#''and make light of events that not only resulted in mass death but led to a spike in racism and war that caused Even More Death and sti

[adelle-ein]

i mean at least this year i've blocked and left enough places that i don't have to deal with the barrage of oh-so-funny 9/11 jokes

[lost-carcosa]

The Devastating Effects of Fireworks on Pets and Wildlife

By: Kendra Coulter     

Fireworks have become a fixture of many celebrations around the world, from weddings to national holidays. But there are many among us, including the furry, feathered and finned, who feel fear with every thundering boom.

Animal caretakers, wildlife rehabilitators and fire services see firsthand the damaging — and sometimes fatal — effects whenever and wherever fireworks are deployed.

Real risks for animals

Cats and dogs both experience sounds at far greater intensity than humans. Fireworks appear for them as discordant noise without warning.

Studies suggest up to 50 percent of dogs are afraid of fireworks. Frightened animals awakened from sleep or startled from a state of relaxation will hide, pace, shake, cry or flee, unable to process what is going on or find a safe haven.

I had a tough and confident rescue dog named Ms Macey who was only afraid of one thing: fireworks. She would try to find reprieve by hiding in the bathtub.

Horses’ innate fear responses can take over when they hear fireworks. This led to the tragic death of a horse in Nova Scotia in 2022, neither the first nor last related equine casualty.

So far this year, Murphy and Tallulah were two horse victims of fireworks, the latter so afraid she ran through a wooden fence.

It’s not only animals who are at risk either. Spooking horses can accidentally hurt people trying to handle and comfort them. Bystanders can also be injured when horses bolt out of fear.

Wild animals’ responses

The dangers are serious for wild animals like birds, squirrels, frogs and fish too. During fireworks explosions, nearby resting birds will flee in fear en masse from trees and ponds, and fly off into the night sky.

Some birds have flown so far out to sea, they would not physically have been able to return to land alive. Birds can crash into buildings, get lost and disoriented and literally fall, by the thousands, onto communities.

Because fireworks are launched at night, the full effects on wild animals are challenging to document. Researchers expect that millions of birds are affected around the world and that the results linger after the smoke has disappeared.

In spring and early summer, when animals like birds and squirrels are nesting or in the early stages of rearing their offspring, the risks are even greater. Babies die of dehydration or starvation when terrified or disoriented animal parents cannot find their way back to their nests and burrows. These painful deaths are particularly tragic because they are completely avoidable.

Risks to people

The negative impacts of fireworks extend beyond animals — they can also trigger refugees and veterans.

When set off, fireworks can release toxic chemicals and pollute the environment. And during warnings of the potential of an intense and dangerous fire season, the incendiary risks of fireworks are even more dire.

Nearly 20,000 blazes were started by fireworks in the United States in 2018 alone, killing five people and injuring dozens more. The fact that fires are already decimating forests and communities makes these facts even more alarming. It’s difficult to see why fireworks are permitted at all.

Harm is nothing to celebrate

Thankfully, some communities are taking action and exploring alternatives to conventional fireworks.

In 2018, the Italian town of Collecchio made headlines as the first in the world to implement “silent” fireworks; they aren’t completely noiseless, but make far less noise than traditional fireworks.

That same year Banff, Alta. moved to a much quieter pyrotechnic display for its Canada Day event. And this year, the city suspended the light show to “review the impacts of noise and light flashes on wildlife and the secondary impacts on pets and people in the community,” which is laudable.

It is a disturbing display of ego that the human desire to light up the quiet night sky with explosions continues despite the serious effects it has on vulnerable people, other species and our shared environment (not to mention the cost when governments are footing the bill).

Since backyard and community-run fireworks continue in most places, concerned animal caretakers should take steps to protect their animals.

But individual actions aren’t enough to mitigate the damaging effects of fireworks on domesticated and wild animals. The more this issue is raised, the more likely this harmful practice will be replaced with alternatives that are more respectful and genuinely joyful. Harm should be prevented not cheered. Governments ought to ensure celebrations consider the well-being of humans and other animals alike.

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.18 (after 1940)

1940 – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Berlin: Four hundred and forty Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew. 1944 – The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba. 1947 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand. 1949 – The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria. 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam. 1963 – The first push-button telephone goes into service. 1970 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government. 1971 – Oman declares its independence from the United Kingdom. 1978 – The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States. 1978 – In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. 1983 – Aeroflot Flight 6833 is hijacked en route from Tbilisi to Leningrad. After returning to Tbilisi, the aircraft is subsequentially raided on the ground, resulting in seven deaths. 1985 – The first comic of Calvin and Hobbes is published in ten newspapers. 1987 – King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras. 1991 – Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland. 1991 – After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces. 1991 – The autonomous Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, which would in 1993 become a republic, was established in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1993 – In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is approved by the House of Representatives. 1993 – In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution, expanding voting rights and ending white minority rule. 1996 – A fire occurs on a train traveling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel. 1999 – At Texas A&M University, the Aggie Bonfire collapses killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. 2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq. 2003 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4–3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180 days to change the law making Massachusetts the first state in the United States to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples. 2012 – Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria becomes the 118th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. 2013 – NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars. 2020 – The Utah monolith, built sometime in 2016 is discovered by state biologists of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

[scarlettaagni]

Bhu’ja-Lulij a.k.a. Bhu’ja-Hulij (Mad Ghost)

Mad Ghost is M’hsi’s great-great-great granduncle and the third disgraced Odd Crest within recent history, as well as the oldest surviving member. He is also the only Odd Crest to be formally declared a Bad Blood, for his crime of partaking in tough meat, the cannibalization of another Yautja. He has since disappeared into the desert for the following 600 years, eluding capture.

Before committing the actions that led to that, he was named Mad Ghost in part of his split-strategies during Hunts- alternating being elusive and silent despite his massive size like a ghost, or charging like a bat out of hell as if gripped by an all-encompassing rage with his trademark axe. Mad Ghost was also named for his habit of sleepwalking and talking, which usually increased in frequency in times of stress. Wandering in the middle of the night muttering ominous nothings, with blank but open eyes and becoming violent when trifled with earned him a name befitting someone who acts like a restless spirit.

Mad Ghost was always eager to go on Hunts and relished in the bloodshed and recovery of trophies. In his free time, he either trained, observed and upkept his trophies, or played music. When he wasn’t slaughtering during a Hunt, he recorded human music he heard (typically church songs and choirs).

He was in his 300s when a Hunt on NV-39W resulted in a cave-in that trapped him in an air pocket with the already deceased body of his Hunt-brother Tieri. Presumed dead, the Hunting party (including a then-young Zazin) returned a few months later to retrieve the expected bodies, instead finding a starving Mad Ghost digging into Tieri’s disembodied leg next to his ravaged corpse. He was accordingly subdued, put under, and given medical attention while transported back to Yautja Prime for his sentence, either death or exile on a hostile planet.

Before a conclusion was reached, Mad Ghost awoke and escaped containment, disappearing into the deserts of Yautja Prime.

Over the following 600 years since his escape, Mad Ghost sought to demonstrate that his crime did not define who he was, never again partaking of tough meat and telling anyone he could have a conversation with that he only did it out of desperation. Believing that he was not the same as other Bad Bloods and to show he belonged back in normal society, Mad Ghost also tracked down and killed other Bad Bloods, especially those whose crimes were not as forgivable as his.

Spending the majority of his time alone in caves or makeshift shelters, he privately grappled with the trauma of the accident, being trapped with the body of a Hunt-brother he could not save, and being forced to eat it until his capture. He will not know rest until he knows if Tieri forgives him or not. Since the incident, Mad Ghost’s sleeptalking subjects have been exclusively about his experiences wasting away next to and eating Tieri’s body.

Enforcers and cocky Hunters had tried their hand at tracking down the legendary Mad Ghost, who typically avoided even being spotted. In the rare cases he was discovered, he easily won the skirmishes and purposefully left his assailants alive, just short on weapons. Careful not to take any weapons that could track him, Mad Ghost was seldom seen, never heard, but a popular urban legend among the clan in his absence.

Mad Ghost’s story was recorded accurately within records of the incident and the memories of those still alive to have witnessed it, but word of mouth has warped the story so heavily as to demonize Mad Ghost as Tieri’s murderer, a willing cannibal, or an unwilling cannibal warped into a beast who hungers for flesh and continues to crave and feast in the desert on stragglers. Even his attempts to garner support by killing Bad Bloods has been spun by mass opinion into him betraying his own kind yet again: first by turning on Yautja society by eating tough meat, and again by killing his fellow Bad Bloods. Some believe he has died given his obscurity, and some even doubt his existence in the first place, considering it a wild story to malign the clan’s resident punching bags, the Odd Crests.

The local plays have rendered Mad Ghost a sort of pierrot/harlequin/trickster stock character, with protagonists being lost in the desert as a fictionalized and flanderized version of Mad Ghost portrayed by an actor appears to lead them astray, terrorize them, or devour a side character. Few plays are actually about him, instead relegating a fictionalized retelling to a side plot, or feature him nearly contextlessly without dedicating a scene to his “backstory”. Even his name itself had been run through the mud, as the Yautja words for mad (angry), l’ulij-bpe, and mad (crazy), h’ulij-bpe, rhyme, resulting in insulting wordplay.

His time spent in the desert, through both sun-bleaching and age, has turned his hair and spines white. Though 900 years old and nearly an Ancient himself, Mad Ghost still clings to his wasted youth and as a result, uses the tar pits in the deserts of Yautja Prime to dye his hair black. His lack of spines and the dye cause him to look as young as he did before the incident.  When he is seen with white hair, he is perceived as a spirit or crazed old man, and with black hair, regarded as potentially some kind of eternal supernatural being that Death has abandoned.

Mad Ghost constantly forgets his age and generally acts as he did when he was 300, with a few added behavioral tics such as a tremor, a perpetually unhinged mouth, and a lack of indoor voice. His true age is usually remembered when recalling the past, winning an argument, or making a joke.

After centuries of processing the grief and guilt, Mad Ghost finds himself secure enough to joke about his experiences, insisting he’s finally over it. When asleep, his grief and guilt manifest through his sleepwalking and talking.

When M’hsi returns from her trials, given Mad Ghost’s known slaying of Bad Bloods, sparing the lives of Enforcers, and the ambiguous nature of his original crime, her restoring the Odd Crest honor will revoke his Bad Blood status. Upon her return and recuperation, M’hsi will don her mask, and carrying his previously confiscated axe, find Mad Ghost to tell him the good news. Upon seeing her face and odd crest, he stops reacting with hostility and welcomes his new family with open arms and eagerly fawns over his niece and nephews as they house him. Zazin helps catch him up to speed with modern Yautja society (and providing him with the company of someone actually his age).

Given his streak of victories when barely armed in the desert, he spends his twilight years training M’hsi alongside Vosandi, under Halkrath’s guidance. Depending on how long Mad Ghost lives, he plans on training Lo’bane as well (wishing to wait until Lo’bane is old enough to stand a chance against him).

Mad Ghost’s biggest issue with his newly normal lifestyle is the repetitive debunking of rumors about him and his life. He is especially disgusted with how everyone has memorized his name, yet rarely speak of Tieri, whom he remembers well as a friend and real person (which the public treats him not). Enraged to the point of hilarity at their joint portrayal in the clan’s media, he pens his own account of events titled The Dark Well of Sweet Light in an attempt to set the record straight.

During his time in the well, Mad Ghost did not come close enough to death to meet Cetanu, unlike Halkrath. However, his survival, too, was a result of the whim of Cetanu, who chose to take Tieri’s life and spare the Odd Crest rather than the other way around. Mad Ghost suspects this is so but will not learn the truth and Tieri’s feelings until he himself passes. As he nears the end of his life, like an Ancient, he becomes more in tune with the abstract and spiritual as Zazin is.

[juniaships]

After being reminded of how awful canon film is I wrote my own self indulgent version of Batman Vs. Superman. I want the story to be self contained, so no Doomsday or Darkseid forewarning. Warning: Rambling, me being butthurt while high on sugar, really trying to make this a coherent storyline with genuine development, some Bruce x OC moments shut up you demon!

The beginning is the same as in canon with Lois in Africa???Middle East??? With her partner James Olsen trying to resolve a hostage situation. James gets killed trying to protect a hostage, but before anymore are killed Superman comes in and rescues them. He subdues not kill the terrorists but gets into trouble with the intelligence agency for interrupting their mission. This incident reaches the ears of Helen Hunt's character the no-nonsense Senator. However Superman is more concerned for the deceased James and the unharmed hostages than getting in trouble with the government, he feels guilty being unable to save James in time.

After James Olsen's funeral Clark and Lois are unsure what to do next. They decide the best way to honor his memory is continuing their line of working bringing light to troubling issues as well as a troubling rose of villains. They also find out that the terrorists had weapons given to them by Luthor (to protect interests in that region).

Meanwhile, Lex decides to capitalize on the post destruction of Metropolis by launching a smear campaign. He also starts pursuing charitable events to make himself look good in front of the masses. Because of growing negativity towards Supes, Clark starts feeling a lack of confidence but from reassurance from his mom he redirects his focus hero by doing small stuff around Smallville. Gradually the town starts to see him in a far better light but there's still Metropolis and the larger world. Clark goes there to help rebuild. At his job at DP, he gets the chance to interview visiting millionaire Bruce Wayne in Whatever City (not the actual name but a totally different city from Metropolis and Gotham). At the press meeting Bruce is rather cold & not as Clark expected. He's even working with Lex Luthor as part of a business deal, which makes Clark wary as he knows about Luthor's criminal activity.

Superman goes out in a flight to clear his head. While flying around he sees a kid walking on the railroad tracks hy himself with a pair of headphones....and a train steadily approaching! Supes swoops in and saves the kod from being nuked and chastises him for being so reckless. The teenager apologies and introduces himself as Jimmy Olsen (a nephew of the deceased James). He had been listening to music as a way to cope with his uncle's death. They talk for a while and Superman brings Jimmy back home. Several weeks later Clark ends up mentoring Jimmy as a school project.

Back in Whatever City we're introduced to one of Lex's assistants Nicola. She's a former Holliday Girl who had overheard Lex's plan and vowed to stop him. She managed to get in contact with an old friend: Diana Prince. Nicola brings up Lex's plan and hidden research of metahumans. The Amazon surmises that such a scheme could result in the deaths of hundreds if not thousands of people. Diana decides to bring her agency to stop him & asks Nicola to stay low. Diana gathers her old armor and prays to the Gods for luck.

Lex apparently likes Nicola enough to send her an invite to a charity ball, where she crosses paths with Bruce for the first time. They talk for a while only to be interrupted by Clark.

After a meeting with Luthor to discuss a merger with their companies, and seeing hints of Luthor's true selfishness, Bruce grows suspicious of him and started to dig around. We see through memorabilia that his initial coldness towards Clark and other people wasn't out of spite but of grief: Jason Todd's death some years ago.

Clark continues his good deeds and is slowly regaining his respect. He even makes plan to visit a children's hospital but is forced to cancel when Superman gets called to show up for a Congress hearing. At the meeting Superman admits his guilt but tells about James and how he died a hero. The Senator doesn't know where Superman is going with this but is listening. Then Superman's voice trails of as he hears a beeping noise and shocked he leaves the room in a hurry. He briefly searches the place and finds a bomb strapped in a closet. He carries the bomb out and throws it as high into the sky as possible Back inside the audience and senator are bewildered by his absence then hear a loud booming noise outside. There's shock as a bright light flashes in the sky...

Superman legit rejected their hearing to save them from a bomb. A bomb planted there by Tess on the instructions of Luthor...a plan she was willing to sacrifice her own life for.

This leaves the senator reconsidering her stance: if he really was as bad as people say then he wouldn't have saved them.

After the incident the entire country begins to have a more positive opinion of Superman while the government launches a search for possible terrorists. Bruce hears about what happened and after sneaking around as Batman, finds out about Luthor being the one responsible for the attempted terror attack. Later on he (as civilian) makes an announcement that he is not going to go through with the merger with LexCorp.

Hearing the news that Superman foiled his attempted assassination (and losing out on Wayne Enterprises), Lex gets very pissed off and threatens to fire Tess. She tries to save face by reminding Lex of his contingency plan...making Lex calm down and grin as he begins to remake his plan.

Nicola agrees to a date with Bruce and prepares. Meanwhile Lois and Jimmy are enjoying a night on the town while Clark stays behind to work on a news story. The two friends were about ti make it back to their hotel before being accosted by some men who force them into a car and takes them to Lex Corp.

At the HQ Lois calls him out that his plan could spell doom for the world. Surprisingly Luthor agrees but makes it clear he doesn't care. He orders his men to capture her, but Jimmy manages to escape and goes off to find Clark (who is writing a story to expose Luthor's actions). Jimmy tells him learns from him that Lois is in trouble Superman tells him to stay as he fetches the police. In reality he jas gone to find her as his hero alias. He finds her but just as he's about to rescue her Lex threatens that he also has another certain someone (Martha Kent ) captured if he doesn't comply, seeing that Supes was often seen visiting her. Reluctantly Superman complies and Lois is freed from her bonds, yet Lex takes them as hostages to a room lined with Green Kryptonite. He leaves to his warehouse to check on progress of his prototype. Jimmy wonders where Clark has gone and goes to the police station himself.

On their date Bruce mentions to Nicola that he knows what she's up to. Nicola coldly replies what was he talking about and he mentions Lex's actions and her possible status as an accomplice This starts a spat leading to Nicola spilling that she is working against Lex (making her a foil to the blindly loyal Tess) and that her goal was to stop Lex from unleashing his plan. She already called a friend to help them yet when Bruce presses forward they see a kid (Jimmy) wandering around and concerned asks what's wrong. Jimmy replies that his friend was kidnapped and doesn't know what to do. Bruce leaves to find Clark while Nicola stays with Jimmy.

Nicole & Jimmy arrives back at the hotel and sees Tess Mercer waiting for them. She had been sent by Luthor to eliminate the witness. Nicola tries to talk her coworker out of harming an innocent kid but Tess refuses. They duel but Tess proves to be a surprisingly stronger fighter. Before Tess could come in for the kill a frightened Jimmy knocks her out cold from behind.

At HQ Lois & a weakened Superman attempt an escape. Lois believes its hopeless but Clark reminds her that Lex won't put them down for long. Batman arrives at the HQ and stealthily avoids the guards. He deduces the room Lois and Supes are locked up in and free them. Batman says thay a little birdie told him everything Lois and Clark grinning that it's Jimmy and the two superheroes decide to work together to bring down Lex.

Batman goes to save Martha (the warehouse fight) while Superman goes to confront Lex, dropping Lois off at the hotel where rhe police are waiting (Tess apprehended). Nicola researcher offers to take the reporter home but she declines, not wanting to sit back and watch Lex try to destroy the world. After giving her report to the police she and Nicole meet Steven Trevor (a descendant of Steve Trevor and an agent). Steven says he already sent his men to arrest Lex as they found that he waa behind the bombing. Lois sneaks away to see if she can help Clark.

Clark manages to catch uo to Lex at his lab and tries to reason with him. Lex says that he already unleashed his prototype as a test to see how many lives Superman is able to save. Superman argues that Lex has gone mad trying to play god, which he disagrees: "I'm not playing god I'm only playing favorites is all." Disgusted, Superman leaves and goes off to fight the prototype. As he does an entire line of trucks arrive...led by Nicola's special friend...

Lex realizes he has been found out and tries to destroy the evidence. Lois realize that the monster was made of Kryptonian DNA so she looks around for the spare Kryptonite and manages to grab a considerable long piece. Just as she does the place starts flooding and she runs. However she nearly drown. Fortunately she gets pulled out by a woman wearing armor. Lois doesn't even ask her name as she recognizes the W shaped emblem and blue&red color scheme. Lois gives the heroine the spear and tells her that she says she loves Clark. Wonder Woman nods and heads towards the direction of Superman.

Superman draws the monster out away from the city and is helped by Batman. Wonder Woman arrives with the spear. The final battles commences with Batman providing a distraction to lead the prototype away. Diana and Superman fight the beast but is soon overpowered. Clark takes the makeshift spear and goes off and manages to subdue the creature rather unwilling to kill it. However he gets blown up by a missile sent by the US military and everyone thinks he is dead.

To his he walks out of the smoke, banged up but alive, having narrowly escaped the blast. The monster has died, leaving Clark to wonders sadly if the monster could have been saved as it had no control over its actions. A relieved Lois embraces him as the other two supers look on in bittersweet triumph.

Several days later, the President, on the behest of the Helen Hunt Senator, gives Superman a full pardon. The world also starts to see rising of actual superheroes to take in the increase of villains having been inspired by the actions of the newly dubbed Trinity. The ending shows that long term exposure to Kryptonite left Lex without any hair, cementing his iconic look. He had also beem arrested and tried and ends up locked up at a mental institution on an insanity plea. His other henchmen & Tess are jailed and Luthor's company scrambles to do damage control. Bruce catches up to Clark and apologizes for being cold. They part ways on better terms before musing at the similarities between their alter egos. Diana teases that they make a great team and returns to the capital with her team. Bruce returns to Gotham and stops at the cemetery to place flowers on Jason Todd's grave, showing that he moved to the acceptance stage of grief. Jimmy also ends up getting a job as an intern for Daily Planet with Lois as his mentor this time. And Nicola goes to Gotham to work as a social worker and takes up a case: Cassandra Cain.

The final scene ends with Clark as Superman dressed up in Metropolis visiting a local orphanage/foster home, showing that at his core he truly does care about humanity despite all them haters. 👏👏 👏 happy ending everyone!!!

The movie ends with a montage of

- Cyborg walking around aimlessly in his hometown and finding a discarded newspaper highlighting the heroes' exploits and getting the idea to try becoming a hero himself

- Aquaman in his kingdom catching up with the surface world and becoming curious, and wonders about an alliance

- Barry standing in a hill in his city in costume. He grins and smiles, before pulling over his cowl and racing off

- And Lex, plotting an escape from his cell, suddenly sees a peculiarly tall guard looming over him. He makes a digging comment that the guard shrugs off. To his surprise the guard unlocks the cell and leads Lex out. Lex asks who the guard is; the guard slips off his disguises revealing a sapient Gorilla...Gorilla Grodd!

All This sets up a future plot point that wouldn't be explored until after Justice League where we're introduced to the cinematic LEGION OF DOOM!!! The prototype they fight is not doomsday but foreshadows the creation of Bizarro (who was one of the original members of the LoD).

With the actual Justice League movie we continue with the formation of the team through several subplots converging into one major story arc. The Helen Hunt Senator plays a huge role being their ally and influence on building the Hall of Justice. Plus more Brucola stuff because we need fun stuff in Batman, Tom King.

[multiverseforger]

In the novel, It is a shapeshifting monster who usually takes the form of Pennywise the Dancing Clown, originating in a void containing and surrounding the Universe—a place referred to in the novel as the "Macroverse". It arrived on Earth during an asteroid impact and made its home under the land which Derry would be built on, initially preying on indigenous tribes. It would sleep for millions of years, then, when humans appeared in Derry, would fall into a 27-year slumber and wake for about a year in order to feed on human fear, often assuming the shape of what its prey fear the most. It has a preference for children since their fears are easier to interpret and adults are harder to scare, in a physical form. It can manipulate people with weaker wills, making them indifferent to the horrific events that unfold or even serve as accomplices.

In the novel, It claims that its true name is Robert "Bob" Gray, and is named "It" by the Losers Club. Throughout the book, It is generally referred to as male due to usually appearing as Pennywise. The Losers come to believe It may be female (because it lays eggs), and perceiving It's true form as a monstrous giant spider. However, It's true appearance is briefly observed by Bill Denbrough via the Ritual of Chüd as a mass of swirling destructive orange lights known as "deadlights", which inflict insanity or death on any living being that sees them directly. The only person to survive the ordeal is Bill's wife Audra Phillips, although she is rendered temporarily catatonic by the experience.

Its natural enemy is the "Space Turtle" or "Maturin", another ancient dweller of King's "Macroverse" who, eons ago, created the known universe and possibly others by vomiting them out as the result of a stomachache. The Turtle appears again in King's series The Dark Tower. Wizard and Glass, one of the novels in the series, suggests that It, along with the Turtle, are themselves creations of a separate, omnipotent creator referred to as "the Other" (possibly Gan, who is said to have created the various universes where King's novels take place).

Throughout the novel It, some events are depicted from Pennywise's point of view, describing itself as a "superior" being, with the Turtle as an equal and humans as mere "toys". It's hibernation begins and ends with horrific events, like the mysterious disappearance of the Derry Township's 300 settlers in 1740–43 or the ironworks explosion. It awoke during a great storm that flooded part of the city in 1957, with Bill's younger brother Georgie the first in a line of killings before the Losers Club fight the monster, a confrontation culminating in Bill using the Ritual of Chüd to severely wound It and force It into hibernation. Continually surprised by the Losers' victory, It briefly questions its superiority before claiming that they were only lucky, as the Turtle is working through them. It is finally destroyed 27 years later in the second Ritual of Chüd, and an enormous storm damages the downtown part of Derry to symbolize It's death.

Pennywise makes a tangential appearance in King's 2011 novel 11/22/63, in which protagonist Jake Epping meets a couple of the children from It, asks them about a recent murder in their town, and learns that the murderer apparently "wasn't the clown." It also appears to Jake in the old ironworks, where it taunts Jake about "the rabbit-hole," referring to the time portal in which Jake moves from one time to another.

Film and televisionEdit

In the 1990 miniseries, Pennywise is portrayed by English actor Tim Curry. One original guise is made for the miniseries: Ben Hanscom's deceased father (played by Steve Makaj).

In the 2017 film adaptation, It Chapter One and its 2019 sequel It Chapter Two, Pennywise is portrayed by Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård.[5] The second movie slightly deviates from the book in It's final form being a drider-version of Pennywise and is motivated by revenge on the Losers Club. Will Poulter was originally cast as Pennywise, with Curry describing the role as a "wonderful part" and wishing Poulter the best of luck, but dropped out of the production due to scheduling conflicts and first film's original director Cary Fukunaga leaving the project. Spanish actor Javier Botet was cast as the Hobo leper in both movies and the monstrous form of Ms. Kersh in the second film. Two original guises were made for the first film: the Headless Boy, a burnt victim of the Kitchener Ironworks incident (played by Carter Musselman), and the Amedeo Modigliani–based painting Judith (played by Tatum Lee).[6]

Pennywise will also appear as a supporting character in the upcoming live-action/animated film Space Jam: A New Legacy, which will also be distributed by Warner Bros.[7]

Reception and legacyEdit

Several media outlets such as The Guardian have spoken of the character, ranking it as one of the scariest clowns in film or pop culture.[8][9][10] The Atlantic said of the character; "the scariest thing about Pennywise, though, is how he preys on children's deepest fears, manifesting the monsters they're most petrified by (something J. K. Rowling would later emulate with boggarts)."[11] British scholar Mikita Brottman has also said of the miniseries version of Pennywise; "one of the most frightening of evil clowns to appear on the small screen" and that it "reflects every social and familial horror known to contemporary America".[12] Author Darren Shan cited Pennywise as an inspiration behind the character Mr. Dowling in his 12.5 book serial Zom-B.[13]

The American punk rock band Pennywise took its name from the character.[14]

Association with 2016 clown sightingsEdit

Main article: 2016 clown sightings

"I suspect it's a kind of low-level hysteria, like Slender Man, or the so-called Bunny Man, who purportedly lurked in Fairfax County, Virginia, wearing a white hood with long ears and attacking people with a hatchet or an axe. The clown furor will pass, as these things do, but it will come back, because under the right circumstances, clowns really can be terrifying."

—Writer Stephen King's reaction to the recurring clown scare phenomenon.[15]

The character was suggested as a possible inspiration for two incidents of people dressing up as clowns in Northampton, England and Staten Island, New York, both during 2014.[1][16]

In 2016, appearances of "evil clowns" were reported by the media, including nine people in Alabama charged with "clown-related activity".[17] Several newspaper articles suggested that the character of Pennywise was an influence, which led to King commenting that people should react less hysterically to the sightings and not take his work seriously.[18]

The first reported sighting of people dressed as evil clowns in Greenville, South Carolina was by a small boy spoke to his mother of a pair of clowns that had attempted to lure him away.[19] Additional creepy clown sightings were reported in other parts of South Carolina.[20]

Evil clowns were reported in several other U.S. states including North Carolina,[21] Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming[22] Later the same year, "clown sightings" were reported in Great Britain, Australia, and Latin America.[23][24][25]

One hypothesis for the wave of 2016 clown sightings was a viral marketing campaign,[26] possibly for the Rob Zombie film 31 (2016).[27] A spokesperson for New Line Cinema (distributor of the 2017 film adaptation of It) released a statement claiming that "New Line is absolutely not involved in the rash of clown sightings."[28]

[zaph1337]

Monster Hunter Rating 30: Fatalis, the Dark Demise

The world of Monster Hunter is a dangerous one. Monsters with powers unlike any animal we know run rampant, and some of them are so powerful as to be compared to natural disasters, or maybe even gods. These “Elder Dragons” are viewed as forces of nature given body and mind, and wherever they are, they’re almost always at the top of the food chain. But it begs the question: what is the strongest Elder Dragon of them all?

Some would say that Lao-Shan Lung, the Old Mountain Dragon, holds that honor. After all, it will destroy entire mountains if they stand in its path, and every hunt with one is a race against time to prevent the monster from reaching and destroying the fortresses that separate it from the settlements it would crush beneath its feet as it wanders. But why does Lao-Shan Lung wander? Why does it never go around the obstacles in its way? Why will it never fight back against the hunters that pose a serious threat of killing it? The answer is one that no one wants to accept: Lao-Shan Lung, what may be the living incarnation of an avalanche or some other seismic force, is not wandering. It’s running for its life. Elder Dragons may be the embodiments of natural phenomena, and though we may not like it, death is just as natural as landslides and lightning. We’ve come a long way, but it’s finally time to talk about the final boss of the first Monster Hunter game: the Black Dragon, Fatalis!

(How it appears in Monster Hunter 1)

(How it appears in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne)

Appearance: If the wiki had a third render of Fatalis that I liked, I would’ve put it up there. Anyways, Fatalis looks just like an archetypal European dragon; four legs, two wings, horned head, and a long tail. It looks pretty generic, but there are a few things that help it stand out. First off, it’s huge, being 4110.6 cm (134.9 ft) long in every main series game it appears in except for MHW:I, where it’s 4137.17 cm (135.7 ft) long. That’s 30+ ft more than Diablos or Gravios, and if you wanna see how big Fatalis is compared to a person, well...here’s an image from MHW:I:

Yyyeeah, it’s big. Something else that’s interesting is the fact that Fatalis has eyes which are literally made of crystal, which is why they look shiny in the above image. They still look a lot like traditional dragon eyes, though. In fact, basically all of its design elements are things that you’d expect to find on European dragons, which makes Fatalis look rather generic. You’d think that even in the first game, the devs would be more creative with their final boss considering the other dragons in the game, but that’s just it: Fatalis stands out when compared to a lot of the other dragons in Monster Hunter because it looks just like a European dragon and not much more. This makes it feel like it’s not just a dragon, it’s the dragon. When you hear stories of dragons wreaking mass destruction, you’ll likely imagine something that looks just like Fatalis, and I believe that that’s exactly what the developers of MH intended when they made it. It’s kinda genius, in that way, and combined with the overwhelming presence Fatalis has thanks to its size, I feel like I have to give it an 8/10.

Behavior/Lore: Since I like to cover the lore of a monster in this category anyways, I thought I might as well change its name to reflect that. Anyways, people don’t know a lot about Fatalis, such as how many there are, where there ideal habitat is, their mating rituals, stuff like that. The reason why we don’t know a lot about Fatalis is that it kills literally everything it sees, which tells us a lot on its own. Fatalis doesn’t always eat what it kills; it just kills for the sake of it, and since literally everything that breathes seems to be on its sh*t list, this has led to the conclusion that Fatalis hates all livings things on the grounds that they exist.

As I alluded to in the introduction, the natural phenomenon that Fatalis likely embodies is death itself. All other monsters are terrified of it, and, as seen with Lao-Shan Lung, will go to great lengths to stay as far from it as possible. How strong do you have to be to make a monster that bulldozes mountains run for mommy? Well, let me put it this way: Fatalis obliterated Schrade Kingdom in a single night, and now uses the ruins of the castle as its den; the very sky above the kingdom’s remains is a perpetual bloody red, with a miasma of purple clouds that hover over the fallen settlement. And that’s just what we know is true; according to legend, Fatalis could scorch all the world’s lands in a matter of days, causing the end of life itself. Obviously, this can’t be proven, nor do I know if they’re talking about one Fatalis or all of them (however many there are), but when legends like that are circulating, it’s a wonder that people aren’t living in constant fear that this thing will decide to visit their settlement one day and kill everyone. Well, not so much a wonder as it is a conspiracy; the Hunter’s Guild, fearing that the fear of Fatalis’ capabilities could lead to an outbreak of panic and anarchy, has done its best to relegate Fatalis and all stories related to it to the realm of fantasy. Only hunters who the Guild believes are skilled enough to possibly repel or kill Fatalis are allowed to know that it exists, and even then, when the Guild sends them on secret missions to fight it, they almost never come back.

Though Fatalis leaves few witnesses to its attacks, there are some who provide valuable information about the dragon’s habits. After Fatalis kills a hunter, it melts said hunter and their equipment down, then applies the remains to its body to armor its hide, making it even harder to kill. Now, some say that this is an instinctual behavior, like how the monster Nerscylla wears the hides of its prey for the same purpose, but Fatalis is only known to do this to humans, which wouldn’t make sense because killing monsters would give it more material to cover itself in. This has led some to believe that Fatalis knows that hunters make armor from the remains of the monsters they kill, so it makes armor out of them to mock them in death. If this is true, then not only is Fatalis smart enough to have a concept of irony, it harbors a special kind of hatred for humans in particular, and it presumably enjoys killing them. These things make Fatalis even more terrifying and dangerous than previously thought, and put its attack on Schrade Kingdom and its occupancy of Schrade Castle in a new light.

Speaking of equipment, the few times anyone has actually killed a Fatalis and made weapons and armor from its parts, they’ve almost always regretted it. Those that wear Fatalis armor have been victims of disturbing phenomena; horrible nightmares and periods of unnatural, unwanted strength are a common occurrence, and some have reported feeling as though something is possessing them and forcing their legs to move against their will. In extreme cases, hunters who have been knocked unconscious while wearing the armor report feeling that something was controlling their bodies before they awoke. But those people are the lucky ones; hunters who wear Fatalis armor for extensive periods of time often disappear without a trace, or even die for no apparent reason.

Not even the weapons are safe. Some cause the wielders to hear phantom screams, others induce feelings of gnawing despair or paranoia, and some are even said to corrupt the wielder’s soul, turning them into a force of bloodshed and chaos as Fatalis was...or is. In Monster Hunter Generations, a cave in Pokke Village contains a giant version of a Black Blade, a Great Sword made of Fatalis parts, which can be mined for Fatalis materials. It’s been noted that the damage done to the blade by mining it will regenerate in a matter of days; when you combine that with the symptoms of using Fatalis equipment, it gives credence to the possibility that Fatalis lives on through said equipment, controlling the bodies and minds of those that slew its corporeal form. Whether this is true or not is irrelevant; the fact remains that Fatalis equipment has a deleterious effect on those that use it, and as such, it’s recommended that none should attempt to utilize anything made from Fatalis’ remains at all.

If you thought that Fatalis as a life-form was fundamentally wrong before, then I have one last bit of absurdity for you: the one time anyone ever found a Fatalis egg, the newborn that hatched from it grew to its adult form in literal hours, and presumably hated everything that breathes from birth. Other than that, we don’t know anything about its life cycle or parental habits, and the wiki doesn’t say what happened after the baby reached maturity, but we can reasonably assume that it was a bloody event.

I’ve never been more enthralled by a monster’s lore than I have been reading about Fatalis. The developers really went out of their way to impress upon players just how unnatural and evil Fatalis is, and the result is the monster to end all monsters. I think my favorite parts are the fact that the Guild covers up Fatalis’ existence to prevent society from collapsing and how even its equipment is too dangerous to be around. And even with this, there’s still so much we don’t know about Fatalis, which makes it even more intriguing. With how much I’ve been thinking about all this the past few days, I feel like I have to give this category a 10/10.

Abilities: Obviously, Fatalis is one of the strongest monsters in the series. Its body is very durable due to its habit of melting down hunters to use as armor, and even the membranes of its wings are has hard as metal. It can both fly and charge at high speeds, with the latter doing massive damage thanks to Fatalis’ raw strength. However, its most famous ability--and its deadliest--is its fire breath, which is equal in power to some other Elder Dragons. The streams of fire that escape from Fatalis’ maw are even bigger than the dragon itself, and can be so powerful that they one-shot hunters caught in them. Fatalis can also spread a cloud of reactive powder around it; igniting this powder causes a devastating explosion.

Now, conceptually, these attributes and attacks aren’t too crazy, but there’s one more thing I want to mention: In Monster Hunter 1, you fight Fatalis in 4 quests (assuming that the wiki’s quest list for the game has all of them), and in all of those quests, the goal is “damage Fatalis as much as you can to drive him away,” not “slay Fatalis.” This means that Fatalis is so much more powerful than anything else in the game, the Guild does not believe you are capable of killing it. Despite all of your accomplishments up to that point, the Guild still doesn’t think you have what it takes to kill the darn thing. Now, considering the goal doesn’t say “slay or repel” or anything like that, I was under the impression that you couldn’t kill Fatalis in the first Monster Hunter, but a video on the wiki shows that you can, so I guess the devs phrased it that way to make you feel even cooler for achieving what even the game thought was impossible. It’s a nice touch. Anyways, Fatalis’ abilities may not sound like anything special for a dragon, but the sheer power behind its attacks, as well as how much work you have to put in to damage it in any meaningful way, gets it an 8/10.

Equipment: Since most, if not all of Fatalis’ equipment is inherently evil, I’ll mention if the descriptions say exactly what they do to the user. Let’s start ourselves off with a Hunting Horn called the Black Lute:

According to its description in MHFU, “[a]nyone who hears this Horn feels faint.” Kinda counterproductive, considering the Hunting Horn’s whole gimmick is that it buffs you and your allies with magical songs. Its upgraded form, the Fatalis Menace, isn’t much better, as “its song causes listeners to turn into disheartened beasts.” So already we see the dangers involved in using this weapon, but the description is lore that doesn’t impact gameplay, so strum to your heart’s content! As for how the Lute looks, I like the use of Fatalis horns as the majority of the main body, and the little red gem is a nice touch. Next up, something a little less evil, actually! The Dual Blades called Double Dragon require both Fatalis and Lao-Shan Lung parts, which I guess makes them okay to use?

I say that these aren’t evil because their description just says “[t]he Dragon element infused in these Dual Blades hits enemies from both sides.” Though, you do have to make them by upgrading the Fatalis Sword and Shield called the Black Sword, and according to its description, “[t]he void it creates envelopes all in its path[,]” which makes me think that these are probably still unsafe to use. Though I do like how the blades are different shapes and sizes to match up with the dragons they came from. But you know me, if a monster has a weird or goofy weapon, I gotta show it off, and Fatalis isn’t exempt from this. So here’s the Light Bowgun called the Black Parasol:

I was gonna make a JFK joke, ‘cause one of the theories surrounding his assassination was that someone used a gun disguised as an umbrella to shoot him from the side, but I don’t think I can make a joke like that without being tasteless, especially since this weapon apparently has “an assassin's thirst for death.” But here’s some tasty lore for you: the Black Parasol’s upgrade in the Japan-only MH4U, the Dark Parasol, was “designed behind the scenes by the Guild for assassination purposes.” This may be a translation of the Japanese description, so “assassination” might just mean “kill,” but it makes you think about how weird it is to call hunting a monster an assassination; there’s a chance that the Black Parasol was made by the Guild specifically to kill people, and that just raises more questions. As for the Parasol’s design, it’s so out of left field that I can’t help but find it amusing. The doily-like trim combined with the swirly handle makes it impossible to take seriously, which was probably the point.

Now, here’s where things get a bit messy; the wiki doesn’t have very many pictures of Fatalis armor. The ones it does have are small, not the standard Fatalis armor, or don’t have an image of the male armor to go with them. So, I have to resort to using the small images of the “S” armor from MHFU. I’ve made them bigger to avoid straining anyone’s eyes, but they’re all blurry now, so I apologize if I miss any details you think are important. Here’s the Blademaster armor:

Oh, my God, they gave the women’s set a helmet! Aaaannd it’s for the armor set with low-quali renders online. Yaaaay. Okay, that aside, this does look awesome. It definitely looks like armor that would make you evil if you wore it, and the curved horns on the helmet really add to that theme, as do the spikes on the arms and legs. As for the Gunner armor:

It looks really cool, too! Seems that the wings are attached to the arms in lieu of arm guards, like the ones you see on other Gunner sets. The horns on this set are pointed up this time, presumably for reasons related to peripheral vision or something like that, which is helpful for someone using a gun. The boots on the armor look like dragon feet, and combined with the wings and other design aspects, makes this armor feel like the one that’s most likely going to let Fatalis’ soul overtake you.

Overall, the equipment does what it was made to do: look powerful, yet evil at the same time. It seems like something that fanfic authors would make use of for their worldbuilding--something like how the greatest hunter in the land went missing after killing Fatalis and making equipment from it, only for horror stories of a black knight wielding cursed armaments wiping small settlements off the map and slaughtering travelers. This is the first time that equipment lore factors into the scoring for this category, and I might have to look at the descriptions of the equipment I choose in future reviews to see if that affects my opinion on it any. For now, Fatalis’ equipment gets an 8/10.

Final Thoughts and Tally: The creators of Monster Hunter wanted to make an unforgettable final boss, and they succeeded. The concept of a truly evil, apocalyptic monster in a world where most monsters are basically animals adds to its intimidation factor, and I can only imagine how kids felt when they saw Schrade Castle and the skies above it for the first time. It honestly makes me sad that I never had the original Monster Hunter as a kid, ‘cause the impression Fatalis and the fight with it would have had on me would likely have stuck with me to this day. One thing’s for sure, though: if I ever get a Monster Hunter game besides Rise, it’ll probably be Monster Hunter World and its Iceborne expansion, ‘cause aside from the Coral Islands, fighting Fatalis in a modern game would be exhilarating. 8/10.

[shadowlink06]

Prompto Meta/Thoughts:

Some thoughts about Prompto. This is just meta/drabble/headcanon material that I wanted to write down concerning him since I’ll be participating in a Big Bang and would like to use him as the protagonist to the story. He does have some inconsistency to his “origins” and I’d like to put my thoughts in order to make writing him more believable. Some of the HC/ideas I’m using is based on the “Scientific Discoveries'' fic I did for Verstael and inspiration from the “Parting Ways” novella. 

The basis for Prompto’s existence was to be used as an energy source to power MTs. It is not clear that if infecting a baby with the starscourge would have a better result when they are harvested in a core, or if Prompto was given an injection to make the miasma either stronger prior to the extraction process or easier to manage. In any case, he was created to be destroyed in masse. 

Verstael seems to have made several batches of clones in his first/early MT labs and Prompto was likely one of the first generations. Since it was still an unrefined practice, this may explain why Prompto is not viewed as a “perfect” clone to Verstael and why they have different attributes. 

As MTs were being replaced/add to the Niflheim army during war campaigns, the Lucian government recognized that Verstael was the main player responsible and sought to kill him to turn the tide of battle in their favor. 

A Lucian Kingsglaive unit tracked down Verstael’s lab and managed to find the nursery the babies were kept in. Although they realized that the babies were very clearly children, it was not obvious that they were clones. Confused by the sheer amount of children, one of the Kingsglaive decided to take one of the children (Prompto) back to headquarters for examination. 

When they realized that Prompto was just an ordinary child, there was concern as to what to do with him. As he had no ties to anyone of importance and he was in the nursery that had many other babies, they spared him although there was insistence on covering up his origins. Prompto was given to a prominent Lucian family that had just lost a child due to birthing complications. When he was adopted, the military commander (maybe Titus/Cor) mentioned to always have him cover up the barcode saying that it was not a detail that was worth sharing. 

While Prompto’s parents did love Prompto as their own, business within Insomnia’s court kept both of them busy and away from home. As a result, Prompto turned to food as a coping mechanism to offset the loneliness of his parents not being around and he felt isolated not understanding why he had a barcode brand by the other children around him didn’t. He couldn’t speak to his peers since he was always warned that it would cause him further issues if that topic got brought up so he could not speak to anyone about it. This is the beginnings of his self doubt and fear that he had about himself and the need to want friends but being afraid to open up to them.   

One issue that gets overlooked with Prompto’s relationship with Noctis is that it wouldn’t have really happened if Prompto hadn’t saved Pryna. Had he not done this, it is doubtful that Prompto would have mustered up enough nerve to not only speak to someone else but the Prince of Lucis. In essence, Luna led Prompto to Noctis. 

In his quest to be Nocts friend, it led him into getting into shape and taking on a more light hearted personality towards others. This change had Noctis notice Prompto as they continued to see each other in school and strike up an eventual friendship. 

When Prompto inquired about seeking an officer position within the Crownsguard, there is little doubt that someone recognized his name and knew who he was. No doubt he would have been survaled from time to time just to make sure that he wasn’t behaving suspiciously. When it was clear that Prompto wasn’t a threat, he was allowed within the Crownsguard ranks. 

Ardyn would have recognized Prompto as a clone to Verstael. Since he has a vastly different personality than his father Ardyn would have been amused if not intrigued by seeing a functioning clone next to the Prince. Further proof would have been him seeing the barcode - a feature that Verstael used on all of his clones for experimental data. 

Verstael would have been resentful to see what became of Prompto as he thought all of his clones only had one purpose and the Lucians had “corrupted” Prompto into being something that he wasn’t supposed to. That alone would make Verstael want to kill him. 

If Ardyn was saddened at Verstael’s passing, a part of him would have blamed Prompto for his death and taken it out on him during his imprisonment in Zegnautus Keep. 

Some Unknowns:

What traits define a Lucian, Tenebraen, Niflheimian, or Altissian resident? Are there specific traits that are associated with the regions or is it a cultural identity? Is it a physical appearance? Or perhaps way of speaking? How would anyone have known if Prompto was an outsider? 

The question as to when Prompto realized he was a Niflheim resident rather than a Lucian is hard to say. The timing of this event is critical in understanding why Prompto behaves the way he does around Noct and the others. His Brotherhood episode seems to imply he realized it when he was younger - well before he thought about entering the Crownsguard or even met Noct. Who told him? How did he feel being in Lucis knowing this truth? How did he feel about Nilfheim? Did he wonder about his real parents? Did he ever try to look for them to know the truth? 

If Prompto was examined and was deemed to not to be a threat, why was he so insistent with covering up his barcode? The game seemed to hint that he had always known he had been from Niflheim (or suspected it) even before he saw Verstael. 

The tattoo/barcode that he had from a child should have been warped/altered as he grew older. The skin that he had as a baby would have been stretched as he grew so the computer at the old lab being able to ‘recognize’ him after all of those years is suspect. 

Prompto could have some interesting side effects if Verstael made it so he was able to take the starscourge within his body. This can leave a lot to play around with with a Divergence piece especially if Ardyn is added into the mix.  

I don’t think it was ever implied that Aranea had completely destroyed the lab that housed all of the remaining Verstael clones. If that was the case, what would have happened to them given that they were harmless and a fully functioning human being? If Aranea did destroy the lab, what would have been Prompto’s response to seeing innocent beings killed given how sensitive he is? 

A small detail, but Prompto wore glasses when he was young but doesn’t now. Does that mean that he had corrective surgery or wears contacts?

[project-rebirth]

Imagine Breaker: The_Invisible_Demon_Above_God. Retrospective.

Thoughts permeated Kamijou Touma's head as he laid in the hospital of Heaven Canceller, the same room he was always sent to.

His body ached, his head was swimmy and he didn't feel like moving anytime soon. After all, he had just survived the fight he had with Darnic Einsworth, one of the forces behind the Holy Grail War that had been going on in Academy City for almost two months. He thought about the events that had led up to this moment, what had happened to the city and what became of those involved.

"...."

He had saved Sakatsuki Miyuki. She had been chosen as a 'key' that would open Pandora's Box and allow all evils in the Outer Universe to spill forth. If that had happened, Academy City, no, even the world itself would have ended that night. It was hard to imagine, but at the end of the day, Kamijou had set his sights on Miyuki, the girl he had welcomed into his family as his little sister. He wanted to make sure that she was safe, that she could live to see tomorrow, and to smile once more. That had been all he fought for. Saving the world was just a secondary result of such.

But even so, it wasn't him who even did that.

Bowen Chuuno, had also charged into hell to destroy the Greater grail itself, the thing that was to give birth to a devistating force of destruction. Kamijou had not understood it, but all he knew was that Bowen fought. He fought and achieved the result he desired with his own hands, and that result made itself known.

During his fight with Darnic, he saw a brilliant blue light radiate in the distance, the sound of a tremendous explosion which rocked Academy City harder than any earthquake recorded. It was not only felt in Academy City, but around the world, as he heard many news stations from around the world like GNN report on it.

Was that the signal that the world had changed? The threat of the grail was gone, but what was to come from this? Kamijou had no idea, but there was something else he was concerned with.

Some time ago, Bowen had broken his right arm twice, and in those instances, he felt something was going to rise out from it. The unseen force that laid beyond Imagine Breaker had been ready to seep out, but Kamijou had controlled it at that time.

But...

"What...was that?"

In the battle with Darnic, he had been unable to keep it at bay.

Because his right arm had been cut off in the battle.

In that moment, he had lost consciousness for only a moment or two, but in those moments, something came out.

An incomprehensible force  came out from his arm, the horrific creature that could only be described as a Dragon from out of this world. It was made entirely of a mass of flesh and bones, protruding outward in random places, the monstrous being massive in size. Its roar had decimated not just the landscape, but also nearby buildings, the force of it blowing away objects that were present at the time, or what remained of it during the final battle.

This thing... whatever it was, was a being whose power did not rely on a spell process or quantum mechanics. It was neither magic nor science, but simply...alien. That was the only way it could be described.

The Dragon lashed out at Darnic, negating any magic he used against it, and wounding him greatly. It was prepared to utterly destroy him when Kamijou regained his consciousness. He, with great effort, managed to stop the beast before it could land the killing blow.

"I...told you before didn't I? I don't need your help... I don't need your help, so piss off and let me handle this!!"

Kamijou screamed at the top of his lungs as the eldritch Dragon was forced back into his arm, it vanishing from the world as soon as it came, and after that, his right arm had grown back instantly.

Imagine Breaker had returned once more and Kamijou took the stage once again.

He had once more challenged the convictions of Darnic and resumed the fight. And before long, Kamijou's right fist slammed into Darnic's face, destroying his illusions and ending the fight. Pandora's Box was no more and his sister had been saved.

But he couldn't help but wonder. Just...what was that monstrosity that came from his arm?

Before, when his arm was damaged or removed, it would usually manifest as an unseen force, but here it took the form of a Dragon he had never seen before. It was unleashed and it caused devastation to the area around him. It honestly terrified him that something like that could exist within his right hand, that such destructive power could come out at any given moment to do what it did.

Had he not stopped it, had he not regained his strength to hold it back...

It would not have stopped with Darnic.

It would have continued its unrelenting path of destruction, tearing apart anything and everything that would have stood in its way. It would have destroyed Academy City and most likely, the world itself.

It terrified him.

It terrified him that one day, he would be the cause of the sorrow of others, of pain, blood and death if his are were to suddenly become removed. He raised his right hand up to the ceiling, despite it not able to reach it and stared at it with trepidation.

He would never forgive himself if he was the cause of someone else's pain. The guilt would weigh down on him like a gulitine, but even then, he would move forward. He would move forward to try to make amends.

"What...are you?"

That question hung in the air as it resounded through the empty, dark hospital room. In the end, he had saved someone. he had saved someone that he was close to, and now she could smile once more. He did not have to worry about the Grail War or what it would bring.

It was over.

It was truly over.

He closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep again, but that one thought, that one question hung in the back of his mind.

And it received an unheard answer.

In time, you will learn of my name. You will learn of all of our names.

[reallifesultanas]

A mohácsi csata áldozatairól, 1526 egy másik szemszögből / About the victims of the battle of Mohács, 1526 from a different perspective

This post consisted of the translation of several recent Hungarian articles about the excavation of mass graves related to the battle of Mohács. The articles are listed at the sources.

Painting of Than Mór

Prologue

History is something that needs to be examined objectively in all cases, especially when someone is writing educational articles about it. However, there are times when this is difficult. At the end of the portrait of Sultan Suleiman, I have already referred to this in the epilogue. Then I wrote:

"As a Hungarian, the research about Suleiman is a very complex task, because objectivity is the basis of every historical research, but it is difficult to ignore the often cruel acts committed by the Ottomans against the Hungarians. My feelings about Suleiman are always mixed, for we can “thank” him for the fragmentation of our country, but on the other hand he was such a glorious ruler, that only a few like him lived in history. And his death always fills him with shivers. I respect this 71-year-old man, who wants to die as a glorious sultan with his last strength, but in vain he wants, Szigetvár just doesn’t want to fall. I respect his perseverance, but at the same time, I am extremely proud that Miklós Zrínyi and the other defenders defended Szigetvár so strongly and gloriously! Unawares, I ask myself what would have happened if the news of the sultan’s death came to light? If Sokollu can’t keep it a secret? The soldiers might have collapsed, and the defenders with Zrínyi would give new strength and the history of Szigetvár would turn out differently… "

In connection with the battle of Mohács, this feeling is even stronger. This was one of the bloodiest battles between Suleiman and the Hungarians. And it was full of cruelty. I have already referred to this in my youtube video about the life of Bali Bey, as it was Bali Bey who was sent forward to the capital city after the battle of Mohács and Bali Bey was the one who executed unarmed civilians despite they surrendered and asked for mercy. One might think that it was only Bali Bey who was cruel and would try to find excuses for Suleiman, but the events in Mohács make it clear that Suleiman himself had a similar opinion about us Hungarians.

But what happened at Mohács?

Although Suleiman's intention had been known since the beginning of 1525, the weakened Kingdom of Hungary did not have sufficient resources to build a defense system. Contributing to this was the fact that the Hungarian nobility did not hold together, did not take the threat seriously, and was very divided. By the time the threat became apparent, it was too late. In vain did they ask for help from the other Christian empires, they received only promises. The only one who would have actually been willing to help was Henry VIII, but he made the decision too late. By the time he decided, there was no chance to save the Kingdom of Hungary. Henry's soldiers sent for help reached Pozsony in 1527.

The Hungarian army, which thus consisted of only 24,800 men, was equipped with 85 cannons (53 of which were in use), and a few more Croatian corps were available. The forces of the Ottoman army are put on sixty thousand regular sipahis and janissaries, but this, according to historical research today, is too much, the regular stock of the entire Ottoman army was sixty to seventy thousand, and it did not take part in this battle. In fact, the number of elite units could have been 30,000, with the addition of irregular troops, asabs and akincis, and other units. Thus the Turkish army of sixty thousand was formed from this.

Ottoman miniature about the battle of Mohács.

The Hungarians were already lined up at the dawn of the battle-day. The Ottoman army began to appear in the early afternoon. The army was led by the Rumelians, followed by the Sultan with the court mercenary armies, and finally the Anatolian corps. It tells a lot about their difficulties that although they set off from the camp early in the morning and were only had to cover a distance of 10 km, yet, the Rumelians arrived around noon, and Anatolian Corps arrived on the edge of the terrace with an additional delay of 1-2 hours. According to sources, the troops were so tired that the sultan held a council, as a result of which they decided to postpone the battle and gave the order to camp.

Presumably, the Hungarian military leadership also learned that the Rumelians were building the camp and so some nobles recommended that the Hungarian king should return to their own camp. However, the king's chief advisers suggested the opposite, expecting that if the battle was fought that day, they could defeat the sultan's army in parts individually. Indeed, it was the only chance to win. Lajos II therefore ordered the attack.

The court mercenaries led by the sultan may have been on the edge of the terrace resting, the Rumelians had already built their camp when parts of the Hungarian army stormed them in full gallop. In any case, the attack of the cavalry caused confusion in the Rumelian corps, and the Turks began to flee. Backward, however, the side of the terrace blocked the way, so they split in two directions. In the meantime, the Janissaries who arrived at the scene welcomed the Hungarians with gunfire, so they were forced to retreat. With their retreat, the battle was essentially over.

The other Hungarian corps could not reverse the status of the battle either, the part of the cavalry that survived the Janissaries' gunfires had already fled, but the infantry fighting in front of the cannons was surrounded by the Ottomans and most of them were slaughtered. In the battle of just one and a half to two hours, the Hungarian army suffered a devastating defeat. 4,000 cavalry, 10,000 infantry, 7 bishops - including Archbishop Tomori and another main bishop László Szalkai of Esztergom and another 5 bishops - and 16 ensigns and 12 lords fell. Tomori's body was found by Suleiman, and his head was tied to a spike in front of Suleiman's tent. His peculiar cruelty is a good indication that Suleiman was particularly angry, and although they had won thanks to their headcount superiority, the Hungarian army successfully surprised them due to the poor field conditions.

Map for the battle. Source: http://www.e-kompetencia.si/egradiva/zgo_ds/17%20mohacs/index31.html

The causes and significance of the defeat are still the subjects of heated debate to this day. According to some, the reasons for the defeat are the divisive Hungarian nobility and the deliberate delay of János Szapolyai, the later King John I. However, based on our current knowledge, the blame for Szapolyai does not acceptable. Even if he wanted, Szapolyai could not have reached Mohács, because Szapolyai was still waiting in Torda on 15 August, a good 400 km from the battle site, and on 29 August he was only in the area of ​​Szeged. According to others, under those circumstances, no European state formation, including Hungary, would have had a chance to win against the Ottoman Empire, which had the most modern and equipped forces in the world at that time. However, if the other Christian empires had given support to the Hungarians, the outcome of the battle would not have been so clear.

After the end of the battle, the Turks were armed all night, waiting for the Hungarian main forces... That main forces which actually was already slaughtered. Only after some time, the sultan realized that there is no other army, that's was the whole. So after the surprising victory, Suleiman gave a short rest to his army, and then they started to march for the main goal of his campaign to Buda. The raiders marched in front of him and also robbed, destroyed cities, and executed unarmed civilians begging for mercy. Meanwhile, on August 30, news of the loss of the battle arrived in the capital, by which time the entire court had fled to Pozsony that night. The next day, almost the entire population followed them. The sultan arrived in Buda on September 12. He inspected the castle, on the 14th the city was set on fire, the treasures found in the palace were placed on a ship, including the giant cannon that János Hunyadi had captured in 1456 under Nándorfehérvár. The Sultan's army marched back to Istanbul on September 25th. By then, his raiders had destroyed the areas around the capital from Eger to Győr. Only a few walled cities escaped.

After the battle of Mohács, the country's capital, Buda, was defenseless. The king and with him a significant part of the nobility died, and there were difficulties in organizing further defenses. Practically only the Transylvanian army of 15,000 men remained under the command of János Szapolyai, but he could not and would not fight. He had no choice but to make a deal with the Ottoman Sultan. That's how he became the vassal of the Ottomans and the king of what remained from Hungary.

Painting of Bertalan Székely about the funeral of Lajos II.

Discovery of mass graves

In 1902, miller Demeter Pavlovics wanted to build a trade next to the mill on the Csele stream, but his workers found bones during the extraction of the land, which bones were then found in such quantities that the work itself was obstructed. Most of the bones were already strongly calcified, although some skulls and teeth remained almost completely intact. As they found coins of Lajos II near the miller's place it was possible to link the bones he found to the battle [1].

Although mass graves have been examined several times since then, thanks to advances in science these days, now it is possible to extract information from the grave. The 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács is approaching, and this round anniversary and the associated subsidies have greatly helped to establish this huge national cooperation in the excavation of the mass graves. Especially since they want to rebury the remnants of the martyrs on the occasion of the anniversary.

Of the five mass graves currently known in Mohács, the number three is now under investigation, it is the smallest though, about 15 square meters. The identification of bone remains is a huge professional challenge for anthropologists, emphasized György Pálfi, Head of Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Szeged [2].

The mass grave number three on the photography of György Pálfi. Source: [3].

Who and how many can be in the mass graves?

It was already successfully discovered in the 1960s that victims of Christian armies were found in the graves. This could be determined on the basis of the highlighted number of German, Czech and Hungarian coins. We know: Lajos II's army was made up of Hungarian, Transylvanian, German, Polish and Czech soldiers, and even a small number of Croats and Serbs were present in the army [3].

Examining the graves revealed a chaotic sight for the researchers. Looking at the mass grave excavated by archaeologists and prepared for anthropological research, the incredible mixing of human bone remains is astounding to the expert as well. The examination of the mass grave number three and the identification of bone remains is a huge professional challenge for anthropologists, as in addition to the confusion of the many human bones, the extraordinary decay conditions due to the special burial and the subsequent damaging factors, also make the work harder [3].

In the 1970s, the number of dead in the case of mass grave number three, was estimated at around 130, but it is now clear that the compaction in the lower strata and especially at the edges of the grave pit is much greater than expected. It is now visible that the skeletons were compressed in an almost irrationally small place. Based on this, it is believed that the previously estimated number of deads in the mass grave can be doubled. Researchers estimate the number of remains in mass grave number three, which is the smallest among the mass graves, to 300 [3].

Due to the entanglement of skeletons, researchers often have to proceed in parallel with the remains of 8-10 individuals. As a result of the tests, the number of registered bone remains varies. It often turns out that the skull and the skeleton of a person do not really belong together at a glance, in which case the numbers increase. But the opposite also happens. For example, skeletal remains, which were considered separate in 1976, were also reexamined and they found it belongs to the same person, resulting in a decrease in numbers. Exploring bones, often chaotically mixed, is quite time-consuming. The skeletons accumulate in several layers in the mass grave number three [3].

Anthropological observations may also clarify the conclusions that can be drawn from archaeological finds. The people in the mass grave in Mohács are Christians. The excavation and anthropological identification of skeletons of one of the five mass graves known so far have begun. Based on the approximately 200 human remains, 90 percent of the people in the Mohács mass graves are young or relatively young adults, 18-40 years old. A smaller number of adolescents because they also identified people who died around the age of 14-16. They have encountered one or two adolescent children aged 12–13 years, some older men, and a skeleton that can be identified almost certainly and two presumably as women [3].

Can the results help to find the exact location of the battle scene?

Identifying the location of the battlefield is still unresolved. Archaeologist Gábor Bertók - who is the leader of the present excavation - and his staff are constantly looking for the site of the battle of August 29, 1526. This is assumed to be on the outskirts of the village of Majs, because large quantities of rifle bullets, weapon fragments, and plenty of horseshoes were found there. Of the approximately 250 projectiles, nearly 170, or more than two-thirds of the finds, are relatively small compared to the size of a typical rifle bullet of the age: 10 to 15 millimeters. Exploration of the mass grave can also contribute to the identification of the battlefield. Namely, when highlighting bone remains, researchers found such a small rifle bullet, next to the spine of a skeleton. It was also found that this man had been executed, based on the ijuries on his skull and neck. Because of the bullet “preserved” in his body and now find, we can conclude that the skeleton belongs to a prisoner of war who was wounded in the Battle of Mohács, but his injury was not fatal but was later executed as wounded and thrown into this mass grave [3].

Since it is indisputable that the size of the bullet in the victim's body is the same as that found in an area 4-5 kilometers from the mass grave, it is also clear that the victim was injured in battle. This projectile could give another boost to research related to the battlefield. In the near future there will be intensive archaeological excavations in the area, as by 2026, the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács, archaeologists want to find the most probable place for the battle so that we can remember the historical turning point 500 years earlier. Thus, since the victim was certainly executed after the Battle of Mohács and the bullet found in his body is the same as the bullets discovered in the nearby area, it can be safely assumed that the battlefield was 4-5 kilometers from the mass graves [3].

Painting of Bertalan Székely about the battle. The area was very swampy as it is visble in the painting as well.

Who can these people be in the grave? Were they died during the battle or executed later?

Some suggest that based on the head injuries, they may have been the victims of the "Hungarian chariot camp" cut down by the Turks. What was this cart camp? After the battle of Mohács, the country's capital, Buda, was defenseless. The king and with him a significant part of the nobility died, and there were difficulties in organizing further defenses. The only serious resistance during the march of the Ottomans toward Buda, was gathered near Pusztamarót for an "army" of 25,000 peasants, setting up a chariot camp, but they were also quickly smashed and slaughtered by the well-armed Ottomans [3]. In fact, this version is not very possible, as Pusztamarót is a long way from the place of the mass graves.

Other researchers had previously considered the place of mass graves to be the site of the battle. There is also a third option, based on written memoirs of the “great public execution after the battle”. It is known from the archives of Suleiman I that the next day of the battle of Mohács the sultan ordered a large solemn gathering, watched the procession of his glorious army from the tent, and then led the prisoners of war in front of him. He did not allow his lieutenants to keep prisoners of war but organized a large public collective execution. So far we have known - actually from Suleiman's archives - that more than two thousand prisoners of war have been executed after the Battle of Mohács. Based on a 1976 surface survey, it was estimated that about a thousand people's skeletons are buried in the five mass graves. However, based on the new investigations of the third mass grave, researchers believe that the number of skeletons found in the mass graves in Mohács may be more than double of the previously suggested 1000. This is relatively in line with the number of people executed by Suleiman. And a thorough examination of the victims also makes this option more and more likely, as the examination of human skeletal remains at the third mass grave shows that it is the mass grave of wounded people. Researchers have identified a number of cases where it is clear from the trace that a kneeling man with a bowed head was killed from behind. A human skeleton has also been found showing that that man was struck from above two or three times 494 years ago. Several cases have been uncovered where the same cervical vertebrae have been cut twice in parallel, which is very difficult to imagine during battle. Based on the contemporary descriptions and the drawing of the execution after the Battle of Nikápoly more than 100 years ago, it can be assumed that the soldiers captured at Mohács were executed in a similar way by the Sultan. Thus, the third mass grave of the Mohács National Historical Monument shows barbaric post-massacre conditions [3].

Sword traces on a skull highlighted from a mass grave. Photo: György Pálfi. Source: [3].

Cut marks on the cervical vertebrae suggesting beheading. Photo: György Pálfi. Source: [3].

What's next?

Anthropological examination of the mass grave may continue in the spring. Removal of the remains can be done in 3-4 months, but laboratory processing of the findings can take years. During this time, anthropological and, if necessary, genetic methods can be used to isolate the remains of individual victims, but they can also reach facial reconstruction through radiological and genetic analyzes. The main goal is to sort the remains of the martyrs buried in a humiliating way for the 500th anniversary of the Battle of Mohács and then bury them in individual graves [2].

Used sources: [1]: http://ujkor.hu/content/mohacsi-tomegsirok-nyomaban-korabbi-es-legujabb-feltarasok [2]: https://mult-kor.hu/a-szegedi-tudomanyegyetem-antropologusai-is-reszt-vesznek-a-mohacsi-tmegsir-feltarasaban-20201209 [3]: https://u-szeged.hu/mohacsi-csata?objectParentFolderId=19396

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Ez a poszt a mohácsi csatához kapcsolódó tömegsírok feltárásáról szóló több friss magyar nyelvú cikk fordításából állt össze. A cikkek a forrásoknál listázva vannak.

Prológus

A történelem egy olyan dolog, melyet minden esetben objekíven kell figyelni, különösen ha valaki ezzel kapcsolatos ismeretterjesztő írásokat készít. Vannak azonban esetek mikor ez nehéz. Szulejmán szultán portréjának végén az epilógusban már utaltam erre. Akkor ezt írtam:

"Magyarként Szulejmán tanulmányozása igen összetett feladat, hiszen mert bár az objektivitás a történelmi kutatások alapja, nehéz eltekinteni a sokszor kegyetlen cselekedetektől, melyet az oszmánok követtek el a magyarok ellen. Szulejmánnal kapcsolatban mindig vegyesek az érzéseim, ugyanis neki “köszönhetjük” az ország feldarabolódását, de a másik oldalról egy olyan dicső uralkodó volt, amihez fogható kevés élt a történelemben. Halála pedig mindig borzongással tölt el. Tisztelem ezt a 71 éves férfit, aki utolsó erejével dicső szultánként akar meghalni, de hiába akarja annyira, Szigetvár csak nem akar elesni. Tisztelem a kitartását, ugyanakkor borzasztóan büszke vagyok, hogy ilyen erősen és dicsőn védték Szigetvárt Zrínyi Miklós és a többi védő! Akaratlanul is eszembe jut, mi történt volna, ha a szultán halálának híre kiderül? Ha Sokollu nem tudja titokban tartani? A katonák talán összeomlottak volna, Zrínyiék pedig új erőre kapnak és Szigetvár története talán máshogyan alakul…"

A mohácsi csatával kapcsolatban ez az érzés még sokkal erősebb. Ez volt ugyanis az egyik legvéresebb csata Szulejmán és a magyarok közt. És tele volt kegyetlenkedéssel. Erre a Bali Bég életéről szóló youtube videómban már tettem utalást, Bali Bég volt az, akit Szulejmán a mohácsi csata után előreküldött a főváros felé és Bali Bég volt az, aki fegyvertelen civileket végeztetett ki annak ellenére, hogy azok megadták magukat és könyörületet kértek. Gondolhatnánk, hogy Bali Bég volt csupán kegyetlen, mentegethenénk Szulejmánt, ám a mohácsi események egyértelművé teszik, hogy Szulejmán maga is hasonló véleményen volt rólunk magyarokról.

Than Mór festménye a mohácsi csatáról.

Na de mi is történt Mohácson?

Bár 1525 eleje óta tudott volt Szulejmán szándéka a meggyengült Magyar Királyságnak nem volt elegendő forrása, hogy védelmi rendszert építsen ki. Ehhez az is hozzájárult, hogy a magyar nemesség nem fogott össze, nem vette komolyan a fenyegetést és nagyon széthúztak. Mire a fenyegetés nyilvánvalóvá vált, már késő volt. Hiába kértek ekkor segítséget a többi keresztény birodalomtól, csupán ígérgetéseket kaptak. Az egyetlen, aki végül ténylegesen hajlandó lett volna segíteni VIII. Henrik volt, ám ő is későn döntött. Mire döntött, már esély sem volt megmenteni a Magyar Királyságot. Henrik segítsége 1527-ben érte el Pozsonyt.

A magyar sereg, amely így mindössze 24 800 emberből állott, 85 ágyúval volt felszerelve (ebből 53 került használatba), s még néhány horvát hadtest állt rendelkezésre. Az oszmán hadsereg erőit hatvanezer reguláris szpáhira és janicsárra teszik, ez azonban a mai történelmi kutatások szerint túl sok, a teljes oszmán haderő reguláris állománya volt hatvan-hetvenezer, s ebben a csatában az nem vett részt. Valójában az elit egységek száma 30 ezer fő lehetett, amelyhez hozzájöttek az irreguláris csapatok, az aszabok és az akindzsik és a többi egység. Így ebből állt össze a hatvanezer fős török sereg.

Török miniatúra a mohácsi csatáról.

A magyarok a csata hajnalán már felsorakoztak. Az oszmán sereg kora délután kezdett kibontakozni. A csapatok hadrendben vonultak fel, már amennyire ezt a terep megengedte. A sereg élén a ruméliaiak haladtak, mögöttük a szultán az udvari zsoldos hadakkal, és végül az anatóliai hadtest következett. Nehézségeikről sokat elárul, hogy bár a táborból kora reggel útnak indultak, és a csatatérig csupán kb. 10 km-es távolságot kellett megtenniük, mégis, a ruméliaiak dél körül, a derékhad és az anatóliai hadtest pedig 1-2 óra további késéssel érkezett meg a terasz peremére. A források szerint a csapatok annyira elfáradtak, hogy a szultán haditanácsot tartott, melynek eredményeként a csata elhalasztása mellett döntöttek, és parancsot adtak a táborverésre.

Feltehető, hogy a magyar hadvezetés is értesült arról, hogy a ruméliaiak tábort vernek, és a királynak a táborba való visszatérést ajánlották. A király főbb tanácsadói azonban az ellenkezőjét javasolta, arra számítva, hogy ha aznap vívják a csatát, külön-külön verheti meg a szultáni sereg egyes részeit. Valóban ez volt az egyetlen esély a győzelemre. II. Lajos ezért parancsot adott a támadásra.

A szultán vezette udvari zsoldosok a terasz szélén lehettek, s talán már meg is kezdték leereszkedésüket a magaslat pereméről, a ruméliaiak pedig már a tábort építették, amikor a magyar jobbszárny teljes vágtában megrohamozta őket. Mindenesetre a jobbszárny lovasságának támadása zavart idézett elő a ruméliai hadtestnél, és a törökök menekülni kezdtek. Hátrafelé azonban a terasz oldala elzárta az utat, ezért két irányba szétváltak. Időközben a helyszínre ért janicsárok sortüzekkel fogadták a magyarokat, így azok kénytelenek voltak visszavonulni. Azzal, hogy az első lovasroham kifulladt, lényegében a csata is eldőlt.

A többi magyar csapat sem tudta megfordítani a csata állását, a lovasságnak a janicsárok sortüzeit túlélő része ekkor már menekült, ám az ágyúk előtt harcoló gyalogságot az oszmánok bekerítették, és nagy részüket lemészárolták. Az alig másfél-két órás csatában a magyar sereg megsemmisítő vereséget szenvedett. Elesett 4000 lovas, 10 000 gyalogos, 7 püspök – köztük a fővezér Tomori és Szalkai László esztergomi érsek és másik 5 püspök – és 16 zászlósúr, valamint 12 főúr. Tomori holttestét Szulejmán megkerestette, fejét pedig a sátra előtt karóra tűzette. Különös kegyetlensége jól jelzi, hogy Szulejmán különösen dühös volt, és bár a túlerőnek hála nyertek, a magyar sereg a rossz terepi körülményeknek köszönhetően sikerrel lepte meg őt.

Térkép a csatához. Forrás: http://www.e-kompetencia.si/egradiva/zgo_ds/17%20mohacs/index31.html

A vereség okai és jelentősége a mai napig éles viták tárgya. Egyesek szerint a vereség okai a széthúzó magyar nemesség és Szapolyai János, a későbbi I. János király szándékos késlekedése. Mai ismereteink alapján azonban Szapolyai hiábztatása nem igen állja meg a helyét. Szapolyai ha akart volna, se érhetett volna Mohácsra, mert Szapolyai augusztus 15-én még Tordán várakozott, jó 400 km-re a csata helyszínétől, augusztus 29-én pedig Szeged térségében volt csupán. Mások szerint azon körülmények között az akkori világ legmodernebb és legfelszereltebb haderejével rendelkező Oszmán Birodalommal szemben esélye sem lett volna a győzelemre egyetlen európai államalakulatnak, így Magyarországnak sem. Azonban ha a többi keresztény birodalom támogatást ad a magyaroknak, a csata kimenetele korántsem lett volna ennyire egyértelmű.

A csata vége után a törökök egész éjjel fegyverben voltak, várták a magyar főerőket, csak miután a szultán számára is világossá vált a némileg meglepő győzelem, rövid pihenőt adott hadának, majd megindult hadjáratának fő célja, Buda felé. A kiküldött portyázók előtte jártak, és raboltak, pusztítottak, kegyelemért könyörgő fegyvertelen civileket is. Eközben augusztus 30-án a csatavesztés híre megérkezett a fővárosba, mire az egész udvartartás még aznap éjjel elmenekült Pozsonyba. Másnap csaknem az egész lakosság követte őket. A szultán szeptember 12-én érkezett Budára. Megszemlélte a várat, 14-én felgyújtották a várost, hajóra rakták a palotában talált kincseket, köztük azt az óriás ágyút, amelyet Hunyadi János zsákmányolt 1456-ban Nándorfehérvár alatt. A szultáni sereg szeptember 25-én indult vissza Isztambul felé. Addigra portyázói a főváros körüli területeket Egertől Győrig elpusztították. Csupán néhány fallal erődített város menekült meg.

A mohácsi csata után az ország fővárosa, Buda, védtelen volt. A király és vele együtt a főnemesség jelentős része meghalt, a további védekezés megszervezése nehézségekbe ütközött. Gyakorlatilag csak az erdélyi, kb. 15 ezer fős had maradt ütőképes Szapolyai János vezetésével, de ő nem vállalta és nem is vállalhatta a harcot. Számára nem maradt más esély az életben maradásra és emberei életen tartására, mint egyezséget kötni a török szultánnal.

Székely Bertalan festménye Il. Lajos temetéséről.

Tömegsírok felfedezése

1902-ben Pavlovics Demeter molnár a Csele patakra épült malma mellett liszt- és vegyeskereskedést akart építtetni, munkásai azonban a vert falhoz szükséges föld kitermelése során csontokra bukkantak, amelyek azután olyan mennyiségben kerültek elő, hogy magát a munkát is meggátolták, így nem lehetett nem tudomást venni róluk. A csontok legnagyobb része már erősen el volt meszesedve, bár egyes koponyák és fogak még csaknem teljesen épen maradtak. Mivel a molnár a közelben éppen II. Lajos király (1516–1526) pénzeire bukkant, adódott a lehetőség, hogy a megtalált – feltételezhetően tömeg- – sírt a csatához kössék [1].

Bár a tömegsírokat azóta is többször vizsgálták, napjainkban sikerült csak igazán érdekes információkat kinyerni a sírból a tudomány fejlődésének köszönhetően. Közeledik a mohácsi csata 500 éves évfordulója, és ez a kerek évforduló és a vele járó támogatások nagymértékben segítették azt, hogy létrejöhessen ez a hatalmas országos együttműködés a tömegsírok feltárásával kapcsolatban. Különös tekintettel arra, hogy az évforduló alkalmából szeretnék újratemetni a mártírok maradványait.

A jelenleg ismert öt mohácsi tömegsír közül a hármas számú, jelenleg kiemelten vizsgál, a legkisebb, mintegy 15 négyzetméteres. A csontmaradványok azonosítása óriási szakmai kihívást jelent az antropológusok számára – hangsúlyozta Pálfi György a Szegedi Tudományegyetem Embertani Tanszékének tanszékvezetője [2].

A mohácsi III. tömegsír. Fotó: Pálfi György. Forrás [3].

Kik és hányan lehetnek a tömegsírokban?

Azt már a hatvanas években is sikerrel derítették ki, hogy a keresztény hadak áldozatai találhatóak a sírokban. A kiemelt német, cseh és magyar pénzérmék, e kis mennyiségű régészeti információ alapján lehetett ezt meghatározni. Tudjuk: II. Lajos seregét magyar – a mai magyarországi, de természetesen felvidéki és erdélyi területekről is –, német, lengyel és cseh katonák alkották, sőt kis részben részt vettek benne horvátok, szerbek is. Úgy mondhatjuk, hogy a mai „visegrádi országok” elődeiből, valamint német és délszláv területekről származó keresztény és zömében közép-európai haderő vette fel a harcot Mohácsnál a török túlerővel [3].

A sírokat vizsgálva kaotikus látvány tárult a kutatók szeme elé. A régészek által feltárt és az antropológiai vizsgálatra előkészített tömegsírra pillantva az emberi csontmaradványok hihetetlen keveredése megdöbbentő a szakember számára is! A sok tízezernyi emberi csont összevisszasága mellett a speciális betemetés miatti rendkívüli bomlási körülmények és a későbbi károsító tényezők miatt a III. tömegsír feltárása és a csontmaradványok azonosítása óriási szakmai kihívást jelent az antropológusok számára [3].

A hetvenes években a hátmas számú tömegsír esetében 130 körülire tippelték a halottak számát, ma már egyértelműen látszódik, hogy a vártnál sokkal nagyobb az összetömörödés az alsóbb rétegekben és különösen a sírgödör szélein. Most vált láthatóvá, hogy szinte irracionálisan kicsi helyen préselődtek össze a csontvázak. Ennek alapján vélhetően minimum megduplázható a tömegsír korábban becsült leletszáma. A kutatók 300 körülire saccolják a hármas számú - egyébként legkisebb - tömegsírban található maradványok számát [3].

A csontvázak összegabalyodása miatt sokszor 8-10 egyén maradványaival párhuzamosan kell haladjanak a kutatók. A vizsgálatok eredményeként a regisztrált csontmaradványok száma változik. Gyakran kiderül ugyanis, hogy a ránézésre egy személyhez tartozó koponya és váz valójában nem tartozik össze, ilyenkor növekednek a számok. De ennek ellenkezője is előfordul. Például az 1976-ban különállónak gondolt csontváz-maradványok esetében is történt utólagos egyesítés, ami a számok csökkenését eredményezte. A sokszor kaotikus módon keveredett csontok feltárása meglehetősen időigényes. A csontvázak ugyanis keresztül-kasul, több rétegben halmozódnak a III. számú tömegsírban [3].

Az antropológiai megfigyelések is pontosíthatják a régészeti leletekből levonható következtetéseket. A mohácsi tömegsírba került emberek keresztények. Az eddig ismert öt tömegsír közül egynek kezdődött el a feltárása és a csontvázak antropológiai azonosítása. Az eddig fölszedett 120 körüli csontváz és a felszínen korábban szemrevételezett legalább 80 emberi maradvány, vagyis körülbelül kétszáz vázról összegyűlt információ alapján kimondható: a mohácsi tömegsírba kerül emberek 90 százaléka ifjú vagy viszonylag fiatal felnőtt, 18-40 éves férfi. Kisebb számban serdülőkorú, mert 14-16 év körül elhunyt személyeket is azonosítottak a kutatók. Egy-két 12-13 éves kamasz gyerekként, néhány idősebb férfiként, továbbá egy szinte biztosan és két feltételezhetően nőként azonosítható csontvázzal szintén találkoztak [3].

Hozzájárulhatnak az eredmények a csata helyének pontos megtalálásához?

Máig megoldatlan a csatatér helyének a beazonosítása. Csatára utaló jelek – golyók vagy fegyvermaradványok – ugyanis nincsenek a Mohácsi Nemzeti Történelmi Emlékhely területén. Bertók Gábor régész – aki a jelen ásatás vezetője – és munkatársai folyamatosan keresik az 1526. augusztus 29-i csata helyét. Ezt az emlékhelytől 4-5 kilométerre lévő Majs község határában feltételezik, mert ott nagy mennyiségű puskagolyó, fegyvertöredék és rengeteg lópatkó került elő fémkereséssel. A körülbelül 250 lövedék közül közel 170, vagyis a leletanyag több mint kétharmada a kor jellegzetes puskagolyó méretéhez képest viszonylag kisméretű: 10-15 milliméteres. A csatatér azonosításához hozzájárulhat a tömegsír feltárása is. Ugyanis a csontmaradványok kiemelésekor a kutatók találtak egy ilyen kisméretű puskagolyót. Az egyik csontváz gerincoszlopa mellett, körülbelül 25 centiméterre a felső rétegtől, a feltárás második rétegében. Megállapították azt is, hogy ezt az embert kivégezték, amire a koponyáján és a nyakán látható sérülések miatt gondolhatunk. A testében „megőrzött” és most felszínre került golyó miatt arra következtethetünk, hogy a csontváz egy olyan hadifogolyé, aki a mohácsi csatában az oldalán megsebesült, de sérülése nem volt halálos, ám később sebesültként kivégezték és bedobták e tömegsírba [3].

Mivel vitathatatlan, hogy az áldozat testében lévő golyóó mérete megegyezik a tömegsírtól 4-5 kilométerre található területen felfedezett golyókéval, az is egyértelmű, hogy az áldozat a csatában sérült meg. Ez a csontvázak közül kiemelt lövedék újabb lökést adhat a csatatérhez kötődő kutatásoknak. Mert a közeljövőben intenzív régészeti feltárás lesz azon a területen, hiszen 2026-ra, a mohácsi csata 500. évfordulójára meg szeretnék találni a régészek az ütközet legvalószínűbb helyét, hogy ott méltóképpen emlékezhessünk az 500 évvel korábbi történelmi fordulópontra. Tehát mivel az áldozat bizonyosan a mohácsi csata után lett kivégezve és a testében lelt golyó megegyezik a közeli területen felfedezett golyókkal, biztonsággal feltételezhető, hogy a tömegsírtól 4-5 kilóméterre volt a csata helyszíne [3].

Székely Bertalan festménye a mohácsi csatáról. A festményen is jól látszik, hogy a csata területe igen mocsaras volt.

Kik lehetnek ezek az emberek a sírban? Csatában elhunytak vagy kivégzett hadifoglyok?

Az elsőre is látható fejsérülések alapján itt nagy valószínűséggel a törökök által lekaszabolt „magyar szekértábor” áldozatai lehettek. Mi volt ez a szekértábor? A mohácsi csata után az ország fővárosa, Buda, védtelen volt. A király és vele együtt a főnemesség jelentős része meghalt, a további védekezés megszervezése nehézségekbe ütközött. A törökök Budára vonulása során komolyabb ellenállást egyedül a Pusztamarót mellett összegyűlt kb. 25 ezer fős paraszt- és jobbágysereg tanúsított, amely szekértábort hozott létre, de a jól felfegyverzett törökök hamar szétverték és lemészárolták őket is [3]. Tulajdonképpen ez a verzió bizonytalan lábakon áll, hiszen Pusztamarót nagy távolságra van innen.

Más kutatók korábban inkább a csata helyszínének tekintették ezt a helyet. Létezik egy harmadik, eddig háttérbe szorított opció is „a csata utáni nagy nyilvános kivégzésről” szóló írásos emlékek alapján. I. Szulejmán archívumából lehet tudni, hogy a mohácsi csata másnapján a szultán nagy ünnepi összejövetelt rendelt el, a sátra elől szemlélte a dicsőséges seregének a fölvonulását, majd elővezettette a hadifoglyokat. Alvezéreinek nem engedélyezte a hadifoglyok megtartását, hanem nyilvános, nagy kollektív kivégzést rendezett. Eddig annyit tudtunk, hogy több mint kétezer hadifoglyot végeztek ki a mohácsi csata után. Az 1976-os felszíni vizsgálat alapján azt valószínűsítették, hogy az öt tömegsírban körülbelül ezer ember csontváza van. Ám a harmadik tömegsírnál végzett eddigi vizsgálatok alapján valószínű, hogy a mohácsi tömegsírokban fellelhető csontvázak 45 éve feltételezett számnak inkább a duplája lehet valószínű. Ez aránylag jól egyezik a Szulejmán által kivégeztetett személyek számáéval. És az áldozatok alapos vizsgálata is egyre jobban valószínűsíti ezt az opciót, ugyanis a harmadik tömegsírnál az emberi csontvázmaradványok vizsgálata alapján látszódik, hogy ez lenyakazott emberek tömegsírja. Rengeteg olyan esetet azonosítottak a kutatók, amikor egyértelműen látszik a vágásnyomból, hogy a letérdeltetett, a lehajtott fejű embert hátulról végeztek ki – nyakazással. Találtak olyan emberi csontvázat is, amelyen látszik, hogy arra az emberre 494 évvel ezelőtt kétszer-háromszor sújtottak le felülről. Több olyan esetet is feltártak, ahol ugyanazt a nyakcsigolyát kétszer párhuzamosan átvágták, ez pedig csata közben nagyon nehezen elképzelhető. A korabeli leírások, illetve a több mint 100 évvel korábbi nikápolyi csata utáni kivégzésről készült rajz alapján feltételezhető, hogy Mohácsnál a foglyul ejtett katonákat hasonló módon végeztetette ki a szultán. Tehát barbár mészárlás utáni állapotokat mutat a Mohácsi Nemzeti Történelmi Emlékhely harmadik tömegsírja [3].

Kardvágásnyomok egy a tömegsírból kiemelt koponyán. Fotó: Pálfi György. Forrás: [3].

Lefejezésre utaló vágásnyomok egy nyakcsigolyán. Fotó: Pálfi György. Forrás: [3].

Hogyan tovább?

A tömegsír antropológiai vizsgálata tavasszal folytatódhat. A maradványok kiemelésével 3-4 hónap alatt végezhetnek, a leletek laboratóriumi feldolgozása azonban évekig tarthat. Ez idő alatt antropológiai és szükség esetén genetikai módszerekkel megtörténhet az egyes áldozatok maradványainak elkülönítése, de a radiológiai és genetikai elemzéseken át eljuthatnak az arcrekonstrukcióig is. A legfontosabb cél, hogy a megalázó módon eltemetett mártírok maradványait a mohácsi csata 500. évfordulójára szétválogassák, majd egyéni sírokba temethessék [2].

Felhasznált források: [1]: http://ujkor.hu/content/mohacsi-tomegsirok-nyomaban-korabbi-es-legujabb-feltarasok [2]: https://mult-kor.hu/a-szegedi-tudomanyegyetem-antropologusai-is-reszt-vesznek-a-mohacsi-tmegsir-feltarasaban-20201209 [3]: https://u-szeged.hu/mohacsi-csata?objectParentFolderId=19396

[dragonrajafanfiction]

The Crane Team: Part 3 - Sun Tattoo

In a conference room, ten chairs have been set up around a round mahogany table. The seven new clan chiefs, along with Nanami Sakurai and Yoko Uesugi, sat around it, facing each other and a screen that featured three high ranking former members of the Devil Clan who were teleconferencing in from behind bars.

Nanami Sakurai sat in a prim royal purple business suit, her hair up in a tight bun. Yoko sat next to her, her hair up in a high ponytail, covered from the neck down. When given the permission to speak, Yoko said, “The legal department has agreed to take up the cases for appeal. They’ve also agreed to weekly status updates on these. However, this will take significant staff away from regular duties.  I would like to request a budget for emergency staff members to handle follow up and logging of reports.”

“How many people are we talking about?” A heavy set man rumbled, completely unconcerned. His head was bald save two tufts of hair over his ears. He smoked from a long Japanese pipe. He was Minato Ryoma, a business mogul specializing in real estate. He was the late Clan Chief Genichiro’s cousin and had quickly inserted himself into the vacuum left by his death with very little fuss. 

“My primary objective is to reassure the defendants that Hydra will take their cases seriously. I will therefore hire 45 people. No more than 10 cases per employee.” Yoko replied. “Pay should be a sufficient living wage for Tokyo on its own so that they will not need secondary employment to focus on this task.”

Minato snorted roughly, his stomach bouncing under the table. “Preposterous. Our finances have barely recovered from this disaster and you want to throw away this much money for this project?”

“Our recovery is pointless if we are lax in pulling the Yakuza gangs together and another war break-...”

Sakurai silenced Yoko with a stern look. 

Yoko sat back against her chair. “My apologies.”

“I will make sure that we do a full review of our budget and accommodate as much as we can to the effort.” Sakurai Nanami spoke quietly and dutifully.

“Genji Heavy Industries is still a wreck. The contractor’s we hired are over priced due to the scarcity of workers and materials. We must build the house before we invite other tenants.” Ryoma grumbled.

The other clan chiefs seemed to agree, nodding to themselves. 

“Perhaps priority can be given to the breadwinners within the former Devil Clan so that some of the children currently in foster can be reunited with their rightful families.” The newest clan chief of the Inuyama clan, Inuyama Ren, was a surprisingly young man of 21 years old. His face was smooth and handsome and reminded Yoko a bit of Chance. He was Katsu Inuyama’s last remaining son. The rest had died in the fighting. Yoko couldn’t argue the practicality of his suggestion but he could certainly see objections in her eyes. “Does Ms. Uesugi have a response to this?”

“Yes… I do agree that this is a good suggestion. However, placement of Devil Clan children can’t all be with Devil clan members. Particularly if their actual families are alive. Parents should raise their children.” She said softly. “Furthermore, the youth of the Devil clan are the least responsible for their crimes and the more likely to suffer future effects. I believe the younger members should have a high priority as well.”

Minato huffed again, “Future…” He muttered.

Yoko’s nails squeezed her hands but the effect of such emotion dampening tactics was hampered due to her gloves. 

From the speakers of the computer, one of the Devil Clan representatives unmuted themselves. “It has been demonstrated that the increase in violence of the Devil Clan were the result of illicit drugs being produced to enhance the bloodline. Before these drugs, while there were violent and dangerous hybrids, the population of berserker hybrids was not nearly as high as after these drugs were produced. The Clan Chiefs of the Hydra could be excused for thinking all Devils are going to die young but that wasn’t always the case. Even the rules stated that Devils could be imprisoned for up to 40 years with hope of release.”

Minato huffed but didn’t dispute this.

“We will run an analysis through the accounting department. I can’t promise 45 employees but making sure each temporary hire is paid enough to focus fully on the work is wise.” Nanami nodded her head.

The meeting dragged on to discuss politics. The mass slaughter and outbreak of violence had alarmed non-hybrid officials. They were pushing through an anti-Yakuza bill and needed immediate reassurance that such shocking events weren’t going to recur. Yoko scarcely suppressed a yawn as she struggled to listen. Her Japanese was phenomenal for having studied for such a short time but the details and intricacies of parliament still escaped her.

Her cell phone buzzed at her side and she peered down.

The message: “The Fuma child was rejected this morning. He’s back at the orphanage.”

Her eyes widened. Why? It had taken ages to finally place that child with relatives after a thorough search. He had been marked, improperly, as violent. He’d understandably acted out after witnessing the death of his family. She had been reassured and thrilled that he would finally be placed with his own clan! Yoko looked up at Nanami Sakurai. “I’m sorry. There’s an emergency. Excuse me.”

Without asking permission, Yoko got up from the table, bowed to everyone and dialed the number to the group foster home.

The placement officer over the children’s group hostel answered right away. “Hello?”

“It’s Yoko. What happened? I thought we resolved all concerns?” Yoko stood outside the door and then walked a few more steps to further conceal her conversation from the conference room. Outside the room,  people were passing back and forth but most of them were on phones of their own. Half the corridor was blocked off with construction tape to repair an earthquake damaged wall, making things extra crowded.

“His bloodline isn’t the problem. The problem is he’s not Fuma.”

“Not Fuma? Then what is he? All his paperwork said Fuma!” She said, dodging passersby and trying to find a quiet spot.

“We don’t know. We don’t know why he would falsify his information…”

“There has to be a mistake. He’s eight years old. How can someone his age falsify information?” Yoko started walking towards the exit. “I need to talk to him. How is he?”

“Distraught but…”

“Of course he is…” Yoko broke into a jog. After the assassination attempt, she wasn’t allowed to leave the Genji building without an armed escort and armored car, but this was an emergency! “Excuse me, are you headed out?” She approached a couple of Executive Board members who pointedly ignored her. Even though she chose to believe they were already busy with their own tasks, most of the Hydra members still thought of her as Ruri Kazama’s woman and wouldn’t willingly help a former enemy.

“Look, I'll try to get there as soon as possible.” Yoko hung up and walked over to the information desk. “Hey I need to get a ride to the foster home. Is there anyone available?”

The woman behind the desk looked harried and brushed aside hair that had gone askew. “This is not a scheduled outing and currently there are no armored cars available…”

“When will the next one be back?”

“Probably not until four pm and that will depend on traffic.” She said with some regret. 

“No, this is too important. Can we recall one?”

Her eyes widened in outrage. “Recall one? And what are we supposed to do with the person who’s actually there on-site?”

“I’ll take her.” said an approaching voice.

The secretary’s eyes widened and she stood up.

Yoko turned her head and looked into a familiar face behind thin rimmed glasses. “Crow!”

She hadn’t seen the man since he dropped her off at Genji Heavy Industries after the Cassell Team departed. She thought he had retired. Crow was the last remaining man on Chisei Gen’s original team. Both Sakura and Yasha had died during the Dragon’s awakening. Sakura was killed by Ruri Kazama. Yasha died blowing up Kaguya’s core in Genji Heavy Industries. The man looked a bit thinner than she remembered and he looked like he had aged with dark circles under his eyes.

He stood there in his usual trench coat and colorful shirt. “Are you coming or not?”

“Thanks.” She smiled gratefully and followed him out. 

The sun was bright but there was a noticeable chill that heralded the onset of the fall season. Hydra members walking by were looking up at Crow in shock, doing a double take, just as surprised as she was to see him back.

Crow led her to a red sports car but didn’t hold open the door like a regular driver. He just stepped around to get in.

“Did you see everyone’s faces?” She laughed. “Where have you been?”

“Taking a long vacation.” He slid into the driver's seat. “Where are we going?”

“The foster home for the Devil Clan children. What made you come back? If anyone deserves retirement, it’s you.” She said, buckling her seat. 

Crow didn’t respond but pulled into traffic. His expression was stony and his eyes were grim.

Yoko’s smile gradually faded. “Did… something happen?”

“No, nothing happened. Old habits die hard.” He pulled up to a stop light and they waited for it to change. After a pause, he added. “I never got to thank you for saving Sakura that day. At Tokyo Tower.”

Yoko looked straight ahead. Sakura Yabuki had used herself as bait to trap dead slave monsters at the top of the Tokyo Tower. Once they were nearly on her, she threw herself off the tower and let them follow her down. Yoko knew there was a rope dangling from the tower, where Fingel had saved himself from falling only minutes before. She had grabbed Sakura and the rope and watched the dead slaves continue their descent to the ground, a full 8 second fall. 

Unfortunately, Sakura would die anyway.

“I just wish I could have done more.” Yoko murmured

“Believe me, we all do. Normally, I probably would have just committed harakiri after the young chief’s passing, but I got my old man to take care of. Meanwhile? Might as well come back here.” 

The light turned green.

“Do you really still hold to notions like that?” Yoko asked with a cautious glance. “I don’t think that’s what Chisei would have wanted.”

Crow’s eyebrows flew to his hairline. “Woah, you two were on a first name basis?”

“Ah… I…” Yoko stammered.

“Ha. I’m teasing. I know you’re not from around here.” He gave a vicious grin however.

Chisei and Yoko had an inevitable conflict. She was a member of the Cassell Team, a devil and in love with Ruri Kazama, the leader of the Devils. He’d hurt her deeply by killing a man named Chance who’d fallen in love with her and fought his hardest to stay alive. The killing was brutal.  She couldn’t like him. But at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel that, had circumstances been different, she and Chisei would have been friends. It was true that Yoko had always referred to Chisei by his first name and she couldn’t remember him ever objecting or correcting her. 

Crow had likely noticed that long before now.

The orphanage was actually a juvenile correction facility set back off the road by two layers of guarded cinder block walls, manned sniper towers and armed guards at the gates. Once inside, a large building that appeared to be something like a multistory hospital greated her with an imposing cliff-like presence. Were it not for the playground out back with its colorful slides and swings, you would have thought it was a military facility.

Crow walked in with her as she signed in but she stopped him from entering. “Dressed in that trenchcoat, you’ll frighten the kids. I’ll be right back.”

The only memories Devil Children would have of the enforcement department were invasive interviews that asked probing and embarrassing questions. One wrong answer and they would be sentenced to death or eternal imprisonment. While the caretakers were kind to them, fed them and let them sleep in comfortable beds, at the end of the day, they were locked behind vault doors that were secured by heavy chains. 

It reminded Yoko a lot of Black Swan Bay. Only these children weren’t controlled by a clapper sound.  The influx of orphans after the Hydra’s devastating purge had left the facility staggering and in dire need of funds and personnel. So placing these orphans with families was a top priority of Yoko’s work.

Thankfully, Sakurai, Inuyama and Miyamoto threw open their doors and opened their arms to the orphans. Fuma and Ryoma however had little room in their hearts for these children. Many of their clan members were orphaned at the Red Well when the massive influx of those strange white filaments swallowed up the Fuma Ninjas who had been stationed in the forest to guard the area. Fuma was extremely hurt by the fact that the Devil Clan leader, Kazama Ruri, viciously humiliated the Kotaro Fuma. But with some cajoling Yoko had finally been able to persuade them to take this one child… but he wasn’t even a Fuma child in the end.

She stopped in front of a door and pulled the file from the slot next to it. The name Tatsuya Fuma was crossed out and replaced with “Unknown”. She knocked twice and opened the door.

The boy who, up until now, had been named Tatsuya Fuma sat on a small bed. His room was neat, with a red rug and a shelf full of small toys that had been donated. Mostly toy cars and one toy gundam action figure. There was a TV but it was off. Tatsuya’s face was flushed and sticky from crying.

“Hey…” Yoko approached quietly until she was halfway across the room and then knelt down on the rug. “Hey… what happened?”

The boy hiccuped and sniffled, his knees gathered to his chest. He stared blankly at the wall.

“You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault.”

The boy shook his head sharply, clearly and adamantly blaming himself.

Yoko knew better than to argue. “Then what did you do?”

He looked at her and shook his head. 

“Are you scared?” Yoko whispered.

The boy nodded. 

“Why?” She opened her arms and beckoned him over. “Here, come whisper in my ear.” Her frequent visits to this boy made her known and trusted. He knew how hard she’d worked to get him placed and they’d grown a bit close. Day after day, she’d visited with candy and toys and talked to him, reassuring him that she was on his side.

The boy got down from the bed and hugged Yoko around the neck. He didn’t know it, but Yoko always wore a wire on these visits. Sometimes when she was with them, the children would whisper to her the secrets of their trauma, bits and pieces that they’d seen and heard. Little by little, Yoko was building cases against certain cadres of the Executive Board.Given the overwhelming dominance of the Executive Board of Hydra, getting witness testimony directly was nearly impossible. No one would dare speak of the vicious attacks on them. Their killers were still alive and well.

Tatsuya hugged her so tightly around her neck she nearly gagged. He was warm and trembled like a puppy. His arms were thin but his grip was strong, like iron. She could feel every bone through his cotton shirt.

“Tatsuya died. They shot him in the wall.” He whispered, then he sniffed loudly.

“Who did?”

“The people with the sun tattoo.”

“So you took his name?”

“Yeah...they were trying to kill me. So I can’t use my name. They thought Tatsuya was me. So I am Tatsuya now.”

Tatusya was a real child, not a falsified identity! This boy had taken the dead child’s name to hide from people who were looking for him. She'd sent the wrong child to the wrong family! That family had to find out on the day their son returned to them, that their son was actually dead. Yoko’s heart felt like it fell into her stomach.

“Okay honey… okay.” She ran her fingers through his hair. “Don’t tell anyone what you told me. Okay? I’ll find somewhere for you to be safe. Can you whisper to me your name?”

“Mitsue Ryoma…”

Ryoma. No wonder he never admitted who he was. Ryoma hadn’t adopted a single child since the purge. Yoko always had a bad feeling about them. Their Clan Chief’s dismissal of her proposal this morning was just one of many. They’d opposed unification at every opportunity. She couldn’t place this child with them. “You’re very smart. Okay. You can keep calling yourself Tatsuya.”

Crow had walked outside to smoke while Yoko was in the facility with the kids. He took a deep drag of his cigarette and imagined the young chief’s arm around him, shoving the cigarette in his mouth and lighting it in a sudden show of uncharacteristic affection. It was a cherished memory that came back to haunt him every once in a while.

Even though the Young Chief never talked about that girl who now called herself Yoko Uesugi, he could tell she was never far from his mind. Especially after she rescued Sakura Yabuki. Crow would notice the Young Chief staring at his reflection in his sword. Sakura returned that sword to him and told him that Yoko had saved her life. It was odd behavior and for a long time Crow’d wondered why he would stare at his reflection like that.

The door behind him opened and the girl walked out, head down, hands in pockets. “Let’s go.” She grumbled and jogged down to the sports car and stood next to it, waiting for him to unlock it.

Her sudden change in demeanor surprised him. “Did things not go well?”

She didn’t answer him. She just kept her eyes down.

Once they were in the car, she pointed to the cigarette lighter in the dashboard. “Does that work?”

“Yeah. You want one of mine?” He reached into his pocket for a cigarette. Yoko, however, removed one of her gloves, revealing the clear scales on her hand, and pulled the cigarette lighter. She took the glowing red-hot cigarette lighter and pressed it to her own skin!

“What are you doing?” Crow shouted. He reached out and snatched the lighter from her, but the damage was done. That white skin was blackened and turning red at the edges. 

Yoko cradled her hand to herself.

“It’s fine… it’s fine.” She whispered but she was cringing in pain. “Look.” She held out her hand to him. The burn was already starting to fade, rapidly healing thanks to her elevated blood.

“Don’t do that again! What’s wrong with you?” Crow shoved the lighter back into the dashboard.

Yoko didn’t answer. She just turned her head back to the entrance of the orphanage. 

Crow massaged his forehead wearily. “What happened there?”

“I can’t tell you.” She ran her hands over her face and massaged her eyes.

“Why not?” He asked, looking down at her from his glasses.

She looked him up and down silently. “Do you have a sun tattoo?”

“I got lots of tattoos… sun’s not one of them.”

“Do you know anyone who does?”  Quiet anger boiled beneath those dark eyes.

“Why are you asking?”

She let out a loud sigh and turned back to the window.

Crow sat back, resting his arm on the steering wheel. “Anywhere else you need to go?”

Yoko squeezed the fingers on her burned hand. “Can we go to the track?”

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.18 (after 1930)

1940 – World War II: German leader Adolf Hitler and Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano meet to discuss Benito Mussolini's disastrous Italian invasion of Greece. 1943 – World War II: Battle of Berlin: Four hundred and forty Royal Air Force planes bomb Berlin causing only light damage and killing 131. The RAF loses nine aircraft and 53 air crew. 1944 – The Popular Socialist Youth is founded in Cuba. 1947 – The Ballantyne's Department Store fire in Christchurch, New Zealand, kills 41; it is the worst fire disaster in the history of New Zealand. 1949 – The Iva Valley Shooting occurs after the coal miners of Enugu in Nigeria go on strike over withheld wages; 21 miners are shot dead and 51 are wounded by police under the supervision of the British colonial administration of Nigeria. 1961 – United States President John F. Kennedy sends 18,000 military advisors to South Vietnam. 1963 – The first push-button telephone goes into service. 1970 – U.S. President Richard Nixon asks the U.S. Congress for $155 million in supplemental aid for the Cambodian government. 1971 – Oman declares its independence from the United Kingdom. 1978 – The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet makes its first flight, at the Naval Air Test Center in Maryland, United States. 1978 – In Jonestown, Guyana, Jim Jones leads his Peoples Temple to a mass murder–suicide that claimed 918 lives in all, 909 of them in Jonestown itself, including over 270 children. 1983 – Aeroflot Flight 6833 is hijacked en route from Tbilisi to Leningrad. After returning to Tibilisi, the aircraft is subsequentially raided on the ground, resulting in seven deaths. 1987 – King's Cross fire: In London, 31 people die in a fire at the city's busiest underground station, King's Cross St Pancras. 1991 – Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon release Anglican Church envoys Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland. 1991 – After an 87-day siege, the Croatian city of Vukovar capitulates to the besieging Yugoslav People's Army and allied Serb paramilitary forces. 1991 – The autonomous Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia, which would in 1993 become a republic, was established in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1993 – In the United States, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is approved by the House of Representatives. 1993 – In South Africa, 21 political parties approve a new constitution, expanding voting rights and ending white minority rule. 1996 – A fire occurs on a train traveling through the Channel Tunnel from France to England causing several injuries and damaging approximately 500 metres (1,600 ft) of tunnel. 1999 – At Texas A&M University, the Aggie Bonfire collapses killing 12 students and injuring 27 others. 2002 – Iraq disarmament crisis: United Nations weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix arrive in Iraq. 2003 – The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules 4–3 in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that the state's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and gives the state legislature 180 days to change the law making Massachusetts the first state in the United States to grant marriage rights to same-sex couples. 2012 – Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria becomes the 118th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. 2013 – NASA launches the MAVEN probe to Mars. 2020 – The Utah monolith, built sometime in 2016 is discovered by state biologists of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

[incorrectjorgejoestarquotes]

“JORGE JOESTAR”, Wikipedia + Google Translate edition, volume 2.

For example, the 4567 characters meet each other, the boss characters fight each other (time stand vs time stand), the ultimate life cars are revived, and so on. (Quite a company.) In 1900, 10-year-old George Joe Star, living on the Spanish island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, was struggling by Antonio Torres and sent a daily life to help his childhood friend Lisa Lisa. (Yep, he’s just sent the entirety of his daily life to help Elizabeth. That’s the Joe Star way for ya’!) A mysterious case of being killed occurs. (... I don’t even know, what to think about this) Detective 999 (Tsukumoduk) (Poor boy. At least he’ll now understand Dio, who was only called “D” and was miserable) George Joe Star, who lives in Nishiaki Town, Fukui Prefecture, meets with a boy 9999 who came from another world because he was able to unlock the code hidden in the murder of a closed room. (Sounds kinda like unlocking secret codes in games) In addition, a message from Yoshikage Kira sent a message saying, "If you get close to Morio-cho, you will kill it." (Kira’s message sends a message on it’s own, while Morio-cho decides to die for no better reason, than someone getting close to it) As it continued, 999,99 were found dead in Morio-cho the next morning. (... Quite the killcount.) Yacross House (Ya’, ain’t no ye ol’ Arrow Cross House!) Yasuhiro Hirose, Mysterious Nijimura, and the innumerable large number of Nijimura (The Nijimure family keeps getting bigger) Moriojima is covered with a transparent barrier, and cannot pass military missile attacks Outside detectives said, “Kira Yoshikage, calm down. We know you are not the culprit in the detective triple murder case. The true criminal may be trying to hunt down you in wet clothes. Could you consider cooperating in the investigation?' (The wet clothes saga continues) Nijimura and his colleagues prevent the townsmen from getting confused and hysterical, and at the gymnasium that causes mass burnt suicide. (What a nice gymnasium) Nijimura and his colleagues prevent the townsmen from getting confused and hysterical, and at the gymnasium that causes mass burnt suicide. (The town’s not better either) However, Kenton is killed and George is suspected as a suspect (Makes sense) The George criminal theory is an impossible crime The mafia boarded the town of Morio and began controlling the mayor and residents. (No opportunity wasted) Mafia Shiohana Hatsuryu calls the detective George and requests a detective to "find out the boss's diabolo." (Kinda ironic, given, who Giorno is here) Darlington tells George "Resuscitation of the Dead". What we did about Dio Brando and Stone Mask, and that my father and brother were obsessed with the delusion of resuscitating Kenton. (What a nice time to live) 300 zombie aviation units have launched a mainland attack on Britain. George and Lisa Lisa are all defeated in an aerial battle, and London is regained. (... Are they sure they didn’t completely misinterpret the results?) Butcharati says, "The bad guys who die are good. You don't have to figure out the truth of death." (Great words, Butcher-rati!) I have Giovana treating my wound. (Whom do you mean by “I”?!) The explanation of the stand was received, and with the help of dew, it was possible to see the stand and have a conversation in Japan. (M - Multitasking) In this place, Arrow Cross House, the mystery of the diabolo, Yoshikage, and 999 killings is to be solved. (The killcount stays awesome) When I was a kid, I had a timid personality. When I was a kid, I was bullied by Antonios and helped by Lisa Lisa. He became a friend of 9999 and gained experience as a detective assistant in his early teens. He is also very interested in airplanes and cars, and once he is an adult he becomes an excellent British military pilot. (The POV keeps jumping. Also, multiple Antionions? I think Torres wasn’t a skin zombie yet by this point.) Shortly after his birth, he was adopted and was adopted, and was adopted by the British Joe Star family in Fukui Prefecture and was named "George". (The holy adoption trinity, embodied in one boy. Maijo be happy) Received a message from "Yoshikage Kira" by name, and further killed 999, whom he met, in Moriomachi, leading to Moriomachi and becoming involved in a stranger case. (... I’ve thought serial killer detectives were a thing of the ID: INVADED) Kato Tsukumo 99 (Tsukumoduk Kato) (Poor boy.) The world has a meta- idea that it is a story, and I believe that by believing in Beyond, we must overcome our destiny as the protagonist. (Quite an optimistic outlook on life) In Chapter 1, I was aware that I was a detective and the protagonist of the story, but when I learned about unknown existences such as vampires and ripples, I was convinced that Beyond moved to George and became the protagonist. (The fourth walll just keeps getting broken) Seiryoin Ryusui 's JDC series ' famous detective " 9999 " has the same name as "Kato 9999 " in Maijo's past work " 999-Tsuku Moduuk- ", but it is set. And different people. I had been planning for 100 years in a canoe on the sea floor. (The coffin was too expensive, so, he had to do with canoe) . Elizabeth Strazzo Known as Lisa Lisa . George's one-year-old childhood friend. With a strong personality, he helped George, a bullied Antonio, in his childhood. He later married Ai Soai and has a son, Joseph Joe Star . Under the influence of the ripples of Jonathan Joe Star, he learned the basics of ripple breathing when he encountered a marine accident at an early age. (Wait... did Lisa Lisa transition at any point?) Penelope de la Rosa A younger girl than George, a person who was involved in a case that was resolved by 999 and George. In a nightmare, the clown forced him to murder a closed room, causing him to become a clown phobia. Later he worked in Elina's office and became a co-resident of the Joe Stars family. (Penelope too... also, murdering the closed room? And becoming the embodiment of clown phobia? AWESOME) Nijimura Mysterious (Nijimura wonder) Bad-looking student with left and right afro hairstyle. A high school boy with a fast-moving personality, and an enormous twin brother. The shirt and school run have the description " 10^64 ". I am chasing Yoshikage Kira who has gone missing. There is a character with the same surname in the fourth part of the original work. (Nijimura with afro. Cool) He has the appearance of a middle-aged man and can speak with his ego. (NYPD Blue speaks not with mouth or some Stand bullshit, but with ego. Awesome.) On Manhattan Island, I am motivated. (And nowhere else) Yuki Kachi, Cat Cat Nyan Nyan Nyan He had been killed in the Boyoyon cape and the Angelo rocks in the town of Duo. (Neko Neko too...) Lumbaba 12, lol curry (Lol) PocoRoco Triple Seven Astronaut of HG Wells. Black youth. Light staff Multiple stand. Carry out the given instructions. Goya Three Soundman Astronaut of HG Wells. A Native American bloody youth. "Soundman", which was said to be the real name of "Sandman" in the 7th part of the original work, is in the family name. Dune The body and sand are united. Bounce, not stand. Ability has a vision. (”I, Dune, have a vision!") Giorno Giovana / Shiohana Hatsuno Rino Executive of the Paschone family. Betrays the boss Diabolo and pursues his identity with his colleagues. It has a star-shaped bruises, although its history is unknown. Brno Bucharati (Vry intrsting mfioso) Narancha Gilga A mafia boy whose age is not so different from that of George. Shake the knife easily. Even simple calculations are wrong. (That... is correct) . Panna Cotta Fugo It seems to be a hallucination stand. (Well, at least Reimi won’t be only one of her kind anymore) Diabolo (common name) The boss of the Paschone family. He never reveals himself to his subordinates. I have been betrayed by Giorno and others and are being chased by them. Later discovered as a corpse at Arrow Cross House. Dio referred to him as "the son of a train robber," and was sucked into the blood as familiar. King Crimson Diaboro stand. You can skip the time for a few seconds. (Now Diaboro has become a familiar?) Dorcio chocolate Doctor. A person involved in drug trafficking and terrorism in the United States. Gaido is also taking a slaughter of civilian massacre by taking advantage of Giorno-led boss purge operation. (Dorcio expanded his influence to the USA? Cool) A man dressed like a bondage. A patient with chocolate, who has a psychiatric outpatient history. He is involved in the massacre of civilians with Chocolatata. Evil Dead Secco stand. It looks like a giant person. It has the ability to hide events that occur anywhere and make them imperceptible from a particular direction. (Chokolatata. I think I’m going to keep this one in mind. Also, Evil Dead got buffed, I see.) Cars [B] The ultimate life form born by a man on a pillar wearing a stone mask wearing Aja's red stone. Dangerous creatures that are strictly ordered by the United Nations to never approach the earth. After being thrown into space at the end of the battle with Joseph Joe Star, he wandered through space and arrived on Mars and settled in. He had previously communicated with Fannier Valentine of the United States (the previously mentioned fear was Tatezen), and returned to Earth with Fannier's death along with George, Nalancha and Pucci. By further learning the stand as the ultimate life form, it is possible to copy the stand ability of others (the ultimate is added to the stand name, and it is further strengthened). The Eyed Baroon Spacecraft HG Wells newly discovered Mars' third moon, or creature. A sphere with eyes, fangs and tentacles. Named by NASA. It is directly connected to the right hand of Cars on the surface of Mars, and a sphere with a diameter of 5 km floats in the sky 8 km above. I couldn't observe it from Earth because Cars was hiding it by moving against the rotation of Mars. As described above, it is a living body that extends from the body of Cars, and the inside is hollow and contains the body of the spacecraft Giotto. (UN ordered Kars never to reach Earth? Ha-ha-ha. Also, is he now just a simple Homo Sapiens, who wore an Aja mask on a pillar? And what’s the Tatezen?) Jonathan Joe Star [B] Jojo, the fifth generation detective George. He died together in 1889 in an attempt to prevent Dio's train robbery. Dio Brandow Joe Star [B] Adopted by the Joe Star family and Jonathan's brother-in-law. It is said that Jonathan died in a train robbery. (The family tree keeps getting weirder) Joseph Joe Star [B] The Joe Star family emigrated from the United States to Nishixiao Town in his time. He was the great-grandfather of the detective George, and was called "Joseph Grandfather". Died in 2010. He is a hero who once exiled the ultimate life cars. Honoring his grandfather Jonathan, he called Dio only "D" and said it horribly. (Dio still has no luck with names) The land is only one huge continent Panlandia, and the Japanese archipelago is attached to the eastern end. The ocean is Ocean The Ocean. (The ocean is Ocean The Ocean. Does it make a trinity?) Arrow Cross House A residence of Rohan Kishibe. A strange structure where the four tips of the cross are in the shape of an arrow. It was said that it was built without anyone's knowledge, it seemed to have been relocated from Sai Akatsuki-cho, or the shape had changed before I knew it. It was the scene of the 9999 killing case and the Yoshikage Kira & Diaboro killing cases. Remi Sugimoto, the stand, controls the building and space. The interior space embodies the tesselact structure, which is a conceptual figure because of the stand. (How did they manage to pile up 9999 corpses in there?) 14 words In July 1999, the fragments of the spacecraft Giotto crashed, the Pucci family became craters, and only the eldest son Enrico, who was out, escaped the difficulty. 14 words on the surface of the iron plate "spiral stairs" "beetle insects" "ruins town" "fig tarts" "beetle insects" "road to Dolorosa" "beetle insects" "singularity" "Giotto" "angel" "Hydrangea," "beetle," "singularity," "secret emperor," and "how to reach heaven" were written. Detective George experiences these 14 things through the story. Pucci, who accompanies George, also experiences these phenomena, and when all the conditions are met, a maid in heaven is born. ( @sophianightdreamer So that’s how this Touhou/JJBA crossover came to be...)

[niqhtlord01]

Destiny: War of the False Speakers (Fanfic of Destiny Lore) The Speaker.  An unknown warlock that has lived since the founding of the last city and has strove to unite the various factions under the shadow of the traveler into the bulwark that would hold back the coming darkness and reclaim the world’s humanity once called theirs.  Ask any citizen of the Last City and they will all tell you as much as many of them know little of the enigmatic figure behind the mask. There are stories and rumors, whispers that surround him; but the majority are all stories that have been passed down from father to son, grandmother to daughter and so on. Only those blessed with the Traveler’s light could claim to know more of the mysterious figure as few of them stood with the Speaker when he helped found the bastion of humanity, and of those few even less know of the time when the Speaker was not alone.  Even during the onset of the Dark Age following the sacrifice of the Traveler, when technology became the stuff of magic and legends, all knew of the Traveler. Though they had lost their understanding of its nature they understood that it held power strong enough to turn deserts into jungles, smash frozen mountains into lush fields, and most powerful of all, bring the dead back to life through the ghosts.  Some strove to use their power to better the lives of those around them, others carved pocket kingdoms offering protection for loyalty and tribute, while a rare few wandered the wastes heeding the call of some unknown summons. Eventually many found their way to the Traveler and settled in the shadow of their god and it was here that the cults of the Traveler were strongest.  Several factions arose in the communities around the Traveler, many of which were centered around a individual or small group of individuals that had been brought back by the grace of the Traveler. The most prominent of these factions were led by those who claimed that they spoke for the mighty Traveler and in some more extreme cases that the Traveler spoke directly to them in their dreams. These claims were never fully proven though to the starved and frightened masses of normal citizens seeking to rebuild their lives it didn’t matter. These powerful individuals were accompanied by the ghosts, descendants of the Traveler, who would argue against them if the great sphere spoke to them as well?  Of the factions there were three that stood above all others, each bearing strong powers of persuasion and charisma, each followed by massed throngs of devout followers, and each claiming to be the true voice of the Traveler.  Astrid Blackmoon, Maiden of the Black Marsh A young woman with hair the color of wheat stalks and eyes as blue as the ocean, she bore the striking resemblance of a Valkyrie of old. Her ghost was of polished gold that shun so brightly it could blind those that stared too long at it. Having made her pilgrimage from what had once been Denmark to the last city, she preached that when the Traveler spoke to her it wished for humanity to repopulate the lush world the Traveler had remade for them and that no other world was needed. Astrid herself was not prone to violence and often portrayed frailty which in turn had the strange effect of making her followers believe that it was their duty to fight for and protect her at all costs. Her followers quickly seized the most fertile lands surrounding the Traveler and became the main supplier of food for the entire region. Hades-969, Butcher of the shifting Sands  Some Exo’s add a number to their name to remind themselves how many times they have had to reset, Hades-969 had his number set to remind him of how many people he’s killed. Cloaked in the skin of a savage beast, Hades-969 emerged from the scorching desert far to the southeast of the Traveler and left a trail of burned villages and broken bodies in his wake. He claimed that the Traveler spoke to him and told him that humanity had grown decadent from the gifts it had bestowed on them and thus had lost its favor, telling him to cull the weak and that only when the strong remain the Traveler would reawaken. Village by village he slaughtered the weak and leading the strong ever closer to the Traveler. His followers organised by a caste system of strength with those that wished to advance higher needing to slay a member from the caste above. This system led all the way to Hades-969 himself and was not surprised to find one of his lieutenants challenging him to a blood duel. His ghost was covered in rusted spikes and would often be thrown by Hades-969 as a projectile and impale his foe with it.    Morgan the one eyed  Not much was known of Morgan other than he had only one eye and could not remember what had happened to his other. He had stumbled into one of the surrounding camps one night and made himself at home. Many didn’t spare a thought for him as they assumed he was just another lost soul in search of the Traveler. After some time he began shouting warnings to any that would hear him about events that seemed impossible to predict, grabbing hold of those involved to try and save their lives only to be cast out and pushed aside as a mad man. This changed when his visions began coming true one by one until he had amassed a considerable group of followers proclaiming that the Traveler had taken his eye in exchange for visions of the future to lead humanity back to the golden age. His ghost was blind and remained firmly perched on Morgan’s shoulder at all times.  These three factions were locked in a seemingly endless struggle for sole control over the Traveler and the honor of being the chosen of the Traveler. Their conflicts grew to such a scale that were it not for the rise of the Iron Lords these Speakers may very well have left the remaining population in tatters.  The Iron Lord’s rise to power was a game changer as never before had such a large concentration of undying been rallied to a single standard. While still vastly outnumbers by the other factions the Iron Lord were mainly undying and could easily fight foes ten times their number and emerge victorious. More and more the Iron Lords began enforcing their will upon those under the Traveler’s shadow which led to tension among the would be Speaker’s.  Hades-969 saw the Iron Lords as a challenge sent by the Traveler to test his strength. He mobilized every warrior under him and declared war against the Iron Lords, personally leading the charge at the head of his ten thousand strong army as they scaled rocky slopes of Felwinter Peak.  The disciplined ranks of Iron Lords stood their ground and repelled wave after wave of fanatical followers as they through themselves at them with sometimes nothing but bones and rusty blades. It wasn’t until Hades-969 finally ascended the mountain fortress and challenged Lord Saladin to a duel to which Saladin agreed. The battle all but ceased as the two leaders drew their weapons and charged each other. Hades-969 unleashed a flurry of blows with his dual axes against Lord Saladin but the Iron Lord have become like the mountain he stood upon and deflected each attack with ease while not moving an inch until finally he raised his Iron Battle Ax and brought it down with a such strength that with a single blow it had shattered Hades-969 axes and cleaved through his ghost. Lord Saladin demanded that Hades-969 surrender but he refused declaring “Only the strong deserve to serve the Traveler.” Realizing that Hades-969 was too dangerous to let live, Lord Saladin struck him down and threw his broken body from the top of Felwinter Peak, scattering the surrounding army with the death of their leader.  With the removal of Hades-969′s faction the Iron Lord’s established a semi present group in the Traveler’s shadow and began construction of the wall around it for greater protection and was the source for the next conflict. Morgan the one eyed had received a vision of the future regarding the Last City. He saw the walls assaulted day and night by hordes of Fallen and swarms of unknown alien vessels, one so large that it wrapped itself around the Traveler itself. Believing this was a sign from the Traveler that a wall would only invite enemies to challenge and eventually lead to disaster Morgan denounced the construction project and actively sought to halt it with his followers quickly supporting him.  It was during a peaceful demonstration against the wall at the site of its construction that things spun out of control. A large crowd had gathered around the base of the main wall section led by Morgan while several members of the Iron Lords were present overseeing construction. While Morgan was at the head of the group a large stone block being placed at the top of the wall broke free and crashed down to earth like a meteor crushing Morgan in an instant before he had time to react. With the sudden loss of their leader as a result of the wall many of Morgan’s supporters took it as a sign that he had been speaking truthfully the entire time and attacked the wall forcing the present Iron Lords to defend themselves. In the end the riot was quelled and order restored, but with the loss of Morgan the faction had lost the source of visions of the future leaving many to find a new purpose. A few however remained fanatical to the belief that seeing into the future was the key to the survival of humanity and would continue in their belief until many centuries later when the Future War Cult was founded.  As the Iron Lord wiped another faction clean off the map, Astrid decided it would be better to work with them instead of against them and happily supported their cause. Ironically it was from supporting the Iron Lord that brought down Astrid as the Iron Lords invested the majority of their resources in searching for the long lost technology know as “SIVA”. This quest left the Iron Lords shattered and Astrid’s faction as well. With such a loss the majority of her followers turned on her and cast her out as a false prophet. She was last seen making her way back to the EDZ.  It was shortly after the fall of the Iron Lords that a new individual came to power, calling themselves only “The Speaker” and uniting the survivors into a new governing body.  Realizing that the previous conflicts involving those who claimed to speak on the Traveler’s behalf would undermine his authority, the Speaker sought to expunge any mentions of the other Speaker’s from records and despite those who had survived the war continuing to tell the events verbally, over the centuries the events faded to all but legend.  

[bigskydreaming]

1) Hi! It’s a strange question, I know, but I’m curious: how much do you take what happens behind the scenes into account in your analysis of a character or a storyline? To make an example, the push and pull of Dick’s filial status in the narrative is a consistent and frustrating thread in the comics, but has probably roots in the fact that Dick’s arrangement made sense in the 40s in a way that it didn’t anymore by the 80s.

Its a good question, without a good answer. Best I can say is it varies and I kinda take things on a case by case basis. Sometimes behind the scenes stuff doesn’t really change much about what’s on the page one way or another, and sometimes its extremely relevant. 

For instance, your example of Dick’s status as ward vs adopted...I think its very much something where real world context and factors have a ton to do with it. I’d definitely agree that Dick as Bruce’s ward made total sense in the writers’ eyes and didn’t need changing or addressing until the 80s, which culturally is when adoption and blended families became a lot more....it feels weird to say mainstream in regards to that, but it kinda fits because the concept as a whole became more popularized and normalized and likely to have a presence in media in the 80s in ways it never really had before. 

Personally, I don’t think there’s really any issue with Dick not being adopted before then, and think it has more to do with the zeitgeist of those times rather than in character choices about Bruce not wanting to adopt Dick for whatever reason. So my own approach to this particular matter is for me, it only became an issue when an additional variable was added...Jason and his adoption....as especially once Dick himself was written asking Bruce why he never adopted him...even though the most relevant answer up until that point was likely just that it had never been a culturally significant issue for their characters to have until now......once writers DID introduce Dick’s own view/question on the matter into the canon, THAT’S when I personally view it was being more of an issue that Bruce waited so long after THAT point before actually adopting Dick.

So for my own take...whether in meta and discussions of canon or my own fic stuff....I don’t really put much emphasis or even focus any real attention on Bruce not adopting Dick before that point in canon stories OR the concurrent position in the timeline....by that I mean, the approximate age I think Dick was when he first asked Bruce about that, eighteen or nineteen. I think there are certainly stories that can be written that involve Bruce adopting Dick or raising the matter for discussion earlier in Dick’s life like when he was fourteen or fifteen....but I don’t personally feel much of an urge to write things with a negative slant towards Bruce not adopting Dick earlier than that because I AM aware that in terms of canon, it wasn’t really an option before that point due to the writers’ own cultural norms informing their character choices.

But once the writing introduced that angle and element...it became fair game in my opinion to question why Bruce would wait so long before acting on Dick’s pretty clearly expressed desire there...and yeah, I think its fair to have a bit of a judgmental eye towards Bruce character wise for still waiting so long when it could have changed so much for the better between them and spared Dick at least a few years of angsting and uncertainty about it.

All that said, when talking about fanfic deviations specifically, I think its entirely fair to consider character choices within the context of the fanfic as much as the original canon. So if a fic is already making significant departures from the canon events of Dick’s early years in order to write the author’s own take on Dick and Bruce’s early relationship....then in THAT context, specifically, regardless of what canon had to say about it and the behind the scenes reasons for that, its still valid IMO for characters or readers to wonder why in light of how much our cultural norms have shifted by now, why a fic about that time but written in the context of the modern day....like, IMO there Bruce doesn’t really have the same justification canon has for him not touching on Dick’s status as ward vs son earlier in Dick’s life.

If that makes sense?

Similarly in terms of recent years and canon, I think a TON of flip flopping and uncertainty in regards to how the Batboys’ relationships to Bruce are described or referenced is because DC or the various writers and editors just don’t like committing to the idea of Bruce Wayne: father of five (or six, depending on how one views Duke’s positioning in the family). 

Like, I’ve long had the sense that a lot of the powers that be over at DC just flat out don’t LIKE Dick, Jason, Tim and Cassandra’s legal adopted status and wish none of them had ever happened as they for whatever reason think it takes something away from Bruce’s character or premise and they’d rather Damian be the sole actual son and heir. Hence having not only Damian emphasize the blood son thing but also having the other kids like, when talking to Damian refer to Bruce as YOUR father (which is a little thing that bugs the SHIT out of me, lmao)....as well as being as vague and ambivalent as possible when having Dick, Jason, Tim and Cass reference Bruce to others or address him and put as little focus on them using an actual label for their relationships to him as possible. And its not just New 52 I mean here, I think this was an issue still well before Flashpoint.

I’m almost certain if some of DC’s editors and writers had their way, those other adoptions would never have happened and their official status would just be wards/foster kids/proteges. Which is annoying not just because I’m a fan of the family being a FAMILY, like, purely on a personal fannish level....but also just in terms of narrative....I think its fucking stupid to try and play fast and loose with those relationships when everyone knows damn well that each of those kids being Bruce’s KIDS has nevertheless very much been a thing that happened and exists in most fans’ minds. Like, that’s not a genie you can ever put back in the bottle. There’s no realistic chance of getting readers to just en masse forget that any of those characters were ever officially and legally Bruce’s children at some point. Like, you did that, or at least writers before you did that, just accept it and USE IT instead of pointlessly muddying the waters to obscure relationships most of us view as father/child regardless of what canon has to say about it now.

So for example, in THAT case, I fully believe the confusion about the kids’ various legal status and their view of Bruce and his view of them...like, I honestly believe the ambiguity of that at various times in canon is deliberate. And also, dumb. Thus I don’t feel any need to take canon’s current vagueness into account because I feel there the behind the scenes motivations are extremely relevant...and thus I’m completely content to just ignore them and keep them all as Bruce’s children in legality and heart, via whatever story context makes the most sense for my purposes.

Another example of when I personally feel behind the scenes motivations are hugely relevant and should be kept in perspective...is Jason’s death. Because I’ve read a ton of stories and meta that sometimes victim blames Jason and treats it like his fault he died, sometimes makes it Dick’s fault for not being closer with him and someone Jason feasibly could have turned to instead of going to Ethiopia on his own, and sometimes Bruce’s fault for the division his judgment after the Garzonas case had forged between him and Jason and with that basically driving Jason to go to Ethiopia in the first place.

And like, I personally hate each and every one of those takes because I think its never going to lead anywhere good, upholding Jason himself or either of his immediate family members as being in any way at FAULT for his death and everything he went through after it....but also I don’t like emphasizing narrative or character blame on any or multiple of those characters because IMO it disregards the MOST crucial factor in Jason’s death: editorial mandate.

Like, they held a freaking phone poll for whether he should live or die. Jason’s fate was decided by call-in votes, NOT by ANY character’s actual choices or actions or even lack thereof. There was no way any of those characters could have been written making different choices that avoided Jason dying, because they were deliberately written making choices that smoothed the way to Jason dying because it was going to happen not because it was where the STORY inevitably led, or any of their choices inevitably led there....but because the editors WANTED it led there and to end up where it ultimately ended up. 

IMO its pointless to point fingers at character choices when we KNOW for a FACT, like oftentimes we have to guess at writer motivations in order to have an opinion on that variable at all, but this is one of the rare occasions where we inarguably KNOW....it was going to happen one way or another because editorial decreed it had to happen. So I think its pretty pointless even in terms of meta analysis of the story and character motivations to ultimately point a finger at any of the character choices and assign blame for Jason’s death...when there was literally no chance of them ever being written making choices that allowed Jason to avoid dying.

Especially when you consider that literally the only narrative change that even needed to be made to avoid Jason dying, regardless of everything that led up to that point...is simply not having him die in the explosion. Come up with literally any explanation for a last minute save, escape or rescue. Like so many comics have managed so many other times.

Like, there are no rules with fanfic so obviously you can write fic of Jason’s death in any way, and make it the end result of any character choices you want and make it some character’s fault or not according to your own preferences and narrative choices....but in terms of canon events and choices, I think that’s one of the very rare stories where its both impossible and pointless to examine it on any level, without taking the behind the scenes context into consideration as well.

So like I said, it really just varies from story to story, depending on how much or how little writer or editor motivation, decisions or bias were likely to be a factor in any given story. *Shrugs* Thus for me, I don’t really see any way to go about that other than taking each story on a case by case basis.

[sebeth]

Doom Patrol: “Pilot”

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

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 Doom Patrol, Episode One: “Pilot”

 Love the opening credits. Creepy and evocative of the Doom Patrol’s “mad scientist” origins.

Paraguay, 1948: We begin with a snarky narrator and a visit to a Von Furchs, a Nazi fugitive. He is infamous for his scientific experimentation.

Von Furch changes a Mr. Morden into Mister Nobody. Nobody is a villain from the Vertigo Doom Patrol series.

We fast forward to 1988 in Florida. We are at the pre-transformation home of professional race car driver Cliff Steele. A married Cliff is having an affair with the nanny. Cliff’s wife tells him to “crash and die”. Cliff crashes after his wife distracts him.

Cliff regains consciousness after Niles transports his body into a robot form.

I can only imagine the horror Cliff felt upon regaining consciousness.

Did Cliff’s wife consent to this procedure or did Niles simply steal Cliff’s brain? Was the wife working with the Chief? It’s revealed in the Vertigo series that Niles was behind the accidents that caused the members’ misfortunes.

Cliff realizes he’s regained consciousness in 1995. Niles informs Cliff that the world believes he died in 1988?

Rita reveals the truth to Cliff- only his brain survived and it’s encased in a robot body.

Rita tells Cliff: “We need to talk about expectations. And then we need to take those expectations, give them a gentle pat, and flush them into the ocean.”

I’m sensing Rita has been disappointed numerous times in her life.

Rita tells Niles that “Everyone deserves the truth.”

The team members have to stop pushing the off button on Cliff’s body. How can he adjust if they press the off button whenever he has a reaction?

Niles introduces Cliff to Larry. Larry gives Cliff a tour of the place.

Cliff asks Larry about his story.

Flashback origin time for Larry.

California, 1961: Mister Nobody states Larry was an “Atomic Age sex machine”: a USAF test pilot and on the short list for the NASA Mercury mission. Larry was also a married man with children.

Larry flies an experimental NASA rocket plane. Larry encounters an alien energy high up in the atmosphere. The energy destroys the controls on the ship. The plane crashes and burns Larry alive.

Back to the present day – Cliff is attempting to learn how to climb steps in his new body.

Cliff asks Larry what “Drinky’s” deal is. To be fair, every time Cliff has seen Rita she has had a martini in her hand.

Cliff struggles with the reality and limitations of his new form.

Cliff asks Niles if anyone has left “this place”. Niles informs Cliff that “Some have. Some come and go. Others life Larry and Rita prefer to stay. But to be perfectly honest, those who leave find it’s often more difficult for the world out there to accept who they’ve become than they do.”

The line of dialogue allows for other characters to enter and leave the plot.  I wonder if we will see some of the other members of the various incarnations of the Doom Patrol? We know Crazy Jane and Cyborg are coming to the show.

We discover Rita enjoys knitting while Larry prefers horticulture.

I love Rita’s clothing style. Very fashionable.

Rita origin flashback.

She was the queen of 1950s’ cinema. She was also a diva.

Rita was in Africa filming a movie. The dock she was on collapses and she falls into the water. She’s exposed to a strange substance in the water. She emerges from the water with her body collapsing around her. Possible karma as Rita was having trouble looking at a disfigured man while filming the movie.

Cliff makes it up the steps! Achievement unlocked!

Niles tells Cliff that his brain has been altering his memoires to help him cope.

Cliff plays a phone message the Chief used to replicate his voice.

We flashback to the car race. Cliff avoided the car crash and won the race. His wife looks shocked about his survival. Cliff, rather hypocritically, attacks the man he suspects of having an affair with his wife.

Cliff has another romp with Giselle, the nanny, in his trailer. He calls his wife: “I don’t know what happened to us. I’m going to be better. I know it’s late. I don’t even know if you care how sorry I am.”

Cliff goes to his wife’s parents’ house to retrieve her and his daughter.

I’m getting a really bad feeling about what’s going to happen.

A distracted Cliff drives into a semi-truck. Kate and Clara die in the crash. Cliff was the only survivor.

Wow, the show writers managed to make Cliff’s origin even more tragic than it was in the comics.

Mister Nobody informs us “The years pass and it’s all so depressing that I just can’t.”

In 2002, Larry paints a canvas of racing cars for Cliff. Larry is so sweet!

Cliff spends a decade working on a town/race car model track.

It’s 2019 and we hear a female voice yelling “I’m back”.

Rita: “Oh, goody.” Rita is clearly not a fan.

Robotman: “Who?”

Cliff’s been in the house since 1988 and he hasn’t met Jane yet? How old is she supposed to be?

“Meet Jane. Some people call her Crazy Jane. Sixty-four personas each with their own special power.”

Jane is going to be fun. The Rita and Jane dynamic should be a blast.

After a rocky start, Cliff and Jane bond. Cliff was protective of Jane in the Vertigo series too.

We meet several of Jane’s personalities in the episode:

1)      Jane

2)      Sylvia

3)      Hammerhead

4)      Hangman’s Daughter

5)      The unnamed energy being

The Chief decides to resume his occasional travels in the world. The gang’s heard the spiel so much they say it with him.

The gang decides to head into town. When dad’s away, the kids will play.

Rita nervously enters a diner. She meets a fan.

Jane and Cliff head to a toy store to buy a present for his daughter’s birthday. Cliff and Jane bonds over his pre-death stupidity.

Larry finally leaves the bus and enters a bar.

Rita discovers it was rumored to be drunk and doing porn. An emotional Rita begins to lose control over her bodily form.

Jane urges Cliff to call his daughter. Cliff states his daughter is dead. Jane asks “According to who?” Jane claims Clara survived the crash. It’s on the internet. Jane urges Cliff to call his daughter but he destroys her phone.

It didn’t take long for the writers to start the “Chief’s a lying liar who lies” card.

We flashback to Larry, pre-transformation. Larry, a married man, was having an affair with a male member of his ground crew.

The memories trigger Larry and blue light begins to emit from his body.

Rita continues to lose control of her body, turning into a huge oozing mass that breaks through the storm and emerges on to the street.

Jane changes personalities while urging Jane to get a hold of herself.

Larry loses control and the negative energy being emerges from his body.

Rita and Larry’s respective freak-outs are causing massive damage to the town.

Cliff asks Jane: “What should we do?”

Jane responds by changing personalities and transforming into a fire/energy being.

“No! We’re not doing that!”

Cliff saves the day by stopping Rita in her tracks.

The team heads home. Niles arrives back in town as television media is reporting the day’s events.

Niles briefly sees a donkey in his rearview mirror.

Niles arrives home and he’s not happy. Niles heads to the lab and looks at photos. One has a man holding a leashed donkey. The photos appear to be from the time Morden transformed into Mister Nobody.

Niles informs the team their actions have consequences. He has enemies and they will come for the team. He wants the team packed up and ready to leave asap.

Cliff asks about the town. Niles tells him the town isn’t his concern.

“So the town get’s screwed.”

Niles yells at Jane, Cliff yells at Niles – he’s ticked about the Chief lying about his daughter’s death.

Cliff wants to stay and fight but the rest of the team votes to leave with the Chief.

The team leaves but Cliff stays to protect the town.

Jane urges the team to return and fight with Cliff. The team, except for Niles, agrees.

Rita: “I can’t promise I won’t be disgusting, but yes.”

Mister Nobody teleports aboard the bus and taunts Niles.

The donkey approaches the team and farts a message into the sky: “The mind is the limit.”

A black hole appears in the street and begins swallowing the team.

Cliff: “What the f***?”

Great first episode. Loved the soundtrack. We had “Fresh” by Kool and the Gang, “Fox On The Run” by Sweet, “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol, and “People Are Strange” by the Doors.

Mister Nobody, visually and voiced, is more fun than he was in the comic book series.

Niles is manipulative and creepy. In many ways, he is the greatest enemy of the Doom Patrol.

Each character received their fair share of focus in the episode. We were able to see their origins and their distinct personalities.

It’s refreshing to see characters that don’t have “big damn heroes” as their default mode. Rita and Cliff weren’t the most likable people before their accidents. Larry led a secret life even before the plane crash. All three were horribly traumatized during their accidents and resulting transformations and have lived decades in fear and secrecy as “freaks”.  That combination is very hard to overcome to become heroic defenders of mankind.

An excellent debut. Highly recommended.