#and the community has to pay hunters to control it so

[weedlovingweed]

i saw some dumbass showing a pic of a coyote that had killed a fawn saying smth like “not such cute coyotes now huh?” trying to justify killing them and it’s like…

1. the coyotes do have to eat?? and don’t you want them eating wild animals instead of domestic ones???

2. i am pretty sure this dude only cared because HE wanted to hunt the ADULT deer but literally we should be letting the predators control populations before bringing in people. stupid ass.

3. coyote beautiful animal, every animal and their natural behaviors are beautiful ❤️

[noxhawthorne]

Abaia

Imagine, if you will, that you’ve gone on a quiet vacation to the islands of Fiji. Feel the sand under your toes, the sun on your skin, the smell of saltwater. You take an excursion, and find a beautiful, deep lake, surrounded by lush greenery. It’s a sweltering day, and the lake looks so inviting.

You walk into the lake, the cool water stinging pleasantly as you go deeper. Eventually you’re floating, unable to feel the ground beneath you. It’s calm, soothing. The local birds sing, the breeze rustles the leaves… you’re relaxed enough to let your eyes close and just drift…

Your feet touch a slippery rock, slick with grime from centuries of being submerged. You pay it no mind… until you notice the layer of grime is thick enough to give, making the rock feel almost squishy. You open your eyes. The birds have stopped singing.

You realize that you aren’t touching the rocking. It’s touching you.

The Abaia. A massive eel of Melanesian mythology, said to live at the bottom of freshwater lakes. The legend comes from the Fiji, Vanuatu, and Solomon Islands, though the exact location varies. There’s not really a specific size given, but, for an idea of what we’re talking about, the average American Eel is 16-33 inches long and about 2.5 pounds. So… bigger than that. Much bigger.

The legend of the Abaia poses it as the guardian of the lake it dwells in, protecting the inhabitants from humans looking to harm them. If a fisherman were to try and get his daily catch from the lake, or if an ignorant tourist were to throw their trash in it, the Abaia will unleash its wrath. Thrashing and twisting, it causes impressive waves that will claim the life of the perpetrator, dragging them down to the depths to remain with the great eel.

There is another version of this legend that claims the Abaia holds control over the weather via magic. The story goes that a fisherman discovered a bountiful lake, full of critters and creatures to sate his village’s hunger. He led the village to this lake, and has them help plunder it of life. The Abaia, upon seeing this, causes a torrential rainstorm, wiping out the village and drowning everyone who had harmed the creatures. The Abaia is often depicted as a motherly being to the inhabitants that share its home.

As someone who knows the basics about various eels, I have to wonder if there is some electrical aspect to this creature. Perhaps its ability to cause storms is caused by a powerful electrical charge. According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, the Electric Eel has three organs — the main organ, the Sach’s organ, and the Hunter’s organ — that produce electric impulses used for defense, communication, navigation, and hunting. At 6-8 feet long, this eel can generate up to 800 volts of electricity. Is the Abaia electric? Being so massive in size, could its electrical shock cause a storm? It’s unlikely, yes, but an interesting thought to consider.

[musedeluce]

Failure to Communicate

Sylus X Reader - (In which Sylus learns the hard way that he must actually tell his partner his plans)

Tags/Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Injury, Fluff, slight miscommunication, hospitalization.

A/n: This is set rather early in their relationship. After it becomes cordial but before it becomes openly romantic.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

You were quite good at calculating the outcomes of all kinds of situations. Honestly, it was an extremely useful skill to have, but it wasn’t needed in this particular situation. Anyone paying attention could see that you and Sylus were about 10.9.8.7.6.5. seconds from careening straight off a cliff, into some dark chasm.Right before your determined “point of no return” you grabbed him and wrenched you both off the motorcycle. There was an extremely disturbing crunch as you hit the ground, and seconds later you were cradled in reddish black shadows while sliding forward. The pain in your arm was searing, and honestly this might be the worst break you’ve ever been through in your life. But, you as a hunter have broken bones before, and you were able to keep your wits about you as you slowly come to a stop, not three feet from the chasm’s edge.

Sylus is running up to you, looking uncharacteristically shaken. It’s a relief to see that he’s okay. Immediately, he inspects your arm and makes sure that’s the only thing that’s broken. Then, the two of you are at an impasse, looking at each other silently. The bike, annoyingly, is unharmed.

“Sweetie, if you wanted off the bike all you had to do was ask.” His deep voice is smooth, but the slightly longer pause after he called you that pet name betrayed how shaken he was.

“Sure, because the situation was totally under your control.” You clutch your arm, and his eyes flicker to it as he winces ever so slightly. “It genuinely looked and felt like we were about to careen of a cliff! What the actual fuck? Even if you’re pissed, I. Do. Not. Care. That was the only action I could take to make sure you didn’t plunge five stories downward.”

“Sweetheart...” Sylus switched to using the full version of the pet-name he usually called you. Well, that and Kitten. “The fact you got hurt is what pains me the most. While I am mad at that stunt, I failed to communicate what was going on, and you acted on the information you did have.” His smile now is somewhat insolent. “I’m flattered you were so worried about me, to the point you ignored that you’d be going down with me.”

“What even was going on?”

“I was going to use my evol to maneuver over the edge of the chasm. It has the benefits of being a shortcut, and a surprise.”

“I know you’re used to working alone, and I know you’re used to not explaining your actions but I swear to whatever deities may exist, you have got to start telling me shit like this. Now the mission is a failure.” You’re clutching your arm to your chest, tightly, because every time your arm moves, intense, stabbing pain burrows through the length of it.

“Come on.” Sylus gently lifts you up, providing support as you stand. “Let’s get you fixed up.” The N109 Zone isn't quite known for being an extremely safe and lovely place to live, let alone state of the art medical facilities, but he'd be damned if you weren't going to get the best possible medical treatment he could provide. Hence, how you found yourself expertly bandaged up with your arm in a cast and on a morphine drip in "the finest back alley clinic you'll ever visit.”

“It’s a good thing I used some vacation time for this” you joked, trying to ease the tension in the minuscule room. The twins and Sylus are crammed in as well, making you feel like a sardine. Although you address them all, your gaze catches on Sylus's intense red eyes as he takes your hand, holding it tightly but gingerly. You can see a myriad of emotions swirling in them, worry, relief and anger all conveyed in his intense stare.

"How do you feel?" Sylus has lost is teasing lilt, genuinely asking after your well being.

"Hmmm. Not that bad, I'm in a fair amount of pain but it's more of a dull sort, probably thanks to the drugs. I'm also quite thirsty and hungry, actually." A glance to the twins from Sylus, and they immediately took action. "On it, Boss! We'll bring water and foods gentle on the stomach" Kieran saluted and they both left the room. Sylus still hasn't let go of your hand, and in fact holds it with both of his.

"Sweetie. You surely must know how I adore you. It would be devastating for me to lose you, and because you protected me? All that matters is that You're alive. That you're okay. Why would you do that? "

"Aren't we supposed to protect each other? I was just trying to do that, and there wasn't any time to consider alternate courses of action. Even with your evol, I doubt you'd enjoy being dashed to the ground at terminal velocity. ”

Sylus chuckles, brightening just a bit for a moment. "You know, I'm quite angry at myself for not preventing this. And slightly frustrated with you for your pragmatic thinking." His eyes rove over your bandages. "I will say thank you, as owed though. Thank you for protecting me." A playful smile graces his lips after he finishes speaking and he brings your hand up to his face, pressing it to his cheek and leaning in. "While I do so appreciate your protection, please don't do that ever again. All your efforts to save and protect me would be undone by the simple fact of your death."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

[bonefall]

BB!Profile: Fernsong

(Oops I finished this art months ago and am just now making this profile)

[ID: The Better Bones version of Fernsong. He is a thick, pale golden tabby with thin stripes and a flat, round face.]

Clanmew Name: Nanyanaya (Nan, generic term for fanned-leaf groundplants + Yanaya, singing)

Old Name: Fiddles (Pronounced "Fibuls")

Alignment: ThunderClan, ex-Kittypet

Relationships: Mate - Ivypool Ex-Mate - Minty Children - Bristlefrost, Flipclaw, Thriftear Friends - Stormcloud, Jessy, Daisy, Briarlight Person who hates his guts - Blossomfall Mentor - Lionblaze

Sweet man! Den dad! Guy who gets washed in by a big flood and lands smack in the middle of a messy breakup before being getting his hardass nightmare dad-in-law assigned as a mentor!

In cleaning up the Kin of your Kin prophecy and reworking the plot of Po3 and OotS, I made it so Ivypool is now the daughter of Lionblaze and Cinderheart, and secretly the child of Jayfeather and Poppyfrost! I always found the sheer amount of kids Canon!Lionblaze has to be pretty ridiculous, since it does nothing with those relationships and makes half of ThunderClan descended from Firestar in the process.

So, instead, the tree has been overhauled and BB!Fernsong is an ex-kittypet. The Firekin family is traced exclusively through Dovewing, Ivypool, and Hollylark.

And BOY does he enter in a doozy! ThunderClan's Tempest replaces Bramblestar's Storm, now full of different perspectives as ThunderClan recovers from the Battle of the True Eclipse. Fiddles finds himself drawn to the Clan as a refugee, accidentally becoming the final straw that breaks the camel's back in Ivypool's toxic relationship with Blossomfall.

(Note: At the time, Blossomfall has a Dishonor Title, Shredbloom, for her involvement in the Dark Forest. Shredbloom = Blossomfall.)

When he finally has the chance to return home, he realizes that Clan life offers him something Kittypet life never quite did; Community. While he's not much of a hunter or a fighter, he comes to feel needed and fulfilled by the connections he makes to lots of cats within ThunderClan.

More under the cut!

In ThunderClan's Tempest, he came from the same home as Minty. The family couldn't evacuate them, because they ran and hid out of fear.

She was his mate a few times, but in the way that some kittypets of the same house are. Purebreds. They'd had litters that the humans made sure were well cared-for, brought to new homes at six months.

They had a sort of love more out of convenience and safety than passion.

When he was found by ThunderClan, they brought him back to their base in the caves, and Daisy was able to help break the language barrier.

Ivypool, still destroyed from seeing her Dark Forest mentor Hawkfrost make a stand against his father and "die," started helping Daisy out with them. At first, she just needed to feel useful.

She had been in a relationship with Blossomfall (Shredbloom at the time) for a long time, at this point, and had even begged her to stop during the final wave of the BOTTE.

In a way, Ivypool felt like she needed to "save" someone from the Dark Forest, and for a long time after, she felt like she needed to save Blossomfall from her own pain.

But it was incredibly toxic. Blossomfall was controlling, Ivypool was touchy. They were fighting constantly, and Blossomfall was about to repeat it again.

Ivypool spending time helping out with Daisy, acclimating the refugees to Clan life, learning to communicate with them... made Blossomfall jealous.

When Ivypool broke it off with Blossomfall, it wasn't because she loved Fiddles yet, thought Blossomfall DID accuse her of just wanting to move on "with the KITTYPET"

It was just because she was sick of living like this.

Fiddles happened to just... be there. They had become friends, but weren't anything more at that point.

For him, it felt good to pay her back for all the comfort she provided him, and she was grateful that she had someone without bias.

He didn't have a side yet, so when he told her that what she did was the right thing, it felt honest.

Ironically, Bossomfall accusing Ivypool of "just wanting to go googoo over the new kittypet" pushed Ivy and Fiddles closer together.

It wasn't JUST Ivypool he got close to, though! Briarlight was also starting to realize that she needed to start distancing herself from her family because of Millie's ableism... and Fiddles was there for her, too.

Emotional support king, quickly becoming friends with everyone.

The fact that he was close with Ivypool AND her sister, though?

To this DAY, even AFTER all she'd been through and having adult children of her own, Blossomfall still can't shake the negative feeling she gets when she looks at Fernsong. But she's wise enough now to know it's somewhat irrational.

The Impostor DID exploit this, however. But that is a story for another time.

What's most important is that in this moment, Ivypool, Fiddles, and Briarlight became good friends.

By the time the floods had receded and the humans were coming home, he found himself not wanting to go. Jessy was hard at work on improving Briarlight's mobility device, Frankie was taking to battle like a fish to water, and he was falling in love with Ivypool.

He walked Minty home, made her promise she'd prevent their twolegs from missing them, and headed back to ThunderClan...

Where Bramblestar made him the first apprentice of his father-in-law to be, the hardass hero of ThunderClan, Lionblaze! Gulp!

CLOSING TRIVIA

He is NOT named after Ferncloud! Ferncloud survived the BOTTE in Better Bones-- DUSTPELT died.

Birchfall and Whitewing's daughter, Duststripe (prev. sorrelstripe) is named after him.

Fernsong's name comes from how Fiddles was convinced his name referred to a type of fern. What type of fern? He didn't know!!

So when he eventually picked his prefix, he simply chose the generic term for ferns; Nan.

(Ferncloud's prefix, Marssi, is actually totally different in Clanmew. It's a specific species, Dryopteris filix-mas, known as Manfern in English. A species used in medicine for treating tapeworm.)

When I design ex-kittypets that aren't just common street cats, I intentionally avoid referencing one specific breed with the idea that this universe's history is slightly different. Fernsong is designed as a mix of an exotic shorthair and a british shorthair. An Exobrit, if you will.

I've decided to make him come from a home that bred cats, just because I think that's an interesting idea.

Not a mill or an abusive situation, but he's had a life before Ivypool, like she had a life before him.

He will be a den dad in BB. Ivypool comes in to nurse their kittens, but Fernsong is their Mi and she is their Ba.

[hugmekenobi]

S2: The Bad Batch (11)

Chapter Eleven: Metamorphosis

Gif by @dreamswithghosts

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Some time has passed since everything that happened at Kamino and you and the Batch are trying to figure out your place in the rapidly changing Imperial galaxy. And you're having to do all this whilst figuring out where your relationship with Hunter fits into it.

Chapter Summary: A final mission from Cid sees you encountering something that you never would've expected.

Masterlist for S1

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, very light angst and feelings/protectiveness, Hemlock making an appearance

Word Count: 3.6K

Author's notes: Very much just sticking to the episode, with a couple little extra scene details but it'll be a more chill read for sure! Hope you still enjoy! Excited to begin work on Ch12 and please do let me know on this post if there is a preference cause sometimes I need a little creative help lol

With you all having caught up on some sleep, it was time to get in touch with Cid and her reaction came as no surprise to any of you.

“Not sure what’s got you all twisted up in knots.”

“We were stranded on that planet, Cid. We needed you, and you left us.” Omega said hotly.

“You’re fine now, aren’t you? And you got your ship back.”

“Yeah, with no help from you.” Wrecker complained.

“Do you wanna mope or make money? Because I got a tip on a downed ship, which means cargo ripe for the taking. I’ll even give you 30% of the cut.”

You scoffed at the way she acted like she was giving you all a gift.

“That is our standard percentage.” Tech pointed out.

“All right. This one time, let’s say 35%.”

Wrecker thought that sounded okay but one glance at the rest of you told you that a better offer was expected.

“Okay, 40.” Cid said but again was met with hard stares. “Fine, 50% as a token of my goodwill, that you seem to have forgotten.” She added pointedly.

“Goodwill?” You repeated with a roll of your eyes.

Cid didn’t pay that any attention. “I’m sending you the intel now. Don’t come back unless you scavenge something valuable.”

“What makes you think we’d come back at all?” Hunter countered.

“Don’t test me, Bandana. Just get it done.” Cid snapped before she signed off.

Tech examined the intel on the datapad, “Severing ties with Cid could be problematic, considering what she knows about us. Perhaps we choose a diplomatic solution and complete this one last mission for her.” He suggested.

Hunter sat down and took the datapad from his brother. “Cid only sent coordinates. No ship transponder code or indication of what caused it to crash.”

“Limited intel. There’s a surprise.” You muttered as you stood beside Hunter’s seat.

“How hard could scavenging cargo be?” Omega offered.

“Omega, don’t ever lose that optimism.” You said affectionately before you heard a heavy breath leave Hunter’s lips and there it was again, that exhausted sigh. You placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

--

Omega gasped from her room as the ship left hyperspace and entered the atmosphere, “There’s a village here.

“That would explain how the wreckage was reported so quickly.” Tech said in reply from his seat in front of the hall control panel. “The crashed vessel appears mostly intact. The cargo aboard should be in fair enough condition to transport.”

--

The ship landed and fully kitted up, you all left the ship, and searched for the vessel.

It didn’t take long to find.

“What kinda ship is this?” Wrecker asked as he studied the wreckage.

“Don’t know. No hull markings.” Hunter responded.

You shone your torch across it. Whatever had caused this ship to crash, it had made it crash hard. There were no signs of life and there was debris scattered all around the main crash site.

“Based on the severity of the impact and the lack of communication signals, the crew aboard most likely perished.” Tech said as he stared at his datapad.

Omega had climbed up to access the door. “We don’t know for sure. They could be trapped inside. Come on.”

“All this time with us, how has she kept this up?” You pondered as you made to follow her up.

“Couldn’t tell you.” Hunter agreed, a smile in his voice. He knew the rest of you had been hardened by war and had seen the very worst of people and it had left its mark. You all could find that hope when you really needed to, you wouldn’t have made it this far otherwise, but it didn’t come as easily as it used to, and he worried that that would start to show in Omega, but he was yet to see that. If she could keep that type of outlook and strength within her, then they’d have done something right.

--

The door whirred open, and Hunter and Omega shone their lights into the dark corridor, but it seemed to be clear.

Hunter led the way in.

--

The more you walked through the ship, the more uncomfortable you got. It was eerily silent and empty, yet you felt like you were just waiting for something to jump out from any number of the dark corners, leaving you with the sensation that you were intruding.

“Where is everyone?” Omega breathed.

Wrecker’s foot nudged something on the ground. “Oh, check it out.” He gasped eagerly as he picked it up. “High-volt electrostaff.”

You barely registered what he said, you were too busy examining the markings on the wall.

Tech followed your trail of light with his own. “Something unfortunate happened here.”

“Whatever did this wasn’t human.” You added.

“I will get the power restored and check data logs on the bridge.” Tech said.

“By yourself?” Omega whispered nervously.

“Yeah, I don’t know about that one, Tech.” You agreed.

“Your concern is not warranted. I will be fine.” Tech said dismissively.

“Famous last words of anyone whose wandered off into a creepy, dark space.” You muttered but your concern was obvious.

Tech simply shrugged. “I will rejoin you all momentarily.”

With a sigh, you split up and the four of you continued your exploration whilst Tech went to the bridge.

--

What the rest of you next discovered as you carried on exploring the ship was not what you were expecting. Your torch light shone on what appeared to be some sort of tank and you immediately noticed the abrupt change of temperature.

“Why is it so cold in here?” Wrecker asked.

“It’s some kind of lab.” Hunter deduced as he led the way around the room.

“This medical equipment is Kaminoan.” Omega said, her breath coming out as smoke.

“Huh. So, what’s it doing here?” Wrecker asked.

Omega looked down at a broken piece of equipment. “It’s their cloning technology but this configuration is different than anything I saw in Tipoca City.”

Hunter clicked his comm. “Tech, find anything on the bridge?”

--

“Not yet. Still rerouting the reserve power. Stand by. The grid should be restored momentarily.” Tech was then distracted by a loud clatter. He followed the sound to what he thought was the source which was a broken droid that was repeatedly saying ‘danger.’ “What happened? What attacked this ship?” He asked it but it simply stuttered ‘danger’ again powered down. It was then he heard the sound of something clanking above him again and he knew he needed to find his way back to the rest of you.

--

Wrecker examined and touched a gloopy like substance next to a section of scratched on the walls. He grunted in disgust. “These are reinforced walls. What were they keeping in here?”

There was a faint creaking sound echoing throughout the room and the hairs on the back of your neck stood up. “I don’t know, but it’s still on board.”

The sound of water dripping and something chittering about you all started to grow louder and it was then you caught sight of a creature you’d never seen before hanging upside down from the ceiling, saliva dripping form it’s jaws but there was also an electric spark coming from its mouth which reminded you of something, but you couldn’t remember what.

“Hunter, what is that?” Omega whispered.

“Back away slowly.” Hunter ordered quietly. He kept a protective arm out in front of Omega as he did so.

You all did as he said but suddenly a pipe burst and you all instinctively turned to look at it but when your attention went back to where the creature had been, you were horrified to see that it had jumped down from the ceiling and was now stalking towards you all.

You made to step out, but Hunter’s hand caught your wrist.

“You’re not going to try and connect with this.”

“Hunter-”

“This isn’t something that’s up for debate. It’s an order. You’re not going near it.” He said firmly as he pulled out his blaster.

“Hunter, this isn’t going to help.” You hissed as you reluctantly did as he said and drew your blaster.

“This thing destroyed this ship. I’m not taking any chances here.”

Wrecker attempted to stab it with the electrostaff but the creature simply snatched and swallowed it.

You, Hunter, and Wrecker let out a series of shots as the creature screeched and made to lunge for you. There wasn’t a fatal hit but luckily your actions seemed to be off putting enough as it retreated back up to the ceiling.

The four of you stayed on guard but it was then that the power came back on so at least that made seeing this thing an easier task.

Any relief at having actual light was short lived for a rattle behind you saw you all turn to see the animal again only this time it didn’t hesitate to charge at you all.

You- thanks to your Force abilities- were able to dive over it and Hunter reacted quickly enough to grab Omega and jump out of the way. Wrecker unfortunately got knocked to the side.

The four of you sent a round of blaster fire down the corridor after the creature but it was too fast and too slinky for any shot to find a weak point and it turned around the corridor out of sight.

“Tech, we’ve got a problem. Get off the ship. Now!” Hunter urged into his comm.

--

Tech was already running as he replied, “I suspect this is some type of research vessel.”

--

“We know!” You said as the four of you ran through the corridors whilst keeping an eye out for any sign of the creature.

“And whatever they were researching just got loose.” Omega added.

“And it’s headed your way.” Hunter informed him.

--

You all rounded the corner to be met with an incredibly bizarre sight: the creature appeared to be feeding off the electricity coming from one of the power outlets on the ship and the creature itself seemed to be using it as a way to… grow?

“Does that thing look different to you?” Wrecker asked nervously.

It did but again, something about this animal was striking some degree of familiarity in you and you were infuriated that you couldn’t think of how or why that was the case.

Tech had appeared on the opposite side of the corridor, but he came to an abrupt halt as he witnessed what this animal was doing. He was not deterred by the fact that now its attention was on him, in fact he liked that it gave him a brief moment to study it. “Fascinating.” He murmured to himself as he watched the electrical energy be absorbed by the animal.

The four of you weren’t prepared to let the creature get closer to him. You opened fire once more to distract it.

“Take cover.” Tech ordered you all as he pointed his blaster to one of the power outlets.

Wrecker picked up Omega and turned to shield her body with his own whilst Hunter did the same with you, minus the picking up part.

Tech fired the shot.

The explosion created a hole in the ship which gave the creature the chance to slip away.

You all followed it out but lost sight of it in the woods.

Tech lowered his visor and saw the fading heat signature of the animal. “The creature appears to be headed in the direction of the village.”

“We’re the ones who let it out. We have to neutralize it before it hurts anyone.” Hunter said.

“How? Our blasters our useless on it.” Wrecker countered.

“Given the fact that the crew was most likely eaten by the creature, I doubt it is currently hungry-” Tech said nonchalantly.

“It ate the crew?” Omega interrupted, backing into you with fear.

You laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “How is that helping, Tech?” You scolded.

“It ate the crew.” Omega repeated breathlessly.

“Just stop.” You advised as you saw Tech getting ready to say something else.

“Access the lab files and find out what species we’re dealing with and how to stop it.” Hunter directed Tech.

“Mmm, I can help.” Omega offered, finding her courage again. “I know my way around Kaminoan tech.”

“Go.” Hunter said. “You two, with me.” Hunter ordered you and Wrecker and the three of you set off for the ship.

--

“Hunter, if we can’t take care of this thing before it hurts anyone, you need to let me at least try my way.” You said as you got into the co-pilot’s seat whilst he got the ship in the air.

“I know.” Hunter agreed. He regretted not letting you do it earlier, he’d let emotion be the ruling judgement in the heat of the moment. Balancing both his professional and personal relationship with you was something he was still finessing.

“See anything?” Wrecker called from the gun turret as he scanned the woods below.

You looked at the scopes. “Zero, two, five.”

Wrecker saw it then. It was moving fast. His shots couldn’t make a hit and it disappeared from view.

“Did you get it?” Hunter asked.

“No.” Wrecker grunted.

--

Tech had managed to infiltrate the lab’s files. “Look at this.” He said to Omega as he examined the information on his datapad. “These appear to be designs using the creature’s genetic material for modified armour plating. That must be why it was unaffected by our blaster fire.”

“Then how do we stop it?” Omega asked.

“Uncertain.” Tech unplugged and moved on to the next panel. “However, this confirms that the species feeds on energy, which propels its rapid growth.”

“You mean it’ll get even bigger?!”

Tech’s eyes widened as he stared at the information on the screen. “Yes. Much bigger.”

--

Your jaw dropped as you watched out the window as the ship past over the woods. The creature had reached a power plant and had drastically transformed and then it hit you. “Hey, I recognise it now!” You hadn’t been there the day Coruscant was attacked but you had seen the holonet reports and the images were pretty memorable.

“You recognise it?” Hunter repeated, stunned.

“I wasn’t there and I’m blanking on what it’s called but it attacked Coruscant a few years ago.” It was then that Tech’s voice came through the comms and confirmed what you were saying.

“Hunter, the creature is the same species that attacked Coruscant during the war. You must not let it get near the power grid or it will increase exponentially in size.”

Yeah, you were pretty clued into that now. “We were a bit late on that one, Tech.” You responded as the creature spotted your ship and let out a roar.

Hunter took evasive action but not before the creature’s tail collided with the side of the ship.

“Still want me to drop you off?” Hunter glanced at you as he righted the ship.

You grimaced. “Uh maybe not right now.” The animal was too aggressive now, too scared and felt to threatened. There would be no room for you to work your way into forming any kind of bond with it. If it really came down to it, you would go but it didn’t need to happen right away yet.

Hunter was quietly relieved although he knew that if things got too out of hand, you would be the only option they had left.

--

The best strategy you guys had come up with to protect the village was being the source of distraction. Wrecker continuously opened fire on it but it was having no effect.

“Stop it before it gets any larger.” Hunter said to Wrecker.

“I’m trying!” Wrecker shouted back.

You took a deep breath. “Hunter, you gotta put me in there.” It was the only other option you had.

Hunter’s jaw clenched but he nodded.

You moved towards the door but just as Hunter got the ship in position, the alarms went off. “We’ve got ships on our tail.” He swerved the ship out the way as they opened fire.

You stumbled backwards. “Where’d they come from?” You said as you righted yourself and Gonky before you went back to the cockpit. There was no chance of you getting down to the animal now.

“Hold on.” Hunter signalled as he kicked the ship into high gear.

“Tech, Omega, you’ve got Imperial inbound. Get out of there.” You said urgently into you comm.

--

Omega picked up her comm as she heard your voice. “On our way.” She replied before she looked to Tech who showed no signs of hustle as he stared at his datapad. “Tech, let’s go.”

“Not yet. I am not finished transferring all of the data.”

An explosion sounded outside, and the ship shook with the impact of it and the power went out.

“Come on.” Omega implored before she started to run.

Tech followed her but their way off the ship was tricky as it was starting to fall apart. The explosions continued to surround them. They managed to vacate it but not before a series of ships passed overhead and fired down at the wreckage.

Tech grabbed Omega and took cover from the resulting large explosion behind a larger piece of debris as the ship got completely destroyed.

--

You were too busy avoiding the other Imperial ships to see what exactly had been done to the creature, all you caught sight of was the power plant exploding. “They’re not killing it. They’re taking it.” You murmured as you saw the now unconscious creature being taken up into another Imperial ship. What could the Empire possibly want with something like that?

“Let’s not be next.” Hunter said, pulling you out of your thoughts.

“Hunter, they’re going to take that village.” You said quietly, unhappily, as you caught sight of some ships taking up position in front of the houses, but you knew that there was nothing you could do. You were outnumbered and Tech and Omega needed you guys to get them out.

“We can’t help them.” Hunter said regretfully. He wished they could, but they’d be no good to anyone if they were dead and if they didn’t get out of here soon, that’s how they would wind up and Tech and Omega needed out of there too.

--

Tech and Omega paused for breath and Tech tapped into his comm. “Hunter, we’re clear of the vessel and heading to the landing zone.”

“Copy that.” Hunter acknowledged and he got the ship in position. He didn’t let it land though, there were too many ships on their tail to do that. The best he could do was slow it down and open the main doors.

Tech leaped onto the stairs and grabbed Omega’s hand as she jumped up after him to get her secure. The two of them made their way into the ship and sat, with Tech making sure Omega’s safety support was down first before he did his own.

Hunter got the ship out of there and sent it into hyperspace.

--

“The crashed vessel was part of the Imperial cloning operation.” Tech informed the rest of you as he sat in front of one of the control panels in the ship corridor.

“The Empire cloned the Zillo Beast?” You echoed as you stood behind Tech’s chair and studied the information on the screen.

“Yes and no.” Tech responded. “The directive came straight from the Supreme Chancellor before he became Emperor.”

“What’s he want with it?” Wrecker asked.

“The creature’s genetic material has the potential to be weaponized in the hands of the right scientist.”

“Where were they taking the creature?” Hunter asked his brother.

“Unknown. The ship did not have a destination logged. Hunter, there is far more to this than we realised. From what I have gathered, I suspect the Empire did not destroy the cities on Kamino to end cloning.”

“They wanted to control it.” You said softly but there was a hint of anger in your voice.

“Indeed.” Tech said in agreement.

Hunter set off towards the cockpit but paused hallway and turned back to face Tech. “Send the data to Echo and Rex. See what they can find out.”

--

Daro

“Doctor. The creature has been recovered and is now safely secured below.”

“Good. And our other guest?”

“The shuttle is arriving now.”

The doctor set off towards the landing platform with a squad of troopers. “Did any of the villagers see the Zillo?” He asked the leader.

“Several. The locals have been detained and will be dealt with. However, one vessel escaped our assault. It was a military class shuttle.”

“Find out who it was.”

“Yes sir.”

The doctor watched on ahead as the shuttle landed. “Hello, Prime Minister.” He greeted the Kaminoan as he came off the ship. “Apologies. Former Prime Minister.”

“Why have I been brought here?”

“The cooperation of you chief scientist has not been forthcoming. Nale Se’s defiance is problematic.”

“It must be frustrating to have your resources but lack the expertise to achieve your goal. And if you fail to convince her, it won’t be long before you are in a cell like me.”

The doctor was not intimidated. “I fear you misunderstand your situation here. If you know of a way to persuade the scientist, now would be the time to mention it.”

“Indeed. In exchange for my freedom.”

“I’m listening.”

“There is a particular clone you must locate. A young girl. She is the key to controlling Nala Se.”

“How very interesting.” The doctor invited him to follow him inside. “It seems we have much to discuss.”

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @fuckoffthanos, @tpwkcalli, @graciexmarvel, @arctrooper69, @nightmonkeysstuff, @brujaporfavor, @flyingkangaroo, @sunkissedclones, @ladytano420, @keep-calm-and-drink-caf, @yyourmotherr, @xxeiraxx, @dragonrider9905, @starwarsnerd111

[joyful-soul-collector]

ooh what's lockwood and co about should i watch it?

WAS WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK THIS HERE WE FUCKIN GO BROS

So Lockwood & Co is a netflix series based on a book series of the same name. Essentially it's about ghosts and ghost hunters, but with a twist: It's set in our time, but not our time as we know it.

Basically, around the 1970s, ghosts just like. Appeared. For no reason we've been able to figure out. People would die, and their malevolent ghost would come back, especially if they died in a particularly traumatic way. They called this The Problem. The thing about these ghosts, is that if they touch you, you die, and if you make eye contact with one for too long, you become Ghost-Locked, which basically send you into a coma. We're not sure what Ghost-Locked victims see in this coma but they always look horrified so we can assume it's not great. There seem to be 3 types of ghosts: Type Ones are what you normally picture for a ghost, Type Twos can make illusions and are more powerful, and Type Threes are incredibly rare and they can talk and communicate with certain people.

Then there are the ghost hunters. Now ghost hunters are always children, usually teens, because as you grow older you lose your Talent, your ability to sense ghosts/death. There are 3 types of Talents: Seeing, Hearing, Touching.

Another thing about this world is that there's no Internet. You can see in the theme song piles of old broken computers, and I'm not sure it's explained yet WHY the internet was never invented, but we assume it's because of The Problem somehow. But this means that the newspaper and news on tv is mainly how information gets around, and any research done has to come from a library and books.

So basically in this world there are companies that pay teens to hunt for ghosts and get rid of them. The companies are usually run by adults though, so it's fraught with awful shit, they often treat these kids like they're just tools and not like they're actual people. Often the kids don't actually get paid themselves, because their parents can control where their money gets paid to, so parents will send of their kids to ghost war and rake in the money safe at home. Capitalism god ahold of The Problem and figured out how to make hella money of of it, so a lot of these companies that are supposed to help people are actually super corrupt and awful to their employees.

Unless of course, you're Lockwood & Co

These dorks look at em

50 years after the start of The Problem, Anthony Lockwood, the guy on the right, is an orphaned teenager who decided he wanted to start his own ghost hunting company, and the "Co" part of the name includes the two on the left, George Karim and Lucy Carlyle. They run their own 3 person company free from exploitation from adults, which other companies (run by adults) really really hate. Lockwood has a Seeing Talent, Lucy has a Hearing Talent, and George has a Touching Talent.

Basically, these 3 kids are hired for a job getting rid of a ghost, only they find out that this ghost is one of a woman who was murdered, and not of a guy who fell down the stairs like they thought. They look deeper and deeper into this murder mystery and keep uncovering shit that other ghost companies do NOT want them to be uncovering. Things that go beyond exploitation of kids, more murders, weird artifacts, things that might even explain the origins of The Problem itself. So Lockwood & Co decide they want to figure it all out, or die trying.

This show is heartwarming, it's funny, its mysterious, it's got ALL THE FOUND FAMILY VIBES and I think it's a real hidden gem in the piles of TV shows on Netflix. It's been in the top 10 shows on netflix for a bit, but I've never really heard anyone talk about it, I just stumbled upon it when looking for something to watch one day. All in all, yes, you should definitely watch it please please please do it, I swear to god of Netflix cancels this show I'm going to riot

[poindexters-labratory]

🧡👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

💜👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

@smellyzs & @drinkinboilingcoffee & @glitch-1983

Based on this fnaf ask game :3

Got so many asks about Henry and William's childhoods, wowie

Henry's childhood was a pretty standard childhood as ranch hand childhoods go. He grew up running around sheep, cattle, horses, goats, going to state fairs, and getting really bad sunburns. He's a hunter, a mechanic, a herder, and the gifted one in the entirety of his family. Henry may have gotten a bit of a big head for his individuality in his tiny Utah community. His older siblings think he's annoying as hell because of Henry's inability to take a joke and will state facts at them unprompted, his younger brother intimidated. Also, he got special treatment from their parents for his gifts.

Henry has an older brother, Barry, an older sister, Jenny, and a younger brother, Quincy, making him the second youngest. His mom really likes her 'y's. When it comes to his parents, there's his mother Joanna and his father Floyd. Floyd served in WWII, a little bit after Henry was born in August of 1943, and Joanna is the area's expert on whatever strange question or task you had.

Henry was exceptional in school, both athletically and academically, but as he got older, he became more reclusive and stand-offish, starting high school with friends and a part of many programs, but by the time he graduated, he didn't have much of anyone at all and flat out didn't want to be around anyone.

Even as a child, Henry could be described as having a dry personality. His grandmother probably makes jokes about having a stone-still face even as a baby. He made friends easily, but it was keeping them that was the problem. Very controlling even as a child; bossy about how things were done and convinced that there was a right and wrong way to play games. A lot of this behavior usually lead to physical altercations.

Still, pretty decent childhood overall.

William was far less successful in his childhood.

He doesn't like to talk about his family, only having opened up to Henry about it a few times, but from the details Henry heard, Henry doesn't want to hear much else.

William attended Catholic school in the English countryside, within walking distance of his old house. He hated going home, frequently running away into the woods. His father, Edward, was practically never home because he worked in the city and when he was home, he was drunk. Will is the youngest of five kids (three boys, two girls) and does not like any member of his family, has more of a fear, really. Especially of his oldest brother, Eddie. He doesn't talk about his mom.

Still, despite everything, there were things he loved to do, like reading, dressing up, running around outside, drawing, and bunnies. Unfortunately, he had to keep these hobbies a secret, but he loved them, nevertheless. He was very kind to animals but loathed people. He hated a lot of things about people, especially religion. William was known to get into spats with other kids in the schoolyard and fuss about going to mass. He was bored in school for the most part and had a problem with sitting still and paying attention, of which he would get punished for.

When he was twelve, his father moved him and William to the city and they've been staying in the mechanic shop where Edward works ever since then. Perhaps the only kind gesture his father really ever showed to him was moving them. He stopped going to school and started hanging around with other kids in alleys and streets. His sweet nature was soon replaced with something brash and vulgar. Still loves his bunnies though.

[harloqui]

I see there's new people in the tags? 👀

I'm kinda concerned about the amount of shifters trickling in and your safety, so I hope y'all don't mind if I offer up some information and tips for newbies looking to safely navigating the community:

Avoid people who start talking about doomsday conspiracies. They never come true, and tends to create unnecessary drama and anxiety. Also be wary of people who talk about hunters a lot - those who talk about them aren't typically dangerous but it can still lead to a lot of unnecessary paranoia and drama, so you might want to avoid those conversations if you're not in a good headspace for them.

Never pay for any claimed tricks or secrets to shifting. Never give any of your personal info (as in, photos of yourself, your address, etc.) to someone offering to turn you. Never meet up with someone who claims to be able to turn you. Most (if not all) of the people offering "the secrets to p-shift" freely like this have nefarious intentions, and you don't want to get caught up in their plans.

Don't feel pressured to do things that make you feel worse, or impair you. Nobody should be forcing you to shift, cut off connections or friends, hurt yourself or do anything that you don't feel comfortable doing. If they are, cut them off or tell someone who can help.

If you're the pack-faring type, remember that packs should be democratic and fair to all its members. A pack should not be a dictatorship, or a place where some members gang up on others. An alpha or beta should not be power-hungry and controlling. Packs are more like found family, a group of friends, or an online forum, not an abusive cult.

Keep up with your health and life. Don't neglect it because you're a shifter, make sure you're healthy (or as healthy as you can be.) Shifting sucks when you're sick, so make sure you're taking care of yourself! But don't overdo it (don't take too much vitamins or drink too much water, for example) - even too much of a good thing can be dangerous! And don't do anything that seems too dangerous for your body. Even as a shifter (and even when shifted) your body still has limits.

Also, don't forget to take care of your mundane duties either. You may be a shifter, but you're also living in a human society, and unfortunately you can't survive in one without living like a human. (I know younger shifters tend to get a little overzealous and forget about their everyday lives for a bit, so this is moreso geared towards them than the experienced ones.) Stay in school, learn well, pick up a new hobby or two, enjoy what human society has to offer.

(Also take this, it will help you on your journey)

I'm pretty sure most of you know this already, but since I don't know who knows, I thought it wouldn't hurt to have a refresher. Stay safe out there!

[cherrytimemachine]

I’m bored, so I’m gonna drop some senate headcanons before I go to bed.

- Sentinel is an avid hunter in his free time

- Ratbat is what Sentinel calls a “tamed beast”, referring to evolved beastformers that have lost most of their animalistic qualities and have even developed vehicle alt modes

- Proteus is a water alt, paying homage to the Greek God Proteus, the first son of Poseidon

- In addition to his water based alt mode, Proteus also lives in a culture of sirens and singing as widespread communication

- Ratbat and Soundwave were originally conjunxed and raised the cassettes together, but Ratbat sided with his political allies and voted out Soundwave during the Rust Plague when he raised concerns about the senate’s lack of action

- Ratbat and Hellbat are cousins, and Ratbat can also do the hypnotism trick that Hellbat can do, though Ratbat is much more advanced at using his ability

- Proteus is rumored to be able to “foretell the future” because of his accurate “predictions” of certain events and consequences, though this “ability” is thanks to his web of control he exudes to ensure his will is carried out

- Proteus engages in a hobby of going out wearing different kibble to spend some nights away from his position, another reference to the God Proteus, who could shape shift to avoid people seeking him out for his prophetic ability

- Proteus has a younger brother named Triton, who serves as the Emirate and ruler of their homeland

- Shockwave and Soundwave are brothers, Shockwave being the much more open and extroverted, while Soundwave was quiet and mostly kept to himself

If you want some more, I’ll post them as a reblog or something. ✌️

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

I think that Papa Titan's summation of Belos is a pretty fair abridged version of his motivation. He is delusional, and he probably cares more about becoming Witch Hunter General than saving humanity (he would disagree, but he'd also disagree about enjoying killing the grimwalkers). It's just that we never get to see where that stems from. I don't think it's "he was born evil and never cared about anyone, take that Belos enjoyers" like people are interpreting it as, but it's unfortunate that's the last time the narrative examines him. If we had seen his backstory explored in more detail, we could see what brought him to this point and then it'd have been more meaningful, but that's it.

Him "wanting to be a hero in his own delusion" could even parallel Luz preferring to stay in the Demon Realm to become a witch over going back home where she's considered a "weirdo". He could've been an outcast on Earth so he clung on to Caleb, and after he killed him instead of embracing the Demon Realm, he realized he had nothing to go back to, so in his diseased mind he decided he'd kill all the witches to gain people's favor, instead of genuinely wanting to save anyone. It could have been deeper but still ultimately came to the same message.

The Titan's assessment of Belos does sum up part of his motivation and mindset but that's the problem, it's only part of it. And as you said, if we had seen more of his background then it would be more meaningful but the fact that the show doesn't (despite setting it up in literally the previous two episodes), this means the majority of the fandom will take the Titan's words as the final say in the matter.

To describe him as delusional and controlling is accurate but it is missing very important context that explains where and why these impulses come from and why that should matter. The show set Philip and Caleb up as being orphans who became witch-hunters to fit in and weren't even from Gravesfield. This parallels Camila and Luz's journey to Gravesfield to find treatment for Manny only to lose him and rely on each other for comfort and support. When Luz leaves Camila, she is devastated and thinks she's failed as a parent.

Although the show never gets into this, it is commonly interpreted that Philip was dependent on Caleb as his only family and he sees Caleb's abandonment as being taken by witches and that he must save him and that he has never coped with the fact that his brother left him for a witch. The Witch Hunter General thing is only one line from King's Tide and the show puts more emphasis on the brothers' relationship so it's reasonable to assume that Caleb is the main motivator here, not recognition for killing all the witches. Belos' justification of "saving humanity" is also tied to Caleb because when Hunter is possessed, Belos is ecstatic because it means they can finish their journey as witch hunters "together."

It's always been about Caleb.

In your second paragraph, you discuss how Belos may have been an outcast and in his delusion, thought that by killing witches he would finally gain the favor of his community instead of genuinely wanting to save them and that this is ultimately the same message as the show. However, with this added context, this really isn't the same message as the show because the Titan's lines are so bare that casual fans can interpret them as meaning Belos is only a power-hungry bigot, while more astute fans (and let's be honest, Belos fans) would be angry at such a reductive statement.

Ultimately, the Titan's lines are technically true but lack the meat to really make a compelling statement on Belos and ignores the primary motivation for Belos even going to the Demon Realm in the first place. It's an argument with no substance and leaves the audience to fill in the gaps based on their preconceived notions of Belos and how well they've been paying attention to the story.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Primitivism

Primitivism is a set of views and perspectives based on the idea of a natural and spiritual humanity in harmony with nature that began to disappear as civilization developed from Neolithic times, to the extent that today humanity is alienated, de-sensitised and increasingly in thrall to modern industrial society’s conditioning and control. Its more extreme proponents (like John Zerzan) propose a radical regression of social organization and technology to the level of the hunter/gatherer. A radical reduction in human population is a fundamental principle and aim of all primitivists. Some green activists believe humanity has become so corrupted by modern ‘civilization’ that it is humanity itself (all humans equally, whether they are road sweepers or the heads of corporations) that is responsible for the ecological crisis. They argue the planet would be better off with fewer people living on it, and this view has led to homophobia, racism and support for terrorism by some primitivists.

Extreme primitivists believe that the total destruction of civilization is a necessity and the inevitable rapid reduction in human population appears to be a price worth paying. We would agree that we would not like to live in the urban dystopia of 20 billion ravaged souls that primitivists portray but nor would we want to live in a rural arcadia of only fifty million sturdy individualists. With primitivists we agree that “Never has civilization manufactured so many means for its own disappearance. To stop this path to suicide, change the world order and invent a new way of organizing social life becomes each day more urgent because at the end of that road lies, perhaps, the end of humanity”. We also agree with those who say, “Only widespread refusal of this system and its various forms of control, revolt against power itself, can abolish civilization and pose a radical alternative”.

Primitivists believe that humanity has a natural condition but now exists in an unnatural state that is rapidly heading towards spiritual and possibly physical extinction. Most blame the development of civilization which, by inventing certain processes (for instance mathematics) and systems (for instance trade), objectified and commodified Nature and alienated humankind from it. Civilization domesticates individuals from an early age. It alienates and creates ‘alien’ emotions (longing, greed, selflove) that express themselves in conflict, possessiveness, the desire to accumulate and defeat. Most illness and disease, including mental illness, are said to be direct products of civilization. Modern medicine offers only palliatives or a further alienating and controlling hi-tech solution. Hierarchy, division of labour, the subjugation of women, states, priests, kings and armies are all products of a civilization primitivists would like to unbuild. We profoundly disagree with primitivists on the question of humanity and spirituality. Firstly, we reject the notions of a ‘natural humanity’ that can be rediscovered and its more subtle idea that a ‘good’ humanity can only be achieved by regression to either a hunter-gatherer existence or an extremely purified and simplified individualism. Modern humanity is a social construct, something that can be uncreated and redefined in the direction of autonomy, mutual aid and solidarity without any need to bow to the unreal. As revolutionaries, we accept that no future society can be built without the ethical development of millions of people, the development of awareness and understanding, their free and conscious adherence to its principles and modes of action via a social-organic conscience or ethic shared by all humanity. We disagree with primitivism’s desire to randomly unbuild society and the sometimes fervent approval of irrationalist and chaotic attacks on civilization – this is not the revolution which must contain within it the seeds of a sustainable, fulfilling social ecology, a free society, anarchist communism.

Anarchist communists certainly agree with the problems but we are often accused of only wanting to reform society. This is nonsense. The abolition of money, wage relations, the socialization of production and consumption with all goods free to use, an end to all forms of ownership and hierarchy, the end of democracy and all other changes needed to bring about an anarchist communist society are not ‘reforms’ but truly revolutionary. If production and consumption are to be brought into harmony on the basis of human need and ecological sustainability, then all things involved in satisfying human need — knowledge, science, technology, production, distribution and propagation, exchange, communication and so on — will need to be deconstructed and changed in truly revolutionary ways.

Primitivists hate technology and seek a regression to levels of technology which would not be able to support current world levels of population nor give access to many things beneficial to humans. Anarchist communists agree that the extent to which our essential humanity can develop is important and that not all technologies are neutral. Where we disagree is that a society with a high level of technology is necessarily evil and self-destructive, viewing this as a consequence of capitalism’s misuse of technology. Some primitivists see all forms of organization and collective action as alienating and advocate a reversion to a ‘society’ of self-sufficient, self-realising individuals, a ‘natural’ humanity. Anarchist communists in contrast, see society as the truly liberating and liberatory environment in which humanity may find its greatest expression. While agreeing with many that ‘technology’ is not neutral and that civilization must be radically-reformed in ways that are sustainable and maximize both human individuality and sociability (freedom and society), we are completely neutral in our approach to what technology, which tools, used how and when. Technology is not a matter of morals but what works, within the context of sustainability and humanity.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Arthur Delaney at HuffPost:

A jury in Delaware has found the president’s son guilty of illegally owning a gun in 2018. The government said Hunter Biden was addicted to drugs when he bought a pistol that October, and that he lied on a federal form when he checked a box saying he wasn’t an addict. Jurors agreed, and Biden now faces time behind bars. The case has major political significance, coming as former President Donald Trump and the entire Republican Party mount an all-out assault on the U.S. justice system over its supposed “weaponization” by President Joe Biden against Trump, who faces federal charges for hoarding classified documents and trying to steal the 2020 election. The Department of Justice has thrown the book at Hunter Biden, hitting him with illegal gun ownership charges that are rarely prosecuted as a standalone case without some other misconduct related to the firearm. The weeklong trial humiliated the first family, the guilty verdict could send the president’s son to prison, and he still faces another trial this fall for allegedly failing to pay his taxes on time.

During closing arguments on Monday, prosecutor Leo Wise reportedly gestured toward first lady Jill Biden and other members of the Biden family in the court gallery, saying: “Respectfully, none of that matters.” Hunter Biden had originally struck a plea deal with prosecutors last year, but the agreement fell apart under questioning by District Judge Maryellen Noreika, which revealed a disagreement between Biden’s legal team and prosecutors about whether the government would still pursue other charges against Biden related to his international business deals. So Biden pleaded not guilty, even though he didn’t deny buying the gun and he admitted in his 2021 memoir that he was constantly smoking crack cocaine around the time of the purchase. The government used the memoir to make its case, and also called to the stand Biden’s ex-wife, an ex-girlfriend, and his late brother’s widow, Hallie Biden, with whom he had a disastrous affair.

[...] The jury found Biden guilty on three counts: lying about his drug use on a federal form used in firearm sales that he was not addicted to a controlled substance, making that same lie to a federally licensed gun dealer, and illegally possessing a firearm even though he was an addict. Biden faces a maximum possible sentence of 25 years in prison, though it’s likely he would receive a lighter sentence, and he could appeal the case.

Biden’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said in a statement that they would “continue to vigorously pursue all the legal challenges available to Hunter.” In a statement, Joe Biden said he loved his son and would respect the judicial process. “I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal,” he said. “Jill and I will always be there for Hunter and the rest of our family with our love and support. Nothing will ever change that.” Hunter Biden thanked his family and friends in a statement after the verdict. “I am more grateful today for the love and support I experienced this last week from Melissa, my family, my friends, and my community than I am disappointed by the outcome,” he said. “Recovery is possible by the grace of God, and I am blessed to experience that gift one day at a time.”

Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, has been found guilty on all three counts of illegally owning a gun.

President Biden has said that he won't pardon him.

A big difference between Democrats and the MAGA cult is that we accept the fact Hunter Biden has been charged in a court of law by a jury of his peers, while the MAGA cult (and the GOP at large) whine about Donald Trump being held accountable in a court of law. Another big difference is that President Biden didn't interfere with the Hunter Biden trial process, unlike Trump, who did everything he could to obstruct his trial.

See Also:

MMFA: MAGA propagandists juggle conspiracy theories following Hunter Biden verdict

The Guardian: Hunter Biden found guilty on all three charges in federal gun case

Daily Kos: Hunter Biden is convicted, but the GOP is still big mad

[art-of-manliness]

A Field Guide to Military Hand Signals

Soldiers often need to operate in complete silence to maintain the element of surprise and avoid detection by enemy forces. But they still need to communicate with each other. So, how do they do it without telegraphing their position? With hand signals. During the past century, the military has developed hand signals that allow its members to communicate with each other while in stealth mode. The hand signals also allow communication when things are too loud for their comrades to hear oral communication. The U.S. Army first developed uniform hand signals during WWII. As time went on, the vocabulary of this visual language expanded. Other branches of the military also developed hand signals, typically following the Army’s lead. The most recent standardized hand signals from the U.S. Army are codified in TC 3-21.60. There are many of them for different situations: patrol, convoy control, ground-to-air communication, etc. To find out which military hand signals might be useful for a civilian to know, I talked to fellow Okie and former Green Beret Harrison Anderson, who did 12 years of active duty service in the Army. He’s now a retired colonel in the Army Reserves and finishing up his business education at OU (Boomer Sooner, baby!). A Guide to Military Hand Signals While you might not find yourself in Nam trying to sneak past Charlie, it can still be useful for civilians to know a few military hand signals. As Harrison noted, “Hand signals can come in handy if you’re out hunting and need to keep quiet.” If you’re not a hunter, you can use them when paintballing, playing capture the flag with your bros, or attempting to avoid being detected by a horde of baby-eating barbarians during the apocalypse. Plus, they’re just cool to know. Here’s a rundown on some of the main military hand signals: Numbers Because one of a soldier’s hands may be occupied with a gun, the Army has developed a system to indicate numbers with just one hand. Basically, the hand signals for numbers 1-5 are straightforward, with one finger extended up for each numeral. Then when you get to 6-9, you turn your hand to the side and extend out the number of fingers you’re adding to 5, e.g., two fingers out is 5 + 2 or 7. A closed raised fist is zero. Useful Patrol Hand Signals Slow down. Tell people to slow their pace by extending your arm horizontally to the side, palm to the front, and waving your arm downward several times. Halt. Signal for someone to stop by raising your hand above your head, palm facing forward. Freeze. Use the same signal for halt, but make a fist. Freeze tells someone to not only stop, but to not move at all to avoid detection. Stop, Look, Listen, Smell. Place your open hand behind your ear to tell your crew to pay attention to their environment. Assemble. Raise your arm vertically above your head, palm open, and make a circle with your arm. Use this signal when you need your buddies to rally around you so you can talk shop. Double time. Use this signal to tell your crew to hurry the hell up. It’s a lot of fun to do. Just pump your fist like you’re trying to get a truck driver to blow his horn. Understood. The U.S. Army actually codified this common civilian gesture. Flash a simple thumbs up like the Fonz to indicate you understand the communication. I Don’t Understand. This was my favorite one because it’s so funny. Just shrug your shoulders like you have no clue what’s happening, which indicates you don’t understand the communication. Useful Vehicle Hand Signals Harrison shared a few hand signals that can be used when you’re communicating with the driver of a vehicle. He told me he actually uses these a lot out in the civilian world when he or someone else is backing up a big truck with a trailer hitched to it and the driver’s visibility is compromised. When your friend’s behind the wheel, you can use these signals to help him maneuver his vehicle safely (or vice versa). Indicate How Far a Driver Has to Back Up. Use this hand signal when… http://dlvr.it/T9mkds

[zarathelonewolf]

Books I plan on writing but I Bet I Am Gonna Be Shitty At It™:

For monsterfuckers or monster romance enthusiasts:

-A STORY ABOUT A HUMAN DIPLOMAT in a world where humans and vampires aren't at war anymore, but humans Fucked Up™ so they almost went to war again. However the vampires have decided to simply only allow human diplomats to communicate with them through special mirrors and keep their territories separate. The tradition is broken due to a human diplomat rescuing the child of a vampire sovereign who had rebelliously challenged his parent's authority by visiting human territories... Without however remembering that vampires built their Empire underground and in cave systems for a reason, the reason being their high sensitivity to sunlight. Lucky for him the future diplomat saves him...

Vampires here are similar to bats, but are humanoid and are "Homo noctus". They do not strictly drink blood, but they are carnivorous. They absolutely cannot digest vegetables. They are not allergic to garlic, garlic was the symbol of a group of humans who fought for freedom from a realm of vampires that had conquered a lot of other vampire realms and pushed them to consume the blood of humans as a terror tactic and a form of taxation. This happened after humans stole a sacred cross, which symbolizes the moon falling unto the surface of the Earth "left right and center, permeating all" for the vampires. As a result the extremist groups of blood-sucking vampires, who had been waiting for a reason to justify their uprising, after the longest period of peace between the two species, decided to lead vampires to what they thought was "destined supremacy". They were defeated and vampires momentarily subjugated, the vampires rebelled, the two species decided to coexist to avoid destroying their planet, yadda yadda... There is a lot more stuff that I am not going to expose here. There will be fantasy creatures aside from vampires as well. Werewolves are a type of vampire more closely related to canids than other vampires. The vampires ride giant spiders, scorpions and centipedes. Dhampirs exist and are born through pregnancy HEAVILY AIDED by magic. I will have fun creating this universe but I plan on writing the book "diary style" and on inserting romance, and I think I will NOT get good results writing either.

Fantasy creatures being cared for

- ANOTHER DIARY, BELONGING TO A PERSON WHO DOES REHAB FOR DRAGONS captured and hurt by poachers and hunters in a world where people aren't so keen on the idea of caring for these beasts... Even though they keep at bay other predators, such as their smaller cousins the wyverns, that are much more likely to eat humans than a dragon is, since humans are too small a meal for a dragon. There are talks about preserving other dangerous mythical creatures, due to the important of preventing an imbalance in the ecosystems both local and global.

-CREATURE POV OF A "CONUNDRUM", a creature made by humans through machinery and artificial intelligence closely mimicking that of a human and highly intelligent species of animals. Conundrum are created to act as entertainment for humans in circus enstablishments and in special enclosures after the great majority of mammals, reptiles and birds have become extinct. Each conundrum however has much deeper intelligence than the one humans think they have.

The tale focuses on a Conundrum created by a "master-maker", thrown away due to being considered defective, repurposed by a rich inventor turned loser by a "mistake" in his lab that led to the death of a few people. The inventor gives it to his daughter in order to keep her company while he works to try and sell old-fashioned trinkets. It is later discovered that the inventor had wanted to bring animals back to life after succeeding to recreate the DNA of a tiger. It is also found out that corporations that control the manufacturing of Conundrum machinery pay governments to keep silent in regards to the fact that there are actually a lot of DNA recovered for a lot of species, and that different ones could be created as well: but the corporations want to keep selling their product. There are even specimens of the supposedly extinct animals alive, but they are hidden, and used by the corporations to model the Conundrum's personalities. The inventor is killed because he wants to use the evidence gathered to cause an upheaval, after managing to smuggle a flesh animal. The murder of the scientist is turned into a tale of suicide due to lost fame. The inventor has, however, unbeknownst to all, and knowing that he would probably be murdered after realizing that the person who had sold him the animal would betray him, put the information in his daughter's Conundrum friend. The story does not end here... I do not want to spoil everything though, this is just the tip of the Iceberg.

-CREATURE POV INTO THE MIND OF A GRIFFIN WHO IS THE MOUNT OF A SOLDIER. Griffin here are like wyverns: they don't have front legs. The wings are their front legs, in the sense that they are part of the front legs, which have two fingers sticking out with very big claws to latch onto surfaces. Think archeopteryx but Eagle™

-CREATURE POV OF A CERBERUS HOUND FINALLY RETIRING AFTER BEING USED IN DOG FIGHTS

Fantasy setting

-NECROMANCY IS GOOD, ACTUALLY, AND IT CAN BE USED AS MEDICINAL ART AS WELL AS PROTECTION FOR YOUR ALLIES. This tale is about necromancer nurses and warriors, who provide assistance for their companions whether they are on the front line or at the back. Necromancers and Paladins are both given the same tier of respect.

The enemy the world at large is facing is the revenge of a wounded thousand-years old alien. The creature didn't use to come from the planet but it has now set root in it. It has been its inhabitant for a long time, and the environment has been used to its presence for thousands of years. But when a sect of wizards sets out to uproot the creature in order to study its composition up close and halt its unstoppable, but all things considered, harmless spread, the creature gets inevitable hurt... And, understandably so, acts out, turning from a silent web of fungi to a truly aggressive army of spores. At the end of the books, the creature is isolated from the rest of the world with a protective spell so that it may advance without being hurt ever again. The real reason why the wizards wanted to uproot the creature was because it was accidentally found out that it's vital fluids could grant immortal life and visions of the future.

-EIGHT BIG SNAKES GOT CORRUPTED WHILE TRYING TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM THE MISTAKE OF A MAGE. Their offspring suffered, and now people bearing the mark of the once great defenders of the land are not faring well, to say the least...

-AN ARCHEOLOGIST IS TASKED WITH TRYING TO FIND OUT THE SECRETS HIDDEN in what his colleagues keep saying will certainly be revealed to be the ruins of a civilization believed to have been a hoax for generations... Even though the rest of the community keeps dismissing them on the matter. The truth is that the conspiracy theorists are right, but humankind will never be able to know. It should NOT be able to know. The protagonist is supposed to keep it that way.

-A FORMER PIT FIGHTER WHO'S LOST THEIR FAME AND GLORY is hired as bodyguard for a very low price and after a lot of convincing (since said former champion wanted to drink triple their weight in alcohol and end up in a basket) by a bartender who wants to abandon their academic career, which they were pressured into by their parents, after said parents finally died. Neither of them get what they want, but they will get what they need. There is romance and found family. It is slice of life, mostly, with some drama, and a fantasy-steampunk ambience. There are humanoid species that aren't Homo sapiens but I haven't decided which ones to put.

-URBAN FANTASY WHERE HUMANS... AREN'T HUMAN AT ALL. None of them are. Actual humans have been eliminated by them a long time before the moment in which the story sets. The neo humans do not know this. It was the only thing the last first human were able to achieve with their powers, a form of vengeance.

The novel or novels are based on a few humans, part of a union of other humans fighting against monsters... While knowing that they are monsters themselves. The monsters believe that the humans that aren't monstrous are authentic humans and those that turn into monsters weren't human in the first place. Kinda complicated, I know, but if you guys read it again maybe you will understand it. If not, sorry.

-THE SAME UNIVERSE AS THE NECROMANCER NOVEL, THIS TIME WE FOCUS ON THE JOB OF A HYPNO-MAGE tasked with making someone forget or otherwise "handle better" memories of the war. Not all things need to be remembered. There is romance, non conventional one though.

-RACERS WHOSE RIDES ARE RAPTORS AND VARIOUS DINOSAURS. No, this is not planet Earth we are talking about. Some of the dinosaurs are invented by yours truly. Think about the plot of a sport anime/manga centered on horse-riding except that there are no horses, there are Big Lizards™

You can send asks about them! My asks are open!

[spuddy-buddy]

Client Beware: kitsunaluna(Tumblr)/cactusbasedcola(Discord)

Reasons for beware:

refusal to communicate

refusal to pay

ordering commissions while knowingly unable to pay

Sometime last year, kitsunaluna commissioned me to create a full reference sheet of one of her characters. For reasons outside my control I was not able to finish which I explained, and she accepted this and was willing to wait until I could finally finish. I was finally able to finish in April of this year, some time after a personal falling out in January that is neither relevant to this situation nor severe enough to warrant any kind of call-out on its own.

I sent her a watermarked version of the piece she commissioned on April 5 of this year, with no response. I messaged her again multiple times between June 4 and June 10, again hearing nothing back. On June 22 I finally threatened action in the form of setting a deadline for October 2023 and stating that I would be posting this very Client Beware if I did not receive payment for my work by then.

At this point she finally responded, saying that I had supposedly cancelled the commission. I had done no such thing and told her such, to which she said I had done so over voice chat. I know that was certainly not the case, as I have not spoken to her since mid-January. It also wasn't in my best interest to cancel a piece when A. I was in great need of the money I should have received, and B. I was rather far along and had put a lot of work into it up until I was rendered unable to finish.

Alas, I must admit that I don't have written proof of any of this in writing, as all of our discussion regarding her commission had occurred over voice chat(but even if I had, that evidence would be impossible to retrieve, as you will see in one of the below screenshots). I know it's easy to get burned when someone's source is "dude, just trust me", but further evidence should support my claims of her tying to lie to me.

Back when we still talked, she would often remark on how she wanted to commission artists but had no money to do so, or how she was stressed because she owed artists money for work they'd done for her even though she was struggling with bills.

I am aware of other artists she has commissioned, and have contacted them to ask about their experiences with her.

One artist has done work that went unpaid, and even refunded work that was partially paid for.

One artist was paid for a few pieces, then stopped being paid after a while. She continued to ask them for more commissions despite still owing them money.

One artist has not been paid, but was smart enough to not start yet.

One artist has done work that had been paid for, so credit where credit is due I suppose.

As of time of writing(July 13, 2023) I have received no further communications from her.

Here is proof of her purposefully ignoring my attempts to get in contact and trying to get out of paying me:

(Note the date of the screenshot I sent kitunaluna: January 14, 2023)

Here is proof that I was rather far along with the piece prior to my technical difficulties(this is a rather old message with no accompanying text, but I can assure that I would not have cancelled a commission this far in):

Here are testimonies from other artists she has commissioned/attempted to commission(with names, profiles, and avatars redacted + color coded for clarity):

(Note the mention of an entire channel in her Discord server being nuked; even if there was proof, I wouldn't be able to access it.)

In conclusion, I believe it is in the best interests of both any potential commissioner's and kitsunaluna herself that any artist denies any future commissions from her. She is evasive when confronted, has unhealthy spending practices, and has no respect for artists' time and work.

You're most likely to run into her if you're into Monster Hunter, Cookie Run Kingdom, or Don't Starve IIRC.

[buttercuparry]

how do you think or what do you imagine as the best case scenario of the storylines of the Riverlands, the North and the wall as it pertains to certain groups intention to find Arya? Not that you have to unveil a fanfic for us or anything but if you like 😂 jk jk

Thank you @nymehrias for the ask from this.

In Riverlands, I think a lot of people have said that the most logical sense it makes for Arya's storyline is to come in contact with BwB, which LS is leading right now. It fulfills her direwolf being named Nymeria in part. Thoros says that BwB is not what it once was. Before, they still were trying to fell Lannister men, hold them accountable for the destruction of Riverlands. And not only that, I think they would have done the same to northern men too ( remember that mad hunter was warned not because he imprisoned Karstark men, but because they were stuffed in crow cages and left in the sun for days without water....so torture).

But they had other duties as well. Harwin when ordered by Arya says that he no longer has any pledge or any duty to any House. It ended with Lord Stark's death. That he now works with the rest of the brothers as an organization on ground helping the smallfolk during the war, because no matter who is it, be it the lion or the wolf, it is the smallfolks who end up paying the price. So helping bring in food and other resources, helping the orphans have a safe place, helping communities that have sprouted up in unlikely places to maintain their hideouts and lead the Lannister men away from those places. Under LS they are simply mercenaries hunting down Freys on her orders. Nothing else.

So I do think they fit extremely well with Arya's storyline who has been repeatedly told throughout the course of the series that it doesn't matter who is in power, ultimately when war breaks out and the lords play their game of thrones it is the smallfolks who suffer. She has suffered along with them too. So her taking back control of the order from LS, or rather LS willingly relinquishing the BWB to her seems to make sense. It remains to be seen whom amongst the brotherhood chooses to follow Arya and who refuses to do so.

The North: has Stannis and co camping in cold weather trying to reach Winterfell. They have already found "Arya" and has sent her to the Wall. I think the question becomes is now what? In the sense what does Stannis plan to do with ''Arya". Jon believes that he should send "Arya" to Braavos with Tycho because if she were to remain in Westeros, Stannis would seek to betroth her to his own men. Previously Stannis has tried to offer Winterfell to Jon- to maintain a control over North with Jon as his ally. Jon has rejected this offer, though he at this time does play Stannis's ally. But maybe Stannis wants a stronger hold? So of course why shouldn't he betroth "Arya" to one of his men just like the Lannisters did before him. It remains to be seen what happens when Manderly comes in with Rickon. And of course we have LF in Vale with Sansa and we have Bran with Howland Reed's children ( 👀👀 Starkbowl 2025?). As you can see I am not really sure what can happen in the North but a power tussle seems to have its seeds sowed already.

The Wall: oh who is at the Wall except for Jon? Who was waiting for Arya at the Wall except for Jon and all because he wanted her to come back home. We all know Jon would be resurrected. Melisande won't lose Jon Snow now that she is unsure of Stannis being the one who would lead them in fight of the Long Night. I think the question is, what happens next. Because Jon would realize that "Arya" was never Arya to begin with. The girl he thought he died for was never there and there is nothing holding him to the Wall anymore. His Watch ended with his death...so why not give in to his ambitions? And boy does Jon Snow have his ambitions ( STARKBOWL WHEN?????).

I don't believe that Jon would be cruel to Jeyne. He will send her to Braavos but I do think the fact that Jeyne is not Arya would be hushed up. Tycho would know perhaps. It would be fascinating to see what happens in Braavos then. The Iron Bank/the HoBaW/the sea lord are all connected. The whole political structure of Braavos is interconnected and they have an interest in what happens in Westeros. Smarter people than me have theorized that Arya was sent to Izembaro's to disrupt the Lannister envoy's purpose of visit, so that the Iron Bank may publicly refuse to deal with the Lannister's anymore. Would Braavos let go of Arya Stark so easily? The HoBaW has a Brother in Oldtown...they know the dragons have come back. Would Jeyne and Arya meet? Or would the news of Jon's death reach Arya first and she would have to make a deal with HoBaW to leave the order. ( I mean lol it is unlikely that she can fight her way out as she did on the show...and of course the order may let her go all the sane but it seems like they may have a vested interest in her.)