#Black Powder Ammunition

[prep4tomoro]

Learn Ammunition Reloading and Add Black Powder Firearms to Your Arsenal:

Reloading ammunition can be a real money saver if you are an avid shooter or storing up for "the rainy day". But it is also a nice skill to have when commercial ammunition becomes scarce or you're not near a store. Lee Precision Reloading Kit on Amazon Video: Getting started with reloading - 10 things I wish I knew before I started reloading Video: Reloading 101 - The Basics of Reloading Ammunition Video: So you want to RELOAD? LET’S DO IT!! Article/Videos: Reloading and Casting Lead Bullets Black Powder Rifles and Cap-and-Ball Revolvers provide a simple solution to sold-out ammuniton. While they are limited in capacity (how many bullets they hold), your ammunition supply is limited only by how much lead or aluminum you can acquire to melt down for the bullets. Also "breach-loading" weapons (vs Muzzel-Loaders) help to improve how fast the weapons can be reloaded. Muzzle-loaders are the simplest, but slower, to use on the fly while the breach-loader requires pre-building the cartridge. Do LOTS of research on this topic if you have an interest, to determine the type of black powder firearm that is best for you. This section cannot go into all of the details but is here to present an option to conventional firearms when their ammuniton may be difficlut to find.

What is a black powder gun? Also known as a muzzleloader, a black powder gun uses historical firearm technology, which includes handloading both the ammunition and black powder into the muzzle.

What are the benefits of owning a black powder gun? Aside from them being fun to shoot, a black powder gun also gives you control over how much powder you’re using and how your bullets are made. This makes them cheaper to shoot than a modern firearm, plus, a muzzleloader is not legally considered a firearm by the federal government. However, your own state's laws should be considered.

Can you hunt with a black powder gun? Yes. Hunting with a black powder gun may actually extend your hunting season as many states have muzzleloader only seasons.

How accurate are black powder guns? The ammunition travels at a slower velocity so your hunting range is 100 yards or less, forcing you to be a better marksman. Muzzleloader Hunters or Primitive Hunters take pride in taking down their game, since it relies on their own personal skills in stalking and tracking instead of falling back on the effectiveness of an expensive firearm.

Are the supplies, like ammo and powder, easy to get? Yes. You can find kits with everything you need to shoot including the ammo. The only thing you would need to purchase separately is the powder and that can be found at your local firearms supply store.

Are black powder guns good for home defense. Depending on the type of powder and ammuniton used, keeping a black powder gun loaded may cause corrosion in the powder chamber so it is not the best firearm to have laying around for months at a time without being used.

Black Powder Revolvers and Smokeless Black Powder 45 Colt Ammo Conversion Cylinder for Black Powder Revolvers How to make Black Powder (Gunpowder) from Scratch    [Video] (mix 75% potassium nitrate [saltpeter], 15% charcoal & 10% sulfur) Lead Bullet Casting    [Other Resources]

See Also: Firearms Training and Gun Safety Basics Building a Personal Defense Strategy Why Own a Musket for Home Defense? [Reference Link]

[11-Cs Basic Emergency Kit] [14-Point Emergency Preps Checklist] [Immediate Steps to Take When Disaster Strikes] [Learn to be More Self-Sufficient] [The Ultimate Preparation] [P4T Main Menu]

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[baldurs-simp]

Gortash fall in love with the most kind, caring, silly and bold Tav. A Tav he thinks is easy to manipulate, but ultimately, she manipulates him - in a certain way. An artificer Tav to add some more spice (?)

I love Gortash at the moment, so with pleasure!

Masterlist

A loud boom shakes the manor, unsettling the dust in the rafters, telling everyone exactly what happened without the need to investigate. Everyone already knows that their lord, Enter Gortash, will already be on his way to the source of the explosion before the dust even settles again.

You're still fanning the smoke away with your hand, coughing loudly as you try to blink away the tears welling up in your eyes from the smoke. "What in the hells have you done this time?"

You turn your head towards your laboratory door that has blown open from the blast, and you can faintly make out the figure od your lover, Gortash.

"Dabbling in black powder. I may have used a bit much this time," you mention, immediately turning to your notebook on the table to scribble something down, still muttering to yourself. "Perhaps half of the quantity next time. Or a quarter?"

"If you continue like this, you'll bring down the manor before the year is up," Gortash says, tentatively stepping into the room but still carrying himself with immense confidence. "I didn't allow you to stay here just to destroy my home with your...experiments, did I?"

But it's as if you don't hear his words. You're still mumbling to yourself, noting down things on parchment pieces in a chaotic way that Gortash can't understand how you know where anything is.

He calls your name, but you only hum a response, still now paying attention to him. He has to speak your language, so to say, if he wants your attention. "What exactly is it that you are working on?"

The question makes your whip around with a bright smile on your face, glee in your eyes as you beacon him closer. "It's a firearm," you say, turning your gaze to the mangled piece of metalwork on the table. "I've read about them. They're like a ship's cannon, but smaller so you can hold it in your hand. Like a crossbow or shortbow, but less big and without the clanky ammunition that gets stuck on everything. It'll be more convenient and deadly if I get it right. But I'm working on infusing them with some magical elements, too. Like a 'fire' firearm that shoots fire pellets, or an 'ice' firearm-"

"You're rambling, darling," he cuts you off, smirking at your when you bite your lip in embarrassment. "I thought our arrangement was that you work on the weapons we already have, improving my military defense. Not trying to invent some new nonsense."

"But I've done all that and more. It's hard to improve on something that's already great," you say, pouting at him as you fold your arms across your chest. "I'm bored with swords and arrows. Don't you want to be known for something new? Something that no one else has?"

Gortash sighs, dropping his head between his shoulders as he shakes it in defeat. He thought that he had you under his thumb, but every day, he feels that it is the other way around. And yet, he will still give you all that you ask.

You ask him to give you the entrie city for your experiments and he would.

"Very well. But you know I expect nothing but excellence for this," he says, waving his hand at whatever it is that lays on the table in a mangled mess.

You giggle in glee, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek as a thank you. "I know. And you know that I never let anything leave this room until I am completely satisfied with it."

He hums as you step away from him, picking up the contraption to inspect the damage as you right a chair that has been blown over. "Oh, I need more black powder."

"More? Do you have any idea how tedious it is to find? Not to mention how much it costs."

Your eyes meet his, hoping that he will do what you ask without you having to beg for it. But he doesn't budge.

Sighing, you slowly stand up with your head hanging low and your gaze on the floor. "Fine. I guess I'll just have to find someone else who will want to help me if you do not care about me. Clearly, you do not wish to see me thrive in my craft."

You make as if to start packing up your things, making sure not to make eye contact with Gortash. As you try to walk past him, he wraps an arm around your waist, swiping you closer to pin him to his body.

"You will do no such thing, little Artificer," he growls, staring down into your eyes, making sure that you do not look away. "You will leave of I say leave and if I say you will stay, then you will stay. Do you understand?"

"Oh, big, mean Gortash, giving orders to someone that could blow him up with a simple stumble," you say, smiling up at him as you playfully wrap your arms around his neck. "What exactly would you do to me should I defy your orders?"

"Terrible things."

His quick response tells you that he doesn't have a clue what exactly he would do if you went against his orders. It makes you smile and slowly pull out of his hold around you.

"Then, I should get back to work. And you should leave. I do not wish for you to get hurt in my workshop," you say, giving him a light shove towards your door as an instruction to leave.

"Will you be dining with me tonight?"

"If you leave now, then I shall, my love."

Gortash finds himself beaming at the pet name you have used for him and your acceptance for eating with him tonight again. He smiles to himself, not caring that he might be falling in love with you. For with you by his side, you two could be the most powerful couple in the land.

[thesilliestrovingalive]

Updated: October 2, 2024

Reworked Character #4: Fio Germi

POTENTIAL TRIGGER WARNING: Viewer discretion is advised due to references to death, alcoholism, and SA.

Real name: Fiolina Hortensia Germi

Alias: Teatime in the Battlefield

Occupation: Master Sergeant of the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. and the medic of the P.F. Squad

Retirement plans: Become a sports doctor and astrophysicist, open up a bakery, and start a family

Special skills: Chiropractic and massage therapy, medical training, housework, acupuncture, and astronomy

Hobbies: All types of sewing (hand sewing, machine sewing, embroidery, and quilting), ballroom dancing, giving her friends massages, cooking delicious meals and enjoying it on a picnic outside, and frequenting petting zoos, nature reserves, and art and outer space museums

Likes: Peppino (she had him since birth), her family heritage, the beauty of nature and outer space, baking cakes and other sweet treats, and Tarma (especially the sound of his voice, pleasant smile, jokes, and knack for building professional motorcycles)

Dislikes: The idea of Peppino being torn apart or stolen, scolding hot and freezing cold baths, the time she had to wear orthodontic braces, insects and creepy crawlies, and cheating

Favourite food: Homemade sandwiches and gelato

Favourite drink: Ice tea (preferably Queen Mary)

Sexuality: Heteroromantic demisexual

Gender: Female

Age: 15 (in 2022), 21 (in 2028), 23 (in 2030), 25 (in 2032), 27 (in 2034), 34 (in 2041), 36 (in 2043), 37 (in 2044), and 40 (in 2047)

Blood type: O+

Weight: 145 lbs. (66 kg)

Design: She’s a 5’ 2” (157.48 cm) Italian mesomorph with sloping shoulders, upper arms that carry some of her weight, a bit of belly fat, voluptuous breasts and hips, and prominent thighs. She has pale ivory skin, droopy blue-grey eyes, and brownish freckles scattered across her face and neck. Fio has a tad messy orangish-brown hair with blunt bangs and straight strands that fall just above her shoulders, but she prefers to keep it tied up in a ponytail. Her fingernails are painted an English lavender hue, and she wears thick, winged dark brown eyeliner, a soft rosy red blush on her cheeks and nose, and cherry blossom pink lip gloss. As a result of battle injuries and her own clumsiness, she bears a bullet wound near the centre of her left calf and numerous cut marks, stab scars, and scrapes on her arms and legs.

Her military gear consists of polarised, silver-plated transition lens eyeglasses, a metal dog tag necklace with her name, and a cordovan Eisenhower jacket. She wears a pink lavender T-shirt with a dogwood rose stripe running along the front and a carmine bra underneath. She wears carmine gloves and a gold-buckled leather belt to secure her ebony army cargo shorts, which fall just above her knees. She also wears ebony paratrooper boots, dogwood rose knee and elbow pads, and over-the-calf bittersweet shimmer socks. She has a khaki waist pack attached to the front of her belt, which carries her nail polish, lip gloss, eyeliner, two makeup brushes (a large one and a small one), a makeup sponge, and a powder blush palette.

She wears a leather sheath for her hatchet, a gun holster for her handgun, and a holder for her tonfa. The pockets of Fio's Eisenhower jacket carry around Peppino, her beloved greyish-brown teddy bear with a pearlescent blue bowtie, a red wooden maneki-neko figurine with its right arm raised and its left paw holding a koban coin (a gift from Eri), and a deck of cards. The pockets of her army cargo shorts carry a canister of pepper spray, a Ventolin inhaler, a bottle of azithromycin pills, and a bottle of specialised prescription supplements specifically designed to manage her cystic fibrosis.

Over her T-shirt, she dons a Soldier Plate Carrier System (SPCS) with a MultiCam pattern, which carries her walkie-talkie and ammo for other firearms. Her black ammunition bandolier is slung over her right shoulder, and the back of her Eisenhower jacket features an embroidered S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. logo. Fio carries an ebony load-bearing backpack containing camping equipment, fire bombs, stones, portable ammo boxes, a canteen full of water, a picnic basket filled with prepared sandwiches, a Hexagon Arms M-3685, a cat o' nine tails whip, medical supplies, and a scientific telescope. She always wears a pair of teardrop-shaped pink opal earrings and a gold chain necklace featuring a red coral cornicello amulet, believed to ward off bad luck and bring good fortune. She also wears a khaki army cap that once belonged to her father during his military service, personalised with a rosy pink patch depicting a European bee-eater perched on a tree branch on the front.

Character summary: She's initially reserved and timid around strangers but warms up and opens up once she becomes familiar with new people. She's a compassionate, considerate, and overly cautious listener who's really good with children and lends everyone a generous helping hand. She's sensitive and unafraid to show her true emotions, often engaging in introspective thought. Despite her quiet and calm demeanour, she's surprisingly prone to stress and anxiety, particularly when confronted with obnoxious noises, unwanted physical contact or situations where she can't escape. Even though she's a seasoned warrior, she harbours an intense fear of insects and creepy crawlies, often resorting to hiding behind Tarma, Marco or Eri and insisting they handle the situation. On occasion, she displays an almost childlike naivety and exuberance, typically after completing a mission or while off duty.

She's a very friendly and gentle clean freak who'll do anything to help out her family, friends, comrades, and those in need. She prepares all her meals with love and dedication, considering others' likes and dislikes, hoping they'll enjoy what she's made. When talking to others, she often uses lively hand gestures and animated facial expressions to emphasise certain ideas. She gets easily flustered by compliments and flirtatious advances, blushing deeply and becoming nearly speechless. She's a somewhat superstitious person, believing in things like placing one's hat on a bed being a sign of bad luck for homeowners and spilling salt being a harbinger of financial troubles. She's a nature-loving girl who's incredibly clever and always thinks optimistically. She's a great strategist who excels in keep-away tactics. However, she often pushes people away due to fear and isn't the most skilled fighter, but can fight when necessary.

Whenever she's faced with the death of a child, a comrade or friend being severely injured, being touched inappropriately or being rudely insulted, her face darkens. She becomes cold-hearted and deadly serious, and her tactical prowess shines through most. She's quite curious around strangers, nervously trailing them and asking a few questions to get to know them. Despite cherishing the importance of friendship, she sometimes feels isolated by her exceptional intelligence, privileged upbringing, and cystic fibrosis. She values maintaining a healthy work-life balance and prioritising her time with loved ones, holding both in higher regard than success. She believes that living in or exploring beautiful places helps her become a better person by gaining a deeper appreciation of the world around her.

She originally harboured romantic feelings for Marco, but they dissipated after he disclosed that he isn't interested in romantic and sexual relationships. Her affections eventually shifted to Tarma, whom she found charming due to his silliness, emotional intelligence, Hokkaido dialect, and the soothing sound of his voice. She finds immense comfort in Tarma's presence and often offers him solace when he's having a rough day or struggling with self-doubt. After her romantic relationship with Tarma fully blossoms, she forms an exceptionally close physical and emotional bond with him. However, her tendency to become overly attached manifests at times, especially when feelings of fear or loneliness arise.

She eventually enters into a polyamorous queerplatonic relationship with Marco and Tarma, which she deeply cherishes and further satisfies her craving for emotional intimacy. She's displeased when Nadia takes advantage of her kindness to avoid responsibilities. However, she appreciates Nadia's help with dessert-making, although Fio often has to bribe her by offering something equally sweet or letting her have the largest share of a batch to persuade her to lend a hand. She's frustrated by Eri's overprotectiveness, especially when it comes to Tarma, as it reminds her of her father's behaviour and makes her feel like she's being treated like a child.

When she's reached her limit, feels threatened or needs to express her authentic feelings about something that gets under her skin, she's capable of standing up for herself and making her voice heard. She rarely swears, but when someone's pushed her too far, she'll unleash a stern reprimand, peppered with profanities in Italian. She's not fond of drinking alcohol due to its bitter taste and intoxicating effects, which make her feel nauseous and slightly nervous. However, on rare occasions, she’ll let loose and indulge in alcohol with her friends, especially after a challenging mission. When intoxicated, she starts to act playful, flirtatious and sexually teasing towards Tarma, obnoxiously loud, agitated, and bluntly honest. 

She has a tendency to fall asleep extremely quickly at bedtime or naptime, and her loud snoring can be disruptive to others who are trying to rest or focus on important tasks in the same room. She possesses a steadfast commitment to justice, having no tolerance for individuals who seek to stir up strife, and is slow to forgive those who inflict harm on others for their own selfish purposes. She believes that war serves no purpose other than to be destructive, resulting from conflicts that escalate beyond the control of free will. In her view, war profoundly alters the moral fabric of society, while accelerating the advancement of weaponry and technology used in conflict. She’s a firm believer in virtue ethics who holds that life is more powerful than death, as it continually finds innovative ways to adapt and flourish.

Backstory: Fiolina Hortensia Germi was born on October 2, 2007 in Genoa, Italy. The Germi family is renowned for their vast wealth, military service, and philanthropic endeavours. Originally merchants and nobles, they amassed their fortune in the Mediterranean region during the Age of Exploration and have since maintained their wealth, now managing various corporations and philanthropic organisations. True to their militaristic heritage, the Germis have participated in numerous conflicts, including the Napoleonic Wars of the 1800s, the Italian Unification Wars of the 19th century, and modern-day wars against terrorism worldwide. Sadly, many Germi warriors lost their lives, leading to an important family custom where the chosen heir of the Germi family must serve in the military.

Alessandro Germi, Fio's father, was a fearsome soldier in the Regular Army in his earlier years, serving alongside Fabriclus Roving. However, he was forced to leave military service after being severely injured during a shootout, which left him crippled and suffering from debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). After returning to civilian life and receiving proper support, Alessandro successfully restored his family's struggling business. He also started a family with his beloved wife, Giulietta, a talented seamstress and manager of a luxurious art museum.

Alessandro's wish was to have a healthy son as he feared that sending a daughter onto the battlefield would be a perilous ordeal. To his surprise and dismay, Giulietta gave birth to a daughter, and due to health complications, she couldn't bear any more children. Fio's mother would also experience postpartum depression after childbirth and passed down a disease that runs deep within their heritage: cystic fibrosis. Alessandro's deep-seated fears for Fio's safety often led him to become overly protective, causing tension with his wife, Giuliette, who found his helicopter parenting suffocating.

Despite her parents' mental health struggles, they went above and beyond to care for her, providing unwavering love and support. For half of her elementary school years, she was homeschooled with her parents teaching a diverse range of subjects, including mathematics. They encouraged Fio’s appreciation for friendships, the outdoors, and the finer things in life. They even fostered her love of astronomy, gifting her a scientific telescope on her 10th birthday, which she still has to this day. Giulietta often took her on enriching outings to nature reserves and art museums, where she learned about biology and art history. Her mother also taught her the importance of domestic duties, showing her how to do her chores and clean the house. On special occasions, her mother would dress her up in pretty dresses and give her adorable animal plushies, which she still keeps.

She was bullied and exploited by the other children because of her wealthy status and overt politeness, but her father and teachers consistently intervened. As she grew, she discovered her own voice, learning to assert herself with courage and conviction. Standing up to her bullies with firm yet gentle confidence, she effectively silenced their taunts and earned respect. Like Marco, Fio excelled in all her classes, demonstrating exceptional academic prowess and a deep appreciation for effort and lifelong learning. However, her life took a devastating turn near the end of her secondary school days. A sudden and tragic terrorist airstrike, attributed to the Ptolemaic Army, struck Genoa, Italy, claiming Giulietta among its many victims. Her father was the most affected by this loss, turning to a life of alcoholism and self-isolation. Although Alessandro still cared about Fio and tried his best to support her, his alcoholism and newfound self-isolating behaviour made it challenging for him to do so.

It took time for Fio and Alessandro to heal from this loss, but they remained resilient. To cope with the loss of her mother, she turned to sewing, baking, and reading books on ancient and modern medical practices. Eventually, Alessandro sought help and went to rehab and therapy to address his issues with Fio's support and encouragement. After graduation, Fio was awarded multiple awards and scholarships, which enabled her to attend university. There, she pursued an interdisciplinary course of study, exploring chiropractics, acupuncture, physics, and astronomy.

Fio would eventually express her interest in joining the military after coming across a persuasive flyer to serve in the Regular Army. This revelation horrified Alessandro, as he didn't want to send his only child off to the battlefield, risking her life. He wanted to disregard the Germi's military traditions, believing that war is repugnant and a never-ending cycle of hate and violence. Alessandro tried to deter Fio from joining, but she persisted, driven by her desire to join the fight against terrorism and protect the lives of innocent people. He reluctantly agreed and sent her off to the military at the age of 19, but attempted to minimise her risk by using his connections and friends from his own military days to secure her a desk job, hoping to keep her out of harm's way and away from the front lines.

However, everything changed when a paperwork mistake caused by militant bureaucracy resulted in Fio's transfer to the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S., a special operations branch of the Regular Army's Intelligence Agency known for carrying out high-risk missions. Surprisingly, Fio was ecstatic to hear the news as she had been eager to be deployed on the battlefield and make a real difference. In contrast, her father was furious and stormed into military headquarters, threatening officers in an attempt to prevent his daughter from being shipped to the front lines.

He would often try to extract Fio from the battlefield, but she consistently resisted. Eventually, she had enough of his overprotectiveness and bravely told him that this was what she wanted—to fight on the battlefield and provide medical aid. She assured him that she was capable of handling herself. Alessandro finally understood and let her pursue her life as a military woman. In return, she promised to keep in touch with him after each mission, providing him with reassurance and comfort.

Like Eri, she played a crucial role in the Great Morden War by providing Marco's team with useful intel on Rebel Army positions. She also dedicated herself to providing medical support for Marco's team, which led to her being recognized as the medic for the Peregrine Falcons Squad. During the Martian-Rebel Alliance War in Hong Kong, she was seized by a ruthless group of fanatic land troops and bikers who intended to exploit her for their twisted desires. One of the deranged fanatic land troops subjected her to unwanted physical contact, leaving her severely traumatised. This horrific experience intensified her resentment towards the Rebel Army and those who seek to spread chaos and harm. Fortunately, Tarma intervened just in time, eliminating the Rebel soldiers with the SV-001. Eri then swiftly freed her from her restraints.

Her countless battles against worldwide criminality, terrorism, and corruption enabled her to rapidly rise through the ranks, becoming the Master Sergeant of the S.P.A.R.R.O.W.S. special forces unit. However, her time in the military has taught her a harsh reality: even the good guys can't always protect the innocent or save their friends and comrades. She has witnessed many deaths and severe injuries that left people crippled and traumatised in each battle. Nevertheless, with the emotional support of friends like Eri and Tarma, she has persevered and continues fighting to this day.

[sanctus-ingenium]

answering asks and stuff vol 5

i think he'd just sort of hang there limply like a sack of potatoes. no verve in that man

(more asks under the cut because u know these things get long)

-

Yes! There are actually soooo many different horses around the place, it's the reason the ranger organisations in Inver have a section entirely dedicated to horsemanship. Your whole job can just be the guy they call whenever there's a horse (this is what Pascal's human sweetheart does btw)

The Unicorn is a creature who starts to make trouble in the year 2017 and is a nemesis of Pascal who, again, is a modern Inver character. I do portray Unicorn with water motifs on purpose, but that's because his territory or the area in which he operates is the great inland sea of Inver, Lough Cánamac.

(@sleepvines)

The water horse in that picture referred in the ask & those tags lived until the year 1864 in the victorian Inver period and died pretty dramatically after tangling with the Púca servants and a completely normal human man called Jean-Baptiste (Félix's twin brother). Jean-Baptiste was researching the application of bombarding enchanted objects with electrons in a vacuum tube to see what the hell it would do. He was sort of a scientist, if you consider making jerry-rigged electromagnets with no safety features in his bedroom 'science'. He discovered that the electrical current in a vacuum tube interacted with a magic object by piercing the barrier between the Overworld and the Otherworld, and this would often have flashy and explosive consequences. To date, he is the only human character of Inver who has invented his own form of magic without the aid of any faery patron or familiar.

The water horse, after its scuffle with Félix as depicted in the painting, withdrew and then came back for vengeance. And one CRITICAL feature of faeries in Inver is that they physically can not tell identical twins apart - no matter how different they look, those two people are one person in the mind of someone from the Otherworld. So it attacked Jean-Baptiste instead and died super hard because he doesn't fuck around.

-

So his head isn't fake fake like Nosewyse's is, there are actual skull fragments in there.

I can't comment on what causes the growth of flesh within holy beasts but I can say that this would not be a factor for either Pantera or Krokodilos. We'll just call it an imbalance of his humours ;)

-

Guinefort is suuuuper archaic, one of the very earliest Holy Beasts still kicking. And back then, they built small on purpose. They didn't have the technical knowhow or the foundation of knowledge to make anything much bigger or more complex. When he was built, he was the pinnacle of enginesmithing and he did hunt dragons, though back then he would have been accompanied not by companion beasts in a crusade, but by ground troops only. He was (and is) very quick on his feet thanks to his super light build and works well as a lure or decoy (his actual animal type is a greyhound).

He also used to have a series of regular black powder cannons mounted on his back, which was fun and dangerous and used to be absolute hell to maintain & reload because he couldn't carry much ammunition.

[circumlocutive]

whats the biggest safety hazard you've committed in any lab?

This is a very funny question, and a little bit up to interpretation of the question?

For safety hazards I have personally been harmed by/exposed to, these come to mind:

1) exposure to silica/glass dust at my advanced manufacturing internship (sorry, not technically a lab) where I cut and laid up structures made of layered fiberglass and resins, we had a shop vac set up by the CNC machine drill bit to suck in the dust but yknow. It wasn't perfect. And I also had to clean out the shop vac during the internship. Permanent glass dust in the lungs is a bit spooky.

2) cutting myself on the (used) razor in the cryotome when I was sectioning rat brains for an internship in a translational medicine lab. Pretty gross because of the biological contact but the cut itself was small and tbh lab rat tissues are way cleaner than most food meats so maybe this one wasn't actually that bad.

3) exposure to solvent fumes/powderized toxic chemicals while setting up reactions or doing workups, or OH DEF WHILE MAKING SDS PAGE GELS. But like, one day I was rotovapping like, liters of DCM and methanol which are p carcinogenic. Rotovaps don't normally live in a fume hood, but the air flow in my lab is poor and the air is way too hot so stuff readily vaporizes and every time I swapped out the collection flask some stuff would drip onto the bench and go into the air. Water also kept condensing on the outside of the cold finger, and while I was swapping the flasks, it would freeze on the ball/socket joint and fuck with proper sealing. So during rotovapping some vapors continued to escape. Oh and in the biotech lab at my community college we had ethidium bromide like. fucking everywhere. But that's not actually as bad for you as people make it out to be (otherwise there would be a lot more dead undergrads in the world lol)

There were some scary hazards in theory- like discovering after we moved my current lab that there were a bunch of water reactives/pyrophorics/self reactive chemicals that were previously kept in the inert gas environment of the glove box and for about a month lived on the bench top, maybe parafilmed or in ziplock bags but otherwise fairly exposed, while we organized and sorted all the chemicals into proper storage locations. I've had some glass explode on me under pressure or crack under heat, but usually within a fume hood (and I have goggles on whenever I am in lab). I work with liquid nitrogen fairly often now and scare myself overfilling Dewars and getting it on my gloves.

In a NON lab setting, my dad and ex gf had a blacksmithing shed in the backyard. So, heat hazards, sharps hazards, gas hazards, etc. Some acids for etching damascus that were left out in unlabeled containers. I've burned myself grabbing steel I assumed was cold (because it was black), but was several hundreds of degrees. The WORST thing is we used to have a wooden support table underneath our home built forge. The forge was fairly well insulated but ig it ran too hot for too long one day and at night the table started smoldering. It caught fire, right next to a bunch of propane tanks. We wouldn't have noticed either if my friend sleeping over that night- he left to hookup with someone off of grindr in the parking lot next door, came back, and saw the fire when he came back in the apartment. Woke us up and we put it out lol. Replaced that fucker with a welded steel table after that.

And then my dad is a weapons manufacturer/engineer so I've grown up around tons of guns and explosives and leaded ammunition and blah blah blah. So I guess those were safety hazards too.

[justafairytailofinnocence]

Hello! You did such an amazing job with my last request! Can I get a one-shot where the reader is a member of Barbossa’s crew? She develops a crush on him and writes about it in her journal. One day, he finds her journal and reads it, and this is how he learns about her feelings.

A/N: Hello dear💖, thanks for your request, forgive me if the writing isn't as good as the last one, I haven't been writing in a while, as for anyone else waiting for their requests, I will get to it soon just working through it slowly.

A journal of desires📚💋

Synopsis: Barbossa finds y/n's secret journal detailing her desires for him.

Warnings: none.

Water sprayed onto the girls face as she was just about to finish her last sentence; the green, slimy seaweed dangled over her head. “Blar! blusterous sea biscuit!” the girl spat out the salt water. Y/n was hired as a gunner for the pearl, someone who’s in charge of manning the canons and looking after the groups who fired them, though she wasn’t a master gunner. Y/n tried to shake out all the dripping, wet water from her book. She hope the black soot wasn’t running off the page. Y/n jumped off the barrel stock of gun powder, her mind was in two places; on one hand, she was worried if the briny deep dripped inside the gun powder. Two if anyone had heard her enough to cause scuttlebutt. She prayed to hope it was neither; quickly y/n opened the barrel to feel the texture of the gun powder which was luckily for her still dry.

“On yer feet lass, ye best not be slackin, less ye want ta’ be keelhauled” The master gunner spotted sight of y/n feeling the gun powder.

“Aye, just checkin’ tha’ gun powder, we ad’ a monstrous wave pour overboard” Y/n saluted her higher rank.

“And” he asked.

“It be dry” y/n softly replied.

The master gunner gave y/n a filthy look of annoyance. He wasn’t particularly friendly with those lower than him but at least he had experience with the canons. The master gunner walked off to attend his duty while keeping an ear out to hear an order from the captain to aim the canons.

Y/n came from Tortuga, she stole goods and fired shots of ammunition at the Navy when they crossed into the faithful bride. Barbossa admired her strong aim, never once did she miss on sight. He appointed the talented lass as the gunner. There were other ranks of course that filled the spot: the quarter master, the first mate, the cook, the gunner, the medical surgeon, navigator, the boatswain and finally the captain. There’s quite a lot in terms of roles to smooth out the ship but no one could be more experienced than the captain himself. He had sailed with the legendary Jack Sparrow and fought alongside the famous pirate king, Elizabeth Swann.

Y/n quickly jotted the last remaining sentences in her soaking journal using the last remains of soot.

With her final smile of the last entry, she closed the journal and slid the book in between the gaps of the barrels. Though just as y/n strolled off to attend her maintenance duty, the journal peeked out from the edges.

Captain Barbossa wondered down the main deck to listen toward his fellow mates complaining; the master gunner blabbered on and on about the minor inconveniences of having that blasted wench on board. That is until he noticed a journal in between the gaps of the barrels, intrigued he reached for it—even if it was slimy and wet. Hector curiously opened the front page of the book, reading word from word his eyes started to appear slightly wide at the description of him. “Dashing, handsome and desirable” he thought, it was quite interesting to see who in the seven seas desired him, considering he was the opposite of what you would want in a man. Closing the book quickly, he turned toward the master gunner gripping him by the collar “I can ear yer whales o’ scuttlebutt, best not thin’ I care laddie” he threatened.

The master gunner fearfully nodded; he landed on the ground with a ‘thud’ as the captain went off to find who wrote in the journal. Barbossa had planned to give them scurvy toward this sick jest, he had no tolerance for weird sorts of jokes like this. Hector observed the Journal to see who it was written by, though his curiosity had been put to rest when he saw the name “Y/N, L/N”.

“Aye, so it be yer, hm?” Barbossa muttered to himself, he slid the journal in his coat to privately confront y/n.

Barbossa went off to locate y/n’s whereabouts which luckily didn’t seem too hard as she was swabbing the deck with the other rum pot deckhands. “Avast missy, need ta’ speak wit’ yer’” Barbossa directed the girl, with another sigh y/n prepared for her next punishment from slacking off within writing. The two travelled inside the captain's quarters, Barbossa stood in front of the desk which held maps, treasures, and slices of green apples.

“Am I in trouble captain—” Y/n questioned, “Nay ye be naught, though I be curious ta’ know why ye wrote such descriptive literature bout me features n’ desires toward me” Barbossa held up the Journal.

Y/n was nearly as red as a beet in that moment, she couldn’t believe out of everyone who had to find out, it just so happened to be Captain Barbossa.

“I-I can explain Captain, its, it's quite simple really I…Just so happen to have a—crush on ye” Y/n quietly admitted. By the blusterous seas, she would rather just be plundered right now; all her embarrassing thoughts and dreams felt like they were getting exposed. It’s like she woke up one day naked in front of the crew. Captain Barbossa didn’t play it off awkwardly though instead he just placed a hand toward the woman’s shoulder “aye, we all be youn’ once n’ full o’ curious feelins’”.

Y/n didn’t know what was weirder, the fact Barbossa was just so casual about this or the fact he knows all her desires. “D-do you want to go stargazing captain” Y/n asked nervously.

“Aye, a captain always follows the stars home” Barbossa smiled with a lightful banter in his tone.

The two spent their evening speaking of old tales and adventures from their youths.

Anyways that's all I have for now:

Ta Ta ✨

[wytchia]

(Nightmare Harem) how would they feel if MC was a goth

Funfact I had a goth/emo phase a few years ago and I would dress in full black during a heatwave. The HCs are more based on the physical appearance and less on the full subculture of being goth, but if you want me to make others don't hesitate to send another ask !

TW :

Slight NSFW on Ricardo's part, Nothing graphic.

Disclaimer : I like to make my HCs as accurate as possible as the image I have of each character. Please keep in mind that I'm not the most familiar with some characters. Some of the characters will have a more positive reaction and others a more negative one. This is in no way meant to bring down or ridicule the goth subculture and goth people, on the contrary, I absolutely adore this subculture and I strongly encourage anyone who is into it to do what makes them happy !

Because fuck what other people think everyone deserves to be happy with who they are ♡

Some characters might be assholes at first, but they love and care for you all the same

NIGHTMARE HAREM :

REACTIONS TO A GOTH MC ?

𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕒

At first he would probably tease you about it or even ask a bunch of offensives questions

He doesn't mean to sound rude, he's just a very blunt person

He wouldn't know shit about goth culture, he's too much of a himbo for that

Probably very impressed by your makeup skills

If you're down for it, hewould totally agree with trying the whole aesthetic out for a day or two !

Kaim said no

The type of guy who would do a pop-style dance and have the time of his life when you play your music

''Lucia it's a song about-''

''DOESN'T MEAN I CAN'T DANCE!''

Definitely told you at least once to try to wear some colors

If you wear chains or crosses he probably asks you why you're wearing ''dog chains'' or ''the jesus thingy''

Yeah he's kind of an asshole

Once you two get closer he becomes your biggest defender and will insult anyone who makes the comments he made before

𝕃𝕖𝕧𝕪

At first it's only another reason for him to insult you

Not because he's against your tastes or anything like that. No it's only an ammunition for him to push you away

Someone solve this guy's brother-issues

Doesn't really care about the lack of colors in your wardrobe, he's much more appealed by the chains

They could get stuck everywhere

If you have any piercings he will actually find them cool and ask you when you got them

Doesn't mind your makeup and might even like it, but he won't ever wish to try it

He doesn't like to wear makeup, it gets itchy and smudges everywhere

He's a good critic and will tell you when it's not symmetrical

Not in a very subtle way though

I feel like he might have had a more alternative style when he was a teenager but Kaim stopped him from going fully emo/goth because he's technically royalty and the other nobles are very judgemental in Nightmare

So he might be a smidge jealous that you get to dress like you want and that you don't care about other people's opinions

Definitely knows a lot about the whole goth culture and has a few vinyls of goth music that he will lend you if he likes you enough

You two can talk shit about Lucia's lack of manners together !!

𝕄𝕖𝕗𝕪

Doesn't care, he's too busy making evil plans

You could be a duck for all he cares and he wouldn't bat an eye at you

Well he might be a bit surprised, but in the end you're still an easily manipulable human.

At first he might give you passive-aggressive compliments or insults depending on weither or not he likes you

But once you two grow closer he's definitely helping you out for your makeup

"Hmm you should try another brand this is definitely going to smudge in the heat!"

"MC....Your eyeliner smudged"

A bit annoyed if you wear white powder or fondation since it gets EVERYWHERE

I don't care, this guy wears eyeshadow, his eyelids are green there's no fucking way he doesn't

Doesn't like the chains, he thinks they make too much noise when you walk around, but he will tolerate it if it makes you happy

Might buy you rings or jewelry that you look at when you two are wandering around town

Anyone who sends a single odd look in your direction gets their whole life burned to the ground over night

𝕆𝕤𝕨𝕒𝕝𝕕

At first he's intimidated by you.

Not scared, afterall you're only a human! But when he sees you dress in all black with heavy makeup, tons of jewelry and belts...Well he's a bit overwhelmed

This man saw Levy's goth/emo phase and Levy was a real little shit during it...It's not against you

Probably one of the few characters that won't make any type of rude comments or questions about it, afterall he knows too well what's it like to be judged for who you are...

If he sees one of your chains or anything else with your outfit that is misplaced or that has gotten stuck in the manor's furniture, he will help you get unstuck

Somehow he gets even softer when he has to move near you or touch you

He's just nervous ! He doesn't want to tear your clothing by accident or tug at your jewelry!

You seem so at ease and like you out a lot of efforts in the way you dress, he would never want to accidentally ruin it

Finds your music tastes interesting and would love to see you dance ! But he's too shy to do so himself.

This sweetheart would never ask you to change anything about your appearance, but when you want to help around the garden he won't have any other choice but to warn you

You don't have to buy new clothes, he can lend you some of his ! But you could get your clothes or jewelry dirty or even break them if you garden with him in your usual attire

You two walking around the town goes two possibles ways;

His sheer height and large silhouette makes people too intimidated to even dare to give you a second look

Or...Your more dark aesthetic and vibes scare off any of the petty nobles who like to mock him for the reaper disease he has

Any way, people don't dare to even think about insulting either of you.

But you can bet that they love to gossip about you two

𝕂𝕒𝕚𝕞

I'm sorry for all the Kaim lovers out there, but this man is going to be one of the most annoying about you being goth

At first, it's simply because he finds it "too much" and not "proper enough"

Yeah he's got a stick up his ass at first

But let's leep in mind, that Kaim's reaction is not personal. Nightmare is a kingdom situated around the medieval age for us and as seen in Levy's and Oswald's routes, is full of prejudices and closed-minded people.

The only reason he cares so much is because he was raised to care about such things

And because it's his duty to make sure his masters keep a good reputation

Levy's phase was problematic enough

Therefore, having a someone, let alone a human, so close to the three heirs of the demons' royal family who dresses so differently from the norm could bring the spotlight upon them

He can't have that happen. The three boys that he serves already have enough pressure on their shoulders.

That's why he might be cold about it at first. Asking you to change outfits everytime you go out in town.

When you two go to buy some clothing at the shop, he gets surprised that the clerk is amazed by your outfit and spends hours talking with you about being goth and what not

He realises that he might not have been fair to you and had acted like the people he dislikes so much

From then on, he stops being on your case about your outfits. He even becomes supportive of it.

Sits down with you and apologises for being disrespectful. If you ask him why, he will be upfront and honnest about being worried for Lucia,Levy and Mefy

If you want to, he will start to help you put diverse types of outfits for all the different occasions!

And if you struggle with your hair, he will gladly help you tease your hair or tie up your corset

I had to look up the word for it

𝕂𝕦𝕣𝕥

At first, he's probably the same as Oswald

But unlike Oswald, he never witnessed Levy's phase, therefore you're probably one of the firsts, if not the first, goth person he sees !

So yeah, at first he would be very apprehensive. Afterall, he's a child/pre-teen so novelty might be intimidating to him and like most of the other characters he was raised in a place where people are prone to be closed-minded.

Definitely was scared at first, your looks were intimidating so your personnality had to match, right?!

When you two start to talk though, he realises that he was clearly wrong : you're nothing like he expected you to be !

He's probably the most curious out of everyone and might asks odd questions or offensive ones without meaning to be rude

Thinks that Kaim is a stick in the mud for trying to change your aesthetic !

Highkey thinks you look super cool and badass! He clearly wants to go in town with you to see people's reactions

When he realises the amount of effort you put each morning into your makeup, hair and outfit, he starts to come to your room every morning to help you out!

You hate to teach him how to tease your hair or how to put on your makeup, but otherwise he's probabky the most determined to help !

He will totally ask you to teach him how to dance like you do !!

If people look at you funny, he will whisper mockeries about them in your ear to make you laugh

Kaim had to scold him once because everyone had heard him

If they make disrespectful comments, he's ready to clap back

You would be surprised at how much sass he can have

𝕄𝕚𝕜𝕒𝕖𝕝

Probably a mix of Mefy and Kaim if I'm being honest.

When he first sees you, he might make a few passive-aggressive comments, not because he hates the goth subculture

Lowkey because he thought you were a reaper-demon because of your outfits

But because he's just that type of person. He doesn't like other people and he's not afraid of saying things that might be rude to others.

So yeah, at first he's definitely picking apart your appearance and tastes juste because he's petty like that

When you two grow closer though, he might ask you some subtle questions about being goth

He finds the makeup to be a bit over the top and will definitely complain if you smudge any of his furniture because of it, but will accept to help you out it on if you ask

Everytime Ricardo makes a comment about your style, he rolls his eyes at him and sasses him

At first he refuses to listen to your music, but it eventually grows on him and you might catch him listening to it in his bedroom

He actually quite like the contrasts betwen you and him since he dresses in simple white robes and you dress in complicated black outfits!

Doesn't like the noise your jewelry and chains make, but he learns to like it since it reminds him of your presence

He will ask Noel to go with you to the store if you want new jewelry or anything else

The only thing that will make him have a cardiac arrest is if you tease your hair.

This man has the longest and fluffiest hair, it physically hurts him to see you tease your own

He just knows it's going to be tangled after !

He will ask Noel to brush your hair everyday and to buy you the appropriate products to make sure it stays healthy

ℕ𝕠𝕖𝕝

Slightly surprise that you aren't more "typical" looking

But overall it really doesn't change anything to him.

He might be confused as to why you wear so much black even when it's hot outside, but Mikael mostly only wears white so he won't really comment much on it

Actually a bit annoyed at the noise your jewelry and chains make when you walk, but it quickly becomes his way to spot you in a crowd.

If you go to the store to buy some clothes, he will make a beeline for the darker clothes they have and make you try them on

Immaculate taste in goth clothing and you might want to ask him to help you create new outfits or match the correct accessories

If you help him around the garden, he will recommend that you change to other clothing, but if you insist then it's up to you

If you break or tear your jewelry or clothes he will definitely say that he warned you

He will still buy you another item of the same type as the one who was destroyed

The first time he sees you without your makeup or hair done, he's actually shocked and needs a few sdconds to process it

Absolutely in love with your hair. He never thought about teasing it ! Will totally help you to style it.

He's a bit worried it might tangle, but he still loves it, it looks so unique !

Doesn't understand the appeal of your music or dance, but he will still listen to it because you like it

When Ricardo starts to comment on your looks, he will drag you away from the other angel

Glares at anyone who makes rude comments about you

ℝ𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕠

Probably the most into it out of every character

Have you see his military outfit? It gives off dark vibes

Just like you

The moment his eyes meet yours, he's head over heels for your style

Thinks you look absolutely stunning and badass

And hot

However that doesn't mean he won't make any comments on it

In contrary, his comments are even worse and even dirtier. If you wear any types of chains, expect him to make jokes about you having a choking kink or something

Will tug on your accessories or jewelry to get you riled up

If he accidentally breaks them, he will lowkey feel guilty and bring you to the store to buy you something new

Ready to throw hands at anyone who makes a snarky or rude remark

Will sing/scream the lyrics of your every songs you make him listen to just to piss off Mikael

Otherwise, he actually likes that people are staring at the both of you, he feels like he won the lottery

He's highkey bringing you with him everytime he goes in town just to see people gawk at you and insult them in their faces about it

He wants to pass his hand through your hair to see if it's tangled or not

Don't ask him to help you with teasing it, he will make you go bald

Surprisingly, he knows quite a lot about makeup and stuff. He might refer you to good brands in Nightmare and help you do your eyeliner

If he sees you without your makeup or hair done, he's going to make a double take to make sure he has the correct human in the room

However, he won't comment on it and will just talk to you as usual

He loves you with and without your whole attire, he finds your boldness to be hot no matter what

He definitely tries to get into your pants once a day

𝕃𝕦𝕔𝕒𝕤

Doesn't bat an eye.

Why should your appearance or tastes matter? He likes you for who you are not for what you like.

Will give you so many compliments and he actually sees it as a form of art!

You take so much time everyday to get ready and it's always so unique, how can it not be art?

Will leave jewelry or makeup that he knows you like by your window

You know it's from him because no one else goes onto your balcony at 3 in the morning

If your eyes linger on anything at the store, he immediately buys it for you

Actually suggests some new items for you to try out! Some of them are actually pretty bad, but a lot of them are also very good

When you go shopping, he will always check the quality of the clothing and warn you if it's of bad quality

If you want, he will definitely brings you with him on his travels and make you meet some of his goth acquaintances

He helps you out with your hair and makeup and like Mikael will make sure your hair stays soft even if you tease it

He finds it amazing that you're so confident in yourself and that you're so passionate about something

He's willing to try anything you want and absolutely will listen to your music and even dance with you!

When you go out, he will hold your hand and play with your rings if you wear any

If anyone stares for too long, he will flash them a beautiful yet aggressive smile

And if it's not enough and they try to comment on your looks, he quickly shots them down in a calm and mature way

The stranger goes home crying after that

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

What do you think is every WAA member's favorite Halloween Candy (answer carefully your life depends on it)

I'm a day late but why not!

Phoenix Wright: Grape-flavoured Nerds. Anything to ween himself off the juice now that he's back on the job. Might get a kick out of those powder dip candies, if only because he gets to spook Apollo with "white powder" all over again.

Trucy Wright: Twizzlers. Both because "teehee bendy edible magic wands" and having a whimsical name I think fits her well. Whether she eats them or not is another thing entirely. They probably get lost amongst the other magical props.

Apollo Justice: Milky-way. Space-themed and sentimental value to his bestie (this is very AA5-biased I'm sorry).

Athena Cykes: Is it orange-flavoured? Do you have orange-flavoured treats? Will you share your orange-flavoured treats? Candy apples too if you want a specific answer, that way she can say she's technically eating fruits and not just sugary garbage.

Charely: He is a plant.

Simon Blackquill (he brings jobs to them and shakes Athena's sticks during trials, he might as well work there): Honestly I think he'd rather give whatever candy he has to other people. Any black-and-white candies are prime ammunition for dark cannibalism jokes on his part.

My life is in your hands now.

[rametarin]

To an outsider..

You likely hear a lot of stuff about white Americans and militias. That's not an accident, because it's politically convenient for people that define themselves as Capital P Progressives to make their competition look like slavering monsters, and the social climate to look like it's one flint and tinder spark away from going up like an ammunition depot.

But that simply has not been the track record. And while, "well maybe things just weren't as bad as they are now. People are more deranged and unstable. People are more armed and violent," that is simply untrue.

If you aren't from a culture that is derived from Europe or Europeans, it can be easy to look in and determine there's some sort of coming race war or civil war or something. The pessimistic grumblings of a lot of people (primarily disaffected left-wing people) taken as the boots on the ground in the shit, just reinforce that.

But speaking as a person of European extraction, living in the US, whom just turned 40, can I just offer a dissenting opinion and say, "that's a misunderstanding of the population, their greviances, and what unifies them?"

Yes. There are white supremacist, armed militias in the United States. They tend to stick to the backwoods and act as defacto support groups featuring a bunch of delusional people, extremely angry with the world, ranting and raving and trying to rally their people. They never actually do anything- and the FBI seems keenly aware of their operations, for some reason. They don't go out and start shooting up buildings or committing acts of arson or murder, because by and large, those miltias wind up just being places that concentrate people with greviances and fear where they can be amongst people like themselves and find support.

And believe me, in the United States, if you REALLY wanted to cause mayhem and felt as if the only way to fight was indiscriminate violence and murder, the means are at your disposal. And I don't mean just firearms. The fact we don't face enormous improvised explosive devices EVERY DAY is kind of tantamount to the fact the absolute majority of those supposed powder keg reactionary white supremacists monsters are not anywhere near as hair trigger or on the edge as people would have you think.

Every so often I see people screaming, "THIS IS IT! OH NO!! THEY'LL INITIATE A RACE WAR AND THEN GO ON KILLING SPREES!" Because they have such a low and negative opinion of the MAGA hat wearers they genuinely think support for a major political candidate is on part with the numbers of the KKK in the United Stated during the turn of the century, to the point where they do not make any distinction between a dude wearing a stupid red hat and a white militia man.

When the equivalent of this would be comparing a black Biden voter to a member of an armed black supremacist group. Yes, it really is that absurd. And it follows back to the disgusting way our current society is allowed to talk about white people.

Because of the Class Struggle Theorists and Capital P Progressives, what should have been a vehicle in sciety to talk about the dangers and problems associated with treating people by members of their ethnic background or heritage as just extensions of an evil political blob hellbent on subverting, colonizing and controlling everything and everyone around them, stopped when it came to also saying, "don't treat white people like this, either." Where according to class struggle theorists, "anti-colonialists" and "anticapitalists," it was somehow acceptable to treat every white dude named Robert Pageworth or Charles Deskjock as if they were sidebuzzeed, tiki torch wearing sleeper white supremacists because they weren't immediately opposed to conservatism, and were therefore "aiding and abedding the white supremacist power structure" that they have dubbed... regular assed American society. Robert and Charles no longer even needed to be personally affiliated with white supremacist groups, they were considered ADJACENT just by virtue of being white people, and therefore, risk factors.

Where if the situation were flipped, it'd be considered ignorance to consider a person potentially a criminal, or a member of a militant black supremacist group by default, just because they were black. In the US, progressive people from popular US cities just take for granted every rural person must be some member of a hate group, armed to the teeth like Burt Gummer from the Tremors franchise, and just chomping at the bit like a horse with prion disease to go kill people.

But the reality is if it were true, even the lowest common denominators of US society would be out commiting hate crimes or conspiring to commit hate crimes. Every weak willed individual whose inhibitions are lowered by consumption of drugs and access to things that could be used as weaponry, and opportunity to hurt people. We simply, statistically, don't see it.

"But Ram! The number of hate crimes has skyrocketed!"

Yes they have. Look at the breakdown of whom is committing the hate crimes. Look at the victims affected. Look at the massive disparity in population between white people and black people. Hate crimes are rare, hate crimes that result in murder are rarer.

"But Ram!! Look at this news footage of snarling, snaggletoothed white people in stupid red hats!"

And? Yes, they're expressing outrage. Things are not going as they'd like. I promise you, the white population is nowhere near as deranged as that apoplectic, sad individual makes it look. If they had the numbers of willing people, they would've done something. And they simply do not have them, because the vast, vast majority, the plurality of white people, whether they vote for left-wing or right-wing candidates, are not in favor of race wars or bolshevism.

It doesn't matter how many mental gymnastics that the public school teachers do that imagine the US as being exploited by a solid homogenuous population of white people while the brave minority of progressives keep the country together in spite of The White Supremacy's seeming attempts to make it crash out of personal whims. They are not stupid, they are not heartless and they are not deranged. They have a few stupid, heartless and deranged indiviudals within their ranks that become icons by no accident.

Even at their worst, those big scary white supremacist militias represent an extremely tiny minority of white Americans, and they're kept in check both by the knowledge that other whites, even ones they share poltiical and ideological views with, absolutely do not want bolshevism or a civil war. Even they only really feel conflict is imminent as a way to express outraged LARPing among sympathetic flock members also looking to make sense of this world.

To you young people, and by young I don't just mean you teenaged fucks, I also mean you 20-somethings and fuck, even some of you clueless 30-somethings only just now tuning in, it has always been this way, and worse.

Gun violence? Used to be WAY worse in the 90s. Hate crimes? Used to be WAY more prolific and white people used to do them MUCH more often. Statistically, black people are roughly 1/5th as numerous as the whites, but commit hate crimes against other minorities at higher rates, and the proportion has grown bigger as that demographic's population has gotten bigger. Whereas, the white population's hate crimes per year has gone down.

The specter of paranoia that there's some coming tide of white people that are scared, ignorant, and looking for a despotic figure like Hitler or Mousellini to come and start a whole heap of trouble that results in millions dead, is one of those things the radicals on the right have been prophesizing for a long, long time. And naturally, most frequently by the ones that loudly declare shit like, "The Founding Fathers were all racist, colonialist, capitalist pigs," and "all white people are racist." They have orchastrated and conspired an entire venue of alarmist entertainment to this effect to where they'll scream and read this behavior out of even benign actions that the most radical and irregular of white people engage in, becoming hyperallergic to even outliers existence proving their theory true.

During Black Lives Matter's protests and arsons and black supremacist groups arming themselves and marching by white militia compounds to try and confront and intimidate them, you didn't see armed engagements, despite the attempts to antagonize and set off a race war. And when the black militia men showed up to their houses to call them out, the white militia chose not to engage them. Naturally, the response to this was for the black militia-men to call them pussies that "talked big but wouldn't walk the walk."

The reality is those white militia groups understand things on a bigger picture view. Most of the time. There was nothing to gain by armed confrontation or conflict with what may as well have been a honeypot dangled in front of a bear. All it would've equaled was showing up to be filmed and the false narrative about how all white people are adjacent to hate groups and radical violent reactionary secret societies, how every white person should be considered a person of interest for that risk and how "this is why we need gun control, to prevent right wing white supremacist militia violence."

I mean. Fuck. This climate isn't new. Among the more radical of right wing people that distrust the government, usually among the religious, there was always the fear that the federal government, run by progressives that hate religion and white people, would bulldoze churches, treat preachers as enemies of the state, etc.

And what the fuck did we see from WACO, Texas, in 1993? With the Branch Dravidians.

A standoff with a bunch of religious insular loonies with the government that resulted in them burning down the compound on top of believers inside (women and children) and 86 dead, total. And then a coverup of whom actually set the fire, and stonewalling from the federal departments that didn't want to take blame or credit for the fuckup.

And that didn't result in widespread riots or violence from the radical religious nuts retaliating. It just was, we all knew what that was, and recognized it was an unfortunate tragedy of bad faith government affecting stupid faith unconventional religious hooey. It's not that the religious nuts were saner at the time, or the white supremacists were less white or supremacist or more sane. Things are relatively the same today as they were then.

The biggest change was just what percentage most left-leaning people see are baseless, unjustified white supremacists if a person isn't a left-wing, democratic voter. As they've been putting themselves on more and more of a high horse and refusing to distinguish more and more of the right-wing base from white supremacism and male chauvinism. To where any amount of conservatism is just "white supremacy-lite." That's a baggage they're bringing to the discussion, not a reality. They'll happily interact with the world as if that were true, and continue to speak about how everybody that voted for Trump must either be a deranged white supremacist, or an ethnic simp for white supremacy.

What's worst is that my opinion isn't considered to have weight by these people, despite the fact I've been white my entire life (hah) and have religious nut family members, as well as exposure to Crazy Uncles and his friends. And yet, despite being from that ethnic neighborhood, being a 40 year old yankee and adjacent to the sorts of environment and cultural population that'd allow me to correspond and interact with these fringe people without rejection or getting my head verbally bitten off for asking, my opinion is considered to be meaningless, because, "white people have no culture."

Compare and contrast if someone from, I don't know, random country.. Greece. Suppose someone from Greece decided to speak up about what being adjacent to Greek people and further adjacent to Greek hate groups, to give a boots on the ground assessment of their temper, sentiments and etc? People would understand, that's a Greek man, they have sympathies and understanding with Greek people, they understand the Greek experience and they have some sort of comprehension of what a Greek hate group may be hateful about and ultimately, why.

But if you say that sort of thing as a white dude in America, they act like you can't possibly even comprehend the hate group's vitriol or motivations or what possible mythological or paranoid nonsense has a bug up their ass, because, "whites have no culture." So they operate on the idea white radicals in hate groups are just borrowing from some hidden book of mythological pasts and their own personal delusions and insecurities, and absolutely nothing else. I can't have any credibility when I say, "it'll be alright, there isn't a civil war brewing around the corner, the right wing people are not going to bolshevize the country. Things are actually better than they used to be, people are just new to the game and noticing how things have been for nearly a century and continued along in even worse conditions with even less stabiility and safety than now"

Now, please do not confuse this post as support or sympathy for white supremacist militias. I'm not saying those aren't bad, I'm saying even the people inside of them colluding and sharing their fears and grumbling don't want to mass-slaughter millions of people, or even hundreds of people. Under the right circumstances, yes, people on the edge might do something irrational. But be careful not to underestimate the humanity in human opponents. No matter how much you may disagree with whatever absurd things they believe, for one reason or another. We know this, because of how rarely hate group mass violence happens.

In the US, gang related violence is most often affiliated with illegal narcotics sales, or something related to trade and finance. Not ethnic conflict. And that's just the facts.

[pathfinderunlocked]

Magitek Absorption Bit Mark II - CR8 Construct

A machine that absorbs and releases magic.

Artwork is an in-game model from Final Fantasy XIV, copyright Square Enix.

The biggest difference between magitek creations in Final Fantasy and clockwork constructs in Pathfinder is the name. Also you have to wind this thing up, I guess.

This is a stronger version of a magitek absorption bit, a CR 2 monster I released previously, but giving either of them a challenge rating at all is kind of misleading. CR 8 is totally accurate if this thing is fought by itself, and maybe that’s an interesting fight for players to learn how it works before they encounter it again during a boss fight later. But it’s mainly designed to be a minion of a boss, protecting the boss from the player’s magic spells, and that boss can be almost any level.

If a boss of CR 12 or higher has the standard spell resistance of 11 + CR, you can remove its spell resistance, and instead give it one magitek absorption bit mark II per 6 CR. If you do so, you should treat the boss as the same challenge rating as before, and treat the bits as being worth 0 XP. The result will be a fight where the martial characters have to destroy these bits before the spellcasters are able to cast their favorite save-or-suck spells to instantly end the fight.

If your boss is below CR 12, use the lower level magitek absorption bit instead.

I included crafting requirements, but even if you’re crazy enough to let your players craft third-party constructs, don’t let them craft this. This is for enemies only. Counterspelling one spell per round with no die roll is not a remotely reasonable thing for players to be able to do.

Magitek Absorption Bit Mark II - CR 8

This flying iron device glows with internal magic energy that can be seen underneath its armored plating. A small cannon is mounted on the front of it.

XP 4,800 N Tiny construct (clockwork) Init +8 Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +2

DEFENSE

AC 32, touch 18, flat-footed 26 (+4 Dex, +2 dodge, +4 mage armor, +6 natural, +4 shield, +2 size) hp 64 (8d10+20) Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +6 DR 10/adamantine Immune construct traits Weaknesses vulnerable to electricity

OFFENSE

Speed fly 20 ft. (perfect) Ranged assault cannon +14 touch (1d10+4/x3)

Spell-like Abilities     Constant—mage armor, resistance, shield

STATISTICS

Str 8, Dex 18, Con —, Int —, Wis 14, Cha 1 Base Atk +8; CMB +5; CMD 21 (cannot be tripped) Feats Deadly Aim, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes Skills Fly +16 SQ low hover, enhanced magitek power, runic absorption, swift reactions, winding Gear bullet x30, black powder x30

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Assault Cannon (Ex) A magitek absorption bit mark II has an assault cannon which functions like a two-handed firearm with a range increment of 40 ft. It targets touch AC, has a capacity of 1 bullet in its chamber, misfires on a roll of 1, and requires a standard action to reload. A magitek absorption bit mark II’s ammunition and black powder are stored internally and loaded with internal mechanisms.

If a magitek absorption bit mark II’s assault cannon becomes broken as a result of a misfire, it can spend a standard action to repair it.

Enhanced Magitek Power (Ex) A magitek absorption bit mark II gains Deadly Aim as a bonus feat, deals bonus damage with its assault cannon equal to its Dexterity bonus, and gains a +20 bonus to its hit points. These bonuses are already included in its statistics.

Low Hover (Su) A magitek absorption bit mark II can hover in place without making a fly check, as long as it is no more than 5 ft. above the ground.

Runic Absorption (Su) As an immediate action, when a spell is cast that originates from or targets anything within 40 ft. of a magitek absorption bit mark II, or targets an area that includes an area within 40 ft. of a magitek absorption bit mark II, the magitek absorption bit mark II can nullify the spell. This functions as if the spell was counterspelled, except that it automatically succeeds without needing to identify the spell with a Spellcraft check or make a caster level check.

After a magitek absorption bit mark II nullifies a spell in this way, its next assault cannon attack is treated as a magic weapon, and gains an enhancement bonus to its attack and damage rolls equal to 1 + the spell level of the absorbed spell.

Winding (Ex) Clockwork constructs must be wound with special keys in order to function. A fully wound magitek absorption bit mark II can remain active for 3 days.

Construction

The creator of a magitek absorption bit mark II must start with a musket worth 1500 gp, black powder and bullets worth 330 gp, and crafted clockwork pieces worth 7500 gp.

CL 16th; Price 100080 gp

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS

Feats Craft Construct, Gunsmithing Spells dispel magic, mage armor, fly, geas/quest, resistance, shield Caster Level 16th Skill Check(s) Craft (clockwork) DC 25 Cost 54,705 gp Special crafter must not be a player character

[bitterfucked]

looked up which Winchester the boys would be using and given the year and QM’s repeater comment, seems really likely it’s the Model 1873, which is basically The Lever Action Repeater but it’s possible that it could be the Model 1890*. i choose to believe Model 1890 because it’s slide action, which means that we get that classic *chk chk* gun sound. that’s Aurally Significant, i think.

also considered if Drac had encountered a gun before (i know he’s supposed to be well researched but it’s funny to imagine he hasn’t and doesn’t know if they can even hurt him) and found out that Vlad the Impaler was literally at war with the Ottomans right at the time they were first introducing arquebusiers into the army. obviously Vlad=Drac is hotly contested and not necessarily true and it’s my understanding that arquebuses were not significantly influential in the military sense until they incorporated the matchlock (after Vlad’s time) but it is literally possible that Dracula could have been one of the first generals to lose to a gun (as opposed to cannon or other early black powder weapon).

so consider:

Dracula: Vat the hell, this shit again?

Quincey Morris: Dracula, ya varmint! *BANG* *chk chk* *BANG*

*Model 1890 is .22 rifle, and while i personally don’t know much about shooting wolves (which is what they’re actually bringing guns for, not the Count himself), i assume you’d want a larger caliber for an animal of that size. it’s unfortunately a bit of a stretch to think that’s the Winchester Mr. Morris would be suggesting to use. it still might not be the 1873, though! 1876 and 1886 both fit the description of Winchester Repeater. 1886 would be my second place guess behind the 1873. i’m not sure how familiar Bram is with the 1873’s Classic Gun connotations, and if he was researching usage, the 1886 was capable of using higher velocity ammunition (useful in hunting dangerous prey like wolves or vampires).

[full-of-mercy]

Open starter: aftermaths

Another town, another gunfight, another hostage situation turned mad scramble for the bounty on the needle-brained man's head. Of course a shithole called Tactica would be a munitions-heavy trading post, of course the dispute they stumbled in on would be over black powder middlemen, of course there would be a robbery in progress just as they were about to leave.

Let it never be said that Vash the Stampede does not bring people together more than he shakes them apart. Protect. Protect. Wolfwood led the charge out, dodge and weave through narrow alleys; rescued and raiders alike mobbed in pursuit.

Trick shots. Property damage. Aim for the legs. Aim for the limbs. Disarm them. Wanted dead or alive is just wanted dead, saves them the extra steps—

Another wrenching pull against every instinct beaten into his skull, carved into his bones, woven unholy and hallowed around the hollow where his heart ought to be.

What about Thou Shalt Not Kill?

(That's not the commandment, it's not, but I've violated that too, murder, murder, beyond the obligation of self-defense—)

Auto-fire from all angles, too much, too many to dodge, just take them, just take them, you can survive it, this is your penance, this is the price to pay, pain-bloom hot with each thudding impact.

(Pain is instructive. Pain is a lesson. Pain is life.)

Shock cold, the ampoule cracked in fangs. Ammunition. Ammunition for Punisher-the-man, blue-glow steaming forcing bullet after bullet out of flesh, a chime of lead to match the brass of jackets cast like rain on thirsty earth. Two too many, too close together, holiest of holies swarming blood and nerve and tissue.

Another escape, quilled with broken glass and aluminum splinters, but alive and with the supplies they needed. They'll need to find some scrap metal somewhere, patch the van's panels to prevent the incursion of more sand.

Despite the spirits of thrill and cheer (and sass and back-talk) from the front, Wolfwood is silent for the journey, smoking, staring out the window as the suns set and as they leave Tactica in the dust.

Not uncommon, of course, his stormy brooding, his dismissal of concerns as just resting my eyes.

Not a whisper of the sick-tense feeling gathered in his gut. The way blood-tacked clothes feel restrictive, itchy, limned in sweat. The way he feels everything, every jostle, every vibration, every breath, because sensory enhancements enhance all senses. Over-extension is miserable every time.

When they arrive at camp—rock formations sheltered along the flank of a shattered butte, perfect for setting up bivouac tarps—he dismisses himself. Stretching my legs, taking a walk, taking a piss, whatever it takes. Distance and time, that's what he needs.

He leaves the Punisher propped like a sentinel and takes his leave, shoulders hunched.

The jut of sandstone over the dunes on the leeward side is a likely place to tuck up and ride it out, to sit and stare, raw and tender like an open wound.

[erik-murphy1981]

Ming Dynasty Rocket Weapons for D&D 5E

Based on information from this excellent site: https://greatmingmilitary.blogspot.com/2015/09/rocket-weaponry-of-ming-dynasty-p1.html There are many more fascinating weapons listed there, I just assigned some stats to a few that stood out to me. Huo Long Jian (火籠箭, lit. 'Fire basket arrow')

Handheld bamboo basket rocket pod carrying 20 incendiary rockets.

1 charge 5x30ft Line DC13 Dex save 2d4 Piercing + 2d4 Fire damage on fail, half on success

Huo Jian Liu (火箭溜 lit. 'Fire arrow slip')

Matchlock gun-style launcher for black powder rocket arrows.

Weight: 2 pounds Damage: 1d4 Piercing + 1d4 Poison Properties: Ammunition, 2-handed, Range 80/320

Note: like a shortbow, and unlike a light crossbow, this weapon does not suffer the Loading property

Chang She Po Di Jian (長蛇破敵箭, lit. 'Long serpent enemy-breaking arrow')

Wooden rocket pod carrying 30 medium-small poison-tipped rockets. Designed for handheld use, with a sling attached for the pod to be carried on the back.

1 charge 5x30ft Line DC15 Con save 4d4 poison damage on fail, half on save

Qun Ying Zhu Tu Jian (羣鷹逐兔箭, lit. 'Convocation of eagles chasing hare arrow' )

Double-ended rocket pod carrying 30 small poison-tipped rockets at each end. Comes with a sling to be carried on the back.

2 charges 5x30ft Line DC15 Con save 4d4 poison damage on fail, half on save

San Yan Qiang (三眼鎗, lit. 'Three-eyed spear')

A spear with three bamboo rocket-launching tubes.

Spear Melee weapon, simple Damage: 1d6 Piercing (1d8 when used 2-handed) Item Rarity: Standard Properties: Range, Reach, Thrown, Versatile (1d8) Range: 10ft Melee, 20/60 Thrown Weight: 3

Compatible with Polearm Master feat

Rocket Tube As a Bonus Action the wielder can fire one of the three rocket tubes, making a Ranged Attack roll, and dealing 1d4 Piercing + 1d4 Poison damage on a hit. This feature can be used 3 times before needing to be reloaded, which takes a short or long rest.

[samzone21]

The Evolution and Safety of Blank Guns: Exploring the World of Non-Lethal Firearms

Introduction

Blank Guns: A Comprehensive Guide to Non-Lethal Firearms

Blank guns, also known as blank-firing guns or starter pistols, play a significant role in various fields, ranging from entertainment to training and recreational activities. These firearms, designed to discharge blanks or cartridges without projectiles, provide a realistic firing experience without the lethality associated with live ammunition. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of Blank gun, exploring their purpose, evolution, safety considerations, uses in entertainment and training, collectability, advantages, limitations, and best practices for handling them responsibly.

Understanding Blank Guns and their Purpose

1. What are Blank Guns?

Blank guns are firearms designed to shoot blanks or cartridges loaded with propellant without projectiles. While their primary purpose is not to inflict harm, they serve multiple functions in various industries, including film and theater, training simulations, recreational activities, and as collectibles.

1.1 Definition and Functionality of Blank Guns

Blank guns closely resemble real firearms in appearance and operation. They utilize a modified barrel, chamber, and firing mechanism to accommodate blank rounds. When fired, Blank gun produce a loud report, muzzle flash, and realistic recoil, enhancing their authenticity in specific applications.

1.2 Types of Blank Guns

There is a wide range of blank guns available, differing in design, caliber, and features. Common types include blank pistols, blank revolvers, and blank semi-automatic firearms. These variations offer users a choice based on their intended use, preference, and desired level of realism.

1.3 Common Uses of Blank Guns

Blank guns find extensive use in various industries. In the entertainment world, they provide realism to scenes requiring gunfire, explosions, or action sequences, without endangering actors or crew members. In training and simulation environments, blank guns offer a safe way to simulate real-life scenarios, allowing law enforcement, military personnel, and security forces to practice tactical maneuvers and decision-making skills. Additionally, blank guns are used in sporting events such as track and field races, signaling the start of races with a loud report.

2. The History and Evolution of Blank Guns

2.1 Early Beginnings of Blank Guns

The origins of blank gun can be traced back to the 19th century when they were initially developed as signaling devices for maritime use. These early versions relied on black powder to produce a loud report and a cloud of smoke to alert nearby vessels.

2.2 Advancements in Blank Gun Technology

Over time, advancements in firearms technology led to the development of more sophisticated blank guns. Modern blank guns utilize smokeless powder and feature improved construction materials, enhanced safety mechanisms, and better overall performance.

2.3 Modern Applications and Variations of Blank Guns

Today, blank guns serve a myriad of purposes beyond signaling. They are widely used in the entertainment industry for movies, TV shows, and theatrical productions to create realistic gunshot sound effects. Law enforcement and military units utilize blank guns for training exercises, allowing personnel to practice weapon handling, decision-making, and stress management in a controlled environment.

3. Blank Guns and Safety Precautions

3.1 Safety Features of Blank Guns

Manufacturers incorporate various safety features into blank guns to minimize the risks associated with their use. These features include integrated barrel blocks, enhanced trigger mechanisms, and safety indicators, ensuring proper functioning and reducing the likelihood of accidents.

3.2 Proper Handling and Maintenance of Blank Guns

To ensure safe operation, users must adhere to proper handling procedures and regular maintenance practices. This includes thorough inspection before use, cleaning and lubrication, as well as storing blank guns securely and separate from live firearms.

3.3 Legal Considerations and Regulations Surrounding Blank Guns

It is essential to be aware of the legal framework surrounding blank guns in your jurisdiction. Laws and regulations can vary significantly, ranging from restrictions on purchasing and carrying to specific guidelines for their use in public spaces. Familiarize yourself with the relevant laws to avoid any legal complications.

4. Uses of Blank Guns in Entertainment and Training

4.1 Blank Guns in Film and Theater

Blank guns have revolutionized the entertainment industry by providing a safe and realistic alternative to using live firearms on set. They enable directors to create authentic action sequences while protecting the well-being of the cast and crew. Strict safety protocols, including the presence of trained professionals, are followed to ensure a secure environment during filming.

4.2 Training and Simulation Purposes

Blank guns are invaluable tools in training scenarios for law enforcement, military personnel, and security forces. By simulating realistic shooting situations, they allow trainees to develop critical skills, such as weapon handling, target acquisition, and decision-making, without the inherent dangers associated with live ammunition.

4.3 Sporting Events and Recreational Activities

Blank guns find application in sporting events, particularly in track and field races. They are commonly used as starting pistols, generating a loud report to initiate races. Additionally, blank guns are utilized in recreational activities such as historical reenactments, airsoft games, and paintball scenarios, enhancing the immersive experience for participants.

5. Blank Guns as Collectibles and Replica Firearms

5.1 Collecting and Appreciating Blank Guns

Blank guns hold significant appeal for collectors due to their historical significance, intricate designs, and association with various periods in firearm development. Collectors value blank guns for their craftsmanship, rarity, and ability to represent specific eras or iconic firearms.

5.2 Identifying Authenticity and Rarity of Blank Gun Replicas

Blank gun replicas are meticulously crafted to replicate the appearance and functionality of their real counterparts. Collectors and enthusiasts often research markings, serial numbers, and other distinguishing features to determine the authenticity and rarity of a blank gun replica.

5.3 Caring for and Displaying Blank Gun Collectibles

Proper care and maintenance are crucial to preserving the value and condition of blank gun collectibles. Collectors employ various techniques to clean, store, and display their blank gun collections, ensuring long-term enjoyment and potential investment value.

6. Advantages and Limitations of Blank Guns

6.1 Advantages of Blank Guns over Live Firearms

One of the primary advantages of blank guns is their non-lethality, making them a safer option for certain applications such as training, entertainment, and recreational use. Blank guns also offer cost savings in terms of ammunition and reduced wear on firearms used for training purposes.

6.2 Limitations and Considerations when using Blank Guns

Despite their benefits, blank guns do present limitations and considerations. It is crucial to remember that although they are non-lethal, they can still cause injury at close range. Additionally, the loud report and muzzle flash can be startling, necessitating appropriate safety precautions and awareness of the surroundings.

7. Safety Tips and Best Practices for Using Blank Guns

7.1 Eye and Ear Protection

When operating blank guns, it is essential to use appropriate personal protective equipment, including safety glasses or goggles and hearing protection. These precautions safeguard against potential debris and loud noise.

7.2 Proper Distance and Target Selection

Maintaining a safe distance from the target and ensuring a suitable backdrop are essential for preventing accidents and minimizing the risk of injury. Proper target selection and secure placement further contribute to safe blank gun usage.

7.3 Storage and Transportation Guidelines

Blank guns should be stored securely, preferably in a locked container or safe, separate from live firearms. When transporting blank guns, ensure they are unloaded and follow local regulations regarding transportation and storage.

Conclusion:

Blank guns have evolved into indispensable tools in multiple industries, providing a safe and realistic alternative to live firearms. From their early beginnings as signaling devices to their modern-day applications in entertainment, training, and recreation, blank guns have come a long way. While enjoying the benefits of blank guns, it is crucial to prioritize safety, adhere to legal considerations, and handle these firearms responsibly. By following best practices, blank gun enthusiasts can experience the excitement, realism, and enjoyment these non-lethal firearms offer while ensuring the well-being of themselves and others.

[revolutionarywarhistory]

"The misfortune which ensued": The defeat at Germantown [Part 2]

Continued from Part 1

This was originally written in October 2016 when I was a research fellow at the Maryland State Archives. It has been reprinted from Academia.edu and my History Hermann WordPress blog.

Illustration of the battle at the Chew House by American artist Christian Schussele

Regardless of who is blamed, the heavy fighting undoubtedly resulted in the death and wounding of many soldiers, leading to a withdrawal. [15] Soldiers were disoriented and confused by heavy morning radiation fog, caused by a 34 degree temperature and humidity, along with the thick black powder smoke from cannons and muskets. This annulled any chance for victory, even though some claimed that they were near to “gaining a compleat Victory.” [16] Washington said that his army would have gained victory if “the fogginess of the Morning” hadn’t prevented the Continental Army “from seeing the advantage we had gained.” [17] In later letters he told General William Heath, his brother John Augustine Washington, and Virginia politician John Page a similar story. He wrote that the hazy day was “overcast by dark & heavy fog,” was “extremely foggy,” and “a thick Fog rendered so infinitely dark at times.” [18] From his viewpoint, this prevented the enemy from sustaining “total defeat” with complications including the Continental Army’s right wing lacking ammunition as the battle dragged on.

After the battle, the Continental Army moved twenty miles way to collect their forces and care for the wounded as the British still held on to Philadelphia. [19] While wounded Marylanders were sent to Reading, Pennsylvania, the Continental Army camped beside the Delaware River before returning to Perkeomen, where they had been stationed before the battle. [20]

George Washington, with the help of other officers and informers, repeatedly tried to assess their losses and that of the British. Washington claimed that the Continental Army suffered “no material loss of Men.” His estimates of those killed, wounded, and missing ranged from 300 to 1,000. [21] He also said that only one artillery piece was lost, along with some captured due to the foggy conditions. In his memoirs, in early nineteenth century, Connecticut Lieutenant James Morris wrote that “many fell in battle and about five hundred of our men were made prisoners of War, who surrendered at discretion.” [22] While the number of casualties from the battle is not known since the official return of Continental causalities from the battle has been lost, the Annual Register, a British parliamentary publication, may be the most reliable, as they reported that 200-300 Continentals were slain, 600 wounded and more than 400 were taken prisoner. [23]

The estimates of British casualties are also not clear. Through the month of October, informers, who were often deserters, told George Washington and other high-level generals that hundreds of wagons came into the city of Philadelphia with wounded soldiers. [24] Those that were wounded reportedly included British army general William Erskine and Hessian general William von Knyphausen, along with 300 to 2,500 British killed and wounded on the bloody day. [25] The Annual Register said that the British losses of wounded, killed, and captured numbered 535, but only 75 were killed and 54 officers taken prisoner. [26] Hence, the estimates by deserters that 2,500 British were casualties may have been exaggerated.

The Continental prisoners from the battle did not fair well. James Morris described how he was captured ten miles away from Germantown after being “continually harassed” by British light infantry and dragoons. [27] Morris, like many others, was taken prisoner, and held in Germantown from October 4 to 5th. He was moved to Philadelphia, where he was a prisoner in Walnut Street Jail. [28] He remained there along with 400 to 500 Continentals in squalid conditions until May 1778. The jail was cold, dark, and desolate, and many prisoners had no bedding, blankets, or general provisions, while others became sick or died. [29]

As the Continentals languished in Philadelphia, officers were accused of being responsible for the defeat and court-martialed as a result. While some believed that the battle reflected “honor upon the General and the Army” and that General Sullivan was a “brave Man,” not everyone agreed. [30] He was partly criticuzed for the friendly fire between Sullivan’s division and Nathaniel Greene‘s troops during the battle, due to the fog. [31] He was likely seen as part of the reason for the  “real Injury to America” caused by the defeat: the continued British occupation of Philadelphia. Sullivan defended himself by writing to Washington that after the battle “the field remained his [Howe’s,] the victory was yours” and that Howe could only be defeated by “a Successful General Action.” [32] Others accused of improprieties during the battle included Pennsylvania militia general Thomas Conway, accused later of conspiring against Washington, Captain Abner Crump of Virginia, Nathaniel Greene, Captain Edward Vail of North Carolina, and Captain Adam Stephen of Connecticut. [33] Of these men, Vail, Crump, and Conway were court-martialed and removed from the Continental Army.

Despite the fact that the battle was a defeat for the Continental Army, it served a purpose for the revolutionary cause. John Adams wrote, in July 1778, that “General Washingtons attack upon the Enemy at Germantown” was considered by “the military Gentlemen in Europe” to be the “most decisive Proof that America would finally succeed.” [34]

In the following months, some Marylanders fought along the Delaware River in forts Red Bank and Mifflin. The British were trying to push the Continentals clear out the Delaware River in order to secure Philadelphia. [35] By the end of the campaign, however, their only victory was ensuring that the city was “a good lodging” for the British Army. The rest of Marylanders stayed in camp until they wintered in Wilmington, Delaware and the rest of the army wintered in Valley Forge. [36] In the following years, the First Maryland Regiment would fight in the northern colonies until they joined the Southern campaign in 1780 and 1781. [37]

© 2016-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[efangamez]

So with the need to regulate guns both in the public and with police, I wanted to do a lil summary of what type of mechanisms weapons shoot with so that, when talking with others, you'll know what types of guns exist AND give a better reason for banning of assault style weapons.

Also, this will not be a perfect article, as I am not an educator not getting paid to write this. I'm simply giving my best shot to explain these differences so hyper pro-gun people won't call you out for terminology misuse.

TW // Gun talk, Harm

1. Muzzle Loader / Black Powder

These guns use the typical civil war / revolutionary war type of loading where people have to use raw gunpowder as the propellant. This type of weapon is solely used for hunting and recreation as of now because of its pitiful fire rate, which is about 3 shots in one minute (if you're, like, a marksman), but the bullet size is TREMENDOUS, leaving holes the size of fists in bodies. It does a lot of damage, but is slow, and lots of times can be inaccurate and fail often.

2. Bolt Action

Bolt action weapons cycle a bullet using a sort of lever on the side. It is MUCH faster than the previous type of gun, BUT it is painfully slow in today's world. These weapons typically only have at MAX 15 bullets per magazine, with most being around the 7-10 range. The rounds shot here are typically even more deadly than the assault style semi-autos, but they shoot much slower (yes you can have like .22 caliber bolt actions but those are usually only used for varmint hunting and/or youth firearms users)

3. Pump-Action / Break Action

These weapons are typically used in shotguns, but can be used for rifles as well. Pump action guns, well, pump bullets into the chamber for firing. It's the typical "chik-chik" gun loading that we all use for guns today, with someone pulling the pump backwards and then forwards. Now, pump action CAN be as quick as semi-auto with certain techniques, but is usually slower. Break Action is simple: it's when you snap the gun open and you can load or unload the weapon. Typically, this is used for side by side shotguns, like the typical double barrelled shotgun, or an over-under style where it's one barrel on the top and one barrel under. These are also mostly used for hunting and recreation, but they are also used for home defense because of their inexpensiveness and their simple make. They do a ton of damage, typically, but have low ammunition capacity.

4. Semi-Automatic / Automatic

So, here's where the fun begins. Semi-auto guns are complicated, and are the quickest-firing legal weapons to own without special licenses. These weapons work as simple as pressing the trigger and a bullet comes out, over and over and over until you press the trigger and the clip/magazine is empty. Now, semi-autos have the highest capacity for ammunition, MUCH higher than ANY of the ones listed previously. You can buy clips for handguns that allow for 30 bullets abled to be fired one after the other, and rifles that allow for 60+ bullets. Typically, handguns run about 7-12 bullets per clip, and rifles are 30. Automatic guns have the same capacity, but can simply be fired by holding down the trigger and spraying bullets everywhere. As said before, unless a bump stock is involved (which allows artificial automatic firing of semi auto guns), automatic weapons are NEVER used in mass shootings (in recent years) due to a ban on them for public use (thank fucking god). Semi-auto and auto weapons are used, and have been used, mainly to kill humans. Point blank. Their ammunition, for the most part, is designed for killing humans only, like the .223 AR-15 style guns use. These weapons, when given the SAME magazine size and the MILITARY, leads to these deadly, horrific shootings.

Last Point: What do I do with this info?

It's simple. Ban assault-style weapons, or have their ammunition capacity limited to 5 or less bullets. Also, more gun safety courses to teach the dangers of guns, how to defend against them (like knowing to attack the shooter when they are reloading) and so much more.

Gun ownership, especially in these tyrannical times, are a touchy subject, but one thing is certain: ammunition capacities for semi-auto weapons we have now kills kids. Nothing else.