#Panth��re

[dailyanarchistposts]

From anti-capitalism to anti-homonormativity

As we have seen, an important part of queer politics is the reclaiming of hetero- normative public space for queer public sex and safety. Berlant and Warner’s account of queer counterpublics takes recourse to a spatial taxonomy related to cap- italist private property rights and commercial development. ‘In late 20th-century‘‘post-industrial’’ societies like the United States, the (in)visibility of class divisions continues to be spatially regulated by urban planning’ (Hennessy, 1994–95: 67). Ownership and control of space is at stake in queer liberation. ‘By letting the language of real-estate development serve queer public intimacy, Berlant and Warner provide a powerful and necessary critique of heteronormative privacy and put forth a compelling defense of the social networks and queer culture created through public sex’ (Castiglia, 2000: 156). Spaces mapped out for queer pleasure via communal intimacies are crucial to queer counterpublics. For Warner, ‘A counterpublic, against the background of the public sphere, enables a horizon of opinion and exchange; its exchanges remain distinct from authority and can have a critical relation to power’ (Warner, 2002: 56–7). Anti-capitalist queer organizing assumes a critical relation to the new power hierarchies that have been established within queer culture, to unlink queer culture from consumerism, offering critiques of gay villages steeped in commerce, the ‘pink dollar’, the gay niche market, and corporate sponsorship of Pride marches.

Exhibit C: The Pink Panthers, Montreal, 14 February 2004

Operation ‘Pepto-Bismol Please!’, designed by the Pink Panthers collective to denounce the commercialization of Valentines Day, took place as planned late this afternoon in Montreal’s Gay Village. After puking on the doorsteps of the Village’s most prosperous shops and bars catering to gay businessmen, members of this radical queer group flooded the neighborhood with counterfeit coupons, symbolizing the reign of the pink dollar and the capitalist compliance of today’s average gays and lesbians (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004).

According to Berlant and Elizabeth Freeman: ‘The Pink Panthers, initially con- ceived of at a Queer Nation meeting (they are now a separate organization), pro- vided a searing response to the increased violence that has accompanied the general increase of gay visibility in America’ (1992: 161). Les Panthe‘res Roses, The Pink Panthers, was ‘a group of radical queers based in Montreal, who use[d] direct and creative action to confront the established order’. Formed in 2002, Les Panthe‘res Roses held their first anti-capitalist action at Montreal Gay Pride in 2003, ‘[d]istribut[ing] hundreds of Anti-Ad Kits on Rene-Le´vesque Street’ (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004). In 2004 they organized an anti-homonormative Valentine’s Day vomiting direct action:

A member of the Pink Panthers, before vomiting on the steps of the store Megavideo, revealed that the most infuriating thing for him was the capitalist appropriation of emotions like love and liberty, which have always belonged to everybody and should never have become dependant [sic] on consumption. He feels that multinationals and others who profit off of Valentine’s Day are doing something that by its very nature (competition, salary reduction, waste of natural resources) has nothing to do with the love of another person. (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004) The Pink Panthers used their vomit action to denounce capitalist exploitation of gay consumer dollars and ‘natural resources’ or the environment, linking these two issues. They also noted that, ‘businessmen make themselves out to be the most enthusiastic proponents of gay liberation, while at the same time using their phallocentric power to exclude everyone who is not a white man’ (Les Panthe‘ res Roses, 2004). They add masculinity and race to the environment and capitalism as axes of oppression that intersect with and in queer subjectivities and liberation. The Pink Panthers’ anti-homonormative action includes a greater diversity of queers who might live in poverty, and/or be women, and/or be bisexual, and/ or be trans, and/or be people of colour, and/or be sex workers, and/or be dis- abled, and/or not conform to the dominant beauty image, and/or otherwise devi- ate from gay stereotypes. They challenge barriers to participation for doubly or multiply marginalized queers in counterpublic spaces inside urban clubs or shops, where some modes of oppression might be reinforced (e.g. by racism, the ‘dick at the door’ policy, beauty standards, social class belonging, ageism, ableism and so on). Furthermore, the Panthers’ message was created in the streets, accessible to all passers-by, claiming public spaces and moments as queer autonomous zones free of oppression.

Direct action vomiting critiques the homonormativity of the queer counter- public that includes gay villages, corporatized Pride marches and the like. The Pink Panthers’ vomit actions make Berlant and Warner’s erotic vomit story seem somewhat limited, as does the academic public created by representation in an article such as this one. Sitting in a bar vicariously experiencing some- one’s intense eroticism positively revalues and simultaneously degrades it, as the performance risks becoming commodified. The Pink Panthers’ statement critiques queer counterpublics for commodifying affect through ‘the capitalist appropriation of emotions like love and liberty’. While the erotic vomiting scene Berlant and Warner witnessed is hardly a Valentine’s Day card, it does partic- ipate in the queer consumerism of gay bars that reifies homo-norms, for exam- ple that queers all go to leather bars, or that being queer is a hip young urban lifestyle choice. These stereotypes become homo-norms in urban queer counterpublics.

While queer visibility in heteronormative culture is important, Mall Zaps and Kiss-Ins also tend to reinforce queer stereotypes through mainstream practices such as shopping and public kissing. Richard Dyer has found that ‘Gay people, whether activists or not, have resented and attacked the images of homosexual- ity ... The principle line of attack has been on stereotyping’ (Dyer, 2006: 353). Gay stereotypes tend to emphasize white middle-class cisgender gay male consumerism. ‘Particularly damaging is the fact that many gay people believe [stereotypes], lead- ing on the one hand to the self-oppression so characteristic of gay people’s lives, and on the other to behaviour in conformity with the stereotypes which of course only serves to confirm their truth’ (2006: 353). Kiss-Ins and Mall Zaps perform the ‘truth’ of certain stereotypes revealing both internal (within queer groups) and internalized (within the self) oppressions.

Ironically, this tends to both deconstruct and simultaneously reinforce both heteronormativity and homonormativity. ‘One of the modes of [maintaining het- erosexual hegemony] for gays is casting gay relationships and characters in terms of heterosexual roles’ (Dyer, 2006: 356), including kissing in malls or public squares posing as a heteronormative couple. Kevin Michael DeLuca describes a famous gay kiss-in poster by Gran Fury thus: ‘One sailor has his arms around his partner’s waist. The other sailor’s arms are around his partner’s neck. In other words, it is a classic kiss’ (1999: 18). This image inserts queer subjectivities into the public sphere, demanding access to power. At the same time, it risks becoming a homonormative image, as the men are both beautiful, white, thin, and middle class with matching short haircuts and outfits. Certainly there is also a level of irony in the perfor- mance. Nonetheless acts and images like ‘these simply bolster heterosexual hege- mony, [whereas] the task is to develop our own alternative and challenging definitions of ourselves’ (Dyer, 2006: 357). Self-definitions must move past white privilege and other dominant homo-norms. A Kiss-In emphasizes public kissing, not a norm in all ethno-cultural groups. Shopping imagines all queers as middle- class consumers who escalate environmental devastation. ‘These stereotypes of wealthy free-spending gay consumers play well with advertisers and are useful to corporations because they make the gay market seem potentially lucrative’ (Hennessy, 1994–95: 66). Queer activism, in earnest attempts to challenge hetero- normativity, has inadvertently reinscribed a homonormative subject complicit with capitalism, racism, environmental destruction, ableism, patriarchy, beauty myths and so on. Radical queer activists attempt to move beyond this deadlock without abandoning the notion of queer culture altogether.

The Pink Panthers’ action of vomiting in public takes it out of a commodified space. The vomit, however, was made of oatmeal not actual vomit, producing a simulated vomiting against the hyper-simulations of capitalism. The action goes into a space it rejects, and replicates that which it rejects. This simulation and rejection is analogous to the disgust shared with commuters, a kind of hyper- affect produced by vomiting in streets or back-alleys or commuter trains. Only these non-regulated, open-ended public spaces can be liberatory; as the body itself becomes the message, the vomit becomes a kind of street-corner text acces- sible to all. According to DeLuca, the body itself has become an event-image, a text that can shift the discursive mainstream framing of queer politics, as some ‘activist groups practice an alternative image politics, performing image events designed for mass media dissemination. Often, image events revolve around images of bodies – vulnerable bodies, dangerous bodies, taboo bodies, ludicrous bodies, transfigured bodies’ (DeLuca, 1999: 10). The vomiting body is a ‘dangerous body’ bringing forth new ideas. ‘Their bodies, then, become not merely flags to attract attention for the argument but the site and substance of the argument itself’ (1999: 10). Using their bodies, the Pink Panthers’ puking action articulated a message against con- sumerism and other exclusions, the substance of which was the vomit itself. Their ‘bodies simultaneously are constructed in discourses and exceed those discourses’ (1999: 20) – or in this case, the discourse/vomit exceeded the body – moving beyond ‘a class-specific ‘bourgeois (homosexual/queer) imaginary’ [that] structures our knowledge of sexual identity, pleasure, and emancipation’ (Hennessy, 1994–95: 70). Certainly not bourgeois, vomiting on the steps of queer consumerism makes the point that pleasure and emancipation should be available to all subjects, those who go to gay bars, as well as those who are excluded. The public created is a free and fluid autonomous public.

This kind of direct action demonstrates that ‘movements around gender and sexuality do not always conform to the bourgeois model of ‘rational-critical debate’ (Warner, 2002: 51), nor do they remain legal. Groups such as ‘Earth First!, ACT UP and Queer Nation have challenged and changed the meanings of the world not through good reasons but through vulnerable bodies, not through rational argu- ments but through bodies at risk’ (DeLuca, 1999: 11). Engaging in direct action in open public spaces the Pink Panthers risk criminalization. After the action in Montreal, The Mirror ran the headline, ‘Puking Queers Make Splash!’ and featured an interview with a ‘self-described anarchist’, who used the name ‘‘Olivier’’, – a pseudonym, as he acknowledges his acts are illegal’. The use of pseudonyms is almost ironic as vomiting is not a transgression of the law, but rather signifies a transgression against the digestive system. The context of the action, however – in public, against corporations – renders it ‘illegal’ and the pseudonym necessary. Often regular behaviour (vomiting, having sex) is criminalized when engaged by queers. Furthermore, there is a link between shame (i.e. the private) and criminal- ization (i.e. privatization of ownership, space and so on). Warner observes that ‘critically relevant styles of publicness in gay male’ and, I would add, other queer ‘sexual culture[s] are seldom recognized as such but are typically denounced as sleaze and as crime’ (2002: 52). Puking punks and queers are sleazy, shameful criminals who are bad for business.

And yet sleaze, perversion, deviance, eccentricity, weirdness, kinkiness, BDSM and smut, although perhaps not openly homo-norms among the new assimilation- ists advocating same-sex marriage, are central to sex-positive queer anarchist lives. ‘Queer and other insurgents have long striven, often dangerously or scandalously, to cultivate what good folks used to call criminal intimacies’ (Berlant and Warner, 2000: 322), figured as exciting sites of resistance. ‘Nonstandard intimacies would seem less criminal and less fleeting if, as used to be the case, normal intimacies included everything from consorts to courtiers, friends, amours, associates, and co- conspirators’ (2000: 323). Here we come up against another binary, however: normal vs. nonstandard. According to Jamie Heckert, ‘LGBT politics maintains these categories: it intends to invert their meaning, redefining sexual deviance as sexual identity of which one should be proud and sexual normality as boring/ oppressive’ (2004: 106). The desire for certain behaviours to be recategorized as ‘normal’ is denounced in a queer anarchist world-making project that considers all consensual, non-coerced intimacies and sexualities legitimate, challenging homo- normativity via anti-oppression politics.

[nijjhar]

Punjabi - Kings and Emperors of Darkness of India surpassed Princes of D... Punjabi - Kings and Emperors of Darkness of India surpassed the Princes of Darkness of the Judah tribe. https://youtu.be/bVcFT43vJTI If a Sikh of the Second Panth, Bhai Ghaniyia Ji, has no enemy or stranger, then why bring into the Sikh Gurdwaras the weapons of the Third Khalsa Panth who kill the tyrants? A man of Surti, one in a million, KOTTON MAE AIK, will know this. Tell me which are the First and the Fourth Panths? The Satanic greedy Khatris have printed the ATT KHARI Forbidden by Satguru Arjan Dev Ji Beerrs to run their businesses. The spiritually blind people will read the Khari Beerr. No wonder the greedy Bhatt had leprosy – KOHRR. RABB RALAEE JORRI; IKK ANAH = SANGAT, TAE IKK KOHRRI = MUNNMUKH GRANTHI. Was Bhindranwalla a Sikh, Khalsa, or a terrorist? WHY TEN LIGHTS? Nanak wasn't a Moral Teacher, a Brahmin Guru but Satguru = Christ of the highest order that Preaches the Gospel to one's mind, Munn, Nafs, etc. https://youtu.be/HquVBRjtXF8 Full article on my website:-  www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/tenlights.htm Punjabi - Nirmallae Sants learned the Scriptures from Kanshi and then, they Preached the Gospel like St. Paul. They didn’t handle money. The sons of Satan KOORRIYAAR will collect money. https://youtu.be/chiRrKtEqLg Satguru is the Christ and Nanak is the Second Coming of Jesus. They are the Royal Priests of God, the Spokesmen Sons of God Parbrahm, Elohim, Allah, etc. The Bhagats and Saints are also Christs but they were NOT the anointed ones. SATT PURAKH JINN JANAEYA; SATGURU = CHRIST TISS KAA NAOO – Christ Rajinder. The First anointed Christ Jesus came when the Rabbis had become grossly inefficient and greedy hypocrites. People suffered at their Mammon orientated malpractices as you see them even today.  In the Middle East one Prophet came in the name of Moses or Elijah to make people sons of Man or the Jews of heart by teaching them the Moral Laws that the corrupt priests were floundering e.g. Herod marrying the wife of Philip. And that was Angel John, the Baptist, and an ideal Levi Priest whilst to preach the Gospel Truth, SATT to the sons of Man Christ Jesus was the First Anointed Christ = Satguru, the Son of Elohim, Allah, Parbrahm, etc., the very Source of Light (Sun).  In Sikhism, John, the Baptist is called Israeli Fahrishhtta. This moral teacher is defined in Matt.13.v52 as the owner of a House (Synagogue) who bringeth forth Treasures Old = Scriptures written by men and New = Gospel Truth = Satt that you receive through Logical Reasoning only.   Thus, in Jesus, we had twelve Labourers; 7 to fulfil the law or morality of John, the Baptist, water = Salt of the earth, and 5-Temptations of heart for spirituality or the Purity of heart as that was of the Samaritan Woman at well. Thus, physical body of “sins” is purified by water whilst the heart of the Five Evils is purified by the Blood of Christ by Preaching the Gospel Truth from the rooftops. After the destruction of the Temple = Winepress in 70 A.D., the Temple Priests = Husbandmen who killed Jesus were made redundant and they would not do any other job than that of the Priest. So, they jumped over the walls of the Church of God headed by Christ Jesus with forbidden Torah under the armpits and re-established themselves in the Churches fulfilling Matt 12v43-45 making the situation worse than before the arrival of Christ Jesus. Thus, the crook Messianic Jews who kept the 7 Candles of the Menorah at the same level that the Christ has not come created Pope and his stooges to make people Deaf and Dumb as represented by the Jehovah Witnesses today. The Head Bishop, the Pope, became so cruel that he started to burn people in hundreds and the Islam of Hazrat Mohammad Sahib based upon similar grounds, moon and star, was no less cruel. The Real Islam of Allah is of Sun and it is Shariah-Free. It was Preached by Royal Shah Shamas Tabrezi but Mullahs killed Him. When, the cruelty was extreme and people were suffering, then it was the right time for the Second anointed Christ Nanak Dev Ji to appear among the most spiritually sick greedy people of the Khatri tribe of the Punjab. Satguru Nanak Dev Ji had five more Lights making in total six according to the Saying:- SHAE GHAR SHAE UPDESH…………………. Also, one should bear in mind that in Kal Yug, both the previous Ages’ Prophets come.   In the name of Shri Ram Chander Ji, the Moon of Ram, Muryada Parshotam Avtar of Vishnu, came Satguru Nanak Dev Ji; the Roohani Muryada Parshotam, Paar Vishnu Son of ParBrahm, Allah, Elohim, etc. whilst in the name Shri Krishan Baldev Ji, Shakti daa Devta, N My ebook by Kindle. ASIN: B01AVLC9WO Full description:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/Rest.htm Any helper to finish my Books:- ONE GOD ONE FAITH:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/bookfin.pdf and in Punjabi KAKHH OHLAE LAKHH:-  www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/pdbook.pdf Very informative Channel:- Punjab Siyan. John's baptism:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/johnsig.pdf Trinity:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/trinity.pdf

[aelyos]

Devlog #3 - Game?!?!?!?

I will start this off by quoting myself from an earlier Devlog: "Is this going to be a game? Could be,"

And now, "could be" has become "I'll try"! That's right, I am trying to make a game set in the world of Aelyos, one catch though. It's gonna be small game, nothing fancy, with lore scattered around. So far it's....

Unity go brrr. (I'm using the MysticWoods asset pack if you're wondering) (and yes, I did re-colour the player to resemble Marty McFly)

In other news:

Kelpies: I added the good ol' spirit water horses to this realm. They are found in haunted lakes and some shallow seas, they are often ridden by Nedilgar (Ice Ghost Viking Guys)

Aelyos Rail: A rail system that runs throughout the mainland of Aelyos. The train starts at Alluscýr and stops at all the nations and ending just short of the Elven territory and looping back around. Aelyos Rail uses steam powered trains made of wood and steel, they were built by a group of Dwarves and Stelves. With the invention of train travel, it was easier for people to get between kingdoms, though a passport is needed to cross borders.

Curses/swears from Aelyos: For Wyn's sake! (For God's Sake)

To the lost realm with you (Go to hell)

Oh Mi Panth (Oh My God)

Matre de Panth (Mother of God)

Oh, and new logo for this blog! No longer is it the basic one, it's now a modified version of the basic one.

Okay, that's it for this Devlog, more news next time! Cheerio

[a-z0-9-i-n-gram-completionist]

1:    0 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z    34/36    (26/26)

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8:    28635573 4channer 86355730 accessib appening ccessibl cessible channers conditio differen ecolored escapade familiar happenin ifferent manually nfamilia ondition realized recolore scapades sisyphus unfamili    23/2821109907456    (20/208827064576)

9:    286355730 4channers accessibl ccessible condition different escapades happening nfamiliar recolored unfamilia    11/101559956668416    (9/5429503678976)

10:    accessible unfamiliar    2/3656158440062976    (2/141167095653376)

I was gonna steal @i-remove-color-from-posts’s gimmick but then I realized I have no idea how

So instead I recolored them

Enjoy >:)

[designerbagauctions-blog]

Cartier - Panthère Handbag

New Post has been published on https://designerbagauctions.com/cartier-panthre-handbag/

Cartier - Panthère Handbag

Go to the Cartier Handbag Auction

Cartier Handbag Details

Brand: Cartier

Colour: Black

Model name: Panthère

Object type: Handbag

Material: Leather

Condition: Fair condition, used with visible signs of wear

Height: 9.44 in

Width: 9.05 in

Depth: 2.75 in

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Cartier – Panthère Handbag – Black – Leather

Since 2012, HIRAKOBA has been exporting second hand brand items world-wide from Japan.

Brand: Cartier Style Name: Panthere Color: Black, Gold Material: Leather. Comes with: NONE Country of Manufacture: Unknown

CONDITION DESCRIPTION Exterior: Scratches, stains, a little rubbed, wrinkles and out of shape. Bottom: A little rubbed and scratches. Interior: Rubbed, scratches, wrinkles and a little stains. Ink stains. Corner: Rubbed. Stitch is torn. Edge: Rubbed. Handle: Stains, scratches and a little rubbed. Hardware: Scratches and a little peeled off. Odor: Storage Odor

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[loudstan]

Epiphany (P1. 13, FINALE)

A collection of  NCT werewolf AU stories.

Doyoung (pt.1) (pt.2) (pt. 3) (pt. 4) (pt. 5) (pt. 6) (pt. 7) (pt. 8) (pt. 9) (pt. 10) (pt. 11) (pt. 12) (PT. 13 FINALE)

Summary: The wolf population kept decreasing and those who were left had a hard time trying to fit  into society. Sure, people didn’t consider them as dangerous as vampires, but wolves could still sense some hostility every time they did as much as go for a walk in a public place. Thanks to wolves’ natural magical abilities, NCT (one of the remaining packs) found a safe place among witches in a town where no one knew their secret, allowing some members to finally get a job, study and interact with others without fear of being rejected.Life seems to finally be peaceful for them… except that wolves have needs, and one of those needs is finding their mate.

Pairing: Werewolf! Doyoung x Witch! female reader

Warnings: smut

“So you’re okay with this?” you asked

In awe, he nodded and you wasted no time.

You straddled him again and with no warning you pumped his length a couple of times, lined yourself up and started to sink down.

Desperately, Doyoung scratched the couch to the point he tore the soft fabric up, mumbling something you couldn’t quite comprehend.

If you weren’t so turned on you would have laughed at his weak attempt to stay still while you were sitting there, taking all of him. You thought that convincing him would be harder, but he was clearly about to lose it.

“Are you sure you don’t want to touch me?” you teased, giving a tentative bounce.

He sobbed and squirmed, still babbling nonsense.

“What was that?” you asked leaning closer so you could hear what you were sure was a string of curses and moans. Instead it was more coherent than you expected, and in Latin.

A spell?

You sat up just in time to see a dim light surrounding his wrists, glueing them efficiently to the couch.

“The handcuff spell? Seriously?” he was either being childish or kinky. Handcuffing himself with magic to control his wolf? “How long can you keep the spell going though?” you scoffed.

“I-it’s not up to m-me,” he sighed, slightly relieved that the spell had worked. “It will vanish once you say the password.”

“So, a safeword? Fine, what is it?”

“You’ll h-have to figure it out,” he had the audacity to smirk when he wanted this as much as you. Maybe even more than you, he was the one who got physical pain if he couldn’t have his mate.

“Have it your way,” you said, giving another bounce. “ Like I need your help to get off.”

“We’ll see a-about that.”

You decided not to argue anymore, quickening the pace instead and effectively turning him into a moaning mess. Or maybe the one moaning was you, you couldn’t quite tell at this point.

As the minutes went by and the air grew thicker, your whole body was trembling as you felt him grow inside of you.

“O-oh, god,” you panthed. “ Are you getting b-bigger? Is that your knot?”

Doyoung, who had been observing you with lidded eyes the entire time, finally had something to say.

“Uh, n-not yet. That’s just m-me…”

“Oh… but that means that knots...are a thing, right?

“Y-yeah, it normally happens during heats, but it can also happen if we...get really worked up,” he said, licking his lips. “ But it takes a while of uh...fucking for that to happen. You know, basic werewolf anatomy.”

You looked at where your bodies were connected, your mind completely blank. You had stopped listening after he confirmed he could indeed knot you. You had never thought you were into that before, but there was something so animalistic about being knotted that you could only think about that now.

With a new purpose in mind, you gathered the strength you had left and rode him hard. Doyoung looked at you with wide eyes.

“D-does that turn you on?” he asked in disbelief in between moans.

You whined and nodded. Normally you wouldn’t admit it, but your pride was long gone.

“Yeah? My needy little mate wants my knot? Oh- so g- ah! That feels so good, baby. Just like that, just like that,” Doyoung was also leaving all formality behind, seeing you so desperate for him.

His praises served you as motivation to continue moving, even though your legs had given out. Frustrated, you tried to force yourself to ride him, only managing to grind harsh and slow.

“I can’t, please!” you sobbed incoherently.

“Keep going. Keep fucking going. Come on baby, use me,” he encouraged you while trying his best to thrust his hips into you. He couldn’t fuck you properly if he couldn’t move freely, but it was better than nothing. You were willing to take anything.

“More, more please oh my god,” you gasped as he gave you a few more thrusts, mixed with the weak movements your body could offer in your state.

“Are you gonna cum soon, hmm?” he hissed. “A-re you satisfied?”

“No!” you wailed. You were oh so close, but you didn’t want to cum just yet. “Y-your knot, want your knot.”

“Fuck!” he growled and his member twitched inside of you. “I wanna breed you so bad. You’re mine, mine, mine-”

It was the possessiveness in his voice that had you reaching your climax and collapsing on top of him while he whispered sweet nothings in your ear.

“Good girl, you did so well. I love you so much.”

“Love you too,” you replied weakly, closing your eyes to welcome what you thought would be a long nap, when you heard a sudden snap and Doyoung’s arms surrounded your body.

“Finally,” he growled next to your ear and before you could even blink, he manhandled you so you were on your back under him.

“Wha-” you tried to question what had just happened when he connected his lips with yours into a passionate kiss.

“Did we really have to go this far for you to admit that you love me?” he asked between kisses. “I literally had to fuck the confession out of you.”

“T-that was the password?” you asked gasping when he kissed his way to your breasts.

“Not necessarily,” he delicately licked at one of your niples before sucking on it, moaning.. “The only condition was that you admit your true feelings for me, whether you felt something or not.”

He released the sensitive nub and gave it a last kiss before going back up and pinning your wrists above your head with just one of his large hands. His other hand travelled down to grab his member and without a warning he re-entered you.

You literally shrieked and squirmed under him.

“Too s-sensitive-AH!” your eyes rolled back when he pushed himself in deeper than he could when he was tied up.

“Shh, baby. Don’t you want my knot?” he purred, grabbing your hips and pulling you onto his cock again and again.

“Oh my god, ohmygod,” was all you could mumble.

“Fuck, you like that, baby?” he gritted as he lifted one of your legs and his pace accelerated.

The new angle and how deep he could reach now had you arching your back and letting out a silent scream.

He pulled his hips into him harder and faster, his knot slowly forming at the base of his length. He let out a shaky moan as he forced it inside of you, your mind too blinded with pleasure to feel any pain at first, but when the rest of it started growing inside of you, you panicked.

“It’s too big, s’ too much-please” you scratched his arms and back.

“Take it,” he simply said as his knot grew further while he fucked into you. “I’m gonna fill you up so good.”

Your entire body was shaking. You had never felt so full. And just when you thought the pleasure couldn’t be better than this, Doyoung gasped dramatically and halted his movements. Your eyes followed to where he was looking: at the very bottom of your belly there was a little bump.

“Y/n, look,” he said, caressing your belly as if he was hypnotized. “I’m so deep inside of you.”

“Fuck,” you were officially losing it now. Your locked your legs around his hips, trying to fuck yourself into him. “Give me your knot, give it to me.”

He didn't need to be told twice. He pulls you into him as he fucks forward as fast and hard as he can.

“You want it? You want me to cum right inside of you where I belong?”

“Yes! yes, yes,yes, yes, oh fuck!”

You spasmed around him and reached your high as he fucked you brutally. Right after, he fell forward, his knot squirting furiously inside of you as he let out a delirious laugh, lost in pleasure.

“Oh, y/n look at how good you take it,” he gritted while his hand reached for your clit and rubbed it quickly. “One more time, baby, cum for me one more time, come on.”

Sobbing desperately you felt another wave of pleasure hit you, your entire body trembling before you relaxed completely. You felt Doyoung panting next to your ear, before he started licking and sucking on the mark he had left there weeks ago.

It must be a wolf thing, you thought gaining back some of your long forgotten ability to think.

“Sorry. I'll remember to use a condom for the next round,” he said softly. “I’ll also get you plan B if we need it.”

“You’re lucky I’m on the pill. How many rounds are we talking about?” you asked breathlessly.

“Enough to fuck the attitude out of you-ouch!” he laughed when you hit his arm. “I don’t know, it could take one more round or we could be here all week.”

“Well, fuck.”

“Yep, fuck indeed.”

You two remained in silence for a few minutes before he broke the silence again.

“Can we please be together now? Like, really together. As a couple? I mean, we don’t have to, but-”

You bursted out laughing, but stopped when you saw the insecurity in his eyes. Seriously, only he could get insecure when his knot was locked inside of you.

“On one condition: I get an A for my last written assignment.”

He stared at you in disbelief before he let out a chuckle.

“I’ll reread and re-evaluate every single assignment you wrote this year, after I make you squirt.

“Deal.”

[tarkhan]

#Tarkhan (#ਤਰਖਾਣ)

Tarkhan is a north Indian tribe which has been historically present in a Punjab and its nearby areas. Tarkhans are an ethnic minority and most of Tarkhans are followers of Sikhism and small number is a follower of Hinduism. Very small of number of ethnic Tarkhans are found in Pakistan, these Tarkhans are followers of Islam. Tarkhans are subdivided into various clans (ਗੋਤ).

Tarkhan #Occupations:

Tarkhan occupations are carpentry, blacksmithing, masonry and farming. The Lohars (blacksmiths) of Punjab are Tarkhans who work with metals and term Tarkhan-Lohar is also used. This diversity in Tarkhan occupations is very clear from Sikh history, where different Tarkhan-Sikhs had different occupations. For example: Baba Lalo Ghattaura, one of the first Sikhs of Guru Nanak was a carpenter, family of Baba BHAI Roop Chand has always been farmers, Baba Hardas Singh Bhamra made the famous nagni used to kill the drunken elephant, he was also scholar, and close associate of 10th Sikh Guru, and Mistry Des Raj Kalsi of Sur Singh played an important role in re-construction of Akal Takht after it was destroyed by Ahmed Shah Abdali. In modern day Punjab, every house, every building is made by Tarkhans, all machinery such as combines, ploughs and harvesters are made by Tarkhans including manufacturing of tractors, also welding and repairing despite being a small minority. Tarkhans are the only people in Indian sub-continent to be masters of more than occupations.

#Ancient #History of Tarkhans:

Kasgarli Mahmut was 11th century scholar from Kashgar. He explained the word Tarkhan in the following way: "It is a name given before the Islamic religion. It means prince (Bey, Umar) in Arghu language." It is clear the word Tarkhan was not pure Turkish and that it was adopted into Turkish from the old language of Sogdiana. This was proved in the Turkish dictionary Divan u Lugat it-Turk written by Kasgarli Mahmut. Sogd was a name of a nation who settled in Balasagun. These were of the Sogd race. Sogd lay between Bukhara and Samarqand. Sogdia (/ˈsɒɡdiə/) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization.

Historian H. Beveridge in his paper titled Tarkhan and Tarquinius points out that antiquity of Tarkhan is evidenced by the fact it's etymology is lost. He also states that Tarkhan was both a personal title and the name of a tribe. Bipin Shah in his paper titled Patali of Alexander, Sack of Nagar Thatta and Arghoon rule of Sindh talks about pre-historic central asian tribe named Tarkhan. Beveridge, Isaac Taylor, C. R. Condor and J. G. R. Farlong in their writings all agree that Tarkhan, Tarkan and Tarquin are same. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome from 616 to 579 BC. Tarkhan was used among the Hittites (1700BCE- 1200BCE) to refer the tribal Chiefs. Also, the the Kassites (1531BCE-1155 BCE) had god called Tartakhan.

Khodadad Rezakhani of Freie Universität (Berlin) in the paper titled Continuity and Change in Late Antique Irān: An Economic View of the Sasanians writes (year is 560 AD): "These are the famous Nezak Tarkhans who claimed descent from the Alkhon king Khingila (Grenet 2002: 218). We know that these Tarkhans controlled the passes across the Hindukush both to Bamiyan and also to Kabul, via the Panjshir Valley (Baker and Allchin 1991). Based on the pattern of the earlier Hephthalites, they established and controlled formidable castles on both sides of the Surkhab River in southern Tokharistan, controlling the trade and military route from Bactria to Bamiyan (Grenet 2002: 218-20)."

In Eras of Humanity by Genealogy, Brian Starr writes about Kama Tarkhan of Huns. Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese traveller of 7th century AD also mentions various Tarkhans in Indian subcontinent such as Tarkhan of Samarkand, a meeting between king and 200 Tarkhans. Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium a collection of the papers by S. Kuwayama makes the mention of Chebishi Tarkhan who along with Tafu Tegin was sent to court of Tang Dynasty by King of Gandhara in 753 AD. Tarkhan Dynasty ruled over Gilgit in 7th and 8th century and was founded by a prince from Badakhshan. Further, founders of Maglot dynasty of Nagar and Ayash dynasty of Hunza were both Tarkhan princes. Tradition traces the origin of these Tarkhans to an imaginary Kayāni prince of Persia, by name Azur Jamshid, who is said to have fled here after the Arab conquest of Persia.

The town named Tarkhan in Egypt has been a site of various archeological diggings, some which were as old as 4000 BCE and oldest woven piece of cloth called Tarkhan Dress. In the town of Chal Tarkhan (Iran) many artifacts were found belonging to Sassanian Period (224 to 651 AD). Tarkhankut is name of peninsula in Ukraine and there are various places named Tarkhan in Russia. Tarkhans have been present in Indian subcontinent atleast since 6th century AD.

The ancient history of Tarkhans is also evidenced from the origin of various Tarkhan clans, such as Ubbi was a Germanic tribe and Bahra a Arabic tribe. There are places named after various Tarkhan clans in Iran (Panesar E-Takshan, Hunejan etc) and Tarkhan clans such as Siyan and Salh are also found among Kurds. Padam and Rattan being of native Indian origin. Menander 1 a Indo-Greek king was born in place named Kalasi (Alexandria of the Caucasusn) around 165 BCE. More than 90% Tarkhans have Tarkhan exclusive clans, only a very little overlap with others.

Some Tarkhan #Personalities:

• Jugde Dalip Singh Saund: First Asian to become Judge in US and get elected in US Congress. His son Dalip Saund Jr. served in US Army as a Lieutenant during Korean war.

• Satnam Singh Bamrah: First N.B.A player from India.

• Bardish Chaggar: First female Leader of the Government in the House of Commons in the history of Canada.

• Baba Sukha Singh Kalsi: There are 7 episodes dedicated to his bravery in Panth Prakash.

• Sir Mota Singh Matharu, QC: First Asian to become judge in United Kingdom.

• Lt-Colonel Kamal Kalsi (US Army).

𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗻 #𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

According to 1881 census of British India there were 263,479 Tarkhan Sikhs. In the book The Crucial Decade by S.C. Sharma writes that Tarkhans too are found in all the three religious groups in this province, on 1921 their numerical strength in the (United) Punjab was 684,000. The small population of Tarkhans is also evidenced from the fact most of villages in Punjab used to have only three to four houses of Tarkhan families.

List of Tarkhan #Villages (Incomplete):

• Bhai Rupa (ਭਾਈ ਰੂਪਾ), Thathi (ਠੱਠੀ), Siriyewala (ਸਿਰੀਏਵਾਲਾ), Nehianwala (ਨੇਹੀਆਵਾਲਾ), Dialpura Bhaika (ਦਿਆਲਪੁਰਾ ਭਾਈ ਕਾ), Towala (ਟੋਵਾਲਾ), Samadh Bhai Ki (ਸਮਾਧ ਭਾਈ ਕੀ), Ravleri (ਰਾਵਲੇਰੀ), Lakhnor (ਲਖਨੌਰ)

• Sikhwala (ਸਿੱਖਵਾਲਾ) Kotha Rajasthan (ਕੋਠਾ ਰਾਜਸਥਾਨ), Kabool Shah Khubban (ਕਬੂਲ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਖੁੱਬਣ)

• Muktsar (ਮੁਕਤਸਰ): Tarkhan Wala (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਵਾਲਾ), Akalgarh (ਅਕਾਲਗੜ੍ਹ)

• Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ) (Amloh ਅਮਲੋਹ)

• Garhi Tarkhana (Macchiwara) ਗੱੜੀ ਤਰਖਾਣਾਂ (ਮਾਛੀਵਾੜਾ)

• Channian (ਚਾਨੀਆਂ) (Nakodar ਨਕੋਦਰ)

• Jallandhar (ਜਲੰਧਰ): Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ), Mothanwala (ਮੋਠਾਂਵਾਲਾ)

• Hoshiarpur (ਹੁਸ਼ਿਆਰਪੁਰ ਜ਼ਿਲ੍ਹਾ):Bhattian (ਭੱਟੀਆਂ), Chatowal (ਚੱਤੋਵਲ), Halerh Ghogra (ਹਾਲੇੜ ਘੋਗ ਰਾ), Choka (ਚੋਕਾ)

• Gurdaspur (ਗੁਰਦਾਸਪੁਰ ਜ਼ਿਲ੍ਹਾ): Rangilpur (ਰੰਗੀਲਪੁਰ), Dhadiyala (ਢਡਿਆਲਾ), Sada Rang (ਸਦਾ ਰੰਗ)

• Kapurthala (ਕਪੂਰਥਲਾ): Ahmedpur (ਅਹਿਮਦਪੁਰ), Tarkhanawali (ਤਰਖਾਣਾਵਾਲੀ)

• Phagwara (ਫਗਵਾੜਾ): Lohara (ਲੋਹਾਰਾ), Ramgarh (ਰਾਮਗੜ)

• Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ) (Samana ਸਮਾਣਾ)

• Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ) (Sirhind ਸਰਹਿੰਦ)

• Bagrian (ਬਾਗੜੀਆਂ)

• Vakilanwala ਵਕੀਲਾਂਵਾਲਾ (Ferozpur ਫਿਰੋਜ਼ਪੁਰ)

Tarkhan #Traditons

Tarkhans engage in ancestor worship in the form of Jathere (ਜਠੇਰੇ) and Matti (ਮੱਟੀ), different Tarkhan clans have different jathere However, this practice is now dying. Members within a same clan (ਗੋਤ) are related by blood. For marriages, Tarkhan practice class endogamy but clan exogamy i.e. they marry with Tarkhans only, however outside their maternal (ਨਾਨਕੇ) and paternal (ਦਾਦਕੇ) clans.

#Ramgarhia:

Some Tarkhan Sikhs identify with Ramgarhia as Ramgarhia Misl (Ramgarhia Confedration) was the one of most powerful Sikh Misl out of 12 misls. The founder and leader of Ramgarhia Misl was Maharaja Jassa Singh Bhamra, who was a Tarkhan himself and most of soldiers in Misl were from Tarkhan tribe. Strength of Misl is evidenced from fact that Ramgarhia Misl along with other sikh generals won Delhi and it was Jassa Singh Ramgarhia who dragged the Mughal throne from Delhi to Akal Takht, where it lies even today in Ramgarhia Bungas. In the Tawarikh Darbar Sahib by Udham Singh, it is written that Maharaja Jassa Singh of Ramgarhia Misl and his son Sardar Jodh Singh together contributed Rs 5 Lakh for construction of Ramgarhia Bungas.

#References:

1. Tarkhan and Tarquinius by H. Beveridge of The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

2. Anatolian Iron Ages: The Proceedings of the Second Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium held at İzmir, 4-8 May 1987

Edited by A. Çilingiroğlu and D. H. French, Page 115.

3. Era's of Humanity by Genealogy written by Brian Starr, Page 204

4. A Socio-Political Study of Gilgit Baltistan Province by Omar Farooq Zain.

5. THE WESTERN HIMALAYAN STATES by A. H. Dani.

6. A SHORT HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN By Professor Abdul Hai Habibi, President, Historical Society of Afghanistan.

7. Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium: a collection of the papers by S. Kuwayama.

8. Continuity and Change in Late Antique Iran: An Economic View of the Sasanians by Khodadad Rezakhani of Freie Universität, Berlin.

9. FAITHS OF MAN: A CYCLOPÆDIA OF RELIGIONS BY MAJOR-GENERAL J. G. R. FORLONG, M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., F.R.S.E., M.A.1, A.I.C.E., F.R.H.S.

10. THE HITTITES AND THEIR LANGUAGE BY C. R. CONDER, LT.-COL. R.E.

11. Patali of Alexander, Sack of Nagar Thatta and Arghoon rule of Sindh by Bipin Shah

12. PERSPECTIVES ON THE SIKH TRADITION, Edited by GURDEV SINCH, Foreword by KHUSHWANT SINGH

13. Tarkhan Nīzak or Tarkhan Tirek? An Enquiry concerning the Prince of Badhghīs Who in A. H. 91/A. D. 709-710 Opposed the 'Omayyad Conquest of Central Asia.

14. RAJ KHALSA PART - Iwritten by Giani Gian Singh.

[therapardalis]

Games for the mun.

𝑨𝑵𝑺𝑾𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑺𝑬 𝑸𝑼𝑬𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺.

nicknames:  Panth, or Theramun.

zodiac: Gemini.

height: 5′ 0″ (152cm)

timezone: Australian eastern standard (GMT+10, I think?)

sexuality: Hetero.

favorite bands / artist: Too many to name, but Suzi Quatro is right up there!

song stuck in my head: Would you believe I don’t have one right now? Last one was ‘I Want Candy’ by Bow Wow Wow.

last movie i saw: Solo re-watch.

last thing i googled: ‘Robert Sheehan photoshoot’.

do i get asks: Sometimes. If I post a meme I might get some, most often from the same few people. Other times I have to beg.

following: 130-ish.

followers: Not saying.

average amount of sleep: 8 hours normally, in blocks of 4.

what i’m wearing: Track pants and t-shirt.

dream job: Lotto winner.

favorite food: Sushi, chocolate.

favorite animal: Cats of all sizes.

play any instruments: Nope. I’m so tone deaf it’s painful :p

eye color: Blue.

hair color: Brown.

languages you speak: English

random fact: Magpies sometimes follow me home.

Tagged by: @onehell-of-apilot

Tagging: Whoever would like to and hasn’t been tagged yet!

[thesaltofcarthage]

Avengers: Endgame: Did Marvel Pull It Off?

This is a followup to my (surprisingly popular!) post “The Stakes Are Too High.” (at least, it surprised the hell out of me that it got so popular; I wasn’t expecting it to resonate as widely as it did.)

FULL ENDGAME SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. I’m putting it under a cut just in case.

Also, above the cut in case you’re still dodging spoilers, tagging @kryptaria @iamanartichoke @taurileonis @hjbender @chey-tips22 @wu-the-stoic @englishontheinside  @rennemichaels @alwida10 @ladylowkeyed @saltoftheearths @mizkit @thelightofthingshopedfor @essesnceofhappiness @theravenofwynter @pinetreeparadoxx @ironhammermagicshieldedgreenbow @philosopherking1887 @waywardkansasflower @lokeanrampant @maneth985 @ilovethemallsoimconfused @bengalaas @icyxmischief @yuuki-fandoms @snailchick  @fictions-stranger  @adhdasianaroace @artherra @missmaladicta @queerfictionwriter because you specifically commented/reblogged.

So having seen Endgame, the question becomes: Did Marvel pull it off? 

My answer is: yes and no.

Did we get an emotionally satisfying ending? Did Marvel understand that closure doesn’t have to come with corpses?

There were a lot of things I loved about Endgame. There were many, many of the “small character moments” we were begging for. Marvel didn’t forget that we fell in love with people and we need to see people and their choices and how they live with the consequences of those choices... mostly.

I loved how Marvel rewarded the audience for watching 11 years of movies. It was practically wall-to-wall Easter eggs and callbacks. I loved how the time travel allowed us to loop back through some of our favorite scenes and see them from other points of view, and the additional information. (Sitwell and Brumlow taking the scepter immediately after Loki’s capture: oh, so that’s how HYDRA got the Mind Stone!) I loved the cameos upon cameos (despite how silly it is for someone like Natalie Portman to show up for literally 15 seconds and not get any lines). I appreciated that Captain Marvel was used exactly the right amount: she saved Tony and Nebula, she was established as part of the post-Snap team, she came in at the end to lend some firepower, but she did not have any part in solving the problem nor was she the person who ultimately handed Thanos his raisin ass. I LOVED THE FINAL BATTLE, HOLY FUCK. (With the exception of Loki not being present, but I’ll get to that.) There were real laughs, and real tears. I cheered when Steve summoned Mjolnir (and laughed my head off at the Cap-on-Cap fight). I loved Morgan and Cassie, and the echoes of fathers and daughters throughout.

There were things I did not love, even before we got to the final or semi-final fates of some characters. I was genuinely offended with Thor’s treatment. I was not happy with Loki. I was confused about Vision, Gamora, and Black Widow, because they are due to return for future TV shows and movies, so leaving their statuses open or cloudy (or “dead,” which I put in quotes for a reason) was just disconcerting. The time travel opened up a lot of problems.

My original post was about endings, so let’s talk about those. In approximately descending order of Satisfying to WTF:

Stan Lee: Got his last cameo in the end of the arc so he didn’t miss any, driving along, clearly having the time of his life. Excelsior, Stan, and thank you for everything.

Clint: Got his happy ending. He was deeply bitter about losing his family, but got them restored to him. He did lose Nat, but I’ll cover her in her own section.

Steve: He did get his soft epilogue, albeit with Peggy Carter, and I can’t fault that. Marvel was never going to give us the Steve/Bucky romance no matter how obvious it was, and Steve/Peggy also works. (And really, I love Peggy, so for her to get a happy ending too is a bonus.) Steve gave so much of himself over the years. I can’t object to allowing him to be selfish and re-live his life quietly, to finally put down his shield and go home from the war. He got his reward.

It basically works with the existing timeline if you squint and assume that Peggy’s Alzheimer’s was messing with her at the beginning of Civil War, or if there’s another timeline altogether. I’m slightly annoyed that whatever he got to have with Bucky all happened offscreen between the stinger of Black Panther and the beginning of Infinity War, but apparently they did spend time together. And Steve clearly told Bucky was he was planning; that’s what “I’m gonna miss you” was foreshadowing.

STEVE IS WORTHY OF MJOLNIR. YESSSSSS!

Bruce: I was okay with the “Professor Hulk” storyline (which I was told by a sharp-eyed nephew is from the comics), although I wouldn’t have minded seeing that internal struggle onscreen, but I understand it’s an IP rights issue and there isn’t going to be another Marvel standalone Hulk film.

Tony: Augh. AUGH! I get it. I know why he died, on a meta level. But still.

This, at least, we can say is mostly “heartbreaking” and not “burn.” Tony got the five-year interval to make some kind of peace with his losses. He and Pepper got married and had Morgan. He got some kind of Happy For Now. He got some kind of reward, which RDJ brilliantly conveyed even in the few minutes we saw.  

@hjbender linked @starkysnarks’s excellent post about Tony’s arc. One important part:

That’s why I think that giving a better, more positive message is so important. While other characters have flaws, it’s only Tony who has this consistent, this carefully streamlined storyline of improvement, of redemption, of self-realization and self-betterment. It’s Tony who is most often referred to (by the aforementioned mainstream outlets AND within the fandom) as the most human of the characters, and his story – as the most humane. His happy ending with a new house and young family will not feel like an opt-out, it will not feel complacent, at least not to me. It will feel like hope. It will feel like achieving, at least partially, the goal of that endless internal struggle that we all go through daily. It will feel like it’s possible to be good and be happy and be content, to know that you have done you best and your best is good enough for you to live, and go forward, and be.

He ultimately got some of this, for a while. Tony’s fatal flaw is his fear about Thanos, or the threat that Thanos represents. Prior to Avengers, Tony was happy-go-lucky because he could, eventually, beat whatever the world threw at him. But Thanos was not of this world, and would have wiped everyone out if Tony hadn’t managed to get that nuke through the portal. That trauma, that guilt, that fear, is what drives him for the rest of the Infinity Stones storyline. He is desperate to protect everyone. It’s what makes him want to put “a suit of armor around the world” in Age of Ultron, and of course the way Ultron backfires compounds Tony’s PTSD and guilt, which is what leads to his position in Civil War and the fight he picks with Steve at the beginning of Endgame.

And the worst happens in Infinity War, and the Avengers lose. Everything Tony feared ultimately happened.

Five years later, he’s managed to move forward. He has his happy ending — as happy as he can be, given their losses. He’s accepted his failure, more or less. He wants to rest, which is why he rejects Steve and the others at first.

But his tinkerer’s brain won’t let him put their proposal aside. He needs to know intellectually that there’s no chance, that he can’t fix what he screwed up. Because that’s the other part of what drives him: they lost. He lost. “I lost the kid,” he tells Steve (meaning Peter). That fear of loss, of losing people, of failing people, of disappointing people, is what keeps pushing him. If he knows that there’s no possible way he can undo his mistake, he’ll figure out a way to cope, especially since he still has Pepper and then his daughter. But now there is a way, or there might be, and he can’t let that lie, he can’t rest, until he knows one way or the other. And when the way to fix things becomes possible, there is no other outcome for Tony to choose. He wouldn’t be a hero otherwise.

It is a terrible loss, but in the end I could accept it. Tony got a Happy For Now. He was able to enjoy his life for a little while. He got the genuine closure with his father which he couldn’t in the BARF hologram at the beginning of Civil War thanks to the time travel, and he got to see Peter restored and give him the hug which they weren’t at yet in Homecoming. Tony was triumphant. He defeated his greatest, most terrible adversary. He defeated his fear. Thanos is gone, and his minions with him. The echo of “I. Am. Iron Man.” was exquisite. (even more so knowing that line in the first movie was ad-libbed! it wasn’t in the script! It was RDJ’s idea!) So his death is sad, but it’s earned.

Natasha: Meh. Just meh. The scene where she and Clint fight over who is going to die was blackly hilarious. It made narrative sense for Nat to be the one who died — she has found family, but not children; she spent the interval trying to run the Avengers and SHIELD and trying to fix things, and this allowed her to contribute in a material way; she still has a lot of red in her moral ledger — but on a meta level, we know there’s a Black Widow movie in the works. It doesn’t make sense to have a spinoff series set before Endgame when you know how the character dies. It’s not a bad ending, all things considered, but the actress herself can’t get younger. Is it supposed to be her origin/backstory movie after the character has died? Is it Multiverse Branching Timelines? Was she restored when Steve returned all the Stones to their place in the timeline? Was she restored with Tony’s Snap, or Bruce’s? Not knowing how that’s going to work with the rest of the MCU timeline blunted the emotional effect of her death for me.

Although he’s not an original Avenger, I had similar issues with Vision. There will be a Scarlet Witch and Vision TV series. Vision is still dead, according to Wanda at Tony’s funeral. So was he restored with either Bruce’s Snap or Tony’s? Was 2018 Gamora? 

And the two which completely did not work for me, the ones where I think Marvel really missed:

Thor: Of the original Avengers, he was the one I was most upset about.

I really, really did not like how Thor’s very legitimate grief, depression, PTSD, and alcoholism were played for laughs. Thor is down to a “kingdom” of a few hundred people at best (we don’t know what Asgard’s population was to start with, but Hela killed quite a few, and then Thanos killed half of them on the Statesman, and it’s entirely possible that the Snappening dusted half of whomever remained). He’s living with the murders of Loki, Heimdall, and the Warriors Three (I can’t remember if Sif was supposed to have survived the Snappening, but she doesn’t appear in Endgame). He didn’t “go for the head” in Infinity War, which clearly haunts him despite the fact that Peter Quill is just as much to blame for interrupting Strange, Tony, Peter, and Mantis, or Wanda is just as much to blame for not getting the Stone out of Vision’s head faster, etc. etc. He cut off Thanos’s head after the fact and is clinging to that — “Who else here killed Thanos?” — as some kind of cold comfort. “Look, at least I did that in the end. At least I got revenge.”

Thor is a mess. His family is dead. His dearest friends are dead. He’s in a depressive spiral, self-medicating with food and alcohol, lost in video games because they are a consequence-free way to “win.” He’s holed up with Miek and Korg because they didn’t know him before Ragnarok and they have no real expectations of King Thor, God of Thunder, Avenger, Hero. He feels he has failed at everything which has ever been expected of him.

And the script... plays this... for laughs.

We are meant to laugh at his pot belly and flabby physique. We are meant to laugh at his unkempt matted hair and wild unbraided beard. We are meant to laugh at his drunkenness, at how he passes out, at how he blearily begs and whimpers to be the one to unSnap everyone ( “Please let me do something good, something right,” he pleads), at how he returns to Asgard on the day of Frigga’s murder and tries to frat-boy off to the cellars for some of Odin’s best ale because he cannot face his failure on this day too.

None of this is funny. It’s not funny at. all. It’s horrifying.

I do understand that this is likely more Hemsworth than Marvel. The actor vocally complained that he was bored with formal, upright Thor and would have been done with the character without Taika Waititi’s more comedic take in Ragnarok. He has said in interviews that Thor in Endgame is the closest to Hemsworth himself that the character has ever been, and clearly the actor loves doing comedy. He’s good at it — I enjoyed Kevin in Ghostbusters 2016.

I don’t object to loosening up Thor. I don’t object to showing Thor spiraling into alcoholism and depression and hiding from the world in food and games. I object to using depression and alcoholism for comedy.

Thor faces Frigga, reluctantly, and she counsels her son whom she loves, telling him not to worry about living up to expectations but to be his best true self. This is consistent with both characters; Thor has accepted how hard it is to be king. Then as Thor is quantumming out she adds “And eat a salad.” Really? You had to throw that in there? She sees the wreck her son has become and she nags? She gives him some kind and loving advice, she knows there’s some weirdness going on, but she has to cap it with fat-shaming?

We are meant to mock formerly ripped Thor for being “fat and ugly,” but let’s be clear: Thor’s appearance is an outward manifestation of deep emotional issues. Thor has not been able to cope with his failure. He and Tony faced similar terrible losses. Both characters originally had sunny dispositions. Tony, who still had Pepper at least, has managed to crawl out of his hole and build something with his wife and daughter. Thor lost his brother, his other half, and has mentally, emotionally, and physically collapsed. There really is no Thor without Loki.

And speaking of, I’m going to scream for a moment:

SERIOUSLY, MARVEL, WHAT EVEN THE FLAMING FUCK WAS THAT? YOU TEE UP A GODDAMN LINE LIKE “I ASSURE YOU, BROTHER, THE SUN WILL SHINE ON US AGAIN” AND THEN IT DOESN’T PAY OFF? I FUCKING WAVED THAT FLAG FOR A SOLID YEAR BECAUSE I WAS CONVINCED YOU WERE SMARTER THAN THAT AND THIS IS HOW YOU DO ME?

Loki: I am well aware that Loki started as an antagonist, and that my perspective is skewed from the fandoms I choose to participate in. I know that he’s not an Avenger.

But purely from a narrative point of view, Marvel, ya done fucked up. You dropped the ball.

From my previous post:

Loki’s death in Infinity War was so stupid and narratively pointless that a lot of fans, myself included, believe that there’s a plan behind the scenes (since we know Endgame involves time travel) which somehow explains it and gives it meaning. Because if not, then one of the most popular MCU characters — the only antagonist to keep returning, film after film, and primarily because audiences love him — died for nothing.

And there you have it. Explaining it after the fact in Loki’s TV show doesn’t count (and we don’t know that they will). Yes, Loki grabs the Tesseract in 2012 and disappears, so you can argue that “he doesn’t die,” but all that really does is screw up the timeline. It creates another timeline branch which isn’t resolved.

Is everything now a branched universe? If Loki took off with the Tesseract, does that mean The Dark World and Ragnarok never happened? If Loki didn’t go back to Asgard in chains at the end of Avengers, that means TDW couldn’t have happened the way it did. It means that Loki didn’t sacrifice himself, but does that also mean that Malekith would have gotten the Aether/Reality Stone from Jane and killed her? (It was Loki’s plan which saved Jane, let’s recall. And killed Kurse.) Does that mean Odin is still alive and on Asgard? And Hela was never unleashed? And therefore Loki and Thor never ended up on Sakaar and Hulk and Valkyrie Brunnhilde are still there? Or worse, that Odin died and Hela was unleashed but Thor wasn’t able to stop her because he didn’t have Hulk, Valkyrie, and Loki to help him? So she’s now loose and rampaging across the realms murdering at will?

It was appropriate for the larger arc for Carol to be part of the cavalry swooping in during the final battle to pummel Thanos for a while, but I kept waiting for Loki to show up. Loki was tortured by Thanos and Ebony Maw, which is what kicked off the plot of Avengers. If 2014 Thor was willing to break Loki out of prison to get revenge for Frigga’s death, why wouldn’t either 2014 Thor or 2023 Thor be willing to tell 2012 Loki “We have an opportunity for you to get back at Thanos. Wanna help?” Because as strung out and as still cocky as he was, jauntily waving in the elevator at the beast who just beat the shit out of him, I bet Loki would have been delighted to take a few swings at Giant Purple Nutsack Face. Yes, he probably would have escaped at some point during the final battle, because that’s who he was at the time, and still is — he’s “very comfortable with chaos,” as Hiddleston notes. And that would have been consistent. Help others if it also helps him, he’s not really a hero at that point in his arc, check out after Thanos is dead because he doesn’t want to go back to prison. That all would have worked. Even if he had no more to do than Shuri or Okoye, just to show him shooting a few blasts of seidr and showing that he is in fact just as powerful a sorcerer as Doctor “I’ve only been doing this for a year” Strange.

But Loki’s death in Infinity War is for nothing. Even if I wasn’t as invested in the character as I am, from a storytelling standpoint, it was pointless. The entire heavy foreshadowing of that line was utterly whiffed. You can’t even argue that “Loki sacrificed himself for Thor” because Thanos disappeared with the Space Stone, leaving Thor behind, and Thor crawled over to his brother’s dead, broken body and crumpled there to die. Thor gave up and never recovered. The last word he expected he would ever say was “Loki....” 

Thor didn’t choose in that moment to use Loki’s sacrifice to stand up and claim revenge. Even Clint did more than that after Natasha’s death. Thor only continued on to forge Stormbreaker because the Guardians happened to pick him up in the vacuum of space after the Statesman exploded. That wasn’t a choice by the character, which is what moves a character arc forward. It was happenstance. Thor’s heart was destroyed with Loki’s death. It’s a shell of a man who eventually beheads Thanos.

Loki got an “Avenge the Fallen” poster, but he wasn’t avenged. The 2012 version of him escaped and branched off a new timeline, according to the Ancient One’s explanation of how time travel works in the MCU.

We don’t know if either Tony’s or Bruce’s Snap restored 2018 Loki. Endgame is the end of this arc. Marvel can’t patch stuff up later and claim a do-over. 

AND FOR FUCK’S SAKE MARVEL WE NEVER GOT THOR AND LOKI’S HUG.

So: did Marvel hurt us?

Not as badly as I feared. There was a ton of fanservice and moments which were so go-for-broke that I felt like we were watching wish-fulfillment fanfic. (So many jokes about Steve’s ass. Steve joking about Steve’s ass.) The script didn’t stop to explain who people were or give context; it assumed the audience knew everything and was keeping up. And that last battle, have mercy, Helm’s Deep and Pelennor Fields look like playground skirmishes in comparison.

BUT: The loose ends are deeply frustrating, and I think the Loki fandom is going to blow a collective gasket. Grotty Drunk Thor having constant My Dick Is Bigger fights with Peter Quill is not going to make me want to watch Guardians 3. (Although if Loki comes back and sneers at Quill, and Thor follows his brother off into the wild yonder with stars in his eyes, okay, call me.)  

I will watch the Marvel TV shows because I’m a masochist, but I don’t know how much I’m going to allow myself to get emotionally involved. My expectations are far lower than before IW/EG. I don’t know how the shows and movies involving “dead” characters are going to explain things. Wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey handwaving is kind of a cheat, and it doesn’t excuse the shit storytelling which was allowed to happen in the first place.

Do I regret the journey? I don’t. It’s been a hell of a ride, and I’m so glad to have met these characters. I could wish for some things to be better, and hoo boy is there going to be a lot of corrective fanfic, but I’m not sorry I came along. 

(and P.S.: Loki lives. :P)

[winterhill-aria]

Panthe`re de Cartier necklace in white gold featuring a diamond panther with emerald eyes holding a tassel in its jaws.

[ladybuvelle]

// Been listening to this on loop lately, getting Muse Sona vibes.

I keep imagining her slowly approaching Atreus, drawing him in with her music and allure so she can get close - then reaching into his psyche to try and pull whatever fragments of Pantheon she can find back out so he can re-take the body. Or at least push Atreus’ consciousness back enough that Panth could take over again. In the process; trippy, violent, (sexual?) visions.

It’s just the story that plays out in my head while listening to it. (Meaning I’m not implying I want to write out that sort of scenario or anything.)

[nijjhar]

Two Anointed Christs; Christ Jesus and His Second Coming Christ = Satgur... Two Anointed Christs; Christ Jesus and His Second Coming Christ = Satguru Nanak. But the Satanic People corrupted both. https://youtu.be/hUFPRp-0pp0 If a Sikh of the Second Panth, Bhai Ghaniyia Ji, has no enemy or stranger, then why bring into the Sikh Gurdwaras the weapons of the Third Khalsa Panth who kill the tyrants? A man of Surti, one in a million, KOTTON MAE AIK, will know this. Tell me which are the First and the Fourth Panths? The Satanic greedy Khatris have printed the ATT KHARI Forbidden by Satguru Arjan Dev Ji Beerrs to run their businesses. The spiritually blind people will read the Khari Beerr. No wonder the greedy Bhatt had leprosy – KOHRR. RABB RALAEE JORRI; IKK ANAH = SANGAT, TAE IKK KOHRRI = MUNNMUKH GRANTHI. Was Bhindranwalla a Sikh, Khalsa or a terrorist? WHY TEN LIGHTS? Nanak wasn't a Moral Teacher, a Brahmin Guru but Satguru = Christ of the highest order that Preaches the Gospel to one's mind, Munn, Nafs, etc. https://youtu.be/HquVBRjtXF8 Full article on my website:-  www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/tenlights.htm Punjabi - Nirmallae Sants learnt the Scriptures from Kanshi and then, they Preached the Gospel like St. Paul. They didn’t handle money. The sons of Satan KOORRIYAAR will collect money. https://youtu.be/chiRrKtEqLg Satguru is the Christ and Nanak is the Second Coming of Jesus. They are the Royal Priests of God, the Spokesmen Sons of God Parbrahm, Elohim, Allah, etc. The Bhagats and Saints are also Christs but they were NOT the anointed ones. SATT PURAKH JINN JANAEYA; SATGURU = CHRIST TISS KAA NAOO – Christ Rajinder. The First anointed Christ Jesus came when the Rabbis had become grossly inefficient and greedy hypocrites. People suffered at their Mammon orientated malpractices as you see them even today.  In the Middle East one Prophet came in the name of Moses or Elijah to make people sons of Man or the Jews of heart by teaching them the Moral Laws that the corrupt priests were floundering e.g. Herod marrying the wife of Philip. And that was Angel John, the Baptist, and an ideal Levi Priest whilst to preach the Gospel Truth, SATT to the sons of Man Christ Jesus was the First Anointed Christ = Satguru, the Son of Elohim, Allah, Parbrahm, etc., the very Source of Light (Sun).  In Sikhism, John, the Baptist is called Israeli Fahrishhtta. This moral teacher is defined in Matt.13.v52 as the owner of a House (Synagogue) who bringeth forth Treasures Old = Scriptures written by men and New = Gospel Truth = Satt that you receive through Logical Reasoning only.   Thus, in Jesus, we had twelve Labourers; 7 to fulfil the law or morality of John, the Baptist, water = Salt of the earth, and 5-Temptations of heart for spirituality or the Purity of heart as that was of the Samaritan Woman at well. Thus, physical body of “sins” is purified by water whilst the heart of the Five Evils is purified by the Blood of Christ by Preaching the Gospel Truth from the rooftops. After the destruction of the Temple = Winepress in 70 A.D., the Temple Priests = Husbandmen who killed Jesus were made redundant and they would not do any other job than that of the Priest. So, they jumped over the walls of the Church of God headed by Christ Jesus with forbidden Torah under the armpits and re-established themselves in the Churches fulfilling Matt 12v43-45 making the situation worse than before the arrival of Christ Jesus. Thus, the crook Messianic Jews who kept the 7 Candles of the Menorah at the same level that the Christ has not come created Pope and his stooges to make people Deaf and Dumb as represented by the Jehovah Witnesses today. The Head Bishop, the Pope, became so cruel that he started to burn people in hundreds and the Islam of Hazrat Mohammad Sahib based upon similar grounds, moon and star, was no less cruel. The Real Islam of Allah is of Sun and it is Shariah-Free. It was Preached by Royal Shah Shamas Tabrezi but Mullahs killed Him. When, the cruelty was extreme and people were suffering, then it was the right time for the Second anointed Christ Nanak Dev Ji to appear among the most spiritually sick greedy people of the Khatri tribe of the Punjab. Satguru Nanak Dev Ji had five more Lights making in total six according to the Saying:- SHAE GHAR SHAE UPDESH…………………. Also, one should bear in mind that in Kal Yug, both the previous Ages’ Prophets come.   In the name of Shri Ram Chander Ji, the Moon of Ram, Muryada Parshotam Avtar of Vishnu, came Satguru Nanak Dev Ji; the Roohani Muryada Parshotam, Paar Vishnu Son of ParBrahm, Allah, Elohim, etc. whilst in the name Shri Krishan Baldev Ji, Shakti daa Devta, N My ebook by Kindle. ASIN: B01AVLC9WO Full description:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/Rest.htm Any helper to finish my Books:- ONE GOD ONE FAITH:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/bookfin.pdf and in Punjabi KAKHH OHLAE LAKHH:-  www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/pdbook.pdf Very informative Channel:- Punjab Siyan. John's baptism:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/johnsig.pdf Trinity:- www.gnosticgospel.co.uk/trinity.pdf

[ambition-of-a-vixen]

Happy Holidays part 2 :| Self Para

On Christmas Day, Kalina stood beside her husband while Gabriela was left with Violeta while they attended a church service. She held her head up high while entering the catholic cathedral for Midnight mass then again in the afternoon before doing a walkabout the cathedral before going home to the daughter where they were allowed to close the doors to the media and have dinner with the family. It was after dinner that Kalina shared her gifts with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law. She gifted Isabel with a photo album of her and her first born grand-child and Larissa received a Cartier necklace, the PANTHÈRE DE CARTIER NECKLACE, because it reminded her of a jaguar and to remind Larissa of Brazil when she was abroad. Larissa had also received an infinity ring in rose gold similar to one that she purchased for herself and her two little sisters signifying their sisterhood. For Miguel it was harder to top the gifts that she had given him before, the animal sanctuary, the liquor cabinet, so many gifts and she needed to top herself. The only thing she could think of was time. So at the table, he was given socks and at the bottom of the box it was a note card that stated that his schedule had been cleared as he would be joining his wife and daughter on her bridal gift, where there was a special someone waiting for him. They were to be going the island the next night, already there was her butler and nanny, Angel and Carina Caro with a Rastreador Brasileiro puppy waiting for Miguel. They couldn’t leave tonight because she had to see to it that the staff donated to the shelters the clothes that her husband and her no longer desired and daughter couldn’t fit anymore as well as the diapers she couldn’t fit anymore. She was trying to lead by example so that others would donate, aiding to the homeless. It was warm now which meant they could stock up on winter. The queen in waiting wanted to help with the homeless epidemic next and this was just the beginning. Kalina had to modify her plan for Bulgaria for Brazil but it was working so far. She was anticipating for the day that the Bulgarians realize they let go of a rose that was truly trying to help them. Then, on that day, Kalina knew she would sit back on her throne with her husband and laugh for they missed out on the gift that she was. Kalina knew what she was targeting and allowing herself to do things that would boost her image, the large wedding, the tours, the stunt double, it was a show and the people loved it. They loved her. As much as she abhorred the time that her his was missing, it made her popularity go up and when the people learned that she was with child, her popularity skyrocketed. The only thing that hurt it slightly was that she birthed a daughter at first but her initiatives worked to bounce that back. She was working to build a unshakable sway with the people, thus she would be able to bring to the table something with her husband. She wanted the love of the people like Caesar, like Alexander the Great, where if she was to step on the wrong toes with the nobles, not only would they think twice because of the emperor but also the people. Kalina didn’t dare voice her insecurities of not birthing him a son. She knew of the misogynistic views of the monarchy and in some places, it didn’t matter if the oldest was a girl, first born sons took the throne. She needed to solidify her place before someone dare recommend that she be replaced. Kalina watched as Lucena brought her baby to the dinner table, she beamed seeing her little star. She looked to her daughter, swearing that if needed be, is she felt like she was the best person for the throne then she was going to fight for her. Kalina welcomed her daughter, signaling for someone to come take her food. Her child in her arms, she was the softest. She dismissed Lucena, allowing her to go enjoy her Christmas Day, Kalina would see to her daughter. It brought her so much joy just for her baby to recognize Miguel, the light that ignited when the little girl saw Miguel.

[tarkhan]

Tarkhan (ਤਰਖਾਣ)

Tarkhan is a north Indian tribe which has been historically present in a Punjab and its nearby areas. Tarkhans are an ethnic minority and most of Tarkhans are followers of Sikhism and small number is a follower of Hinduism. Very small of number of ethnic Tarkhans are found in Pakistan, these Tarkhans are followers of Islam. Tarkhans are subdivided into various clans (ਗੋਤ).

Tarkhan Occupations

Tarkhan occupations are carpentry, blacksmithing, masonry and farming. The Lohars (blacksmiths) of Punjab are Tarkhans who work with metals and term Tarkhan-Lohar is also used. This diversity in Tarkhan occupations is very clear from Sikh history, where different Tarkhan-Sikhs had different occupations. For example: Baba Lalo Ghattaura, one of the first Sikhs of Guru Nanak was a carpenter, family of Baba BHAI Roop Chand has always been farmers, Baba Hardas Singh Bhamra made the famous nagni used to kill the drunken elephant, he was also scholar, and close associate of 10th Sikh Guru, and Mistry Des Raj Kalsi of Sur Singh played an important role in re-construction of Akal Takht after it was destroyed by Ahmed Shah Abdali. In modern day Punjab, every house, every building is made by Tarkhans, all machinery such as combines, ploughs and harvesters are made by Tarkhans including manufacturing of tractors, also welding and repairing despite being a small minority. Tarkhans are the only people in Indian sub-continent to be masters of more than occupations.

Ancient History of Tarkhans:

Kasgarli Mahmut was 11th century scholar from Kashgar. He explained the word Tarkhan in the following way: "It is a name given before the Islamic religion. It means prince (Bey, Umar) in Arghu language." It is clear the word Tarkhan was not pure Turkish and that it was adopted into Turkish from the old language of Sogdiana. This was proved in the Turkish dictionary Divan u Lugat it-Turk written by Kasgarli Mahmut. Sogd was a name of a nation who settled in Balasagun. These were of the Sogd race. Sogd lay between Bukhara and Samarqand. Sogdia (/ˈsɒɡdiə/) or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian civilization.

Historian H. Beveridge in his paper titled Tarkhan and Tarquinius points out that antiquity of Tarkhan is evidenced by the fact it's etymology is lost. He also states that Tarkhan was both a personal title and the name of a tribe. Bipin Shah in his paper titled Patali of Alexander, Sack of Nagar Thatta and Arghoon rule of Sindh talks about pre-historic central asian tribe named Tarkhan. Beveridge, Isaac Taylor, C. R. Condor and J. G. R. Farlong in their writings all agree that Tarkhan, Tarkan and Tarquin are same. Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome from 616 to 579 BC. Tarkhan was used among the Hittites (1700BCE- 1200BCE) to refer the tribal Chiefs. Also, the the Kassites (1531BCE-1155 BCE) had god called Tartakhan.

Khodadad Rezakhani of Freie Universität (Berlin) in the paper titled Continuity and Change in Late Antique Irān: An Economic View of the Sasanians writes (year is 560 AD): "These are the famous Nezak Tarkhans who claimed descent from the Alkhon king Khingila (Grenet 2002: 218). We know that these Tarkhans controlled the passes across the Hindukush both to Bamiyan and also to Kabul, via the Panjshir Valley (Baker and Allchin 1991). Based on the pattern of the earlier Hephthalites, they established and controlled formidable castles on both sides of the Surkhab River in southern Tokharistan, controlling the trade and military route from Bactria to Bamiyan (Grenet 2002: 218-20)."

In Eras of Humanity by Genealogy, Brian Starr writes about Kama Tarkhan of Huns. Hiuen Tsang, a Chinese traveller of 7th century AD also mentions various Tarkhans in Indian subcontinent such as Tarkhan of Samarkand, a meeting between king and 200 Tarkhans. Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium a collection of the papers by S. Kuwayama makes the mention of Chebishi Tarkhan who along with Tafu Tegin was sent to court of Tang Dynasty by King of Gandhara in 753 AD. Tarkhan Dynasty ruled over Gilgit in 7th and 8th century and was founded by a prince from Badakhshan. Further, founders of Maglot dynasty of Nagar and Ayash dynasty of Hunza were both Tarkhan princes. Tradition traces the origin of these Tarkhans to an imaginary Kayāni prince of Persia, by name Azur Jamshid, who is said to have fled here after the Arab conquest of Persia.

The town named Tarkhan in Egypt has been a site of various archeological diggings, some which were as old as 4000 BCE and oldest woven piece of cloth called Tarkhan Dress. In the town of Chal Tarkhan (Iran) many artifacts were found belonging to Sassanian Period (224 to 651 AD). Tarkhankut is name of peninsula in Ukraine and there are various places named Tarkhan in Russia. Tarkhans have been present in Indian subcontinent atleast since 6th century AD.

The ancient history of Tarkhans is also evidenced from the origin of various Tarkhan clans, such as Ubbi was a Germanic tribe and Bahra a Arabic tribe. There are places named after various Tarkhan clans in Iran (Panesar E-Takshan, Hunejan etc) and Tarkhan clans such as Siyan and Salh are also found among Kurds. Padam and Rattan being of native Indian origin. Menander 1 a Indo-Greek king was born in place named Kalasi (Alexandria of the Caucasusn) around 165 BCE. More than 90% Tarkhans have Tarkhan exclusive clans, only a very little overlap with others.

Some Tarkhan Personalities:

• Jugde Dalip Singh Saund: First Asian to become Judge in US and get elected in US Congress. His son Dalip Saund Jr. served in US Army as a Lieutenant during Korean war.

• Satnam Singh Bamrah: First N.B.A player from India.

• Martyr Nand Singh (Bharaj): Babbar Akali.

• Bardish Chaggar: First female Leader of the Government in the House of Commons in the history of Canada.

• Baba Sukha Singh Kalsi: There are 7 episodes dedicated to his bravery in Panth Prakash.

• Sir Mota Singh Matharu, QC: First Asian to become judge in United Kingdom.

• Lt-Colonel Kamal Kalsi (US Army).

• Sardar Bahadur Ram Singh, M.V.O, K.-I.-H.: Legendary Sikh Architect

𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

According to 1881 census of British India there were 263,479 Tarkhan Sikhs. In the book The Crucial Decade by S.C. Sharma writes that Tarkhans too are found in all the three religious groups in this province, on 1921 their numerical strength in the (United) Punjab was 684,000. The small population of Tarkhans is also evidenced from the fact most of villages in Punjab used to have only three to four houses of Tarkhan families.

List of Tarkhan Villages (Incomplete):

• Bhai Rupa (ਭਾਈ ਰੂਪਾ), Thathi (ਠੱਠੀ), Siriyewala (ਸਿਰੀਏਵਾਲਾ), Nehianwala (ਨੇਹੀਆਵਾਲਾ), Dialpura Bhaika (ਦਿਆਲਪੁਰਾ ਭਾਈ ਕਾ), Towala (ਟੋਵਾਲਾ), Samadh Bhai Ki (ਸਮਾਧ ਭਾਈ ਕੀ), Ravleri (ਰਾਵਲੇਰੀ), Lakhnor (ਲਖਨੌਰ)

• Sikhwala (ਸਿੱਖਵਾਲਾ) Kotha Rajasthan (ਕੋਠਾ ਰਾਜਸਥਾਨ), Kabool Shah Khubban (ਕਬੂਲ ਸ਼ਾਹ ਖੁੱਬਣ)

• Muktsar (ਮੁਕਤਸਰ): Tarkhan Wala (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਵਾਲਾ), Akalgarh (ਅਕਾਲਗੜ੍ਹ)

• Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ) (Amloh ਅਮਲੋਹ)

• Garhi Tarkhana (Macchiwara) ਗੱੜੀ ਤਰਖਾਣਾਂ (ਮਾਛੀਵਾੜਾ)

• Channian (ਚਾਨੀਆਂ) (Nakodar ਨਕੋਦਰ)

• Jallandhar (ਜਲੰਧਰ): Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ), Mothanwala (ਮੋਠਾਂਵਾਲਾ)

• Hoshiarpur (ਹੁਸ਼ਿਆਰਪੁਰ ਜ਼ਿਲ੍ਹਾ):Bhattian (ਭੱਟੀਆਂ), Chatowal (ਚੱਤੋਵਲ), Halerh Ghogra (ਹਾਲੇੜ ਘੋਗ ਰਾ), Choka (ਚੋਕਾ)

• Gurdaspur (ਗੁਰਦਾਸਪੁਰ ਜ਼ਿਲ੍ਹਾ): Rangilpur (ਰੰਗੀਲਪੁਰ), Dhadiyala (ਢਡਿਆਲਾ), Sada Rang (ਸਦਾ ਰੰਗ)

• Kapurthala (ਕਪੂਰਥਲਾ): Ahmedpur (ਅਹਿਮਦਪੁਰ), Tarkhanawali (ਤਰਖਾਣਾਵਾਲੀ)

• Phagwara (ਫਗਵਾੜਾ): Lohara (ਲੋਹਾਰਾ), Ramgarh (ਰਾਮਗੜ)

• Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ) (Samana ਸਮਾਣਾ)

• Tarkhan Majra (ਤਰਖਾਣ ਮਾਜਰਾ) (Sirhind ਸਰਹਿੰਦ)

• Bagrian (ਬਾਗੜੀਆਂ)

• Vakilanwala ਵਕੀਲਾਂਵਾਲਾ (Ferozpur ਫਿਰੋਜ਼ਪੁਰ)

Tarkhan Traditons

Tarkhans engage in ancestor worship in the form of Jathere (ਜਠੇਰੇ) and Matti (ਮੱਟੀ), different Tarkhan clans have different jathere However, this practice is now dying. Members within a same clan (ਗੋਤ) are related by blood. For marriages, Tarkhan practice class endogamy but clan exogamy i.e. they marry with Tarkhans only, however outside their maternal (ਨਾਨਕੇ) and paternal (ਦਾਦਕੇ) clans.

Ramgarhia:

Some Tarkhan Sikhs identify with Ramgarhia as Ramgarhia Misl (Ramgarhia Confedration) was the one of most powerful Sikh Misl out of 12 misls. The founder and leader of Ramgarhia Misl was Maharaja Jassa Singh Bhamra, who was a Tarkhan himself and most of soldiers in Misl were from Tarkhan tribe. Strength of Misl is evidenced from fact that Ramgarhia Misl along with other sikh generals won Delhi and it was Jassa Singh Ramgarhia who dragged the Mughal throne from Delhi to Akal Takht, where it lies even today in Ramgarhia Bungas. In the Tawarikh Darbar Sahib by Udham Singh, it is written that Maharaja Jassa Singh of Ramgarhia Misl and his son Sardar Jodh Singh together contributed Rs 5 Lakh for construction of Ramgarhia Bungas.

#References:

1. Tarkhan and Tarquinius by H. Beveridge of The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.

2. Anatolian Iron Ages: The Proceedings of the Second Anatolian Iron Ages Colloquium held at İzmir, 4-8 May 1987

Edited by A. Çilingiroğlu and D. H. French, Page 115.

3. Era's of Humanity by Genealogy written by Brian Starr, Page 204

4. A Socio-Political Study of Gilgit Baltistan Province by Omar Farooq Zain.

5. THE WESTERN HIMALAYAN STATES by A. H. Dani.

6. A SHORT HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN By Professor Abdul Hai Habibi, President, Historical Society of Afghanistan.

7. Across the Hindukush of the First Millennium: a collection of the papers by S. Kuwayama.

8. Continuity and Change in Late Antique Iran: An Economic View of the Sasanians by Khodadad Rezakhani of Freie Universität, Berlin.

9. FAITHS OF MAN: A CYCLOPÆDIA OF RELIGIONS BY MAJOR-GENERAL J. G. R. FORLONG, M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., F.R.S.E., M.A.1, A.I.C.E., F.R.H.S.

10. THE HITTITES AND THEIR LANGUAGE BY C. R. CONDER, LT.-COL. R.E.

11. Patali of Alexander, Sack of Nagar Thatta and Arghoon rule of Sindh by Bipin Shah

12. PERSPECTIVES ON THE SIKH TRADITION, Edited by GURDEV SINCH, Foreword by KHUSHWANT SINGH

13. Tarkhan Nīzak or Tarkhan Tirek? An Enquiry concerning the Prince of Badhghīs Who in A. H. 91/A. D. 709-710 Opposed the 'Omayyad Conquest of Central Asia.

14. RAJ KHALSA PART - Iwritten by Giani Gian Singh.

[jaegertango]

Lunch Break

Wrote this drabble a little while back to get into the swing of writing Elksy’s soup mum. It didn’t really go anywhere, but it was nice to get into more of Panthe I MEAN SIGMAINE’S history as a cook. So here’s a small something with Soren and Shaethea shooting the shit.

Every soldier needed a break, no matter how skilled or capable they were.

Soren had learned this fact early in his life as a Zealot, and he had a feeling that he was still alive because of it. There were too many times that he and other like-minded templars pushed themselves beyond the brink of exhaustion to prove themselves to the Light, and would collapse not due to their wounds, but their bodies giving out instead. There was no valor in dying on one's knees, and Sigmaine quickly realized that if his soul was to join the Light in the great beyond, he could not face them if he died so miserably. So he took to making the most of his times of silence, to allow his muscles to relax and his spirit to temper itself in readiness for his next show of bloody devotion.

It also gave him plenty of free time to learn how to cook.

With a pronounced inhale, he examined the smell of the bubbling broth within the pot before him. The human frowned slightly as the familiar bite of paprika refused to nip at his nostrils – it wasn't spicy enough. Reaching towards his several bags, he threw in yet another pinch of the red powder into the pot, the thick soup quickly swallowing up the spice eagerly. Stirring idly, the Zealot carefully eyed his surroundings once more as the chunks of chicken, potato and celery tumbled over the spoon. One more inhale, and Sigmaine smiled fondly: there it was.

Pleased with the results, he let the pot sit as he pulled away to tear off chunks of the loaf of bread he had brought along with him. It was a bit too roasted of a crust, but that would make it easier to eat with the thick soup he was crafting. A balanced diet would revitalize him much faster than just one food group. No matter what Leohart wanted to tell him, Soren knew better. That was why he was the designated cook of the Verdict, and nobody else was allowed into his “kitchen” unless they wanted to get decked by a very angry Zealot. At first, he felt he was too clumsy to handle any of the small knives and stirring utensils necessary, but after a few weeks, the man was indisputably the best cook of the Crusaders, even if Bird kept attempting to challenge him on that fact.

Despite himself, Sigmaine's smirk widened crookedly as he remembered the first dish he had mastered – stew. Stew was easy to make, and all he had to do was dump the chopped ingredients he had into the mix to make a hot meal. Meat, potatoes, vegetables – it all sat nicely in the pot and kept the Verdict warm and eager for their next Crusade. Though, the Scarlet Stew he was used to making certainly looked a lot more volatile in comparison to the tame golden glimmer of the chicken gumbo he was cooking for now. Suramar did not have many natural ingredients, but thanks to the close proximity of Dalaran lurking in the heavens above, it was not hard for Soren to get all he needed to properly maintain the delicious viscosity of the soup. As he returned to the broth, he reached for a bowl to prepare his dinner and finally begin his break for the night-

*crack*

Soren's body tensed up, immediately dropping the bowl and brandishing the knife in his hand threateningly in the direction of the branch snapping. His orange eyes glared behind the protective steel of his helm, even if the rest of his armor had been discarded to his tent. He might have been imposing back in Stormwind, the six-foot-four human wearing only a tank top and pants to reveal his darker complexion and bulky muscles as scarred as a tiger's stripes; but the Broken Isles had monsters easily twice his height and girth. Carefully, he eyed the brush that he thought was concealing his camp's position, ready to jump on whatever Broken Nightborne was about to shamble where they didn't belong. His fierce gaze flitted in the direction of his fiery greatsword over ten feet away with the rest of his gear – at least he knew where to jump if that cutting knife wasn't enough. The crackling of leaves and plants intensified, and a pair of elven ears poked out first – and it was far worse than any zombified addict of mana ever could have been.

Her face was rounder, and more mature than any other Kaldorei face that Soren had ever seen, but that familiar silver look of determination immediately sent the man on attack. He took an aggressive step forward, raising the knife up high in order to get a surprise stab down on the intruding woman's neck, but he never connected. Before he could properly take another stomp after the first, the Night Elf moved with far greater speed, suddenly rushing forward to jab the human in the eyes through the open visor of his helm. The precise motion was not at all what Sigmaine was predicting, and his entire attack was halted as he was momentarily blinded. A gruff snarl of confusion left him before he felt something heavy and mighty crash against his armored forehead – something that had enough force to easily knock him to the ground and the knife out of his hands. Within the space of only a second and a half, Soren had tried to attack the assailant, and was laughably countered and disarmed. As he felt a boot press on his offending wrist, he tried to squint up at the Kaldorei's face just so he could glare at the would be killer of-

...not Eclipse?

He was dumbfounded enough to not struggle, which was enough for the woman to also stop. Her silver eyes narrowed at Soren, and even in the haze of his watering sight, Sigmaine knew that this wasn't the Night Elf he thought she was. Her facial tattoos were sharper, and her long white hair had an older gleam to it – definitely not that of a wig. Combined with the deep lines and wrinkles etched into her cheeks, now the human was surprised he confused her with Eclipse in the first place. He simply paused in defeat as the woman dug her heel a bit more roughly into his arm, just enough to warn him that there was no way he was getting back up.

“You should know I'm no Shal'dorei, child,” she spoke in a low tone, definitely not that of the assassin that Soren knew.

“You're not Ec... You're not Roraelis, no,” Sigmaine grunted, finally feeling his vision clearing up a bit. Well, hopefully she would be more merciful than-

-The Kaldorei suddenly raised her boot up from the human's wrist, and the surprise in her face was obvious. “You know my daughter?”

Holy shit.

“D-daughter?” Soren growled in shock, cocking his head partially to the side as he kept laying on his back. That certainly explained how similar they looked at a glance. He had simply figured that Eclipse's mother had died – it sure seemed that way for most Elves. This apparently seemed to hurt the woman a bit, for she smiled a bit sardonically and cocked an eyebrow at the Zealot.

“I know that she's taken fondly to her new job, but to not even mention her own mother? What must I have done to harm my dear child...” she spoke gently, shaking her head. “How do you know her?”

“...Tried to kill me,” Soren grunted, sitting up slightly and not bothering to reach for the knife. He decided to omit the particular reason why she wanted him dead; if her mother could knock him on his ass so easily, he wouldn't be able to beat her even with his armor and sword.

Yet, this fact hardly seemed to worry the woman. She simply sighed, and reached down to offer the human a surprisingly friendly hand, helping him up off the dirt casually. The Zealot could feel her strength in both her careful grip and how she still stood a foot taller than him. This was definitely an older Night Elf, but she had to of been a Sentinel for several thousands of years as well. Luckily, she seemed to be warmer towards him than her daughter was, and she nodded towards him curtly.

“You and plenty of others,” she spoke ironically, hefting her heavy shield over her back easily. She moved as gracefully as if she wore leather, and yet she obviously wore platemail. The Zealot could only wish that he had that sort of agility. Yet, even with her distinct advantages over Sigmaine, she suddenly frowned apologetically and bowed her head. “Trust me, any grudges of her are not followed by me... unless you've done something really stupid, have you?”

“...Baradin's Wardens never lie,” Sigmaine grunted, once more deciding not to mention the real reason why Roraelis wanted to hunt him down and rip his kidneys out. Technically, it wasn't a lie, but it still made the human's lungs feel twisted. “Just... misunderstandings.”

It was a lame excuse, and it was one that the woman didn't seem to fully agree with, but she shook her head all the same and extended her hand politely. “Then I will allow you to prove me wrong. I am Shaethea – you are...?”

“Sor... Sergeant Soren Sigmaine,” the human responded hesitantly at first, and then remembered his duties and saluted with crisp precision. Even if this was the mother of the person he trusted the least, she was still more than worthy of his respect. This was apparently the correct decision, for Shaethea nodded pleasantly and waved him off.

“Please, I am no officer to you, Soren. I apologize for striking you – caught me by surprise!” She laughed lightly, as if she hadn't just totally grounded a man in his prime. Still, Sigmaine took it in stride, shaking his head to better clear his vision – and then remembering that his soup was definitely more than done now. He hastily moved over to the pot to re-stir the chunky contents, taking the whole pot off of the flames to settle it to the side. At that motion, Shaethea chuckled once more.

“That was the reason I found you, you know. You'll attract predators for miles around if you cook something that good smelling!” She mused happily, to which Soren actually froze in surprise. The only thing that was apparently weirder than a Kaldorei trying to slay him was her mother complimenting him. Yet, it was touching enough for him that as he poured a healthy amount of the gumbo into the only bowl he had brought, and the Zealot instead offered it to Shaethea curiously.

“Want a try?” He asked with a bit too much gusto, apparently excited that someone else was interested in his cooking again. Only Xolphiea had shown any sort of curiosity towards his food, and that was already enough to make him cook as many sweets as he could for a week straight. Shaethea paused, a bit surprised, and then slowly extended her hand outward to accept the bowl from him.

“Well, thank you, Soren! You didn't have to do that, this is your meal, after all.

“It's nice to cook for others,” Sigmaine growled a bit lamely, but there was a definite proud tone to his voice. It was even luckier that he had his helmet still on – his blush would not have been able to have been hidden otherwise. To try and mask his pride even further, he reached towards the pot to pick up the spoon, stroking at it with a finger to try a bit of the chicken gumbo. Hearty, a bit spicy, and tones of garlic and potato mixed in fondly with the chicken broth – just the way Soren liked it. It was only after he looked back over to Shaethea that he realized he was already sitting down – was he actually relaxing?

“I am so used to doing the cooking myself, this is a welcome change!” The Kaldorei murmured fondly, taking a spoonful of the gumbo and smiling a bit more widely. “...Though, you will have to try my soup now, just so you can make yours better.”

Sigmaine snorted a laugh so loudly that he even surprised himself. To think that only a few scant minutes ago, he was pinned to the ground and expecting a very painful death. Apparently, the humor he found was just as funny to Shaethea, for she chuckled just as well, eating more of the soup as Sigmaine reached for a chunk of bread for him to dip into the soup.

“...Good to meet you, Shaethea.”

“And to you as well, Soren!”

Another gruff laugh, and Sigmaine took a bite out of the bread with his helmet still on, the soup-splattered chunk disappearing into the inky void of his helm ominously as he exhaled sharply, finally feeling his shoulders relax.

Every soldier needed a break, no matter how old or new they were.