#marco khan

[redsamuraiii]

If you like Shogun, you may like Marco Polo

Just as Hiroyuki Sanada stole the show as Lord Toranaga, Benedict Wong stole the show as Kublai Khan, the man who ordered the Mongol Invasion of Japan.

A historical fiction like Shogun, which tells the tale of a Venetian explorer, Marco Polo, who journeys to Asia and lands up as a prisoner in the palace of Kublai Khan.

He finds himself caught between a civil war that is brewing, while foreign enemies like the Song Dynasty and the Crusader Army from the West are threatening the Khan.

[venicewalls]

[noovorous]

I recently thought about how fitting and adorable it is that Marco Polo tv series is so historically inaccurate. What I mean is: Marco himself attributed to himself things done by others (including his father), embelished facts where he could and made up so much that there were serious acedemic debates over whether he even visited China at all, or if he even existed! He would love a retelling of his life to be a larger than life tale that is 80% bullshit.

[samasmith23]

As much as I consider Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan) to be one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, she apparently used to be quite the little Ms. Grinch during the holiday season…

…though in recent years, Kamala has matured beyond that phase of being bitter and jealous during other religious holidays like Christmas, and has learned to relax and have fun on holidays reflective of her own Islamic beliefs like Eid!

From Gwenpool Special (2015) #1 by Margaret Stohl & Juan Gedeon, and Ms. Marvel (2015) #19 by G. Willow Wilson & Marco Fallia.

[bellshazes]

one day i'll actually watch the hc/empires crossover stuff i need to and write the actual point of ruinsfic i never got to abt bdubs qua sun god and bdubs&gem on being in stories or playing at being in stories or bringing stories into being and improvising stories and, most of all above all fucking else, writing a story so well that it renders you its author/character obsolete and you vanish from it leaving only mythology where once there was a person, maybe, perhaps. all that shit about stones and ruins and memory was supposed to go somewhere. but you could also just go read invisible cities or whatever so i guess it's fine

[theedexterspeckman]

i was rewatching marco polo and i had the realization that kublai khan might have been my Queer AwakeningTM (or at least my I ❤️ Bears Awakening)

like, do i need to explain?

oh, and here’s his ~favorite wife~ Empress Chabi. i love them (my joint Bi AwakeningTM) so much.

also, here’s this. ⬇️⬇️

you’re welcome.

HOLY SHIT THE LIGHTING THE WAY HIS SHIRT IS OPEN JUST ENOUGH THE WAY ITS GIVING CLEAVAGE IM FUCKING FOAMING AT THE MOUTH GGRAAGHGGHHH

and here’s some silly goofy stuff :3

wow. rizz.

[quotesfrommyreading]

The Mongols may not have troubled many modern museum curators with their art or left fine buildings to admire but they did leave a lasting legacy in other ways. Perhaps their greatest effect on world culture was to make the first serious connections between the East and West. The Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire up to that point, stretched across one-fifth of the globe and their soldiers were obliged to fight Teutonic knights at one end while at the other they faced samurai warriors, neither of which enemy had any notion of the other's existence. Hitherto, the Chinese and Europeans had each viewed the other's lands as a semi-mythical place of monsters. As ambassadors, missionaries, merchants, and travellers like Marco Polo (1254-1324) were encouraged to freely cross Asia, so contact increased, and ideas and religions were spread. Gunpowder, paper, printing, and the compass all became familiar in Europe. The Mongols spread ideas in cuisine, too, such as making their sulen (shulen) broth-come-stew a popular dish across Asia even today. There were, alas, less advantageous consequences, like the Black Death (1347-1352), first transferred from a pocket of remote China to the Black Sea and from there to Venice and the rest of Europe. In Mongolia, though, the empire is remembered fondly as a golden era and Genghis Khan, the starter of it all, continues to be honoured with regular ceremonies in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.

  —  Mongol Empire - World History Encyclopedia

[ellavei]

One of the reasons why the character of Marco Polo made such an impression on me was his eyes.

It seems that no matter what moment in the movie, Marco Polo's eyes still carry hidden pain but are filled with the pursuit of happiness.

[momachan]

"When the dust settles... when my ears stop ringing... he is still there. The dessert winds are still this night. And I am once more a fugitive. At least, this time, I am not alone."

Madame Xanadu (2008-2011) #4. "Chapter the Second. Among the Stars."

[piedoesnotequalpi]

Today in unexpected fanfiction crossovers: Invisible Cities and Scooby Doo

[wisteria-waves]

Bruh they’re crazy for this 😭

[superheroes-or-whatever]

Dark Web: Ms. Marvel (2022) #1-2 covers by Marco Checchetto

[justarandomgirly]

Ive seen this show but I was today years old when I found out it was Benedict Wong as Kublai!

[noovorous]

Reading Invisible Cities plants seeds in your brain which will linger and some will blossom. Some I've forgotten but I will be reminded by a random sight out on a street, others linger persistantly. Fedora, Chloe, Eusapia and Eutropia linger. Who knows, maybe one day I will tell someone a story of a city I've seen, one which unlike the Khan's city with a marble table upon which a marble feast rests exists.

[samasmith23]

The best G. Willow Wilson Ms. Marvel scene

Easily my personal favorite scene from the entirety of G. Willow Wilson’s original run on Ms. Marvel was during the phenomenal Mecca arc wherein HYDRA seizes control of Jersey City’s mayor’s office to begin enacting discriminatory policies against Inhumans & Mutants (which heavily mirror the real-life Islamophobic presidential policies of Donald Trump...), and Kamala discovers that underneath the mask of one of the HYDRA regime’s lead enforcers, Discord, is the face of her old classmate Josh Richardson.

This revelation heavily affects Kamala on an emotional level as it forces her to come to terms with the fact that the things people might perceive to be familiar or safe are not always what they seem to be. She learns how specific circumstances can reveal that individuals who once appeared to be rational and reasonable on the surface may actually believe in ideologies that are controversial or dangerous. Therefore, Kamala is forced to ponder whether or not bigoted & fascistic ideologies have always existed within the hearts of people like Discord and if they're truly representative of who they are, which in turn causes her to doubt both her own place in the world and her mission as a superhero. While Kamala is inflicted with feelings of self-doubt in light of these revelations, she understands that she still has a moral obligation as Ms. Marvel to protect the people of her city. She realizes that the so-called “silent majority's” animosity towards her & super-powered peoples does not give them the right to place their own grievances above the law, and that there are still people who believe and are depending on her. And because Josh revealed his true self underneath the mask of Discord, Ms. Marvel responds in kind by taking off her own mask to reveal the face of his former friend Kamala Khan, and all of the pain and suffering that his actions have inflicted upon herself and others like her…

But while Kamala does convey feelings of sadness and remorse towards Josh, she simultaneously understands that she cannot excuse his actions since he's still an individual who wrongfully succumbed to the temptations of far-right extremism and fascism. Essentially, even though Kamala desperately wants to believe that Josh is an inherently better person underneath, she recognizes that he was the one who ultimately made the choice to join HYDRA and help them oppress superhuman minorities. Therefore, Kamala acknowledges that Discord is still her enemy regardless of his reasons or whatever sympathy she might feel.

Kamala decision to NOT condone or excuse Discord’s actions reflects an astonishing level of maturity on her part, and is further indicative of her overall character arc in Mecca. In large measure, Kamala’s character arc is the reason why the storyline is titled “Mecca” in the first place. Although she does not go on a physical pilgrimage to the actual Holy Islamic city, she does experience a spiritual pilgrimage as the HYDRA takeover of Jersey City forces her to realize that not everything is what it seems, that some evils cannot be fought, and that although she’ll endure hardship and failure in her mission she must stay true to herself and others even if there are some people who will never agree with her actions or who she is. It's these revelations that further develop Kamala into "the most human superhero of them all" in my opinion, as it's not just her kindness and willingness to do good that makes her a hero, but also her ability to continue to do good even when confronted with external and internal doubt. And since the entire story takes place over the two-day period of Eid al-Adha, the holiday in which millions of Muslims embark on the pilgrimage to Mecca, Kamala’s psychological journey of self-discovery resonates with the reader on a much deeper level.

And that is why this scene remains my personal favorite Ms. Marvel moment in the entirety of Kamala’s comic book history!

From Ms. Marvel (2015) #21 & #22 by G. Willow Wilson & Marco Failla.

[ellcrys]

in his own fucking house 😭 ahmad you've got balls i'll give you that