#[with the least number of casualties possible both out of a sense of justice AND because your dad fucked you up]
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hes lincoln li wilson............. hes just twelve years old.......... two years ago he was just twelve plus two........ thirteen.............................
#talking tag#dndads#imagine your three friends are the only things you have left and you're so terrified of what would happen if they left#both in the sense of not having anything left anymore. and in the sense of not knowing how to confront those feelings#that destroying the anchor becomes a 50/50 shot between fear and love. and you manage to hold on to love#because nothing has driven you more than devotion and loyalty thus far. if you don't flail desperately to hold onto that then who ARE you#you don't even know what you're feeling anymore. how are you supposed to grapple with your identity if everything is stripped away from it#this is hard enough for a teenager who ISNT trying to save the world. who just wants to get everything over with#[with the least number of casualties possible both out of a sense of justice AND because your dad fucked you up]#AND THEN YOU GET A FIREBALL TO THE FACE NEXT EPISODE!!!!!!!!UAUGHGHHGH#i could write an essay about how well linc as a character embodies how anxiety functions in the face of trauma#I COULD WRITE SO MANY ESSAYS. SORRY FOR BEING A FORMER HOMESCHOOLED STUDENT WITH CPTSD BUT LINCOLN THATS MY GUY
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Boosted from FB:
Zookeeper Problems: The Great Flamingo Uprising
I told this story to a few guildies a while back and decided to archive it in a longer format; so here is the story of The Great Flamingo Uprising of 2010 as told to me by my favorite cousin who was a keeper at the time.
In addition to the aviary/jungle exhibit, our zoo has several species of birds that pretty much have the run of the place. They started with a small flock of flamingos and some free-range peacocks that I’m almost certain came from my old piano teacher’s farm. She preferred them to chickens. At some point in time they also acquired a pair of white swans (Or as I call them, “hellbirds”) and some ornamental asian duckies to decorate the pond next to the picnic area. Pigeons, crows, assorted ducks and a large number of opportunistic Canada geese moved in on their own.
Now; the ponds that dot the zoo property (I don’t remember how many there are but the one by the picnic area is the only one with swans) were also full of ginormous koi fish, some of whom by now are at least three feet long. Sensing an opportunity to cash in on the koi, the zoo put up little vending machines all over the place that dispense handfuls of food pellets. I swear to god the fish can hear the crank turning, and will show up at the nearest railing, blooping expectantly at whoever happens to be standing there and doing their best to appear starving and desperate. And they weren’t the only ones who learned to associate the sound with the imminent arrival of food. The Canada geese knew a good deal when they saw one, and had long since ceased to migrate anyway. They formed roving gangs of thug-geese and staked out their turf around the vending machines, ready to mug anyone with pocket change. Picture yourself as a small child squaring off with a bird fully prepared to strip search you while standing on your feet and yelling “HWAAAAAKK!!” in your face. It’s traumatizing to you and deeply hilarious to your parents.
Anyway.The flamingos had their spot near the zoo entrance and never seemed to mind the presence of the other birds, as they kept themselves to themselves and didn’t really like the taste of fish pellets. The problem lay in that their shrimp pond was close to a vending machine. Ordinarily that wouldn’t have been an issue at all, but eventually the goose population grew large enough that one of the gangs decided to annex it. Being territorial little shits, they would harass the poor flamingos any time they strayed within ten feet of it. The flamingos tolerated this for years until one day they snapped collectively. Here’s a summary of the incident in chronological order.
1.) It was a hot day, so everyone in question both human and avian, were cranky by the time the zoo even opened.
2.) A few flamingos (let’s call them The Jets) strayed into the radius of the vending machine and were immediately confronted by the indignant hissing geese (The Sharks)
3.) Possibly due to heat and the simple fact that the geese had been giant douchebags for far too long, the flamingos decided fuck it, this time they were going to FIGHT BACK DAMMIT, and swarmed the geese en masse.
4.) Chaos ensued. The geese were outnumbered 4 to 1 but had the advantage of being able to scream for back-up.
5.) Hearing the shrieking Canada geese and the bellowing of the enraged flamingos, the peacocks came to the conclusion that the apocalypse had come upon them and began to gather in the surrounding trees in droves and wail in despair. Or cheer them on, whichever.
6.) NOISE
7.) Apparently one of the siege tactics employed by the geese is to shit explosively all over the sidewalks. Never in the grass.
8.) The geese, having secured reinforcements from all over the zoo, went berserk and proceeded to attack EVERYBODY who had come to watch be they human or otherwise.
9.) The flamingos were chasing/being chased by the geese through the crowd accompanied by cheers/wails from the peacocks in the box seats.
10.) Complete pandemonium when the zoo tram became stalled on the tracks by the flamingo pond due to battling birds. The Jets, sensing these were somehow reinforcements on the side of the Sharks, charged the tram. Adults were doing the duck and cover. So were the ducks. Small children were screaming, adding to the noise. People were slipping on goose shit and hitting the ground in the fetal position, only to be stampeded by the rampaging flamingos.
11.) The koi continued to bloop hopefully for food.
12.) Two of the geese were cornered by a rival gang of their own and were chased into the swan pond. Cue slow-motion.
13.) The swans detected an enemy presence in their territory and by God, SOMEBODY was going to PAY.
14.) The staff were having no luck in breaking up the fight and on the verge of giving up and just building another zoo elsewhere when the hellbirds (those DamSwans...!) stormed the battlefield, trumpeting battle-cries, to dispense feathered justice. The staff promptly dropped their brooms and fled.
15.) The uprising was squashed in less than two minutes. Number of casualties was unknown, feathers were flying everywhere and there was enough goose shit to build another bird. One staff member had been knocked to the ground and was left with a melon sized bruise courtesy of one of the hellbirds. Several children were traumatized, probably for life. The zoo eventually removed the vending machine by the flamingos. The geese went back to being giant douchebags.
Because... geese.
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Gassy Lessons - Fifth class: Computer Technology
Jay knew his farting was getting better and Mr Watts was agreeing, but through his gassy persuasion he convinced Jay he could still get better. So since Jay's last training session with him he had been tasked with going back to basics and researching other ways to make himself fart more.
The opportunity to get this research done was in Jay's Computer technology class. His class had been tasked to do a trial run with some coding program, but Jay wasn't so invested in the class and the room was big enough for him to get a place a few seats away from anyone else so he took the opportunity to get some gassy research done.
Jay only got a chance to look through a couple fart themed webpages giving him nothing but basic information, when a notification of an email from the teacher popped up at the bottom of the screen. Mr Anderson was the one holding the class today, Jay hadn't had too many classes from the man but he was pretty sure he had a strong impression of what he was like. He had quite a twinkish build not being very muscular, covered half his cute face with chunky framed glassed and had curly pale blonde hair. He was a relatively softly spoken man and was never too assertive at least it seemed so to Jay, and the young teacher never seemed to be able to command a classroom.
Jay never really spoke to the teacher so the email came as a shock. When he opened it though his shock deepened.
'Jay Carter. Can you please keep to the schedule of today's class and refrain from any childish web searches, as the teacher we have screen tracking technology on all the computers to keep issues like this from occuring. Please start your proper work for the lesson.'
The level of polite assertion in the email surprised the student and he couldn't help but be a little embarrassed at getting caught. He gave the teacher sitting at the other end of the classroom a glare, but the man at the desk didn't notice him, he seemed to be typing something else giving the screen his full attention.
Jay gave up any attempt to spite the teacher and letting out a sigh of premature boredom, he closed his tab and went to open the coding program. However before he could even move the mouse again another email notification popped up from the teacher.
'Jay Carter. I take back my further request if you can display the fruits of your research as soon as possible, especially if you could thin out the number of students in the class. Either that or start coding.'
This was of course an unexpected turn for Jay and when he went to look at the teacher over the classroom he could see him staring straight back at him with a challenging look and a slight smile. Jay looked around the class, there were no guys in here he particularly cared about, and Jay didn't particularly care about his reputation either, and since his past escapades in his sports class maybe leaning into the gassy aspect of his personality would catch him some respect.
After a full day of classes Jay had been holding in his gas for a while anyway and it was ready to burst, so he leaned back in his chair stretching and whole doing so spread his legs apart and let loose.
FRAAAAARPP
The first reaction he got was from two friends sitting a couple seats away who both immediately looked over at him, one chuckling and the other just staring blankly.
"Oh you want some?" Jay questioned jokingly wafting it in their direction. The rancid stink finally hit them and they both started coughing in unison. Jay laughing decided to put the final nail in their coffin and aimed his butt in there direction still sitting.
RRRRRAAAAAAAAPP
Jay's newly developed brand of eggy stink made it's way to them and their coughing grew stronger. The mumbled something to eachother and stood up and left the classroom giving Jay a dirty look as they said some incomprehensible excuse to the teacher as they left the room. Jay glanced at the teacher who was chuckling lightly, the student was happy to entertain.
Obviously his gaseous fun was not as well received by the rest of the class, mostly whispering and giving him strange looks, but one of the class reps obviously wanted to take justice into their own hands striding over too Jay. The Prep was obviously caught off guard gagging a little as he entered the stinking cloud surrounding Jay who played dumb and gave the glaring class rep and surprised look.
"Is there a problem officer?" Jay asked.
Through a pinched nose Jay could make out "Mr Carter as a class rep I'm going to have to ask you to stop your expulsions they are reprehensibley rude and a distraction to our learning."
Smirking back Jay grabbed the boy's hand off his nose and in doing so made him stumble closer in a quieter voice he said to him almost seductively "I would hardly call this a distraction?" And he leaned forward in his chair and let rip.
BRRRRRRRAPPPPPT
The other boy got a whiff of the toxic blast and his face went pale as he staggered out the room with a hand over his mouth trying to stop anything escaping. As the boy left Jay thought he heard him say something stupid along the lines of "This won't be the last you bear of this. As Jay watched him leave with a smile he noticed that others were leaving but from the other side of the class, from the side closer to Mr Anderson.
Jay looked over to the teacher who was obviously pretending to be distracted by something on his screen but still wore a cheeky grin. The student took a deep whiff of the air, he was happy to take in his personal brand of month old rancid eggs gas, but he sensed a foreign fart smell growing in the mix of rotten veggies and fragrant compost assault his nose. Looking back at the teacher it didn't take Jay long to work out who the culprit was for the rival gas.
The classroom had been emptied of most of it's students filled with a significant amount of gas. Other than Jay and Anderson there were just two friends looking quite scared and ready to leave sitting pretty much an equal distance from the gassy competitors. Realising what it had come down to before the boys could leave both Jay and the teacher gave eachother a nod and a smirk and walked up to the two.
"You need some help bud?" Jay asked ungenuinly putting has hand on the shoulder of the student on the left.
"You having any trouble with the work?" Anderson leaning on the desk asked trying to keep his usual reserved demeanor to the student on the right.
Before doing anything Jay got a good look at Anderson's perky ass which had been hidden up until this point, he was happily surprised. Both of the students stammered mainly worried about Jay since he was the only obvious farter, they were probably hoping that Anderson would help them. Before Jay could get anything out he picked up on a very subtle hissing coming from the backside of the still concerned looking teacher. Jay of course wanting to contribute to the stink out quickly turned around and sat on the desk almost hitting the keyboard of the boy on the left and pointing his ass towards both.
"Get a load of this action!" Jay strained knowing it wouldn't be a small one.
PRRRRRRAAAARPPPPP
The eggy explosion rocketed out of Jay's ass into the faces of the unfortunate soon to be casualties, and right at the same time Anderson's stinky gas leak got to the boy's nostrils. The combined stench was obviously too much for the two buddies as they knocked heads as they passed out.
Finally getting drop any facade Jay and Anderson smiled at eachother in stinking solidarity as they both took a deep sniff of their joint creation. Of course the two passed out students were currently the main source of the smell, the room as a whole was now filled with a flatulent fog starting to make even Jay's eyes water.
"Impressive work Jay, it seems that it was obviously not coding I should've been pushing you towards."
"I don't know why you spend all your time with computer shit, when your stinking butt obviously is obviously far more interesting." The disguised compliment was a risky move Jay thought but Anderson seemed to respond well. He gave his ass a little smack and adjusted his glasses as he stepped towards his gassy student.
"Well I guess you've got to have a day job."
Jay watched smiling excitedly as the seemingly transformed teacher ran his hand through his hair walking past him.
"Let's leave these two here, I'm sure you don't mind taking the blame for them, I think I'll be giving you some private tutoring if you just follow me." Giving Jay a wink from behind his glasses and strolled out the room.
Happy at the direction the class had gone Jay took one last sniff of his gassy handiwork and clambered off the desk to follow him, leaving the unlucky last two victims to marinate in the stink.
Leaving the room Jay caught up to the man on the quick walk to his office only a little ways down the corridor, all the while making sure to stay a little behind him as to enjoy the view.
In comparison to the quite airy and spacious computer room, the office was tiny. There was barely enough room for the desk and chair, and with both men standing in there, there was barely any room to move. Jay also noted the lack of be ventilation with only one small window which seemed to be locked shut.
"You'll have to excuse the heat." He closed the door behind Jay who leaned against the wall. "I only got moved to the office this year and I haven't been able to find the spare key for the window, I hope it won't be a problem." He gave Jay a knowing look.
"Don't worry I think I can cope" And in spite of the uniform policy Jay began to undo his tie, which prompted his teacher to follow suit. "So Mr Anderson what will this tutoring be about, I hardly think my computing skills need any improving, and I can't seem to think of anything else we have in common." Jay made sure to finish the question in cocking up one of his legs.
FRRRRAPPP
The fart despite not being the biggest managed to fill the room in seconds making both men smile at what it's stink implied.
"Now Jay no reason to misbehave." The teacher sat on a spot on the desk and unbuttoned a few of his shirt buttons as they had both began to sweat. "I merely wanted to give you proper punishment for your unprovoked biohazardous assault on your fellow students, it's highly unprofessional." The teacher concluded by leaning over on the desk displaying his butt again to the increasingly aroused student.
Frrrrrrrrrrsshhhhhh
What the flatulence lacked in volume it made up for in stench completely dominating the room with his rancid personal stench. Both men inhaled obviously neither really expecting how bad it stunk coughing in response to its bite.
After recovering Jay responded keeping up the erotic teasing act they had going by turning around and leaning against the wall and peeled down his now stuck on with sweat trousers just enough to let his boxer clad ass show with the gray colour accentuating his now sweaty crack.
"Well Mr Anderson I think I have quite a skill and I occasionally like to show it off to my classmates I don't see the problem with that?" He stuck out his ass further in the direction of the teacher and winced.
BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARPPPPP
He was impressed with himself, the gas shook the room and reintroduced his eggy gas to the room. The power of the fart seemed to shake the tiny room and make both men laugh at the sheer masculine stinky power it showed.
Again matching Jay, Anderson got up and began unzipping his trousers, the now erect student looked back at his teacher reveal his amazing smooth bouncy round ass cheeks. He made sure that Jay got a good look at them giving them a little shake.
"Now Jay I do see a problem with that, thinking your gas could even rival something like mine is worthy of punishment."
Psshhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
It sounded like a high pressure gas leak and it intensified the heat in the room exponentially, but by far the worst aspect was it wretched stench making Jay's eyes fully tear up and burn his nose.
Jay managed to recover from his coughing fit relatively quickly in spite of the rancid stench feeling like a cartoonist stinky brown fog in the room. His brain was going haywire at the horrible sensation but he decided to go for one last shot.
"Well then punish this..." He back closer up to Anderson until they were butt to butt. In a brave move Jay pulled down both their boxers until their bare sweaty asses were touching and let a rippling blast straight onto the man's ass.
BRRRRAPTTTTTTT
The rank stink vibrated against the cheeks of the two men making them both gasp. The room was becoming a deadly hot box and Anderson could tell it was his place to finish it.
The teacher after letting Jay's fart finish strolled around his student toying with him and leaned against the wall pushing his ass out until it was just touching Jay's erection. The two sweaty men could tell where it was going.
Rssssssssshhhhhhhh
The heat combined with the two men's combined evil stink, either that or the pleasure Jay got from the last gassy blast from his teacher but he was out, collapsing at the other man's feet.
#eproctophilia#fart#fart story#fartfiction#gay#gay fart#male fart#stink#flatulence#man fart#fart teacher
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Dante Redgrave
(fc: Wacky Woohoo Pizza Man)
Age: 44 (DMC3 19)(DMC1 28)(DMC2 33)(DMC4 38)(DMC5 43) Occupation: Devil Hunter, Paranormal Mercenary, Private Investigator, Vigilante Aliases: Anthony “Tony” Redgrave, Dante Alighieri, Devil Hunter, Son of Sparda, The Legendary Dark Knight, The Strongest Demon Slayer, The Legendary Devil Hunter Date of Birth: 6/4 Species: Cambion (Human-Demon Hybrid with Mystical Heritage) Ethnicity: Anglo-Saxon-Italian (Umbra Witch Heritage) Affiliations: Devil May Cry, Lady’s Devil-Hunting Business, Several Criminal Organizations (under pseudonyms)
(Selectively-Canon Dante)
Personality He loves it, it’s what he lives for. He’s absolutely crazy about it! What’s it? Killing demons. Dante’s first and foremost interest is killing demons, though the motivation has varied over the course of his life. Initially, he was motivated by revenge, wanting to lay low those who had killed his mother, and presumed his brother. Though as time went on, he would find that killing demons was a niche that made decent money, allowing profit to motivate himself by opening an agency, Devil May Cry, that specialized in dispatching the paranormal.
But as he came to grips with his responsibility, as a son of Sparda, understanding that even if it was his brother who stood in his way, Dante had to protect the world that his father once had from the forces of hell, Dante would become more altruistic in his devil hunting. As Dante would orient towards a force of justice in the world, he would eventually develop into a sincere love for fighting, taking on foe demon or human alike, though he’s declared that killing a full-blooded human is out of the question for him, no matter how evil they are. In combat, though, so as to enjoy it longer, Dante will often hold back, usually only reserving greater stores of power for those who he thinks merit it.
Dante is often seen as a flippant, devil-may-care, type of person. Employing frequent use of quips and one-liners with a habit of taunting opponents, and dispatching with them in flashy and stylish ways. Dante often has very little respect for an opponent who doesn’t earn it, and this disrespect is always extended to the hoards of nothings and grunt demons that are thrown his way.
Laid-back and easygoing, Dante rarely takes situations seriously, approaching them with a dangerous amount of levity and casualty that he often manages to be on the receiving end of some terrible circumstances. Whether this attitude is deserved or not is rarely an issue, though, as Dante always manages to find a way out.
Dante is an altruist by nature, never enforcing payment from poor clients, and often taking paranormal work disregarding its pay, or lack thereof. This can often result in him being in a situation of poverty, particularly when he’ll simply turn down work that doesn’t appeal to him, even if it pays well. This often ends with Dante being taken advantage of, with clients banking on his generous nature, when it comes to demon slaying.
Biography Born as the younger of twins, Dante and Vergil were both born in Red Grave city. The sons of the Legendary Dark Knights Sparda and the Umbra Witch Eva, the two twins were born to a strange intersection of life, being of both hell and earth, with a supernatural connection to the former. As youths, Dante and Vergil were both trained to fight by their father, largely those being the memories that both held of him.
Sometime prior to the twins’ eighth birthday Sparda would disappear, and never return, the understanding is that he died, though many wouldn’t deign to ponder upon who could have managed such a feat.
Much like any pair of siblings, Dante and Vergil were often competitive with one-another, developing a rivalry over a number of things. They would often argue, and frequently enough would come to blows that the two, as adults, wouldn’t even be sure of how many times that they’d fought. This rivalry would be such that Vergil had even been convinced that Eva had favored Dante, which would only be a solidified suspicion with time.
On their eighth birthday, Eva would separate Sparda’s pendant, and engrave them with the twins, giving them to the corresponding child. It was a reminder for them, of not only their father, but of their mother, and each other, a symbol of their bond of family that would never be truly broken.
Some weeks after this, though, tragedy would be brought upon the house of Sparda again, as the disappearance of the knight reached the ears of Inferno’s denizens, a squad of demons would assault the family’s manor. As the building was set ablaze, Eva rushed to rescue her children, hiding Dante away in a closet, while she went to then find Vergil. However, it would seem that the older brother was already gone, and Eva would ultimately perish trying to save her sons.
With only the memory of his mother telling him to leave if she was gone, and become someone else, Dante would wander the next ten or so years, living with a number of people, including at least one woman who posed as his mother, under the adopted name of Anthony “Tony” Redgrave.
Eventually, it would seem that Dante had forgotten all details of his own life, until the death of Nell Goldstein, and several other key events and deaths, forced Tony to confront some of the trauma that he’d experienced as a child. Armed with the purpose of avenging his mother’s death, Dante procured some seed money through less than legal means to obtain a Private Investigator’s License so that he could open up his business/firm/shop.
Before he had even named the establishment, Arkham appeared, offering an invitation to him from Vergil, who had actually survived the demon attack from over a decade prior, and had encountered Dante in a prior adventure, was resurrecting the Temen-ni-gru. The rest, as they say, is in the fucking video games.
Abilities and Skills -Martial Arts: Dante is a highly skilled martial artist, able to fight with several styles to devastating effect, even being able to kill demons while without weapons. While wearing devil arms that function as gauntlets and greaves he uses a number of martial arts to tear through enemies with the enhancements from the weapons, though they do not seem to be able to simulate skill that isn’t present. Dante tends to borrow techniques from film and video games that he enjoys, utilizing his superhuman abilities to make them possible and viable. Dante’s unarmed fighting tends to favor striking more than grappling, though he’s also capable at dodging and evasion, often making great use of his agility to avoid enemy attacks as intense as the likes of Vergil’s.
-Weapons Training: Trained to an unknown degree by his father Sparda, Dante is skilled in armed combat to an insane degree. Dante displays a proficiency with a variety of weapons, performing seemingly impossible feats with them, and outfighting other superhuman-level opponents. Upon first coming into contact with a weapon, he almost immediately seems to be able to size up its abilities and powers, and is able to use them at a similar scale of skill to his other weapons. Similarly, Dante seems to be able to make use of any firearm that he picks up, whether or not he’s had experience with a similar one in the past. --Swordsmanship: Dante’s specialty in combat, he tends to favor large two-handed swords wielded with a heavy-swinging one-handed style, though he can also use them in a traditional fashion. He’s also displayed a skill with single-handed swords, particular when used in tandem.
-Marksmanship: Dante’s sense of aim is downright superhuman. He is not only able to almost always hit his targets when aiming, unless said target is able to dodge after the point of firing, but he is able to re-sight his handguns almost immediately after firing, so that he may hit the same target again. Additionally, Dante has displayed sufficient accuracy and reflexes to match Lady, another significant marksman, bullet-for-bullet to prevent her shots from hitting him.
-Tactical/Situational Analysis: Often underestimated in this regard, Dante has a particularly keen penchant for being able to determine the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent with very little combat needed. With this, combined with a sense for the battlefield as a whole, Dante is able to take on harrowing odds, often being outnumbered by hordes of demons at a time, and knowing the appropriate way to take them out effectively.
-Musical Talent: As expressed through his ability to use a Devil Arm that takes the form of an electric guitar, through which he is able to deal devastating damage. He also owns drums and a guitar in his office.
-Networking: Dante is known for being perpetually in debt, but despite seeming to have no money prior he was able to start his business. Through making connections and underworld contacts, Dante was able to gather the seed money necessary to start Devil May Cry.
Superhuman Powers and Abilities -Cambion Physiology: Being the son of a demon and a human, Dante is a cambion, which grants him a number of powers and abilities, as well as a greatly enhanced physicality, contrary to what his body would imply. Additionally, as the son of the Legendary Demon Knight Sparda, Dante and his brother are known to be particularly exceptional demonic specimens, despite the dilution of their blood. In fact, some have argued that the humanity present in the two have allowed them to surpass their father. --Superhuman Strength: Dante’s superhuman strength is contrary to his size by a significant scale. Examples of feats include: Shattering stone with little effort, snapping handcuffs, blocking a punch from The Savior, and blocking a punch from Nero’s Devil Bringer. Dante notably seems to perform these feats of strength with little concern for injury, meaning that it’s likely many of these remain in the lower level of his abilities. --Superhuman Speed and Agility: Dante’s ability to move and react is far beyond the levels of what normal humans are even able to manage. Dante is able to move so quickly that he seems to be teleporting, without the need of his Trickster Style. Dante’s feats of speed include throwing a sword at such a velocity that it superheated air around the blade, before running to catch the Rebellion after throwing it, while it was still moving. Dante has also been able to move at such a speed that he’s been able to move so quickly that he and Vergil were able to clear all of the rain from a large radius within that moment through slicing them with their swords. This would mean that not only did they have to slice the drops of rain, but also the resultant fragments of those drops to such a degree that they eventually cleared the area. Additionally, Dante is able to leap great heights, balance himself on a rocket, run up vertical walls, and even move in such a way that he can change directions of his velocity midair. --Superhuman Stamina: Dante seems to be tireless. The only occasions in which he has expressed or shown fatigue were following either fights with Vergil, or Vergil-like characters, as well as when someone intentionally exhausted him through their machinations. He often goes on hours-long missions in which he fights almost constantly without rest, but still seems to manage. --Superhuman Durability: Dante is able to shrug off extreme injuries that would prove fatal for humans, his feats of survival are so numerous that one might assume it’s impossible to kill him, though it’s been inferred that he can still perish, though only if the damage accumulates and exceeds the extent of his healing factor. --Accelerated Healing Factor: When wounded, Dante is able to rapidly heal and recover from injuries, even to the point that he can simply stand up after being impaled several times, and continue to fight as if no injury had occurred. This, paired with his durability, allows Dante to essentially ignore most incoming damage. --Shapeshifting: Dante is possessed of a low-end type of shapeshifting that allows him to appear as he once would have at any time. This means he can’t assume the shape of another person, but may appear as he did at a younger age, if he’s so biased. However, Dante seems to generally prefer assuming an age that’s accurate to his current age, with few exceptions (Devil May Cry anime and 4). --Devil Arms: An ability that seemed to belong to Sparda, and was passed on to Dante and Vergil, when the cambion slays demons he tends to absorb strength from them, often in the form of their blood in Red Orbs, which he can use to make himself stronger, or later uses to devastating effect with his Dr. Faust Devil Arm. However, if the demon is particularly powerful, Dante can produce Devil Arms from their essence, essentially turning his defeated foes into another weapon to add to his arsenal. The strength and type of these weapons often seems to be determined by the demon’s strength and species respectively, as when Dante has produced similar Devil Arms the stronger demon (King Cerberus rather than Cerberus) produced a more multi-faceted and powerful weapon. --Devil Trigger: When Dante’s blood truly boils, and he embraces his demonic nature, the very state of his being changes. Dante enters a state that all demons have known as “Devil Trigger”. While most demons simply grow stronger, and this is true for Dante as well, the cambion actually will begin to resemble his truer demonic visage. When changing into this form all of Dante’s demonic attributes increase in strength, as well as his Styles after the obtainment of his own Devil Arm. While the specific attributes of Dante’s Devil Trigger form change over time, based on a combination of his own maturity of his devil powers, as well as how much of it he’s choosing to use in that moment, it is understood that when Dante elects to enter Sin Devil Trigger that he’s tapping into his true demon form. In more demonic and powerful stats of Dante’s Devil Trigger Dante will not only grow stronger, but gain new abilities as well, with his Sin Devil Trigger being able to do a host of things his other states have never been shown to manage.
-Umbra Witch Ancestry: Due to Eva being an Umbra Witch in her life, Dante’s abilities and potential are different than that from other humans, even to the point that it seems he has unique powers, him and Vergil both, even among demons. This specifically manifests themselves in the form of his Styles. --Trickster Style: Through the use of energy, Dante is able to enhance his speed and agility even further, making for unique maneuvers such as appearing in front of an opponent in a teleporting-like fashion, dashing through the air, despite initially falling in a different direction, and creating a platform of energy off of which he can leap. Through the use of this same energy, Dante is able to cloak himself during these maneuvers with a sort of protective barrier that temporarily makes him immune to most forms of injury, though this requires timing and coordination, though not as much as Royalguard. --Gunslinger Style: A style focused on Dante’s firearms, when he channels this he’s able to not only use a more broad variety of firearm techniques that one might not be able to accomplish even with his customized weapons, such as broad sprays, firing at multiple targets in single chains, and the like. Notably, though, Dante is able to charge his bullets with energy to enhance their firing power, causing them to deal more damage, and occasionally even cause secondary effects depending on the type of ammunition. Gunslinger may well be his single most destructive style, due to the nature of his weaponry. --Swordmaster Style: Along with Trickster, this style may be Dante’s favorite. Through channeling energy into his weapons he’s able to enhance their abilities and elemental power. When used with his Devil Trigger or Devil Sword Dante he is even able to conjure blades of energy that fight independently of Dante’s actual weapons, though still respond to mental commands. With most of his Devil Arms, Dante is similarly able to unlock unique abilities and powers that aren’t normally in a Devil Arm’s wheelhouse when using this style. ---Dark Slayer Style: More of an extension of his Swordmaster style than a sincere style on its own, Dante is able to mimick certain abilities and techniques employed by Vergil when he wields Yamato, though it’s fairly clear that he isn’t particularly fond of the fighting style, since he usually weaves it with the use of other weapons, rather than on its own. --Royalguard Style: By minimizing his presence, and assuming a more martial-arts oriented stance, Dante shifts into his Royalguard style. Again, through the use of energy, Dante is able to erect a very temporary barrier, though one that is inherently more powerful and sustainable than the one his Trickster Style employs. The drawback is that this energy can actually draw on Dante’s fatigue, and make it so he has to wait until he can activate his Devil Trigger if not used correctly. Though, when Dante uses this style efficiently, by only blocking at the last moment, he’s actually able to absorb the force of the hit and convert it into more energy for use. As Dante blocks attacks this style does build up a second type of energy that he is able to use as “revenge” attacking in kind with a single touch to any target while this energy is stored. When this occurs an immediate transference of the energy occurs, damaging the opponent with a similar, or greater, amount of force than what was absorbed. Another two uses of this includes enveloping himself in this second type of energy into an impenetrable shell, or using it to counter an opponent’s attack and turn it onto themselves. --Quicksilver Style: One of the more exhausting abilities that Dante has, he replicated it upon killing a Geryon and witnessing its abilities to manipulate time, Dante is able to initiate something akin to Witch Time. Through the use of his “Style Energy” Dante is able to create pockets of temporal distortion that causes everything within a certain area of himself, though it seems he may make exceptions outside of himself, slow down extremely. This power is costly and can easily exhaust Dante, prompting him to use it infrequently, as he’s already naturally quicker than most opponents anyway. --Doppelganger Style: Another ability that he learned after defeating a certain kind of demon, Dante is able to create a duplicate of himself that seems mildly distorted. This ability is shared by his brother Vergil, meaning that it is more inherent to them than it was an absorbed ability. However, when Dante has employed Doppelganger he is unable to use Devil Trigger, though Vergil’s use of the technique implies that it is possible for him to transform while using it, and to create a duplicate while transformed, though this would compound his exhaustion.
Weaknesses and Limitations -The forces of Inferno and Heaven: While Dante has been shown to be all but immune to most forms of damage, it’s consistent that demons, and weapons designed to kill demons, have a better chance at killing Dante, and have more ability to harm him than otherwise. He has also been outfought by other demons in the past, notably his brother. -Styles: The energy of his styles, particularly the three that drain him (Quicksilver, Doppelganger, and Royalguard), can fatigue Dante much faster than any number of fights would do on their own. If he doesn’t use these intelligently, then he will become exhausted, and risks dying.
Equipment and Support Gear -Devil Sword Dante: Essentially the true manifestation of a fully-realized Dante’s power. He used the power of Rebellion’s ability to bring together in tandem with the power of The Demon Blade Sparda/Force Edge that he’d earned from defeating his brother in the past to bring about his final demonic state. This weapon shares his will and acts with a mere thought on its owner’s part. This weapon bears all the same functionality as the two swords that combined with its owner, but is also able to conjure blades of pure energy that act as a further extension of Dante’s will. --Assorted Devil Arms: Over the years Dante has accrued a number of Devil Arms that he tends to bring in and out of his own rotation. While he has his favorites, he tends to find a lot of similar weapons, and most often will use the most powerful version of a given weapon, rather than those that he has had longer that may be more limited, or simply weaker. Dante seems to be able to keep three additional Devil Arms on him, besides his sword, at a time.
-Ebony & Ivory: A pair of customized handguns that were designed specifically to withstand Dante’s particular brand of heavy usage. Notably, Ebony is actually designed for long-distance targeting, and to be comfortable, while Ivory is more suited for rapid-firing and fast draw times. Both are M1911-style guns customized to boast many features, such as pivot-style triggers, distinct custom sights, muzzle compensators, custom slides, forward-portion bolted rails, double-stack magazines with slam-pads, gold-plating, (Ebony) two-handed trigger-guard, wood grips, pictures inlaid into the grips, (Ebony) left-sided ejection port, outside extractor, and off-hand fitting (Ivory). --Assorted Firearms: Aside from Ebony & Ivory, Dante uses a wide variety of firearms, including shotguns, rifles, rocket-launchers, and such. He often doesn’t bring many of these with him, often picking them up over the course of a mission, though he can swap between four at a time.
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quebec auto insurance
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Skull Island' Review: King Kong Kicks Butt In This Gorgeous Pulp Adventure | Forbes
Kong: Skull Island opens in North America on March 10, 2017 courtesy of (among others) Legendary and distributor Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. The film, budgeted at around $185 million, is both the start of a would-be franchise and something of a backdoor pilot for what the Dream Factory hopes will be a cinematic universe involving the likes of King Kong, Godzilla and other famous beasties. We’re getting Godzilla: King of the Monsters (a sequel to the 2014 Godzilla) in 2019 and Kong vs. Godzilla in 2020. So as you can see, there is more at stake than a single movie.
That’s the inherent risk of this whole expanded universe game. Under normal circumstances, Kong would merely be responsible for making enough money and audience approval to justify its expenses further installments. But since it’s the backbone of an expanded universe, a responsibility that Godzilla did not share, it has the extra burden of justifying and creating excitement for what comes next. Once again, Mr. Kong, we ask too much of you.
The good news is that, should this film do well and get decent reviews, it will go that much further in dispelling the conventional wisdom that Warner Bros. is a house of horrors due to the ups and downs of DC Comics movies. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them earned $811 million worldwide and mostly positive reviews while The LEGO Batman Movie scored raves and solid box office. If the Skull Island is a well-received hit and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword avoids utter embarrassment, there is frankly only so much grief we can give the studio no matter how good or bad Wonder Woman and Justice League turn out to be.
The Review:
Kong: Skull Island is high-quality pulp fiction. The picture is a briskly paced and character-driven adventure that just happens to be a big-budget monster mash and part of a would-be cinematic universe. The film has a game cast amid stunning visuals and gorgeous cinematic sights. It may not be the eighth wonder of the world, but this King Kong revamp is often quite beautiful.
While the film is technically a prequel to the Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla, it stands entirely on its own in terms of content and visual style. The 2014 monster mash was a grim and foreboding affair, shrouded in darkness and mystery while offering the barest hint of humanity amid its jaw-dropping visuals. Skull Island goes almost the opposite route, plunging us immediately into the world of its quirky human characters and wasting little time giving us what we came to see and delivering most of its thrills in broad daylight.
Regarding cinematic foreplay, this is less Jaws and more The Host. While both styles have their merits, Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein and John Gatins’ witty screenplay keeps us entertained and intrigued during the exposition and earns our investment in those who will soon fight for their lives. While I wouldn’t argue that this is a course correction, as Godzilla (which I didn't care for beyond the visuals) certainly had its merits and its fans, it is encouraging that the second film in this continuity can be so different regarding tone, focus and style. This is a possible signal that Legendary and Warner Bros.’ monster universe might well be filmmaker-driven.
While Godzilla was called “the first post-human blockbuster,” Kong: Skull Island is as much about watching the likes of John Goodman, Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson chew scenery as it is about King Kong and the various monsters of Skull Island. But fear not sports fans, you get a whole heaping of monster mash action throughout the 118 minutes. If you’ve managed to go this far without knowing too much, especially if you’ve avoided the most recent trailer (note: do not watch the final spoiler-filled trailer), I’ll try to be as vague as I can.
Set in 1973 as the Vietnam War winds to a close, the film follows a group of motley outsiders, including a discredited scientists (Goodman), a professional soldier (Hiddleston), a cynical war photographer (Larson), a geologist (Corey Hawkins), a biologist (Jing Tian) and the head of the chopper unit tasked with flying these folks into uncharted peril (Jackson). Goodman and friends are heading to Skull Island to conduct a land survey. Things almost immediately go to hell.
Shot by Larry Fong, the guy who almost had me giving Batman v Superman a positive review, this is an utterly beautiful motion picture. The naturalistic visuals, imbued with a particular hot orange vividness, gives the film an absolute authenticity of time and place and at least the appearance of realism even when we are clearly watching special effects. I saw this in glorious 2D, but I imagine it’s worth the IMAX 3D upgrade as the broad daylight action will probably survive any 3D glasses-related dimness.
And the title creature is a marvel, standing 100 feet tall and exuding animalistic menace no matter which side he’s fighting on at any given moment. His major introductory beat is a superb action sequence, even if it’s structured more for action-adventure thrills than horror or intensity. The film manages to humanize its main monster without being overly patronizing. This Kong is a protector of Skull Island. But if you get into his turf, he will bat you out of the sky without thinking twice.
Even after the monstrous stakes are established, there is still a relative focus on the humans attempting to survive and make it to a planned pick-up spot. Along the way, they stumble onto World War II soldier who has been living on the island for 30 years. Said MIA (John C. Reilly) provides comic relief, a surprising poignancy and plenty of exposition. Reilly quickly becomes Skull Island’s MVP.
Most of the survivors are focused on not dying, while Jackson allows his grief over first act casualties to turn him into a Captain Ahab figure. It’s an expected turn, but one which allows the survivors to have a conflict more potent than merely running away from scary monsters. The rest of his soldiers are slice-of-life characters, drawn just vividly enough so that you’ll briefly mourn when one of them cashes out.
Hiddleston is in full brooding rogue mode, even if he gets one moment of almost comical heroism. Goodman is superb, as always, although Booker and Tian fall back a bit once Reilly’s starts scene-stealing. Larson is fine, even if she is somewhat hobbled by being the only major female character. There are refreshingly few “beauty and the beast” interactions between the great ape and the empathetic photojournalist, which is a good thing since we're getting an actual Beauty and the Beast a week after this movie, but she doesn’t get much else to play in the film’s latter half.
The picture loses some of its character focus in the second act as certain characters split off from other characters, which leaves some of the more interesting folks out of sight and out of mind for a while. But the finale comes together in an exciting and satisfying fashion, delivering a climax that pays off the film’s Apocalypse Now and Moby Dick themes while providing the required monster mash action. And while there is less of a sense of awe to be found than Peter Jackson’s more overtly romantic take on this story, there are any number of gorgeous moments of vivid cinematic beauty and iconic imagery.
Kong: Skull Island is an action spectacular that offers large-scale monster mayhem, moments of cinematic poetry (like the grand moments of Kong standing tall amid the sun-drenched carnage) and memorable character work by a cast of overqualified thespians giving it their all. Skull Island is the very definition of a complete package. While the movie exists due to its IP and hopes for a larger cinematic universe, it justifies itself as high-quality popcorn entertainment and works as a piece of pop art unto itself.
While I admit will admit that the overall effect is less wondrous than the Naomi Watts/Adrien Brody/Jack Black fantasy, that’s also because movies like King Kong are a lot more commonplace than they were in 2005. Whether you prefer Peter Jackson’s epic romantic adventure or Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ lean and mean war story, they exist side by side along with the 1976 remake as artistically valid interpretations of the 1933 classic. Kong: Skull Island is a confident, pulpy, character-focused, big-scale adventure story that just happens to be a backdoor pilot for an expanded universe. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
P.S. Yes, there is a post-credits sequence, but it is terrible. It feels like it was shot during a lunch break and is not required viewing to understand Godzilla: King of the Monsters or the untitled Kong versus Godzilla movies. If you have to leave when the film ends, don’t feel too badly about it.
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Writing Assignment #2
Can war be just in the twenty-first century?
Before a discussion of any kind can happen, all associated parties must agree on what certain terms mean in order to lay them out and prevent any confusion further down the line. In this case, these relevant terms include what it means to be at war and what it means to be just. The Oxford English dictionary defines “war” as “a state of armed conflict between different countries; a state of competition or hostility between different people or groups.” It also defines “just” as “based on or behaving according to what is morally right and fair; deserved or appropriate in the circumstances.” In both cases, I will be focusing on the latter definitions; armed conflicts between independent states are limited in number in this century, and I believe that it is our responses to war that say more about us as a species than whether we ought to be going to war at all. In this writing assignment, I will review how war intersects with my own position on its permissibility, human dignity, its costs and benefits, and its future in our society.
In Micah 6, the prophet addresses the peoples’ question on the best way to please their God. Rather than sacrifices and offerings, he lays out the three things that have been required of Israel since the beginning: “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Despite being the first thing listed, I have noticed that Christians today tend to overlook “doing justice,” especially in the context of a conflict, preferring a pacifist position and citing Jesus in Matthew 5:39 as their defense: “But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” C.S. Lewis offers two different interpretations of this verse in his 1940’s essay “Why I Am Not a Pacifist”: it may mean exactly as it says (i.e. Christians ought to be passive with regard to conflict) in any and all circumstances, or it may mean what it says with the expectation that the audience is intelligent enough to be aware of obvious exceptions (Lewis 1940). For example, if you are in the way of someone attempting to commit a crime and they try to injure you in order to remove you from their path, you are free (and possibly have an obligation) to keep them from doing so. Jesus’ statement therefore only applies in the same sense that we ought to be “slow to anger, slow to speak” (James 1:19) and not retaliate without thinking.
Once we realize that we are not forbidden from engaging in any form of conflict, the next step is to decide which conflicts are worth the solemn undertaking of war. Using the definition from earlier, when is it “appropriate for the circumstances”? From my own perspective, attempting something as serious as war requires the following three things: 1) a grave threat to either the lives or dignity of humans, 2) the exhaustion of all other diplomatic options, and 3) a feasible plan for righting the wrongs that led to the circumstances in 1) (i.e. in the aftermath, there must be a plan to prevent such things from happening again; war should at least be proactive if it has to happen). Just war theory, specifically jus ad bellum, includes the first two (having a moral cause and using war as a last resort) and adds the public declaration of war, the confidence that the side claiming a just reason can succeed, and proportionality.
The remaining principles of just war theory (jus in bello) asserts that war cannot be indiscriminate violence against noncombatants (proportionality again, this time with discrimination). It implies that not going to war incurs a greater cost than the potential loss of life on a battlefield. To me, it seems that to participate in a just war is to recognize that there are things that are more terrible than death or physical pain. I believe that the worst of such things is a loss or deprivation of the qualities that make us human. As always, first we must define such qualities, but unfortunately there is no dictionary that give us such a definition. (As succinct as Plato’s definition of man as a “featherless biped” is, the odds of war threatening our physical characteristics as a species are rather slim.) The qualities that are most critical to our identity are rooted in our intelligence, the thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world. These include decision-making, reasoning, and protecting the things that we care for the most. If some power infringes upon a person’s autonomy, or leaves them powerless to defend themselves or those closest to them, this is when someone sacrificing their life for a cause becomes worth the effort.
Having now covered war in general, we move on to war in our time. Organized conflict is a hallmark of our species, with such conflicts ranging from the Six Day War to the Hundred Year War, and casualties ranging from tens to tens of millions. Wars have often been turning points in history: politically, socially, and even scientifically—the Cold War saw our advancements in space travel, early research into nuclear power, and even the predecessor to the Internet. With such innovations in technology, wars can easily become extremely deadly to a large portion of the population without restraint and right judgment.
Since the alleged Russian intervention in the 2016 election, the idea that international conflicts may be moving out of land, sea, and air and into cyberspace has become a more pressing issue. 2017 has been identified as the start of a new era of cyber conflict, where those with the power to do so threaten to destabilize institutions and create chaos and uncertainty rather than conduct their activities in secret (Valeriano et al. 2017). Thus, the thing we stand to lose the most due to cyber warfare today is out interconnectedness. Trust is a fundamental part of any relationship, whether between two people or a population and its government, and many of the activities involved in cyberwarfare today are aiming at destroying that trust. Such levels of mistrust could grow to rival the psychological harm experienced by David Rohde when he lived in an area constantly under drone surveillance: a person may never know where the threat comes from or who it comes for (Rohde 2009).
This idea of cyber warfare—that a foreign power could cripple a nation by taking down our electronic infrastructure—first and foremost reminds me of Sherman’s March to the Sea in the American Civil War. Though the human casualties were minimal compared to the rest of the war, the Union troops carved such a deep, inescapable scar across Georgia that took years for the South to recover from (Groce 2014). The war was brought to civilians, who were left with no choice but to comply. Sherman’s March helped to bring an end to the Civil War, but it can be hard to say if it was in a just manner. The same could be said of a potential cyber war. If any and all “battles” take place purely in the cyber domain (i.e. no foreign power gains access to our weapons and turns them against us), there could be next to no direct loss of human life. However, the question is what becomes of human dignity. As the Internet of Things grows to include more and more (along with our dependency on it), a possible shutdown of everything online would put the burden of war almost entirely on the civilians, violating the principle of distinction in jus in bello. In a worst-case scenario described by The Economist in 2010, “Computer bugs bring down military e-mail systems; oil refineries and pipelines explode; air-traffic-control systems collapse; freight and metro trains derail; financial data are scrambled; the electrical grid goes down in the eastern United States; orbiting satellites spin out of control. Society soon breaks down as food becomes scarce and money runs out.” Without a clear, physical opposition, the same people could be left defenseless, deprived of the right to defend themselves.
As much as I would like to consider myself an optimist, I do not see war ever permanently abolished. It may never again reach the same levels of destruction as the two World Wars, but it will still be a part of society so long as there is inequality of any form that begets discontent and resentment. In such circumstances, it becomes too easy for those in power to take advantage of those who are not, leading to the buildup of resentment and eventual retaliation of those without power, if the disparity does not reach a level that requires outside intervention. David Cochran argues that because humanity has let go of its more violent habits in the past, such as slavery, we will eventually reach a point where we can end war altogether (Cochran 2016). However, while it is no longer a public institution, slavery is still very much active in the world today, with some saying there are more slaves now than at any other point in history (Hogenboom 2012). If we have swept slavery under the metaphorical rug, who can say that we will not do the same with war, especially if it becomes less and less visible? A world without war is an ideal to reach for, but I will put my faith it without a healthy degree of caution. In the meantime, I will have hope only that those involved can “do justice and love kindness” in the place where it can be hardest to do so.
References
Groce, W. Todd. “Rethinking Sherman's March.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Nov. 2014, opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/rethinking-shermans-march/.
Hogenboom, Melissa. “A Tipping Point in the Fight against Slavery?” BBC News, BBC, 19 Oct. 2012, www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19831913.
Lewis, Clive Staples. “Why I Am Not a Pacifist.” The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses. 1940.
Murphy, Matt. “War in the Fifth Domain.” The Economist, The Economist, 1 July 2010, www.economist.com/node/16478792.
Rohde, David. “7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Oct. 2009, www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/world/asia/18hostage.html?pagewanted=all.
Valeriano, Brandon, et al. “Cyberwarfare Has Taken a New Turn. Yes, It's Time to Worry.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 13 July 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/07/13/cyber-warfare-has-taken-a-new-turn-yes-its-time-to-worry/?utm_term=.6c58bdd92e68.
#i say this a lot ngl but this might actually be the worst thing ive written in any language#and i have a whole mess of bad spanish compositions from last semester#writing assignment#the next one is going to be biology related though soooo#get pumped yall#forreal tho im embarrassed of this crap#like there is no focus at all#but thats what happens in a hell week
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