#my favorite detail of this chapter is that apparently dogs are legal now

[schleierkauz]

The Color of Revenge: Chapter 3

This chapter burned my house down but here it is. You probably know the drill by now - please tell me if you find any mistakes, share your thoughts and enjoy! :)

Chapter 3: It’s not easy to find a Glass Man

It’s not easy to find a glass man, especially one that doesn’t want to be found. The Black Prince, who had only just returned to Ombra with his following of strolling players, musicians and acrobats, started a search party with all of them.

Meggie’s mother Resa drew portraits of Ironstone that they showed around. Mo and Doria took turns inside the tavern Rosenquartz favored (after the innkeeper had made it very clear that she had better things to do than watching every glass man who sat down on her counter).

Meggie took her brother Dante on long walks through the streets of the neighborhood where Rosenquartz had seen Orpheus’ glass man. She hoped Dante might spot him more easily since he was so small.

But there was no trace of Ironstone anywhere. The futile search and the fear they all felt brought back dark memories. Memories of the reign of the Adderhead and the sinister role Orpheus had played back then. After five years of peace, the past seemed almost unreal. But everyone who searched the city for the glass man remembered all too well the fear and pain of those days. When the sun was setting and they still hadn’t found Ironstone, even her Ugliness’ soldiers joined the efforts. But they couldn’t find him either.

Only one of Orpheus‘ old foes wasn’t in Ombra when Rosenquarz’s discovery disrupted Ombra’s peace. Farid had spent the last year or so at the courts of South Lorraine, being celebrated for his fire shows. It was a long journey there but Doria’s brother, the Strong Man, agreed to go to find and warn Farid after Dustfinger asked him to.

“Well, you seem very sure that Orpheus is still alive,“ Fenoglio said to Dustfinger as they stood at the city wall with the Black Prince and watched the Strong Man disappear down the road. Despite his size he had, as always, chosen a donkey to carry him.

“I never believed he was dead,“ Dustfinger replied.

Another day came and went. One by one, everyone got back to work, even though the unease stayed with them and they knew that from now on, their eyes would linger on any glass man they saw.

“Hell, I just hope Orpheus doesn’t hear about all this chaos,” Fenoglio grumbled as he rested his sore feet in Minerva’s kitchen that night. “That scumbag would probably take it as a compliment.“

“I still hope he’s dead,“ Rosenquartz chirped “and that his glass man will join him soon.“

Dead… As if that meant much in this world. Fenoglio simply grunted and held his empty glass out to Minerva. 

Dustfinger had been dead, so had Cosimo the Fair. It was all too easy to come back from the dead in this world. No, he wanted a more permanent end for Orpheus and his toxic silvertongue.

Minerva filled him his glass with obvious disapproval and put the bottle back in the cupboard. Yes, yes, he was drinking too much – he always did when something was worrying him. Oh, hell, why had he ever invented tiny men made of glass?! Of course, he didn’t say that out loud. If Rosenquartz heard, he would dance over at least five pages of his new manuscript. After dipping his shoes in fresh ink.

Not that it would have mattered much. Fenoglio wrote strictly for fun these days, for Dante or Minerva’s children, but he was still attached to his stories. Resa illustrated them with beautiful drawings that could have competed with the paintings of the great Balbulus – even though he was so full of himself that he strode through Ombra like a puffed up bullfrog.

“Do you want me to make you some hot milk with honey?“ Minerva asked when Fenoglio sighed into his wine. “You’ve barely slept for days. Wherever Orpheus is hiding, you don’t want to give him the satisfaction of killing you from afar, do you?”

No, surely not. For inky heaven’s sake! Just why was it so much easier to believe in impending misfortune than a happy ending? They’d had such good years. He hadn’t thought of the other world for one minute. Well, he missed his grandkids from time to time, but Dante and Minerva’s children were excellent substitutes. Hell, he was a heartless old man!

The dogs started barking down in the yard. Visitors so late at night. Minerva looked just as surprised as Fenoglio – and just as worried.

But it was just the bookworm woman who stood at the door. Ombra’s good bakeries had made Elinor Loredan even rounder whereas Darius, as always right behind her like a living shadow, was as spindly as a locust despite all the cakes he shared with her. Truly enviable. He didn’t look as melancholic as usual. Maybe the rumors were true that he’d fallen in love with the girl who dusted Loredan’s bookshelves. She was very pretty. “Stop it, Fenoglio, you could be her grandfather!” he silently scolded himself.

“You won’t believe it!“ Elinor spluttered as she followed Fenoglio up the steep stairs which led to Minerva’s kitchen. “Darius! Go on, tell them! Can’t you see I can barely get out the words?“

Books were still being written by hand in this world, which made them very expensive, so she had found a new passion. Loredan attended the performances of each and every troupe of actors who performed in Ombra, no matter how raggedy. Some of them had started bringing along an armchair for her.

“Tell me what?“ Fenoglio asked. After all these years, Elinor Loredan still managed to drive him up the proverbial wall. He wasn’t sure whether he admired Darius for his patience with her or thought him a fool.

“We had an unexpected visitor today.“ Hearing Darius‘ gentle voice, no one would have suspected that he was a very talented silvertongue. “Orpheus’ glass man showed up at our door.”

Fenoglio’s heart stopped long enough that for a moment he was sure it would never beat again.

“Just walked right in!“ Elinor shook her head in such outrage that it started raining hairpins out of her gray hair. “That disrespectful glass head! I have no clue how he managed to get past the dog!“ The Black Prince had talked her into getting said dog, even though she didn’t like dogs. She couldn’t deny the Prince anything. Fenoglio suspected that she was in love with him. Anyway – it was such a gigantic creature that Mortimer had already proposed the theory that it wasn’t a dog at all but a small bear. Which would in turn explain why he got along so well with the Prince’s own tame bear.

“Great Heavens! Elinor Loredan, who cares how the glass man got past the damn dog?!“ Fenoglio blustered. “What did he want? What did he say? I hope you caught him?“

“Caught him?“ Elinor pushed back her messy hair (it was always messy) and took a sip of Fenoglio’s wine. “The pipsqueak carries a sword! Not much longer than a toothpick but I’m sure he would’ve stabbed me in the hand! Altough he was very polite. Right, Darius?”

“Exceedingly polite,“ Darius agreed. “He told us his new master, a troubadour, was so confused about all the excitement they caused that he told him to visit all of us and explain that Orpheus died four years ago. An avalanche, he said, near Trent if I remember correctly. After visiting us he planned to go find Mortimer and then Dustfinger. His new master apparently has a lot of respect for his fire.”

“Really?“ Fenoglio frowned but Rosenquartz cut him off.

“Lies!“ he shrieked. “That smoky gray miscreant lies as soon as he opens his mouth! A troubadour? The man I saw him with looked more like a professional murderer!”

Fenoglio stepped to the window and looked down at the empty street.

“I don’t like this,“ he murmured. “I don’t like this one bit. I hope he shows up here as well. I’ll get the truth out of him. After all, I invented his kind.”

Rosenquartz rolled his eyes but said nothing.

“He wanted to go to Mortimer next?” Fenoglio turned around with a sudden jerk that signaled determination and impatience – and a hint of fear. Maybe a little more than that. “Alright. Then I will wait for him there.“

“The Folcharts aren’t home,“ Elinor said. “I already told the glass man the same. They’re all with Doria’s mother to discuss the engagement.”

“Engagement, what engagement?“ Fenoglio exclaimed. “Don’t I get told anything anymore?“

“Meggie’s engagement to Doria. I told you last week,“ Minerva said while she handed Rosenquarz a thimble filled with lentil soup. “But of course you don’t remember. You only ever remember things that concern yourself.”

Fenoglio ignored the comment. He was very good at ignoring comments regarding his character.

“But… Meggie is way too young to get married!“ he shouted, very cross that the story had taken yet another turn he’d neither written nor foreseen. “How can Mortimer allow that?”

Elinor abruptly stood up from her chair. “Don’t be an idiot! Meggie’s life isn’t some book you’re writing!” she snapped. “Have you forgotten what she went through? She hasn’t been too young for anything for a long time. You’re just very very old! Good night, Minerva!”

And with that she was out of the door, followed by Darius who had looked very sentimental upon hearing the word “engagement”.

(Next chapter)

[popculturebuffet]

Life And Times of Scrooge McDuck Retrospective: The New Laird of Castle McDuck! “And I’ll Remember It Poppa! There’s Always Another Rainbow!”

Hello all you happy people! And welcome back to my look at the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck! And to make up for lost time im’ doing two instalments this month, and with luck and my schedule holding out I plan to finish the main series in September, doubling up again for the last two months to finish this up. 

Background wise there’s honestly not a lot this go round, as it’s less rooted in history and more Don Rosa’s need to settle an annoying flaw with continuity. Man oh man do I relate to that and having read comics for at least half my life, i’ve seen writers do this by the bucketload to fix decisions from other writers. Sometimes for the write reasons and sometimes because EVERYTHING WAS BETTER ON MY EARTH. Don Rosa, like most writers.. has done both. 

Here though it’s for the good and for understandable reasons: Barks had Scrooge’s origin as a poor shoeshine boy from Glasgow.. but also had a rather famous and awesome story, the Old Castle’s Secret, that also gave them a giant ancestral castle. Rosa fixed this by having the McDuck’s having lost it due to a combination of being driven off the land by a fake ghost dog and poor turns of fourtune meaning they coudln’t pay the taxes to live there and were behind on taxes on it, hence the Whiskervilles having taken it over in part one. 

But obviously the Whiskervilles coudln’t KEEP the castle as Scrooge owned it in present day, thus this chapter explains how he got it. It was a stroke of genius plot wise too as it allowed him to open each act in Scotland and using the castle to measure where Scrooge is in life: As a boy dreaming of getting it back, as a young man who while not a success succeeds at this, and as an older hardned man who realizes he simply doesn’t belong here anymore who has to leave his family’s legacy here behind to start a better one in America. 

The only other real story is that a sequence here was based on the film A Matter of Life and Death, and Rosa detailed in his notes his quest to get a copy as the distribution rights here were a nightmare at the time. Thankfully that’s clearly changed as a quick look on Amazon shows both a standard DVD release, mentioned by rosa in the book and a snazzier release by the Criteron Collection are both easily available. He ended up getting a copy from Canada, and while he didn’t get any insight at least got a neat addition to his collection. Admittedly this dosen’t add much to the story, I just thought it was neat. So with all of that settled, join me after the cut as Scrooge tries to buy back his family’s legacy.

And Scrooge has already arrived in Scotland, having reunited with Downy and Matilda, who as a refresher is more responsible and straightlaced here versus the 2017 incarnation.  Part of me DOES wish they hadn’t glossed over the reunion especially since this chapter is the last time we’ll see Scrooge and his Mom together before her utterly heartbreaking passing a few chapters down the road. But I get why we opened here instead: it’s a captivating open, with Scrooge speeding to the castle, his mother and sister trying to stave the rain off and time clearly of the essence. It sucks you in as we don’t know WHY Scrooge was summoned last time, only that it was bad enough he needed to come home, and thus ratchet’s up the tension until we find out shortly. 

It turns out the back taxes on Castle McDuck are up and the castle is being sold., doing so with some glasses, foreshadowing his iconic specs wearing as the snow and brightness of the praries in various seasons mean his eyes are all done fucked up like mine.  The Whiskervilles are naturally not only the prospective buyer but already trying to take the property prematurely, with Fergus and Jake holding the line, because love isn’t always on time. But Hortense is and when the Whiskervilles mock her daddy and uncle, planning to tear down the castle out of spite, her response reminds us why donald is a ball of rage and badassery...

Have I mentioned she’s my favorite part of this story? Because she is. Her response to scrooge being back is also just pure adorable. 

Scrooge does get a big reunion with his dad and uncle, getting a big hug from Fergus, if squshing his cream cheese sandwitch... and yes that’s apparently a real thing. I mean I do love me some cream cheese don’t get me wrong, but it just feels weird to put it on bread as the only thing, but I guess i’m a bit spoiled with crackers and bagels in my day and age or putting it on tosat with salmon and.. saying all of this both makes me very hungry for cream cheese. So I guess i’ts not all bad it’s just weird to me, especially since I don’t think it’d keep all that well unregrigrated but I also don’t know the times that well. Or maybe when your that poor and hungry, it dosen’t matter how good it is and maybe i’m just spoiled by my upper middle class existance. I dunno. The point is i’m going to go get me some cream cheese be back in a minute. Here have some music. 

For all two of you that didn’t clear out, Fergus naturally for the time, turns out to be sexist, insisting Jake get “The Women” home.

Though Rosa gets a great joke out of it by having Jake wonder if he can even reign Hortense in. And I do love Hortense’s character. Whlie i’ts simple, she’s simply an angrier version of her son without the penchant for half-assed schemes, it works and makes her stand out against the more subdued rest of the McDuck family outside of Scrooge. 

Fergus explains HOW it got so bad to Scrooge: While the McDuck ancestors pooled resources to automatically pay the taxes, eventually only having two poor old men who could barely keep their family fed and a slightly less poor pulp fiction writer somewhere in America meant the taxes piled up and the Whiskervilles are within a whisker’s reach of gettng the castle, something mentioned in part 1. 

It also provides a great payoff to the first part of Scrooge’s journey: while the boy bemoans only having gotten the 10,000 dollar check from the mine sale, and that will only just about cover the castle’s taxes, he feels disheratned as it’s ALL he’s accomplished.. but in a nice moment from Fergus he points it WASN’T all for nothing: Thanks to his work they get their home back. His family can move from the cramped confines of Dismal Downs back to their ancestral homeland like they always deserved. While he may of not achieved his goal of being rich yet.. he still achieved his goal of buying the castle back, the very thing that set him on this path in the first place. It’s telling though that it takes a reminder of that, that Scrooge is loosing sight of the very human, for lack of a better term, reasons he set out: while he’s finally built a better life for his family, if just so.. all he can see is that he’s not RICH. The money is starting to cloud his judgement.. and i’tll roll over him entirely before the series is over. 

The Head of the Whiskervilles shows up with the Sheirff.. whose also a Whiskerville lest you thought unfair and crooked policing was a strictly american thing. But Fergus points out their too early.. and Scrooge flashes his check. And when the Head Whiskerville scoffs at a mcduck having money... Scrooge points out he didn’t believe in ghosts either and brags about his awesomeness in the first chapter, revealing what he did and leaving The SHierff pissed and the older whiskerville ready with a plan: he decide......

Sadly not with children’s trading cards but with swords, and gets past the legality issue by simply challenging Scrooge’s pride and angering him into accepting. Argus, the head whiskerville whose name I just got from the comic, reveals his plan to the Shierff: While he’s dueling Scrooge Sheirff can snatch the bank statment.. though why Scrooge didn’t you know, cash it before coming and how an american banks tatment is valid in early 1900′s Scotland...

So the Duel is on.. and like the money he’s made, the Duel is another Marker of how far Scrooge has come and how despite still not having made his fortune yet he’s rich with EXPERINCE. His experince fighting cattle rustlers and pirates means he has the reflexes to easily outfight his opponent.. though him saying he learned how to fight “Injun Style from Buffallo Bill”, i.e. learned how to fight like a native american from a white guy and beat Sitting Bull with it just makes me feel like i’m watching that episode of Saved by the Bell where Zach has to learn not to be racist but then thinks this outfit is acceptable. 

Scrooge also tracks the guy using the tracking skills he learned from the blackfeet which again feel like the picture above , but send Argus running.. only to lure Scrooge into a fight on the castle battlemnt in the pooring rain and disarming him. Luckily the spirit of Sir Quackly gives the lad his sword back and Scrooge wins the fight.. but promptly gets hit by lighting while celebrating Caddyshack style. 

No really Scrooge is.. or close as he got knocked into the water and is now in heaven. Sir Quackly naturally doesn’t want to see the last hope of the Clan McDuck dies and goes to talk to the tribunal of McDucks to sort it out hence the Matter of Life And Death connection. 

The Tribunal is made up of former McDucks.. it turns out Scrooge is here because of Quackly: the lighting was SUPPOSED to hit the tower, distracting Argus, and they prepare to write Scrooge off because their more concerned with golf than the fact that their whole clan’s future is on the line.. which I do not get because unless you are Tiger Woods or the Film Caddyshack, golf usually is the boring garbage water of sports and this is from someone who dosen’t like sports to begin with. I do like the Missing Links of Moorshire though so there’s that. And golf episodes of shows are usually good.. the sport itself is just incredibly boring. And I sat through Mank. I know boring. I know wanting hours of my life back. Golf is the Mank of Sports. 

What we get is a pretty tiresome sequence honestly: Quackly points out the tribuanls faults while their just dicks who only care about golf. Which again, Mank of sports. Or if you prefer the Cloud Atlas of sports but with SLIGHTLY less untetionall racisim and sadly much less Tom Hanks and Hugh Grant. The point is golf sucks and while I ilke the REST of this chapter this bit just dosen’t work for me and was clearly funnier in Rosa’s head, with the assholes not thinking much of Scrooge’s achievements and only liking him when they find out he’ll be a tight wad, the only funny joke in these draggy as hell three pages, not counting the start and finish of the sequence which arnet bad, as they send him back to earth with Quackly mentioning the dime, but not giving out WHY it’s important. That he has to figure out on his own and all that good stuff. 

So Scrooge uses his dime to unscrew the bolts and back at the castle while Argus TRIES to pawn it off as Scrooge being a coward and depart with the bank draft.... 

Damnnnn that’s badass, he gets the bank note back (only knowing because one of his ancestors mentioned it, though with his memory of the dying dream gone he dosen’t know WHY), and has Fergus run into town to pay the taxes tonight before any other shenanigans happen while he keeps the two scheming dogmen captive long enough for Fergus to get too far for them to catch up.  Argus plans to go with plan “Do a murder on Scrooge”.. but fines Scrooge is far from unprotected and not the only badass in his family.. I mean Hortense exists but I mean that ther’es more than two... you know what jut look at the ghost heads. 

So the two run for their lives..... also they forgot you know Hortense exists.. she’d revenge murder all of them and they both know it. 

So with the land safe and the taxes paid so the Family can implicitly move in, we end on a beautiful sunrise as Scrooge prepares to leave soon. Despite all the setbacks and hardship Scrooge is deterimend to still make it and knows he won’t fail forever. When Fergus mentions Gold at the end of a rainbow, Scrooge takes that, and the golden dawn as a sign. WHen Fergus understandably asks if he’s sure he’ll make it this time.. we get a nice nod to Bark’s best and most notable painting “always another rainbow to close us out”

It’s a beauitful and inspiring statment.. no matter what you face.. there’s always a light at the end of it. Always another opportunity, another goal to reach, another hill to climb.. and life to live... and it’s one i’ve taken to heart and always will.. and one that will land Scrooge his fortune yet. 

Final Thoughts: This chapter is alright but like I said the two page sequence in heaven dosen’t really work for me. It’s just not funny enough and really shoudl’ve been trimmed down a page so we could get more character stuff with Scrooge and his family> Otherwise it’s a tightly paced thrilling chapter in Scrooge’s life, showing just how far he’s come and how far he has left to go. The DIsmal Downs chapter serve as a good marker of where Scrooge is and where he’s heading as I mentioned earlier, with this one showing that while he’s not hit his goal yet, he still got his family their true home back, beat his enmeis and is a legend to be. Ther’es always another rainbow.. and he just needs to find it. All in all a decent chapter outside those two pages, and a good setup for the next three glorious chapters. 

Next Month on LIfe and Times: One is Scroogey and the other is FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD, as Scrooge meets his arch enemy and rides a motherfucking lion. And if “rides a motherfucking lion” doesn’t make you come back I do not know why you read this.  Next Time On This BLog: What is that, that Freaky Thing? It’s A naked Mole rat as we return to Kauai this time with Kim Possible and Co as Drakken tries to capture stitch and Jumba wonders if Rufus is one of his or not. 

See you at the next rainbow

[atxlxs]

Beyond The Veil: Chapter 3

The staff meeting during the following Friday of the entrance exams has always been one of Nedzu’s favorite days. Several variables are set loose all at once and he gets to watch the chaos happen.This year, in particular, has an interesting candidate.

Viridis Muska.

Quite obviously, they aren’t Japanese and their records state that she moved here with her legal guardian 7 years ago after an accident unfortunately killed her parents. Her identity is as clean as his favorite tea cups and her homeschooling was explained by needing to learn the language. Their quirk registry matched up with most of their actions as well.

Most.

She had first garnered attention by finishing a whole hour early. Even some intelligence quirks don’t finish that fast. Especially since it was a test Nedzu personally made. Then there were her responses in the history section. It almost appeared as if she forced herself to use third person writing. The descriptions were remarkably detailed and certain events held smaller but no less important information that doesn’t exist in any textbook.

He would know.

Then came the practical. Her use of her quirk to enhance certain aspects of their physical abilities while also using it sparingly to prevent quirk exhaustion was intriguing and well throughout. Releasing the 0-point as time was ticking down Nedzu had expected everything to go as calculated.

Unknown information, however, always changes that.

The knowledge of where the other examinees were, the quick reaction time, the healed ankle. None of that was listed in her abilities and the government always keeps track of healers. In fact, looking over her quirk registry, it's surprisingly vague. As if the person who wrote it made sure that unless someone had personally seen the quirk in use, the description sounded fine. Yet after seeing the quirk in use, the description became lacking.

It was past intriguing, it was fascinating.

Watching the staff members file into the room, Nedzu couldn’t help the feral smile on his face. He had a sneaking suspicion as to why this particular examinee was so unknown. Afterall, no matter how hard Nedzu tried, the “veil” never lifted for him. He wasn’t one of them and he didn’t personally know anyone who was. If Viridis was what he thought they were, then Nedzu might finally get answers.

“Now let's get to it!” Nedzu chirped, reveling in the shudders the teachers tried to hide at his excited tone. The only one to succeed was Aizawa, but he also was personally taught by Nedu during his third year since Nedzu wanted to cultivate his skills. Now the man was the best underground pro there was.

They shuffled through applications and sorted them based on accepted, pending, and rejected. Midnight was in charge of business and design, Power loader for support with help from Ectoplasm, Cementoss and Present Mic for general, and Eraserhead along with Vlad King for heroics.

30 minutes in, Aizawa spoke up.

“Nedzu, I’m assuming examinee #2438 is who you were watching yesterday? Viridis Muska?”

Nedzu grinned at him and nodded. “Yes, as you might know considering your underground status, I have a sneaking suspicion that she is from ‘beyond the veil’.”

Aizawa actually dropped the paper he was holding. His eyes grew slightly larger as he dropped his head into his capture weapon to hide the bottom half of his face. Yamada, who despite what people thought, was also involved with the underground. Thus, the gasp was expected. Everyone else, however, looked confused.

From the back, where he was looking over some teaching material, Yagi Toshinori aka: All Might raised his hand like a student. Nedzu almost chuckled at the thought.

“Yes All Might?”

“What is this ‘beyond the veil’?”

Nedzu knew he would ask that but acted as if he didn’t and thought about it for a moment. In reality he was already going to tell his staff this year about the existence of the veil despite knowing nothing about what actually lies beyond because the underworld has been spiking in activity lately and there was a chance that big moves could be made soon.

Turning to face the room as a whole Nedzu dropped his typical smile and allowed his serious to show through his eyes before he spoke.

“This info may not leave this room. It is imperative that only a select few even know the name. The term ‘beyond the veil’ is the official title for the shadows that have hidden out of society and humanities view for thousands of years,” Nedzu watched as his faculty began paying rapt attention to his words. It wasn’t often that he got serious afterall.

“It pains me to say it but even I don’t exactly know what lies beyond this veil, however I do know that whatever is there is something beyond human.”

“Are you saying that humans aren’t the only creatures on the planet?” Vlad asked, confusion and disbelief lacing his words.

“Absolutely. In fact, those that know of the existence of the veil theorize that the only reason Humans have the abilities called quirks was because someone mingled with what was beyond. Viridis Muska is clean, clean in a way that only someone like me would even notice the slight discrepancies. Yet these discrepancies were only noticed because of my Knowledge of the veil. If i didn’t know, I wouldn’t have noticed how strange her abilities really are. Or questioned why her words in the history section seemed over-detailed.”

The room was silent for a few moments, then Aizawa moved and placed the application on the class 1-A acceptance pile.

With a grin, Nedzu nodded.

“I’ll be the projection to Viridis. I wish to invite her for a cup of tea.”

Eras was casually leaning against the tallest window in the house, a leg dangling over the side of the window sill as the other was pulled up next to them. A book rested in their hand against their raised leg, a cup of tea held in the other. Since the window she was sitting next to had a very clear view of the front of the house, Eras was able to see out of the corner of her eye as Muska fell face first into the moss ground while holding up an envelope.

Eras spit out her tea as she laughed and Muska got back up and ran into the house.

“SUGAR MOMMY THE MAIL CALL!” Muska screamed as she burst into the house. In response, Eras simply held out the hand with the book and let it drop to the ground, smacking Muska in the head from above.

“WhaT ThE FuCk?” Muska screeched as she snapped her head up to glare at Eras. A smug grin stretched over her features and she swung a leg over the pole off to the side of the door and slid to the ground.

“The acceptance letter came in then?” Eras asked, heading over to the kitchen to drop her mug in the sink.

“We literally don’t know whether or not I got in?” Muska said as she followed. Tibbles jumped from the catwalk as Muska passed the door frame and landed on her shoulders, a loud meow interrupting Eras’s rebuttal.

“Oh fuck off.” came Muska’s reply to whatever tibbles said. She waved off the next meow and walked over to the kitchen table. The black furball jumped off to sit next to Muska while on the table.

Once Eras sat on the opposing side, Muska tore into the envelope. Expecting a letter. Not a black disc. She and Muska stared in bewilderment before the disc lit up and projected a person up into the room. Nevermind.

“Its a fUCKIN RAT MAN?”

It's not a person, it's a Nedzu.

Tibbles, who had taken offence to the projected rat, dog, thing, swatted the projector and almost sent it flying if it weren’t for Eras’s inhuman reflexes. Catching the disc and reorienting it back where it was placed in the middle, The projector continued with little care of the scare he just gave the three.

Vaguely, Eras registered that Muska had passed and with flying colors, coming in second on the exam. Internally, though, she was searching for why Nedzu was sending out a projection. She had left a slight surprise in Muska’s quirk registry in order to figure out if the rat knew about the veil and what's beyond. Though she wasn’t expecting it to be found out so soon. What had Muska done to contradict the registry?

It clicked just as Nedzu cleared his throat once more.

“Also, seeing as you have achieved the highest score in the last 20 years of UA’s history on the written exam, I wish to extend a meeting to you to talk over tea. I am quite fascinated by your answers. Especially in the history section. Welcome Viridis! This is your academia!”

The light in the room came back to normal levels as the projection ended and Eras slammed her head onto the table, startling Muska out of her apparent shock.

“Uh, What?” The witch asked, completely unaware of what she did.

“What did you do during the practical?” Eras asked, muffled by the table top.

With a confused look, Muska went on to talk about their experience. From scouting to planning and scrapping some bots. Then as she got closer to the end, Eras was able to confirm her suspicions.

“This one girl had fracture so I healed that real quick and then focused on greenie-”

Well shit, Eras hadn’t expected Muska to instantly show off her healing capabilities. Now they had a meeting with the rat-man. Eras groaned and cut off Muska mid rant about red flags and someone named Midoriya.

“What?” Muska asked, slightly annoyed at being interrupted.

“I made your quirk registry purposefully vague to accommodate for your other abilities and people wouldn’t know what to look for if they had never heard of the veil before. Nedzu probably saw you use Healing abilities, which I never mentioned to make sure the government didn’t flag you as a healer, and compared that to your probably almost first person account of history and connected the dots. Now you have a meeting with a rat man to talk about you possibly being a part of the veil.”

It was silent for a bit before a loud meow and purr followed and Muska slammed her head on the table.

“We know Tibbles, you don’t have to rub it in my face like that.”

@baguettehead

[ducavalentinos]

Hello ! Could you tell me facts about the life of Cesare Borgia? Thaanks.

So, I really wanted to make this a short list with basic facts, but somehow it ended up becoming a longer, detailed list with my favorites facts alongside facts that aren’t very well known or mentioned, here it goes: - Cesare received an outstanding, carefully planned education. He was brought up at Rome by private tutors until the age of twelve, in 1489 he left Rome to attend La Sapienza of Perugia, where he studied the foundations of law and the humanities, being placed under the charge of the preceptor Giovanni Vera of Archilla, to whom btw, he remained warmly attached until Vera’s death in 1503. In 1491 he continued his studies in Civil and Canon law at the University of Pisa, attending the lectures of Filippo Decio, one of most rated lecturer on canon law of his day. There he also became more acquainted with the Medici family, through Lorenzo de’ Medici sons: Giovanni de’ Medici and his brother Piero. - Paolo Pompilio, a Spanish scholar, dedicated his treatise on verse-writing, the Syllabica, to Cesare, where he praised him as ‘Borgiae familiae spes et decus’  (the hope and ornament of the House of Borgia).     - His father, as Cardinal and Vice-Chancellor, invested a long list of benefices upon him, to name only a few: when he was seven years old, pope Sixtus IV conferred upon him a prebend of the cathedral’s chapter of Valencia. In 1483 he received the title of rector of Gandia and archdeacon of Játiva. Later on, with pope Innocent VIII he was granted the position of treasurer of Mallorca’s cathedral, following that of canon of Lérida, Archdeacon of Tarragona and then treasurer of Cartagena’s cathedral. By 1491, Innocent at last granted him the bishopric of Pamplona. - He learned the art of bullfighting from the Spanish members of his father’s court and it became one of his life passions. Whether in Rome or in the Romagna, at any celebration, there was almost always a bullfight and he was almost always participating himself. - He also loved hunting, so he was always looking for good hunting dogs and falcons. On May 28th, 1497 he even sent one of his men, Enrico, to Germany to request from the Archbishop of Mainz some “well-trained and sagacious hunting dogs; their quality to be more important than their number.” - He was the first person in the history of the Church to resign the cardinalate, eventually becoming commander of the Papal armies. - He was briefly hostage of the Colonna during the conflicts of the French Invasion in 1494, and later on hostage of the king of France, Charles VIII. Although that time, he escaped their camp at Velletri, with the help of a man named Francesco del Sacco, officer of the Podestà of Velletri, who was waiting for him with a horse. Cesare sped back to Rome going to the house of one Antonio Flores, where he stayed for a night and informed his father of his presence. The next day, he withdrew to the city of Spoleto, and remained there until matters cooled off. - In 1497, a sword was forged for Cesare, known as “the queen of swords”, for his visit to Naples as papal legate, to crown the new king, Frederick of Naples. Its design was attributed to many artists including Michaelangelo, but it is more likely that the artist was Pinturicchio. And the blacksmith/sword engraver was Salomone da Sesso (c. 1465- c.1504–21) who after his conversion to Christianity assumed the name of Ercole dei Fedeli. (more details about the sword here x) - Cesare appeared wearing a horned mask in the guise of a unicorn during a theatrical performance, in one of the many festivities held in honor of his sister Lucrezia’s second wedding. Unicorn are known symbols of female chastity, possibly a reference to Lucrezia and her wedding night, but it also shows off Cesare’s own sense of humour, since it was well known to all present that he was anything but a chaste man lol. And the unicorn horn, according to a Greek physician had the ability of protecting people from sickness and neutralizing poison, which could have been another humourous remark from Cesare in reference to his family’s reputation of using poison to dispose of their enemies. - His best known mistress was Fiammetta Michaelis, she was a cultured courtesan from Florence, but who lived in Rome since 1473 most likely. Her relationship with Cesare was such that even after his death in 1507, she continued to sign herself as Fiammetta Ducis Valentini (of the duke Valentino). And her will in the city archives was headed ‘The Testament of La Fiammetta of Il Valentino.” - On May 10, 1499, he married Charlotte d’Albret, and before his departure from France he appointed her governor and administrator of all his lands and lorships in France and Dauphiny. He also made her heiress to all his moveable possessions in the event of his death (a little more about that here x). On December 1501, he personally selected precious gifts to be sent to her acquired from Venice. It included moulded wax, white sweetmeats, fine sugars, syrups, nine barrels of Malvoisie, oriental spices, oranges and lemons and all kinds of cloths. - Under his patronage, the first printing press of any importance was established in Italy. It was set up at Fano by Girolamo Sancino in 1501. One of the earliest works was the printing of the Statutes of Fano for the first time in January 1502. - About his administration staff, also in the year of 1501, we know he had a beautiful young woman from Bologna named Jovanna, working for him in his chancery. She’s described as a “degnissma scriptora”, she wrote letters and maybe did other secretarial duties as well for 14 ducats. - Whether it was treachery or a legit, reasonable move against Guidobaldo's own plans of treachery against him, the fact is that Cesare acquired Urbino without bloodshed in any of the towns, in a brilliant coup that amazed the whole of Italy (and terrified the nobility lol). While leaving a military contingent at Camerino, Cesare road north through the Apennines, between Nocera and Urbino he covered more or less sixty miles in forty-eight hours with a mixed force of 2.000 men. Before anyone else knew, he had already took Cagli, inside the Duchy of Urbino. Simultaneously, two other points were taken too, Montevecchio and San Lorenzo. Di Naldo, one of Cesare’s captains came from the east. These three armies converged towards the capital of Urbino then, where they met with the castilian and the garrison was rendered by him. A few hours later Cesare himself entered the city without any resistence. - The famous Sleeping Cupid by Michelangelo that Cesare gifted it to Isabella d’Este when he took Urbino in 1502 had a history together. He had previously been the owner of this piece. Cardinal Riario Sforza bought in 1496, but apparently when he found out that the piece was a modern piece and not an antique, he didn’t wanted it anymore, so it was displayed across the street of Cesare’s palace and he bought before the end of the year and later on send it as a gift to Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. -  A popular canzona of the time, Donna contra la mia Voglia by Filippo de Lurano  (c.1470-c.1520) was Cesare’s favorite song. (There is an excellent version of it too by conductor and composer Jordi Savall). - As another step to secure the unity of the Romagna, Cesare did a reform in legal administration of great importance, he established a supreme Court of Appeal, named the Rota, influenced by the famous Court of the Vatican with the same name. He appointed as The First President, a newly created office, to Antonio di Monte Sansovino, a distinguished jurist with high integrity, and who was universally beloved. This Appeal Court sat in the seven main cities of the Romagna: Fano, Pesaro, Rimini, Cesena, Faenza, Forlì and Imola. If it was necessary, this Court would sit for as much as two months. All expenses were met by a payment from each of these judicial circuits of 200 ducats per annum. - In October 1500 Pinturicchio wrote to Cesare asking for the grant of a well to be put in one of the lands pope Alexander VI had bestow on him and his descendents at Chiusi, a city in the province of Siena, but near Perugia. Pinturicchio went himself to see Cesare at Diruta to request for all the necessary permission. Cesare issued a letter to Alfano Alfani, vice-treasurer of Perugia, making the request and saying that: “he had again taken to his service Bernardino Pinturicchio of Perosa, whom he always loved because his talent and gifts; and he desires that in all things he should be considered as ‘one of ours.” This initial request wasn’t honored so Cesare wrote again to this Alfani reinforcing his wish to be granted within that year. In 1501, Pinturicchio was given an annual payment as Cesare’s personal painter as well. - Cesare hired Leonardo da Vinci as a military architect and engineer in the spring of 1501, he entrusted him with all sorts of projects, in Cesena for example he asked that Da Vinci planned a new quarter of the city with wilder streets, sidewalks, parks, and a functioning sewage system and many other improvements. He also issued papers from the city’s headquarters for the construction in Cesena of a new university building, a palace to house the Rota. - Cesare also commissioned Da Vinci to work on an alterpiece, that is now lost unfortunately, at the Santuario della Beata Vergine del Piratello, outside of Imola. Some scholars agree that Da Vinci at the very least begun this painting, but it was not finished by him. There are some sketches he made that are called: Three views of a bearded man and it’s generally accepted to be Cesare, in what might have become a portrait of him in this alterpiece. - Right after he conquered a city, it was Cesare’s policy to issue a stem proclamation against plunder, guaranteed the property of the citizens. At Forlì he took measures to safeguard the convents, listening to all complaints of ill-treatment or robbery at the hands of the soldiery. On December 7, 1500, he hanged from the windows of his headquarters, two of his own men, a Piedmontese and a Gascon soldier, who had disobeyed his orders against plunder in the town. On the 13th of the same month, other offenders followed the same fate as the first two, which showed his zeal and the level of his commitment for the interests of his Forlivesi subjects. - At Cesena, as in other places in the Romagna, that same policy was applied, the usual disorder was put to an end, and civic automony was fully restored, along with the suppresion of aristocratic feuds, which resulted on econonical security and internal peace. - During the conquest of Faenza, the only city where Cesare met a true resistance, he retired to Cesena through the winter months while the siege kept going there. One night, he was walking around the city when he found a baby girl abandoned in the street, he commanded the baby to be nursed, and settled an ample dowry on the baby’s mother until she was of marriageable age. Afterwards, when the father refused to acknowledge the girl as his own, Cesare himself acknowledged the girl and she was baptized that day. - On March 29, 1501, when he was informed of Beatrice of Naples arrival at Cesenatico, twice Queen of Hungary and of Bohemia, and sister of Frederick of Naples, he send off his staff to greet her and to present her with a 'royal gift'. He ordered his lieutenants to honor her in every city in the Romagna and the Marche region, where she made her way back to Naples. - On 1502, Cesare and his father, Rodrigo went on a boat trip to Piombino and the island of Elba so that Rodrigo could officially take possession of these territories Cesare had recently conquered. Everything went smoothly, and they were on their way back when a violent storm began, hitting them hard. During 5 days they wandered aimlessly. Everyone, but Rodrigo, were quite anxious and scared. At the second day, the crew saw an English ship, and Cesare proposed to go to this boat to request for help, but Rodrigo refused, not wanting to request help from strangers. Eventually they made it back ashore, but it was a close call there for them for awhile.     - After the masterstroke at Senigallia, where he successfully arrested his conspiring condottiere, the city was in total confusion, and a part of Cesare’s infantry were starting to sack the city, so Cesare in full armour and on horseback gave orders for his men to stop the sacking immediately, he then gathered some of his captains and went about the city streets putting a stop to the abuses that were starting to happen, some soldiers however, refused to obey his orders, and they were promptly executed there for their disobedience. - On 25 October, 1506 he managed to escape the Castle of La Mota, in Spain, a fortress that at that time worked as State prison, of maximum security, and where he was imprisoned. With the collaboration of his chaplain, and a servant of the governor's, named Garcia, along with the outside help from Count of Benavente, a powerful lord from the neighbourhood, who visited him regularly, he managed to climb down the 40 meter high tower with a rope, and if memory doesn't fail me, he was the only prisoner to have ever managed to escape this prison lool.

[truedogs-blog1]

The World of the American Pit Bull Terrier - Forward

           Recently, at a Thanksgiving dinner, a favorite uncle of mine introduced me as someone who raised Pit Bulls. Knowing my uncle’s evil sense of humor and propensity for inflicting awkward situations on me to see how well I squirm out of them, I knew that I was being set up. My uncle’s friend was obviously intelligent and well educated and, above all, a gentle and kindly person. So, naturally, his response to my “exposure” as a devotee of the Pit Bulldogs was something of a shock to him. “Oh dear! Oh dear!” he said, shaking his head in a mild reproof. I regarded him bemusedly and answered, “Brainwashed by the news media, I see!” After making that pronouncement, I rebuked him gently for allowing an educated man like himself to be hoodwinked so easily. And because he was educated, intelligent, and open-minded, he listened to me as I explained what the Pit Bull was really like. He apparently gave some credence to what I had to say, for he left that night with a parting comment that he wanted to talk to me about acquiring a Pit Bull pup – much to the amusement of my uncle who knew very well (from experience with my dogs) that Pit Bulldogs, despite their reputation to the contrary, have possibly the best and most stable dispositions of all dogs.            Unfortunately, it must be assumed that anyone familiar with Pit Bulldogs who happens to pick up this book has been brainwashed by the news media, for certainly most of the public has been brainwashed, and where else would they have gotten their information? It is hoped, however, that the reader will be open-minded enough to consider this most deserving of dogs on his own merits and not on his reputation. It may seem that where there is all this smoke, there must be at least a little fire – and, sure enough, there is! These are dogs with awesome fighting ability; and since they enjoy fighting, they can be a danger to other dogs, regardless of size, and to other animals, too. Thus, the owner of a Pit Bulldogs must be a responsible person and not violate the leash laws as so many others do.            Since the Pit Bull is a unique breed of dog, special precautions are needed for keeping him. I have provided a chapter that details some of the systems for keeping more than one Pit Bull and, of course, they can be used even if you’re keeping only one. It’s easy once you know how, and it’s worth it, for these dogs are truly special.            Some may feel that I have been soft on dogfighters (or pit dog men, as they prefer to call themselves), but there are plenty of other writers who know little about pit dog men but condemn them roundly and regularly, so why should I add to that? I think my place is more to put things into perspective for readers that have been regularly spoon-fed stories of how kittens and small dogs are used for bait in the training of a pit dog. And, too, although of a scientific bent, I am a hopeless romantic when it comes to this breed, for I view them as the most courageous and heroic of dogs, and I’m not convinced they’d stay that way without the fiery sport that forged them.            Perhaps one reason I am so tolerant and understanding of pit dog men is that in my youth it was my good fortune to know some very fine men who happened to be pit dog men. Although they could stand to watch a pit dog take punishment in a match, they were more tender than most people when it came to animals, and they were bona fide dog lovers, too. They were far more responsible dog owners than the vast majority of people – including many of those who criticize pit dog men. My old mentor Bob Wallace, in particular, was highly critical of irresponsible behavior of the average dog owner. And I have never known anyone who had a better feeling for dogs of took better care of them.            This book is my third on the American Pit Bull Terrier. Ideally, the books should be read in order, starting with This Is the American Pit Bull Terrier, then the Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier, and finishing with this one. No harm is done, however, in reading the books out of sequence. Indeed, this book in some ways is more of a primer than the other two in that it gets down to basics about such elementary things as the feeding and housing of an APBT.            Some readers may be shocked that I provide a generalized “keep” in this book. But why not do it? The contesting of dogs is continuing unabated, so why not help relative novices provide their charges with the best possible conditioning and feeding methods? After all, my thesis has always been that matching dogs is not cruel if done properly. Besides, just exactly how all of this is done will be of interest to the regular Pit Bull owner and perhaps even to those poor toy dog devotees who have been horrified and sickened by stories of how pit dog men are constantly on the prowl for little dogs to use as “training bait”!

           One of the problems with a third book is to avoid repeating what was already covered some place in the other two. However, some things are worth repeating, and other items needed embellishing. Generally, though, the material in this book consists of what I still had to say about what I consider to be the most remarkable and unique breed of dog that has ever existed.

Richard F. Stratton

AN IMPORTANT NOTE TO READERS OF THIS BOOK

           You are going to find as you read this book that my feelings about dogfighting are much different from the feelings about dogfighting that you’ve had thrust at you from the print and electronic news media. Unlike the media, I’m not against dogfighting; I like game dogs, and I like most of the pit dog men I’ve come across. So naturally any book I write about the world’s premier fighting dog is going to be partial to pit contests and pit dog people, and it will put the knock on their enemies. I’m biased, obviously.            You might conclude while reading the book that I’ve been strong in expressing both my likes and my dislikes; you might even feel that I’ve been too strong. That’s okay -- at least you know where I stand. But the one thing you should not conclude from what I’ve said in this book is that I’d like to see you get involved with dogfighting. I don’t think that you should. I think that you should keep away from dogfighting in any form, and the reason I think so is based on one very important consideration: dogfighting is illegal in most of the places this book will be read. Now I can sit down at a typewriter every day and knock out a new manuscript saying why I think dogfighting is a humane and sensible activity and why I think the people against dogfighting are mindless and gutless humaniacs – but that doesn’t change the fact that the laws I rail against have sharp teeth, and I wouldn’t want you to run afoul of them. The laws are mostly counterproductive and egregious, but you can’t use the laws’ idiocy as a defense is you’re charged with breaking them. I hate to say it, but the best way to avoid having dogfighting charges lodged against you is to be completely blameless. (One way, for example, to make sure that you never get arrested at a dogfight is never to go to a dogfight where dogfighting is illegal.)            Just in case you’re not aware of some the very stiff laws against dogfighting in the United States, I’m going to reproduce here a portion of the text of the section dealing with “animal fighting ventures” from a 1976 federal law; many state laws are even worse. Take my advice: don’t: get caught breaking any of the laws against dogfighting. Use any legal means you want to educate the public and change the laws, but steer clear of breaking them. The humaniacs who’ve gotten the laws passed would like nothing better than to see you locked up and fined heavily for having anything to do with the pit – don’t give them the satisfaction.

§2156. Animal fighting venture prohibition—Sponsoring or exhibiting animal in any fighting venture    (a)It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly sponsor of exhibit an animal in any animal fighting venture to which any animal was moved in interstate or foreign commerce. Buying, selling, delivering, or transporting animals for animal fighting venture    (b)It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly sell, buy, transport, or deliver to another person of receive from another person for purposes of transportation, in interstate or foreign commerce, any dog or other animal for purposes of having the dog or other animal participate in an animal fighting venture. Use of Postal Service of other interstate instrumentality for promoting or furthering animal fighting venture    (c)It shall be unlawful for any person to knowingly use the mail service of the United States Postal Service or any interstate instrumentality for purposes of promoting or in any other manner furthering an animal fighting venture except as performed outside the limits of the States of the United States. Violation of state law    (d)Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a), (b), or (c) of this sections, the activities prohibited by such subsections shall be unlawful with respect to fighting ventures involving live birds only if the fight is to take place in a state where it would be in violation of the laws thereof. Penalties (e)Any person who violates subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section shall be fined not more than $5,000 or imprisoned for not more than 1 year, or both, for each violation.

  Stratton, Richard F. Foreword. The World of the American Pit Bull Terrier. New York: TFH Publications, 1983. 6-7. Print.