#Dishonorable Vendetta

[ajepyx]

THE LAST VENDETTA New Behind the Scenes Pics Sept. 2024

THE LAST VENDETTA New Behind the Scenes Pics Sept. 2024

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

Literally no one is doing it like Don Jon the Bastard I would firmly argue that he's the only pure example of an "I will cause problems on purpose" villain in the Shakespeare canon. Edmund and Richard are doing it for power, Iago and Tamora personal vendetta... meanwhile in Don Jon the bastard land framing Hero for adultery does not yield any material gain for this man at all. Don Jon supposedly has a personal vendetta against Don Pedro and Don Pedro is like, you know... affected by his schemes bc Claudio has a broken heart and Don Pedro will care about that so he's sadder now... But still. Like okay Don Jon is envious of Claudio bc he feels he should be Don Pedro's right hand man maybe- but his schemes don't really dishonor or discredit Claudio in any way. What does dishonor Claudio, i.e. Hero's "death" and innocence Don Jon had no part in. He could have plotted to kill Don Pedro or Claudio or something that gave him actual power and he settled at just "making them sad" and then he failed at doing that. He's my special boy.

[static-limb]

CALLSIGN: BELTWAY

LEGAL NAME: HECTOR SAMSON HIVERS NICKNAME(S): Beltway, Rocketman (Childhood Nickname) BIRTH DATE: November 17, 1968 ( 11/17/68 ) AGE: fifty-six ( 56 ) GENDER/PRONOUNS: cis male, he/him/his, -o ending in spanish ORIENTATION: Bisexual Eternal Bachelor ETHNICITY: mexican-american & puerto rican ZODIAC SIGN: scorpio (both systems)

CURRENT RESIDENCE: The Lodge + Own Small Home in the California Desert EDUCATION: Public School Drop-Out, Dishonorable Discharge, School of Hard Knocks OCCUPATION: Detonations Specialist, Device Designer, Explosions Expert, Demolitions, Powderman for movies on occasion.

EYE COLOR: Deep Honey Brown, with black starbursts around the pupil. HAIR COLOR: Black, thin, and coarse. Kept buzzed. HEIGHT: 6'10 and growing due to C-Virus mutation. BUILD: Padded with fat, tall and robust. Can lift and carry for long distances and has surprising endurance for such a weighted build. SKIN: Pocked with acne scars, and a lifetime of burn wounds and shrapnel, worn with pride. SKIN MARKINGS: A lot of skin, a lot of scars. He's missing his left leg from the knee and lower, as well as half of his right hand (ring finger and pinky finger, half of the palm). He is normally seen wearing a calf & foot prosthetic and a partial hand prosthetic. The skin of his right cheek is heavily burned and scarred, and most of the shell of his right ear is fused to the side of his head with burns. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Beltway has hearing loss in both of his ears, his right more than the left. He has a psychotic, bordering on erotic, fixation on explosives and explosions that he has cultivated into a career. Taking advantage of his serious looking resting expression, it can take some time for people to catch on to his trickster's demeanor. He relishes getting the upper hand, pulling the rug, and causing humiliation.

BIOGRAPHY: Beltway was born to a mixed family on the US Army Base in Puerto Rico. After developing an attachment to smaller fireworks and sparklers, young Hector began selling fireworks to other children as a way to make money, mostly as an excuse to get more time and exposure to these unusual delights. He began deconstructing and hoarding materials to combine into his own devices, until his extracurricular activities caught up with him and resulted in him being expelled from high school before graduating.

A hormonal condition led him to grow early, and a lot, ending up north of 6' tall by age 16. After being expelled, Army recruiters wasted no time in scooping him up, and Hector began working his way up the ranks from an enlisted position. His impulsive and anti-authoritarian tendencies warred against his desire to gain greater access to the wealth of explosives and demolitions the army could offer him; a war he lost extraordinarily in the form of a prank gone wrong that severed his left leg from below the knee irreparably.

Following his dishonorable discharge from the armed forces, Beltway struggled to find mundane ways to make ends meet, taking a roundabout path to recruitment to the USS. After betrayal by Umbrella, Beltway wholeheartedly endorses satisfying their bloody vendetta.

[lncarnon]

"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" // @ any of your Dishonored muses pls and thank u :3 also HI THERE

Daud has no personal vendetta against the City Watch. They are men doing their job, just as he. Some of them for noble reason against the crime and corrupted, others because they got off on the power trip. If anyone knows what that is like, it certainly is the Knife of Dunwall.

No matter their reasons he saw each and every one as nothing more than a step to his goals. Some even had become his allies on the rare occasion. How many of their guard came scampering into the den of killers, bound up when found by the Whalers, and sent to their knees before their big bad boss. The gangs were getting out of hand; if not for a lack of pride perhaps those actions were fueled by the desire to see murderers at each others throats instead of the good men and women of the City.

He'd scoff at that, but he gets it, despite everything that might be said about him there is a heavy burden of empathy upon those red clad shoulders.

This one, however, had not come to him. Rather it was Daud who had come looking for a solution to his problem. Breaking into this man's house had been a trivial matter, between the Void and assumed safety being in the heart of Dunwall, it left even the most paranoid careless on occasion. Even if it hadn't, not much could stand in the assassin's path.

He's come home, a long day at work it seems. Already disarmed and looking for bed, Daud knows well enough that people were generally at the most ease when in their not so humble abodes. Leaned against the lavish bed frame with his sword in hand, albeit hung low to his side, the aging killer stares on with a steely gaze as he is noticed.

"No," he states simply. "I have come to bargain."

[dangermousie]

Because I am doing a hard sell for @aysekira and also because I realized I never finished this and want to get back to it, have a ship vid for Reyyan x Miran from Hercai, which I was mad obsessed with.

The story is delicious and the chemistry is insane.

Our heroine, Reyyan, is an unfavored granddaughter of a rural patriarch. One day a wealthy city man named Miran moves to town and gets into business with Reyyan’s family, as well falls for and proposes to Reyyan. They have a quick wedding and are set for wedding bliss.

EXCEPT!!! Reyyan wakes up abandoned after the wedding night - with horror she finds out that the business deal and the love story were both fake - the wedding was fake and all of this is part of his family’s plan to destroy Reyyan’s family due to a vendetta. They will ruin them in business and dishonor the granddaughter (it’s a very old-fashioned, rural place that still believes in dishonor and honor killing.)

She narrowly escapes death but now hates Miran as much as she loved and trusted him but (and that is the delicious thing about this story!), Miran who’s been bred by his crazy grandmother from birth to hate Reyyan’s family has actually had fallen madly and utterly in love with Reyyan - he regretted walking out almost as soon as he did it, but it’s too late now.

There are birth secrets, past histories, some epic and lengthy groveling (she shoots him at one point and he fully expects to die and is still ILY) and the chemistry and longing are intense as hell - I was willing to buy he literally could not live without her and would die for her and just SO INTENSE SO DELISH!

[hydralisk98]

Writing my way up to H.G. Wells + J.R.R. Tolkien-tier and beyond

I mean, I would like to get a few short stories / poems / animation shorts / short films / "software toys" going and by far. So may as well pitch a few of my current narrative draft ideas for initial practice...

I guess I will make it clear that I feel a powerful need to write down immersive / cohesive yet oxymoron Axis victory set of stories. Most likely with some cultural & technological nuances (not about making Nazism, Fascism and others legitimate but definitely challenging some assumptions we societally made from the world wars) & conflicted characters as far as emulating dystopia-writing with a humane / relatable touch.

These are not the only narratives I would like to convey, far from it. I got a couple more related to historical "mysteries", my constructed world(s?) slice-of-life-s and overall making optimistic meta-narratives. Like some about my hometown, a couple around specific tools / challenges / design contraints, much about far far away alternate futures and a few drop-in "clef" replacements for some existing works with strong satirist-ic commentary & nuanced intrigue politics...

Here are a couple of such media I hope to express some opinions onto through these "clef" keys.

(Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Warriors, Chronicles of Narnia, A Song of Ice and Fire, Silmarillion, Bible, standalone X-Men movies, Naruto / Boruto, Tarzan, Conan The Barbarian, John Carter of Mars, Terminator, Predator, Alien, Degrassi, Star Wars, Star Trek, Half-Life, Stargate SG1, How To Train Your Dragon, Frozen, Pirates of the Caribbean, Matrix, Rio, Jurassic Park, James Bond, Homestuck, Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron, Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas, The Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Helluva Boss / Hazbin Hotel, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken, Shrek, Coco, The Book of Life, Ice Age, Mulan, Lord of the Rings, Megamind, Treasure Planet, Atlantis, Lilo and Stitch, Pokemon, Sonic The Hedgehog, Cyberpunk RED + 2077, Halo, Destiny, Pathfinder, Outlander, Genship Impact, Starcraft, Grand Theft Auto, Bioshock Infinite + Burial at Sea, Animal Crossing, Fable 2, Earthbound, Metroid, Splatoon, Bionicle, Chronotrigger, Dishonored, XCOM, Turning Red, Luca, 300, The Time Machine, Brontë, Ethan Frome, Death in Venice, The Hired Girl, Tintin, Watchmen, Jour J, Hellboy, V for Vendetta, Ghost Rider, Asterix, Lackadaisy, Zoophobia, Danny Phantom, Avatar The Last Airbender, Legend of Korra, Code Lyoko, Kim Possible, Powerpuff Girls, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Animaniacs, Boondocks, Totally Spies, Futurama, 6teen, Stoked, Wakfu, Hot Wheels, Discworld, Forgotten Realms, Quake, Coran, Tanak, mythologies, historical fiction, ancestries, Hypnospace Outlaw / Sword Art Online, Zachtronics ('TIS-100' & 'Shenzhen I/O'), Ace Combat, Overlord, Bloody Good Time, Resistance Fall of Man, Perfect Dark, Zelda, God of War, Kaisha...)

Not exhaustive by any margin but yk, the first few up to Alien are definitely deserving some strong reworks...

But yeah, that's kinda my type of creative bar setting (I still am casual but yk I shall outshine Tolkien with all the tools available nowadays), aka making bronze age literature lineage-ing type of timeless works.

Don't mind me if I get started some onto the promised Jucika-derived comic strips and get the ball rolling on my open source workflow (first onto Kate + LibreOffice and eventually in the terminal with Tmux/Fish/Vim and all the other creative writing goodies...)

Be not afraid...

[demospectator]

“The Wild Cat (for the Highbinder’s feast of the uncooked meat),” c. 1902 - 1906. Photograph by Arnold Genthe (from the collection of the Library of Congress). A sidewalk vendor arranges his wild game products, including a wildcat carcass. One of the men in the background is an itinerant fortune teller.

Ruminations About Old Chinatown’s Wild Cat

Arnold Genthe's photograph "The Wild Cat (for the Highbinder’s feast of the uncooked meat)" presents a striking and unusual image from San Francisco's Chinatown taken between 1896 and 1906. It depicts the carcass of a wildcat suspended outside a storefront, flanked by other freshly killed fowl. Although the individual tending to the wild cat was not identified, historian John Tchen observed about the photo that “Wing Chew, the son of the original owner of the Tin Fook jewelry store, used to disappear into the mountains for a few days and bag a wildcat for sale in Chinatown…. ” (The telephone directory of 1902 first mentions the Tin Fook & Co. as operating a jewelry store at 711-1/2 Jackson Street, presumably up to the earthquake and fire of 1906.)

The photo provides a glimpse into the cultural and economic practices of the time. Wildcat meat was highly prized for its supposed medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities. It was often used in traditional remedies and consumed in concoctions that mixed the meat with ingredients like chicken, snake, and various herbs. Tong fighters, known for their violent turf battles and vendettas, would drink wildcat-infused wine for courage before going into combat.

The Wild Cat was taken in Chinatown during a time when the community was subject to the effects of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. As a result, violence and other hostile acts drove Chinese out of rural counties and into San Francisco Chinatown even as it became more segregated and isolated. However, it remained a vivid and mysterious subject for outsiders like Genthe and his fellow photographers of the Camera Club. His images, including "The Wild Cat," were part of a broader fascination with Chinatown’s cultural practices, capturing a mixture of admiration and morbid exoticism. Genthe's work often walked a fine line, romanticizing and sometimes distorting life and referring explicitly to criminal organizations in Chinatown to fit white American perceptions.

The Wild Cat remains among his lesser known works, as it can evoke uncomfortable conversations around so-called "foreign" eating habits, particularly when viewed through a modern lens. The image, featuring a feline carcass hung outside a Chinatown store, serves as a historical record of traditional practices, but it also readily stokes long-festering tropes about Asian culinary customs, fueled by xenophobia and cultural misrepresentation. These tensions are not new, as they linger to this day.

In recent times, this discomfort resurfaced when presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate accused immigrants in Ohio of consuming dogs and cats, a false claim that played into harmful stereotypes and generated widespread backlash for its inflammatory nature. The episode reminded audiences about the long and dishonorable history of castigating immigrants’ eating habits as recounted in a Guardian article here: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/14/racist-history-trump-pet-eating-immigrant

Curiosity about 19th century Chinatown's food and cultural practices was often accompanied by suspicion or derision from outsiders – influenced and exacerbated initially by the great encounter of white migrants from the eastern United States with Asian immigrants to California in the mid-19th century.

Five or more diaspora generations later, Chinese Americans still hear the insult or insinuation that Asians and immigrants are slaughtering dogs and other pets for meal time. Food continues to shape perceptions of immigrant communities, revealing the enduring impact of cultural misunderstandings. Not surprising, Genthe's The Wild Cat is seldom seen.

[rajwillwrite]

Beneath the Moonlit Shadows : A saga of 47 rōnins

This legendary story began when Asano Naganori, aka the lord of Ako domain, cried: "Do you remember my grudge from these past days?"

His gaze fixed on Kira Yoshinaka. Asano extended his short sword, charged through the castle corridor, and struck Kira. While the wound wasn't fatal, its consequences would be.

The incident began in April 1701 when imperial envoys from Kyōto arrived in Edo (now Tokyo), the capital of the shogunate. Three provincial feudal lords were appointed to receive them, including Asano Naganori from Akō. Because these men were ignorant of court etiquette, they were directed to consult Kira Yoshinaka, a retainer of the shogun and an expert in such matters. The other two feudal lords gave Kira lavish presents to ensure his cooperation, but Asano offered only a token gift. Kira was apparently annoyed and expressed his displeasure by constantly taunting the inexperienced Asano. The latter finally gave way to his pent-up wrath, and in April 1701, in the audience hall of the shogun’s palace, he flew at Kira with his dirk. Kira escaped with minor wounds, but Asano’s gross breach of etiquette enraged shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, who ordered Asano to commit ‘Seppuku’ (Japanese for: “self-disembowelment”) the same day.

The incident took place in Edo, Japan - modern-day Tokyo. The Tokugawa military and government had gained power about a century before. This ushered in a period of peace and stability, following the ‘warring state’ or ‘Sengoku Era,’ which was marked by constant bloodshed and conflict wrought by warlords and their samurais.

To secure their rule, the Tokugawa government aimed to tame the samurai class. Individual samurais carried two swords and served a single lord till death, but their duties became primarily bureaucratic and administrative. Meanwhile, Tokugawa legal practice stipulated that both sides would be disciplined in the event of a violent quarrel. However, when the officials convened following Asano's attack on Kira, they decided to punish only Asano's castle, the disbandment of his house, and the arrest of his younger brother. The news traveled quickly back to Asano's domain. Overnight, the roughly 300 samurais in Asano's retainer band found themselves dispossessed of their homes and stipend and turned into Ronin or masterless samurais.

They didn't exactly know why Asano attacked Kira - no one did. Some have speculated that Asano refused to pay a bribe to Kira, who was supposed to be guiding him in proper etiquette, so Kira humiliated him. Others believed that Asano had simply “gone mad.” This left the samurais of Ako domain in crisis, facing a tension that lay at the very heart of the Tokugawa Period. They were a privileged class of warriors inundated with epic legends of samurai loyalty, heroism, and martial glory. But they were forbidden from using violence - their traditional role once celebrated and restricted. Some of Asano's samurais said they should peacefully comply with government orders; others suggested that they should immediately follow their lord into death. One faction led by Horibe Yasubei argued that they must see their lord's apparent wishes through by killing Kira, claiming that as long as Asano's enemy was alive, they were dishonored. However, the effective leader of Ako domain's samurais, Oishi Yoshio, believed that if they complied with officials' orders, Tokugawa authorities might show mercy and permit Asano's brothers to succeed him. So the samurais peacefully surrendered the castle. But their hopes were dashed when Tokugawa officials placed Asano's brother in another family's custody, leaving them without a path to restore their status. Most accepted the government's terms. But in the end, 47 of Asano's samurais, including Horibe and Ōishi, didn't. Instead of formally asking permission to take revenge via the government's vendetta system, they began plotting to kill Kira covertly.

Almost two years after Asano's death, the rōnin, led by Ōishi, broke into Kira's residence and killed 16 of his samurais and wounded 23 others before beheading Kira himself. They presented Kira's head at Asano's grave, then surrendered to the Tokugawa officials, justifying their violence by saying they couldn't live under the same heaven as their lord's enemy (murderer). The ronin's actions created considerable problems for the Tokugawa government. The rōnin had broken the peace and a range of laws. But authorities also acknowledged the importance of honor and loyalty among samurais. After weeks of back and forth discussion, officials decided the rōnin could be praised but must be punished. They were permitted to commit ‘Seppuku,’ which offered them an honorable death, and they were laid to rest next to their master Lord Asano.

But their story soon morphed into legends. Within weeks, it was dramatized for the stage. And soon after, scholars began debating the rōnin's actions, some praising them as perfectly loyal and dutiful samurais; others condemning them as delusional criminals. Over the next three centuries, Japan continued examining and adapting the story in theatre, films, propaganda, and beyond - grappling with the tensions between law and culture, past and present, and repeatedly relitigating the incident long after an official verdict was rendered.

The event caused a huge commotion in Japan. The samurai qualities, which appeared to have faded over many years of calm, resurfaced. The most notable was ‘Chūshingura’ (1748) - The Treasury of Loyal Retainers, an 11-act Banraku- a puppet play composed in 1748. It is one of the most popular Japanese plays. In the most recent times, this event was made into a 2013 Hollywood movie titled "47 Ronin," starring actor Keanu Reeves.

[ajepyx]

THE LAST VENDETTA: Official Teaser Trailer

THE LAST VENDETTA: Official Teaser Trailer #ajepyx #thelastvendetta #teaser #movietrailer #comingsoon #independentfilm #crimethriller #drama #action #dishonorablevendetta #vendettagames

After their beloved boss (J.R. Carter) gets put in jeopardy, DEA Agents Keith Miller (Chris Corulla, Jr.) and Jason Stokes (André Joseph) work with a high-ranked FBI agent (Jonathan Slack) to face a deadly assassin (Mako San) with a shocking secret that will forever change their lives. From award-winning director André Joseph of Dishonorable Vendetta, Vendetta Games, and Dismissal Time. A…

[aahcaimhcone]

### Character Overview

**Name:** Dakanda Multrisri

**Nickname:** "The Serpent of Siam"

**Origin:** Thailand

**Date of Birth:** 03/15/2007

**Role:** Villain

### Info

Dakanda Multrisri is a thai person character; However, if you want to create a date for her, March 15, 2007.

### Background

Dakanda Multrisri was born into a family with a rich history of martial arts, specifically Muay Thai. Her father was a legendary fighter who fell from grace due to a betrayal by a close friend, leading to the family's dishonor. Driven by the desire to restore her family's name and exact revenge, Dakanda has spent her entire life honing her skills, not only in traditional Muay Thai but also integrating other combat techniques she has learned from around the world.

### Appearance

Dakanda is in her late 10s with a lean, muscular build, and striking features. Her long black hair is often tied in a high ponytail, and she has sharp, piercing eyes. She wears a modernized Muay Thai outfit with a dark, almost black, color scheme, accented with serpent motifs in gold. Her hands and feet are wrapped in traditional Muay Thai ropes, and she has a prominent tattoo of a coiled serpent on her back.

### Personality

Dakanda is cold, calculating, and fiercely determined. She is known for her ruthless demeanor both inside and outside the ring. While she appears composed, there is an undercurrent of anger and vengeance driving her every move. She has little regard for rules or honor, focusing solely on achieving her goals by any means necessary.

### Fighting Style

Dakanda's fighting style is a lethal blend of traditional Muay Thai and elements from other martial arts, emphasizing speed, precision, and devastating power. Her signature moves often mimic the strikes of a serpent, quick and deadly. Key techniques include:

- **Serpent's Strike:** A rapid series of elbow and knee strikes aimed at incapacitating the opponent quickly.

- **Cobra's Coil:** A grappling move where she entangles her opponent, restricting their movements before delivering a powerful finishing blow.

- **Viper's Fang:** A spinning kick followed by a rapid elbow strike to the temple, designed to disorient and overwhelm.

- **Dragon's Tail Sweep:** A low sweeping kick that can trip and destabilize opponents, setting them up for a series of follow-up attacks.

### Motivations

Dakanda's primary motivation is to reclaim her family's honor and prove that the Multrisri name is synonymous with martial arts excellence. Her secondary goal is revenge against those who wronged her family, which includes a subplot involving her pursuit of specific characters within the Tekken universe who she believes are connected to her family's downfall.

### Story Character

In the Tekken storyline, Dakanda enters the King of Iron Fist Tournament with the intent to take down key fighters associated with the Mishima Zaibatsu, who she believes played a part in her family's disgrace. Throughout the tournament, she clashes with various characters, her backstory and motivations slowly revealed through her interactions and rivalries. Her ultimate goal is to face the Mishima family members, particularly Kazuya Mishima, whom she holds responsible for her father's betrayal and fall from grace.

### Rivalries

- **Leroy Smith:** A respected fighter with a strong sense of justice, who opposes Dakanda's ruthless methods.

- **Asuka Kazama:** Known for her strong sense of honor, she becomes an adversary when she learns of Dakanda's true motives.

- **Fahkumram:** Another Muay Thai fighter, whose more honorable approach to the sport contrasts sharply with Dakanda's methods.

### Conclusion

Dakanda Multrisri is a complex antagonist whose journey through the Tekken tournament is driven by personal vendetta and the quest for redemption. Her inclusion adds depth to the roster, providing a fierce and formidable opponent whose backstory interweaves with the larger Tekken narrative.

[e-l-i]

(inhales)

ALRIGHT, MOTHERFUCKERS, FOLLOW SPREE TIME

like/reblog if you post any of the following –

Yakuza (i'm on 0 and Kiwami right now, but i v much enjoy the characters so far)

Devil May Cry (a l l of them)

Bayonetta (1 & 2)

Resident Evil (all)

Alice: Madness Returns

Watch Dogs (1 & 2)

Dishonored (1 & 2)

The Evil Within (1 & 2)

Fallout 3/New Vegas

Silent Hill

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion/Skyrim

Doom

Vampire Hunter D

Devilman Crybaby

Vocaloid/UTAUloid/Project Diva

Ju-on: The Grudge

Space/star/galaxy aesthetics

Horror/creepy/surrealcore/weirdcore aesthetics

Angel/divine aesthetics

Witchcraft/Tarot stuff

[sniiiped]

Hope this hasn’t been done yet.

[mikk1n]

Tell me about your Dishonored blorbos? Also which character from Dishonored is honorably dishonorable, who is dishonorably honorable, and who can figure out the difference between the two?

I SAW THIS IN MY INBOX AND FORGOT TO FUCKING ANSWER SHIT-

Okay so I really really really like Havelock. Like if I had to choose a single favorite character from Dishonored it would be him. Idk what it is about that fucked up old man but he tickles my brain really good and also he transed my gender. So thanks Arkane for the gender.

Other characters I really really like are Corvo (but like. my interpretation of him. bc I'm picky and snooty about it), DH1 Emily, Samuel, Martin, aaaand probably a lot more but I'm brain foggy and it's hard for me to think rn. I also really like Billie, I think she was done really dirty by DOTO :(

I will say I prefer DH1 over DH2 and beyond because like...idk...DH2 feels kinda...defanged? And more hand-holdy than the DH1?

Havelock strikes me as the honorably dishonorable one. Like...this is gonna get a bit rambly so forgive me but like, if you step away from the really obvious foreshadowing (because Arkane stapled their hand to the players apparently), and take him in like some of the other characters do (like the other Loyalists aside from the Big Three), Havelock seems fairly trustworthy? He's strong, blunt, headstrong, and dead set on getting his way, no matter the cost, but he hides behind a facade of honor. He claims he was cast out of the Navy for rejecting Burrows' rule as illegitimate, he makes a point of saying how the choices he'd have made as a younger, bolder man (i.e. staging a more violent coup) wouldn't have led to the "bright future" he claims to want to bring about. He claims the conspiracy is all about restoring the Kaldwin line and removing an illegitimate regime—but we all know how that ends.

I fully believe Havelock is putting on the front, the same way Martin does—the two of them are dangerous in different ways. Where Martin lowers your guard with honeyed words, Havelock lowers it by posturing himself as the man who wears everything on his sleeve. People think that what you see is what you get with him, and I feel like it's to the point where he could even be seen as foolish or a mindless brute. But he's smart, he's calculating, and he knows exactly what he's doing. He's playing The Game™ while appearing as though he doesn't care to understand it. And he uses his mask of a stern, honor-bound, almost fatherly military man as a means to control people and manipulate things behind the scenes.

Corvo is the dishonorably honorable one to me—he does follow an honor code and he follows it closely, but one relevant to Serkonos, not to Gristol. There's a really good article that explores the concept of Corvo pursuing a vendetta more in-depth that I highly recommend you read, it's definitely informed my characterization for Corvo: it's called Corvo Is Not An Honorable Man.

[feelingbluepolitics]

We Must Handle the Truth

There's no question that the management of Donald trump will be an issue of on-going global importance. Knocking him from his (alleged) official perch is only the first step.

The more crucial steps must follow, because trump will retain his influence and his supporters, and they will do whatever he hints that he wants, even up to treasonous attacks, assassination attempts, and mass murders.

We must be clear. There is no cozy "look to the future and heal" pretence of an option in our present situation. This is aside from the fact that taking that Pollyanna path repeatedly --from Watergate to Reagan to Bush-- helped to criminalize and radicalize the Republicon Party into the danger they are today.

Shame, honor, and true patriotism have become vestigial on the Right. Their criminal administrations and elected representatives keep getting away with what they do because we embolden them each time with a blind eye.

That is not how justice works. The blind eye of justice means that no one, no matter how powerful, is exempt. The time to work on that is January 20, 2021, and we are far overdue. Politicians, corporations, tax cheats, polluters: we still have laws, for all of trump's and his administration's destructive efforts.

We sully our government offices and endanger our nation by not requiring accountability to the office and to the people, over and above any present occupant. Where we are blocked by pardons we must still have thorough public investigation. That is not a waste of time for lack of a prosecutorial path. It is existential. It's the accountability we cannot do without. It's the foundation of the future laws we need to draft and pass to safeguard this country.

Pardons become entirely corrupt when we acquiesce to them blocking investigation. Democracies survive on information and truth, combined. We are where we are now in part because we still have corrupt actors left-over from Watergate active in our politics.

What are we to do about trump? That isn't initially, or perhaps ever, all about pardons, or state versus federal charges, or orange jumpsuits. In this instance, ironically, the potential solution is all about trump. This is where an examination of how trump interacts with the rest of the human world can guide us.

He forms specific categories of relationships which are actually invariable, because he is permanently shallow and unperceptive. Because trump the consumate narcissist is always the center of every relationship, and because he is, without introspection, forever fixed in all his defects, all of his various relationships fall into the same patterns within their categories. Here they are:

1) The Strongmen. Shades of daddy Fred trump, these are aspirational relationships teaching the type of utter control the core pathetic trump would like to wield. But because of daddy, trump is conditioned to the "love me, admire me, and be useful and loyal or I will harm or destroy you" format, but on the weaker side.

This is why we have seen trump pushing the United States of America into eagerly obsequious deference with respect to Russia, North Korea, and Turkey, and also pandering to Saudi Arabia's power which is additionally derived through vast transactional wealth.

But we cannot and do not want to transform America or Biden into this Strongman mold, because then it will have been pointless to remove trump.

2) The Assets. This category comprises trump's immediate family members and all Republicons in office, from Mitch McConnell to Kevin McCarthy, and from Michigan’s Republicon Senate members to, potentially, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. This category also extends to trump's supporters, mostly as a collective.

These are the flipside of the Strongman category, where trump gets to play the opposite role. These people are tools, who work constantly to remain in good standing with trump, rendering obsequious deference and servitude as a matter of advantage but also, essentially, as a matter of status survival.

trump is a horrible antagonist or enemy.

This, by the way, is exactly the relationship this country cannot continue to allow with trump, as a matter of national security.

3) The Targets. We know who they are. They caught trump's wrathful attention. Some of the targets are personal to trump to varying degrees, while some are a matter of expediency, or are demonstrated examples, or are, so far, peripheral.

But everybody knows trump will never stop -- that is the personna he cultivated-- unless a Target person has something of value to make them an Asset again. (This is why trump is called purely transactional, in combination with having no beliefs, no morality, and no honesty.)

Fauci, and Birx, (who for a while pulled off a mommy-style interaction with trump as he tried to impress her with nifty genius like injecting bleach), are in a no-man's land, transitional between Asset and Target, in part because trump doesn't like attention on covid if he can help it.

We don't know exactly what trump will try to inflict on Mary trump for writing her book, but we've already seen a variety of attacks against Bolton, Kelly, and Michael Cohen, along with innumerable others. (It isn't just books. It's that these people did not keep flattering, and obey.)

He ousted from political power Jeff Sessions, Jeff Flake, Bob Corker (White House as "an adult day care center"), and Mark Sanford, of "the Appalachian Trail." He can do the same to any other individual Republicon, because as a group, they are all too backstabbing, dishonorable, greedy, and cowardly to unite against him.

Certainty we have seen trump's behavior with respect to Fox Gnus, the Clintons, and Obama.

This is the relationship this country cannot allow itself to fall into with trump. But how possibly to prevent it?

For that, we look to another category of trump's relationships.

4) The Survivors. Of those not in the Strongman category, there are few people who have survived relationships with Donald trump and who can get trump to do favors for them -- to do what they want.

It is dangerous idiocy to call them trump's "friends," by way of explaining their leverage and longevity. The key is leverage.

Rudy Giuliani :

- A "very, very good relationship" with trump.

- "I've seen things written like he's going to throw me under the bus. When they say that, I say he isn't, but I have insurance."

- "I do have very, very good insurance."

Giuliani's insurance is knowledge; some knowledge about trump gives him leverage. The leverage has to represent knowledge that trump fears exposure of or consequences for. Giuliani doesn't fear being otherwise loose-lipped, or even crazy, and his relationship with trump is currently letting him pull in $20,000 a day for "legal work."

Roger Stone :

"[trump] knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him. It would have eased my situation considerably. But I didn't."

This leverage allowed Stone to openly demand clemency from trump regardless of any amount of political capital it could potentially cost.

The succession of wives, too, possess whatever personal knowledge, likely far more powerful than negotiated pre-nups and settlements, which ensure the notorious litigious deadbeat abides willingly by contractual terms.

As a nation, we need to survive trump. We have observed what works. But as a nation, we must address the issue of trump just a bit differently. Unlike Giuliani, Stone, or even Putin’s special holds over trump, we must:

1) Investigate trump extensively. Entirely. Turn him inside-out. And then,

2) Make the findings public. This is where a nation, a government of, by, and for the people in a country ruled by law and not kingdoms or cults, differs from defensive black-mailers or manipulative foreign spies.

This part, making public everything that doesn't actually threaten our national security to reveal, is necessary to harden both our resolve and our democracy, and to peel off whatever of trump's support that we can, and to deter the next trumpian assaults, whether by trump or the people who will try to follow the path trump has scorched into the fabric of our nation.

Public reveals are also a safety measure. There is vast potential for corruption otherwise. But then,

3) Keep every single trump-related criminal prosecution -- legitimate, of course, because we are not trump -- on the table. That is the leverage.

That's how to survive trump. There must be no more talk of how investigating a former *resident will turn us into a "banana republic." In a so-called banana republic, powerful government officials pressure others, either to carry out vendettas, or favors of protection by "looking the other way". Government is bent toward personal exploitations. Been there. Done that these past four years under trump and Republicons.

They have actually installed what can be termed "a deep state," notably for the first time, and sane Americans must know its extant. Fcuk their cries of victimization and oppression of the Right. The only difference is, when we investigate, there are actual violations, crimes, and scandals, with evidentiary proofs; when conservatives investigate, it's fundamentally bullsh*t-and-paranoia based.

A "banana republic" is exactly what we are attempting to rescue our nation from. With all the recognition that the Right has systematically unmoored from truth, and the terrible dangers that threaten as a result, from a stupid civil war born of propaganda, to climate devastation, as much truth as we can discover is what we need.

Knowledge is power. With trump out of the White House, we can get it. We must have it.

[warsofasoiaf]

The golden Company in Essos part I: you have gone into some detail with this ask in the past but I was hoping you can expand on it. Bittersteel forged the remaining exiles of the blackfyre loyalists into the golden company, which has been for about 100 years, at least 10,000 men strong and one of the most disciplined fighting forces in the known world. Bittersteel and his band probably stayed in Tyrosh under the protection of Daemon’s wife family for a time while they plotted and schemed.

The golden Company in Essos part II: the plot led by Daemon II And Gormon peake was doomed from the beginning and I am sure Bittersteel did not see the loss of Daemon the younger as a great loss. However, after the defeat of the force in the third rebellion and Bittersteel capture and close call rescue, I am sure there must have been some among the company who were thinking the cause in Westeros was lost and that other options needed to be considered

Golden company in Essos part 3: we know that under the leadership of Maelys, the golden company and the band of nine carved out some territory for themselves. So surely during the leadership of Aegor there were some among them who thought that they should use their men and resources to create their own little kingdom and leave Westeros to the the red Dragon.

The golden company in Essos part 4; they had some options available for such a kingdom. The disputed land, the ryhonar, the stepstones, the abandoned cities left by the Dothraki. They could have set up one of Daemon’s sons as King there and expand outward, making deals with neighboring states, building new keeps and attracting settlers and other would be adventurers. I am just thinking Bittersteel was as obsessed with getting ride of the Targaryens as Bloodraven was obsessed with the blackfyres.

Golden company in Essos final part: so in your opinion why did you think Bittersteel didn’t use the blackfyre resources to set up a sellsword kingdom in Essos and instead wasted time, money, and men on trying to take Westeros despite loss after loss?

I think the principal reason that Bittersteel didn't seek to establish a sellsword kingdom in Essos is because he felt that to do so would abandon the mission to restore the Black Dragon's descendants to their rightful place. While a lot of Bittersteel's characterization is unknown, I don't think it's too far-fetched to hypothesize that Bittersteel actually really liked and believed in Daemon, and didn't sign on solely for reasons of personal gain and hatred of Bloodraven. And as the Captain-General of the Company, his word carries significant weight, it's he who decides the direction of the Company, what contracts they take.

There's also another reason that's just as significant - the murder of Haegon Blackfyre while in prison provided a uniting animus for the Golden Company to continue the anti-Red Dragon mission. Now, Daemon's heir was murdered in a completely dishonorable fashion which stokes a powerful need to answer the slight against their chosen candidate. It's one thing for an heir of Daemon to die in honorable combat. Once Aenys Blackfyre is tricked and murdered in 233, this establishes a pattern of dishonorable murder by the Reds, and given Bloodraven's luring of Aenys, this means that a "live and let live" detente isn't possible because it's the Reds initiating the murder plot. Bloodraven, on his own, declared eternal vendetta against Daemon's descendants, so by that context, the Blackfyre supporters would conclude that there's nothing that can be done, the Reds want them dead and will stop at nothing to attain that.

Now of course, after Bittersteel's death, at least some of the Captains-General were Blackfyre descendants themselves interested in continuing their mission - Daemon and Maelys. Others were Westerosi exiles who may have hoped for home like Myles Toyne, the Golden Company does seem like a haven for Westerosi sellswords and exiles - who would find some small reminders of home to give them comfort.

Also, the company culture of the Golden Company probably impresses that mission upon its members. Given the Golden Company's mantra of "their word is as good as gold," they'd no more abandon that mission than they would abandon another contract. This particular sentiment is a point of pride amongst the Golden Company, it's their motto and they hold it as a point of distinction from the other sellsword companies that change loyalties and abandon contracts. That has to enter into their thinking at some point.

So, a confluence of these factors, it's not hard to see why the Golden Company keeps that mission firm in their hearts and their OPLANs.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[jedivoodoochile]

The Chilling ‘Snow’ of Mr. Freeze - Debuting as Mr. Zero in February 1959’s Batman #121 and then almost a decade later as Mr. Freeze (March 1968’s Detective Comics #373) due to the popularity of the character within the late 1960s “Batman” tv series, this Batman rogue was a gimmick character until his return three decades later on animated television. Once Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's tale "Heart of Ice" reinvented Mr. Freeze into a sympathetically tragic figure, his origin story presented in this 1992 episode of Batman: The Animated Series was utilized in most Mr. Freeze stories in comic books and other DC Comics visual media.

On this day in 2005, J.H. Williams III and Dan Curtis Johnson retell Mr. Freeze’s origin story in the 5 issue arc “Snow”. Published in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #192-196 and illustrated by Seth Fisher, Dave Stewart, and Phil Balsman, the Batman goes up against his ally Commissioner James Gordon when he doesn't help Batman track down a rising criminal and puts together a dishonorable task force. Meanwhile, Victor Fries tries to save his ill wife Nora with tragedy striking in the cryogenics lab, resulting with Nora frozen in ice. About to kill himself and losing all hope, Victor decides to change his destiny and take on the company that has ruined his life, donning the persona of Mr. Freeze. Batman and his new partners in crime discover Freeze's vendetta and has to stop this chilling mad scientists from taking more lives in Gotham City.