#avengers gore? does this count as gore? idk.

[cucullas]

Mudarra González: a mixed medieval hero

I’m apparently doing a series on Spanish Romances (Spain medieval and renaissance anonymous folk ballads), usually my favorites ones are about love, family or everyday life. I’m not very much into the epics of killing infidels, El Cid and The Song of Roland got it covered. That’s why I initially was not attracted to the Song of the Seven Princes of Lara. 

I was so so SO wrong. This story has it all, petty family squabbles, completly disproportinionate reaction and my mixed bastard main boy: Mudarra Gonzalez. On the realm of medieval fiction where the main concern is how many infidels The Heroic Christian Knight can kill, Mudarra is a Moor, he is the Heroe That Was Promised and he is out for revenge.

The petty story: family drama and no Mudarra yet

Before I start a little bit of story, as you might know the Iberian Peninsula, was partially controlled by Arab and Berber Muslims rulers. From mighty cultured caliphates to dying city-kingdoms, this period called Al-Andalus went from 700 to 1492. During this time Christian kingdoms of Spain had to live with their Muslim neighbours and very often enemies. 

In these context our story starts, a Christian Knight, Gonzalo Gustios is the ruler of Salas, he is vasall of the Count Garcia Fernandes and is marries to Doña Sancha. He had a good life and is a not getting any younger but that’s ok cause he got 7 valiant sons to suceed him. They all have names of prowesses... but that’s not that important cause they all die. 

Yeah, because you see they had a fight with their aunt Doña Lambra (wife of their mom’s brother Rodrigo de Lara): honor was insulted... A pepper filled with blood was trown and someone menaced to cut a skirt above the knee and those are clearly irreparables offenses so Gonzalo Gonzalez the younger Prince killed a man over the pepper and Doña Lambra promised to revenge.

Rodrigo, Doña Lambra husband them betrayed his nephews giving the enemy information about their battle plans. They all die. His father is captured but pardoned by Almanzor. While in captivity Gonzalo is asked to recognize the heads of some important Christian the Moor army just killed... its of course his 7 kids and he mad with grief. Long story short he sleeps with Almanzor sister, she gets pregnant, he is later release and goes back to his wife. 

All the Spanish medieval gore we deserve

Saddly he is too old for revenge and Doña Lambra is a close family member to the ruling Count. In many version Gonzalo is later disable and very weak by pain or captivity/war.  Who could save us now?

Mudarra, bastard extraordinaire

Now let’s talk about Mudarra the first time we see him he is showed playing chess a stereotypical oriental game and talking with the also Muslim king of Segura. He has a great position in court but when he is insulted as “hijo de nadie/ Nobody son” he decides to go search for his father.

Antonio Tempesta, a Renaissance Italian illsutrator doing his best to represent a Moor medieval armyhe went from pseudo-Turkish clearly (Mudarra taking leave of his mother)

From Mudarra POV it’s like leaving idk Camelot/King’s Landing/a US middle class family to go and meet your dad a disable owner of a rundown farm in a backwards land. But that’s ok, Mudarra does his best is like 

“Nice to met you Sir Gonzales, I’m your son”

“I’ve literally never seen this kid. No way it’s mine”

And this fools no one specially not his wife Doña Sancha because A) Mudarra looks exactly like Gonzalo Gonzalez his late bro and B) In some version Gonzalo Gustios actually gave Mudarra mother a ring. 

Gustios is afraid his wife will be mad but Doña Sancha is no mad at all. Specially when Mudarra promise to avenge his late older brothers. She acts as the coolest step-mom and they even do a ceremony so Mudarra becomes his father legitimate heir. 

Personally I like Mudarra a lot, he is much more measured that his brothers: he takes time to explain he is without getting mad, ask for justice to the Count (in some version) and is even courteous to his enemy. I bet he wouldn’t kill an unharmed servant over a pepper but that’s speculation on my part. 

Yes, he also has a manly revenge speech at the end: 

“Tú los vendistes, traidor, en el val de Araviana / mas, si Dios a mí me ayuda, aquí dejarás el alma / vengare a mis hermanos, los siete infantes de Lara [...] Morirás aquí traidor / a las maños de Mudarra”

“You sold them you traitor, in the Araviana valley / with God’s help here you will lay your soul / I will avenge my brothers, the Seven Princes of Lara. [...] You die here traitor, at the hands of Mudarra”

Then of he goes to kill Rodrigo de Lara. He suceeds, because he is our hero but also because Rodrigo won’t be able to pact with the Moors like he did the 1st time because they won’t risk getting into Mudarra and Almanzor bad side. Doña Lambra in some version is burnt but in most “her punishement was left to God” because as we said she was family with the count. 

After the revenge we don’t know a lot about Mudarra which is a shame. He is said to have been an excellent knight though. 

A place said to be the tomb of Mudarra with 0 reasons, it’s pretty too

Mudarra, raised as a Moor is our triumphant here, and it was not done only for the exoticism value, him being a Royal Moor is a big deal. Here is why. 

A Royal Bastard

Gonzalo Gustias leaving to go back to his land is not seem as an offense to Almanzor sister (called Aisha sometimes, she is a fictional character). She doesn’t seem to have problems with it and Mudarra growns up on King Almanzor court as his heir, he knights him and give his squires to serve him. 

But you might ask who is Almanzor? Is he fictional? Well, no, he is no King but he absolutely existed. 

Bust of Almanzor in the Castillan city of Catalañazor were Spanish say he suffer a great defeat by Christian troops... it’s probably not true.

He is The big deal. His name is Abu Amir Muhammad but the is nicknames Al Mansur, the Victorious. You see at the time from 950 to 1000 the main kingdom of the are is the Caliphate of Cordoba, the King is Hisam II but his minister and de facto ruler is Almanzor. An incredible capable military leader and politician. 

Almanzor embodies the mighty caliphate of Cordoba. Almanzor with an inteligent politic of alliances and a lot of Berber mercenaries he kept the peace and prosterity of the caliphate of Cordoba. Almanzor will have two son, after their rule the Caliphate desintegrate in taifas, he is also the embodiement of the a glorious period. A high king. 

A king more important than Count Garcia Fernandes, the Christian ruler of this story. In other countries Roland is the nephew of Charlemagne. The French lineage of Lusignan descend from a fae and everyone descends from Alexander the Great. But in this Castille the best thing we have is Almanzor, descending from a King gives Mudarra the power of an army his father doesnt have and also a symbolic power to change stablishment. 

Roof of the former mosque now Catedral of Cordoba

Oh and also I have this theory that Almanzor life could have also inspired the story, mostly his second son who was also the de facto ruler:  Abd al-Raḥmān called ibn Sanchul or Sanchuelo this nickname came because he apparently really looked like his granpa...the King of Plamplona Sancho Garces II. Almanzor attacked his kingdom and as the Christian king could not possibly win he came himself as an ambassador asking for protection and bringing incredible gifts. Almanzor accepted and even took Urraca Garces, Sancho daughter as wife. 

In Burgos they take their legend seriously

While romances, written later in time show a black and white version of the Al-Andalus and Reconquista that was in truth extremely complexe.Mudarra story is an exception. Authors like the great Irene Zaderenko have even called his romance “maurophilo”. I agree, I love the Moors I love Mudarra and I love this soap opera of a Romance. that has tragically the name of the Princes and is not called “El Romance de Mudarra” as it should. 

If i convinced me with my Mudarra propaganda you can: Read the first incomplete version of the story (ESP) the romance of the Complaint of Doña Lambra (ESP) and the song of The Revenge of Mudarra (ESP).. thanks for your attention

[sassycassie-s-writing]

Midnight Medic

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): Avengers - Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Rating: PG (for minor gore)

Original Idea: IDK. Probably the shower.

Notes: (Masterlist)(About Me) I realize 2AM is not midnight, but the title didn’t have a ring to it otherwise. Some of this dialogue comes straight from a long-form fic I’m writing, but with the characters switched.

^^^^^

I lightly opened Peter’s door at two in the morning. “Psst! Knock-knock Pete!” I whispered. “I need your help!”

“Wha… wha?” he muttered groggily.

“Can I come in?”

“Sure.” I heard him lean over to get to the lamp switch.

“Don’t turn on the light just yet. I gotta close the door so FRIDAY doesn’t see,” I hissed, easing into his room, clicking the door shut, and stripping off my shirt so I was standing there in my sports bra and shorts. “Okay. You can turn it on now.” Private bedrooms and bathrooms were the only places FRIDAY wasn’t installed to watch our every move.

“Are you okay?” Peter asked. “You sound kinda weird.”

I reached into the darkness and flicked on his lamp.

Peter winced, eyes snapping shut until they got used to the sudden light. Then he squinted through his eyelashes to look at me.

He gasped. “What happened?” he demanded quietly, throwing off his covers and bounding out of bed to stand in front of me.

“I picked a fight,” I answered honestly, watching him stare in concern at my injuries. “And I won, which was nice, but it sucked. And… I really don’t want the others to find out. I’ll probably be healed by morning, but I need some help healing properly.”

“No kidding,” Peter agreed. “Lucky you, this has happened to me before, and I always keep medical supplies in here.” He bent down and reached under his bed. I snickered in amusement—of course he kept medical supplies in his room—as he pulled out a full-to-bursting First Aid kit. He ushered me into his desk chair and opened his kit. “We don’t want to clean up the blood around the cuts too much because then they won’t scab to help heal you, but we can get rid of it where it’s not needed,” he told me. I nodded. I knew that, but I knew he was thinking out loud more than he was actually talking to me. “What did you pick a fight with? A bear?”

“Felt like it. No, some big dude in the nearby town was trying to stick up the convenience store lady. I hit him. He hit back. It escalated from there.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t reveal who you really are. The world knows the other Avengers’ real identities, but not ours. I’d like to keep mine that way, and I know you want to as well.”

“I don’t need the ‘Be Careful’ lecture from you, Peter,” I snapped, keeping my voice down. “I already get it from Tony and Cap at least three times a week during training. And you do too. So don’t parrot it back to me.”

“I wasn’t going to give you the ‘Be Careful’ lecture. I was just saying that you’re lucky.”

I grunted. “Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

As we’d been talking, he’d started to fix me up—including relocating my dislocated left shoulder. That one hurt. There had been a burst of pain I barely restrained from shouting at and then it felt fine. The rest of my injuries weren’t quite as simple. Thankfully I hadn’t broken any bones, but I was in a bit of a bad way. And if the others found out, I’d get lectured by Tony and Cap over and over about Peter and I needing to be better than the older members.

I hoped they wouldn’t.

Peter wrapped up one of my nastier gashes carefully in gauze, muttering to himself. I thought I caught, How are you still alive?!, somewhere in there, but wasn’t sure.

After a few minutes during which I winced and stung, I turned around in the desk chair so he could patch up my back. “Do me a favor okay?” he whispered as he pushed my raggedy hair out of the way. “Don’t make a habit out of stuff like this.”

“I promise I won’t—outside of missions.”

“Yeah I guess that doesn’t really count does it?”

“Not really,” I agreed.

“You know, you’re really lucky you’re not worse than this.”

“I know. Most of that’s my powers though.”

“Fair point.”

We were silent for the rest of his work. I wanted to help, but could barely move without flinching in pain.

Once I was all bandaged and scrubbed off, Peter patted the top of my head—the one spot not particularly damaged. “There you go. Take a painkiller and try to get some sleep, okay?” he asked, passing me a small plastic container of mild painkillers. I accepted them, wishing I could hug him for helping me. As it was, I could barely lift my arms.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely.

“You’re welcome. Go get some rest.”

“You too. Sorry I woke you.” I nodded, scooped up my shirt, and left.

^^^^^

“Sleep well?” Peter asked me over breakfast the next morning—sugary cereal and fresh fruit. I was eating an apple, not being a big fan of cereal myself.

“Yeah. Quite well,” I answered honestly, thankful we were alone in the kitchen. FRIDAY was still eavesdropping as she always did, but her cameras didn’t see me push the collar of my shirt enough to reveal an already-faded scar on my trapezes muscle.

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah. You? Sleep well, I mean?”

“Yup. Though, I had a dream that I was planning my wedding and Mr. Stark was helping me and then we got attacked by vicious giant butterfly-fish and I didn’t have my powers,” he remarked.

I snorted. “That’s crazy!”

“Yeah…”

I hopped off the counter, where I’d been sitting, and gave him a hug. “Thank you,” I whispered into his ear.

He smiled and nodded in acknowledgment. “You’re welcome,” he breathed. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah. All because of you.”

Tony came in, getting the pot of coffee and pouring himself a mug. “Morning,” he muttered.

“Morning,” Peter and I chorused.

“Anything I need to know?”

“Nope.”

“Good. I’m going to go work on a project.” He shoved the coffee pot back into its place. Peter watched it slightly wistfully. I hated coffee so I didn’t drink it, but Peter wasn’t allowed to drink it. The one time he did he was literally bouncing off the walls so Tony made it refuse to release for his handprint. I thought it was hilarious. Peter didn’t.

“Bye!” we called as Tony stumbled out.

Peter pushed the collar of my shirt to look at the scar again. “I think you heal faster than I do,” he whispered.

That didn’t surprise me. “Well, girls are tough,” I remarked playfully.

Peter put his hands up as though in surrender. “You’re getting no argument on that point from me.”

I laughed. “I figured.”

“I’m just glad that you’re okay.”

I nodded and we strolled out of the kitchen, taking our breakfast with us. “Thanks.”