honesty. It’s the kind of connection you didn’t expect to find, especially not now, when your heart still carries so much weight.
“I don’t know what the future holds, Jake,” you say, your voice quieter now, unsure but resolute. “But I know that... right now, this feels like the first step in something that could be real.”
Jake’s grin returns, though it’s softer this time, the playfulness replaced by something more genuine. “Well, darlin', that’s all I’m asking for—one step at a time.”
"But there's more," you say, your voice trembling slightly as you pause, trying to steady yourself.
"Well, whatever it is, we’ll get through it," Jake acknowledged confidently, his expression softening with understanding. "I’ve never backed down from a challenge."
Phoenix walked back into the kitchen, raised an eyebrow, and nodded in agreement. “I can’t disagree there.”
You take a deep breath, your nerves growing as you prepare to share the last part. "Jake. I can’t ask you to go through this with me," you confess, your voice tinged with uncertainty. "It’s not fair to you."
"Darlin'," Jake said, his voice firm and reassuring. "I’ll let you know what’s fair to me or not." He winks at you, a playful yet sincere glint in his eyes.
"Then you need to know one more thing before you make your final decision," you say, the weight of your secret pressing down on you.
"Give it to me," he replies without hesitation, his tone steady and confident.
"I have a son," you say quietly, meeting his gaze.
For the second time in one day, Jake 'Hangman' Seresin is speechless.
Tags: @smoothdogsgirl @alwayshave-faith @devil-angel-winchester @khouse712 @illisea @hooklsove1592 @tgmreader @juliemarauderfan @djs8891
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iamchloe99 · 24 days ago
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So to start off. Something insane. As anyone queer may be aware our dear mold infected half brain-wormed wizard book lady has decided to pledge $1.2billion (~£900-1billion) to focus on stripping trans people of their rights in the aim to eliminate us from public life.
Now, 1.2billion is SUCH an enormous number that I thought I'd put some perspective into HOW much of a ridiculous amount of money that is using the dear old détesté, the military industrial complex. (Also because my autism specialist subject is military hardware and history...im super anti-war but tanks fascinate...monkey brain go brrr....ANYWAY)
Here is a list of things that you could choose from to buy instead with that £1 BILLION that JK Rowling has pledged to strip us of all of our rights :
1. Buy 200 brand new M1A3 Abrhams tanks
2. Upgrade the entire challanger 2 fleet to challenger 3's with £200million in change
3. Buy 275 M2 Bradleys
4. Buy 6 F22 Raptor stealth fighters with a few million in change
5. Fund 60% of a B2 bomber, THE MOST EXPENSIVE UNIT COST AIRCRAFT IN HISTORY.
6. Buy 23 AH-64E Apaches with change
7. More than 5.2 Billion 5.56 NATO rounds of ammunition
8. 16 Eurofighter Typhoons brand new with change
9. Buy 55% of a modern US Arleigh Burke class Destroyer
10. Buy a single modern British Type 45 Destroyer with £200million in change
11. Buy (+maintenance) 12 american Minuteman II nuclear missiles with warheads
12. Buy 2600 AIM-9X Sidewinder air-to-air missiles
13. 60-200 Blackhawk helicopters (dependent on model)
14. PAY FOR AN ENTIRE SINGLE NASA SLS ROCKET ARTEMIS LAUNCH
15. Pay for the entire years military budget of Cambodia
16. Buy 8 Panamax large container ships (the standard size)
17. Build the MSC Irinas the largest container ship in history TWICE
18. Buy 40million large Blahaj...
Buttttttttt nope. All focused at us... -_-
Although...to be honest....at the end of it I dont know whether to be kind of flattered that this insane pox infested mold infused human sees us as such a threat, she feels the need to spend the military budget of Cambodia in trying to obliterate 0.5-1% of the UK population...
P.S. yes yes yes the numbers wont be perfect. All costs are high ends based on what i could find from reasonable places on the internet. The point stands.
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