SCP-4050-D @scp-4050-d-ask-away - Tumblr Blog

PHISHING WARNING: AVOID WALLPART AT ALL COSTS

Over the past 24 hours I have been notified by several people about pages of Peter & Company and other pieces of my artwork being supposedly “available for sale” through a site called Wallpart (which I will not link in this post, for reasons explained below), and in the same time span I have seen many other artists make journals/submissions/posts talking about finding their own work on there as well. Naturally, the inclination of any artist finding their work available for sale without their consent is to head to the “Report Violation” link attached to every listing and file a complaint to have it removed. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DO NOT FILL OUT THE VIOLATION REPORT ON WALLPART’S WEBSITE. This site already has a bit of a history, and I’ve read several posts from people who dove into their site code and snooped around. Long story short, there are some very devious bait-and-switch tactics going on. Essentially: - I have not found any confirmation that they are actually selling any of the images/prints that appear on their site. Their “search function” is nothing but scraper software, which essentially just loads up hits from Google Images and displays them within a pre-built “shop” template based on the image’s resolution. This is why every single piece on there has a title that is lifted directly from whatever gallery site (FA/DA/Weasyl) or general website was hosting it. Example: They have my title card from my Kickstarter page for the P&C pilot, with the title lifted straight off the description. - The dependence on Google Images is also why doing a search for your own name will turn up different results each time, or possibly no results at all, even though the listings still seem to exist if you have a direct URL to them. Their “search” function never actually searches their own listings; it even offers the same real-time suggestions that you’d get from a Google search bar. Confusingly enough, performing the same search multiple times often returns different results at different times throughout the day. I was able to find dozens of P&C pages supposedly for sale by searching my name yesterday, but today none of them show up in search results – even though the direct links to the page forms (which I saved) still exist. - Their “Report Violation” link is actually a 100% phishing form. If you fill it out, no matter what you put there, you will be sending them a LOT more than you anticipated. This is actually the main purpose for the site’s existence – they completely anticipate artists being upset about their work supposedly being sold, so they developed a system to exploit those who complain. - Various pieces of malware and other malicious code have been found embedded throughout their pages at different times. This site is just bad news all around. - The site itself is hosted in Russia, and has already swapped web hosts 4 times in the past few months. The current host is listed as ENOM, and other bloggers/artists have already sent complaints and reports to their contact page, with little luck. It looks like it’s already been branded and caught in the past and is trying to keep itself alive. - Also, for a site claiming to have “billions of images” available for print, to only have a little over 3,000 “happy customers” should be a pretty big red flag on its own. So please – DO NOT VISIT THIS SITE. Do not attempt to search for your own artwork in its listings; if your work shows up on Google, it is guaranteed to be on that site. They’re even listing “prints” of web banners and other graphical elements that were never intended for printing. Do not give it page views, and most importantly DO NOT FILL OUT ANY VIOLATION FORMS, EVEN IF THE ARTWORK ON THE PAGE IS YOUR OWN. Instead, there is a Change.org petition asking for the domain to be stripped and brought down. Please share the word around as much as possible so other artists don’t potentially fall into their trap by thinking that their “Report Violation” page is actually what it claims to be. These people are pure scam artists, plain and simple. Avoid them at all costs.

scp-4050-d-ask-away

Unexpected Exploration.

Joe was out in his ship, the Alliance, in orbit over Earth. He was preparing for another journey, one of testing and of scientific curiosity. “Updated systems in place and online. Destination, the Epsilon Lyrae system. Let’s see what we can find.” He primed the jump drive, bringing it online, (a Faster Than Light drive to travel interstellar distances instantaneously, by folding space between point of origin and destination) and he ensures that everything is set. When the jump drive charges up, the ship’s AR Drive (enabling travel to other universes and dimensions) activates spontaneously, uncommanded as well. This goes unnoticed as the ship jumps, disappearing in a flash of light.

The ship reappears in another part of space, but something’s not right. “What? This isn’t the Epsilon Lyrae system.” Checking the logs, he found out he was in another universe, the AR Drive online when it wasn’t supposed to be running at all. “Great. Another universe. Does provoke curiosity. Let’s take a look.” He engaged the engines and piloted the ship to a nearby planet.

scp-4050-d-ask-away

(Still waiting for anyone willing to RP)

falconlord92

Yautja Honor Code

Hunting Worthy Game: When hunting, the hunter must be sure that his prey is considered game, and lawful to kill. Sometimes the hunter will equal the odds (not using a Plasmacaster or some similar ranged weapon). Worthy game must fill the following criteria: Can defend itself and/or is able to kill the hunter himself, of age (killing children and the elderly is considered the height of bad manners), not linked to other lives (so that removing the prey will not doom another, e.g. pregnant women), and not weakened by diseases.

Failing in the Hunt: Should the hunter fail in one’s quest he usually takes his own life, preferring to die in honor than to live in shame. However, some cowards prefer to live in obscurity rather than die. This is considered to be dishonorable and suicide is then “assisted” by an Arbitrator.

Claiming the Kill of Another Hunter: To take the Trophy of another Yautja, living or dead, is considered to be a great insult. For example, two Un-Blooded go on their first Hunt: one Yautja takes on a Black Death and both are mortally wounded. While the wounded hunter is dying, the other hunter conveniently finishes off the prey and claims the kill as his own, abandoning the wounded Yautja. This is a crime paid for with abandonment by the clan, marooning the hunter on that world with no weapons or armor.

Murder of Another Yautja: To kill another Yautja intentionally. This excludes self-defense and killing a foe in a wrestling match to settle a dispute (see below). Murder is the worst crime.

Never harm the innocent: Those who have done no harm should have no harm done to them. (It can be inferred that this rule must pertain only to harming other Yautja in their society, since they hunt and kill members of many species one could call “innocent”. It can also be inferred that Bad Blood Predators would ignore this rule either in part or in whole.)

Hunting for Food: When hunting for food, take only the weak. This is to purify the species’ line.

Wounded Game: When coming upon game wounded by another hunter, and the prey is dying without sport, show honor to another’s kill. If the game still shows sport, it is to be joint trophy.

Joining Another Hunt: Do not join another’s Hunt, or Hunt in their territory, without their permission. All trophies taken in this manner are stolen trophies, and shall be dealt with by the rightful owner.

Mercy: Those who defeat you in a fair Hunt, or who are the victors in more dangerous hunts (such as a battle with the Alien Queen), and show you mercy are to be considered our equals. You must either kill them and yourself, or bestow them with a reward.

Code Violations: Those who break the code are renegades, and no longer considered to be a Yautja. They are to be destroyed when encountered.

Never Harm the Ill or Offspring: Yautja are known to have a very strict law on the killing of those pregnant with infants and those who are sick. Usually when they hunt and encounter both, the Yautja is to let them live. The only exception to the rule is if any ill prey pose a threat. An example of such a thing would be when Charles Bishop Weyland set fire to the Predator known as Scar, causing the latter to retaliate and kill him. Although that applies to the ill, Yautja are to never kill those who are baring children even if they are armed. One example of this is when the Yautja known as the City Hunter encountered Leona Cantrell and discovered that she was with child. Although he didn’t kill her, she did go into shock, probably because of the mere sight of the hunter.

When in a duel with an enemy, you must reveal yourself: In the novelization of AVP, Lex Woods was about to be killed by a cloaked predator, however before it prepared to deliver the final blow, it de-activated it’s cloak. According to the book, it is “hunting ethic” to reveal yourself to your enemy at the climax of a fight.

gunsandgunsaccessories

You seem to have a vendetta against it, so you should roast the panther

First, shilling.

I recommend you watch Chieftain’s videos on the Panther, they explain in decent detail the overall characteristics of the tank, plus there are a few military reports by the American and French that I’m using to hit this sacred goose with. With that said.

The Panther is a hulking monstrosity that shows how bad Nazi Germany was, what started as a moderate tank intended to counter the KV-1 became a fucking behemoth that couldn’t go 150 km without the final drive exploding, had an engine that struggled to move this thing and the only saving grace was a decent cannon that, sure was effective in 1943 but by 1945 the Allies were rolling around with M4A3E8′s and IS-2′s that matched this thing easily.

Born from the VK 20 program, the Panther was intended to be a counter to tanks like the KV-1 and T-34 that the Germans faced in Operation Barbarossa. While originally intended to be only 20 pounds, gradually over its development the Panther would get fatter like a cat living off of a diet of infinite Fancy Feast. Albert Speer intended the Panther to be a 30 ton tank, however Hitler’s insistence on heavier armor and the 7.5cm cannon lead the Panther to weigh around the same as the original Tiger.

While effective on the wide Russian front, the Panther suffered when faced in places like Italy and Normandy where tighter European roads made this thing a big and easy target for Allied troops. And that wasn’t getting into this tank’s proper problems.

The engine compartment is so poorly ventilated that it would constantly overheat, especially in places like Italy. Early Panthers had faulty insulation on fuel lines causing fuel to leak around the engine which could easily be set off by things as minor as WP smoke. The final drive is notoriously garbage, developed primarily for mass production, the double spur gears were terrible under strain and thus always tended to explode under 150km, sometimes under 100km. The engine was so underpowered given the tank’s heavy weight that it struggled uphills, to such a degree that some tankers reported their Panthers engines just burst into flames on inclines. The turret drive is so weak that at 20 degree inclines, it can’t hold the turret in place and it’ll just flop down with gravity and the icing on the cake, the armor tended to be overproofed to such a degree that pelting it with 75mm HE tended to break it, and the US Army’s test in Isigny found that the 105mm’s HEAT shot could shatter the front plate.

It’s the Nazi German system incarnate, where corporate, military, political and the Fuhrer’s will duke it out over useless designs and wasted resources and reichmarks. The Panther was a tiny tank made super heavy and suffered due to that fact, and Wehraboos still defend it even as the final drive gears break again.

ravens-wing214-deactivated20230

As much as I love German tanks, the Early D, entire A series and early G’s were terrible. The many problems the Panther had were only really rectified with the late Ausf. G. That being said, problems like the poor final drives and turret slewing on inclines were never fixed. Late war steel didn’t really help the armor it had, but given the situation in Germany it was entirely unavoidable.

All in all, a mediocre tank that suffered a lot. That aside though, it does still look cool so many years later.

lockheed-martini-deactivated202

Mostly accurate, but exaggerated.

The final drives were eventually fixed, for the record, the Chieftain had a conversation about that with Hilary Doyle at the Panzermuseum. Not excusing the Germans for using thin, flat-toothed gears vs double herringbone, but hey.

It wasn’t underpowered and slow. Just… stop. It was very mobile for its size, just take a watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=265&v=O-cFP4S7bc4

Does it look like the engine is exploding its engine here, that it’s slow, or underpowered on inclines? No, the Panther was actually more mobile than the majority of wartime Sherman versions. The E8 HVSS models had better ground pressure and generally matched the Panther off-road, but were still slower off-road, and only 2mph faster on roads, after the Germans put a limiter on the Panther (which used to do 55kph) for reasons I’m not sure about, maybe after they moved to steel-rimmed road wheels from rubber, or possibly because it saved fuel. Regardless, the Panther was no slouch, though it was best avoided using the neutral-steer on soft ground to preserve the fragile gearbox and final drives, those wide steel tracks working against the tank once it stopped wanting to go in straight lines.

Statements about the D models and their flamable engines are true, they waterproofed the engine compartment like the Tiger, and didn’t test them properly before Hitler rushed them to Kursk. Side note, neither Panthers nor Tigers ever used their deep-fording capability, so the waterproofing was utterly in vain.

You comment on the awful turret traverse and slewing issues, but this makes no sense to me. They changed the traverse mechanism after the D model, with the A onwards having fast powered traverse linked to the egnine revs. The Chieftain himself mentions in his review of the Panther A that the turret is incredibly well balanced and easy to slew. FYI, inclines will have literally zero effect on a balanced turret, so either the A model he was in had recieved modifications to it’s turret ring, or information about inclines screwing with the turret drive are incorrect. Germans were fucking good at this sort of thing, so I don’t believe for a minute that the A and G models suffered from clunky, imbalanced turrets, least now that the Chieftain has shown a beautifully balanced example in real life.

Armour quality has no defence, the Germans had their hands tied with regards to rare metals for alloying, and making quality armour in the later war stages. Watch the Chieftain’s panzer museum visit and they talk about the Hetzer having armour 60mm thick, but due to it being made of low grade “Siemens-Martin” armour for non-frontline vehicles, it was closer to 30mm in effectiveness vs the face hardenned Krupp steels Germany prefeered to use for Panzer armour when resources were available. Early production Panthers had formidable frontal protection indeed, for their era, though were marred by losses due to poor crew training and initial lack of side skirts, enabling the Soviets to ambush them with light AT guns and even AT rifles effectively. Similar faults in crew training and experience lost many Panthers at Arracourt in 1944.

Lastly, size. Yes, the Panther was awkwardly large for small towns, narrow roads and city combat (less so in Germany due to the wide roaded layout they were fond of) and concealment was hard, but given the advantages it held in defensive combat, especially, as well as anything open field, I’d call this far more excuseable than features like the lack of a general gunner’s optic, or gyro-stabilisation to quicken the target aquisition and firing cycle. The latter was experimented with using American systems, and a major improvement was noted.

Basically, the Panther was a highly flawed design, by circumstance, and engineering, but I think it still gets too harsh treatment in the eyes of history. It saw over 6000 produced, beaten only by the Panzer IV (produced for 9 years vs only 2 for the Panther) and the Stug III, which is highly impressive given the complexity and cost of such a vehicle. It was directly superior in combat to any tank on the Allied side until the arrival of the IS-2 and M26, and had a huge post-war impact on western tank design. It’s a victim of circumstance, where as the design matured and issues were worked out, more appeared from Germany’s worsening war situation. No sooner were the engine problems resolved, and the turret traverse sorted, and the side armour improved, it had to deal with fuel shortages, sudden lack of rare metals for quality armour plating, and an influx of improving Allied designs.

Before you hate on the Panther so much, consider this scary thought. What if Hitler hadn’t delayd the Kursk offensive for those 60 rushed D models? What if they’d finished testing and introduced the vehicle as the A-model, in sizeable numbers, with the requisite fixes and crew training? I’m not saying it was a war winner, but its reputation might have exceeded the Tiger in that scenario.

enrique262

@stalker6delta your thoughts?

babyanimalgifs

This is the funniest video ever 😂

Joe: With all the shit Adrian does, I wonder how the hell he is still alive.

the-spider-queens-lair

Welcome to the lair

Kumo sat in her web, holding a skull of a human. Her four eyes stared at it intently, it was a happy hunt that day. Kumo sighed and threw the skull aside. She stood up, if you were a mere mortal, she towerd you. Her skin was pale as snow and her four eyes gleamed a icey blue. She stood at eight feet and has four arms. It was not hard to tell she was a spider demon. She walked down from her web gracefully, her kimono followig her. Kumo grabbed her umberella and walked outside, it was raining and she did not dare to become drench. Outside was a village, she protected them and they viewed her as a god. The skull from earlier was of a bandit that had dare to hunt her, pitiful. Kumo sat under a tree that had a view of the village and a lake. Life was good.

@hellsspecialteam