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[aidanflores]

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[aaronsrpgs]

"Ancient World Fantasy" Reading List

(A little context to start. If you just want book recs, scroll on down to the first image.)

As I’ve been getting into RuneQuest (Wikipedia link), one striking component of the culture and community surrounding the game is that they’re very into the lore of its fictional world, Glorantha. I’m saying this as a comparison to a game like D&D, where the game is spread across tons of settings with no real sense of obligation to keep things in line with earlier editions.

Glorantha’s canon and worldbuilding has been going on since it was published in 1978 without, as far as I can tell, any big reboots. Which means that, unlike D&D, where people are bringing in all kinds of influences and doing direct adaptions of Jane Austen books and whatever, the RuneQuest game remains pretty tightly tied to the original setting. (There have been some exceptions. But not many!)

But since I run games for people who have ADHD or aren’t interested in studying up, I’ve been looking at all kinds of inspiration to drop into the game. Here are 20 novels that are roughly “ancient world” or “Bronze Age” like RuneQuest and deal with people interacting with strange gods, tight communities, and a world without fast overland travel or transferal of information.

I’m presenting them alphabetically by author’s last name.

The Brazen Gambit, Cinnabar Shadows, The Rise and Fall of a Dragon King by Lynn Abbey

I'm sorry for starting this post off with licensed RPG novels, but these are good! And I don't mean "good for licensed RPG novels." I've read tons of them, and most are so bad! But these are actually fun. Good character development in a sword-and-sorcery world. It's also an ecological apocalypse world, with godlike beings oppressing common folks, leading to a lack of technological advancement and knowledge of the past.

The Long Ships by Frans G. Bentsson

Written in the 1940s as a series of novellas, these stories take you on a tour of the Viking-era world, from Europe to the Middle East and beyond. Like a bunch of books on this list, this places them post-Bronze Age, so they're not officially "ancient world." But it gives a big spread of cultures, from the more clan-based Vikings to the bustling metropolises of Turkey. And it doesn't place any of them on any kind of linear advancement scale or whatever other gross way people "rate" cultures.

Tales of Nevèrÿon and Neveryóna by Samuel R. Delany

The master of weird sci-fi and gay historical novels, Chip Delany also wrote a fantasy epic. And it rules! Set on pre-historical(ish) Earth, these books describe the stories that maybe inform the myths we tell today? Dragons and slave revolts! A sort of "What if Game of Thrones was good?" series. Lots of good stuff about how people learn and how understanding expands.

I'm not listing the third book only because it's also a historical look at New York during the AIDS epidemic. It's an amazing book! But it strays from the "ancient world" aesthetic.

Baudolino by Umberto Eco

Another novel expressly set after the Bronze Age (this one starts in the 12th century). BUT it's about Medieval people's interaction with the knowledge they inherited from the past, specifically the myth of Prester John and the works of Herodotus.

I think I keep putting books like this on the list because roleplaying in a fantastical ancient world is not too far off from how Medieval people might have worshipped and referenced works from ancient Rome and non-European places.

Black Leopard, Red Wolf and Moon Witch, Spider King by Marlon James

One of our best living writers! These are fantasy novels expressly set in a fantastical version of ancient/Medieval Africa. The books explore the same events from multiple points of view and are full of cool magic, awesome spirit combat, and a vast number of places and cultures that actively deconstructs most games's portrayal of fantasy Africa as a homogeneous place.

The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth

I think Kingsnorth has been outted as a sort of eco-fascist? I totally believe it, so feel free to skip this one. It's a historical novel set in England in 1066, as the Normans invade from France. It's written in a faux Middle English language and focuses on the lower classes and how they try to resist the invasion. A good reminder that "Medieval culture" (and especially the Renaissance as a time that "culture advanced") is often based on certain classes of society, such as rich people and/or men.

Iceland's Bell by Halldór Laxness

Speaking of how class intersects with technological advancement, this book is set in the 18th century, but it focuses on Iceland at a time when it was ruled by Denmark, and the lower classes there were under an enforced poverty. It's a book about how a rich Icelander was trying to recover the stories of his people in order to create a sense of national identity and resistance. But it's also a story about how a destitute man acts like a total weirdo when he's not allowed to fish in his own waters and is cut off from understanding his place in history.

The Raven Tower by Anne Leckie

A big part of RuneQuest is people interacting with and enacting their gods. That's what this book is about! And it's about the strange vertigo that comes to people when they try to interact with the impossible timelines that gods exist on. Very good stuff.

Night's Master and Death's Master by Tanith Lee

Ostensibly set on Earth back when it was flat and demons roamed the world, which is basically RuneQuest. Sort of like a series of hornier, gay bibles? With lots of gender fuckery, fun sex, and cool monsters.

Circe by Madeline Miller

The story of the witch from The Odyssey, told from her point of view. Beautiful prose, tragic and beautiful characters, and a great share of mythical strangeness. Perfect if you want to learn how to run NPCs that are adversaries without being shallowly evil.

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren

Semi-Medieval again, but low class and vague enough that it could exist throughout ancient history. The daughter of a robber grows up in a tower full of robbers and generally has a wonderful time. Lots of weird monsters live in the woods, and there's a great starcrossed romance with someone from a rival robber gang. Perfect inspiration if you're running some cattle-raiding runs in RuneQuest; this is how to make robbers fun and sympathetic.

Read the book, watch the 1984 Swedish movie (which includes a great comedic scene of full-frontal dudity), and then watch the Studio Ghibli series.

A Stranger in Olondria and The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar

Set in a world of pepper farmers and religious fanatics who worship a mysterious inscribed stone, these books do a great job of showing how people might interact with religion, rival cults, and mystery rites. It also portrays literacy and learning to read in places where it's gated behind social gatekeeping. And once again, the prose is beautiful.

The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola

The first African novel published in English outside of Africa, The Palm-Wine Drinkard is a funny, hallucinogenic story about getting drunk, stumbling through weird landscapes, and encountering fantastical spirits and people.

Tutuola also wrote My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, the inspiration for the famous(?) David Byrne/Brian Eno album. I haven't read it yet, but I'm keeping an eye out!

The Green Pearl by Jack Vance

This is a sequel to Lyonesse, which I haven't read because I love staring in the middle of things. Set around a mythical British Isles when Atlantis was still above the sea and part of the group of islands. Some great wizard shit, warring clans, romance, and a wizard whose name is fucking Shimrod (in case you need more convincing).

Those are my 20 novel recommendations! I'm gonna come back to add some nonfiction, comics, and myth resources for running games in fantastical ancient worlds. You can read SpeedRune, my ancient fantasy game, here.

[blue-disco-lights]

One Year as a Beta!

@gallavich-fic-club said Sprinkle Some Joy on our writers this month, so I thought I'd compile all the incredible stories I've had the chance to help beta over the last year! It's been such a great experience and I've loved meeting and working with all of you!

✨ === ✨ Fics Below! ✨ === ✨

🌟 Miss_SnowWhitePink ~ @look-i-love-u

Puppy Love: People say nothing good happens after two a.m. Mickey's life experiences have told him that this rumour is very much true. At least till now - Enter a cute puppy which turns Mickey's life upside down and changes it for the better...

Sirens: Being an EMT during the holiday season is bad enough without having a TV crew watching his every step, so Ian hates everything about his superior`s new project. Including the members of the crew. At least till he sees the guy manning the huge camera as if it weighs nothing and isn't afraid to speak his mind...

🌟  IanGalagher ~ @ian-galagher

Africa: When Ian lands himself an internship with famous wildlife photographer Mickey Milkovich he can't believe his luck. Spending one month traveling through South Africa with his big hero is a dream come true. The two are off on a wild adventure but there's something mysterious about Mickey who seems to be holding more to his chest than just the tricks of the trade Ian had hoped to learn from him.

🌟 Pink_Ink ~ @palepinkgoat

The Ink is a Witness to This: six chapters about the stories tattoos can hold and hide.

🌟 tooschoolforcool95 ~ @too-schoolforcool

Ghosts of a South Side Christmas: After a fight on Christmas Eve, Mickey and Ian spend some time apart. Mickey gets a little hope and learns to be brave while Ian learns more about his crush.

🌟 sam_writes_fics ~ @sam-loves-seb

you make my dreams come true: post-canon: ian and mickey host their first thanksgiving

🌟 sweetbee78 ~ @sweetbee78

The Reunion: ... The ski resort that the reunion is held at looses power, Ian and Mickey are then sharing close quarters. Ian does tell him what had happened after high school; they agree to start over. Mickey finds out Ian was originally planning on hooking up with someone else...

Not So Secret Santa: Ian and Mickey are co-workers and are each other’s Secret Santa. Mickey is a manager at a financial company while Ian is a temp who was hired to work in the call centre.

🌟 NotAWriterButITry

What If?: What if Mickey was released from prison in season 7 instead of escaped? What if Ian found out because he got a call to the Milkovich house and Mickey turned out to be their patient? What if Ian has to choose between his new life with Trevor, or his old life with Mickey?

🌟 commonthugs ~ @stocious

lava java: He's being really unprofessional. Mickey might not even be gay. He might be hitting on a straight man through takeout cups.

🌟 MaySunshine ~ @honeyvanillin

Apple Tart and Salted Caramel: Stoneridge is a small but very picturesque town on the edge of the state. Surrounded by majestic mountains to the north, icy ocean waters to the west and impenetrable forests to the east, it is safely sheltered from tourists and GPS....

All Roads Lead to Rome: This story is about the breath of life with the berry aftertaste of Passito di Pantelleria wine, about the transience of time with lemon notes of magnolia blossoms, about the thrill of first kisses with the cool sweetness of creamy Gelato.

Lead the Way, Jedi: "Me?" the mechanic exhaled, mostly surprised that the Jedi had chosen to entrust him, a throwback from the filthy depths, with his droid buddy. "I'm sure you, proud droid dad, can handle it just fine. It's no big deal."

🌟 Itsuki59 ~ @shinygalaxyperson

Where is my Jell-O?: A conversation about the past makes our boys horny.

On His knees: Day 11 - “Open your mouth.” Ian definitely wants to try the glory hole. (Gallavich Kinktober 2022) Home at last: Day 29 - punishment X “Suck on my fingers and get them nice and wet for me"Ian wants to spend some quality time with his husband (Gallavich Kinktober 2022)

You are Mine: Usually, I don’t care about humans. I hunt them, bite them, kill them and throw them away in some sordid place. But not him. I don’t know what makes Mickey Milkovich so special.

🌟 roseapothecarys ~ @babygirlmickey

Designs on You: At twenty-four, Ian has just moved out of his family home to live on his own for the first time. Working as a paramedic, he’s finally happy, stable, and moving forward with his life. But first, there’s one last remnant of his past self that he needs to let go of: his accidental porn tattoo of his late mother. It’s nothing but a reminder of all the bad decisions he’s made. At his best friend Mandy’s behest, he makes an appointment with her brother who has just opened a tattoo shop nearby. Upon arriving for his consultation, he meets Mickey: intimidating, foul-mouthed, overall living up to the Milkovich name, yet somehow running a clean, professional, and legal business.

[stephensmithuk]

The Boer War (1899-1902)

If the 1897 Diamond Jubilee is seen as the zenith of the British Empire, the Boer War is arguably the start of its collapse.

There are two conflicts with the name "Boer War", of which the second is by far the better known.

"Boer" is Afrikaans for farmer. The two wars are known as "the Freedom Wars" in the Afrikaans language and "the South African War" in the country itself.

More specifically, the Boers were Dutch farmers who emigrated from the Dutch and then British-controlled Cape Colony north and east into the Transvaal region that is now north-east South Africa, to get away from what they saw as an oppressive government. As well as the fact that the British abolished slavery, which they wanted to keep. So yeah. They were more specifically known as "Trekboers" or travelling farmers. Trek is of course where we get the term Star Trek from.

The first conflict from 1880-1881 started after a farmer refused to pay an illegally inflated tax, had his wagon seized - and his friends then assaulted the auction.

The Boers, better equipped, better trained and far more experienced at shooting than their British opponents, managed to defeat the latter in three major engagements. Unwilling to become engaged in a major conflict, London negotiated a peace deal that gave the South African Republic effectively full control over internal affairs, although the British retained control of external relations. This was the first time the British had lost a war to rebels since the American War of Independence.

Then gold was found in the region and an influx of immigrants, mostly British, turned up, seeking their fortune. Johannesburg emerged as a major community overnight. This caused a lot of tensions, even more so when the government in Praetoria (the SAR capital) denied the 'uitlanders' civil rights.

In 1896, Cape Colony Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes authorised Leander Starr Jameson to conduct a raid into the territory with the aim of triggering a revolution. The raid was badly botched, failed and caused massive embarrassment to the British government, especially when Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a congratulatory telegram to the SAR government... and telegrams showing Rhodes' involvement were found. Jameson, while lionised in the press, spent 15 months in Holloway for the raid.

Shortly after this, the Second Matabele War saw the British have to deal with an uprising by the Ndebele and Shona peoples in what is now Zimbabwe. They defeated it, but with many losses on both sides.

Tensions between the British and the Boers continued to grow after the Jameson Raid; the uitlanders did not see their rights improve, the Boers mistreated the African population, and a lot of the British establishment thought it would be an easy victory. The generals, for their part, did not.

The SAR had acquired high quality weaponry from Germany and France, including bolt-action Mauser rifles. The British Army for its part was in dire need of reform.

The war broke out in 1899 after an ultimatum from SAR leader Paul Kruger for the British to withdraw their forces from the border. The SAR had allied with the Orange Free State by this point.

The Boers had formed civilian militias called "commandos". They launched an invasion of the Natal and Cape Colony, soon putting British garrisons under siege. One notable such siege was at Mafeking, where the British commander was one Robert Baden-Powell, whose use of scouting, along the deception to make his defences look better than they were allowed his force to hold out for 217 days until relieved. He would later use his experience in scouting to form, well, the Scouting Movement.

After a series of major reverses, it was clear the British were going to need to send major reinforcements, recruiting a lot of volunteers - the biggest overseas force Britain had sent to date. They also removed their local commanders and put new ones in.

The sieges were lifted and Praetoria was captured on 5 June 1900 - at which point the Boers (along with foreign volunteers) moved to guerilla warfare, something that they were very adept at, in stark contrast to the British. However, harassment is not the same as taking and holding ground.

Both forces tried to minimise the involvement of people of colour due to fear of what would happen if they armed Africans, but personnel shortages meant they ended up being involved anyway, usually in supporting roles. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a civil rights activist there, formed a corps of volunteer stretcher bearers from the Indian population.

Realising that they were only controlling the territory that they were physically in, the British changed their tactics.

Firstly, they built fortified blockhouses and armoured trains to control their supply routes.

Secondly, the British adopted a "scorched earth" policy; they rounded up Boer and African civilians, placing them in concentration camps, while also systematically destroying farms, crops etc. that the Boer forces could use to supply themselves.

The Spanish had used concentration camps in Cuba earlier in the 19th century, but this was a much wider use. With little or no soap, along with dirty water, disease swept through the overcrowded camps, with over 46,000 dying in them, including a quarter of the Boers in them - African numbers interned were not properly counted. Emily Hobhouse exposed the horrific conditions, and the matter was taken up by domestic politicians. A government commission led by Millicent Fawcett then recommended major improvements, which were largely implemented and brought down the death rate, but the damage had been done by this point.

The brutal tactics were sadly effective; the Boers were beginning to give up. However, the British themselves were running out of time and money, so gave them a generous settlement in the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging; while the SAR and Orange Free State would be absorbed into the British Empire, Dutch could be used in schools and courts, there would be a general amnesty and reconstruction aid would be given.

Self-government was also promised and granted; it was decided that the issue of black enfranchisement would not be discussed until then - and full enfranchisement would not come until 1993.

The war was controversial in the UK; it was opposed by the opposition Liberal Party. Lord Salisbury called a snap election in 1900 and won with a slightly reduced majority. The next election in 1906 was a massive defeat for them though.

The conflict also exposed the dire state of British public health - with up to 40% of volunteers for the war being rejected on health grounds. This spurred the creation of the National Insurance system.

Arthur Conan Doyle volunteered for military service in the conflict; but was turned down due to his age. Instead, he served for three months in a field hospital and then wrote two books about the conflict. The second one, defending Britain's involvement in the war, was felt by Doyle to be the work that got him his knighthood in 1902.

The war was also notable for one journalist who after being captured by the South Africans, managed to escape from behind enemy lines, using the publicity to get into Parliament on his second attempt. His name was Winston Churchill.

At 2022 values, the war cost Britain over £19.9 billion.

They had also had 26,092 soldiers killed to the Boers 6,189. As with all wars at this time, disease was the biggest killer.

[racefortheironthrone]

Why aren’t there seemingly any Krakoa era-esque stories based in Wakanda, where the creator goes deep on the world-building for the nation and it’s relationship with the wider Marvel universe? Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like most Black Panther books are basically always just “who is T’Challa if he isn’t King” or “why T’Challa is the worst” type stories. They’re boring and uninspired, give me my nerdy shit Marvel!!!

I think you've missed some key issues, because there's definitely been some that cover world-building about Wakanda's relationship with Krakoa.

From the beginning of HOXPOX, Hickman established that Wakanda had a unique relationship with Krakoa - while most human nations signed trade deals with the mutant nation-state, some did not due to ideological or geostrategic opposition. Alone in the world, Wakanda (and its protectorates in east Africa) didn't sign a trade deal with Krakoa because it was so technologically advanced that it simply didn't need anything Krakoa was selling.

This was a source of consternation for the Krakoan government, so they went to some lengths to try to bring Wakanda into their diplomatic-economic orbit - as we see in X-Men #4. These efforts were politely rejected, as the Wakandans preferred a more arms-length relationship in which Krakoan-Wakandan relations would be managed through bilateral monarchical negotiations between T'challa and Ororo Monroe, leveraging their personal connections to promote a friendly policy of non-interference.

This status quo broke down during the Arraki-Amenthi invasion of Otherworld, which threatened the very existence of Krakoa and indeed the survival of the whole world. As part of Saturnyne's scheme to foil the invasion through a tournament of sword-bearers, Storm was tasked with retrieving the Wakandan blade Skybreaker. This vibranium weapon was uniquely suited to Storm's powers, amplifying her omega weather control powers even further, but it was also sacred to Wakanda as it was also the weapon forged by the founder of their nation and the Black Panther cult.

Thus, when Ororo traveled to Wakanda to ask for the sword in Marauders #13, T'challa did not want to give it to her - but rather than refuse her outright, he attempted to stall negotiations and avoid the confrontation. With a literal deadline for Krakoa, Otherworld, and Earth itself breathing down her neck, Storm was unwilling to wait and broke into the royal vaults to steal Skybreaker. While T'challa ultimately let Ororo leave with the weapon, trust between the two of them and their respective nations was broken - and Wakanda cut ties with Krakoa, although it never declared formal enmity with the mutant nation.

At the same time, neither country could totally isolate themselves from the other - especially after Krakoa terraformed Mars at the first Hellfire Gala and turned it into a new homeland for Arrako and her people. Through the joint efforts of S.W.O.R.D and Storm, Arrako would become the diplomatic nexus for intergalatic politics and Krakoa the new foundation of intergalactic monetary policy - something that had enormous ramifications for the Intergalatic Empire of Wakanda.

This ushered in something of a cold war between the two nations, who had to maintain formal diplomatic and economic channels, but who secretly engaged in espionage against the other in order to gain intelligence as to what their counterparts were up to, since they no longer trusted the other to give them an honest answer directly. This caused a great deal of tension for Wakandan citizens who were mutants, as they became the obvious candidates to spy on Krakoa and Arrako for Wakanda.

As depicted in Black Panther #3 and X-Men Red #4, the former X-Man Nezhno Abidemi, aka Gentle, was recruited by T'challa to be one of his sleeper agents. Using the very real anti-mutant prejudice Abidemi experienced growing up in Wakanda as cover, Gentle spied on Ororo Monroe in her capacity as the new Regent of Arrako and Voice of Sol on behalf of the Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda.

Because Storm isn't an idiot, she quickly uncovered Gentle as an agent, but left him in place as a backchannel between their two countries, although the deception further strained the personal ties between her and T'challa. As both of them are professionals, this didn't stop Arrako and Wakanda collaborating diplomatically to forestall a Shi'ar civil war.

When Krakoa fell, ORCHIS attempted to take advantage of the situation and Wakanda's presumed anti-mutant sympathies. In Wolverine #39, we see that the ORCHIS operative Jun Wei was dispatched to Wakanda to work out a Vibranium-for-Sentinels agreement. When Prime Minister Folasade rejected the offer, Jun Wei turned to the criminal gangs of Birnin T'chaka to get ORCHIS' hands on rare earth metals - only to be foiled by the joint efforts of Logan and T'challa.

[reddest-flower]

Only at the end of his life did Karl Marx leave the shores of Europe and travel to a country under colonial dominion. This was when he went to Algeria in 1882. ‘For Mussalmans, there is no such thing as subordination’, Marx wrote to his daughter Laura Lafargue. Inequality is an abomination to ‘a true Mussalman’, but these sentiments, Marx felt, ‘will go to rack and ruin without a revolutionary movement’. A movement of revolutionary understanding would easily be able to grow where there was this cultural feeling against inequality. Marx did not write more about Algeria or about Islam. These were observations made by a father to his daughter. But they do tell us a great deal about Marx’s sensibility.

There was no room in Marxism for the idea that certain people needed to be ruled because they were racial or social inferiors. In fact, Marxism – from Marx’s early writings onward – always understood human freedom as a universal objective. Human slavery and the degradation of human beings into wage slavery awoke in Marx his prophetic indignation. One of Marx’s most famous passages in Capital (1867) pointed out that the ‘rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production’ should not be found in the antiseptic bank or factory. The origin of capitalism had to be found – among other processes – in ‘the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of Black skins’. Capitalism grew and was sustained by the degradation of humanity. No wonder, then, that anti-colonialism would play such an important role in the Marxist movement.

When Marxism travelled outside the domain where Marx first developed the theory, it had to engage with what Lenin called ‘the most essential thing in Marxism, the living soul of Marxism, the concrete analysis of concrete conditions’. This formula was valuable from the Dutch East Indies to the Andes.

In the Andes (in South America), one of the greatest (and least known) Marxist thinkers – José Carlos Mariátegui (1894-1930) – wrote in 1928, ‘We do not wish that Socialism in America be a tracing and a copy. It must be a heroic creation. We must, with our own reality, in our own language, bring Indoamerican socialism to life.’ What did Mariátegui do? He read his Marx and his Lenin – and he studied deeply in the social reality of the Andes. Lenin’s theory of the worker-peasant alliance provided a fundamental addition to his Marxism. The ‘socialist revolution in a mainly agrarian country like Peru in the 1920s’, he wrote, ‘was simply inconceivable without taking into consideration the insurgent mobilization of indigenous rural communities that were challenging the power of large land-owners (latifundistas) who were responsible for keeping alive old forms of economic exploitation’. The agent of change in Peru amongst the producing classes had to include the indigenous rural communities whose population was mainly Amerindian. To seek the insurgents amongst the minuscule industrial sector of Lima alone would be to go into battle with capital with one hand tied behind the back. This is an echo of Lenin’s call for worker and peasant unity, but with the indigenous communities now in the framework.

Were the indigenous rural communities capable of a socialist movement? In the 1920s, when Mariátegui was writing, the prevailing intellectual fashion with regard to the rural communities was indigenismo, or Indianness – meaning a cultural movement that revived and celebrated Amerindian cultural forms but did not seek to explore their transformative potential. Indigenismo defanged the Amerindians and romantically saw them as culture producers but not history producers. Mariátegui reinterpreted their history in a more vibrant way – looking backwards at Inca primitive socialism and current struggles against the latifundistas as resources for social transformation. ‘The thesis of a communist Inca tradition is’, he wrote, ‘the defence of a historical continuity between the ancient Inca communal way of life and the Peruvian communist society of the future’. Mariátegui’s Andean socialism was never a restoration of the past, of a primitive communism of an ancient Inca world. ‘It is clear that we are concerned less with what is dead than with has survived of the Inca civilization’, he wrote in 1928. ‘Peru’s past interests us to the extent it can explain Peru’s present. Constructive generations think of the past as an origin, never as a programme’. [my italics] In other words, the past is a resource not a destination – it reminds us of what is possible, and its traces show us that elements of that old communitarianism can be harnessed in the fight against colonial private property relations in the present. When Marxism came to the Third World, it had to be supple and precise – learn from its context, understand the way capitalism morphs in a new venue and explore the ways for social transformation to drive history.

The Comintern tried to be supple, but its limited knowledge of the world meant it ended up being far too dogmatic to be always useful. By the late 1920s, the Comintern suggested the creation of a Black Belt in the southern region of the United States, Native Republics in South Africa and an Indian Republic along the Andean region of South America. From Moscow, it appeared as if the nationalities theory could be easily transported to these distant lands. For South America, the theory was debated at the First Latin American Communist Conference held in Buenos Aires in June 1929. Fierce debate broke out here, with the Comintern’s preferred position being opposed by Mariátegui’s associates. ‘The construction of an autonomous state from the Indian race’, Mariátegui wrote, ‘would not lead to the dictatorship of the Indian proletariat, nor much less the formation of an Indian State without classes.’ What would be created is an ‘Indian bourgeois State with all of the internal and external contradictions of other bourgeois states’. The preferred option would be of the ‘revolutionary class movement of the exploited indigenous masses’, which was the only way for them to ‘open a path to the true liberation of their race’. The debate on goals and strategy became so fierce that this was the only Latin American Communist Conference to be held. ‘The indigenous proletariat await their Lenin’, Mariátegui wrote. He meant not a Lenin as such, but a theory that could emerge from the movements to lead them against the rigid structures of the past and present.

This was not always the lesson that was learned. But it is our lesson now.

Red Star Over the Third World, Vijay Prashad, 2019

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-women-in-society/

Muslims in most countries surveyed say that a wife should always obey her husband. In 20 of the 23 countries where the question was asked, at least half of Muslims believe a wife must obey her spouse.

Muslims in South Asia and Southeast Asia overwhelmingly hold this view. In all countries surveyed in these regions, roughly nine-in-ten or more say wives must obey their husbands. Similarly, in all countries surveyed in the Middle East and North Africa, about three-quarters or more say the same.

https://quranx.com/4.34

Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.

“Reliance of The Traveller: The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law”, p.559 (TOR) :

m10.12: Dealing with a Rebellious Wife

When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness in his wife (nushuz, dis: p42) (O: whether in words, as when she answers him coldly when she used to do so politely, or he asks her to come to bed and she refuses, contrary to her usual habit; or whether in acts, as when he finds her averse to him when she was previously kind and cheerful), he warns her in words (O: without keeping from her or hitting her, for it may be that she has an excuse. The warning could be to tell her, “Fear Allah concerning the rights you owe to me, '' or it could be to explain that rebelliousness nullifies his obligation to support her and give her a turn amongst other wives, or it could be to inform her, "Your obeying me [def: (3) below] is religiously obligatory''). If she commits rebelliousness, he keeps from sleeping (O: and having sex) with her without words, and may hit her, but not in a way that injures her, meaning he may not (A: bruise her,) break bones, wound her, or cause blood to flow. (O: It is unlawful to strike another's face).

He may hit her wether she is rebellious only once or whether more than once, though a weaker opinion holds that he may not hit her unless there is repeated rebelliousness.

(N: To clarify this paragraph, we mention the following rulings: -1- Both man and wife are obliged to treat each other kindly and graciously.

-2- It is not lawful for a wife to leave the house except by the permission of her husband, though she may do so without permission when there is a pressing necessity. Nor may a wife permit anyone to enter her husband's home unless he agrees, even their unmarriageable kin. Nor may she be alone with a nonfamily-member male, under any circumstances.

-3- It is obligatory for a wife to obey her husband as is customary in allowing him full lawful sexual enjoyment of her person. It is obligatory for the husband to enable her to remain chaste and free of want for sex if he is able. It is not obligatory for the wife to serve her husband (dis: w45.1); if she does so, it is voluntary charity.

-4- If the wife does not fulfill one of the above-mentioned obligations, she is termed "rebellious'' (nashiz), and the husband takes the following steps to correct matters:

(a) admonition and advice, by explaining the unlawfulness of rebellion, its harmful effect on married life, and by listening to her viewpoint on the matter;

(b) if admonition is ineffectual, he keeps from her by not sleeping in bed with her, by which both learn the degree to which they need each other;

(c) if keeping from her is ineffectual, it is permissible for him to hit her he believes that hitting her will bring her back to the right path, though if he does not think so, it is not permissible. His hitting her may not be in a way that injures her, and is his last recourse to save the family;

(d) if the disagreement does not end after all this, each partner chooses an arbitrator to solve the dispute by settlement, or divorce.)

”The History of al-Tabari, Volume IX: ‘The Last Years of the Prophet’”, page 113. From the Farewell Sermon, Muhammad’s final speech before he died:

“Now then, O people, you have a right over your wives and they have a right over you. You have [the right) that they should not cause anyone of whom you dislike to tread your beds; and that they should not commit any open indecency (fāḥishah). If they do, then God permits you to shut them in separate rooms and to beat them, but not severely. If they abstain from [evil], they have the right to their food and clothing in accordance with custom (bi’l-ma‘rūf). Treat women well, for they are [like] domestic animals (awān) with you and do not possess anything for themselves. You have taken them only as a trust from God, and you have made the enjoyment of their persons lawful by the word of God, so understand and listen to my words, O people.”

https://quranx.com/Hadith/Bukhari/USC-MSA/Volume-1/Book-6/Hadith-301

Narrated Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri:

Once Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) went out to the Musalla (to offer the prayer) of `Id-al-Adha or Al-Fitr prayer. Then he passed by the women and said, "O women! Give alms, as I have seen that the majority of the dwellers of Hell-fire were you (women)." They asked, "Why is it so, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ?" He replied, "You curse frequently and are ungrateful to your husbands. I have not seen anyone more deficient in intelligence and religion than you. A cautious sensible man could be led astray by some of you." The women asked, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?" He said, "Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?" They replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn't it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?" The women replied in the affirmative. He said, "This is the deficiency in her religion."

https://quranx.com/Hadith/AbuDawud/Hasan/Hadith-2142

Narrated Umar ibn al-Khattab:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said: A man will not be asked as to why he beat his wife.

It’s hard to know if they’re lying, delusional or simply don’t have the slightest idea what their own religion says.

[supernatasha]

On the Mediterraneans and the South Asians

Honestly, it pisses me off so much when people say the Ancient Greeks/Romans were all white because these ignorant people have no idea how much mingling there was of Africans and South Asians in these areas, particularly the Asians. So here's a quick little history lesson talking about the Mediterraneans (Greek, Persian, Assyrians) and South Asia (Aryans, Dravidians, Tamils).

First of all, we all know race is a social construct, right? Okay, second, I'll try to provide modern-day locations along with their past counter-parts to avoid getting confusing because I know not everyone has this shit memorized like me (rather uselessly, it seems). Also of importance, a HUGE amount of South Asia's history has been lost due to colonization of modern-day India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Burma (Myanmar). So unfortunately, much of this will rely more extensively on records from the somewhat better preserved Greek and other Mediterraneans rather than the South Asians (though there is still plenty of info). 

So let's start with about... 6th century BC, okay? For a hint of what we're dealing with, check out this very rad and surprisingly accurate map of the 8th century. Estimations of the beginning of the Greek empire are about 800 BC. South Asian civilizations are just about in the middle of their Iron Age, which overlaps with the Vedic period (the settling of Aryans into modern day India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan). These are relatively light skinned people, by the way, who had been mingling with East Asians, Europeans, Africans, and Dravidians/Tamils (local people of South Asia) for several thousand centuries. So you probably think they're white...

Thankfully, we have art to show us explicit brown people and people with East Asian features (epicanthal fold) :

Greeks were perfectly aware of dark brown skinned people in Africa during this time period, btw.

First of all, I don't quite know how well-researched/respected this book by Edward Pococke written in the 1800s is, but this guy gives us a semi-convincing argument that South Asian tribes basically settled in the Mediterranean first a long time ago. But on the other hand, I genuinely believe this whole argument can just as easily be applied to North African tribes, and that's probably more likely. (Also, he says Mediterranean language is descended from Sanskrit, which is a bit inaccurate; both Mediterranean languages and Sanskrit are descended from Proto-Indo-European.) But anyway, if you're looking for more info, read through the book. It's not that long, it's pretty interesting, and a lot of what he says is pretty good proof of Africans founding Mediterranean civilizations. 

So, one of the earliest hints we have of Greeks sharing roots with Aryans was the religious cult of Orphism, which was descended from the myth of Orpheus. It's first hints appeared in literature around 600 BC. It shares many elements with the Aryan version of Vedic Hinduism, and it has often been theorized that the journey Orpheus traveled through was a reference to India.

In 537 BC, Cyrus (Persia) makes it to Peshawar (Afghanistan) and adds Gandhar (also in Afghanistan) to his kingdom; Hindus will recognize this as the name of another ancient kingdom. and Darius makes it to Punjab (Pakistan/India). 

In 484 BC, Herodotos (Greek) wrote another book about India. In it, he describes South Indians (Dravidians) as "dark as Ethiopians" and North Indians (Aryans) as "similar to Egyptians in appearance." HMMMM. 

Around 380-ish or so, we get Megasthenes. This guy claims he knows Hercules and Dionysus (both the god and the ambassador) hung out in Pentapotamia (Punjab) a lot. He came with a whole court, and he got as far south as Sri Lanka (which is pretty much as south as you can possibly go, unless you wanna go down to the Maldives or Mauritius). Now, he was not "discovering" these places; the Greeks and other western cultures were well aware of them, as well as of their religion. He was an ambassador. This implies that these people were in close enough contact to have ambassadors. Here's the book he wrote on Indika. 

In about 327 BC, Alexander "the Great" comes knocking around Paurav (modern day Punjab). At the time, that was considered the border of the biggest empire around, seeing as how Alexander's armies slaughtered all the "tribes" he encountered on his way to Paurav. Now he encounters the surrender of King Purrushotam... and on his shield is something resembling a symbol of the Shurasens (Herakles), and some historians have predicted that's because this guy had ancestry related to the Greeks. You know who? Our friend Megasthenes!

In 322 BC, Alex dies and King Chandragupta of the Maurya empire reconquers the northwest (Punjab, etc). At this point, those people are practically indistinguishable from both north Aryans and east Grecians. 

In 250, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom develops (present day Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan). This city, acknowledged in Hellenic texts as a Greek city, sat right at the edge of the Hindu-Kush mountains, leaving little room to doubt they were mixing with the Aryans on that side and the Iranians (called Sogdiana back then, where it's presumed some Aryans migrated to South Asia from) on the other side. (Bactria, btw, is considered one of the early Central Asian civilizations, not Greek or South Asian, and their religion was a FASCINATING mix of Zoroastrianism Hinduism, Buddhism, and eventually early Christianity and Islam.) Check out this rad Bactrian art: 

Around 180 BC, the Greco-Bactrian empire pretty officially converts into the Indo-Greek Kingdom with Demetrius's arrival. 

Also, check out this map of East Asians mixing with the Greeks and the South Asians during this time: 

"Alexander took these away from the Aryans and established settlements of his own, but Seleucus Nicator gave them to Sandrocottus (Chandragupta), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants." - this is talking about what's now modern-day Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Now, since this is talking about intermarriage in about 64 BC, we can assume that they've been getting it on for a while. So there are plenty of Greeks running around in actual Greece descended from people of Aryan/Dravidian backgrounds. 

[tumblasha]

a review of the first week of cabo verde

so i've officially landed in the praia, cabo verde, airport seven (7) whole days ago, and i want to share my initial thoughts. this will be long, so here's a numbered list :)

1 . i feel like i'm a kid back in brazil but also a 21 y/o tall kid

so caboverdians speak portuguese (bc it's taught in formal schools) and they also speak kabuverdianu (creole, different across all the islands). being someone that can translate / speak at the store for the person they live with [1], it just feels like i'm a kid with a limited vocab

living in a beach town where everything is at a slower pace and is within walking / bus / taxi distance made me feel happy :) vacation!dasha is alive and well

2 . cabo verde is also a tall kid (but 48 y/o)

this one is sorta very much on me.

so i did the classic American Tourist thing and never actually learned anything about the history of the country i will be traveling to (sorry). since coming here and asking my co-workers and friends-of-misti about the general vibes of this country, i've learned so much! a lot of which Make Sense, a lot of which Confuse Me

older caboverdians tend to see themselves as not-african. i also learned that some ppl in some countries in mainland africa also don't consider themselves african bc of the way that the label "africa" comes with various histories, most of them negative bc of europe. this is why "kriolu" / "creole" are such popular words ! also younger caboverdians acknowledge that they are african / black if that applies to them

race is phenotypical here. which is what i expected (closer to how latam sees race ig?? more like how brasil sees race ig??). what i'm trying to say is that if you introduce yourself as "from the usa", they'll always say "no, where are u Actually from" and won't rest until u say something like "peruvian, chinese, etc." bc a lot of ppl outside of the usa don't believe that the usa has "actual indigenous ppl anymore" [2]. it also means that speaking english in the street invites ppl to ask you ur race

being east asian (chinese) in cabo verde is sorta .. rough. the microaggressions that i've seen in the two (2) days that my chinese-american roommate face is kinda Wild. when the person leading our cultural training said "oh sometimes ppl will call u 'china'" to my friend i thought that it meant that it would replace "ma'am" in the usual "yes, ma'am" / "no, ma'am" conversations with strangers, not that random ppl will yell "china!" multiple times to my friend when we're sitting on the sand. this has ties with macau and the rest of the chinese gov't building universities, casinos, and having a Business Presence in the country. but at least we got tourism industry students to invite us to clubs bc my friend is chinese-american??? [3] it's just really weird to me bc i haven't faced any racial / appearance-based ... acknowledgements ... even tho i clearly look like a foreigner in a sorta-racially-homogenous place (talking abt the mostly black island santiago)

independence day is not really celebrated here : ( ppl have conflicting opinions on the independence of the country. most of the country likes the day (july 5) bc it's a day off from work. other ppl say that it's hard to be a country with growing pains and would rather have portugal's gov't deal with building the infrastructure. other ppl are putting in the work to ease the growing pains. kinda sad since massachusetts, rhode island, and brazil (afaik) have big celebrations (fireworks and everything) rather than just a random ceremony where the president speaks for a bit and everyone goes home

a lot of the night life is european. someone pls teach me how to vibe to edm and house music and general non-lyrical music fjewiaofj but also shoutout to that club with brazilian funk. if only i learned the dance that my são paulo friend taught me </3

3 . the food is sorta fantastic here ngl

yes, i'm behind on the foodposting, and idk if i'll ever catch up lmao

for my lovely friends who eat meat, cachupa / caxupa is one of the loveliest things to eat. it's a meat-based (with veggies!) soup dish ?? it usually has either fish or pork tho. it's the national dish for a reason <33 also the seafood is good. sola-approved!

for my lovely friends who don't eat meat, i found a vegan place like 8 min away from my apt! also bc i'm in a City, it's easy to ask for things to be made vegetarian (plus there's always couscous and salads lol). also veg cachupa exists

for all my lovely friends, the food isn't Too too varied. i feel like the most common foods are pizzas, pastas, burgers, and shwarmas. also chinese foods are translated in an interesting way: noodles are pasta / spaghetti, dumplings are pastels (the empanada-esque brazilian translation), etc. there are also a bunch of brazilian churrascarias and one (1) indian restaurant

also i tried to be Cool and add some hot sauce to one of my pastas and i had to pretend i didn't want to kill myself in front of the Adults on the table

4. kabuverdianu is a cool language

i learned duolingo's haitian creole to get the vibes of a creole language. though this is attached to portuguese instead of french, a lot of the characteristics are the same. the words borrowed from the european language are spelled in a way that makes sense (maybe in a way that makes more sense to spanish-speakers?). i also like how gendered things tend to just be made gender neutral (usually defaulting to the masc way). i can hear it and understand it if spoken to me slowly, but after that ... oof!

5 . marcha do orgulho made me v happy

what if i change my "go to carnaval in every continent" goal to "go to pride in every continent" hehe. i think it was so Good how the pride that had 30 ppl last year exceeded their goal of 100 ppl this year by A Lot. even though there were a lot of ppl from the EU who backed the event (logistically spread the word i think??), the ppl who showed up were mostly black and made it such a fun time :,)

i also met a trans woman who claimed was the only trans woman in her island :,0 [5] she traveled all the way to santiago for pride

6 . overall i'm excited for the summer

i think that i'll spend a lot of my time reading a book by the beach and learning kabuverdianu while telling myself that i can maybe be an immigrant like my parents [4] or at least work abroad for a few years maybe. i'm excited to be an adult. i went to the beach (one on the other side of the island) today, and i just feel refreshed. i got to swim in the water like if it were a pool and hang out with the fish lol

---

[1] my parents as a kid, my roommate as a taller kid (now)

[2] overheard at a bar in barcelona

[3] my roommate will prob talk abt it more since she's doing the indentityX blogposts that misti hosts lol

[4] for those that don't know, there's at least a two-gen moving maternal history in my family line. my grandma moved across the country after high school. my mom moved across the continent after college. i wanna Continue that somehow bc i feel like it'd be cute

[5] lots of gays and lesbians, according to her, but being trans is a whole different thing there

[jellogram]

Whenever I see those posts that are like "I can't travel because I can't afford a $2,000 plane ticket" I'm like... yes traveling is expensive and it's incredibly frustrating how inaccessible it is for most people. However. Most plane tickets are not $2,000. That is ridiculously expensive for a plane ticket. If you live in the US, the only places that usually cost that much are Australia/Oceania, mainland China, and sub-Saharan Africa. Maybe a few other places that aren't frequently visited by tourists, like Central Asia.

Tickets from the west coast of the US to Europe are around $600 round trip but you can find cheaper ones. From the east coast it's around $300-400. Most places in South America run around $400, less for the northern regions. Most of the Caribbean is around $300-400. Asia is more expensive but you can get flights to India in the $700s and Japan in the $800s.

Coast-to-coast US travel is typically around $200-$300. All these numbers are round trip and include baggage.

And if you live in Europe, traveling to Asia, Africa, and inter-Europe is all waaaaay cheaper than these prices.

Still expensive and not possible for a lot of people, don't get me wrong, but I see people throw out ridiculous numbers. Most of my job is searching for flight deals so I'm extremely familiar with these rates and it kills me when people say a flight to France from the US costs like $1500, because no the fuck it doesn't. So if you've been discouraged by those kinds of numbers, rest assured they're completely wrong and hmu if you need help finding cheap flights or any other flight advice because like I said, I am literally paid to do this.

[normal-thoughts-official]

joe is from north africa

joe is from north africa

joe is from north africa

joe is from north africa

joe is from north africa

joe is from north africa

joe is from north africa

joe is from north africa

joe is from NORTH FUCKING AFRICA

if you people make Nicky Italian raised in Italy and Booker French raised in France in every single fucking AU that crosses ur path, then why the FUCK dont you also make joe north african raised in north africa and instead go for him being Vaguely Muslim™ or else the child of immigrants but born and raised in the First World Country Of The Day. Like I know why but can you think for five seconds about your biases before you do this

Joe is from the Maghreb. That's Morocco, Tunisia, Argelia, Mauritania, and Libya. Take your pick from one of these instead of making him from the fucking Netherlands or whatever the fuck for absolutely no reason

a few tips!

north africa is not the middle east any more than italy is mexico. just because both areas have a muslim majority doesn't mean they're interchangeable

if you're making him from jerusalem because of the crusades thing... that means you're making your modern au joe palestinian. you do realize that, yes? you do realize that you're having him be born in one of the most dangerous places in the world to be Arab and Muslim, in the heart of one of the most brutal conflicts and areas of colonization in the modern world, yes? you do realize that you can't just gloss over that?

people writing canonverse: please please PLEASE stop having joe be super involved with european culture shit (eurovision, the eurocup, rooting for random european teams in football), ESPECIALLY if you're going to make him have a weird attachment to the people that HE SAW COLONIZE HIS OWN PEOPLE

France and Spain in particular are directly responsible for the destruction of a great deal of Joe's culture. Like they literally tried to destroy the native Maghrebian cultures. And Joe was there to see it. He SAW them killing and enslaving his people and making his native practices forbidden and trying to eradicate his culture, and changing it forever and taking another part of his past from him. Joe would not fucking sing the marselleise with his whole chest for no reason, are you kidding me

and before you justify this by telling me that well, he doesn't gave a particular attachment to any of these countries because they didn't exist by the time he was born: Italy didn't exist when Nicky was born either, and none of you people ever hesitate to make him super attached to Italy and Italian culture in general. and like morocco was out there commemorating their victories with "dima maghreb" so i think its safe to say that there is still a sense of union between the maghrebian countries anyway. there's no reason joe cant have an attachment to the particular country that now includes the specific territory he was born in, or even all of them

there is no reason other than eurocentrism for you people to assume they have spent the majority of their lives in the first world. at the beginning of the story they meet in morocco. they go then for a job in south sudan. they are very familiar with afghanistan. the only reason they went to london was to follow copley because he blew their cover. also they are constantly traveling anyway, so there's no reason they wouldn't go between all continents and favor Europe for no reason, especially considering that a good chunk of the major current conflicts take place in the third world thanks to colonialism

check your eurocentrism

stop erasing joe's origins

thanks

[the-bookmark]

How I Found Livingstone

by Henry Morton Stanley

This is not a book I would ordinarily have been interested in.  I stumbled across it at the local library online and it piqued my interest, so I checked it out.  However, after 30 pages, I realized that it suffered from 'woke' editing, though the description gave no indication that it had been edited or abridged, and at over 500 pages, I hardly thought so.

Since I'd become interested in Stanley's journal, I searched for an UNedited Kindle edition at Amazon.com, found one for a mere 99 cents, and returned the 'woke' version to the library.  The unedited volume contained many pages of Stanley's descriptions and opinions of various peoples and cultures in and around the Middle East, especially those in Zanzibar, where he spent a great deal of time preparing for his journey.  I appreciated being able to read the journal as originally penned.

Why was Stanley engaged in this expedition?  He was a newspaper journalist who was contacted by the owner of the New York Tribune, who made one demand: FIND LIVINGSTONE!

The explorer had not been heard from for a number of years and was generally assumed to be dead.  If he discovered that Livingstone were indeed dead, Stanley was ordered to bring back as many proofs of his death as could be obtained.  If he were to find the man alive, he was to provide whatever supplies he needed.  He was given an unlimited expense account, asked to stop by the grand opening of the Suez Canal (That puts it in some perspective, doesn't it?!), make a number of other stops along the way, and then prepare an expedition to travel to Central Africa in search of Livingstone.

It is imperative that the reader remember that Stanley set out with his caravan in 1870, when Africa was largely unsettled and consisted of many small tribes ruled by 'sultans' and warlords, who demanded 'tribute' from anyone passing through their village, and that, for the most part, the journey had to be made on foot.

The journal includes Stanley's account of the time he spent with Dr. Livingstone, as well as Livingstone's account of his search for the source of the Nile.  I found the journal quite fascinating!  It is well worth your time.

SPOILER ALERT!

Excerpt from Chapter XI:

In the meantime, the head of the Expedition had halted, and the kirangozi was out of the ranks, holding his flag aloft, and Selim said to me, “I see the Doctor, sir.  Oh, what an old man!  He has got a white beard.”  And I – what would I not have given for a bit of friendly wilderness, where, unseen, I might vent my joy in some mad freak, such as idiotically biting my hand; turning a somersault, or slashing at trees in order to allay those exciting feelings that were well-nigh uncontrollable.  My heart beats fast, but I must not let my face betray my emotions, lest it shall detract from the dignity of a white man appearing under such extraordinary circumstances.

So I did that which I thought was most dignified.  I pushed back the crowds, and, passing from the rear, walked down a living avenue of people, until I came in front of the semicircle of Arabs, before which stood the “white man with the grey beard.”

As I advanced slowly towards him I noticed he was pale, that he looked wearied and wan, that he had grey whiskers and moustache, that he wore a bluish cloth cap with a faded gold band on a red ground round it, and that he had on a red-sleeved waistcoat, and a pair of grey tweed trousers.

I would have run to him, only I was a coward in the presence of such a mob – would have embraced him, but that I did not know how he would receive me; so I did what moral cowardice and false pride suggested was the best thing – walked deliberately to him, took off my had, and said:

“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”

“Yes,” said he, with a kind, cordial smile, lifting his cap slightly.

I replaced my hat on my head, and he replaced his cap, and we both grasped hands.

[etherealvoidechoes]

Old Friends. Bright Skies.

Had to satisfy this itch as the writing bug comes back. Some spoilers but not too much as this is a flashback for "Hollowed Defiance" and as usual I'll have to reedit it to fit in the future. Bradford centric.

Don't want to say who Bradford meets in the fic and will let y'all find out. :)

Warnings for language/cursing, some violence, blood, gore/body horror, and alien death mostly from a totally unnecessary surgery scene. As soon as you hit the first mention of anesthesia you're going to want to skip to "Back on track, they neared the meeting room." This probably spawned off of me writing the medical scene for my next chapter in the Borderlands fic.

Aprox. 9k

---------

Another day, another hidden market for Bradford and crew to peruse. It was a little different this time, being located in the remains of the semi-glassed city of Cape Town and the fact there was a hidden and thriving community living there. Seemed like this one avoided the major problem that plague abounded cities — The Lost and Chryssalids. Actually, Chryssalids became a main food export for the locals. Seemed like those bugs sprung forth from the sea on occasion and made some nests in the more uninhabitable portions of the city, but the locals had a system of keeping them in check before they caused problems. 

 For the Lost “problem”, perhaps that hellfire plasma that rained down long ago burned up most of the corpses and whatever gasses emitted from the pods contained, besides wrecking a portion of the latter. And any pods that remained were skeletal remnants, torn down to their metal frames with few pieces remaining. 

Bradford and his small crew — approximately 35 people — were just passing through the area as their little humvee and jeep convoy were traveling back to East Africa to meet back up with the Avenger. They had recently finished up with the usual investigating leads on the location of the Commander(turning up cold as usual) and getting several Resistance Cells set up in this part of the country. And in turn, they got a few that wanted to join them and they rarely refused. Every little bit helped.

Bradford was currently chatting with an arms dealer that had a suspiciously extensive selection of old Earth weapons and some ADVENT magnetic weapons. Though his suspicions were quickly answered when two “middlemen” poked their noses into his business. He was all too familiar with one of them. Void Walkers. They had nose into just about every facet of trade and if there were on good terms with this dealer.

“So what brings you down south, my cynical friend?” Always a peep in their step, Nithrall greeted him with open arms and a glitched giggled laugh. Of course, Bradford stuck his hand out, if not directly shoving it towards their mask to keep them beyond arm’s length.

“Nithrall…” Bradford did his best to stifle a growl. But his right brow twitched away. “Pleasure to see you again… and so soon.” Sarcasm dripped like thick honey from his lips. It was far too soon for his liking with their mannerisms, but usually, when they were around he got something good. He glanced at their companion, wearing a similar mask to Nithrall’s but with red lenses, who looked rather indifferent to their companion’s actions. “Hi.”

“Greetings.” They nodded back. “Nithrall, let’s not stifle business for too long. We have places to be.”

A gruff sigh came from Nithrall as they stepped back. “The both of you are no fun. Especially you,” they jabbed a finger as their companion, “Red.”

“Something… something tells me you were expecting us?” Bradford just felt like there was too much of a coincidence with them, especially her, being there.

Nithrall’s digital visor lit up with fireworks and a ‘what do you think?’ flashed a few times. “You know how us Void Walkers work!”

Raising both hands to his face, Bradford just buried it in his palms and let out several curses. “For the love of…” Bradford felt like his brow would be stuck twitching for hours. 

The arms dealer just laughed at such an odd working relationship they had before gesturing for them to come to the back for more privacy. 

Turned out the dealer was hiding more special goods — more old Earth weapons and ammo in much better condition, more ADVENT weapons, armor, and some alien tech — just for XCOM, but was waiting on the Void Walkers to step in to ID that Bradford was the one they would be given to. Of course, with payment.

“This is all yours just for the remaining price of some medical supplies, maybe three of those generators on one of those trucks, and refined metals.” The dealer smiled. “I am willing to trade in some of it for some hard labor. There are some… caches … I want searched in the city. There are some Chryssalids and other feral alien animals that have chased my workers and me out. You guys do that and you can take some of the supplies there and everything is paid for.” They smiled.

“Hm.” Bradford raised a brow. He looked at everything; it was a great selection of gear that could do them some good. But… “I didn’t ask for any of this.” He turned to look at the Void Walkers. “What’s the catch?”

“No catch! No catch!” Nithrall waved their hands. “Well, maybe… ish?” They glanced at Red, shrugging their shoulders.

“Maybe?” Sounded like a catch.

Red shook their head. “What Nithrall means it’s a gift from us and a contact.” Walking over to the dealer, with a distinctive psionic ping, a canister appeared in Red’s hands that they handed off to the dealer. “That’s the other portion of our part and another portion was paid by a mutual contact.”

Bradford watched the exchange before his eyes shifted about, bitting his inner lip, as his mind cycled back to what the dealer said. Remaining price of… huh. “Okay…” Everything was nudging him to accept everything with some negotiations. “And who exactly is this ‘mutual’ contact that’s this generous?”

“Recoil Raidā.”

“Them?” He was genuinely surprised to hear that name. “It’s been a while since we spoke last… but this is much.” Even Volk wasn’t this generous.

“Well,” Nithrall shuffled closer to him, body bristling with excitement, only for a hand to the face followed by a solid shove back, “heeee wants to meet up!”

There was the catch he had been waiting for. “He wants to meet up?” He soon grumbled under his breath. “Hm, know that fact now.”

“A thank you for all the collaborations. And a peace offering as he has some Hybrid and alien companions.” Red explained.

“Ah, great. Ex-ADVENT with a lot of blood on their hands, I bet.” 

“Him? No. The companions? Possibly.”

“Hm.” That just made Bradford more suspicious and curious. 

He looked back at all the supplies laid out. A lot of good it would do XCOM but it was coming with a catch. This years long contact wanted to meet up. Finally. But could it have been an elaborate setup of trap? False pretense to solidify that trust only to shatter it with an ambush? No. The Void Walkers were meticulous in setting up contacts and weeding out any ADVENT moles. This had to be genuine.

He shook his head. Looked like their arrival back to the Avenger would be delayed by a few days.

“Okay then. You two can set the meet up.” He looked at Nithrall, eyes narrowed. “No funny business.”

“You can count on us.” ‘Happy eyes’ appeared on that visor as they gave a thumbs up. That just made him grumble.

He then looked at the dealer. “What was that about clearing out some caches?”

—————————

After a few grueling days of clearing out the caches and their alien occupants, XCOM had some more gear and supplies to take back home, with some being quick to claim their weapons of choice.  They scored additional supplies by bringing back the least managed alien corpses which local butchers were all too happy to make use off. 

As they were getting themselves packed up, the Void Walkers returned with some news. Looked like they wouldn’t have to make any detours to meet up with Recoil Raidā. The chosen safe location was about 3/4ths of the way back to the Avenger. It was an abandoned ADVENT outpost. They did a mixture of their work in the surrounding area and then a partial quarantine from some outbreak.

“What the hell do you mean this in a quarantined area!?”

Everyone thought Bradford was going to blood a few blood vessels once his mind caught that detail. But the Void Walkers were able to placate him saying that the area, in particular, was clear from the previous outbreak and was ADVENT wanting to keep locals and migrants from crossing through the area. The answer didn’t exactly please Bradford, but they offered some high-quality gas masks and filters, which changed his angry tune into a slightly annoyed one. 

“So what should we, I, be expecting? Have you told him of my identity? What I look like?” Bradford asked.

“Please, please.” Nithrall gestured for him to ‘chill out’. “You know we know discretion.” They snickered. “All identities have been hidden per how contracts go. Contact frequencies and code words will be how you will identify each other… and…”

“And?”

“Told him the cynical one is their leader, that needs some sleep and booze. Also has a slight gnarly facial scar. And info for you! Look for the chatty, excitable one with the green-lensed goggles and a red beanie. And ‘shrap’ pocked face.”

“Of course you would say that.” He wasn’t too happy they mentioned his facial scar, but there were others in the group that had scars worse than his. 

With that, the Void Walkers handed off the coordinates, code words, and contact frequencies to Bradford before heading off to do more business. Though Nithrall added they could pop up again for the meeting. Possibly pop up. Bradford hoped not. 

Bradford went over the more private information with the most senior members that day and as they traveled. They figured out what to share with the others and Bradford stressed whoever would be going to the meet would have to be on their best behavior. No intolerance to the Hybrids and aliens. 

“What the hell kind of phrases are these?” Takamura voiced his confusion as he read through the information. “This one looks to be lyrics from a song…” Eyes scrutinized the verses several times. “They say ‘Heavy is the head”, and our response ”that wears the crown.’”

“Hope they don’t expect Brady to be a singer.” Trish playfully nudged Bradford, who only rolled his eyes.

“It’s got some meaning behind it. Being the leader behind the resistance would be a heavy burden.” Laney said, nodding to herself.

“Hmm… clever. I remember some days Commander Reeves seemed to be at her limit. Especially towards the end…” Takamura had to admit that. 

“Don’t remind me.” Bradford shook his head. “There was a lot behind-the-scenes none of you saw. Some of the Council started to ramp up their demands to impossible levels.” He did and didn’t miss them. “Still can’t believe how the Council was turning against us one by one, weeks before the base attack and we were making serious progress.”

“Remember, brainwashing. Found info to confirm that.” Laney said.

“Right. Right.” That was an answer to more than half of it.

“Now, this other phrase is… interesting.” Takamura redirected the conversation. His brows just seemed to be permanently arched in disbelief. “ ’To confirm identities between leaders, he will say: Jets, jousting against sleek, stinging darks, through blackened skies and clenched teeth — and you will say: are living on burning fuel, prayers,  and… solo wings?’ What?”

“Sounds like someone is trying to be a poet.” Trish snickered, more or so at Takamura’s reaction.

“Makes me think of how those UFOs tore up our jets for the longest. Hell, the world’s fighter pilots had it rough.” Laney shook her head. “Lots of times our flyers came home on a wing and a prayer.” 

“Hm…” Takamura raised a hand to his chin. “Wing and a prayer. Perhaps they are a soldier from during the Old War with these choice of words?”

“Could be.” Laney shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter how dumb it may sound, just get it all memorized.” Bradford really couldn’t care less. He had heard and said dumber code phrases. 

They continued to go over the information for the next few days as they closed in on the location. They decided more than half of the caravan would split, taking all the important gear they’re procured, and continued their journey to the Avenger. As they were doing that, they also made contingency plans just in case it was a trap or the meeting went south.

As they neared, they sent a message to the Avenger to let them know what was going on and to make preparations for the Skyranger to pick them up if things went south.

—————————

Travel was uneventful. No bandits, and thankfully, no ADVENT. Seemed like their activity was on the lighter side in this region, but they knew they could never let their guard down. 

The convoy stopped the night just along the border of Chad and Sudan. Some time to get some rest, chart ADVENT movements, and split the convoy up. About 3/4ths of it would continue their way to the Avenger, crossing over into Sudan, and the remaining fourth would make their way to the meeting point.

The night went well. Just before dawn, they all rose, and the group went separate ways.

—————

The hours slipped by as Bradford’s group closed in on the location.

Bradford himself was sitting in the back of a jeep, hands resting tight on his rifle that rested over his knees, eyes closed, head hung back and firmly pressing against the taut patched-together mylar canvas covering a hole where the window should have been. He was sleeping… Or at least attempting to sleep. 

Twisted lips, a snort, and a grunt would slip out every other bump in the road or so.

He was used to the rough bumps, noise, and discomfort of the repaired yet shoddy ride; it was just his brain didn’t want to turn off. Anticipation was killing him.

Another hard bump, more like a jump, rocked him awake, nearly throwing him out of his seat. A curse slipped from his lips.

Rolling his neck a few times, he sat up straight and cursed some more. He rubbed his eyes and continued his cursing into grumbling. 

“Nomitai?” Takamura asked. His words were followed by a faint sloshing.

He looked up, peeking through his fingers, and saw an all too familiar sight. A silver flask. His throat trembled. “Taka… You know the last thing I need right now is a drink.” And it was tempting.

The man chuckled, shaking his head. “That’s why it’s coffee. Since when do I offer my cooking alcohol to others?” He shook the flask again. “It’s a smooth brew blend. A bit concentrated but no bitterness.” 

Bradford thought for a moment. Takamura was stingy when it came to alcohol, which he often relegated all of it to cooking. A snort slipped out. He took the flask. “Maybe a sip.” One sip became half the flask.

“How do you think this meeting will go?” Takamura asked, peeking through the window. The parched landscape was slowly giving way to lush greenery. A refreshing sight once more, especially the trees.

“Hm… quarantine.” A mutter left his lips. Barely noticing Patch, their frequencies specialist, going over the comms giving an all clear to keep moving through and no stopping — air quality was fine, no anomalies.

Massive red, white, and yellow signs, some with flashing words, warned all entering this was a restricted area, and that there was a plague loose. ADVENT will not assist anyone who enters nor rescue them.

“How kind of them to put in both ADVENT a few of the local languages.” Takamura noted a few more signs they passed by before they all disappeared. “Looks like there are no sensors if we’re still moving. Or Patch and co are jamming them.“

“Sounds like we’re finally in the area.” Bradford noted. He took one last gulp before capping off the flask and handing it back to him. “With how Recoil Raidā has been reliable over the years, I feel like it should go well.” 

“But.”

“But what?”

“As you sometimes say,” he raised his hands and soon made air quotes,”’your brain has been over active’.”

Bradford rolled his eyes. “Yes, I have my suspicions. Especially with that large gift.” 

“An interesting way of securing a meeting with short notice.”

Bradford nodded. “Just hope that bitter, cynical part of me isn’t right that this is some sort of setup.”

“Hopefully, it is not.” He related back in his seat. “If it is, we have made plans.”

“Just hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“ETA: 10 minutes to our location.” Somewhat static chatter was announced across their secured frequency. 

“Affirmative, Gargoyle. Continue to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.”

“Roger that.” 

“Everyone, from here on out we use our callsigns.”

They all agreed to that.

“And Ricco, send over the encrypted message so they’ll be expecting us.”

“Done and done, boss.”

—————

Ten minutes slipped by. An overgrown ADVENT outpost greeted their eyes. How quickly nature could take over eyesore those buildings as soon as the nuisances were gone.

As they entered the area, passing through the security gates. There were more signs, toppled over and overgrown, warning of the plague and quarantine. Additionally, there was yellow caution tape strung about; most slack and cut apart. 

XCOM slowed their speed as they pulled into the center of the interconnected outpost. Parked under some trees and covered with many tarps were off-roading vehicles from what they could glimpse. 

Emerging from the central building with quick haste four armed people: one female human, two Hybrids with partial Skirmisher gear — one pale almost white-skinned and the other was a deep rust brown —, and a brown to red scaled Viper with more convention ‘human’ armor in place of the alien kind. All had gas masks hanging loosely from their necks.

Bradford narrowed his eyes as soon as he saw the snake.

“Of course.” He grumbled. He glanced out the windows and noticed a few areas that could be sniper nests across the outpost. Which was quickly confirmed by some quick, quiet chatter from the other crew.

He raised his radio to his face. “Best behavior. EVERYONE.”

The female human told them to halt, and Bradford told his people to listen. Their turf, their rules… for now. 

As their convoy rolled to a stop, Bradford was the first to step, rifle in hand, but relaxed. One hand went up to the mask hanging from his neck and adjusted it. Eyes made contact with each person, lingering a bit too long on the Viper(and finger inching towards that trigger), before looking back at the human. He even rolled his right shoulder forward, showing the XCOM insignia, but like they could matter much. There were always imposters out there, and ADVENT was the source of some of them. False flags.

The human nodded to him.

“Let’s get this over with. If you are who you’re supposed to be.” She ran her fingers through her frizzy hair. Head shuttering, she cleared her throat. “Crying out…” She said. 

“Ooh, go and wake the king.” He replied.

“Call to arms…”

“For those who kiss the ring.”

“Stand your ground…” 

“The walls are comin' down.”

“It's do or die…”

“Do or die.”

“Heavy is the head…”

“That wears the crown.”

“Well…” Eyebrows raised, and eyes genuinely pleased, the human looked at her companions and gave an approving nod

“Step one, completed.” The pale-skinned Hybrid hummed with a smile, a voice higher pitched than most Hybrids. “Follow, follow.” Turning back to the main building, she gestured for them to follow. 

“Skipping a step or two, Hess.” The other Hybrid shook his head.

“We,” the human gestured to herself and the Viper, “will handle it, Vox.” She then looked at Bradford. “We’ll direct where your drivers should park your vehicles. Follow Hess and Vox inside.”

Bradford nodded. Shifting a hand over to his radio, he raised it to his face. “Follow their orders to a ’t’ on where to park and no funny business.”

“Roger.” They all responded.

With that done, he gestured for the others to follow the Hybrids into the building.

“Weapons are allowed, but fingers off triggers or we confiscate the weapons.” Vox warned.

“Noted.” Bradford nodded. Though spotting a few more Vipers as they moved from room to room almost made him break that rule. But he soon noticed how few of the Vipers were the military kind. Most seemed to be “civilian” types to help ease humanity into trusting their alien overlords. A few seemed to be nurses, seeing how they were expertly attending to the wounded. 

“Hm.” He was still going to be weary towards them.

He glanced back at Laney before speaking in a whisper. “Put in a message to the Avenger. If everything goes well here, we need some of our medical staff here. Get these people patched up.”

“Got it.” She nodded.

Though rundown, it looks like Recoil Raidā’s group had fixed up the place. Lights flickered here and there, missing floor panels, and haphazard coverings over the windows. It was rough, but the place looked to be livable. 

“Wonder how long they’ve been here?” Bradford mumbled to himself. 

As they walked, a sight made him, and a few of his people, stop. Or perhaps it was the sounds and a person talking? A rather breathy and muffled voice.

“Hmm. Seems the anesthesia is wearing off sooner than it should. Perhaps this disease afflicting you is the cause? Or is it your biology with the constant tweaking your cruel Masters perform? This changes my plans…”

Either way, glimmering sheer curtains caked with that familiar orange blood had been hastily tapped to the outside frame of a door; here and there, a few pieces of that silver tape were rolling back. 

Inside, though obscured, the sight wasn’t pretty. Chattering and hissing was one of those evolved Sectoids, but it looked wrong. Skin splotchy and beyond pale, limbs misshapen if not bloated, and body riddled with oozing black and white pustules. One hand tugged at the psi-dampening collar on its neck and it feebly pushed away with the other at the person in a hazmat suit. A rather tactical if not armored and rugged hazmat suit. He’d never seen such equipment, even from ADVENT…. for now. This had to be a new outfit as they looked out of place with everyone here.

“Please do your best to stop fighting. I don’t want to slip and make this worse for you.” There was a coldness to their voice, but somehow they sounded sincere. “I would give you more medicine if I had any left. Tch. Operations, careless scouting.” A grumble slipped out. “I’ll try to make this quick. You’ve suffered enough. Poor thing.”

The surgeon, if they could be called that, seemed rather unbothered as they worked delicately with the scalpel to carve open the Sectoid’s chest. Satisfied with the cut, they switched over to a retractor to open the incision further, not before taking a movement to remove the hand partially obscuring their helmet and shoving it back down to the table.

“Fascinating. Every time I think I’ve understood your kinds anatomy, the Elders go about tweaking you again.” The surgeon spoke their mind freely. “What generation are you? Or should I say version? Just another prototype continually being tweaked to reach ‘perfection’.” A scoff left their lips. “Perfection wouldn’t suffer from a plague and genetic degradation so easily, now would it? Note to self: Go through all my notes regarding the plagues. Need to cross-reference details. Gresslar loves detailed notes.”

“Time for the saw.”

A hand went to the tray again for another tool, aimlessly searching around.

“Saw…. Saaaaaw… Hm?” They glanced over their shoulder. An annoyed sigh almost hissed, came out. “Really? They them that again. And the bone cutters… Malakas… Recoil is paying extra for that.” 

“Guess I’ll use my hands. Bone structure is still rather fragile with the right force applied.” They looked back at the Sectoid eyes meeting those pained black orbs. They placed a hand on their head; the creature was shaking like a leaf. “This will be quite unpleasant for you. I apologize. I take no joy in your suffering.”

A few knicks here and there in just the right spots on the ribs with a scalpel took off some bone. Then, one by one, the surgeon snapped rib-bone after rib-bone around the sternum with their fingers until it was free. Again, the Sectoid let out a high-pitched chatter of pain as it weakly fought back. The surgeon was still unbothered by the attempts to stop them. Once that bone plate fell, they plucked it out and placed it on a nearby tray.

“And to end it all.”

A moment later, they grabbed a large syringe with a long clear hose that coiled on the floor, leading to a small machine next to their legs. Double-checking the thick needle for a moment, they soon plunged it directly into the Sectoid’s beating heart. Its chittering wails were quickly drowned out as the surgeon turned on the machine. Whirring to life. It hissed before going to work; orange blood, specked with black particles, traveled down that once clear hose.

The Sectoid continued to kick and scream. Movements slowly growing more sluggish as the seconds passed.

 “Stop fightn’.” The coldness in their voice barely changed. Yet, a blood-caked hand went to the Sectoid’s head and stroked it. “You know your fate. You were abandoned. They care not for you. The Elders have never cared.” They shook their head. “Stop fightn’, it’ll go faster. Ease your breathn’. Then you can sleep and join the others. Your blood will be memories fightn’ for our cause. You will not be forgotten.”

The Sectoid hissed and chittered for a little while longer until those flailing arms just dropped; one slipped down to the surgeon’s stroking hand. With each slow breath, the glow in its chest began to fade. Eyes narrowing, it weakly pressed its head against the surgeon’s hand. 

“Shh. It’ll be all over soon. Ease your breathn’.”

Several breaths later, the light in its chest finally died. It grew still.

“Subject expired. Why? Merciful option. Anesthesia supplies low. Time of expiration… 12:42. Beginning autopsy and gathering samples for isolation.”

It was all just strangely mesmerizing to watch.

Feeling a firm hand on his shoulder pull him forward nearly made Bradford flip out of pure instinct until he heard the voice.

“Come.” It was Vox. He had a weary, if not sad, look on his face as he glanced at the surgeon’s messy work. “We have a meeting and… you do not want to see their work. Strange one they are…”

Bradford looked back at that room and then at the Hybrid. That look in their eyes was a deeply pained one. Did it know that Sectoid?

“Right. Meeting. Lead on.” He nodded, then gestured for his people to follow.

Back on track, they neared the meeting room. Bradford pondered for a moment, wondering if this was a repurposed communications room as his mind went through several outpost layouts he was familiar with. 

As they neared, he heard chattering, but one voice stood out. It sounded male, human, and they were speaking in a foreign language that sounded somewhat familiar to him.

Ears twitching, his eyes narrowed. “Is that… is that Japanese I hear?” Leaning as inconspicuously as he could, he whispered to Takamura.

The man took a moment to focus his hearing. Eyes looked up and shifted about, listening to his mother tongue he rarely got to hear most months. It was refreshing. “I believe so.” He whispered back, pausing to listen some more. “Sounds like they are discussing ADVENT supply lines and moving refugees around.”

“Hm.” Sounded like they liked to stay busy. But there was something about that voice that almost sounded familiar to him. He shook his head. It was probably nothing.

As they reached the room, there was a man pointing at maps strewn across a long table; he was wearing a red beanie with curling brown hair peaking out here and there. Besides the cap, he was wearing a modular tactical vest with a sleeveless turquoise jacket underneath, woodland-print camouflage cargo pants, combat boots, and more tactical equipment.

“Hm.” Bradford raised a brow. His mind went back to the way Nithrall described the leader. “Think that may be Recoil Raidā.”

“Boss!” Hess racked the metal grating on the walls with her gauntlets a few times, claws scratching the metal, creating an ear-grating sound.

Just about everyone in the room cringed.

Recoil’s fingers dug into the table, shoulders tensed before relaxing, but those fingers didn’t. “Hess.” He hissed her voice. Slowly, he turned to look at her. “Yamete kudasai…”

She only grinned in response.

Vox sighed, hands twitching, ready to smack his own face. “Here is XCOM, boss. They passed the first phrase.”

“Oh?” His eyes lit up, finally noticing people accompanying the Hybrids. Definitely people he had never seen before. He looked them up and down several times, especially the rather gruff looking one with the facial scar on his right cheek. He grinned, voice easily slipping from a Japanese accent to a more American one. “Now, will they pass the second?” He chuckled to himself. 

Clapping his hands together a few times, he turned to face them and went over. 

He stood in front of Bradford and studied him a bit more. His grin grew more when the man raised a brow.

“I take you are the leader?” He cocked his head to the side. “Cynical leader in need of some sleep and a strong drink?”

Several tried to stifle a laugh.

Bradford snorted and nearly elbowed Takamura. Letting his rifle fall to his side, he crossed his arms. “Depends. Chatty.”

Recoil grinned more.

“Let’s see if those Void Walkers did their job.” He said before clearing his throat. He put his hands behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his heels. “Jets, jousting against sleek, stinging darks, through blackened skies and clenched teeth.”

“Are living on burning fuel, prayers, and solo wings.” Bradford answered.

“Ah!” A light laugh slipped out. “Void Walkers kept their promise.”

“Pleased to meet you, I’m the Recoil Raidā.” He extended his hand. “And you are… Central? Or Dimitri? Or Decker?”

He nodded. “Central.” Unfolding his arms, Bradford shook his hand with a firm grip. “Glad to finally meet you face to face. And thanks for the surprise gift.” 

Now having a better look at his face, Recoil looked to be in his mid-forties to early fifties. Light black and gray stubble lined his chin and upper lip. Bradford noticed running up the left side of his neck and partially to his face were scattered, dark scars varying from small pricks to twisted lines. They almost blended in with his freckled face, but a few glinted silver. Shrapnel pocked face like Nitrhall had described. He wondered how far it went. How did he get it? During the Old War? Questions for another time and if they became friends. 

“I can say likewise. And you’re welcome. Felt like making something special for the occasion.” He smiled. “It’s always nice to finally put a face to the name. Dead drops and text communications can be so… distant.” He rolled his eyes. “Sorry about the no radio communication for the longest. Took a while to get some vocal scramblers.” 

“Agreed.” Bradford nodded. “No need to apologize, had to keep your identities hidden these days. So what is it you want to chat about?”

“Now, let’s continue introductions as I see you’ve brought along a motley crew.” Leaning ever so slightly over, he noticed some more of his people were guiding Bradford’s people to the room. “Then trade some information, possibly some gear, and properly solidify this alliance.”

Bradford nodded along as he rubbed his chin. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Good. Now come in! Come in!” He ushered for all to enter the room.

Bradford was already introducing his people before everyone was in the room — mainly sticking to callsigns unless the person interrupted him. Recoil did the same with his own crew, though went into greater detail about little quirks everyone had which got a few of them to tell him to shut up or they threw a bottle at him. One Viper even threatened to crush him if he continued to mention her shedding problem. It all got a few snorts out of Bradford. Raider was indeed an excitable person, as described. Seemed like his group was one big dysfunctional family. Like XCOM.

With introductions over, things switched over to more resistance and tactical talk. Recoil filled them in on what they were talking about before their arrival — moving refugees to some hidden havens across the country and sabotaging some ADVENT security checkpoints as they ran along the routes they were looking at.

“Think we can cut out most of the travel if we get every to out ship. Fly over all the trouble and would take hours compared to days to hit all the locations.” Bradford offered a solution. “Thought we could still do some sabotaging. Would help the locals move more freely for some time.”

“Ship? Wait… y’all actually have a ship?” Recoil asked, voice slowly slipping into a southern accent. His brows shot up. There was a curious twinkle in his eyes. “Alien ship? Like them rumors from some them trading spots say ‘XCOM repurposed alien cargo ship’?”

Bradford chuckled and nodded. “That’s us.” 

“Gosh darn… I have to see it.”

“Recoil, focus.” Vox shook his head.

But the talk quickly went off track as Recoil spewed out a bunch of questions concerning the Avenger. What type of cargo ship was it? Food? Materials? Alien soldiers? Human test subjects still alive or liquified? Size? Shape? Flight controls? Flight speed? Power source? Multi-brained alien AI that has to be nullified or gutted or else it will fry all intruders at a drop of a hat?

Bradford somewhat answered some and ignored others as he tried not to be overwhelmed by the sudden verbal onslaught. But there was a curious suspicion growing in with how detailed some of the questions were getting with each passing second. A regular citizen wouldn’t even know to ask those questions. He had to be a veteran of the Old War. The question was it the regular government forces or XCOM?

Bradford made some sly hand signals to Laney. 

‘Old war military vibes?’

‘Old war military vibes.’ She responded with like gestures and a nod.

He wondered how he would broach that subject without picking at old wounds.

It took Vox and the others to get him to calm down and go back to more important matters, but Recoil really wanted to see the ship.

Discussions continued, and they hashed plans out. Recoil allowed them to use the room to get in contact with the Avenger to confirm everything went well and to let them know where to send the Skyranger and to prepare for some temporary guests.

Eventually, they broke off into their own groups. Bradford made a little huddle corner with his crew and began to discuss who Recoil could possibly be.

“With all those questions? I’m leaning more towards XCOM.” Trish said.

“But you would think he would confirm if he was one, no?” Takamura wasn’t so sure.

“Could be withholding to just make sure we’re not ‘fakes’.” Trish tutted.

“Right, right.” He nodded.

“You sure you don’t recognize him, Bradford?” Laney asked. “You memorized a lot of faces and callsigns back in the day.”

“Really?” Bradford just gave her an ‘annoyed’ look. “The main HQ roster was so damn large, and I had an entire communication team to keep up with everything.” He shook his head. “And then could have been from any branch and those were just as large.”

“Yeesh!” She raised her hands and backed up. “Was just asking.”

“Mhm.” Bradford shook his head and soon grumbled.

He glanced back at Recoil and studied his features some more. Nothing rang a bell, but there was something about them that seemed eerily familiar.

“There’s something about him… that seems familiar to me.”

“How so?” The others asked.

“I don’t know… mannerisms? Accent? Well, accents.” He took noticed the shifts from American to Japanese to a more southern American when he got too excited. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “There’s something about him I can’t put my finger on.”

“Ask a few questions? Laney suggested, nudging his arm a few times.

“Don’t want to knock a hornet’s nest… yet.”

Receiving a response from the Avenger that Firebrand was on her way and the Skyranger was stocked with medical supplies and a few doctors got everyone into gear. Bradford ordered his people to get a landing zone designated and work with Recoil’s people to move the most wounded first. Recoil just told his people to assist and get everyone organized to move soon.

The room quieted down as it was slowly emptied. Just chatter from those in the halls and other rooms.

Bradford took a moment to double-check his gear. Straps all locked and tight. Additional magazines all in place. That overly customized rifle he held near and dear to his heart was still good and had its safety only. All good.

He barely noticed someone creeping up behind him.

“So about that ship and XCOM.” Recoil said. Just a little too close.

Bradford’s brow twitched as he tensed. Slowly, his head turned to look at him. A quizzical brow was greeted by an excited grin. “You sure like asking a lot of questions.”

“Yes.” He nodded twice. “How else am I supposed ta gather info?”

Bradford shook his head. 

He had a feeling if he wanted to leave, the man would follow and still pester him about the damn Avenger. But maybe he could use that to his advantage?

“I’ll answer some of your questions.” Bradford said.

“Sweet, so—“ A raised finger quickly hushed Recoil.

“Only if you answer some of mine.” He explained. “Think of it as quid pro quo.”

Recoil let out a few chortled snorts. “So a tit for tat? I can roll with that.” Seemed fair. “So again, as I can tell yew were being rather cagey on that ship type, what was it?” He asked that question again. “And whatcha wanna know?”

A little information exchange began following the agreement. Bradford still stayed purposefully vague on details about the Avenger, but gave just enough to satisfy Recoil’s curiosity. He also answered some questions about XCOM. They were the ones that fell towards the end of the War, scattered to the winds, but reunited once more. He also truthfully told he was one of the original staff back in the day, but withheld his position.

In turn, Recoil answered his questions. 

Yes, he fought in the Old War. He fought as a pilot and shot down several alien ships during the war. Survived many dogfights by the skin of his teeth, but towards the end of the war, they finally shot him down. Still questioned how he survived the crash. Like Bradford, he avoided disclosing his country of origin he was, but with his strong American accent and an even stronger southern accent that would peak through, Bradford had a strong feeling he was once been a part of the U.S. Air Force. And then how he danced around any encounters with XCOM had Bradford strongly believing he may be one of their own or had jointly worked during some operation.

Recoil continued to answer some questions, such as he had been traveling the world, mostly with the assistance of the Void Walkers, to help out various cells and was looking for his sister. 

As he continued to blabber on about some innocuous details, Bradford kept picking up various ticks and mannerisms that seemed very familiar to him.

Why? He could wrap his mind around it. Why did this man seem so familiar to him? His eyes scrutinized that face once again. Nothing about the scars rang a bell, but something was coalescing in his mind regarding his facial shape. And those freckles. They reminded him of somebody.

Then it clicked. His eyes lit up.

Suddenly, he blurted out. “Oh God!” 

Recoil paused mid-rant and looked at him. “What? Said too much.”

“What? No. Give me a second.” He shook his head, turning to the side as he pinched his chin and grumbled.

A few minutes passed, and he was still grumbling. A few ‘can he be” and “is it possible” slipped out.

“Uh, Central?” Recoil moved closer. “Something I said?”

“No!” He raised a hand to stop him. “No. No. No.” Again he shook his head before looking at him; eyes studied those features again. “It’s just.” He bit his tongue as he mulled over what he was about to say. “Take off your hat.”

“Take off my hat?” Recoil raised a brow. “Why?”

“I can’t explain! Just take off your hat!”

“Geez, calm down… Ataoka…” He backed away, gesturing for him to chill out. “Atama ga okashii…” He grumbled under his breath. “Wonder how the heck this even matters.”

Taking off his hat, revealed curly dark brown locks with some grays here and there that went past his ears. Recoil ran his fingers through his hair a few times before giving his head a good shake. The locks bounced around before settling down.

“Hat off. M’k?” Stretching his arms, he gestured his hands outwards. “Better, nau?”

Everything just fell into place.

“Charles?” Bradford asked, voice nearly a whisper. “Charles Reeves?”

Recoil’s nose scrunched up as he jerked his head back. Eyes quickly narrowed. “How the hell —“ He paused, biting his tongue. Too late. Gave himself away. His composure was gone. Through gritted teeth, he did his best to keep his voice low. “How the hell do you know that!?”

“John.” He took a step towards him. “I’m John Bradford.”

He only got a puzzled look in response.

“Come on, Kansas high school. We met and became good friends. You introduced me to your sister, Jynn, and the three of us hung out frequently.”

“John?” He questioned, studying the man’s features some more. Nothing looked familiar to him. He looked nothing like the John he knew, but the last time he saw him was over 10 years ago. “No… yabai…” The puzzle looks continued, along with some head shakes. Impossible.

“Come on,” dismay crept into Bradford’s voice, “Grand Canyon trip… when was it… when was it?” He snapped his fingers a few times. “Gah, I think the 90s, but more importantly, you somehow dyed Jynn’s hair pink when she was sleeping. She chased you around after discovering the horrible joke, tackled you, and broke your collarbone.” He rattled out the details he could recall from that fond memory and continued to add on various escapes Charles got up to and many involved annoying his sister.

Recoil’s eyes widened with each tale. This man somehow knew his past and his family, but he just couldn’t recognize him.

“Heh, and you had some catchphrase you’d throw at me after I had a rough day with wrestling.” Bradford shook his head as he smiled, fondly remembering things from times long gone. “How did it go again? Think like this: Yo, buddy. Still alive?”

Recoil froze, nearly hearing that. “John? Johnny, John?”

“You know I damn well hate that nickname, right?”

“Maji manji?! Shooooot! Johnny!”

He threw himself at Bradford, wrapping his arms tightly around him and even lifted him up. He repeated his name several times, mixed in with several joyous ’I can’t believe it’ and other ramblings in English and Japanese as he twirled him around, very much ignoring Bradford’s laughs and protests to be put down. This drew quite the attention.

Eventually, he put him down and pulled away to catch his breath and contain his excitement.

“Calm, calm, calm…” He mumbled under his breath, struggling to get his breathing under control. But once he did, he looked back at Bradford. “You look so heckn’ different. The heck happened to you?”

Bradford shook his head. He looked away, towards the ground. Somber words left him. “War. Time. Alcohol. Let myself go down a dark hole for many years”

“Damn, buddy.” Moving closer, Charles placed a hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly. 

“It’s gotten better. Still struggle from time to time, but they,” he gestured towards the outside, “help keep me together. Besides our mission.”

“I can relate. Minus the drinking. Lost a lot of friends… Family.” His voice cracked for a moment before he quickly cleared it. “These guys, heh, these guys keep me going. And…” He trailed off, mumbling as his mind drifted to darker places. Then his grip tightened as gears clicked in his mind. His head snapped up and to Bradford. “My sis!” 

Bradford’s eye twitched.

“Jynn! Do you have any clue where s-s-she could be? Can’t find any records of her but I feel like she’s alive.” He spoke, tongue nearly tripping over his words. “I remember dad mentioning she got some big position when the War was just getting started and contact with her was sparse and—“

A firm hand gripped his shoulder. “Charles…” There was a sad look in Bradford’s eye. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. It just hung loosely, tongue flapping about, throat trembling to speak, but nothing would come out.

His pupils shrank. He could feel himself shake. A lump grew in his throat, but he forced it down. “T-tell me.” He forced the words out. “You know something… tell me.”

“Get everyone out of this room and seal it.”

With everyone out and the doors closed, Bradford told him everything. Everything he could remember from the horrible day. The surprise coordinated attack across all the bases. Mass mind control turned everyone against each other. Every corner swarming with aliens as the base was crumbling around them. And then the worst part…

“We got separated. A tremor and mass rock fall separated us. Nearly got crushed by the rocks and girders coming down.” He paused, taking in a shaky breath. “By the time I got back up… one of those Mutons was on top of her. The butt of its rifle came crashing down on her face and brought her down. Bloodied her.”

“No…” Charles muttered.

“Next the damn alien picked her up, slinging her over its shoulder, and was quickly making its leave. I tried to follow but more rubble came down, followed by explosions, separated us. I switched to pure survival mode. Help who I could and get the hell out of there.” He shook his head. A hand went to his face and traced the scar. “The aliens have her.” 

With the story over, Charles was silent.

He stepped away. Soon, he paced back and forth. After a few pauses here and there, he looked at Bradford, mouth opening for a moment, before quickly shutting it. A moment later, he was jabbing his finger in Bradford’s chest several times. He barely reacted, almost as if he was expecting it.

“You… you… you…” Choked words came out. Tears streamed down his face. A frustrated sputtered yell slipped out as he turned around, throwing his hands up into the air before he went back to pace.

Then finally it hit. He let out an anguished yell as he fell to his knees and wept.

Giving him a few moments, Bradford went over and sat next to him, throwing an arm over him, which was quickly accepted.

“No, no, no…” Charles sputtered through sniffles. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it.

“I’m so sorry, Charles.” 

It took a long time to console him as most of it was spent waving off people curious about the yells and crying it. But eventually, the wailing became choked sniffles.

“Why… why…?” Still processing it all, Charles just couldn’t believe it.

“I’m sorry.” Bradford sighed. He felt for him. He missed her too. “I have some positive news.”

“How can there be any positives?

“We believe she’s alive. We’ve been searching for her.”

He froze. A sniffle here and there before he slowly looked at him.“R-really!?”

Bradford nodded. “We’ve found some data. The aliens still have her. Not sure what they’re doing with her, but seem to be using her in some way.” Well, there was a theory, but he did not feel like it would be best to drop it on him. And then, personally, he was hoping the theory wasn’t true. “She’s alive.”

“What the hell…” He wasn’t sure if he could believe it, but there was a determination in Bradford’s eyes that eased some of the pain in his heart.

Some more time passed as Bradford shared some of their findings, keeping out any details that would make Charles spiral again. Everything weighed heavily on him. Why did the aliens capture her? A question he was afraid to have answered. 

Eventually, someone came in to tell them the Skyranger arrived. Bradford left for some time to make sure all the loading and unloaded went smoothly and to have Firebrand pass on a few more messages to the Avenger.

When he returned to the communications room, Charles was back on his feet and had cleaned up his face. There were still some sniffles and the occasional tear.

“Sorry to just… drop that all on you like,” Bradford just gestured with his hands, “that.”

Charles raised his hand. “Johnny, buddy. It’s fine. I kinda asked fer it. Would have pestered to get all the deets.”

He just nodded.

“Now… now I gotta ask.” Charles looked away for a moment before looking back at him. He leaned in and whispered. “You ever tell her?”

He raised a brow. Mind not exactly getting what he was he was saying. “Tell her wh—“ Then it clicked. “Oh, hell no!”Bradford blurted out, only to hush himself quickly. Tanned cheeks quickly became a rosey red. He quickly whispered back through gritted teeth. “She was my boss! We already had enough heat on us from our backers when they found out we knew each other as teenagers.”

“You had years before then, dumbass!” Charles knocked his head a few times with his knuckles, only to get his hand slapped away. “You two swapped letters when the both of yous were enlisted, and you still didn’t tell her?”

“I couldn’t think about a crush then and kinda… sorta… forgot about it.” 

Charles erupted into a snouty laugh, hand smacking his chest a few times. “You’re such a lousy liar! You still got the hots for her! Such a ea heddo aikō-ka!”

“Charles!”

The two squabbled a little longer on the subject until Charles finally felt like he had ruffled his old friend’s feathers enough.

“If she’s still alive, still alive,” and Charles prayed she was, “you better act on those feelings, Johnny.”

“I… will… consider… it.” Bradford was still conflicted about the topic. Duties came to mind first and how it was a bad idea to mix romance with their occupations. And sometimes he questioned if his crush was just merely an infatuation that never seemed to want to leave his mind, even when other opportunities for companionship and love had come around. He didn’t like to think about that much. 

“So, where do we go from here?” Charles asked.

“Well,” Bradford rolled his shoulder before gesturing for him to follow, “think we’ll get this refugee business all sorted and disable those ADVENT checkpoints.”

“Right. Right.”

“And then we’ll talk more about Jynn back on the Avenger. Also, get introduced to the rest of us. And help your outfit get some better gear.”

“Right…” He didn’t want to think about that. “New gear sounds good and maybe some tactical training? We have some greens that need it and then some refreshing would be nice for everyone.”

Bradford nodded. “I believe we can do that. Already helping out a local haven with some training.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Question…” A thought crossed Bradford’s mind.

“Yeah?

“What’s with that geared-up surgeon? Never seen such gear before.”

“Heh. That’s a story. Interesting faction they’re from.”

————

The Skyranger came back for a few more trips for those in the most critical state before switching over to moving the refugees to the havens Charles’ people had been in contact with.

Once that was all done, everyone backed up and joined XCOM for their trip back to the Avenger.

Charles could barely contain his excitement as soon as he saw that massive ship and pretty much a kid in a candy shop once they entered.

Bradford introduced him to the Senior crew and explained his relations to Commander Reeves. To say they were speechless would be an understatement. Many gave their condolences. 

Over several months interspersed with lots of training and many operations, Charles and his crew joined XCOM but in a more distant manner as there were many on the Avenger that were not found of the idea of aliens and Hybrids joining even if they were loyal to the cause. But he was fine with his people being on the ground. They had ways to get around fairly fast.

With their new skills and tactics, Charles and crew set out to do their own information gathering to track down the location of Commander Reeves. He kept in close contact with Bradford, filling him in on any discoveries they may have made or supports to the cause they came across. Inadvertently, his crew became quite the roving band to bring people together and quickly get them established. 

Bradford really couldn’t believe he had been communicating with an old friend for so long. Really, he was happy it was him. Something from the past the aliens didn’t destroy. It brought some much light to his darkened soul and gave him another push to from Jynn. XCOM needed their Commander back. Charles needed his sister. And he really wanted his friend back.

For now, he had to put his feelings aside to run XCOM and the resistance. He was the acting commander for the time being. 

At least he had one thing to look forward to when they had to decipher particular encrypted messages. Something that made his soul lighter. 

“Yo, Johnny! You still alive?”

[swldx]

Voice of America 0416 24 Nov 2024

9775Khz 0357 24 NOV 2024 - VOICE OF AMERICA (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA) in ENGLISH from MOPENG HILL. SINPO = 55434. English, music abruptly ends @0359z to dead air until 0400z when VoA News Jingle plays fb News anchored by Alexis Strope. § United Nations climate talks adopted a deal to inject at least $300 billion annually in humanity’s fight against climate change, aimed at helping poor nations cope with the ravages of global warming in tense negotiations in the city where industry first tapped oil. The $300 billion will go to developing countries who need the cash to wean themselves off the coal, oil and gas that causes the globe to overheat, adapt to future warming, and pay for the damage caused by climate change’s extreme weather. It’s not near the full amount of $1.3 trillion that developing countries were asking for, but it’s three times a deal of $100 billion a year from 2009 that is expiring. It was not quite the agreement by consensus that these meetings usually operate with and developing nations were livid about being ignored. § Russian drone and missile attacks have damaged 321 Ukrainian port infrastructure facilities since July last year, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday. Twenty merchant ships belonging to other countries were also damaged by Russian strikes, he added. "Overall, Ukrainian food exports provide food for 400 million people in 100 countries around the world," Zelenskiy said. "Food prices in Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, and other countries in Africa directly depend on whether farmers and agricultural companies in Ukraine can operate normally." Moscow has repeatedly denied that it attacks civilian targets. § Nine more Palestinians were killed and several others injured in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, as the humanitarian crisis there grows. § U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will travel to Italy over the weekend to attend a meeting of the Group of Seven major democracies next week, the State Department said on Friday, amid rising tensions in the war in Ukraine. G7 leaders last Saturday reiterated a pledge to keep imposing severe costs on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine through sanctions, export controls and other measures, and vowed to support Kyiv for as long as it takes. The State Department said Blinken would discuss issues including "conflicts in the Middle East, Russia’s war against Ukraine, Indo-Pacific security, and the ongoing crises in both Haiti and Sudan" at the gathering in Italy. § Heavy downpours fell over much of Northern California on Friday, causing small landslides and flooding a river and some streets, including in parts of San Francisco. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people were still without power in the Seattle area after several days in the dark. The storm arrived in the Pacific Northwest earlier this week, killing two people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands, mostly in the Seattle area, before moving through Northern California, where several roads were closed because of flooding and strong winds toppled trees. § Thousands of Colombians took to the streets on Saturday to oppose the policies of President Gustavo Petro, who accused demonstrators of trying to destabilize the government. Protesters in cities including Bogotá, Medellín and Cali decried a series of proposed health, labor and pensions reforms and accused Petro’s administration of corruption. @0505z "International Edition" begins. (shortly thereafter sunrise transmitter site causes signal to significantly weaken and noise level rise). 100' (30m) of Kev-Flex wire feeding "Magic Wand" antenna hanging in backyard tree w/MFJ-1020C active antenna (used as a preamplifier/preselector), JRC NRD-535D, 100kW, beamAz 350°, bearing 84°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 14087KM from transmitter at Mopeng Hill. Local time: 2157.

[facto21]

How Does Halal Certification in Zambia Benefit Businesses?

The Total Direct to Halal Certification in Zambia: pathway

Halal certification in Zambia is becoming progressively essential for businesses in Zambia as neighbourhood and worldwide markets grow. With a developing mindfulness among buyers approximately moral and devout contemplations, halal-certified items are requested, particularly from Zambia's Muslim community. Past devout importance, halal certification also symbolizes tall benchmarks in item quality, cleanliness, and moral generation, which buyers request from all backgrounds.

This comprehensive directly investigates the significance of halal certification in Zambia, the part of experts and evaluators, and how Zambian businesses can use halal certification to tap into modern markets, upgrade brand validity, and move forward generally item quality.

What is Halal Certification?

Halal certification officially acknowledges that an item or benefit complies with Islamic dietary and moral laws. The word "halal" in Arabic implies "passable," alluding to anything that follows Islamic law, especially concerning nourishment, drink, and buyer merchandise. The inverse of halal is "haram," which implies illegal. Subsequently, halal certification guarantees that an item or benefit follows the standards in Islamic teachings.

For an item to be halal-certified, it must meet strict criteria concerning its fixings, generation strategies, dealing with, and, indeed, bundling. These benchmarks are planned to guarantee that the item is free from non-halal substances, including liquor, pork, and despicably butchered creatures. Also, the generation must follow prepared rules for cleanliness, straightforwardness, and sympathetic treatment of animals.

The Scope of Halal Certification in Zambia

While halal certification is most commonly related to nourishment items, its scope expands past nourishment and refreshments. It can apply to:

1. Cosmetics: Halal beauty care products must maintain a strategic distance from liquor and animal-derived fixings unless sourced from halal animals.

2. Pharmaceuticals: Drugs and supplements must meet halal guidelines by dodging haram substances.

3. Hospitality and Tourism: Inns, eateries, and travel offices can offer halal-certified administrations, counting halal nourishment alternatives and offices for prayer.

4. Clothing and Mold: A few angles of the mould industry, such as materials sourcing, can drop beneath halal controls, mainly when animal-derived items like calfskin are included.

Why is Halal Certification Basic in Zambia?

Zambia is residential to an arranged masses, checking a creating Muslim community that requires halal-certified things to meet their dedicated needs. In this setting, halal certification in Zambia is principal for businesses that serve this area of the masses. However, the benefits of halal certification grow past catering to Muslim customers. Here's why halal certification is critical for Zambian businesses:

1. Get together Client Demand: Muslims in Zambia, like their accomplices around the world, look for halal-certified things for day-by-day utilization. Halal certification is a non-negotiable prerequisite for this community, particularly regarding food and drink. By publicizing halal-certified things, businesses can serve this exhibit and increase client loyalty.

However, halal certification is not reasonable for Muslim buyers. Various non-Muslims slant toward halal-certified things since they relate them with tall rules of cleanliness, ethical treatment of animals, and way better quality control.

2. Amplifying Grandstand: Reach Obtaining halal certification opens entryways to all-inclusive markets where halal things are in tall ask. Countries in the Center East, Southeast Asia, and North Africa have sweeping Muslim populaces and creating halal markets. Exchanging to this locale routinely requires halal certification as a precondition for the segment. This presents a productive opportunity for Zambian businesses to tap into the around-the-world halal economy, expected to beat USD 2 trillion in promotion by 2025.

3. Moving Forward, Brand Accept and Credibility: Consumers are continuously concerned with the ethical sourcing and era of items. Halal certification signals a company takes strict ethical benchmarks regarding food security, animal welfare, and cleanliness. This can progress a business's legitimacy, not reasonable with Muslim clients, but with a broader gathering of individuals interested in ethical and high-quality products.

The halal title routinely deciphers into acceptance. Buyers feel certain that halal-certified things meet not as it were dedicated measures but also alter with show day values around cleanliness, ethical sharpens, and sustainability.

4. Moving Forward: Thing Quality Getting halal certification regularly leads businesses to make strides in their, by and large, quality control shapes. Gathering the inflexible halal rules requires businesses to survey each step of their era chain, from sourcing unrefined materials to bundling the final thing. This leads to changes in cleanliness, straightforwardness, and security measures, resulting in higher-quality things and expensive. For case, the need to butcher animals compassionately can lead to better management with fresher things, which advantages all customers, not those looking for halal options.

5. Picking up a Competitive Edge: In Zambia, halal-certified things are most,y uncommon, especially in certain divisions like cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Businesses that get halal certification early can position themselves as pioneers in this creating publicize, picking up a vital competitive edge. By isolating themselves from competitors, these businesses can draw in not as it were Muslim clients but also health-conscious and ethically opposed clients.

The Esteem of Working with Halal Certification Experts in Zambia

For businesses, collaborating with halal certification specialists in Zambia offers various advantages:

1. Expert Direction: These specialists have a profound understanding of nearby and worldwide halal benchmarks, making them well-positioned to assist businesses that meet the fundamental requirements.

2. Efficiency: Working with an expert can streamline the halal certification preparation, guaranteeing that businesses total the handle more rapidly and with fewer errors.

3. Risk Moderation: By working with experts, businesses can decrease the hazard of botches that may delay certification or, more awfully, result in non-compliance penalties.

4. Ongoing Bolster: Halal specialists offer continuous bolster to guarantee that businesses comply with halal measures after certification.

The Part of Halal Evaluators in Zambia

Once a trade gets halal certification, keeping up compliance is basic. This is where halal reviewers in Zambia come into play. Halal inspectors are dependable for routinely reviewing businesses to guarantee that they proceed to follow the halal measures required by their certification.

What Do Halal Reviewers Do?

1. Regular Reviews: Halal inspectors occasionally review the business's generation offices to guarantee that halal hones are kept up reliably. This incorporates reviewing the sourcing of crude materials, checking on generation forms, and checking bundling and labelling.

2. Compliance Confirmation: Halal inspectors guarantee that businesses proceed to meet the particular prerequisites of their halal certification, from fixing sourcing to cleanliness measures. They see for any deviations that seem to jeopardize the halal status of the products.

3. Certification Reestablishment: Halal certification Zambia is not a one-time occasion. Businesses must recharge their certification occasionally, and halal inspectors are crucial in deciding whether a company remains qualified for renewal.

4. Training and Upgrades: In expansion to inspecting, halal inspectors may give businesses overhauls on halal benchmarks or control changes. They, too, offer extra preparation to staff as required to guarantee progressing compliance.

Benefits of Working with Halal auditors in Zambia

Partnering with experienced halal reviewers in Zambia guarantees that businesses remain compliant with halal measures, subsequently protecting their certification and their clients' beliefs. Average reviews offer assistance in anticipating botches or slips in halal hones that might result in the misfortune of certification or harm to the company's notoriety. Moreover, halal reviewers give essential input that can assist businesses in moving forward with their forms, guaranteeing that they meet both halal and broader quality measures.

How Zambian Businesses Can Advantage from Halal Certification

For businesses in Zambia, getting Halal certification in Zambia offers endless benefits over particular companies. From the food era to excellent care items and pharmaceuticals, the central focuses of halal certification go past ardent necessities and are translated into considerable exchange growth.

1. Get to Unused Client Markets: Halal certification in Zambia licenses businesses to tap into unused client markets locally and all-inclusive. Serving the creating Muslim people in Zambia can increment publicizing share and client dedication. Besides, halal certification opens entryways to send out markets in Muslim-majority countries, where the ask for halal things is high.

2. Moved forward Brand Legitimacy and Reputation: Halal certification in Zambia signals customers that commerce is committed to meeting ethical and quality benchmarks. This can progress a company’s reputation and increment customer conviction, driving long-term steadfastness. Undoubtedly, non-Muslim clients are dynamically drawn to halal-certified things since they are frequently related to higher cleanliness, security, and ethical sourcing guidelines.

3. Thing Quality Improvement: The strict necessities for halal certification in Zambia regularly lead businesses to update their common quality control shapes. Companies can move forward with their items by expansive quality by ensuring that fixings, era procedures, and cleanliness measures meet halal necessities. This benefits not as it were Muslim buyers but also a broader bunch of spectators looking for more advantageous and ethically sourced products.

4. Competitive Advantage: In Zambia, halal-certified things are still modestly exceptional in certain divisions. Businesses that get halal certification can isolate themselves from competitors by being among the few publicizing halal things. This gives them an essential advantage in promoting to Muslim and non-Muslim buyers who regard the ethical and quality measures related to adding up to certification

5. Around the world Improvement Opportunities: Halal certification in Zambia is an entryway to worldwide markets, particularly where halal-certified things are required. Zambian businesses that get halal certification can send their stuff to countries in the Center East, Southeast Asia, and North Africa, where it is needed for food and other client items. This grants Zambian businesses to develop their reach and tap into beneficial worldwide markets.

The Role of Halal Consultants in Zambia

Navigating the preparation of a Halal certification in Zambia can be complex for new businesses due to Islamic dietary laws and certification conventions. This is where halal consultants in Zambia play a pivotal part. Halal consultants in Zambia specialize in directing businesses through the halal certification handle, guaranteeing compliance with all significant benchmarks and regulations.

Critical Administrations Given by Halal consultants in Zambia:

1. Ingredient Appraisal: One of the to begin with steps in Halal certification in zambia is guaranteeing that the product’s fixings meet halal benchmarks. Halal experts help in analyzing fixings to decide their compliance with Islamic law.

2. Production Prepare Survey: Halal consultants in Zambia assess each angle of the generation handle to distinguish any potential issues. This incorporates investigating how crude materials are sourced, how they are prepared, and how the last item is bundled. The objective is to guarantee that no non-halal substances or hormones are included at any stage.

3. Compliance Documentation: Halal certification in Zambia includes a critical sum of printed material, counting giving prove that items and forms meet halal benchmarks. Halal experts assist businesses in getting ready and yielding the essential documentation to the certifying bodies.

4. Training and Instruction: Halal consultants in Zambia frequently prepare commerce staff to guarantee that everybody included in the generation handle is responsible for keeping up with halal guidelines. This preparation can cover everything from dealing with halal items to ensuring that gear is cleaned and agreeing to halal guidelines.

The Value of Working with Halal Certification Consultants in Zambia

For businesses, collaborating with halal certification consultants in Zambia offers various advantages:

1. Expert Direction: These experts have a profound understanding of the neighbourhood and universal halal measures, making them well-positioned to assist businesses that meet the essential requirements.

2. Efficiency: Working with an expert can streamline the halal certification preparation, guaranteeing that businesses total the preparation more rapidly and with fewer errors.

3. Risk Relief: By working with experts, businesses can diminish the chance of botches that seem to delay certification or, more regrettably, result in non-compliance penalties.

4. Ongoing Back: Halal consultants in Zambia offer to progress back to guarantee that businesses comply with halal benchmarks after certification.

Why Factocert for ISO Halal certification in Zambia?

We provide the best Halal consultants Who are knowledgeable and provide the best solution. And to know how to get Halal certification. Kindly reach us at contact@factocert.com. work according to Halal standards and help organizations implement Halal certification in Zambia with proper documentation. For more information, visit ISO 22001 certification in Zambia

Related links:

ISO certification in Zambia

ISO 9001 Certification in Zambia

ISO 14001  Certification in Zambia

ISO 45001 Certification in Zambia

ISO 13485 Certification in Zambia

ISO 27001 Certification inZambia

ISO 22000 Certification in Zambia

HALAL Certification in Zambia

CE Mark certification in Zambia

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[dh5ryxhgbctgr]

Alcohol To Jet ATJ Fuel Market Review and Long-term Growth Expectations 2024 - 2032

The Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) fuel market is rapidly gaining attention as a viable pathway for sustainable aviation fuel production. Utilizing alcohols, such as ethanol and butanol, ATJ technology converts these feedstocks into high-performance jet fuel, offering an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional aviation fuels. This article explores the key aspects of the ATJ fuel market, including its drivers, technologies, trends, challenges, and future outlook.

Overview of the Alcohol to Jet Fuel Market

Definition and Purpose

Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) fuel refers to a process that converts alcohols into jet fuel through various chemical and physical transformations. The primary objective is to produce a sustainable aviation fuel that meets stringent performance specifications while reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with air travel.

Market Dynamics

The dynamics of the ATJ fuel market are influenced by factors such as increasing environmental regulations, the push for sustainable aviation fuels, and advancements in conversion technologies.

Key Drivers of the Market

Growing Demand for Sustainable Aviation Fuels

As the aviation industry seeks to reduce its carbon footprint, the demand for sustainable aviation fuels is on the rise. ATJ fuel offers a promising solution, enabling airlines to meet sustainability goals while maintaining performance and safety standards.

Regulatory Support and Incentives

Governments and regulatory bodies are implementing policies and incentives to promote the adoption of sustainable aviation fuels. Initiatives such as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and the European Union’s Green Deal encourage investment in alternative fuel technologies, including ATJ.

Technological Advancements

Continuous research and development in ATJ conversion technologies are enhancing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of fuel production. Innovations in catalysts and process optimization are driving advancements in the commercial viability of ATJ fuels.

Segmentation of the Alcohol to Jet Fuel Market

By Feedstock Type

Ethanol

Butanol

Other Alcohols

By Technology

Catalytic Conversion

Thermochemical Conversion

Biochemical Conversion

By Region

North America

Europe

Asia-Pacific

Latin America

Middle East & Africa

Current Trends in the Alcohol to Jet Fuel Market

Partnerships and Collaborations

The ATJ fuel market is witnessing an increase in partnerships and collaborations among airlines, fuel producers, and technology developers. These collaborations aim to accelerate the commercialization of ATJ fuels and expand production capacity.

Focus on Circular Economy

There is a growing emphasis on integrating ATJ fuel production into circular economy models. This includes utilizing waste materials and by-products from other industries as feedstocks, thereby reducing overall carbon emissions and promoting sustainability.

Advancements in Certification Processes

Efforts are being made to streamline the certification processes for sustainable aviation fuels, including ATJ fuels. Regulatory bodies are working to establish clear guidelines and standards, facilitating quicker adoption and integration into existing fuel supply chains.

Challenges Facing the Alcohol to Jet Fuel Market

High Production Costs

The production of ATJ fuels is currently more expensive than conventional jet fuels, primarily due to the costs associated with feedstock, processing, and technology implementation. Achieving cost competitiveness remains a significant challenge for market growth.

Infrastructure Limitations

The existing infrastructure for fuel distribution and storage may not be fully equipped to handle ATJ fuels. Upgrading infrastructure to accommodate new fuel types is necessary for widespread adoption, but this requires substantial investment.

Feedstock Availability and Supply Chain

The availability of suitable feedstocks, such as ethanol and butanol, can be a limiting factor. Ensuring a stable and sustainable supply chain for feedstock is essential for the long-term viability of the ATJ fuel market.

Future Outlook

Market Predictions

The Alcohol to Jet fuel market is projected to experience substantial growth in the coming years, driven by increasing regulatory support, technological advancements, and the rising demand for sustainable aviation fuels. The market is expected to expand as airlines seek to comply with stringent emissions targets.

Opportunities for Growth

Emerging markets, particularly in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, present significant opportunities for ATJ fuel producers. Additionally, the growing interest in sustainable aviation initiatives and corporate social responsibility programs will further enhance market potential.

Conclusion

The Alcohol to Jet (ATJ) fuel market is positioned for transformative growth as the aviation industry transitions towards sustainable fuel solutions. With its potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance energy security, ATJ fuel represents a promising pathway for achieving a greener future in aviation. By addressing challenges and leveraging opportunities, the ATJ fuel market can significantly contribute to global sustainability goals and the decarbonization of the aviation sector.