#technically the Bishops are a crime family
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theology101 · 8 months ago
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Fallout TV show where is my Son.
I know that he’s still alive, Ron Pearlman says he dies at the age of 73, so where is he
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Mr Bishop, son of the Chosen One and Leslie Anne Bishop is my illegitamet son, head of the Bishop Political Family and one of the most important snd influential men in the NCR
where is my son Fallout TV show.
he wanders the wastes like his Pa and with the NCR the way that it is, my guy needs to hope in the Chrysler
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gwenllian-in-the-abbey · 9 months ago
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Sorry if that's already been asked but what do you think about the "King's word is the law" in hotd/dance discourse? I'm not sure where that even came from and for me there is 0 evidence that suggests it's true
Hi anon, excellent question! Sorry it took me so long to reply, this got a bit long! This is actually something that comes up a lot when I teach feudalism to my high school students. I've found that most people in general do not know the difference between feudalism and absolutism, and conceive of all kingship as a form of tyranny. And compared to most modern systems of government, of course feudalism and absolutism are both oppressive and restrictive, so the difference can feel a bit like splitting hairs. Neither system gives the the common people any real voice, but the difference is that feudalism is a system with a relatively weak monarchy that has to, both directly and indirectly, answer to both the church and to his vassals. But Westeros, even under the Targaryens, even with the dragons, is not, strictly peaking, an absolute monarchy but rather a feudal monarchy.
Broadly speaking, in a feudal system "the king's word is law" is only true insofar as the king can enforce that law, and to enforce his laws he needs the support of his vassals, the landholders who supply him with his armies and revenues. The feudal relationship between the king and his vassals looks roughly like this (this is the actual diagram we use in my world history curriculum):
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Notice how the relationships are all reciprocal? The king might technically own all the land in the realm, but he has no standing army of his own. Knights pledge their service to the lords, rather than the king (he will have some knights in his personal service too, but not nearly enough to make war). It is in the king's best interest to keep his vassals happy. He needs them! They help him keep other unruly vassals in check, help defend against foreign invasion, and help him wage his own wars of expansion. They also provide the crown with revenue in the form of taxes, and their farmlands are what provide food for the people of the realm. In Westeros in particular, the royal family does not hold much land of its own (the land held by the royal family is called the royal demesne and the Targaryen royal demesne is very small compared to that of irl kings), so it's particularly dependent on the support of the vassalage. This makes it a relatively weak feudal monarchy, all things considered.
(also, notice the bishop up there with the lords? Usually, he would usually be appointed by the king with the approval of the pope, but the question of whether or not church officials were subjects of the king and subject to the king's laws was a huge point of contention hat caused many power struggles in medieval monarchies, and there was a whole separate court system, the ecclesiastical court, to deal with the crimes of court officials)
Anyway, a feudal king who just does whatever he wants without regard for his vassals will quickly find himself being named a tyrant, and the accusation of tyranny is a serious one in a feudal system, because vassals will rebel rather than serve a tyrant. Rebellions were not usually done with the goal of overthrowing the king completely, they were done in order to pressure the king into listening to their demands. We saw this happen with King John, whose barons were unhappy for a number of reasons including what they saw as avaricious economic policies, costly wars with France, increased royal interference in local administration of justice, and conflicts between the king and the church. Eventually, John's barons pressured him into signing the Magna Carta, a document that specifically limited the power of the king and stated outright that the king was not above the law and that the king could not impose new laws without the consent of the lords. John later repudiated this document, which led to further rebellions, and his son and heir Henry III had to reaffirm it after his death (and a series of rebellions still plagued Henry III). Eventually, this leads to a formalization of the idea that the king must not act without the consent of his lords and the creation of parliament.
Now, we never see a Westerosi Magna Carta or the creation of a set parliament, there is the small council and the occasional great council, and lords can and do object to the king's laws, force concessions, and remove kings. Notably, Robert's rebellion in the main series is an example of vassals losing faith in their king and eventually removing him. Aegon V cannot push his reforms through because he lacks the support of the lords, and in his desperation tries to bring back the dragons. But if we look back, even dragonriding Targaryens could not simply impose their will without the cooperation of the realm's lords. Aenys was considered weak and his rule was beset by rebellions, eventually coming to a head when he arranged an incestuous marriage for his heir, this after the Faith was already displeased with his brother's polygamous marriage. This led to Aenys being known as known as King Abomination and the Faith Militant uprising forced him to flee to Dragonstone. Maegor, who followed him, is ousted (and killed) as a tyrant for going further than that, suppressing the faith and committing kinslaying against his nephew. What makes Jaehaerys' rule notable and successful is that he's very good at appeasing the lords and when he is going to do something controversial, like the Doctrine of Exceptionalism or changing the succession, he campaigns and politicks for their support (I maintain that he knew Viserys being picked at the council was a forgone conclusion, but he did not want to unilaterally go against Andal custom without consulting his lords, it's a CYA move). This is something Viserys completely fails to do, not only failing to drum up support for his unconventional choice of heir, but actively alienating potential supporters.
It's worth keeping in mind that "law" means something different in this context than what many of us are used to today. Medieval law, and Westerosi law, was a hodgepodge of custom, statute, and precedent. Westeros, like England, operates on "common law." Successions are disputed all the time because competing claims exist. If Viserys named Mushroom heir, is his word law? What if he names Helaena? Jace? And in a normal situation, if it wasn't the succession of the throne in question the rival claimants would present their petitions, citing evidence and precedent, and the master of law, magistrate, or the king would make a ruling. The will of the lords is especially required to enforce an unconventional royal succession because succession takes place after the king is dead, and so if the succession is disputed, the claimants and the lords of the realm have to settle the dispute, nonviolently if possible, or else civil war will follow.
And you can get the lords behind an unconventional succession, but you have to have a good reason. "She's my favorite child from my favorite wife" is not actually good enough. For instance, when Robb chooses to legitimize Jon and disinherit Sansa in order to keep Winterfell out of Lannister hands, this is widely accepted among his vassals and allies because the reasoning is sound. Jon may be a bastard, but it would be worse for everyone to have Winterfell pass to a Lannister, even if it's shitty for Sansa. By the same logic, initially, Rhaenyra is accepted as heir because the lords do not want Daemon on the throne (the man she is now married to!). But after Aegon is born most assumed he would naturally become his father's heir. And remember, there's no reason for Alicent to marry Viserys if he cannot even ensure he inheritance of his own firstborn son. And Viserys never builds a case for Rhaenyra while he is alive, never tries to present Aegon as unworthy, he never has the lords come reaffirm their oaths, never writes a decree to formalize Westerosi succession. He doesn't take action because he knows he would not achieve anything near consensus (despite certain houses choosing Rhaenyra when it comes to war, it's doubtful they would have made the same choice if it had been a great council), so instead of dealing with the problem, he passes it on to his children.
I think it's fair to view the challenge to Rhaenyra's succession as an objection to what some see as tyranny on the part of the king. Viserys and Rhaenyra set themselves above the law in multiple ways-- not just jumping ahead of a son in the line of succession, but the way she has destabilized her own rule by placing bastards in her line of succession. What they are doing defies all precedent, and in a world where law is built in large part from precedent, this is not something the lords of the realm are obligated to accept.
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pyromaniacbibliophile · 2 months ago
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bricktober day 31! Party
@lesmis-prompts
Well October went quick... Done every prompt except one, better than I thought I'd do! I'd love to do this again next year
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"Look, Ep, what else were you expecting?" Azelma asked, looking around the room in entertainment.
Eponine thought about that for a second, before shrugging. "Probably this, to be fair."
The triple wedding of the decade, barred to all paparazzi save Théo and Henrí Thenardier, the youngest of the Thenardier siblings, was always going to be chaos. After all, it was only family and friends invited, and with their family and friends.....
At first it had only been one wedding. Marius, Eponine, and Cosette. Nice and simple. Sure, there might have been some outside interest, a member of famous once-revolutionary political group Les Amis marrying the daughter of crime boss Thenardier and the daughter of the loved ex-mayor and well known philanthropist Valjean. But it wouldn't have been half as bad as the current affair.
See, after about two weeks of exceedingly complicated wedding plans, Eponine had had enough. Like hell was she going to suffer alone when she could drag someone else along with her. That unlucky someone happened to be Grantaire. Seeing as he had proposed to Enjolras a few weeks after Marius had to his girlfriends, he was perfect.
With a little aid from Gavroche, she managed to convince him into agreeing to a double wedding. So then there was not only the above, but soon to be Senator Enjolras and popular artist and lead singer-songwriter of capitalR Grantaire. That would have been bad enough really, but then Cosette got involved.
Of course, her father and Chief Inspector Javert had been dancing around each other for years. Technically they had only been dating for 9 months, but Cosette knew (from conversations she probably shouldn't have overheard) that it really had been longer. So she might have tricked them into getting engaged. And then agreeing to get married with her.
Even then, you could discount all the public interest and still have the utter chaos that came from the friends and family.
Namely, the other three members of capitalR, backup singer and drummer Musichetta, and her boyfriends Joly, the guitarist, and Bossuet, the pianist.
Azelma, Gavroche, Théo, and Henrí Thenardier, the other four of the Thenardier Siblings. The name Thenardier is, of course, synonymous with chaos.
Feuilly, Bahorel, and current posse of street kids from their gym.
Combeferre and Courfeyrac, typically with notes on the 'precise loopholes in the criminal law concerning arson and vandalism', matches, and spray paint.
Jehan, trailing flowers and poetry, hair five different colours every time.
Montparnasse and Claquesous, not completely law-abiding but good enough not to get caught.
All presided over by, of course, the elderly Bishop of Digne.
Eponine and Azelma looked around the room, noting the drunk and newly-wedded Enjolras standing on a table, Grantaire, in a similar condition, looking at him like he was a god.
Javert and Valjean stealthily leaving by the back door, eager to avoid the goodbyes and get straight to honeymoon.
Montparnasse and Gavroche sitting at a table, deep in conversation-
"I think I'd better intervene.." Eponine began, already heading over. Azelma pulled her back.
"Ep, it's your wedding night. Go find your spouses. I'll take our brother."
It took little convincing. Azelma watched her go and smiled. She wouldn't like to do it again, say, but this was a hell of a party.
Jehan walked up to her and handed her a string of flowers. She wrapped it around her shoulders contentedly.
Gavroche was carefully leaving with Claquesous now. She thought about it but shrugged.
"You going to do something about them, Az?" Jehan asked.
"Nah, let them be. They'll wind up in jail anyway, they always do."
"True, but now there's no Javert or Valjean to get them out."
Azelma paused. __ it. "Ah, damn it. GAV! DON'T YOU DARE!"
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ophelliate · 8 months ago
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small bootleg!tmnt details/fun facts
from what i've seen nobody ever pointed them out so i thought it'd be nice to share ^^ spoilers ahead ofc
in 'who needs a vet', the stockman's remedy is actually a large contributor to the boys' recovery as the recipe was developed by superfly to aid his family/mutants
the intervention gag in 'sports! any%' and 'leon ardo alone' is inspired by the same gag in How I Met Your Mother
in 'pizza-nal economics', the only reason why leroy hired mikey (and by extension, keno) is because he knew he could fight/defend himself from the customers of their business
according to the boys' pizza tier list, Run of the Mill is an A tier
Raph-Bucks were inspired by the unicon bits from the las pegasus unicon incident
the episode's ending with mikey walking in to the raph-buck revolution is also inspired by the community pizza fire meme
as mentioned by casey in 'i thought YOU were sneaking out', raph had technically met them during his sports speedrun, as they were the goalie raph hit in the shin
bishop is actually teased as early as the episode 'fiend trip' by the principal
melissa is very heavily inspired by old friends of mine which is why she's Like That lmao
i mutated the general into scale tail for the sake of using the concept design before the mutant mayhem script released and revealed that his name is actually spider... oops–
lotus's background wasn't actually planned and was made during her introduction in 'leon ardo alone', the reason being is because i didn't want to actually make her last name blossom
the reason why klunk duplicates is due to the sea sponge dna she mutated with, as some sea sponges can create extensions of themselves if they feel like they are in danger
by extension, when klunk is scared, she hardens for defense, but when she's happy/relaxed, her entire body softens, including her organs
the person bishop is calling throughout 'green party candidates' and briefly in 'the devolution of turtle' is irma's mother, mrs. lynette knight, though they are close enough for first name basis
as explained in 'no paint no gain', keno is well liked by/has easy entry to the crime scene of nyc due to his cousin being in the foot clan
although not explored in season 1, angel has a heavy interest in film and has implemented tv systems in each room of hun's house
leo told bishop about the market incident, as he mentioned to casey in 'no paint no gain', which is why tcri (and eventually hun) knows about casey's involvement and relationship with the turtles
i did not know about the 03 nano episodes in depth before writing marion into donnie's tech circle and for that i am so sorry
in 'the psat', irma is supposed to act as the proper example of how to treat the psats: completely unseriously
i didn't know normani announced her album around the time of 'the psat' episode's release until a month after
'the devolution of turtle' was genuinely gonna be a lot more of a sillier episode but it really took a turn after bishop started being developed
the mutants in the cages is basically a gateway implementation for mutants introduced in canon tottmnt when it comes out
the reason the turtles turtle-piled in 'is mutant a heritage' is because it became a coping mechanism for them after the previous episode
and last but not least for the finale (and spoiler tidbit for s2):
miwa
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themculibrary · 3 years ago
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Clint Barton & Kate Bishop Masterlist
Baby Steps (ao3) - raiining clint/phil M, 6k
Summary: Clint Barton doesn't care for S.H.I.E.L.D. This Agent Coulson, though, he might be different.
Blind Faith (ao3) - BeneficialAddiction clint/phil T, 31k (WIP)
Summary: When Clint is blinded after a mission gone wrong, the team tracks down the mysterious Kate - a relic from Clint’s childhood that they hadn’t even known was real - in the hopes that she can help him through it. No one expected her to be sassier than Tony, or to make terrible, ridiculous jokes that force even Natasha to crack a smile, but that’s exactly what she does, slowly chipping away at Clint’s insecurities in an effort to help him find a little faith - in himself and in the men and women who love him.
Clause 19 (ao3) - Laura Kaye (laurakaye) clint/phil T, 4k
Summary: It took a special kind of crazy to break into a superhero's apartment and make yourself a pot of his coffee, and a special kind of skill to avoid the various booby traps that said superhero had installed in his apartment after consultation with a technical genius and a super-spy. Kate kind of wished that she'd called Natasha after all.
Digging a Hole (Dig Yourself Out) (ao3) - raiining clint/phil T, 5k
Summary: Clint Barton has been in love with Phil Coulson for years, but never said anything. Coulson comes back from the dead and everyone’s excited, but no one thinks to tell Clint. He... doesn’t take it so well.
(Set immediately after Hawkeye #10)
Do you have a moment to take a survey? (ao3) - hopelessly_me bucky/clint T, 1k
Summary: Clint and Kate are studying in a coffee shop when Kate jokes that the universe could probably pick a better partner than Clint could, and said the next person through the door was his soulmate.
Dungeons & Hawkeyes (ao3) - inmyriadbits clint/phil G, 5k
Summary: In which this whole dungeon thing really isn’t working for Kate Bishop, there are far too many nicknames from the Victorian era, socks are vitally important, and Clint insists he is Han Solo in this situation.
Here We Are (ao3) - kiss_me_cassie clint/natasha T, 3k
Summary: "I am Yelena Belova. My sister was Natasha Romanova. Surely that name sounds familiar? You were partners. Best friends. Family."
Or how Clint and Yelena meet, team up, and get the surprise of their lives.
if you wanna fill your bottle up with lightning (ao3) - twistedingenue clint/phil T, 14k
Summary: In the wake of poor life choices involving redheads and red cars, Clint's responsible decision making skills take another header after learning that Dr Foster and Darcy hav e missed their last few check-ins and winds up driving out to New Mexico with Kate.
I'll Be There For You (When the Rain Starts to Pour) (ao3) - Tora clint/phil G, 4k
Summary: Kate's having a shitty night and Clint's a cool mentor who doesn't bitch about being woken up at 3 a.m. by a disgruntled teenager.
Chapter two: the morning after Kate's shitty night, and Phil appears.
Life of Crime (ao3) - neveralarch bucky/clint/natasha E, 35k
Summary: As a supervillain supercriminal contract worker with a morality deficit, Clint Barton leads a glamorous life. You know, stolen cars, dangerous women, a really confusing relationship with a meddling do-gooder, the works. It's pretty awesome. Except for, uh, medical bills, the mob, and being on the run all the time. That part isn't all that awesome.
(A supervillain AU where Clint shoots arrows at people and gets beat up a lot. So, not really that much of an AU.)
One Year Later (ao3) - proud_papaya N/R, 22k
Summary: Clint Barton was alive again. Except, he wasn't the only Hawkeye, apparently. He had himself a protégée, but she had secrets and after months of knowing her, there's one that she can't hide anymore.
these things take & take (you can stay as long as you want) (ao3) - QueenWithABeeThrone T, 4k
Summary: Darcy yawns, and says, “So you’re Lady Hawkeye, then?”
“Just Hawkeye,” Kate corrects, testy. “Clint is Agent Hawkeye. Or Hawkguy. I’m a free and independent agent who operates out of New York.”
“So,” says Darcy, “like Daredevil.”
or: Kate, Darcy, and Ahsoka chill on a farm during the events of Age of Ultron.
This is Not a Gothic Romance (and Clint is Not Heathcliff) (ao3) - shinykari (meinterrupted) clint/darcy E, 4k
Summary: Clint Barton is an idiot. This isn't news to Darcy. What is new is waking up in his bed and hearing him talking to another woman in the other room.
to have a home (ao3) - oceanofchaos clint/natasha, kate/america G, 34k
Summary: Natasha Romanoff is almost used to rebuilding herself at this point, but that doesn't actually seem to make it any easier. It doesn't really help that this time the entire world seems to be rebuilding as well.
what's my age again? (ao3) - verity kate/america T, 3k
Summary: A for effort, H-A-W-K-E-Y-E, Kate says as soon as she frees herself from her harness. They really need to come up with a real sign instead of just fingerspelling all the time. Maybe miming drawing a bow, then pointing to the eyes. Something cool. You have to get over your boner for that boomerang arrow.
"Did you just sign 'angry penis'?" Sam says, distracted from his unresolved sexual tension with Natasha.
"Whatever," Kate says. She flips her hair. "I'm learning."
Who The Fuck Wants To Die Alone (ao3) - paperclipbitch kate/america T, 7k
Summary: Normal!AU. “I don’t know why I have to get involved in this anyway,” Clint huffs. “Or haven’t you told this chick that you’re working a job you don’t need and live in a magical Disney palace?”
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walkthroughtheword · 3 years ago
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Reading for August 21st                    Judges 17 & 18 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN We are now off the southern coast and back in the hill country to the east and north.  This story is made possible by the collective failing to maintain the theological boundaries set forth by God.  The bottom line is that Judaism (and later Christianity) must be served straight.  If you morph other things into it, it becomes something else entirely and that something else is never good.  The key phrase is “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.”  This story is the author’s continued case for a monarchy and a unified Israel.  Things are so bad, there is a belief that God’s blessing comes not from strict obedience to God but God’s blessing is for hire.  This story provides a “pulling” thread from which the rest of Judges will unravel. V. 1-2 The mother of a man named Micah from Ephraim heard his mother curse the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from her There are three ways we can try to get a today’s dollars value of what was stolen.  The first is we can deduct that around 10 pieces of silver was an annual living wage and Micah stole 1,000 pieces, so we can deduce that in today’s dollars he stole about half a million dollars.  The other method is that silver today sell for $4,230 per pound and the Hebrew says about 28 pounds were stolen which would come to about $118,440.  The final approach, and probably the most responsible, is to admit that we have no idea how to determine how much was stolen in today’s dollars.  Here is the deal, no matter how you slice it, Micah stole a lot of money. Micah’s name means “who is like Yahweh” which clearly recalls the historical God of Israel but since Micah’s faith, father or family ties are not mentioned we can imply that he is a bit of a free agent, unaffiliated; a man without a conscience, a God or a tribe.  This is a guy who steals big bucks from his mom.  The curse mentioned here is technically on the silver, not the thief.  Regardless, he apparently didn’t want cursed money so he returned it to his mother, not because he stole it and felt badly but because it was cursed and who would want money with a hex on it? He gave them back and she blessed him for admitting his crime V. 3-4 So she dedicated the money to God and had an image carved and an idol cast and placed them in their home It is clear from the Hebrew that this idol is one object, not two.  The best I can tell, the curse of the mother has to be removed from the silver so she pledges it to God by turning part of it into the very sort of graven image forbidden in the Second Commandment.  Worship has been perverted into idolatry and is being conducted in the name of God.  This thing is a mess. So here is the best sense I can make of the story by weaving together the translations and insights of people far smarter than me.  It appears that Micah’s family maintained a shrine that was the worship place for the extended family or the region.  Shrines were sacred sites, usually on high places, and the idols who comprised them were shaped by local artisans who generally made wood carvings and then plated over them with precious metal.  Most of these idols that archeologists have recovered were quite small but they were objects of worship and would have been quite valuable for both their assumed powers, workmanship and precious metal content.  Yahweh had been reduced to a god in a collection of gods, a piece of art in an art collection that was open for public display provided you bought a ticket.  This would be seen by the God who said, “Thou shall have no other gods before me, beside me or behind me” as an absolute abomination, even and especially if some of the idols were of him! V. 5 Micah set up a shrine and installed his son as a priest If you maintained an ancient idol stand, you must constantly be upgrading your collection so paying customers didn’t lose interest.  It is sort of like a theme park today with a new ride being introduced every couple of years.  This new idol was the most valuable of the collection and would be seen to hold extra power as people prayed to it for fertility on one hand and to avoid calamity on the other.  With its addition would be increased business so the thief Micah, not Yahweh, ordained his son a priest.  We have no indication his son is called, believes in Yahweh, has any leadership ability, possesses any spiritual sensitivity or has any special training.  My guess if that this kid didn’t know which side of a sheep was up, couldn’t find work so his dad bought a church and made him a preacher.  Being a priest is something your son who can’t find better work does and Micah is a Bishop because he can afford the idols.  How do you get away with such things? V. 6 In those days Israel had no king and everyone did what was right in their own eyes With no leader to unite them and no mission to guide them, every individual in Israel become their own god. As it turned out a wanderlust stricken Levite (Priestly tribe) from Bethlehem was on a walk-about and Micah offered him a job.  You must remember that Judah, the region containing Jerusalem and Bethlehem, was the most righteous area in Israel and this is a man leaving the righteous in search of a destiny apart from God.  Levites were the tribe chosen to be priests and this clearly seemed like an upgrade, so Micah kicked his son to the curb.  The Levite accepted and essentially joined the extended family and now Micah could add a real Levite priest to his pagan shrine dedicated to Yahweh! CHAPTER EIGHTEEN About the time the Levite gets settled in, some warriors from the migrating tribe of Dan showed up.  When their scouts settled upon an attractive but vulnerable city to attack, they sent in 600 warriors and camped in Micah’s region of Ephraim.  Micah’s Levite rent-a-priest blessed them and when they heard about Micah’s shrine, they decided they needed all the luck they could get for their conquest so they stole all the idols and offered the Levite a better contract if he would come with them.  When Micah discovered what had happened he pursued but the army told him to chill lest they have to kill him; out manned and out gunned, he went home.  The Danites took the city of Lacish and renamed it Dan.  Note on the map, the original allotment to the Tribe of Dan on the southwest coast and the new land claimed to the extreme north east.  Dan will leave the coast to the Philistines in disgrace and resettle in a well-watered and contested territory north and east of the Sea of Galilee.  The modern Syrian, Lebanese and Israeli borders all intersect this territory.   In this tale, the idolatry of the Tribe of Dan and Micah are tied together to illustrate the political results of apostacy.  Do things the wrong way, get the wrong results.  The chapter ends with the installation of a pagan shire as a tribal worship center.  Terrible.
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danwhobrowses · 4 years ago
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MCU: 10 Ways WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier are the Same
So now we have 2 of Marvel's Phase 3.5 shows in the books, and both have been pretty great. In the 7 week wait for Loki though we'll have time to mull things over.
When watching the Falcon & Winter Soldier finale though, I started to notice that there were some patterns between it and Wandavision. While two completely different stories they did share some similar beats, so here's 10 I spotted and thus 10 to look out for when Loki comes around.
Spoilers for WandaVision and Falcon & The Winter Soldier, give it a watch before you give this a look
10 - Villains become Memes
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While one can contest that Zemo acts more as an antihero in The Falcon & the Winter Soldier, he still provides an antagonistic edge in the story. However, both he and Agatha became villains that had charisma to charm the audience, and their actions brought about multiple memes. On Agatha's side there was the wink, Agatha All Along and her in the fitness outfit, while with Zemo there was the 'it captures the experience', his iconic dancing and Turkish Delight. While not a story beat on the shows, the writers must've known that fans would gravitate to these characters to give them such content to use. Also add a hat tip to John Walker who got his own memes too with him about to embed the shield into a dude's chest, and Wanda herself for her nose scrunch being used as a meme alongside Thor's 'is it though?'.
9 - The Government aren't exactly helpful
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While the Government aren't entirely the enemy in the show, they don't do well to stay on our heroes' good side. In WandaVision, they enhance Wanda's grief in the fact that she can't even lay him to rest, SWORD instead deciding that her lover is government property and they are harvesting his 'organs' and vibranium skin as a resource to use for weapons. On Falcon & Winter Soldier, the US Government deliberately deceive Sam by having him hand over the shield to put in a museum, only to then take it out and give it to John Walker without even telling Sam or Bucky about it. In addition when they disavow Walker they try to reclaim the Shield - which, as the Contessa does reveal, isn't technically their property either. While Falcon & Winter Soldier delved deeper into the government's lack of help through the GDC subplot motivating the Flag Smashers, there were still similarities found with how SWORD - which is quite different to its comic version - antagonizes Wanda. In the end all this escalates because of them, and in the end neither of them get to keep the Vibranium.
8 - 'Good Person' is Bad Guy
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Although there's a more supernatural threat in both stories, the characters end up having their trust betrayed by people they believed to be decent. For WandaVision it is current Director of SWORD, Director Hayward, who appears adamant in silencing Wanda after using her as a means to power up White Vision as a programmable weapon. For Falcon & the Winter Soldier, it's Sharon Carter - descendant of Steve's beau who he also made out with - the discarded agent who gave up a lot for the heroes only to not get it in return, remaining enemy of the state and becoming the Power Broker. The shows can also have this reserved for 'Agnes' and John Walker but in the end people expected them to break bad from day 1. You could make a statement for Wanda since she looks to be an antagonist for Doctor Strange 2 though.
7 - The MCU add a little history
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Marvel has had a habit of changing Wanda's (and Pietro's) origin on a whim, the MCU deciding to source their powers on an Infinity Stone. Doing this however left a gap in the fact that Wanda is a Witch, which they cleaned up in WandaVision. Treading back on the Scarlet Witch being a mantle (though cutting her mother being a Scarlet Witch before her) as it is in the comics, they changed Wanda's powers from being latent and amplified by the stone rather than gifted to the stone itself. Falcon & Winter Soldier added to their history with the impactful Truth: Red, White and Black story, adding Isaiah Bradley into the MCU to further layer the conflict and tragedy Sam faces with being Captain America. Both are welcome additions to the MCU timeline, setting up for newer things to come in Phase 4 Movies.
6 - The hero wins the fight, but not the day
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Winning isn't always winning, as Wanda and Sam would discover upon the finale of their respective shows. Wanda defeats Agatha and Hayward is forced to face his crimes, but she has also come to terms with the face that the Hex must go, and in turn her family with it. While the Hex has freed all its residents, Wanda knows that she's not on anyone's good side either with the people she subconsciously enslaved. Sam gets it a little better, he's recognized himself as Captain America and given a patented 'Cap-speech', but he was unable to save Karli Morgenthau from being killed, someone who he was once so close to reaching and sympathized heavily with. Although the Super Soldier threat is neutralized, the Flag Smashers' ideals will live on to further radicalize itself, and its vision will further sow conflict and division.
5 - (Mostly) Bigger Roles for old MCU Side Characters
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Never one to shy past their crossovers, Wandavision and Falcon & the Winter Soldier both brought back side characters - some more obscure than others - from older films to gel into the plot. WandaVision brought back Darcy from the Thor franchise and Jimmy Woo from Ant Man & the Wasp to great comedic effect, fans already wanting a spin-off with them and possibly Monica - who may also count but technically not the same actress, the same can be said for 'Pietro' too. Falcon & the Winter Soldier stayed primarily in their lane of Captain America movies; with Batroc and Sharon both debuting in Winter Soldier and Dora Milaje's Ayo debuting in Civil War, while it was less comedic, the story was more interwoven with them since they all had ties to the main two characters.
4 - [Person] is obviously [Character]
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Possibly a bit of a narrative backdrop, or maybe years of MCU has clued us in on a plot twist a mile away, but both shows also were unable to hide well that Agnes from WandaVision and Sharon from Falcon & Winter Soldier were in fact Agatha Harkness and the Power Broker. It's not to say that knowing ruined the story, it just felt more of a 'when' rather than an 'if'. The main difference though is that Sharon managed to keep her villainy secret, and remains that way, while Agatha went too far in trying to take Wanda's power rather than help her with it and has now become stuck as Agnes instead.
3 - New Blood coming on the Hero Scene
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While the shows already did their job in setting up Wanda and Sam as big league heroes, they also looked a bit more in establishing new blood too. WandaVision established the potential for the twin Maximoff boys to grow into Wiccan and Speed - once Wanda finds a way to re-canonize them, Falcon & the Winter Soldier also made sure to introduce Elijah Bradley, Isaiah's grandson, which may also aid in establishing a Young Avengers team - what with Kate Bishop also soon to appear in Hawkeye. WandaVision also created the origin for Monica Rambeau, having her body altered by the Hex, which will likely be furthered in Captain Marvel 2, Falcon & the Winter Soldier also established John Walker as the US Agent to leave a potential for Thunderbolts, as well as introducing Joaquin Torres - opening the possibility to have a new Falcon. While not a bad thing to set up for the future, it is interesting that both shows had exactly 3 names that could become future heroes.
2 - 'Villain' character partly redeems themselves after a Grief-Fuelled Mistake
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Make no mistake, technically speaking Wanda is still a villain in WandaVision: she enslaved an entire town and suppressed them as side characters of a tv show. But the thing is that she didn't really intend to cause pain, it was an impulse action triggered by her grief. The same can be said for John Walker in Falcon & the Winter Soldier, he was already pressured by the standards being Captain America would entail and he was feeling the stress of a string of failures, a Dora Milaje humbling and a frosty reception from Steve's two close friends, juiced up on Super Soldier serum, and then his best friend just got killed because he didn't back him up, in a rage he killed a Flag Smasher with the shield - even though they were fleeing and not the one who killed Lemar, which he would lie about to Lemar's family. Despite this though, they managed to find some form of redemption, even if it was small. Wanda released the Hex and stopped Agatha from going haywire with her chaos magic, John gave up on his revenge seeking to save a truck from falling. Even though it doesn't entirely make up for what they did, it was at least a sign that they had not completely gone off the deep end...yet.
1 - Comic-Accurate Costumes
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Comic costumes are always a tough one because some of the older costumes were borderline atrocious. WandaVision at the very least managed to poke fun at it with them dressing up most of the Maximoff/Vision family in their comic-accurate costumes, Speed getting a few more nods in the finale alongside Wanda's revamped and quite on the money look. In Falcon & Winter Soldier, there was accurate costuming for John Walker's US Agent look and Sam's Captain America costume, not to mention Lemar's Battlestar outfit, Zemo's mask and Batroc's jumpsuit.
Overall, it's not a bad thing that they kept these story beats, but it may be worth trying to avoid some of these in later tv show plot points so that it doesn't appear repetitive and formulaic. These shows have been great, so let's keep that momentum going.
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meta-squash · 4 years ago
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Brick Club 1.8.5 “A Fitting Grave”
"In less that two hours, all the good he had done was forgotten, and he was “nothing but a convict.” The town totally abandons Valjean and turns on him. As usual, the people of Montreuil-sur-Mer are prone to gossip and we see that here, and how most of the information has gotten to the townspeople but with a little bit of distortion. I’m sure there’s a giant game of gossip telephone going on and by the time Valjean is on the Orion there’s all sorts of crazy rumors about him. It’s interesting that the last “name” given to him in the list of gossip is “Bonjean” (good Jean).
And yet, the reason the townspeople claim to have suspected him is because he was “too good.” Cruelty, selfishness, manipulation, inhumanity is built into the system; when someone in power actively tries to overcome and change that, if someone in power actively tries to be benevolent and help people, they become suspect.
More Hugolian commentary on royalists. Le Drapeau Blanc was a conservative, royalist newspaper from 1819-1827, that reported on politics and theatre. Its motto was “Vive le roi !... quand même.” I don’t understand the politics well enough to talk about why the woman’s comment about Bonapartists has so much “depth.”
“This is how the phantom that had been called M. Madeleine was dispelled at Montreuil-sur-Mer.” Madeleine has symbolically died--is he a phantom as in, a ghost? Or his he a phantom in the sense that he was a sort of collective figment of the town’s imagination, a delusion, a “false” entity created by Jean Valjean that everyone believed in until he was banished and dispelled? Is that another reason why the town crumbles without him? Because they can’t even bring themselves to believe that those prosperous five years actually worked and were actually effective and prosperous, and in doing so they reject all of Madeleine’s systems and the town collapses.
“He gave her no warnings, very sure she would guard him better than he would guard himself.” This makes me assume that Valjean has no idea how quickly rumor has spread through town and how quickly everyone has turned their backs on him. If he knew, would he still have trusted the concierge?
(Sidenote: I’m sorry but the bit about the pass key cracks me up because the only thing I can take away from the “he must have been searched...this point has not been cleared up” bit is that he hid the key up his ass. I know that’s not what’s going on but it gives me the giggles and I can’t not think that.)
The concierge removed the coin and stick-tips from the fire and put them neatly on the table. Now that Valjean has exposed his identity, strangers are able to just pick it up and handle it however they want. We see this in the gossip above, and here with the physical remnants of that identity. In writing the letter, he claims that identity for himself again, while simultaneously handing it over to the police (or whoever will eventually be in possession of the letter). Except that he doesn’t include the bishop’s candlesticks. But those candlesticks aren’t a part of convict-Valjean’s life. The candlesticks symbolize a changed Valjean, a Valjean who has experienced kindness and who has had his soul bought for god and who has promised the spectre of the bishop that he will become truly good. They cannot be listed at part of original convict-Valjean’s identity.
There’s a brief echo of Valjean’s original crime: he does all of this while eating a piece of black bread stolen from the prison he has just broken out of.
Sister Simplice becomes a woman again due to all the shocks of the day. So to Hugo, women are those who show all of their emotions? And Simplice was not a woman because she was able to contain her emotions except for empathy and faith? She only becomes a woman again when she shows weakness? Uh okay sure.
Here is another thing written by Valjean, but it’s not something that Hugo narrates as directly transcribing, like he did with Valjean’s dream. Instead, we read it through the eyes of Simplice.
“Javert saw the sister and stopped, ashamed.
It will be remembered that Javert’s very foundation, his natural element, the medium in which he breathed, was veneration for all authority. He was all of a piece, admitted no objection or restriction. To him, of course, ecclesiastic authority was the highest of all; he was devout, superficial, and correct on this point as on all others. In his eyes, a priest was an infallible spirit, a nun was a being who never sinned."
This description of Javert is so odd because we’ve already seen him claim that his authority is above god, that even god would not inspire mercy in him. And yet here, he sees people of the cloth as authority figures? I wonder if this is a bit like Javert being shocked that the sky exists because he never bothered to look up. The reason he said “Eternal Father in person couldn’t help you now” is because there was not a person of that authority present, and he didn’t believe that god was going to come save this prostitute anyway. But here he is, in the actual presence of an actual member of the church, and that person is someone he sees as an authority figure.
To Javert, a nun is a being who never sinned. And technically, until this point, Simplice fits that description. And yet it is Javert’s presence that forces her to tell a lie. I don’t know if that says something about Javert’s corruption/fall or about Valjean’s powers or what.
God, there’s so much condemnation of shitty religious people right next to veneration of good members of the church in this book. The cure, instead of using money to give Fantine a proper burial, uses the least amount he can and buries her in the potter’s field, in order to (apparently) hold onto more money for the poor. Not even the cure has respect for the dead poor. And is he going to actually use that money for the poor? We don’t know.
And Fantine remains a Symbol of poor women, motherless except for the earth and buried in a cemetery “which belongs to everybody and to nobody, and in which the poor are lost.” Another parallel to Paris and to poverty itself, both voids that anyone can fall into, and anyone can be lost in.
“She suffered the promiscuity of dust. Her grave was like her bed.” I do not know what to make of this line. I reminds me of way back in 1.3.2 when Hugo talks about “promiscuous” women. And the grave like her bed makes me think of her prostitution. Not only is she an orphan, a child of France, whose life is public because she does not have a family; her bed becomes public in a different way once she becomes a prostitute, and now it is public in yet a third way, as a communal grave.
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void-of-unparalled-chaos · 4 years ago
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   Making an update for that Marvel series I mentioned a while back. As of now I’m calling it Team ADA, but that might change. Below the Read More is the updated line up. You may notice some concepts have changed.
‘One Man’s Trash is Literally Another Man’ The generic Hawkeye and Daredevil meet in a dumpster. I know this trope has been used a ton but I adore it and I’m not sorry.
‘Shooting Blind’ Clint attempts to teach Matt archery.
‘Why Look Before You Leap?’ Matt takes Clint out to parkour across Hell’s Kitchen.
‘Pot and Kettle’ Claire meets the elusive ‘Clint’ and briefly regrets her life decisions.
‘Parabellum’ Matt and Clint exchange increasingly ridiculous gifts
‘Chasing Devilish Shadows’ The rest of the Avengers want to meet Daredevil but Matt isn’t too keen.
‘Accidental Child Acquisition’ Somehow Matt gains an apprentice in Peter Parker AKA Spiderman, and no, he doesn’t understand how either.
‘Vigilantes 101′ Sam is curious about vigilantes so Clint introduces him to some folks.
‘How One Becomes a Technically Illegal One Woman Hospital’ Name may change. How Claire Temple found herself as a vigilante nurse.
‘Betting the House on the Devil’ The Avengers have a betting pool on what Daredevil’s powers are.
Unnamed Fic Clint has to help Matt through a sensory overload.
Unnamed Fic  Matt Murdock gains another kid in Blindspot, and no, he still doesn’t understand how either.
Unnamed Fic Sam meets Spidey and Blindspot. They drag him around town.
Unnamed Fic Sam decides he wants to become a vigilante. His teachers are tough.
‘What Happens at Fight Club Stays at Fight Club’ The Avengers are hesitantly invited to witness the local vigilantes’ annual Fight Night. It’s an experience to say the least.
Unnamed Fic Clint babysits Blindspot and Spidey. It goes about as well as expected.
‘Play Ball!’ Shameless rip off of one of Deniigiq’s iconic tennis ball idea. The Avengers are confused as to why Clint and Sam are obsessed over a gross, ratty, old tennis ball and are determined to figure it out.
Unnamed Fic Matt gets really hurt and Clint and Sam realize just how rough the vigilantes truly have it with no medical access. They try to smuggle supplies. Matt is high as a kite.
‘Don’t Worry, He’s a Professional’ A compilation of times Matt is used as a sniffer dog
Unnamed Fic Tony tries to charm Peter and Blindspot into an internship. He ends up on a vigilante adventure. Vigilante child rearing.
Unnamed Fic Clint enlists the help of Sam, Peter, and Blindspot to get Frank and Matt together
Unnamed Fic Its Clint’s turn for an apprentice, and he gets Kate Bishop
Unnamed Fic Vigilante Hide and Seek
Unnamed Fic Tv show attempts to make a doc on vigilantes. Doesn’t go well.
Unnamed Fic Matt, Frank, Peter, Blindspot, Clint, and Kate go camping
Unnamed Fic Peter realizes he is more spider-like than he thought.
Unnamed Fic Miles Morales seeks Spidey out in hopes of gaining a mentor. He gets one, but its not who he thought it would be. Matt is so very, very tired.
Unnamed Fic Elektra comes to visit and causes chaos.
Unnamed Fic Miles tries to teach Matt, Frank, Spidey, Kate, Clint, and Blindspot art.
Unnamed Fic The baby vigilantes create a youtube channel. Multichap?
‘Meeting the Family’ Peter brings his aunt to a vigilante Thanksgiving.
Unnamed Fic Vigilante wide scavenger hunt
Unnamed Fic Eddie and Venom are coming to New York to see if the avengers can figure out an alternative to their cannibalistic diet. Clint takes him to DD to see if they can get temp hunting rights.
Unnamed Fic Miles’ Dad finds out. Time for introductions.
Unnamed Fic  A rogue magic wielder is on the loose. Clint ends up with temporary DD powers
Other Misc concepts I want to add in somehow:
Christmas
Halloween
Field Trip Fic
Stick
Game Nights
be gay do crime
spiderverse?
Well that’s that for now. As always, if you have any more ideas then hit me up!
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mst3kproject · 5 years ago
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Blood of Dracula’s Castle
 This is another film by Al Adamson of Carnival Magic, starring John Carradine of The Unearthly and the weirdly rectangular Alexander D’Arcy of Horrors of Spider Island.  If that weren’t enough, the first thing you see when you start the movie is an opening sequence of badly-shot driving set to an incongruously cheerful theme song, looking like something that should have credits over it, but doesn’t.  Because obviously the perfect way to begin your movie is by giving everybody flashbacks to Manos: the Hands of Fate.  Oh, boy.
Glen Cannon has just inherited a castle, so he takes his girlfriend Liz out to see the place and to meet the longtime tenants, Mr. and Mrs. Townsend.  Unfortunately for Glen, Liz, and a number of short-skirted passers-by, the Townsends are actually vampires!  They live in the castle with a menagerie of servants that include George the butler, Johnny the homicidal maniac (not the Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, just a guy named Johnny who happens to be a homicidal maniac), and a hunchback named Mango.  Not keen on the idea of moving, the undead try to persuade the young couple to either extend their lease or sell them the property outright.  And if that fails, well, George does need victims to sacrifice to the moon god…
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(Pictured above, three hundred percent more captive women than in Hercules and the Captive Women.)
You’d think a movie called Blood of Dracula’s Castle would be set in some ancient and spooky part of eastern Europe, wouldn’t you?  And you’d be wrong, because the castle in this story is in the middle of the Arizona desert.  Why is there a castle in the Arizona desert?  The movie never explains, but I’m guessing the backstory is similar to that of Shea Castle in California, where much of the movie was shot – some rich asshole just decided he wanted to live in a castle.  What I really want to know is why this specific castle has vampires in it.  Deserts just don’t seem like good vampire habitat, you know?
Blood of Dracula’s Castle is particularly ridiculous about this, because like Attack of the The Eye Creatures or Mole Men Against the Son of Hercules, it features sun-hating baddies in a movie that is clearly shot in the daytime with a dark filter!  And like those other movies, the sunshine is so intense that the filters do just about nothing. Also, why is there a beach nearby?  Arizona is not exactly famous for those.
The Townsends are some seriously weaksauce vampires.  A lot of movies have vampires with superhuman strength, telepathy, or the power of flight.  These two are afraid of being shot, and can’t even escape from being tied up with silk sashes.  I would say it undermines their threat, but they never seemed that threatening to begin with.  Alexander D’Arcy and Paula Raymond play the characters very low-key and matter-of-fact, and their servants come across as far more dangerous than the masters.  I suppose this is why the vampires turn to dust in an anticlimax, while the real movie-ending battle is with Mango the hunchback.  He takes a bullet to the gut, an axe to the back, is set on fire, and finally topples over a cliff before he goes down!  Even George the aged butler puts up a pretty good fight with a morningstar before breaking his neck in a fall down the stairs.
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Johnny, meanwhile, is a very confusing inclusion.  He’s been in a mental institution for murdering some unspecified number of people, and he blames his killing spree on the full moon. The movie harps on this at some length, with Johnny himself, the Townsends, and George all referring to it, so by the time the climax approaches we’re pretty sure we’re gonna get a werewolf scene.  When George sets out to sacrifice a captive woman to the moon god, I was eagerly hoping this would take the form of wolfman Johnny showing up to tear her apart.  But Johnny is present to watch, remains fully human throughout, and does nothing, while George simply sets the woman on fire! Why spend all that time setting it up? Is the point supposed to be that Johnny uses lycanthropy as an excuse for his killings when the truth is he’s just a murderer?  If so, the movie misses by a mile.
Glen and Liz are technically the main characters, but they’re very much the type who are only present so this movie will have somebody to happen to.  The writers, director, and even the actors are far more interested in their assortment of baddies.  Neither of the couple has anything that might be considered a character trait.  They are introduced in a montage of Glen taking pictures of Liz at Sea World, which establishes nothing but the fact that she’s hot and he’s recently asked her to marry him.  There’s also a really weird bit where they make out under the watchful eyes of a voyeuristic walrus, which sure is a sentence I just wrote.
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There are a couple of moments when it looks like Glen’s profession of photography might just be plot relevant.  He tries to take a picture of Johnny, but Johnny doesn’t want him to, which could have been a precursor to one of them recognizing the escaped murderer. It goes nowhere.  I also wondered if the film might make use of the idea that vampires don’t show up any better in photographs than they do in mirrors, but the idea is completely ignored.
About the only thing in Blood of Dracula’s Castle that works is one joke.  Glen and Liz are snooping around the castle basement, where they discover the Townsends sleeping in their coffins.  Liz starts to freak out, and Glen tries to reassure her by telling her that there’s a perfectly logical explanation.  She demands to know what that is… and rather than offer some ‘rational’ bullshit Glen just straight up says, “they’re vampires, obviously!”  The sheer surprise of seeing a trope subverted like that in this stupid movie made me laugh out loud.
Is there anything halfway interesting in this movie?  Meh, not really.  The closest it comes is when it suggests the Townsends’ distaste for ‘traditional’ vampirism.  They don’t go around biting necks and leaving bodies behind – instead they drain blood from a vein and sip it out of genteel wine glasses.  Killing Glen and Liz is not Plan A, it is what they’re forced to turn to when all else fails.  Lady Townsend even contemplates the idea that someday somebody might invent synthetic blood, allowing vampires to become law-abiding citizens!
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This could have been neat, but it fails to go anywhere because the Townsends seem entirely cheerful and blasé about the crimes they do commit.  They have no problem keeping young women chained up in their dungeon, draining them of blood and then turning them over to Mango to be raped and murdered.  They show no reluctance to sacrifice victims to the moon god.  In fact, their performance has almost a Stepford Wives sort of feel, in which they are polite and pleasant about literally everything.  Even in private, when they worry about possibly having to kill their guests, they sound cheerful.  The fake smile plastered across D’Arcy’s face is downright terrifying, though not for the reasons it ought to be.  He looks like being in this movie is causing him physical pain.
Another thread seems to be some commentary, probably unintentional, about the nature of relationships.  Glen and Liz argue quite a bit, and I think most of it’s intended to be in fun but Gene O’Shane and Barbara Bishop are not good actors and it sometimes comes across quite bitter.  Their disagreements contrast with the behaviour of the Townsends, who are perfectly in harmony in everything they do.  Perhaps this is because the Townsends have simply known each other longer, having been married for some three centuries while Glen and Liz have only been together a year or so.  The impression one gets, however, is an Addams Family sort of vibe, in which embracing the darkness within seems to lead to better relationships.
Now that I think of it… with the charming, well-dressed, and loving couple, and their cadaverous butler, there is definitely an Addams Family thing going on here.  The comics had been around since 1938 and the TV series started in 1964, so it was out there for other creators to draw on.
In comparison to the other Al Adamson movies I’ve seen, Blood of Dracula’s Castle actually strikes me as more similar to Carnival Magic than to Psycho-A-Go-Go.  The latter film was very upfront about its dark themes, while the former buries them under a cheerful carnival front.  Blood of Dracula’s Castle also looks rather harmless on the surface, as the Addams Family comparison makes clear: the Townsends are very cheerful and friendly vampires, their castle more whimsical than foreboding.  They and their strange servants could be characters in a comedy, were the movie not so explicit about their murders.
Blood of Dracula’s Castle is pretty dull.  You won’t be missing anything if you skip it.  If you do want to watch it, I’d better warn you: the opening sequence is set to an upbeat song called Last Train Out, and once it’s in your brain, it’s not going anywhere for a while.
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batfamily--headcanons · 5 years ago
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I really want to understand this universe(the golden era I think) so could you guide me on which comics I should read
I will first admit that I am no expert on comics and I’m not particularly good at keeping track of the different eras. However, I can give you a list of what I think are some of the most classic Batman/Batfam/DC stories and the ones I just adore.
Batman: A Death In the Family-Classic story, everyone pretty much knows of this story but not everyone has read it. This is when Jason Todd (Robin #2) is brutally murdered by the Joker and it is the first introduction to Robin #3, Tim Drake. It gets really weird in the middle, when the Joker becomes an ambassador for Iran, but stick with it because Tim’s introduction is one of the most interesting Robin origin stories.
Batman: Death Of the Family-This is a different story despite the way too similar name. It’s newer and more gruesome than you might expect. This is the story where the Joker taunts the entire Batfamily and kidnaps them all. It has the whole Batfam in it which is what made me want to pick it up and read it in the first place and is definitely a great way to understand the characters as all of their greatest fears are revealed in this story. There are multiple issues spanning across different series from Batman to Red Hood and The Outlaws, so I definitely recommend getting the trade paperback of it because it’s easier than hunting down each issue in order.
Batman: The Long Halloween-This is such a classic story with lots of Batman Rogues running around and causing mayhem. They’re also speculating that this is potentially what the new Robert Pattinson Batman movie is based on, so it might be good to read if you’re excited for that movie (I have mixed feelings, but I’m hopeful). Also as a huge Agents of SHIELD and comic fan in general, I love so much of what Jeph Loeb does.
Tom King’s current Batman run-Pretty good until the wedding issue and then shit goes off the rails fast and it angered a lot of fans, myself included. Nevertheless, it did have some great moments. He also wrote Heroes in Crisis, which I do not recommend at all.
Batman:The Killing Joke-The animated movie did this story so dirty and I will always be mad. It’s one of the many possible Joker origin stories and the most popular by far. It’s not a very long story, but it absolutely regarded as a classic and it is when Barbara gets shot by the Joker so it’s also important for a major change in canon as well. Solid writing, beautiful art. I could go on about this forever. If you do decide to watch the movie, skip the first half, it’s ridiculous filler (with a ridiculous 90′s stereotypical gay character to boot).
Dick Grayson as Agent 37-This was a pretty fun storyline all things considered. It’s great if you want to fully understand Dick’s character without getting confused about the baggage that is having all of the Batfam characters around. For some people, they get the Robins easily confused (part of that is DC’s fault for literally drawing the same character but just taller or shorter) so it shines the spotlight on Dick.
Red Hood and The Outlaws (The one with Roy and Kori)-I so badly want to recommend this because I love these characters together, but Lobdell’s writing is not always spot-on and his depiction of Kori is comic book misogyny at its finest at times. Maybe read the first few issues just to get a better feel for post-Lazarus pit Jason, but it’s not the best series.
Red Hood:The Lost Years:I am a slut for Jason Todd angst, I won’t lie and so this is one of my personal favourites and it helps to establish resurrected Jason’s character to new readers. You really see how he struggled after his death and Talia al Ghul is there too which is even better. Jason is one of the most interesting and complex characters in all of DC comics and they almost never do anything exciting with his character so this series is a breath of fresh air. 
Batman:Under the Red Hood-This is about Jason’s return to Gotham after being resurrected and it’s great. The conflict between him and Bruce once he learns that it’s Jason under the hood is so well-written and you find yourself agreeing with both of them to an extent. Another great Jason Todd story. There’s also an animated movie based on this as well and it’s pretty good all things considered (I have Jay’s speech to Bruce at the end memorized so that should tell how much I enjoy it).
A lot of the new 52 stuff is not great. Tim’s new 52 Titans team were just kind of meh and like I said, Red Hood and the Outlaws had potential but was brought down by not so great writing. I wish I could remember some good Tim or Damian stories right now, but I’m blanking. Super Sons is newer, but I liked it quite a bit. It’s about Damian, Bruce’s blood son, and Jon Kent, Superman and Lois’ son fighting crime and going on adventures together. It’s a nice bit of fluff in the darkness that comics has become these days.
Harley Quinn (The Jimmy Palmiotti/Amanda Conner series)-This one is probably one of my favourite new 52 releases. I love where they’ve taken Harley’s character, she’s more than just the Joker’s girlfriend and this series shows it. It’s not too serious and most of the time, it can be downright weird, but it’s so fun you can’t help but love it. I own every single issue from the Conner/Palmiotti run. I haven’t read it since they left, so if anyone has, let me know if it’s any good because from what I did see of it, I wasn’t super impressed.
I do have some non-DC recs too so I’ll put them here as well because why not
House of X/Powers of X-The best X-Men story in recent memory and I love the X-Men so much so this makes me so happy. They’ve done some very interesting things with the characters and I love the acknowledgement that Franklin Richards is technically a mutant and the catty way that Cyclops does it is great.
House of M-One of the best X-Men stories and probably what WandaVision will be taking a lot of inspiration from. If you like alternate universes and reality bending, this is for you.
Matt Fraction’s run on the Hawkeye solo series-This is what made me fall in love with Clint and Kate as characters. It shows that the Hawkeyes are not useless Avengers and it has a bit of humour to it, which I love. The Kate Bishop follow-up to this is pretty good too, but I haven’t finished it yet so I can’t vouch for the whole series.
Deadpool Killustrated Series-This is just Wade murdering his way through the Marvel Universe and then through the classic literary characters that those characters were based on. It’s dark, funny, strange story that’s a whole lot of fun without having to worry about keeping up with 80 years of canon. 
I hope this helped in some small way. I am always up for talking comic recommendations since none of my real life friends care about comics. If anyone has any recommendations for me, I am all ears. I read stuff from all over so brand is no issue. I don’t really feed into that Marvel vs DC stuff anymore. Both companies have their strengths and weaknesses and that’s okay. It’s really late here and I’m procrastinating writing a paper so do forgive any spelling errors or completely incoherent sentences :) Stay safe everyone!
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sparklyjojos · 4 years ago
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CARNIVAL DAY recaps [7/13]
Today’s recap: The first few of many ‘character testimonies’, the obligatory Kodansha Editor Characters, and Dokuson’s confession.
[tw: suicide]
--
[BOOK V—CARNIVAL EVE]
--
FORTY
10 May 1997 — 16 May 1997
THE POLES
--
(And in the latest news report…)
On May 10th, satellite pictures show that a cylindrical hole 800 meters in diameter and 350 meters in depth has suddenly shown up at the South Pole, while a mass of frozen earth of that same shape and size has appeared at the North Pole, as if it was teleported. The Billion Killer’s skull is found in the frozen mass.
--
(Diana Hosey is the daughter of Theodore Hosey, the serial killer known as Deep Cut. After her father fled jail, she helped investigate his escape, and after many strange events was invited to the Sanctuary by RISE.
Below is Diana Hosey’s testimony.)
Diana didn’t expect to see her father under the mask of Yellow Bishop. He said he’d been living as RISE’s Dog for decades, their inn’s name Two-Headed Dog now sounding quite ironic. He was eventually chosen to become one of the Rainbow Sophists. While the rainbow had seven colors, there could be less than seven Sophists appointed at a time—though technically there were seven of them right now, as he and Tanna Sazen doubled as Yellow Bishop.
According to Theodore, a necessary requirement to be chosen as one of the Sophists was the ability to look and act like one of the S-detectives when masked. They also needed to be able to act out the corresponding S-detective’s reasoning method. Fabian as a lover of a cartel boss knew well how to use a fake identity to her advantage, sort of like Meiru. Tanna Sazen gathered information on Ajiro’s behavior through Maimu and was himself able to “intensely focus” as a bank clerk. Pacha Palermo just like Frau D could process large amounts of data at a time, although she was an interpreter of many languages rather than a statistician. Aleksandr Uryakov had a similarly mysterious and supernatural reasoning method as Zerofini Roi’s Zero Reasoning. Theodore Hosey personally knew Ronely Queen and used similar logical thinking.
Theodore talked about how his “world chaos theory” pertained to the Crime Olympics. (Diana doesn’t really understand the theory, but she knows it’s a bit like meteorology—forecasting future events from seemingly chaotic data). He said that the case Ronely Queen had solved at their inn had been just a test to see if she could pose a threat in the future. RISE decided that her determination could hurt their cause and so she had to disappear.
Ronely Queen and Ushiwaka Gigolo both died in the Statue of Liberty case while covering Diana. Then Diana and Kakuusan Kanke gathered (intentionally provided) clues about Theodore and went to the Earth House, from where Diana was taken to the Sanctuary. Everything according to the plan. Just like the world chaos theory predicted.
Diana felt furious and sad that her father would manipulate her and lead to her friends’ death. Theodore assured her that Ronely Queen had to die; if she survived, RISE’s plan would be eventually stopped, and as a result the Cosmic Bomb would destroy humanity.
The Cosmic Bomb in question can be also called “shinrui” (“God’s tear”) or a more straightforward name Lunatic Bomb, which makes it easy to guess what it really is.
At the end of the Crime Olympics, the Comic Bomb—the Earth’s own Moon—would fall and destroy the human race.
--
FORTY-ONE
17 May 1997 — 23 May 1997
CARNIVAL IN RIO
--
(Kirika Mai knew nothing about her origins. The strong desire to find her family made her a detective. Not given love, she was instead gifted with insight and logic. Many times she attempted to eliminate that uncertain and inexplicable being that was herself, but was saved by her desire to learn the truth before death; she feared that if she died without knowing anything about herself, her entire life would be worthless in hindsight. Giving up on eliminating herself caused her elimination reasoning method to blossom instead.
The only place that ever felt like home to her was JDC, but then it exploded, leaving her gravely injured. Her life partner Hazama Kuroo died in the Three Monkeys Case. JDC was taken over by a suspicious man called Yuiga Dokuson, and Kirika spent a lot of time investigating him, even visiting his parents in Hiroshima. They seemed like perfectly normal people and didn’t know much about their son’s life after he had graduated high-school. “He was born with a bitter smile,” they just said. Kirika tried to contact Dokuson’s school colleagues, but no one knew a lot about him either, though a lot of tales about his youth still circulated.
Below is Kirika Mai’s testimony.)
Whenever Kirika spoke to someone who knew Dokuson, including his own parents, it seemed to her like all those people were afraid of him, felt uneasy when talking about him, and generally preferred to regard him from afar. Perhaps that rumor about how Dokuson had talked someone into suicide in high-school had some basis. Kirika got the feeling that maybe it wasn’t just people’s fear that hindered the investigation, but that Dokuson had taken measures to hide his past.
Before Ushiwaka left for North America, she warned Kirika against digging too deep. Now that Ushiwaka died and Hyouma was missing, there was no one left who could tell her more about Dokuson—perhaps it was him who quietly eliminated uncomfortable witnesses.
Dokuson was simply too suspicious to ignore. People at JDC told stories about a woman in black (a secret lover? a ninja? a ghost?) who was sometimes heard talking with him in the office, but not many have seen her. Rumors claimed that it was the new detective using the D-name Manji Tawawa, who was about as self-conceited and devilishly beautiful as Dokuson, wore rich pink dresses, and had a bunch of jewelry all in the shape of her D-name. [Manji is written 卍, which is not exactly That symbol, but it’s still about as subtle as a sledgehammer, which is probably why everyone in JDC is calling her Lady Hitler]. JDC quickly split into two cliques based on which local narcissist they preferred, and some wanted Tawawa to become the new representative.
While investigating Tawawa, Kirika found a private detective called Tanegashima Cafe. Her reasoning method was called “happou vision”, happou refering to both “all directions” and “shooting”, as she was firing all her ideas in rapid succession. Tanegashima Cafe had apparently been working together with Kirika when they were both private detectives (which Kirika couldn’t quite remember, as the JDC explosion left her with partial memory loss). She had two young children and often took them to Kyoto’s park Tsukigime, a popular spot for parents and kids. When hanging around there, Kirika was surprised to meet families of JDC detectives.
There was Mizuno Reito (father of Christmas Mizuno), who took care of the household while his wife Chiyoko worked, and often went to the park with his young daughter JDC [yes, that is her first name]. In a funny coincidence, “Chiyoko” and “Reito” together sounded like “chocolate”, and they were born on respectively February 14th and March 14th, which together earned them the nicknames “Valentine Mizuno” and “White Day Mizuno”. [So basically, we have the family of Valentine, White Day, Pyramid, Christmas, and JDC Mizuno. Dear God.]
Another family group in the park were Shiranui Zenzou’s daughter and granddaughter, named Zenzouko and Zenzounene [effectively “Zenzou-kid” and “Zenzou-kid-kid”]. They were given these names to respect the dying wish of Shiranui’s father Taizen to pass his name on in some form. Both also inherited reasoning methods somewhat similar to Zenzou’s own.
Kirika learned about a very lively detective “lady network” made of all those women who constantly sit and talk in parks and always seem to know everything. It turned out they even knew about Tawawa and Dokuson, and told Kirika a bit more. Dokuson apparently was getting his secret info through the ninja detective Sarutobi Shinobu, while Tawawa would buy data from Tanegashima. It was their ability to gather secret data that made them seem geniuses of reasoning.
Realizing that the “lady network” really knew everything, Kirika asked about herself—and finally got the answer.
But now that she solved the mystery of her life, the pressure to eliminate herself returned.
[...and at the end of this testimony that turns out to have been a letter all along, for no obvious reasons there are a few mentions of “Georgia” at the end.]
--
(And in the latest news report…)
On May 17th, during an important soccer match in Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the ball suddenly explodes. No one is hurt, but the match is suspended, agitating the fans and causing an outburst of hooliganism that kills close to a hundred people. The Billion Killer's skull is found in a ditch by the sports grounds.
Earlier that year, an incident of mass suicide took place during the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Investigation found a worldwide suicide cult calling themselves Carnival Dice (or just DICE). It has been confirmed that JDC's Kirika Mai, who disappeared leaving only a suicide note, had been in contact with DICE. JDC announced they would search for Kirika and attempt to stop the cult.
--
FORTY-TWO
24 May 1997 — 30 May 1997
AYERS ROCK
--
XX would never guess he’d become a JDC detective so quickly, but it wasn’t that hard with the entrance exam abolished. XX’s job interview was led by a detective nicknamed Cappuccino Knob Suzuki (actually Suzuki Nobuyuki), who had previously worked as a Kodansha editor and even took part in publishing Cosmic and Joker. [Suzuki Nobuyuki is an actual Kodansha employee.]
Ever since the Crime Olympics began, a lot of “description detectives” or “writer detectives” started to pour in, their reasoning based on describing an incident as a book narration. Since every writer needs a good editor, that’s how “editor detective” Suzuki got his new job overseeing MAT (“Mystery Attack Team”). There are also “reader detectives” responsible for careful analysis of the stories.
In the world where new mysteries and incidents constantly surround everyone, more people than usual start to awaken their detective instincts. People have a need to solve mysteries. They also need to make stories; living in itself is writing a story about themselves.
--
(And in the latest news…)
...on May 24th, an earthquake caused Uluru / Ayers Rock in Australia to split, a part of it breaking off and killing a few tourists. The Billion Killer’s skull fell out of the newly made crevice during the earthquake.
...the JDC representative Yuiga Dokuson disappeared on June 6th, incidentally the day of his 27th birthday. In his office he had left a video tape with a confession:
“To tell you the truth, the Billion Killer is me. For various reasons I have been causing all the incidents until now, but there’s no further need for them. The Billion Killer cases end today. Humanity, rejoice.”
--
FORTY-THREE
31 May 1997 — 06 Jun 1997
CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN
--
(Below is Inugami Yasha’s testimony. [Originally in first person.])
If only Yasha had paid more attention to his surroundings, maybe the tragedy wouldn’t have happened. But it’s too late for regrets; the past can’t be undone.
At that time, Sayo was away from Gensoukan. When Yasha went outside to search for Kanaihidetaka, a person put a blade to his neck from behind, drawing blood, and ordered him to stay quiet in a muffled voice. Yasha wasn’t able to tell the stranger’s gender or age from the voice. When Juku opened the door to go outside, the assassin pushed Yasha away and charged, but Juku managed to jump away. The assassin wore silver clothes and a bull mask. Juku asked the enemy if they were Tsukumo Jaki / Yakuma Suzume, but was ignored. The assassin instead leapt at Juku, piercing his chest with a sword and forcing him to the ground.
Something unexpected happened right afterwards. When the assassin raised the sword again to deliver the final blow, they suddenly stopped moving, and Yasha heard their muffled voice saying something like “Godust… Alive… sh…”. The sword fell from their grasp and they collapsed on top of Juku, both the attacker and the victim now completely still on the ground.
Yasha couldn’t move both from shock and from blood loss, but thankfully Sayo returned right at that moment. Yasha heard her yell right before he lost consciousness. When he woke up in a hospital bed, he was told that Sayo had called an ambulance, but the help came too late and Juku passed away.
When the ambulance got to the scene, Sayo, Kanaihidetaka, and even Gensoukan were no longer there and couldn’t be found later, as if they had never existed.
The masked assassin was discovered to be not Yakuma Suzume, but the writer Minase Nagisa (real name Tamei Madoka). She had apparently died of Alive with strangely perfect timing just before she could deliver the final blow.
Yasha realized what Jaki had meant warning them about “sankaku, shikaku, maru”. It didn’t mean “triangle, square, circle”. Sankaku could mean someone taking part in a plan. Shikaku was an assassin. Tamei Madoka’s first name was written 円, this kanji having an alternate reading of maru.
After Juku’s death, Yasha became Dokuson’s helper as JDC’s first vice-representative. This unexpectedly led to him becoming the actual representative after Dokuson left his confession and fled. Leading JDC wasn’t in Yasha’s plans at all, but he decided to help everyone as he could.
[End of testimony.]
--
The writer detective XX stumbles upon files about “the phantom case of the Seppuku Detective”, which was solved by Suzukaze Unomaru.
Once upon a time, a woman wandered into a forest known for suicides and found a house called Gensoukan, where she met two men. One was the seppuku detective, another was a genius surgeon dressed in white. The detective would repeatedly attempt seppuku—the state between life and death sharpening his reasoning—and the surgeon would then piece him back together.
The woman got into a romantic triangle with both men. However, one night the detective actually killed himself in secret, and the other two fell apart and went their own ways away from Gensoukan. When the woman returned to the forest later, the house was no longer there.
The woman asked JDC to help her find the house and the surgeon. The tale was clearly absurd, but Unomaru wanted to check if it had any basis in reality.
The woman indeed had been in a triangle relationship with two brothers, but then the older one (Endou Naoto) disappeared, and the abandoned pair split. The woman attempted to contact the younger brother (Endou Masato) a few years later, but found that he had mysteriously fled. This entire “Gensoukan” must have been just a metaphor for lost love and happiness.
While the case was technically solved, XX thinks there has to be more to it, especially since the recent case of Juku’s murder also involved a disappearing Gensoukan. Additionally, that short story Another Joker was set in Gensoukan, and its alleged author was the brother of the masked assassin.
XX asks Yasha for a testimony about everything that happened [the one we just read]. He learns about “Seiryoin Ryusui” being the suspected “third writer”, about the Yakuma Suzume hypothesis, and about the two Endou brothers. Everything is starting to come together.
--
FORTY-FOUR
07 Jun 1997 — 13 Jun 1997
NUCLEAR WEAPON TEST
--
(And in the news…)
...On May 31st, a giant fire broke out on Mount Roraima in South America and had been raging on for a week. The Billion Killer’s skull was found in an extinguished part of the slope.
...the investigation of Mount Roraima revealed the existence of a group called F4C (Fire 4 Card), also suspected of bombing buildings and setting fires during the Crystal Nightmare. The name comes from the group always leaving four playing cards the size of an adult on the crime scene, always the four different colors of the same number, starting from twos during the Crystal Nightmare, up to aces on Mount Roraima. As the usual skull was found in the Mount Roraima fire, it points to the group’s possible connection with the Billion Killer.
...tensions between India and Pakistan heightened with both countries announcing multiple underground nuclear tests.
--
The writer detective XX decides to try solving the “seppuku detective’s phantom case” by writing about it.
Books about real cases sell unusually well in the new society of the Crime Olympics. Way back in February, Kodansha even sent over their editor called Katsushi Outa to scout for good stories from the writer detectives. [The real Kodansha editor Katsushi Outa just had to appear eventually, didn’t he.] He later became an editor detective with the D-name Strong J Outa.
The (by that time) vice-representative Yasha asked XX and Outa a strange favor: to start writing and publishing more books under the pen name Seiryoin Ryusui, as that would somehow help end the Crime Olympics.
--
[>>>NEXT PART>>>]
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bravadoseries · 5 years ago
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I'm a little confused about what the movies/tv shows timeline would look like for the series, could you clarify?
So, pre-Avengers I think Audrey makes a variety of cameo roles.  She’s in the Iron Man films briefly, she’s featured in an epilogue of Captain America: The First Avenger, I know this technically isn’t first but she plays a minor role in Captain Marvel.  Generally, she’s just kind of present in a lot of the movies before she becomes a lead.  
The way I structured this list is so that each movie that’s canon is just listed with its corresponding fic, but all the ones I’m making up have a little summary too lol.  Spoilers below so beware of that.  I hope this helps!
2012
The Avengers (May 2012) – covered by Monachopsis
Cross-Country (July 2012) – this one would look like the oneshots/shorts that Marvel used to make about its side characters, but it covers Steve’s birthday and the road trip that Steve and Audrey take cross-country
Lady Liberty: Legacy (September 2012) – this covers the arc of Nodus Tollens that I just finished, which is about Audrey’s mission in Europe, DIVUS, Delphine, etc.
The Tower – Season 1 (October-December 2012) – This show focuses on the found family aspect of the Avengers and is like a dramedy.  In my head, I picture it as being filmed as a mockumentary with little talking heads because I like those and I think it suits the format well.  Content wise, I feel like it airs on ABC.  Takes place from October 2012-December 2012, runs for 8 episodes.  
2013
Black Widow: Opus (January 2013) – Covers the Siege of Chicago, another arc I write about in Nodus Tollens.  Explores Natasha’s backstory with ballet and kind of has Black Swan meets Atomic Blonde vibes.  Set in January 2013
The Tower – Season 2 (June-August 2013) – Picks up where its predecessor left off and runs for another 8 episodes.  It also corresponds to Nodus Tollens and builds/develops Audrey’s relationship with Bruce as well as Steve’s relationship with Darcy
Thor: The Dark World (2013) – Set November 2013, also corresponds to Nodus Tollens lol (this book is long)
2014
Agent 13 (February 2014) – Marvel oneshot about Sharon Carter, Audrey, and the transfer to DC, as well as Peggy’s legacy with SHIELD
Captain America: The Winter Soldier(April 2014) – corresponds to 
Hawkeye(s) – (May-August 2014) – Kate Bishop and Clint Barton work cases in Los Angeles, where they meet America Chavez and other members of the Young Avengers.  I’m not totally sure if I’m gonna write this or not, but basically it corresponds to Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye comics. This one is an action-comedy, like if Community met Veronica Mars
The Falcon – Season 1 (October-December 2014) – Okay I’m just a little Sam Wilson stannie but I feel like they should have done more with him, so this series focuses on him primarily, but features Steve, Audrey, and Natasha as side characters. They’re looking for Bucky, but it’s also about him living in the tower and falling in love with Olivia Perales. This corresponds to a spinoff oneshot (probably 10-15k words long) called Fear of Flying.  It airs on Netflix and receives rave reviews for its bingeability.  The tone is comparable to Scandal or other Shonda Rhimes dramas.  
2015
Agent Carter – Season 1 (January-March 2015)– this is what it is and it corresponds to Midsummer, which is just a series of oneshots about Audrey growing upu
Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015) – Corresponds to Aurora
Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch (released June 2015) – set throughout 2015; about Pietro and Wanda’s adjustments to their new lives as Avengers.  They’re both like 19? 20? This is written like a sitcom, kind of like what they’re doing with WandaVisionbut without Paul Bettany bc I hate that little man….anyway this technically takes place at the same time as Elysian but tonally they’re very different because Elysian is about Audrey going crazy and grieving Bruce’s “death” but the show is about the twins and their relationships with each other and an assortment of other employees from the base, who aren’t superheroes but are like medics, etc.  I think the tone is like Scrubs 
2016
Agent Carter – Season 2 (January-March 2016) – same as the above; about Peggy’s life in LA kicking ass and her romance with Sousa
Captain America: Civil War (April 2016) – this corresponds to Allegiance, while also unpacking unfinished business from Lady Liberty: Legacy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The Falcon – Season 2 (September 2016) – this is about Sam, Bucky, Steve, Nat, Pietro, and Wanda’s life on the run, but it especially focuses on Sam and his own missions/the villains targeting him.  Tonally, still Shonda Rhimes.  
2017
Lady Liberty and the Angels of Mercy (February 2016) – Marvel’s second R-rated film, but the MCU’s first.   Think about it like Birds of Prey in terms of general vibes.  Set immediately after Civil War and features an epilogue that connects Audrey to Thor: Ragnarok.  The story is set in Los Vegas.  Corresponds to Eternity, which is even longer than Nodus Tollens 
Defenders – Season 1 – features overlap with some of the characters from Angels of Mercy as well as Annie Esposito, a mob princess of New York.  Corresponds to Pernox
Thor: Ragnarok (November 2017) – Happens as it does, except for the part where Audrey has a short-lived romance with Loki and the part where Audrey and Thor realize that they are connected in their powers.  Considering including Lindsey Dubois in this just so I can have a romance play out between her and Valkyrie (Janelle and Tessa 4ever…) but also, I might not. Corresponds to Eternity
2018
Avengers: Infinity War (April 2018) – So yeah they fight Thanos, etc.  I’m changing the way Thanos is portrayed though bc I could not get over how he looks like a thumb long enough to actually feel afraid of him so this time he’s played by John Hamm and he’s a lot more well-connected than we all thought he was.  Also, the children of Thanos are actually all children because um I think that ups the creep factor some more.  Corresponds to Eternity as well
The Real Hawkeye (October 2018) – Kate Bishop and America Chavez fighting crime.  After the snap, there’s a spike in crime against vulnerable people who have lost their caretakers.  Might be set in a cult that actually worships Thanos?  And promises that it’s all a very good thing, what’s happened?  Very much a noir, might even be in black and white a la The Lighthouse.  
2019
Lady Liberty: Resurrection (January 2019) – Audrey wakes up on the other side of the universe after being kidnapped and decides to make her way home.  Featuring Carol Danvers, Loki, Nebula, and Valkyrie. Corresponds to Eternity and kind of feels like Star Wars/GotG 
Avengers: Endgame (April 2019) – Does not happen as it was written, because it was written like trash, but the same stuff needs to happen.  They fight, they win, etc.  Corresponds to Eternity.  
2020
Black Widow: The Long Thread (whenever covid ends 2020) - just the existing Black Widow movie lol
2021
Avengers Academy – Set 20 years in the future, Avengers Academy is a TV show that follows the next generation of heroes.  Kind of soapy, kind of witty.  Like if Riverdale was good.  Driven by an ensemble cast: Margo Banner (Bruce & Audrey’s daughter), Anastasia Barton-Romanoff (Natasha and Clint’s daughter), Morgan and Leo (Tony and Pepper’s kids), and some others I have not invented yet.  
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haledamage · 5 years ago
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Character Interview: Liv Ramsey
I wasn’t tagged by anyone this time and I’m not tagging anyone, I just wanted to do the character interview with Olivia :D if you also have a character you want to interview and haven’t been tagged for it, consider this an invitation!
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name ➔ Olivia Ramsey. Friends call me Liv. I guess you can, too, if ya want.
are you single ➔ Startin' with the tough questions, huh? (she pauses for a very long moment, toying absentmindedly with what looks like a very expensive sapphire necklace she wears before finally turning a bright smile your way) It's complicated, like really complicated, but… no. I'm not. But if you could keep that between us, I'd appreciate it.
are you happy ➔ most of the time, yeah. Got a good group of close friends, enough money to eat every day, and a job that keeps me on my toes. What more could I ask for?
are you angry ➔ sometimes. Never sticks for long. (she grins, unrepentant and joyful) I’ve got a great anger management secret.
are your parents still married ➔ I don’t know if they ever were. Never met ‘em. Don't even know their names. They died when I was a baby, or they couldn’t keep me, or they didn’t want me, or… whatever. (she shrugs stiffly)
NINE FACTS
birth place ➔ I dunno. New York, I assume, since that’s where I grew up. Lived in Manhattan ‘til I moved out here to Chicago. I miss it, sometimes. The pizza here’s awful.
hair colour ➔ Red, right now. Or did you mean my natural color? ‘Cause that’s my little secret.
eye colour ➔ blue. Ice blue, if you wanna be dramatic about it.
birthday ➔ August 2nd.
mood ➔ pretty chill, right now.
color scheme ➔ I really like shades of red and pink. Black, because it goes with everything, yellow because it really doesn’t.
gender ➔ I mean, gender is a social construct, but I’m female for the most part. Some days more than others.
summer or winter ➔ summer. New York winters are a bitch, and I hear Chicago’s even worse. Good thing I’m not the one that has to drive in it.
morning or afternoon ➔ morning. Best time of day to get shit done is early in the morning or really late at night.
EIGHT THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE
are you in love ➔ yep. I was never any good at keepin' it a secret. At least, from most people. I had to beat him over the head with it before he believed me. (she laughs to herself, a clearly besotted smile on her face) He had me at hello, though, he really did.
do you believe in love at first sight ➔ If you'd asked me that a few months ago, I'd have said no, but now… yeah. Yeah, I think I do.
who ended your last relationship ➔ I think it was a mutual thing. She was lookin' for one thing and I was lookin' for something else. Sometimes people just aren't meant to fit together. Better to split up than try to force it.
have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔ Sure. (she shrugs one shoulder, completely unbothered by the idea) On both an amateur and a professional level. I'm a con artist, sweetheart. Or I used to be. It comes with the territory.
are you afraid of commitments ➔ nope. I actually have the opposite problem. I sometimes overcommit and throw myself into causes or relationships - platonic or romantic - that aren't worthy of my time or my loyalty. I just… don't like to do things by halves, y'know?
have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ yep. Gabriel, definitely. Mouse, probably. Maybe Rook, and I think Anna as well. I like hugs.
have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ I mean, if it's a secret that means I don't know about it. (she winks) But yeah, I get admirers sometimes. I try to let them down easy. I know it sounds a bit hypocritical with the career I'm in, but I don't like hurting people if I don’t have to.
have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ nah. I don't carry the right ammunition for that. Easy to avoid a broken heart if you don't get your hopes up.
SIX CHOICES
love or lust ➔ lust, if I have to choose, but they're best when they're together
lemonade or iced tea ➔ iced tea. Or both! They’re also best when they’re together.
cats or dogs ➔ cats. I have a sweet little kitten named Ruby, she's just the best.
a few best friends or many regular friends ➔ I don't know if I know how to have regular friends anymore. Seems like people only come in two flavors, these days: "acquaintance" and "family." It's an embarrassment of riches, after it bein' just me and Mouse for so long. Now I'm surrounded by people who care about me. It's… well, it's fuckin' weird, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
wild night out or romantic night in ➔ wild night out. Somewhere that the music's so loud you can feel it in your bones. Or maybe getting into a little trouble with my crew.
day or night ➔ night. The real fun doesn't start until after sunset.
FIVE HAVE YOU EVERS
been caught sneaking out ➔ sure. Didn't stop me, though.
fallen down/up the stairs ➔ nope. Almost fell off the side of an 80 story building once. Well, technically it was 100 stories, but I was on the 80th floor. Maybe I shoulda taken the stairs.
wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ yes (a flash of pain streaks across her face and she stares into the middle distance. it's clear she has no intention of elaborating)
wanted to disappear ➔ sometimes. I'm pretty good at it, if I need to.
been involved in a fight you thought you couldn’t win ➔ there's no such thing as a fight you can't win. Gabriel taught me that. I have literally watched him die and be resuscitated and then get up and keep fighting. It was the most terrifying minute of my life and I never want to see him like that again, but the statement still stands.
FOUR PREFERENCES
smile or eyes ➔ eyes. Considering… well, considering Gabriel and the fact that more often than not, his eyes are the only part of his face that I can see, I've become very fond of them and of just how expressive they can be.
shorter or taller ➔ I'm gonna say shorter. I don't really have a preference one way or the other, but I think a lotta folks say taller and I like being contrary. Also 'cause I wanna have Mouse's back.
intelligence or attraction ➔ I feel like I should say attraction, since I used to make my living off of exploiting it. (she laughs) I do love to surround myself with smart people, though.
hook-up or relationship ➔ relationship. I've tried to do the casual hook-up thing, but I'm not any good at it. I get attached too easy.
FAMILY
do you and your family get along ➔ if you mean, like, blood family, I don’t… have any. At all. If you mean my chosen family, yeah, we get along swell.
would you say you have a “messed up life” ➔ I'm a high-ranking member of an angel-themed crime syndicate that's currently at war with the Chicago Mafia and the FBI. What d'you think, sweetheart?
have you ever ran away from home ➔ “Home” is an interesting word, isn’t it? (she smirks like she plans to leave it there, but eventually sighs) Yeah, I’ve run away. From foster homes, from the orphanage. Always got dragged back, until the last time. Maybe they couldn’t find me. Maybe they stopped looking.
have you ever gotten kicked out ➔ (she laughs) Sure, all the time. Usually after the second time the cops brought me home. No one wants to keep a troublemaker around.
FRIENDS
do you secretly hate one of your friends ➔ no. I mean, if you hate them, then they aren’t your friend, are they? And when I hate someone, I don’t tend to keep it a secret.
do you consider all of your friends good friends ➔ yep. I would take a bullet for any of them and I know they’d do the same for me.
who is your best friend ➔ Mouse. Edwyn and I have known each other since high school. He’s always had my back and I’ve always had his. Always will. Though… at this point I guess I gotta mention Rook and Bishop too. Haven’t known ‘em long, but we… fit, y’know? It’s kinda funny, really, since they were tryin’ to kill me the first time we met. Some days, I’m not convinced they still aren’t, just in a really convoluted way.
who knows everything about you ➔ Gabriel. He proved that the very first time we met. He knows more than I do about me, I’m sure of it. He kinda meant it as a threat at the time, but these days it’s comforting. I guess Mouse knows more about me on a personal level, though, at least for now. Gabriel’s got ways of finding things out, but Mouse was there for most of it. So like, Gabriel knows more of the broad strokes, but Edwyn knows more of the little details, I guess? Does that sound stupid?
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in-sempiternam · 6 years ago
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O.C. Meme Tag
The Rules are simple! Tag people and name a character you want to know more about! If you want to let the person you tagged decide who to showcase, then don’t name a character and they can pick somebody. Easy! The person who is tagged will then bold the remarks below which apply to their character &, if they want to, include a picture with their reply!
I was tagged by @justasimthing -Thank you very much! (>^3^)>
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Bishop
[ PERSONAL ] $ Financial : wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty ✚ Medical : fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged / non applicable ✪ Class or Caste : upper / middle / working / street trash / slave / unsure - he’s a pirate ✔ Education : qualified / unqualified / studying ✖ Criminal Record : yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no / has committed crimes, but not caught yet / yes, but charges were dismissed
[ FAMILY ] ◒ Children : had a child or children / has no children / wants children / ◑ Relationship with Family : close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased ◔ Affiliation : orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent(s) / not applicable  
[ TRAITS + TENDENCIES ] ♦ extroverted / introverted / in between ♦ dis-organised / organised / in between ♦ close minded / open-minded  / in between ♦ calm / anxious / in between ♦ disagreeable / agreeable / in between ♦ cautious / reckless / in between ♦ patient / impatient / in between ♦ outspoken / reserved / in between ♦ leader / follower / in between ♦ empathetic / vicious bastard / in between ♦ optimistic / pessimistic / in between ♦ traditional / modern / in between ♦ hard-working / lazy / in between ♦ cultured / uncultured  / in between / unknown ♦ loyal / disloyal / unknown ♦ faithful / unfaithful / unknown
[ BELIEFS ] ★ Faith : monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic ☆ Belief in Ghosts or Spirits : yes / no / don’t know / don’t care ✮ Belief in an Afterlife : yes / no / don’t know / don’t care ✯ Belief in Reincarnation : yes / no / don’t know / don’t care ❃ Belief in Aliens : yes / no / don’t know / don’t care ✧ Religious : orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious ❀ Philosophical : yes / no
[ SEXUALITY & ROMANTIC INCLINATION ] ❤ Sexuality : heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual ❥ Sex : sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable / naive and clueless ♥ Romance : romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable / naive and clueless / romance suspicious ❣ Sexually : adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious ⚧ Potential Sexual Partners : male / female / agender / other / none / all ⚧ Potential Romantic Partners : male / female / agender / other / none / all
[ ABILITIES ] ☠ Combat Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ≡ Literacy Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✍ Artistic Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none ✂ Technical Skills : excellent / good / moderate / poor / none
[ HABITS ] ☕ Drinking Alcohol : never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / Alcoholic ☁ Smoking : trying to quit / quit / never / trying it / rarely / sometimes / frequently / Chain-smoker ✿ Recreational Drugs : never / quit / trying it / rarely / sometimes / frequently / addict ✌ Medicinal Drugs : never / no longer needs medication / some medication needed / frequently / to excess ☻ Unhealthy Food : never / special occasions / sometimes / frequently / binge eater $ Splurge Spending : never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / ♣ Gambling : never / rarely / sometimes / frequently / compulsive gambler
Tagging: @gphoenixsims - I demand Uncle Jacques! @jepensedoncjesims - Actually, for once, I’d like to know more about Ara, if you see fit with these questions. @winterspixels - Can I convince you, to do this for Sam? @thepathofnevermore - Any chance, you do this for Aaron? @nocturnalazure - Would you do this for Ash? @dreamilysillybanana - I want some Axel - in a pm, if you must.
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adhoption · 6 years ago
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Lord Haw-Haw
Today’s engrossing wikipedia rabbit hole was William Joyce, a Nazi propagandist who broadcast pro-German messages to Britain during WWII, known for his efforts as the infamous Lord Haw-Haw.
Highlights below:
Joyce has the distinction of being the last person in the UK to be hanged for treason. 
This fact is made slightly less impressive by the fact another man was hanged the following day... for treachery, which is apparently a completely different crime.
Why is treachery different from treason? Well, according to its article treachery was a new law introduced just for the war because treason was too hard to prove and prosecute. So they basically introduced an easier version of the same offence and just stuck a slightly different name on it.
The article for high treason is a treat. Alongside the obvious king-slaying, siding with the king’s enemies, and trying to disrupt the line of succession, a full half of the examples given are sexual: ‘sleeping with the king’s wife’, ‘sleeping with the heir to the throne’s wife’, and ‘sleeping with the king’s eldest daughter’ (any younger daughters are apparently fair game).
That sleeping around is apparently worthy of being listed with a death sentence, equivalent to killing the king, as part of a category of crimes that threaten the safety of the state. Monarchs were super jealous.
High treason is also separated from ‘petty treason’, which is the act of murdering a legal superior e.g. a servant killing their master, a wife killing her husband (!), or anyone killing a bishop, because apparently the UK used to be run on some wild set of chess-style rules.
You may be asking ‘hang on, isn’t that just murder anyway?’, which is the same question law-makers eventually figured out and then merged petty treason into the existing murder laws. It turns out that a pawn killing a bishop is not a different crime from a bishop killing a pawn, but a pawn or bishop killing a king or queen still is. 
Back to Lord Haw-Haw. People don’t even know where the nickname came from, or whether it was even intended to refer to Joyce. Supposedly it was hard to tell the difference between voices on the radio, and the article contains an actual list of people who “could have been Lord Haw-Haw”.
Other equally ridiculous nicknames were occasionally used to distinguish between obviously different speakers, such as the infamous Nazi “Sinister Sam”.
This confusion peaked with this absolute shambles - “In reference to the nickname, American pro-Nazi broadcaster Fred W. Kaltenbach was given the moniker Lord Hee-Haw by the British media. The Lord Hee-Haw name, however, was used for a time by The Daily Telegraph to refer to Lord Haw-Haw, generating some confusion between nicknames and broadcasters.” 
Joyce’s description isn’t flattering. He had been attacked by Communists and had a permanent scar from his mouth to his earlobe, just to give him that cliché look you might expect from your Hollywood Nazi villain. 
A face made for radio, then - but his voice wasn’t much better, only described as follows: “His distinctive nasal pronunciation of "Germany calling, Germany calling" may have been the result of a fight as a schoolboy that left him with a broken nose.” 
But not only did the Nazis look past that in appointing him as a radio broadcaster, he actually turned up to the interview with "a heavy cold and almost losing his voice” and they still hired him immediately. 
Who got him the interview? Dorothy Eckersley, who has her own wild story: she was the wife of the BBC’s programme planner Edward Clark, then left him for the BBC’s chief engineer Peter Eckersley (who was married, and had to resign because his boss was super religious and got the Archbishop of Canterbury involved), then fled to Germany and raised her son to be a Nazi broadcaster like Joyce.
Joyce was eventually captured in Flensburg, a town in northern Germany which was the capital of the Third Reich for its last few weeks of existence. There’s something satisfying in the idea of a random town (not even city) being the extent of the Third Reich, a national government of Nazis crammed into a town council hall still making proud noises like they’re going to take over the world.
Flensburg’s article is another unexpected treat. It begins by listing seven things the town is famous for in Germany. Surprisingly, being briefly chosen as the final world capital of the Nazi empire doesn’t make the list. Instead, Flensburg is known for its “large erotic mail-order companies” and “the greeting Moin Moin”. What a place to live.
Joyce was arrested by British forces including a returning German named Geoffrey Perry (born Horst Pinschewer), who had left Germany for England before the war and presumably changed to an English name to avoid anti-German sentiment. I’m on the guy’s side, but you have to appreciate the irony of a German-turned-Brit arresting a Brit-turned-German for treason.
Joyce’s arrest is summarised with the following incredible sentence: “After they asked whether he was Joyce, he reached into his pocket (actually reaching for a false passport); believing he was armed, they shot him through the buttocks, resulting in four wounds.” 
Can you imagine someone pitching a new cartoon Nazi villain? “I’m going to call him Lord Haw-Haw and give him a prominent scar down the side of his face” - sounds too unrealistic, how do the heroes beat him? - “oh, he accidentally gets shot in the ass”
But the trial was somehow an even bigger shambles. Effectively the prosecutors had no evidence that Joyce had actually been the Nazi broadcaster, apart from ONE person who said they had recognised his voice on ONE broadcast SIX YEARS prior to the trial. That was apparently enough to convict him for a capital offence.
Then the real plot twist: 
He wasn’t even British
“During the processing of the charges Joyce's American nationality came to light, and it seemed that he would have to be acquitted, based upon a lack of jurisdiction; he could not be convicted of betraying a country that was not his own.”
It turned out he wasn’t British after all, but had been born in New York to an Irish-American family and then raised and educated in Ireland (who were neutral in the war). Apparently nobody had thought to check this prior to charging him with treason. He was immediately acquitted on two of the three charges.
But the prosecutor argued that because Joyce had a British passport (even though he wasn’t British and had lied about his nationality to get it) he had the benefit of British diplomatic protection from it and therefore owed allegiance to the king, and should be sentenced to death for treason for working for the Germans.
Which is nonsense because a) he only went to Germany when they were at war with Britain, in which case having a British passport hardly protected him, b) if anything he was only safe in Germany because he wasn’t loyal to Britain, c) he was then brought back to Britain and now sentenced to death because he had a British passport, so it hardly brought him diplomatic protection, and d) it is entirely consistent for a non-British person working against Britain to lie to the British authorities to get a passport, so where exactly is the treason?
The article drops this incredible quote from historian AJP Taylor to sum it up: "Technically, Joyce was hanged for making a false statement when applying for a passport, the usual penalty for which is a small fine."
Finally, the article leaves us with the disgusting fact that “the scar on Joyce's face split wide open because of the pressure applied to his head upon his drop from the gallows.” Just in case anyone was wondering.
Thank you, wikipedia.
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