#build him as a foil to valkyrie

[lazulian-devil]

Ive been thinking about Omen Darkly again.

And how, even though the story is about Valkyrie and Skulduggery, his storyline just feels so raw.

Valkyrie has everything. She has all the power and all the trauma of being a god. She has an overpowered sorcerer as a best friend. She has a family that loves her, a sister she would do everything for, a girlfriend, a dog. Yes, she suffered for it. But she still had a support system and friends. And she turned out to be kind of a lovable asshole that I think I would like a lot less if I met her. Shes very selfish. And shes allowed to be selfish because shes powerful. Im not saying shes only selfish and that is her defining character trait. But y'all know what I mean.

Omen though. Omen has nothing. Omen is a literal punching bag. Omen has no power and still all of the trauma. He has no family, he has lost his brother (His beloved, wonderful brother that deserves only the best) in a horrendous twist of fate. He had to grow up so quick. And then he had to grow up again and become a whole different person with all that responsibility. He is exploited, used and thrown away at every goshdarn turn.

But Omen? Omen is kind. Omen is good. Omen prevails in a world that spits in his face over and over and over again. Omen Darkly faces unbelievable odds and falls down so many times and yet he always stands up. Not because of some divine power or some belief that he is better, blessed by birth, blessed by blood. Because he has to. Because he loves the people around him. Because he wants to be seen. And Omen friggin Darkly is seen by so many and liked by so many and he doesnt even know. He finds a place in which people look up to him and he has to leave them all behind and go back into the darkness. And yet, he still continues on.

Omen Darkly is just... Its just a good fucking character in a world filled with shitty selfish world-ending-power sorcerers. And I like that. I like that quite a bit.

(If anything happens to him in AMFOM I will kill Derek Landy with my kindness).

[aspoonofsugar]

what ships do you like or think will be canon in rwby? :)

Hello anon!

I don't think I am the best person to answer this tbh because I am really not a shipper :''')

Anyway, I have some thoughts about ships in RWBY, but before properly disclosing them I would prefer to receive some more confirmation by the story itself :P

As for now, I'll do my best to answer your question, but this post is highly speculative, so take with a grain of salt :’’’)

Also, tagging @hamliet because she is a shipmaster :P (also tbh... our ships are just the same :'''))

I also advise you to check out her meta on chemical weddings in RWBY.

BEFORE STARTING

There are two assumptions I am following when it comes to ships in RWBY and I am curious to see in-story if they are correct or wrong. 

Complementarity

Ships in RWBY are about complementarity. This obviously means the characters have complementary arcs, but superficially, it is also about motifs and symbolism.

In short, characters in RWBY have common motifs going on (moon, sun, shadow, light, elements, etc.). There is the tendency in-story so far to pair up characters with complementary motifs.

Equality

So far, ships have been between characters that have a similar importance/focus in the story. So, we do not have a love interest who waits home or who is less iimportant than their partner.

So far, RWBY seems to be integrating ships in character arcs and it builds them through parallelisms and foiling as well.

Now, the problem with these two assumptions is that so far there are too few ships that have been confirmed by the story :’’’). So, they fit and I think they will fit for other ships as well, but it is a little bit too soon to say for sure. 

SHIPS THAT ARE BASICALLY ALREADY CANON

Renora

Ren and Nora are basically canon :’’’) As Nora would say, they are not together-together, but they are clearly heading there.

They have admitted their feelings for each other and by now the structure of their arcs is clear.

The first part of the story is Ren’s focus with Nora as the helper.

The second part will probably be Nora’s focus with Ren as the helper.

Atlas is where they share focus in two separate and parallel journeys. Ren ends his arc, while Nora starts hers. It is clearly where there is a shift in their dynamic.

I would love to write a longer meta on them when the story is over, but as for now it will have to wait because I need more material on Nora. Anyway, their arcs are clearly complementary and they must integrate and become more like the other if they want to be together. So, Ren must accept his feelings, while Nora must become more self-reliant.

Complementarity: they are introduced as complete opposites. Nora is overly energetic, while Ren is overly stoic and calm. Moreover, Nora’s surname links her to air (Valkyrie) and her red hair and lightening powers associate her to fire. Ren’s surname instead means lotus and links him to earth and water.

Equality: they are introduced together and clearly presented as a set. Not to count that their arcs clearly revolve around each other. Moreover, they are MC, but slightly less important than the rest of the group imo (byt this I mean their arcs are not as intertwined with the main plot as the others’ are).

Bumbleby

Yang and Blake have received a lot of teasing these past volumes and they basically only need some kind of mutual aknowledgement.

I wonder if this aknowledgement will partly come after some focus on Yang and Ruby’s bond. I think volume 8 is clearly setting up some kind of exploration of how Ruby has been depending on Yang since a little child. In coming of age stories it is common for children to overcome their dependence on an older role model, so for Ruby and Yang’s dynamic to slightly change as they grow would fit. If so, it would be interesting if symbolically Ruby grows independent, while Yang fully embraces a romantic relationship with Blake (and yes, I know this is already partially happening, I am imagining it not as something big, but more as a top-off).

Anyway, personally I love the ship and I think it was planned since the beginning, but I think the set-up has been kind of blurried by all that teasing between Blake and Sun. I am not a fan of how Sun/Blake’s relationship has been handled tbh.

Thematically, Yang and Blake’s arcs are clearly intertwined. Yang needs to control her feelings better and to accept help and support, while Blake needs to learn not to run away. Their conflict around being left/leaving is very interesting and it was cool to see how they overcome it through facing the people responsible for their trumas (Raven and Adam).

Complementarity: the Beauty & the Beast, Sun and Moon/Shadow, Day and Night, Light and Dark, do I need to go on?

Equality: Yang and Blake are both MC and partners.

SHIPS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE CANON AND THAT I LIKE

Rosegarden

Honestly, romantic or not, there is not doubt Oscar and Ruby are major foils either way...

Their first meeting makes it abundantly clear. Apart from the symbolism explained in hamliet’s meta linked above... the whole set up of the meeting is basically screaming to the viewers WARNING WARNING THIS MEETING IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT FOR THE STORY!

Anyway, Oscar arrives at their room and asks specifically for Ruby Rose - and yes, it is because she is Qrow’s niece and Qrow is drunk, but the point is that since the beginning he singles her out among the others. This is not by chance, it is to make clear his character is going to be linked to her specifically. That + the silver eyes line clearly set up their bond as important.

Other than this, it has been made clear as day Oscar is crushing hard on Ruby :’’’) He has barely met her and he is already basically telling her she has pretty eyes and calling her one of the best Huntresses in the world :’’’)

Ruby instead has been supporting Oscar since day one, telling him he is his own person and that he is brave. Even her first line to his (Who are you?) is clearly linked to Oscar’s arc - who is Oscar? That is the fundamental question Oscar himself must answers while struggling with Ozpin merging with him.

In fights, we see Ruby often supporting Oscar and Oscar keeps singling her out - for example, he calls her name at Heaven when Emerald hits her. Later on, he once again calls out for her when Cordovin shoots her cannon at boht her and Weiss (poor Weiss, lol).

Anyway, all these little things are not there by chance. They are hints to tell the viewers... look these two’s relationship is gonna be important.

Even thematically, we can already see that Oscar and Ruby have been foils since volume 6. In volume 6 they both must step into Ozpin’s role. Ruby as the leader of the group, while Oscar as “the wizard” of the group.

Their roles are complementary in the fight against Cordovin as well.

Oscar figures out a way to destroy the cannon from the outside, while Ruby uses Oscar’s information to destroy the cannon from inside.

In general, that whole fight is the fight that cements Ruby’s role as the leader of the group and Oscar as a part of the group:

Ruby: Hey, stop it!

Ren: You petrified a Leviathan... after diving down the barrel of a cannon!

Ruby: Don't act like you all haven't done crazy stuff before! I mean, Oscar made a successful crash landing! He's a fourteen-year-old farm hand!

In Atlas, their parallel journeys continue as they develop opposite approaches to the theme of trust and challenge each other when it comes to this.

Right now they are separated, but Neo changing into Oscar to trigger Ruby clearly foreshadows him together with Penny and Yang as a pretty important character in Ruby’s development in volume 9.

Anyway, among the yet non canon ships, I personally think this is the one with the highest chances of becoming canon.

Complementarity: Silver and Gold, Moon and Sun.

Equality: They are both MC.

White Knight

Tbh... I hope they get focus together next arc, romantic or platonic I do not care. I simply think their relationship is super interesting to analyze, hence I hope it gets focus and payoff.

Anyway, I like White Knight because if it turns out canon, it would simply be very well done structurally.

Weiss and Jaune are hands down the two characters that receive the most focus in volume 1. Moreover, their focus has really nothing to do with the main plot. Weiss’s two eps about accepting Ruby’s leadership and Jaune’s Jaunidice mini arc are there only for respectively Weiss and Jaune. Nothing else. Differently from Blake’s runaway arc, that ties with Torchwick, the White Feng and the main plot... Weiss and Jaune’s episodes are there only for the characters to develop.

This is not by chance because initially Weiss and Jaune are the characters that need to develop the most and interestingly their development is the same and yet opposite. Both are just defined by their legacies and trapped in their respective stereotypes. Jaune is the comic relief loser, while Weiss is the spoilt little princess. Both are trying to outgrow these personas by entering Beacon. In short, neither of them really wants to be the damsel in distress and they both want to be the Knight :P

They wanna be heroes to prove themselves to their respective families.

However, this wish is also what initially gets in the way of their developments.

Weiss is so obsessed by the idea she should be the leader that she forgets to be a teamplayer to beging with.

Jaune is so obsessed by the idea he should be a warrior that he forgets his role as a leader.

Basically in volume one both Weiss and Jaune must find their place in their teams, accept their limits and grow to become better. Both are able to do so through their relationships with their respective partners (Ruby and Pyrrha).

Then of course there is their whole relationship that is interesting.

In short, their dynamic in the Vale arc is just a huge game of mirrors...

The only reason Jaune starts crushing for Weiss is that he hears her sarcastic line to Ruby:

Weiss: Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, blond, and scraggly over there!

And interprets it as genuine XD

Because of this very stupid mistake, Jaune just keeps flirting with Weiss and completely ignores Pyrrha who has feelings for him.

So, really Jaune initially falls in love with a mirror image, with an illusion.

This is Weiss’s worst nightmare:

Weiss: All my life, boys have only cared about the perks of my last name.

Someone loving her not for who she is, but for her name or status. Someone loving her superficially...

Except that when it comes to love, Weiss is pretty superficial as well:

Neptune:  And I don't believe I've caught your name, snow angel.

Neptune is nothing, but a “cooler” and Up to 11 version of Jaune. Same pick-up lines. Same flirting tendencies, but worse. And yet, Weiss crushes on him simply because he is “cooler”. Not to count that deep down Netpune and Jaune are actually very similar :P

So, Weiss says boys do not take the time to really know who she is. However, she herself does not really take the time to know others and is judgemental of them.

This is also why Neptune turns out to be actually pretty important to develop Weiss and Jaune’s bond.

Weiss thinks Jaune is interested on her only superficially, but as time goes on it becomes clear Jaune is really growing to genuinelly like Weiss, the more he knows her:

Jaune: It's Weiss. I'm completely head-over-heels for her, and she won't even give me a chance. She's cold, but she's also incredible. She's smart, and graceful, and talented. I mean, have you heard her sing? I-I just wish she's take me seriously, y'know? I wish I could tell her how I feel without messing it all up.

He is not interested in her only because she is beautiful or rich, but she grows to care for her as a friend and this emerges in how he calls out Neptune on his shitty behaviour:

Jaune: Do you like her?

Neptune: Yeah, I mean I don't know her too well yet, but she seems pretty cool.

Jaune: Then just go talk to her. No pickup lines, no suave moves, just be yourself. I've heard that's the way to go. (he crosses his arms)

Neptune: Yeah, but then-

And this leads to Neptune helping Weiss realize Jaune is truly a friend of hers:

Weiss: You said you were embarrassed at first. What made you come talk to me?

Neptune: You're looking at him. You got some good friends looking out for ya.

So, Jaune and Weiss’s relationship starts off as superficial, but as time goes on they grow to care for each other as friends.

Obviously, their focus stops being romantic because after Pyrrha’s death Jaune’s focus needs to be on grieving for his fallen love. Still, it is precisely when it comes to Pyrrha that we have another pivotal moment in both characters’ arcs and it is a moment they share:

Jaune unlocks Aura Amp to save Weiss and Weiss uses his aura to summon her Queen Lancer for the first time. They unlock new sides of themselves (a new semblance, a new summon) through each other. Both Jaune and Weiss highly struggle in the first half of the Heaven fight.

Jaune loses himself to anger and recklessly attacks Cinder disturbing the whole group’s flow. Weiss instead is outmatched by Vernal and is unable to use her summons. Thanks to each other they are able to find their respective roles in the fight, though.

Moreover, Cinder specifically impales Weiss to torment Jaune and draws in this why a strong parallel between Pyrrha (Jaune’s past love interest) and Weiss herself. Finally, when it comes to Weiss, this moment can be seen as a nod to her Snowhite allusion. Snowhite dies, but is saved by the prince.

Apart from that, they have not received many moments together. This makes sense because after Mistral Jaune goes to the background for a while and Weiss’s focus is limited to her interactions with her family.

That said, it is clear they are on good terms with each other. They go to the movies together (in what is a call back to Weiss’s volume 2 refusal to go to the cinema together) and at the end of the Atlas arc they are the two last fighters standing against Cinder.

We’ll see if they will get focus next volume, especially considering Weiss was there when Jaune had to give Penny the finishing blow.

Complementarity: They lack this! Specifically, they start the series as both silver and moon, but I like hamliet’s theory Jaune will grow to be more like Pyrrha (hence gold and sun), so that he can complement Weiss. We can already see more gold appearing in his outfit and his weapon recently broke, so...

Equality: they are both MCs plus they getting similar focus in similar moments and as parallels to each other.

Emercury

This is my favourite relationship in the series :’’) and I am okay with it being either romantic or platonic. I literally do not care.

Anyway, I have talked about them at nauseam, so this is going to be quick.

Emerald and Mercury are two kids trapped in the cycle of abuse for opposite reasons and different coping mechanisms. Em is blinded by her desires, while Merc is frozen out of fear. Despite this, they have clearly grown fond of each other, but still struggle to help each other because of their flaws.

Mercury has been Emerald’s family much more than Cinder, but Emerald could not realize it until the Atlas Arc. And by that point Mercury is simply taken away from her and she finds herself alone.

Emerald is clearly Mercury’s only hope to save herself. She is the only person he has shown some care for. Not to count that she is really the only person he can be himself with. With all the others, he puts on a facade, but to Em he shows genuine feelings, be them anger, affection or vulnerability.

I am really interested in seeing how their relationship will evolve now that they are on opposite sides.

Complementarity: Soul and Body, Heart and Mind, Earth and Water/Air, Day and Night, Wishes and Fears, Semblance and Weapon.

Equality: they are introduced as a set (like Renora) and are clearly going through parallel and complementary arcs.

And this is all tbh. I also like Arkos, but Pyrrha is dead, so :’’’).

Have a nice day and thank you for the ask!

[crimsonblazw]

Zero-one is the perfect start to a new generation

artist credit:https://twitter.com/r5WitWG0y8Poz0K/status/1300385462972866560?s=20

Introduction

Kamen rider Zero-one concluded last week and I believe it to be a very strong first entry into the Reiwa era of Kamen rider. On the surface it's back to basics with a grasshopper themed main character and simple animal motifs for his forms and the other riders while the major motif of the season centers around Artificial intelligence and the concepts of free will,dreams,and empathy.

At first glance you'd have several preconceived notions about the series,but there is FAR more than meets the eye.

Story and themes

Structurally this season of KR is made up of bigger arcs (four in total) which break down into smaller two episode arcs that make up the week to week episodes which allowed the show to maximize the monster of the week formula while the main story progresses at it's own pace (the best way to do KR in my opinion), this pairs well with one of Zero-one's biggest strengths; world building.

Each two episode arc explores the humagears' place in society and they're overall relationship with humans leading to a diverse range of dynamics that get explored over the course of the show with very few stones left unturned.

In general the thesis of the show is built on the beliefs of the humagears' creator Hiden Korenosuke,that humagears will help humanity achieve the their dreams.

At first you can take this literally given humagears can be thought of as "tools" for day to day life when in reality they where meant to grow along with humans (in other words reach singularity) and use their own passions and dreams to elevate those of humans and vice versa,the significance being that humans by nature are empathetic and social beings who have only made it so far as a species due to our ability to care for one another, humagears are meant to help humanity achieve our full potential faster.

The challenges this idea faces is a society that not only wants humagears and humans alike to become nothing more than "beasts of burden" for the upper class but also it's mirror opposite;the potential malice and selfishness that ultimately destroys lives and dreams,all of this being synonymous with the classic fiction trope or A.I. and robots representing the inhumane treatment of the common person.

Characters

While the overall show and it's smaller stories make up the backbone of the show the main characters are the heart, having arcs that represent the exact message the themes of the show are trying to communicate.

Aruto Hiden/Zero-one- Our main character. He has the staple good heart of a main rider with a strong belief in the power of dreams.

His arc is flat in order to inspire the other characters around him and further their own growth while having his own convictions tested the challenges of the show. He's very endearing and seeing how he overcomes every obstacle (even when it's crushing him) is the mark of a good main rider.

Izu-Aruto's humagear partner. It's easy to dismiss Izu's growth but her change is present but subtle. She goes from following Korenosuke's initial directives to making her own decisions,she starts off confused by Aruto's jokes but begins repeating them,and she goes from being Aruto's secretary to being his family. The evolution of her and Aruto's relationship is heartwarming and gives them on the best male/female lead dynamic in the franchise.

Fuwa/Vulcan-He starts as a staunch humagear hating foil to Aruto and a rather typical secondary rider. But after discovering his entire mindset has been "crafted" by those who want to control him his arc blossoms into a great story of a man taking back control of his life and rejecting the false and toxic ideals forced on to him, resulting in arguably the best arc in the show.

Yua/Valkyrie- While her arc can be easy to miss she represents those who unintentionally surrender their personhood to those above them while believing they retain their independence. Despite some lacking screentime she does recognize her worth and atonomy and reclaims her life (not unlike her partner Fuwa) and I hope future female riders follow her example (but with more screentime).

Horobi and Jin- Our two initial villains and the heads of the humagear terrorist cell Metsubojinrai.net.

Horobi begins as a steadfast believer in his "master" the Ark and shares it's beliefs in the extermination of humanity, beliefs he tries to pass to his "son" Jin who has concerns about their violent and forceful methods before becoming indoctrinated.

As the show goes on Jin begins to develop his own beliefs separate from Horobi while Horobi begins to experience a crisis of faith. They're dynamic is unique in KR and their arc is a perfect representation of the kinds of toxic concepts that can be passed down from parent to child but with time can be unlearned.

Gai/Thouser- One of the two major villains in the show. In many ways he's a more serious version of Dan from Ex-aid, his main position in this story being a stand-in for the greedy ruling class who will destroy as many lives as they want so long as they get what they want.

He's genuinely impressive in terms of how well calculated his plan is and absolutely loathsome for the fact he essentially caused everything wrong in the series. His eventual "redemption" is VERY hard to swallow but for food or ill does fit with the shows themes of overcoming our worst aspects and also doesn't bend over backwards to make him sympathetic.

Naki/Raiden-the other two members of Metsubojinrai.net. Wish they had gotten more screentime, especially since Naki seemed like a character that would have been cool to see more of. I do like them still and think it's cool they got their own happy endings.

The final arc

This deserves it's own section. The final arc is one of the most bold and interesting final arcs in the franchise and in my opinion is the best one since Drive.

The asset that really makes this part of the show work is the "final boss" the Ark. Despite seeming like a generic "evil entity" final boss commonly seen in toku the Ark is a methodical and truly evil being.

The Ark represents the darkest parts of human existence, mainly that our compassion/love can be easily turned into malice when the hardships of the world take it's tole on us.

Going deeper the ark's "philosophy" can also be seen as a parallel to those who think humanity is better off destroyed because of humans alleged inherent cruelty,not realizing that not only are humans not inherently cruel but that mindset is at most a trauma based response to the hardships of the world or a hypocritical mindset that give those who think it a free pass to be malicious and hateful while thinking they're "enlightened" for recognizing the alleged folly of man.

The Ark utilizes these concepts in it's final plan when it manipulates Aruto and Horobi take each other to their lowest points by having them kill each other's most treasured person,the duel between the two fueling human/humagear tension to the point of war,and it did this all without being around for most of it.

Aruto is so besides himself with grief that he essentially abandons his dream,I think what stood out to me was Fuwa attempting to stop Aruto and pointing out that Aruto is where he used to be,full of rage and hatred that can only be overcome with someone else showing you genuine empathy, which is what Fuwa is attempting to give to Aruto as a parallel to when Aruto did it for him.

The final battle is not only between Horobi and Aruto but between Malice and empathy. And in the end the two breaking down and recognizing each other's pain with Aruto winning but sparing Horobi is the final "test" of what fully realized empathy is.

Outro

2020 has been rough. I think more than ever we see what's wrong with the world and what we need to do to fix it. Whether it was intentional or not Zero-one was the rider I think we needed right now.

In a society that doesn't value empathy ,unity,or dreams we have to elevate each other and hold on to our passions and dreams for the future.

Thanks for reading ! Please like and share ! And feel free to share your thoughts. Keep your eyes peeled for future posts! Best wishes friend

[writerkenna]

The Lights of Stars and the Glitter in Your Eyes Chapter 5

GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN

KENNA'S BACK, and she's really sorry she has been gone for so long and she hopes her readers will still care about this story after like a month gap.

Seriously y'all I'm sorry. I just really lost motivation for this and I didn't want to publish something bad so I just wanted to wait until I felt like I could publish something I liked.

I'm . . . mostly happy with this. Enjoy!

Thor was on his back with eyes fuzzed up on the metal ceiling arching over head for an unreasonably long time. The realization of his love for Bruce was a shock to his system, maybe literally, he thought he might have sparked right at the moment the image of Bruce filled up his head and heart.

He didn’t know why, but he felt a wave of laughter stir up in his stomach and catapult out of him. He was in love. Bruce, with his too gentle fingertips poised and prepared, had reached into Thor and took a careful hold of his heart. He laughed again in two bursts, clutching his gut, still aching from Valkyrie’s slam to it. It had been too long since he had been in real, warm, hearty love. Thor had forgotten how rapturously joyful it was.

“Um, you getting up any time soon?” Valkyrie asked. Thor righted himself into a sitting position and shook out his shoulders. He gave Valkyrie his doopiest grin.

“I’m in love with Bruce,” Thor repeated. It was good to feel it on his tongue, Bruce’s name flexing across his lips and pricking a blush on his cheeks.

“Yeah, well. That’s nice.” Valkyrie stared at him from above, tone tight and unrevealing, but Thor could tell, with the edging up of her lips, that he was infecting her with his bubbling over smile.

“I-how did I not know sooner? Bruce is . . . he is the most tremendous mortal I’ve ever known. Did-has he told you about his work on black holes? It’s beautiful. He’s beautiful.”

The words were coming out without consideration, thoughts grabbing others and growing and sprouting bigger as they left Thor’s mouth.

“Does that mean you’re going to talk to him again?”

“Oh, I-”

Thor’s shoulders slumped and, like a wisp of air as he exhaled, the giddy fever he had been absorbed in phased out of him. Thor might have loved Bruce without complications in the sanctity of his head and the fog of this gym, but outside of these spaces, he had ignored Bruce for four days straight. Thor had slipped up and soiled their potential love before its start, betrayal ingrained in its roots the moment Thor had buckled to Hulk’s whims.

He didn’t think Valkyrie should know this.

“Ah, yes,” he replied, after a long gap in his own head, “I . . . I’ll be wooing him from now on.”

Valkyrie pushed a laugh out her nose and shook her head. Thor doubted himself just as much as she did. He couldn’t imagine pulling his old moves on Bruce, his demure and toying seduction, his waxing poetic to the point of meaninglessness, his flexing and fawning till his subject of affection was swooning into the crevices of the muscles of his arms. It never would have worked anyway, but especially not after Thor had fumbled so poorly. His methods had been foiled and his plan was fraught with flaws.

“Or, well, I don’t know, maybe not wooing, but I’ll talk to him,” Thor mumbled.

“You are a ridiculous king. Are you aware of that?” Valkyrie leaned in towards Thor, eyes squinted in a bit of a challenge, an invitation for another bout. Thor tried to take it as a distraction, but Bruce and Hulk and feelings for both were all formidable forces on his thoughts.

He excused himself away to his quarters to Valkyrie’s disgruntlement, and when Bruce was not there, decided to extend the avoidance for a bit longer, at least enough for a shower to settle himself.

Bruce, when Thor found him and when Thor felt mentally organized enough to handle conversation with him, was in the middle of a debate with the newly elected leader of his treasury. Thor appreciated Bruce’s dedication to his mostly undefined chancellor position even when Thor himself was being sort of an ass.

“Malfjor, Bruce,” Thor greeted with a nod to each. Malfjor was the one old, tried and true staple of the old Asgardian government in his parliament. He was huffy and red on the tip of his nose, which was his state often, a firm holdover of Odin’s rule.

“This Midgardian is telling me you’re moving my funding for the historical upkeep of ancient buildings to education?” Malfjor asked like the very notion of defunding was an atrocity. Thor’s eyes gave a momentary slip to Bruce, whose fingers were clutching onto one another as his face rattled between contained indignancy and a growing regret. Thor gave him a flick of the side of his lip turned away from Malfjor and Bruce’s lips spread into dimples, his shoulders releasing from around his ears.

“Well, yes, my chancellor is very well informed. The funding will be moved,” Thor said. He was mimicking Odin’s voice, or rather, what he remembered the voice sounding like when he was a boy and every political speech or decree made Odin look even more like the god he was. He let the tone move in to his shoulders and chest, puffing like a lion to his pride. Malfjor, easy to master, took the bait and settled just enough.

“I . . . if you think that best, King,” he grinded out of his teeth. Thor steadied his eyes onto him as the final step in his king performance.

“I do. I have the utmost confidence in Dr. Banner.” Thor smirked that bit out and, in the corner of his vision, he could see Bruce’s eyes go soft and happy, lids looking so comfortably heavy. Malfjor ruffled with a sigh and pushed off from both of them without so much as a goodbye.

“That was pretty fun, actually,” Thor said to Bruce under a twitching grin and heavy blush. Malfjor had lorded over him for so long as a quasi uncle who had been as distant and frigid to children as Odin was. It was cathartically cleansing, as were Bruce’s eye crinkles. “

Yeah, um,” Bruce, though still fuzzy in his eyes, had begun to chew up his lip. Thor frowned, “so, ah, you haven’t been talking to me, and that’s pretty weird.”

Thor’s cheeks went even warmer and he issued a laugh that stunk of guilt.

“Yeah, ah-”

“You know, the only people I know on this ship are you, Val, and Loki. And Loki and I sort of hate each other, so, it really sucks for me if we’re not talking.”

“I know,” Thor sighed. The pit of his stomach was empty and wanting looking at Bruce and, despite himself, he decided he could allow himself this, “I’ve been under stress and thinking poorly. I . . . it won’t . . .”

Thor halted. It had been immeasurably easier to talk to Bruce before Thor had realized the interconnection between the brewing of heat that cropped up in the middle of his chest and the batting of Bruce’s deep black lashes. He gulped in and composed himself as well as he could.

“Let’s go back to the room,” Thor said, catching the double entendre soon after he did. He hadn’t the time yet for deep consideration of Bruce in sexual terms, but giving it only a moment’s thought, well, he did want that, to grab Bruce’s hand in his own, rush them into the secret sanctuary of their room, and show Bruce exactly what a god can make him feel like, with masterful fingers on skin and confessions and secrets and primal needs whispered into his ear. Though, since Thor was still deep in the trenches of his Hulk/Bruce related guilt and couldn’t really think how he’d manage to present a request like that, those ideas would have to wait.

“Okay, sure. We are, like, three movies behind on our watch list, which I will not stand for,” Bruce breezed a laugh and Thor echoed too quickly and too loud, halfway to a yelp. Bruce pulled his face back as wrinkles folded between his brows, “Are all gods this odd, by the way, or is it a you thing? Cause, as an interested human, I’d like to know.”

Thor shrugged and his lips went lopsided. He pressed out a fit of giggles that resembled something like a schoolboy on drugs. He snapped his mouth shut after they were released, sucking in his lips to contain anymore ridiculously pathetic emissions, and walked chest forward to the room with a bemused Bruce trailing behind.

They put on a film Bruce told Thor was called Dazed and Confused. Thor was grateful for the noise and distraction and took it readily as a chance to figure out how he was supposed to continue on talking to Bruce without his mouth launching open and confessing all the small and large details of his heart. The movie was one of Thor’s more favorited, it turned out. The exploits of the wild cast stirred in him memories of the far too long gone warrior feasts after battle and holiday festivals that Thor adored and longed for again, though, this film contained a few less dead goats and sword fights than he was used too.

As one of the teachers in the movie harped on some freshman boys, Thor set out a deck of Asgardian cards, both desperate to occupy his hands and mind and determined to teach Bruce how to play this game properly.

“Here,” he muttered, issuing out a hand of seven cards to Bruce, “I’ll make a skilled cardsman out of you yet.”

Bruce snarked a chuckle and sent an ‘okay’ back Thor’s way. He flipped a card with an ethereal woman wrapped in leaves and branches down onto the metal floor between them. Thor groaned, mostly in jest as he found Bruce’s lack of skill sort of sweet, a reminder of his great amount of humanness, and handed the card back to Bruce.

“Very bad play.”

“What? Why?” Bruce brought the card up close to his eyes, as if the woman’s painted visage would tell him where he failed, “I needed to get rid of that card.”

“Yes, but you've given me the perfect chance to wipe my hand and win. Come on now, strategy, Bruce!” Thor’s hands clamped onto Bruce’s shoulders and rustled them as a sort of call to action, though, as Thor landed fully onto the firm ground of Bruce’s slumped shoulders and his palms tingled as they were flooded with energy, it came to his mind that it might have been too close to his Bruce related revelation to have physical touch. He yanked away as Bruce jolted.

“Ah, fuck, I just-”

“Sorry,” Thor grimaced.

“Control yourself, man,” Bruce chuckled, tossing his side against Thor’s. Thor beamed, which he promptly hid behind his cards.

“Well, play your card, then.” Thor’s voice was rigid, contained. He was overdoing it, he knew, but his body was lighting up and he could hardly hold back waves of extreme and likely terrifying love. Bruce slammed down a card, better this time, made Thor pause and consider his move, and Thor bristled with pride.

The movie thummed on in front of them. Thor’s eyebrows scrunched together as Slater lit up a rolled bit of paper.

“What is that? That Slater is doing?”

“Uh, smoking weed?” Bruce said. He put down three cards in one go. Thor grunted, good move. He stalled. Bruce grinned, lips tucked in on each other like a child with a toy. Thor really liked that, liked that too much.

“What’s that?” Thor asked. Bruce guffawed and Thor felt mildly insulted. Bruce stopped.

“Oh, yeah, you probably don’t have it on Asgard. It’s, um . . . do you know, like, drugs or medicinal herbs, something like that?”

Thor nodded. Herbs were fairly commonly used in both medical and recreational situations on Asgard. Earth shouldn’t differ too much. It clicked, then, and, given the rest of the movie, made sense.

“Oh, so sort of a . . .” Thor gestured out with a hand, a wave motion, and spacey expression, “perception altering, then?”

“Ahh, yeah, perception altering indeed,” Bruce mumbled with a grin on his breath.

“Do you use it?” Thor asked. Bruce’s eyes darted to the screen, red fluttering across his cheeks. Thor’s mouth shot into a smile on its own accord and he tucked it down as Bruce went more twitchy.

“Y-yeah, I do. More often since Hulk came into my life, cause, uh, the . . . weed helps, with the anxiety and anger and stuff,” he stopped himself and Thor gave him a moment as he worried his fingers at the back of his neck, “Is that, like, okay? I don’t know what the sort of, um, culture around recreational drugs is, or if you even have them, I-”

“No,” Thor cut him off, smiling. Many a late night had been spent in his youth with Asgard’s own take on ‘recreational’ drugs, “It’s fairly common on my world, too. Perhaps, when we land back on earth, you and I could partake in this weed together?” A breeze of a giggle simmered out of the corner of Bruce’s mouth and he nodded against his chest.

“Yeah, if you want.”

Thor’s cool burst at even the vaguest concept of sharing another experience with Bruce. He wanted weed if Bruce wanted it. He wanted to comprehend the intricacies of supernova death spirals and watch all the movies on Bruce’s list just so they could make another and find out the secrets that only he could know. All that Bruce was, Thor determined he would discover.

“So, when we land, you guys are going to see if you can find land in Norway, right?” Bruce asked. Thor frowned. Earth, which was coupled inseparably with the true weight of ruling and a wave of changes to follow, was something Thor was trying to place as far in the back of his mind as possible. Not to mention, Bruce following him to Norway didn’t seem to have much of a chance.

“Yes, we should draft a proposal for the Norwegian government soon. And you? Where will you go?” Bruce shrugged, eyes drifting back over to the screen, and Thor used the moment to wince his eyes shut. Bruce would probably go back to New York, secluded in his lab until he could forget Sakaar without the reminder of Thor. Maybe, if Thor was lucky, or unlucky he supposed, someone would try to blow up the world again and they would be forced into a reunion.

“I . . . dunno, I-maybe just back with Tony, if he’ll let me. I-I’m not sure where honestly. I don’t know if I have anywhere to go.” Thor’s brows shot up and then, as they fell, a well of sympathy filled in his chest.

“But, what about Romanoff? You and her were . . . lovers, yes? Maybe you could live with her. If she lives somewhere, I’m not sure.” Natasha hadn’t entered Thor’s head for a long time, but that was not to say Thor had forgotten her, especially not then. Midgardians were so hung up on relationships, on commitment and the who’s with who and men or women. A drip of anxiety tracked it’s way down his throat, chances dwindling.

“Oh.” Bruce slumped down against the bed, hand rubbing against his temple. Thor’s chest thumped. Oh faen, what if Bruce loved her?

“You two were together, right?” Thor tortured himself further.

“Well, ah . . . sort of? I-I don’t, we were something, yeah. But, it’s been two years. I’ve been gone. I . . . Nat’s moved on, I’m sure,” Bruce mumbled, going sickly around his eyes, “I can’t live with her, no.”

“Sorry,” Thor said, with a cautious dip of his shoulder to Bruce. Bruce leaned in a little to it. Thor sighed. His leg scooted over to Bruce’s, thighs pressed together.

“We were never serious. I thought maybe, just for a little bit, that we could have something and we were, like, gonna run away together, which was so dumb, but . . . I don’t think it was real. It was more like play dating or something.”

Thor nodded. Bruce’s head fell heavy onto Thor’s shoulder. Thor didn’t say a word, too tricky of a balance to test.

“Can . . . can I just come with you to Norway? I think I could be a really good political help and there’s a lab there where-”

“Yes!” It jumped out of Thor as an electric flush touched at the back of his neck. He laughed, catching the outburst and quieting himself, “You should come, that’s wonderful.”

“Okay, I’ll-awesome, I’ll come.”

Thor thought, if he could read auras, his would be reaching across the whole room. Briefly, Thor almost went for a kiss, because Bruce’s eyes were under folded lids scrunched into warm creases of irises and his full cheeks were resting under them. Thor stopped, though, on the edge of starting. Kissing then seemed ill-timed, too rushed, too rash.

As Bruce turned his eyes from Thor to his feet, a half grin on his face, Thor realized, with a start, that he hadn’t seen Hulk today. No pounding heads, no green tinted temples. Thor took it as a sign. He had to, he needed to actually, because Thor couldn’t do another four days without Bruce.

Let the wooing begin.

If you comment, I'll dm you my favorite recipe for meatballs (they are dope y'all and I also have a vegetarian version)

[lovelyirony]

Do people hate Sharon for that kiss with Steve alone or do they hate herf or something else? I didn't see anything wrong and find her cool but I agree that the kiss was awkward.

A lot of people hate Sharon because they view Peggy and Steve as the Only Couple and find the fact that Sharon and Steve going into a relationship is “creepy.” A lot of people also didn’t like her because she “got in the way” of Stucky. (Which she didn’t, no one is, because Marvel would never actually put that relationship in the MCU.) 

The kiss was awkward, and I view it as unnecessary in that movie. I would’ve preferred some flirtatious one-liners or a promise of things to come. 

I think Sharon could be a great character in a movie, or in a TV show. I think Agent 13 is very interesting, because she’s almost a foil to Captain America, in a sense. Steve is one of those guys that wants to settle down with a house and two kids and a dog, while Sharon loves her job and quite often has a fear of entire commitment, which is very interesting to read about and write about! 

I don’t read much comics, but I do know that they share a very nice history together, and Sharon is often a driving force behind his actions. (In the early line, if I’m remembering correctly, Steve literally quits the role of Captain America because after three days, she won’t settle down with him. Quite amusing, yeah?) 

She’s also incredibly skilled. She trains with Valkyrie and Cap like it’s NBD, and in the movies, it’s shown that Natasha has no idea of who she is, or her role in SHIELD. And then, Sharon asks Alexander Pierce why they’re asking for Cap to be an enemy of the state or whatever, and she’s one of the first to kind of catch on to the fact that Pierce…may not be telling the truth. 

And in civil war, she was literally the only reason Team Cap got as far as they did. She told them about the kill order they had on Barnes, and then got Cap and Falcon their suits back. Y’all think they could’ve????? Cap is literal trash at undercover work, he’d probably just wear a baseball cap to a CIA building and be like “haha yeah it’s my off day” and sam would just be like “oh shit i just….need this” and try to cover, and it would be a DISASTER

[galindathrop]

Yet Another Avengers 4 Theory

Marvel logo with the Avengers piano theme.

Movie opens 5 years later. The Avengers, for the most part, have moved on; fighting villains here and there but not a team. They still haven't beaten Thanos. Tony is discouraged and upset. He and Pepper got married not long after he gets back because Tony almost died and that Pepper was pregnant. Their 5 year old son, Morgan keeps him happy. Then they get a massive energy reading coming from San Francisco. They send Bruce to investigate. Bruce gets there to discover Scott free from the Quantum Realm. Scott says, "What did I miss?" Cue Avengers 4 logo.

There is a lone hero fighting a villian in San Francisco. She then gets a call. It was Luis. This hero is Cassie Lang. He tells her her dad is back. Luis tells Scott the events of Infinity War in his story telling way. "How do I get back?" Scott asks. Bruce takes him to Tony.

Meanwhile, the remaining Avengers plus Captain Marvel are at work trying to get them back. Cassie then calls them to get to the compound and that Scott is back.

Tony reveals that he invented a time machine but was unable to get it working. Then it us exposed to the Quantum Energy Scott has. They combine the two and send Scott and future Tony to the present day.

This part picks up where Infinity War left off. Nebula helps him onto the guardians ship. As they return to earth they are followed by another ship. They return to the compound just as Steve, Nat, Bruce, and Thor get there. Steve and Tony are forced to reconcile. Tony gets his "I told you so moment" before leaving with Pepper to tell May about Peter. Nebula tells Rocket about the rest of the guardians.

Clint is at his farm placing jars of dust that used to be his family on the shelf. He then hears something crash in the woods. He goes to investigate and discovers Captain Marvel aka Carol Danvers. They leave for the compound.

Meanwhile those who dusted wake up in the Soul World. Everyone is scrambling, looking for their friends. Wanda and Strange work together to get out. The others get to know each other.

On Earth, Tony heads back to the compound with May and Pepper. Pepper tells him that she's pregnant. Tony is driving when there is a massive beam of energy from the compound. He gets there to discover something crashed through the building. The Avengers get into defensive positions and make a joke about how they're working together again. The dust clears to reveal Scott.

Scott and the Tonys work together to build the time machine with the remaining quantum energy Scott has. Thor gets Cassie through the Bifrist by this point. Tony, Scott, and Bruce can't do it on their own. Tony and Rhodney seek out Harley Keener while Steve contacts Shuri and Thor attempts to speak to Jane. Jane has lost Selvig and Darcy. Clint and Carol meet up with Scott, Nat, and future Tony at the compound. They build the machine and go through time to find the infinity stones before Thanos does without altering their time. Somewhere along the way future Tony vanishes.

In the Soul World, the heroes run across Hope, Hank, and Janet. Hank has a shrunken down version of his lab. Half the universe uses the building as a refuge. They figure out the Avengers' plan. They try to get out on their own but fail. Then Thanos, who has discovered the plan, sends in the revived Black Order, to kill them. They team up to defeat the Black Order again.

At the end if the movie, the remaining heroes have gotten all the stones and return to their time but Thanos from shows up and foils the plan. The infinity stones, except for the power, soul, and space, are returned to their place in time. It was all for nothing. They get it off and Tony catches the gauntlet. Tony can't handle the power. The Avengers help him in a Guardians of the Galaxy style scene. This is what causes Bruce to become the Hulk. The Hulk wears the gauntlet and reverses the snap. This kills the Hulk but not Bruce. All the Avengers with the exception of Bruce, Thor, Nebula, Rocket and Captain Marvel are badly injured. They continue to fight anyway. Then a ship shows up. Its Korg and Valkyrie along with those who disappeared. They all see what happened and the newly resurrected heroes try to stop Thanos. They fail. The only way to beat him is for everyone to work together. Cue epic fight sequence of every hero in the MCU. In the end it is Nebula that destroys Thanos. Each stone is given to a certain a hero.

I refuse to accept that they will die. Tony is forced to retire from his injuries, is put in a Nick Fury role. Steve uses the last of the quantum energy to send him back to the 40's. Bucky and Sam are left to take the role of Captain America. Thor gets back with Jane as Thor rules a new Asguard in Norway. He strikes a deal with Hela to return Loki. She does. Clint retires officially with his family. Nat takes on a Maria Hill role to help Tony. Bruce stays to help the newest Avengers as their scientist. The new Avengers are led by Captain Marvel and Scott.

The first post credits scene is Tony and Pepper's wedding or wedding reception. While there, Peter gets a call from May that he needs to leave for his Europe trip. Tony tells him to go leading into Spiderman: Far From Home.

The second post credits scene is Scott coming back home to the giant ant playing the drums. The new Avengers see this. Scott slowly backs out. OR Bucky is at a grave yard. He says something about it finally being the end of the line. He gets up for it to reveal it to be Steve's headstone, who married Peggy Carter until he died of old age.

[sserpente]

In a heartbeat (Chapter 15)

A/N: Heyho there my lovelies! A day later than promised (I simply forgot, I am so sorry), here is the new chapter! Enjoy reading, it will be going down soon... ;-)

Find all chapters on my masterlist!

Right after breakfast and a few really uncomfortable questions on the Grandmaster’s behalf, you were finally free to go again. Loki wasted no time in leading you out of the giant and colourful building unnoticed, returning to the plane wreck to train with you.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea for us to come here? I mean, the scrappers…”

“I have concealed us. None of them is going to even hear us.”

You had no idea how he managed to keep up this much magic all the while focusing on not getting kicked by you but then again, you were hardly difficult to overwhelm.

Although Loki had been right—you did not make the same mistakes all over again. He was, naturally, still a lot smarter, stronger and faster than you but you improved. You improved so much that by the second half of your training, when the sun had almost reached its highest point in the grey sky, he handed you one of his daggers and commanded you to attack him.

Shrugging a little doubtful, you obeyed.

One, two, three steps and he had disarmed you again. Four, five, six steps and he had pressed you against the corpus of the plane and threatened to slice your throat with your own weapon.

He was dangerously close. Stunned, you could feel his hot and moist breath against your lips, his panting the only thing you were still able to hear. Your flustered gaze automatically wandered to his thin lips, tempted to touch them with your own.

“Let go of me…” You whispered, your voice barely audible as you struggled a little in a weak attempt to break free. In response, Loki shifted his entire body weight on you, making it impossible for you to escape.

Smirking mischievously, he tilted his head in a mocking manner.

“If you let your opponent force you into a corner, you have already lost. You cannot expect of them to let go of you again either.”

“G-great, so what do I do?” You swallowed thickly, feeling each and every one of his muscles tensing against your barely covered skin. You were sweating again, the tips of your hair a little wet and your cheeks reddened from the effort. Compared to Valkyrie, not exactly attractive. If only you could move your arms to just wrap your arms around his neck, bury your fingers in his raven hair and kiss him until he dropped that stupid dagger to make love to you, right there on the ground—well, maybe at least on one of the old leather seats inside of the plane wreck…

“You may hope I shall be merciful, little minx.” He breathed, his smirk widening. What he did then scared you a lot more than the pointy blade of his dagger, for suddenly, he let go of your hip to brush a strand of your hair out of your face, his cool fingers gently grazing your cheek.

Your lips parted.

“It is almost noon.” He uttered quietly. Peeking briefly at the sun, you nodded. Valkyrie!

“What are you gonna do?”

Loki smirked.

“I will sabotage her ship and foil her little plan. That will buy us some time.”

“Time for what?”

“My brother will not give up until he has found a way out of here. Sooner or later, he will be back asking me for help.”

“And then you will do what?” You began, hopeful.

“You are asking too many questions, little minx. Keep training. I shall pick you up later.” And with that, he disappeared, the only evidence of his presence the invisible charm he kept above you to keep you safe. Something had happened. Something he had found out or gotten confronted with yesterday. Loki was restless—but you knew of course he wouldn’t share his concerns with you.

Picking up his dagger, you got into the position to throw. There wasn’t really much else to do anyway.

Sizzling through the air, the blade sliced through the thin piece of metal, making you nod triumphantly. Your hard work was finally showing some success—or maybe Loki was just a good teacher. It was probably the latter.

Your arm was hurting again by the time you took a short break and sat down on the ground, playing with Loki’s dagger in your hands.

He hadn’t answered your question and although you did not doubt he was going to do what he told you about foiling Valkyrie’s plans (your ego cheering at the thought), you kept wondering what his next move was going to be. There was no way he would finally speak up and tell you clearly whether he was going to bring you home or not—even if right now, you felt like your precious hope was shrinking.

Sighing, you examined the back of your hand. Still full of scratches from your very own nails, some of it freshly healed, others still bleeding a little when touched them.

What had that been just then? Him tucking a streak of your hair behind your ear like you were a cherished lover? The way his blue eyes had glanced at you… was it wrong to pretend he was into you too? Hell, you couldn’t even tell if he was annoyed by your presence, after all… but no. You had talked about this yesterday. Loki could have sold you to the Grandmaster as well, especially after learning he was so fond of you. He hadn’t.

An indignant laugh mixed with an absurd scoff escaped your lips. You wanted to hug him again. It was true. You wanted to hug your God of Mischief and tell him it was alright, that you still loved him.

“I love you,” you whispered out loud, testing the words. You had never used them on a man before. Your parents, best friends and pets, yes but never a man. It felt… strange, unusual but if it did anything, it proved you one thing—it also felt right.

Well… back to training. That way, you wouldn’t have to worry if it was too early to even think about those three words. A little clumsily, you rose from your sitting position and turned around, only to feel your heart sink to the very bottom of your body.

“Well, well, well… if it isn’t Loki’s precious little slave.”

Scrappers. The very same scrappers that had picked you up and dragged you to the Grandmaster last time. Shit.

Clutching your dagger tighter, you recalled what Loki had taught you. If you let your opponent force you into a corner, you have already lost. Keep your balance. Never give up on your weapon.

His smooth voice sounded like an echo in your head—only your body failed to react.

“Haven’t been too honest with us, now have you? Where’s your king now, huh?” One of them snarled.

What on Earth had happened to the concealment charm?

“If you even think about touching me, Loki will rip you apart.”

“Oh yeah? Not if I kill him first. Is it true what the Grandmaster says about you? That you know damn well how to give head? I’d like to put that to the test.”

Panic flooded your veins, numbing your senses even more. Where was the adrenaline when you needed it? There were three of them and you only had one dagger… even if you did manage to stab the one in the middle, the other two would lunge at you before you even had a chance to make a run for it.

Loki, please, where are you?!

Last time he had left, he had promised to keep an eye on you with magic. Was he watching you now, too? Was he already on his way to aid you? Did he care? What if he wanted to see if you heeded what he had taught you about fighting thus far? Was he mad?! You were far away from being ready to handle three scrappers all by yourself!

“Loki! Loki, help me! Loki!!!” You bellowed, your throat burning. Not once in your life had you needed the full capacity of your vocal chords this much. You screamed until you hoarsened, the scrappers, who were now slowly approaching you, grinning dirtily.

“Get behind me.” My saviour. Relieved, you let out a breath you didn’t realise you were holding. Loki’s voice was right behind you.

Glaring at the scrappers threateningly, his heavy breathing intimidated not only them but also you when he pushed you behind his back for you to be shielded.

“You allowing her runs once in a while or what? You should be careful, others might take advantage of the opportunity.”

The daggers appeared in his hands the moment the first scrapper lunged at him. Loki’s fist hit him unprepared, the fraction of a second after, he had already rammed his dagger into his stomach, causing a bleeding wound as he fell to the ground with a painful moan.

The second scrapper attacking was smarter. Gnashing his teeth and hissing like a snake, he attempted to throw one of those obedience disks at Loki, who simply dodged it with the blade of his dagger. He threw it effortlessly and hit him right in the throat. He as well slumped to the ground, the blood drowning the dirty ground beneath him. Simultaneously, Loki plunged his other dagger into the last scrapper’s chest. He had barely fallen to the ground when he pounced on him, holding on to him for dear life. Loki simply kicked him off.

Your heart was beating like a steam hammer when the God of Mischief wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close, realising with horror on his face that you had started crying. When, you did not know, only that your tears were wetting your cheeks and staining Loki’s black leather armour, your ugly sobbing echoing through the air.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into the curtain of your hair, his grip tightening even more as a loud sigh escaped his lips. He was… apologising? For what? For leaving you here all alone? For getting you into this situation?

All you managed to do in response was pressing your face against his muscly chest and closing your eyes shut until your tears had dried and he gently pushed you an arm-length away from him. Compassion was glistening in his eyes and with it… with it what felt like care.

“Let’s go.”

You followed him back to his apartment mutely, his hand never letting go of your wrist. Tenderly, he led you back into the Grandmaster’s house and through the endless hallways straight to his bedroom. Only when he had finally seated you on the bed, he mustered you in a scrutinising manner and spoke again.

“Did they harm you?”

He didn’t believe you the first time you shook your head.

“I promise. Loki, I’m okay, I’m just… it’s the shock, I guess. I’m not exactly used to life-threatening situations every now and then.”

The God of Mischief smiled. “You will get used to them rather quickly. Rest a little. I will be back shortly.”

He was going to leave you alone again? No! Panic flooded your veins along with stinging fear clawing at your guts.

“Please, no… don’t go. Loki, please, don’t leave me alone now.  Lie with me? Please?” It was the first time you acted on your feelings—towards him, that was and if he realised what your actions built on, he did not let on. Instead, he sighed once more, his lips pressed together to a thin line.

After what felt like a full minute, he finally moved and relaxed on the mattress, allowed you to cuddle up against him on the bed. Whether it was an instinct for you to seek his closeness? His presence was soothing you. You needed to know.

“Loki? Will you answer me one question? Will you bring me home?”

The God of Mischief sighed.

“I will.” And you believed him.

This man was no monster. If anything, Loki possessed a broken heart he barely ever showed. But he had to you and you were so honoured you felt new tears welling up in your eyes and worsening your sight as you hugged him tightly and attempted to calm your heart beat.

Silence spread in the room and for the first time, you considered telling him about your feelings.

“Loki… I…”

It was the Grandmaster’s voice that foiled your plan.

“Loyal Sakaarians, Lord of Thunder has stolen my ship and my favourite champion. Sakaarians, take to the skies. Bring him down. Do not let him leave this planet!”

Loki growled. “For Valhalla’s sake, Thor…”

[multiverseforger]

Queen of HelEdit

Hela often tried to expand her power to the dead who dwell in Valhalla as well. These attempts often brought Hela into conflict with Odin or his son Thor. She once appeared to Thor while he was on the verge of death after battling the Wrecker, who knocked a building onto him while he was depowered.[3] However, she failed to tempt Thor into entering Valhalla, despite an image of one that dwelled in Valhalla.[4]

Later, she stole a portion of the sleeping Odin's soul while he was on the Sea of Eternal Night due to Loki planning to take over Asgard, thus creating a powerful entity known as Infinity.[5] Hela then unleashed Infinity upon the universe. Infinity even took control of Odin.[6] Hela slew Thor, who was restored to life by the sacrifice of her servant, the Silent One.[7] Hela was then slain by Odin to save Thor, but then returned to life by Odin after being convinced by Thor to restore the natural balance of life and death. Hela slew Thor after tracking him down by putting humans in danger, but restored him to life after Sif offered to die in his place.[8]

Hela later battled the Olympian Death-god Pluto for the right to claim Odin's soul, as Odin had been killed by the monster Mangog.[9] As a result, Hela restored Odin to life to prevent Pluto from claiming him.[10] Some time later, Hela confronted Thor.[11] Some time after that, she confronted Odin.[12] She then plotted with Loki to bring about Ragnarök by slaying the god Balder then attacking Asgard. She summoned Volla's spirit before this to tell her and Loki about Ragnarok, after which she prepared an army of monsters to attack Asgard. However Odin used his powers to prevent Balder dying.[13] Later Balder was restored after the Asgardian's death and resurrection battling the Celestials.[14]

Hela then summoned the Valkyrie to aid in a war against Ollerus, while Hela encountered the other Defenders.[15] Hela was then forced to join a conspiracy of Loki and Tyr against Odin.[16] She also unwillingly entered an alliance with the death-gods of other Earth pantheons, joining their realms together to create a vast hell. As a result, she was destroyed and devoured along with other Death-gods by Demogorge the God-Eater, though it happened to her last, who was wakened by the joining, but was restored to life with Demogorge's defeat.[17]

Hela later allied with Malekith, and took souls of Earth mortals to Hel using special food of the faerie.[18] She then appeared in Asgard to claim Odin's soul, but was driven off by Thor.[19] She encountered the X-Men and New Mutants in Asgard. She appeared to claim Wolverine's soul, but was driven off by the X-Men and Mirage.[20] Hel was then invaded by Thor, Balder, the Executioner, and the Einherjar to rescue the captive mortal souls. Hela wrestled Thor for the captive mortal souls.[21] Hela raised an army of the dead to stop Thor's escape from Hel.[22]

During this fight with Thor, in revenge for his defiance and invasion of her realm, Hela cursed Thor with a dark form of eternal life, making him incapable of dying while also making his bones weak and brittle so that they would break more easily and wouldn't heal from the damage inflicted, Hela reflecting in satisfaction at the image of Thor coming to long for death while she refuses to grant it.[23] Hela then contested against Mephisto who attempted to possess Thor's soul.[24] Thor creates special mystical armor as protection,[25] but after battling and defeating the Midgard Serpent, his body is pulverized into jelly.[26] Thor eventually forces Hela to lift the curse by using the Destroyer as his host body to invade Hel, forcing Hela to restore his body to life and health before he could destroy her.[27]

From time to time, Odin would enter a magical sleep in order to bolster his powers. It was during one of these sleeps that Hela made a plan for power. She corrupted the Valkyries, mentally and physically, transforming them into fire-demons. This also included Danielle Moonstar, of the New Mutants, who was on Earth at the time, who Hela set against the New Mutants.[28] Dani and her team were eventually brought over to Asgard. Hela sent the Valkyries against the dwarves and New Mutants in Asgard.[29] The New Mutants skirmished with Hela's forces again and again, even rescuing the prisoner Hrimhari, a wolf-prince from a far away land. Hela forced the dwarf Eitri to forge a sword of Asgardian metal "uru". One of Hela's spells split the group. This resulted in a more efficient recruitment of resistance force, which included the Warriors Three. Hela sent Mirage to kill the sleeping Odin. While most of the Asgardian forces battled Hela's soldiers, the mutants ventured to Odin's very bedchambers, saved Odin's life and foiled Hela's plans. Hela was defeated when the uru sword was destroyed.[30]

Conflict with various forces brought Bruce Banner, a.k.a. the Hulk, and Agamemnon, the leader of the Pantheon, to Hela's realm. After an undetermined time fighting Hela's skeletal forces, Agamemnon pleaded, based on a vaguely hinted upon relationship, to allow the two to leave. Hela relented, reluctantly.[volume & issue needed]

Hela on EarthEdit

Hela was awakened from her mortal guise after Ragnarök by Thor, albeit due to Loki's machinations.[31] She now lives in Las Vegas, maintaining a lair where she can feed on the souls of random unlucky people, and agrees to use her powers to aid Loki in bringing him back in time to Asgard to complete his own sinister plans for Asgard.[32]

She is seen attending a meeting with Mephisto, Blackheart, Satannish and Dormammu about a disturbance created by the newly resurrected Magik, who is looking for the soulsword and the original Bloodstone amulet. Belasco's daughter, Witchfire appears during the meeting and reveals she is now the current owner of the original amulet and vows to take her father's place as ruler of Limbo and seat at their table.[33]

When Norman Osborn attempts to subdue the X-Men, Cyclops sends Danielle Moonstar to Las Vegas where she approaches Hela for a boon. Hela warns her that the price of the boon is a heavy one, but Dani accepts, requesting "a new ride home and a big ol' sword."[34] Later, Hela is summoned to Utopia by Hrimhari to save a pregnant Rahne and their child, which is neither human nor mutant. Faced with a moral dilemma, to save his child or Rahne; Hrimhari asks Hela to restore Elixir to full health so Elixir may heal them both and to take him instead. Hela agrees and takes Hrimhari away.[

[housebeleren]

Random Commander Challenge: Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero

Another month, another random Commander challenge complete. Honestly, I’m really enjoying doing this. It’s been super fun to improve my deckbuilding skills, and it adds variance to my weekly EDH games, since there are always new matchups to experience. For September, I chose randomly out of the Commander 2019 lineup, so I could highlight one of the new generals from that set. I ended up with Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero, and it proved to be a really fun deck to build and pilot. Let’s get to it!

Art: Zack Stella

Theme

There are two primary elements to a Gerrard build, in my eyes. The first is to make use of his mechanical ability, which is awesome for White/Red as it allows you to break parity on mass removal. Additionally, it enables a few fun combos, so I tried to include those when I could, though I opted for very few tutors so it wouldn’t feel too linear as a “combo” deck. The second aspect I wanted to include was some amount of Gerrard-flavored cards, which could include other Weatherlight characters, cards with Gerrard in the art or flavor text, or just other cards from the time period of the Weatherlight saga.

Luckily, I was able to do some of both, and a few cards even fit perfectly into both themes.

Card Groups

Gerrard Recursion - The first, and most important thing to understand building any Gerrard deck is how to get around the exile clause in his ability so you don’t have to keep paying Commander Tax. The key is that if you can return Gerrrard to the Battlefield or your Hand with his death trigger on the stack, the rest of the ability will resolve and Gerrard will not be exiled. This is absolutely critical to understand because it basically enables your entire deck strategy. So the first group of cards to consider are cards that will return Gerrard from your grave at Instant speed. Gift of Immortality is the MVP in this regard, since it allows Gerrard to die once per turn, and will return him immediately, then reattach itself later. The other very best option is Loyal Retainers, since this creature plus a free sacrifice outlet and Gerrard can go infinite, and is one of the essential combo engines in the deck. Other less-great-but-still-good options are Sigil of the New Dawn and Angelic Renewal, the latter of which can be reused with Sun Titan, if needed, Brought Back & Faith’s Reward as one-shot Instants, and Squee’s Embrace, which not only can be reused with Sun Titan but is also a massive flavor win. I also recommend a couple of Enchantment tutors to go find these pieces, as they are so essential. Plus, they can help find some of your combos, too. Lastly, Adarkar Valkyrie can also work here, and if you have a sacrifice outlet, you can activate it with Gerrard’s trigger on the stack to bring back Gerrard, then sacrifice it so it will be reanimated once Gerrard’s ability resolves. Sneaky, huh?

Sacrifice Outlets - Once you have a way to recur Gerrard, you need a way to kill him (damn, that’s morbid). Your best bets are no-cost sacrifice outlets. The very best in the game is Goblin Bombardment, since it can help pick off opposing dorks, and is part of the Loyal Retainers combo as well. Phyrexian Altar and Ashnod’s Altar are also good, and can also combo with the Retainers to generate infinite mana for a Comet Storm win. I honestly should have included more sacrifice outlets in my build, but I didn’t realize how critical this group would be. Altar of Dementia is another great free outlet that can serve as an alternate win con, and there are some offbeat options too, like Betrothed of Fire, Bogardan Dragonheart, Fanatical Devotion, and Tooth and Claw. I wouldn’t include all of these, but 4-5 free sac outlets is probably ideal.

Value Creatures - Okay, so we can now keep reusing Gerrard, but we need something useful to do with that. Until we assemble a game-winning combo, the best thing to do is continually squeeze value out of creatures that either have ETB/LTB effects or can sacrifice themselves for an effect. First, Solemn Simulacrum, Burnished Hart, and Kor Cartographer are great ways to ramp yourself in colors that can’t often do so. Duergar Hedge-Mage is a fantastic way to remove opposing threats that I’m honestly shocked it doesn’t see more play, while Fiend Hunter is good on its own but is even better with a sac outlet. Some larger options are Sun Titan and Inferno Titan, and I of course played the recursion package of Karmic Guide and Reveillark, which are essential here. As for creatures that can sacrifice themselves, I run Bounty Agent (as Commander spot removal), Generator Servant (for quick ramp bursts), Magus of the Wheel (because duh), and Starke of Rath, which not only can remove any creature, but can be sacrificed in response to its ability so he doesn’t change sides, plus he’s a massive flavor win.

Mass Removal - Getting incremental value is all fine and good, but one quick way for Gerrard to pull ahead is to break parity on board wipes. I opted for Wrath of God, Austere Command, Dusk/Dawn, Solar Blaze, and Akroma’s Vengeance as my primary board wipes. In addition, Magus of the Disk and his namesake, Nevinyrral’s Disk are awesome, and can bring your opponents to a complete standstill if you threaten to pop them every turn. I also threw in Cataclysmic Gearhulk and Archangel Avacyn as fun options that can both serve as lesser board wipes. Playing lots of mass removal will slow down the game, but it gives you time to build a combo win, or can even just keep the board clear so you can start swinging without fear.

Combo Pieces - To avoid the game grinding to a halt and being completely unfun, it’s critical for decks like this to include some ways to combo off, and to do so relatively quickly. I already mentioned Loyal Retainers, but it bears repeating, since they are one of the most critical combo pieces, and one of the only ways to actually “go infinite” in one turn. Loyal Retainers + Goblin Bombardment + Gerrard = kill the table, and if you replace Bombardment with Ashnod’s or Phyrexian Altar, it’s infinite mana, which can fuel a Comet Storm to blow up the table. If you don’t have Bombardment, then other good options are Purphoros, Impact Tremors, or Stalking Vengeance, all of which can turn your creature loops lethal with very little effort. Aurelia, the Warleader also falls in the combo category, since it’s technically possible with a sac outlet and the retainers to get infinite combats with her and win that way. Finally, I threw in Kiki Jiki & Zealous Conscripts, which combo instantly with each other, but are also good cards in the deck in their own right, so I think they merit inclusion either way.

Flavor Wins - Finally, I wanted to make sure this deck had some good Gerrard flavor. He can’t host the whole Weatherlight crew, like Sisay can, but there are plenty of cards that not only have flavor, but also fit with the deck’s theme. I already mentioned Starke of Rath, which is a great flavor win here. Either version of Squee can also be a good inclusion, but particularly great is Squee’s Embrace. On a jankier note, I threw in Brawl, which is a bad board wipe but has Gerrard and Tahngarth in the art, which is pretty cool. Orim’s Thunder is a decent playable that can take out two threats at once, and Debt of Loyalty is a super cool card with Gerrard in the art that I’m quite surprised doesn’t see more play in White decks as an easy way to steal powerful creatures from the enemy. Lastly, I also included the Weatherlight itself, despite being A) not a particularly great card and B) being the new version that Jhoira captains. Because y’know what? It’s still a flavor win and I have a foil one so I might as well play it somewhere.

Those are the main card groups. Once you put those together, the rest is pretty easy. Mana rocks to help accelerate your game plan (also Mind Stone and Commander’s Sphere can be brought back with Gerrard’s ability, so those are great), spot removal to deal with important threats, a couple situational tutors (If you have Recruiter of the Guard or Imperial Recruiter, they’re great to find Loyal Retainers, but I didn’t have them and didn’t want to spend money on them), and a few other random pieces for fun. I put a minor Sneak Attack line into mine, but I probably should have cut it, since it really isn’t a Sneak Attack deck, despite the potential to use Gerrard to recur big creatures ahead of schedule.

Win Conditions & Lines of Play

This will be pretty straightforward, since I went over most of the win conditions above.

Loyal Retainers Loop - This is the best and easiest combo to put together, since it only requires Loyal Retainers and any sac outlet, plus your general. The best sac outlet is Goblin Bombardment, since that’s already a win. But if you don’t have Bombardment, this can generate you infinite mana off of Ashnod’s or Phyrexian Altar for a Comet Storm win, or create infinite ETBs for Purphoros or Impact Tremors. There are tons of options here and they’re somewhat mix and match. Lastly, if you don’t have Loyal Retainers, you can build a harder version of this loop with Karmic Guide & Reveillark, and in that case, you don’t need Gerrard at all. Just a sac outlet and one of the aforementioned win conditions will do the trick.

Purphoros Grind - Okay, let’s say you can’t go truly “infinite,” but you can put together some slower loops, perhaps using Gift of Immortality and a sac outlet to sacrifice and recur your entire board once per turn. In that case, Purphoros, Impact Tremors, and Stalking Vengeance can all work as ways to slowly whittle down your opponent. And, by slowly, I mean relatively quickly. You don’t have the benefit here of winning literally all in one turn, but this path can deal 5-10 damage to each opponent per turn pretty easily, and that only means a couple of times around the table before you’ve got it in the bag. Don’t sleep on this line.

Kiki-Conscripts - Kiki Jiki plus Zealous Conscripts is a classic instant win combo, and the good news is both creatures are fantastic additions to the deck anyway. The great news is even if one piece dies, there’s lots of recursion in White, so you should be able to assemble this combo from the Graveyard just as easily as from your hand. Have fun!

Smash Face - Honestly, the last line of play here is just to smash face. Your masses of removal should keep the board pretty clear so you can swing in every turn, and once you have titans and gearhulks out, that can be for a lot of damage. Not to mention Aurelia doesn’t need to go infinite to be good. She can threaten tons of damage with just a few friends. And the good news is, unlike most Boros decks that struggle to rebuild, Gerrard is designed to be resilient, so you should be able to keep a relatively full board through lots of trials and tribulations. 

When I’ve won with this deck, it’s generally been through a combination of grinding out with my value engines plus smashing face, so definitely don’t ignore those as viable options. Frequently the path to victory with this deck won’t be all in one combo, but accruing value over time and chipping away. The combos are in there for good measure and for the occasional quick win.

Conclusion

I admit I did go over budget on this deck, and pretty significantly. The main reason was I think this deck absolutely requires Loyal Retainers, and I wasn’t willing to sleeve it up without them. That said, the rest of the pieces I didn’t already have were pretty cheap, though I could see it being a hard deck to make work on a true budget, since Purphoros and Phyrexian Altar aren’t cards everyone has just lying around. Still, it’s a super fun deck and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a different way to build Boros.

I won 2 games out of 6 with Gerrard, which is a pretty strong record. Not as good as I managed with Tuvasa, but I think that was a fluke, and it was out of fewer games so it’s harder to know how well it worked. Gerrard was a lot of fun and felt strong, so I was very pleased with it.

For October, I landed on M19 Elder Dragon Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire. I’ve never built a Jund deck, so this should be interesting. Plus, if I like it, it could lead into a build for Korvold, from the upcoming Brawl decks. We’ll see what happens!

[caveartfair]

How Anselm Kiefer Borrowed Rodin’s Arms and Legs to Make New Sculptures

Portrait of Anselm Kiefer. © Georges Poncet. Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.

Artists have always studied and borrowed from each other, ignoring the tidy categorizations of art history and instead eagerly spanning geography and epoch. Italian Renaissance artists were inspired by the naturalism of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture; French Post-Impressionists incorporated the compositions and colors of Japanese woodblock prints.

And, more recently, German contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer has looked to the legacy of French sculptor Auguste Rodin. His fascination culminated in an exhibition, “Kiefer Rodin,” timed to coincide with the centenary of Rodin’s death in 1917. The show, which premiered at the Musée Rodin in Paris earlier this year, opened last week at Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation.

“There is no copyright among artists,” Kiefer wrote in a 2016 letter to Catherine Chevillot, director of the Musée Rodin, discussing a joint exhibition with Rodin. “What seems at first like sacrilege is, from the perspective of cultural history, an altogether normal occurrence. Painters often made use of their colleagues’ studies to create new images.”

Anselm Kiefer, Les Cathédrales de France (The Cathedrals of France), 2013. © Anselm Kiefer. Photo by Charles Duprat. Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.

To understand what brought these two artists together, it helps to look at some of Rodin’s own improbable sources of inspiration. The early modern sculptor, famously known for The Kiss (ca. 1882) and other sensual and organic depictions of the human form, was enamored with spired and buttressed French Gothic cathedrals.

Rodin compared them to large-scale sculptures, admiring how the ornamental is expertly foiled by the simple, with exteriors that create a continuously shifting chiaroscuro of shadows as the sun crosses the sky. He made a point to visit and sketch as many such cathedrals as he could, culminating in a lesser-known project and the only book that Rodin wrote and illustrated—Les Cathédrales de France (1914), published three years before his death.

“To say what has been my own progress in the study and comprehension of the Gothic would be in detail impossible,” Rodin wrote in a 1905 article on the subject, published in The North American Review. “The study has unquestionably influenced my sculpture, giving me more flexibility, more depth, more life in my modelling. The influence has entered into my blood, and has grown into my being.”

It was this shared fascination with cathedrals and architectural ruins that first drew Kiefer to Rodin. Kiefer famously bought the lead roof of the Cologne Cathedral in his native Germany when it was being replaced in the 1980s, and has since used the deconstructed material from it in his work.

Anselm Kiefer, Emanation (Emanation), 2016. © Anselm Kiefer. Photo  by Georges Poncet. Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.  

Anselm Kiefer, Die Walküren (The Valkyries), 2016. © Anselm Kiefer. Photo by Georges Poncet. Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.

Beyond simply reading Rodin’s book about cathedrals, though, it was Kiefer’s visit to the Musée Rodin storerooms in 2013 that struck a familiar chord. There, arranged meticulously in drawers yet largely unseen by the public, Kiefer found the building blocks of Rodin’s work—and important insights into the sculptor’s creative process.

There, Kiefer found an archive of bodily fragments—right arms, left feet, hands with pointer fingers extended, an entire anatomical inventory—hundreds of sculptural puzzle pieces cast in plaster, continuously arranged and rearranged by Rodin in order to work out the final compositions of his works.

Since Rodin’s death, many artists have asked to see these fragments in the storerooms of the Musée Rodin over the years. According to Chevillot and Sylvie Patry, a consulting curator at the Barnes Foundation, these have included photographers, painters, and sculptors such as Thomas Houseago. “There is a long tradition of contemporary artists looking at Rodin,” Patry says.

Auguste Rodin, The Cry, c. 1898. © Museée Rodin. Photo by Christian Baraja. Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.

But none before have picked up these pieces and continued the work of the master.  Kiefer requested permission to actually reproduce some of Rodin’s plaster fragments, so that he could integrate them into specially created vitrines. One such example is Sursum corda (2016) – which assembles packed earth, a dried tree, leaves, a metal column, and, at the base, reproductions of Rodin’s plaster heads, torsos, and feet. Depending on your perspective, the Rodin components are either buried, or serve as the seeds of modern experimentation that enabled Kiefer’s contemporary work to sprout roots.

In another vitrine, Palm Sunday (2016), a dried palm leaf is coated in plaster and detached from its trunk—transforming it into a botanical fragment that could be arranged and rearranged continuously, a la Rodin.

Plaster, a material usually reserved for the artistic process and not the finished product, dominates both Rodin and Kiefer’s inclusions in the exhibition. “Both of them are never satisfied with their own work,” explains Chevillot, “and are devoted to constant experimentation.”

Auguste Rodin, Assemblage: Left and Right Arms, c. 1900. © Musée Rodin. Photo by Christian Baraja. Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.

Anselm Kiefer, Berthe au Grand Pied (Bertha Broadfoot), 2016. © Anselm Kiefer. Photo by Georges Poncet. Courtesy of the Barnes Foundation.

Kiefer’s bold use of perishable materials beyond plaster—earth, dried branches and leaves—shows his comfort level with impermanence. According to Cindy Kang, the associate curator at the Barnes Foundation, Kiefer always works with the same shipping company who have become experts at packaging and transporting his large-scale, three-dimensional, hard-to-protect pieces. But if something happens to a vitrine or a canvas en route, that simply becomes part of the work.

Kiefer’s choice of materials also demonstrates that his works are part of an artistic thread that began before him, and will continue after. With time, these pieces could erode and become something else entirely. “I regard my ‘images’ not as finished products,” he wrote to Chevillot. “Rather, I think of them as a stone quarry, a collection of possibilities.” This quarry may be harvested by another artist someday, much as Kiefer looked to the fragments of Rodin’s legacy—breathing new life into it, piece by piece.

from Artsy News

[itsiotrecords-blog]

http://ift.tt/2rRZpaa

If one were able to stop Hitler and his rise to power, millions of lives could have been saved and just about all of World War II could have been prevented. There were multiple incidents throughout Hitler’s life that could have ended his reign, oftentimes before it even started, but Hitler’s unpredictability, paranoia, and plain old dumb luck allowed him to live and stay in power until he took his own life on April 30, 1945.

#1 June 30, 1934: Night of Long Knives Ernst Julius Röhm was a founding member of the Nazi party and one of its most dogmatic leaders.  He founded and ran the Nazi Storm Troopers, or SA — the muscle behind the Nazi political machine. However, members of the Nazi party and German elite started to get nervous about Röhm’s growing power and calls for revolution. Hitler, anxious about anyone moving in on his one-man show, decided to eliminate Rohm and his Storm Troopers. He personally flew to Wiessee, Germany, and went unescorted to Roehm’s chalet.  He ran into Röhm’s house, past his staff, and right into his bedroom. No one knows what was said between the two, but Röhm soon emerged and ordered his staff to stand down, as he was surrendering to Hitler. As he was leaving the Chalet, a whole column of SA Storm Troopers rolled up in trucks to take Röhm to a SA meeting. With their commander in the back of his car, Hitler calmly told them to return to their homes. If Hitler arrived just an hour later, the Troopers would have already been at Röhm’s house, and the commander wouldn’t have been so vulnerable. Instead of being arrested, he could have arrested Hitler. As it was, Röhm was killed and most of the Storm Troopers either followed him to the grave or were absorbed into the SS.

#2 November 8, 1939: Johann Georg Elser’s Bomb in the Bürgerbräukeller In a year-long plan, Johann Georg Elser plotted to kill Hitler at the Bürgerbräukeller, the site of Hitler’s failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsh coup. During this year, Elser slowly collected explosives and spent his nights hidden in the Bürgerbräukeller, painstakingly carving out a hollow space in a wooden pillar next to the speaking podium. Finally, he was able to make a space big enough to fit the explosives he had collected. On the night of Hitler’s speech, he set the device in place and planned for it to go off at 9:20, which would have been during one of Hitler’s infamously long speeches. Weather intervened however, when foggy weather cancelled flights out of the city; Hitler shortened his speech so that he could catch the train. He left the podium at 9:07, just 13 minutes before Elser’s bomb detonated. The explosion was so big it killed 8 people and injured dozens more. It almost certainly would have killed Hitler too, if only he hadn’t cut his speech short to make the train.

#3 March 13, 1943: Bomb in the Plane Initially, Henning von Tresckow was a supporter of the Nazis. However, after they betrayed the SA and started persecuting Germans, Tresckow started looking for ways to end Hitler’s reign. Collecting a number of like-minded Germans, he started planning Operation Spark, which sought the overthrow of the Nazi leadership. The Operation planned to kill Hitler then Tresckow’s officers would seize control of German command positions and take power in the Third Reich. One plot Treschow cooked up involved a bomb disguised as a case of alcohol. Treschow convinced an aide of Hitler’s that he had lost a bet and needed the aide to deliver the “bottles” as the prize to the winner, Colonel Helmuth Stieff. The package was safely stowed away on the plane and, with Hitler on board, the plane took off to Berlin. Unfortunately, the bomb fuse failed during the flight. After Hitler’s plane landed safely in Berlin, the coup was called off. If plotters had just somehow packed the bomb a little more carefully so the fuse didn’t fail, Hitler would have exploded in the air somewhere over Eastern Europe.

#4 March 21, 1943: Bomb in the Museum Not dissuaded by the failed plane plot, Henning von Tresckow tried again. This time, he recruited Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff, who volunteered to become a suicide bomber who would take out Hitler. On March 21, 1943, Hitler was to attend an exhibition of seized Soviet arms at a German war museum.  As an arms expert, Gersdorff was to be his guide around the exhibit. When Hitler arrived, Gersdorff activated two bombs and placed them in his pocket.  They were to go off 10 minutes later, while Hitler was taking the tour. For some reason though, Hitler rushed through the exhibit in just a few minutes and then quickly left the building. Gersdorff  was able to excuse himself, and quietly deactivated the bomb with seconds to spare. If, instead of a timed bomb, the conspirators had used an activated bomb or grenade, Hitler probably would have been killed and a military coup could have taken place.

#5 1929: Sportpalast Bomb In 1929, a dissatisfied SS guard plotted to kill Hitler during a speech in what was then the biggest hall in Berlin, the Sportpalast. The plan was to activate the bomb during Hitler’s speech. Knowing his speeches lasted for hours, the guard excused himself to go to the bathroom to prepare himself for the task. It was here that cruel fate stepped in. As the guard was trying to exit the bathroom, he found the door was stuck, and he was locked in. For the remainder of the speech, the guard that could have changed world history was locked in a bathroom, his chance to kill Hitler foiled by a faulty door knob.

#6 1921: Hitler is Asked to Spy on Proto-Nazis After World War I, Hitler had no training or higher education, and was left with very little job prospects outside of the Army. Attempting to stay employed with the German military for as long as possible, he was assigned to be a Verbindungsmann (intelligence agent) of an Aufklärungskommando (reconnaissance commando) of the German military. It was here that his commander assigned him to spy and report on the many groups that threatened the German state. The group his commander choose for him to infiltrate was DAP, the precursor of the Nazis. Its founder, Anton Drexler, quickly won over and converted Hitler to his cause. Its anti-Jewish and anti-communist ideals inspired Hitler, who not only started working for DAP, but eventually took it over. If Hitler had been assigned to infiltrate another group, he might well have stayed working in the German Army’s intelligence wing, or he might have joined another party, one that might not have been successful.

#7 July 20, 1944: Operation Valkyrie Made famous by the Tom Cruise movie  Valkyrie, Operation Valkyrie was a plan by hundreds of Germans to first kill Hitler, and then seize control of Germany. Claus von Stauffenberg was tasked to deliver a bomb to the bunker Hitler was supposed to have a meeting in, on July 20, 1940. Since it was a hot summer day, the meeting was moved from the bunker to a wood cabin. Stauffenberg was able to arm the device and place it near where Hitler was standing, but unfortunately the bomb was moved further away from Hitler by another aide. When it went off, the large oak table and weak walls of the wood cabin dampened the blast.  If the meeting had taken place inside the bunker, there would have been no way Hitler would have survived.

#8 November 16, 1943: Exploding Pants Axel Freiherr von dem Bussche-Streithorst was a German nobleman who was fed up of war and wanted Hitler dead. Motivated by Count Claus Stauffenberg, he decided to carry out a suicide bombing that would kill Hitler in the process. Bussche managed to wrangle up a role as a male model, one that would display the new fall line of Nazi uniforms. His plan was to stuff as many explosives down his pants and then, when Hitler walked by, Bussche would hug him and detonate his deadly package. But the British, unaware of the plan, bombed the train that was transporting Bussche’s soon-to-be exploding pants. If only the British either missed the train, or somehow knew of the plan, Bussche would have succeeded in hugging Hitler to death.

#9 September 28, 1918: British Private Almost Shoots Hitler During World War I, Hitler was a Corporal in the German army. On September 28, 1918, while part of the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment, he was wounded in battle, and attempted to flee the battlefield. British private Henry Tandey spotted Hitler and actually had him in his sights, but didn’t shoot. Hitler was wounded and Tandey just couldn’t bring himself  shoot an unarmed, wounded man. He didn’t find out until about 20 years later, when Hitler was in full-fledged monster mode, that he had given up the chance to kill the man due to battlefield ethics. Though racked with guilt the rest of his life, there was no way for Tandey to have known at the time. After all, for most of his life, Hitler was just another guy.

#10 September 14, 1938: Chamberlain’s Appeasement Stopped a Coup Against Hitler In the run-up to World War II, Hitler started to eat up the countries around Germany, starting with Austria. Hitler thought he would have no problem with swallowing up his old homeland and uniting two German-speaking nations. His army, however, had other ideas, ones based on reality, since the German army was still crippled by the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. These restrictions were no more evident than when German tanks broke down after only moving a few kilometres, and the advancing columns dissolved into total chaos. If the Austrian President hadn’t told his Army Army to stand down, the Germans might have been repulsed. When Hitler set his eyes on Czechoslovakia, his army again had reasons to be concerned.  They were doubtful they could take on the Czechs and their heavily-fortified Sudetenland. The German high command remembered the difficulties during the Austrian “invasion,” and knew that if it meant war with Czechoslovakia and France, they would at least put up a struggle. Even worse, Russia might very well have barreled through Poland to attack the Fascists. In order to prevent war (and Germany’s destruction), Hitler’s chief of staff, General Franz Halder, planned to stage a coup and remove Hitler from power. At the chosen time, the Berlin head of police was to arrest the entire Nazi leadership, including Hitler, Himmler, Goering, and Goebbels. The plan was to strike at September 14 at 8:00 PM, but on that day, it was announced that the English Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, would be flying to Berlin to have a meeting with Der Fuhrer. Halder delayed the coup on the small chance Hitler could bluff Chamberlain into backing down and giving him the Sudetenland. Surprising nearly everyone, Chamberlain gave into everything Hitler asked for, and Halder called off the coup, now confident of Hitler’s abilities as a leader. The myth of Hitler as a man who could do anything was officially born.

Source: TopTenz